caulfield12

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 24, 2014 -> 10:29 PM) Is it time to start asking the question yet? Worst World Series champion, 2006 Cardinals or 2014 Royals? Not until the royals beat vogelsong or bumgarner tmrw night. Vogelsong is official. Don't want to pitch bumgarner twice on three days' rest.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Oct 24, 2014 -> 05:11 PM) I generally agree. You can look at the records of Pinella, Dusty and Jim Frey on the other side of town. But folks around baseball respect Maddon. His 'genius' seems to be in running the clubhouse and getting his guys to play hard and fundamentally sound. Guys who did not buy in -- Upton, Young -- were sent on their way. He was a consistent winner in the toughest division in baseball. He's got tremendous leverage for once in his life -- and he's going get somebody (Cubs, Mets) to pay him a lot of money. And garza as well...took a bit longer. If Dave Martinez doesn't get this job you know something's up.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Oct 24, 2014 -> 08:50 AM) Stalone, Bullock and Snipes were in Demolition Man. Dredd had Diane Lane and Rob Schneider. I get those two movies mixed up too. Both were roughly the same time....how can one forget a name like John Spartan? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113492/combined

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-colum...cle3113391.html Did the royals reinvent a new paradigm shift....the anti-dunns?

Forgot Cain wasn't in the final three in cf for al.

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-colum...cle3338539.html

Olacio had an outside chance with a great AFL to put himself in running for major league job. You can forget that now. Surkamp/Snodgress and then someone from outside the organization, maybe one guaranteed deal and two waiver claims to fight it out.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Oct 23, 2014 -> 11:29 PM) I think the article hit on why so many sox fans were upset with his play: you just never got the feeling he was doing everything he could in an AB to help the team. His swing looked the same no matter the count and no matter the situation, HR or bust. Dude, just put the f***ing ball in play and put the pressure on the defense, anything can happen. It's not his fault though or any of these 3 outcome guys' faults. It's a product of growing up in the steroid era or playing right after it...where everybody was jacking taters, where if you didn't have power you had a much harder time sticking. Matt Davidson is a perfect example of a kid growing up watching jacks and not learning how to be a dangerous hitter. These guys think jacks make you dangerous. This might take decades to correct since the mangers and coaches are all going to be guys from the juiced era. Guys that can hit with 2 strikes are going to be kings and I hope we stock up on these rarities. Eaton rules. Not necessarily...the "new/er" generation, guys like Hinch, Matheny, Ausmus, Banister (Rangers)...Scioscia and Maddon, they didn't feature that type of game as players, same with Yost. They were defense first, offense as a welcome side benefit type of guys. Karkovice and Joel Skinner with the White Sox are two more examples.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 23, 2014 -> 09:47 PM) Great find Caulfield, I absolutely agree with the writer. Ratings mean absolutely nothing to me, if I desire to watch its because I'm interested and not because everyone else is. Game 3 is going to be a good matchup. In the first two games it was easy to see which team had the edge based on the pitching matchups but game 3 is a much closer matchup, IMO. I think the Giants may have a slight edge in game 3, slight. Should end up being the best game of the series so far. Hudson has a lot more experience in the playoffs, obviously, compared to Guthrie. But who really knows? I have a feeling that the Vargas/Vogelsong match-up is better for the Royals, but predicting anything in the post-season other than Bumgarner starts and the back 3 of the KC pen has been next to impossible.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/...re-low-so-what/ World Series ratings are low again, SO WHAT?

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 23, 2014 -> 05:57 PM) I did not think it was that high. If his bat comes back around to compliment his defense, holy s*** would he carry some value. Yikes! My bad, I was looking at the wrong Upton. OK, I'm greedy but can't we just have both Justin and Heyward, provided they both agreed to extensions? A lineup of Abreu, Heyward, J.Upton as 3,4,5 hitters sounds good. I would gladly try to build a package around Q and Avi for that haul. Not sure the Sox have enough to fill out the rest or not but its interesting to think about. I know I would not want to Anderson in the deal. Maybe the Sox agree to take BJ's contract to help balance things out. Justin in LF, Eaton in CF, Heyward in RF with BJ being the rotating 4th OF is a solid defense. OK, dream is over and I'm awake. With Danks' contract still on the books, they're not going to take on another bad contract in BJ Upton. Their operating style has always been to trade away prospects instead of eating the costs on the accounts payable line.

Three things are sure in the world of defense, Alex Gordon, Heyward and Juan Lagares will all win Gold Gloves. And that there will eventually be so much "overhype" for defense that there will be another course correction as defense starts getting overvalued...especially if the Royals are able to win the World Series. (Yes, I know, they were down 7-3 to Lester and six outs away from not being part of the paradigm shift conversation). It's the same exact thing in the NFL. Everyone copied the idea of having 6-8 interchangeable defensive lineman to put continuous pressure on the QB throughout a game and wear opponents down in the 4th quarter. Magically, at least 10 teams copied this approach. Surprise, surprise. The same thing happened with the Pirates/Astros/Rays and defensive shifting....as well changing a pitching philosophy to encourage more ground balls/sinkers and fewer strikeouts/less wear and tear on pitchers. Eaton won't win because he missed too many games. Bradley won't win, either. Am sure either Escobar or Hardy (not Alexei) will win.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Oct 23, 2014 -> 07:50 AM) Not to beat the Volquez Sucks drum too much, but I would be shocked if he got anywhere near 3/$45. If his peripherals supported it, there would be an argument. The fact is, he's too far removed from his breakout year with the Reds...he'd need to repeat his 2nd half of 2014 next year. And I think it's possible if he remains in the NL. Then that contract number would definitely be in play.

C'mon, nobody has seen The Punisher with Thomas Jane? That might be one of the most low-key comic hero debuts ever...or Judge Dredd, not sure which. Dredd (the recent one, not the character played by Sly Stallone in the Sandra Bullock/Wesley Snipes iteration) was quite the entertaining movie, but very few noticed it.

Well, I think Heyward was the only RFer in the majors who was "great" defensively according to most of the metrics. On the other hand, WAR has become so "overhyped" to the point where teams are supposed to offer more for Alex Gordon or Heyward than Justin Upton, who's the far superior (at least in recent years) offensive player? Not sure I'm buying that...not with the money Victor Martinez is about to get as a DH at his age. Of course, it's also a matter of supply and demand. However, there's no way the Braves don't ask for Anderson and Montas, and that's probably the end of the conversation for Hahn. If he was a cost-controlled asset for the next three years, then it would be a big-time dilemma. Right now, it's nice to dream but the combination of a one-year rental possibility in a (still) likely non-competing year, along with the sheer amount of talent we'd give up that we REALLY need in 2016-19...just doesn't make any sense. And why would either player be willing to sign a "below value/club-friendly" long-term deal like F.Garcia did in 2004?

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/keanu-reeves-i...0673401392.html Keanu Reeves is super bummed Hollywood studios have abandoned him Rights to John Carter sequels expire http://furiousfanboys.com/2014/10/disneys-...lans-new-films/

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Oct 23, 2014 -> 12:51 AM) Am I the only one NOT in to these dozens of comic book movies that come out every year? Seems like every other movie that comes out is about superheroes. Feels like such a cash cow and some Hollywood big wigs are laughing at the amount of money they are raking in by s***ting out comic book movies every few months. Just me? Nope. I watch them all, but am nevertheless not "into" them at the same time. Never read a comic book, and will always prefer watching/reading and discussing a creative original concept...for example, Interstellar, even though it is derived from the physics professor Kip Thorne's black holes book, hopefully Nolan continues to be at the top of his game. Of course, there are movies for "deeper meaning" and those produced merely for entertainment, like the new Keanu Reeves movie all the critics are raving about, John Wick. Gravity would also fall into this category (amazing to watch but utterly forgettable), if we're talking about the sci fi genre. Without the Nolans, Aronofskys, Malicks, del Toro's, the movie world of today would be close to barren. We get it. Without spinoff movies, McDonald's/Burger King action figures, diversified revenue streams from multiple properties, it's hard to get an original concept movie off the ground these days. Too much risk, when the return on investment is much higher if you do a Denzel/Liam Neeson action movie, Transformers 5, TMNT 2, etc.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 23, 2014 -> 12:10 AM) That was a pretty good game for a 7-2 game in my opinion. I still can't believe Cain scored so easily on that bullet base hit to left. I'm used to Sox station to station baseball. Butler looked good tonight. KC will miss him in the lineup in SF. There's really no way he can play. No where to put him. Not without benching Hosmer, which isn't happening with Butler on the way out the door. Ishikawa (the equivalent of Conor playing LF) had a bad throw to the relay man on that play....otherwise it would have been very close at the plate.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 22, 2014 -> 10:58 PM) With Peavy's performance tonight, I'd sign Jake to a two-year deal for six million a year. Can Sox get him on the cheap? Nope, he's likely to receive $10-12 million per season for 2 years. Also VERY likely to stay in the NL this time.

Assuming Shields loses again to Bumgarner in Game 5, it obviously puts the onus on the Royals to beat both Hudson and Vogelsong. At this point, it's looking like it comes back to KC with the Royals down 3-2 and Ventura/Peavy for Game 6 and Guthrie/Vargas/Duffy (whoever pitches the best in the game the Royals win in SF) for Game 7, if it gets that far. The only other option would be to start Finnegan, but he's not stretched out, has been in relief for 5-6 weeks and could only go 2 or MAYBE 3 innings at the most.

Interesting decision to not carry Ibanez on the bench....could have used him there against Machi. We'll see how it turns out. And apparently Yost made the right decision, in hindsight of course. Herrera has 9 pitches so far, and full rest, so he should be able to go 1 2/3. Lefty (former Sox) Javier Lopez in to attempt to get Gordon to roll into a DP. Gore's going to be tough to take out at 2B unless it's hit right at a middle infielder on the ground. Guess we'll find out if Gordon can bunt. OR NOT.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 22, 2014 -> 07:35 PM) It's finally happened. Someone has massively overestimated the price of several free agents. I don't know about massively. They'll each get $10-12 million or so, minimum. Massive would be if they were all at $7.5 million AAV or less. That's not going to happen with the dearth of quality starting pitchers on the market. Masterson, he probably will prefer a one year deal to re-establish value, but those other guys will all for sure be in that range, maybe it will end up being two year deals instead of three, that's also possible. Look at what Josh Johnson got with his spotty injury history. Nolasco, Hughes, Haren, Feldman and Kazmir, etc. We'll see.

QUOTE (LDF @ Oct 22, 2014 -> 06:52 PM) those dang freaking kids..... no respect for old men. yeah, down here they go after the people who download movies. warner bros are leading the charge. Gran Torino movie images come to mind...

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Oct 22, 2014 -> 07:24 PM) Peavy is lucky he has a giant's offense to back his ass. I seem to remember a five run leading evaporating in a blink against the Tigers in the middle innings in 2012.

Ventura doesn't have his best stuff. Seems like the effects of soreness/injury are limiting to the 95-97, touching 98 range....when he averaged 97 in the regular season. Also probably not a good thing when you have to go to Frasor and Finnegan if they need to cover the 5th and 6th. This is a game where Yost is going to be challenged to take his finger off the trigger as far as bringing in Herrera the next time Posey/Sandoval/Pence come up to bat. Tough decision. They have to win this game, pretty much. Especially when Vargas/Guthrie don't exactly inspire fear in the opposition.