caulfield12

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 16, 2013 -> 11:01 PM) Yes, this is true. If he can produce 80% of his prime, he's the three hitter. If he's washed up, bury him at the bottom. He averaged a 908 OPS for the six years preceding his turn with the Sox. Then 592 and 801 with us. 80% of 908 is a 726 OPS. Not even at 90% of his prime can he be the #3 hitter because that's essentially what he was last year, roughly.

QUOTE (Tex @ Mar 16, 2013 -> 06:47 PM) I believe greed and religion are two very distinct things. The thesis "more wars have been started for religion" is very different than "more wars have been started for greed". The old exploration saying of doing it for "gold, God, or glory" holds true with wars as well. Yes and no. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_talents_or_minas Can you separate the belief of many Christians that multiplying their wealth is analagous to faith/works/actions that bring greater glory to the church and more followers into the Kingdom? There's two very different threads in the Bible. The "peace and social justice" side, and yet many parables are used to defend the philosophy behind amassing wealth. Then you have the other side of that same coin, self-determination without the religious backdrop...Ayn Rand's atheistic theory applies http://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/Parill...t_1_of_4).shtml

Was the British Empire more about the glory for England or for God, or both? The explorers' conquests, like the Spanish, Italians, Dutch or Portuguese? To put World War II or I in the religion column would be a simplistic reading of it, but you do have the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the religious/ethnic issues in the Balkans...as a precipitator, and obviously the Holocaust (which you can certainly indict the Catholic Church for their passive or inert stance in the face of Hitler in the late 1930's). Depending on your take on the Japanese, that was either imperialism or the threat of being cut off from precious natural resources such as oil....so the strike first before your enemy grows too strong theory. With the American Civil War, there's no way to get away from the theme or religion, religious faith of the slaves and abolitionists....read many of Lincoln's speeches, they're steeped in religious imagery and verbiage. Revolutionary War....religious freedom, self-determination, emancipation from monarchical control, you can go through every single world conflict and find this latticework connecting the dots, especially the war against the Native Americans in the 1870's, 1880's and early 1890's.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Mar 16, 2013 -> 09:55 PM) I know Mitchell isn't making the team no matter what but I thought maybe his performance so far would have earned him an extra week or something. They still bring the minor leaguers over for some games, but the Sox probably want to get a closer look at Danks, Wise and Tekotte. Sitting Mitchell on the Sox bench would do nothing for his development, he needs to play everyday.

Danks it putting on a rush now, but probably too late....they'll go with the veteran in Wise, with Danks "first man in" in case of an injury. Thought at the beginning of camp the LH catcher (Anderson) had a shot (maybe even platooning with Flowers) but it seems the job is now Gimenez's to lose. Gillaspie has definitely been the most pleasant surprise, along with the continuing progress from Mitchell, but we've seen him play well in bursts throughout his entire spring training, AFL and minor league career. https://twitter.com/M_Montemurro Didn't know the White Sox and Cubs had a beat writer with the Northwest Herald, or that there even was such a paper (just knew the Arlington Daily Herald). Good for her. Not the easiest job for women to be in a locker room in any sport, but especially on a daily/weekly basis. I'm sure there are others around MLB teams, but there can't be more than a handful.

Sale hit hard White Sox's 11-5 loss to A's http://www.heraldextra.com/sports/baseball...1191e3f812.html Love how the Associated Press (which went out all over the country) focuses on Sale, when Parker gave up more runs and the White Sox actually won the freakin' game. Wonder if that would ever happen to the Cubs or Cardinals?

QUOTE (qwerty @ Mar 15, 2013 -> 09:26 PM) What have you been watching lately Caulfield? Tell me all the noteworthy films from the past few months... along with whatever you plan on viewing in the near future... Norwegian Wood, Japanese film, it's a similar "depression" story to Silver Linings Playbook or Girl, Interrupted, but very dark/somber and yet beautifully filmed at the same time....story of love and loss, based on one of my favorite writers in the world, Murakami (Wind Up Bird Chronicle). One of the stars is the Japanese actress who was so good in Babel and got an Academy Award nomination for her smaller role. Identity Thief wasn't bad Oz: The Great and Powerful Will definitely see Spring Breakers Mama The Interrupters The Invisible War The Gatekeepers I actually liked The Last Stand with Arnie more than I imagined I would....have held out against any desire to see the new Die Hard Here in China, Lost in Thailand and The Journey West (Stephen Chow)....the two biggest money makers in Chinese history, following 2/3 behind Avatar's box office. Undefeated (not to be confused with the Sarah Palin one) I've watched the Ayn Rand movies just to laugh at how atrocious they were, Atlas Shrugged and its sequel Cloud Atlas (tried to read the book but couldn't get into it) Am reading Robopocalypse (Wilson) and really enjoying it....mothballed Stephen Spielberg film project project Upside Down (Jim Sturgess and Kirsten Dunst), some of the reviews have been quite critical of the central plot element, but I really liked it.....kind of reminded me of Adjustment Bureau, albeit lacking the ability of Matt Damon as Sturgess is something of a bland actor IMO Really want to read Dark Holes (Kip S. Thorne)....by the Cal Tech physics professor whose work has been loosely translated into the plot for INTERSTELLAR, the next Christopher Nolan project Another great book is Shantaram, albeit 932 pages long. But worth it.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3649&p=.htm Which movies will make over $1 billion worldwide in 2013.

The older I get the more I despise people using officials as an excuse to rationalize a loss. That said, I come away from watching Iowa’s 59-56 loss to Michigan State in the second round of the Big Ten tournament feeling as though the men in stripes played too great a role in the contest. Michigan State has a reputation for playing in your jersey defense. They are physical. It’s the type of physicality the Big Ten is ‘known for’ and quite frankly the type of physicality that is ugly basketball and has made the Big Ten the butt of more than a few jokes through the last decade-plus. In the second half of this game, right about the time Iowa was up double digits with under 10 minutes to play, Michigan State’s guards were delivering a lot of contact on Iowa’s guards when they had the ball, but no calls came. That happened over and over. Michigan State’s Adreian Payne ‘blocked’ an Iowa dunk attempt that actually didn’t get any ball, but no foul was called. Late in the game, with Iowa down one and Michigan State shooting with three-seconds left on the shot clock, Aaron White was whistled for a very, very questionable foul. It was so bad even Iowa State fans could not believe what they were seeing: @nvil23 @haw k eyenation :Woo-wee, we have s ome ref coo k ing here tonight … a s a Clone fan, Haw k s getting s crewed — JGerjet s (@JnJ4cy) March 16, 2013 @haw k eyenation Cyclone here, M S U getting away with s ome K U s tyle mugging s . The old rule of s tart mugging early s o it won ’ t get called late. — Nic k V (@nvil23) March 16, 2013 I realize this is going to read like a ‘whiny fan’ rant. I’m fine wearing that one in this instance. The ‘hand checking’ that MSU was allowed to get away with was just egregious, and former NBA Champ Bob Hansen felt the same during and after the game as I listened to the broadcast. Does Bob want Iowa to win? Yes he does. However Bob is not your typically bleeding heart homer that you hear on University approved radio. All this said, Michigan State is a very, very good basketball team. They are a better basketball team than Iowa is and the better team, on the whole of the season, won the game. Aside from the highly debatable officiating, here is where Iowa lost the basketball game: Iowa had 19 turnovers to 13 for Michigan State and the Spartans had 16 offensive boards to Iowa’s seven. Iowa had back to back unforced errors in the last two minutes by Marble and Anthony Clemmons led to five MSU points. Going over eight minutes and forty seconds scoring just two points (10:24 to play and leading by 12 to 2:21 to play trailing by eight) in part of a 24-4 run. Yes, that is why Iowa lost. But we’ll remember the officiating, and while it was poor and certainly contributed to the changing of momentum and it was mind numbing how a team as physical as Michigan State is had just three fouls with just over three minutes to play in the game, Iowa had more than enough chances to win the game. Fran McCaffery led off his press conference with this quote: “I’ve coached in a lot of games, a lot of seasons. I’ve coached in a lot of tournaments, NCAA tournaments. This team deserved a better fate tonight.” McCaffery was asked a follow up question on officiating…he paused for over 15 seconds before providing a three word answer. It was uncomfortable and also spoke volumes about what he thought of the officiating and how it impacted his team’s chances to win. When asked about whether youth had anything to do with his team falling apart down the stretch, he became angry and defensive, perhaps even defint: “That had nothing to do with it! Nothing…at all…to do with it.” He didn’t scream, but he was firm. In the end, Iowa drops to 21-11 on the year and went 10-10 against Big Ten competition. Iowa’s RPI will settle somewhere in the 70′s, most likely too far out of the mix to make it into the NCAA tournament. Iowa will likely wind up as a #1 seed in the NIT tournament and while this sort of finish is what I expected for this team before the season began, they were so close to a magical kind of season…something that comes out of the blue that you do not expect. It’s a shame that Iowa won’t make it into the NCAA tournament because they are playing like a Top 30, Top 40 team in the nation. But that’s not how it works and Iowa’s out of conference schedule is going to wind up costing them. Iowa will learn its post season fate on Sunday evening and school officials have said they would be able to host some NIT games, even with Carver Hawkeye Arena being a site for the Women’s NCAA tournament. jon miller/hawkeyenation.com

You know it's bad when ISU fans are feeling sorry for you. No NCAA appearances since 2006. F--- Gary Barta for firing Dr. Tom Davis in 1998 and putting a curse on this entire program. It used to be that we'd automatically get into the NCAA's almost every year, win the first round game and then come up against a superior ACC team and get it handed to us. And then to watch that megalomaniac and prick Alford having success at Univ. of New Mexico. It sucks to be from Iowa and see your teams get destroyed by PAC 10 and SEC speed and never be able to recruit against it. Same thing with going up against MSU, OSU, Illinois and Michigan in recruiting. At least Wisconsin has a winning coach, even though his talent level hasn't ever been much higher than Iowa's or ISU's or UNI's/Creighton.

So basically, who do you want to keep, besides Konerko? Chris Sale? Why not trade him too, as he just signed an extremely team-friendly contract, before he gets injured? By the time that the team has been rebuilt to your liking, Sale will probably be injured or his salary will be too high for your tastes. Is there ANYONE IN THE ENTIRE ORGANIZATION you actually like and want to keep around for 2014 and 2015? Who are you going to build around? Oh, that's right, the solution was to go out and pay huge money to Josh Hamilton and Greinke. Okay. And, since every scout in baseball agrees with your assessment that Viciedo won't make any continued progress at all as a hitter or fielder, we can't trade him for BJ Upton, either.

What new? My Hawkeyes choking away another 2nd half lead. 17-4 Spartans run. Oglesby had two looks at 3 to make it a 15 point lead, but continues to have no confidence. Wilting down the stretch, too many turnovers. 19-4 run. Iowa down 3 now and desperate for any offense. 24-4 run. Jesus. 33-20 lead evaporated after they held off the Spartans for the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half. Iowa always down 2-3 dominant athletes/wings when they play teams like MI, OSU or MSU.

This whole logic is predicated on eitehr Carlos Sanchez or Gordon Beckham playing SS at the same value or level as Ramirez over those next three years. If they can't play, and you have to replace him externally, then the entire case becomes moot....we've sold a player for below market value before waiting on a rebound and we have to go back into the FA market or trade market and pay a Nick Swisher for Gio/DeLosSantos/Sweeney price. So we'd either end up gutting our minor league system again or paying even more money to a new SS, in the same way we overpaid for Dunn because we didn't have a LH-hitting equivalent in the minors to replace Thome.

Surprisingly, he's not arguing $36.5 million over 4 years. Of course, that would mean acknowledging that the White Sox would still want to exercise that club option in 2016, lol. Not very far off from what Adam Dunn will be making for only two years to just hit the ball and not even play the most important position on the field after catcher.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 15, 2013 -> 09:51 AM) Wreck it Ralph is fantastic. Agreed 100%.

Ritchie wasn't actually THAT horrible with us, but he started to battle some nagging injuries. And it was Wells, Fogg and Sean Lowe. 2 1/2 starters, and a big contract, for 1/2 a starter.

That's almost as much as Michael Jordan was paid in his heyday. Dump his contract, stat.

QUOTE (floridafan @ Mar 15, 2013 -> 03:19 AM) Off the subject...I apologize, but this is the "catch all" thread! I am entering Texas at 3:18 AM on the way to Arizona to catch some ST games! Best time of the year. End of spring training/Opening Day...hope springs eternal for all 30 baseball teams. Augusta/Master's/Amen Corner. NCAA Basketball Tournament/One Shining Moment.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 14, 2013 -> 02:28 PM) If the punter were owed the 5th most money on the team . . . Dunn $15.0 million Peavy $14.5 million Danks $14.25 million Konerko $13.5 Rios $12.5 Floyd $9.5 Ramirez $7.0 million Thornton $5.5 million Crain $4.5 million And yet Ramirez's contract is the biggest issue on the team. Sure. Keep thinking that.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 14, 2013 -> 01:35 PM) Part of this comes from many of the posters here "grew up" in the steroid area of baseball. This means everybody should have 15-20 HRs and a slugging% of 450-500. They really don't remember the time when SS,2B and CF commonly were defense first and a 260 ave. was commonplace. Not that the standards should be lowered as players have gotten better over the years. It's just that the value of that type of player isn't recognized as much. With defensive metrics beginning to catch up with offensive metrics this may start to change some. Blame it all on that AL group of shortstops in the late 90's....Nomar, Jeter, A-Rod and Tejada.

It's better as is.... Half of the fun of tournament selection Sunday is arguing about the teams that weren't included, the mid majors being hurt by major conference teams refusing to play them, but the overall parity has increased with the NBA exodus for most superstar level players...so getting in is a pretty fair bar and standard. The NBA and NHL let too many teams in and it waters down their regular seasons, compared to the NFL or MLB.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 14, 2013 -> 01:35 PM) Bump for the addition of first basemen. I expected us to be a touch higher than #12, but I can admit that I probably overrate Paulie. However, it is very interesting to note that we're substantially higher than KC and CLE. Hosmer's going to have to put up a sub 700 OPS 2013 for anyone to give up on that talent....especially with his plate discipline. Even then, guys like Carlos Pena have hung around and finally matured. Or, on his own team, Alex Gordon.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 14, 2013 -> 12:19 PM) I saw one of those "bracketologists" on TV the other day. He claimed not only would Iowa have to beat MSU, they would have to get to Sunday to get in. They were so close to being a really good team this season. I think they lost 5 conference games where they had the lead the last 2 minutes. Its one of the pitfalls of having a young team. They should be really good next year. Only losing May, and supposedly Uthoff has been their best player in practice, although that usually is the standard line for guys who aren't playing, and Jok seems to be a pretty good recruit. He was really highly thought of as an 8th grader. Supposedly Weber offered him a scholarship. Injured his knee, had surgery and really struggled. Apparently the surgery was botched up. Had another surgery and was really good this year. He lives in Des Moines but I think he's from the Sudan. Maybe he can be Loul Deng II. Basabe looked like a monster his freshman year and regressed. Marble was injured for a key game they really needed him. All those early painful losses by razor thin margins and the horrible January conference start. White and Oglesby have been up and down all year, and then you have two freshman in Gesell and Clemmons, and they've battled some injuries as well. All things considered, things are still looking so much better than the end of the Lickliter years...but it is quite annoying to see how well Alford is doing in New Mexico after he just up and abandoned the program and left it in horrible shape and perhaps the legacy of the most unpopular coach in school history after replacing the most popular in Dr. Tom. Losing Ben Brust, Cody Larson and Aaron Fuller was another crushing blow. So the one year Lickliter was successful recruiting and they lose those kids to Wisconsin and Florida. They definitely have to make the tournament next year...those are fair expectations, it will be Year 4 for McCaffrey and seven years removed from an NCAA appearance if they miss again with a loss to MSU.

While we're at it, we might as well trade DeAza to the Yankees. We might actually get something back for him. But that goes in the trading Alexei Ramirez bag of tricks...punting on the 2013 season before it has even started.

I wonder if an Iowa win against NW gets them in, with Minnesota now out? Seems the Gophers are usually in the Top 20 at some point in a season and completely fade out. Probably, Iowa would need to be MSU to seal it, a huge task. If they would have only beaten Nebraska on the road or not had a ball that was halfway down rim out against WI and then go on to lose in double OT, it would already be a done deal unless they somehow managed to lose to the Wildcats. It would be the first time in the NCAA's since 2006, when we lost to one of those direction Lousiana schools with an almost 20 point lead in the 2nd half and a 3 seed (Horner, Brunner, Haluska team, can't remember if Tyler Smith was also on it).