caulfield12

QUOTE (thedoctor @ Apr 5, 2009 -> 09:56 AM) is it staff coverage or wire coverage? No, it's from their panel of local "fan experts" that are subscribers to the newspaper...I think the two youngest are 10 and 11, but there are about 30 small "predictions" for the season and their favorite teams...and only one of them was about the White Sox.

Well, I was surprised, frankly, they didn't have Floyd, Danks and Alexei Ramirez all slumping badly and going to Charlotte, along with Josh Fields striking out 175 times and Lillibridge posting the first sub 600 OPS for a player with over 250 at-bats in a season (well, that last one might happen if he doesn't start walking more than once every 100 PA).

to my hometown Quad City Times newspaper after seeing their baseball preview edition this morning... I have never seen so much Cubs/Cardinals bias in my life. I mean, I know your son is named after Ryne Sandberg, but can you try to be a little more objective/fair/unbiased in your major league baseball coverage? Since I have to put up with the QC Times while I back in the US for 2 months, that would be very helpful of your crack staff. On your preview page, you listed 7 "individual" reviews/predictions for the Cubs, 5 for the St. Louis Cardinals, 3 for the Minnesota Twins, 3 for the Royals (umm...they've had one .500+ season in more or less two decades), 2 for the Indians and JUST one for the White Sox. What's really embarassing that you couldn't come up with a more equitable amount of articles for the White Sox, really...it's not like they draw 500,000 fans and the Cubs 5,000,000. In reality, the White Sox have been averaging 2+ million in attendance over the last 4 seasons, not to mention only four years ago, the World Series title, but you probably buried that behind the obituaries page I'm guessing. Maybe I can get a free copy of that article with an Obama souvenir edition? Then the letters you print, the experts must have gone to Baseball for Dummies for assistance. I won't pick apart every single one, but I'll just look at one. It really seems like some of these fans have knowledge about as deep as an AIG profitability and ROI report. Indians (bottom right corner of print version): 1) Ummm...no, Choo will the starting/everyday RF, not the LF. 2) David Dellucci...please try to insert name Ben Francisco for LF, thank you very much. 3) DeRosa solid on defense? Do they provide all Cubs' fans with psychedelic mushrooms to make them believe only the best possible thoughts about their Cubbie heroes? DeRosa is about as solid defensively as a DQ Blizzard after 15 minutes in the August sun, not to mention Peralta and Victor Martinez are atrocious as well 4) Nothing on Travis Hafner, who has shrunk this offseason into Eddie Gaedel 5) No mention of Pavano, Reyes or Lewis as the very shaky back of the rotation 6) No mention of the loss of Fr. Gutierrez and his GG-caliber defense in the OF

Yeah, I remember former model-turned actress Devon Aoki in the first Fast/Furious...there weren't quite as many streets races in this one, but the one they did have was a really good one, FWIW. And the first scene with Michelle Rodriguez and Diesel in the Dominican Republic (didn't see Wilder or Jose Rijo in the background) robbing a 4 trailer gasoline truck will impress the CGI fans out there as well.

Well, you know Kenny Williams does, whenever he gives an interview with an opposing teams' radio broadcasters, the first thing he'll inevitably do is give the impression MOST expects are picking the White Sox for last and and not 3rd or 4th (and a few 2nds and maybe one who has us repeating).

I think in the USA Today Baseball Preview, we were picked for 3rd in the division (behind MIN and CLE) and 7th or 8th in the AL. CLE was 2nd, one spot ahead of us, and Minnesota was 1st, and #5 in the AL, if I can remember correctly. BTW, if Floyd can get a change-up and slider across the plate with any level of consistency (especially his improved change-up, which was very effective the other day), then it almost won't be fair to opposing batters this season. He might win the Cy Young and not surprise many in baseball, although the prevailing opinion from statistical analysis is that he will regress to a 4.25-4.75 ERA type of pitcher with .500 record ala Javier Vazquez. I read the rankings...so, let me get this straight. We're going to fall to 19 because Carlos Quentin isn't really THAT good, but Mike Jacobs IS so good (despite his sub 800 OPS) that the Royals will be BETTER than the White Sox? Yeah, that really makes a tremendous amount of sense. And then they claim Travis Hafner is HEALTHY, but there wasn't ONE shred of evidence that was close to being true based on ST results or simply just looking at his smaller size and swing, which looks way, way off still...silly season is upon us.

Liriano would be Saturday or Sunday...he's getting the OD start instead of Baker, who's now on the DL. Should be: MON: Buehrle vs. Meche WED: Floyd vs. Greinke THUR: Danks/Contreras vs. Kyle Davies FRI: Danks/Contreras vs. RA Dickey (knuckleballer) SAT: Colon vs. Liriano SUN: Buerhle vs. Blackburn

I loved Adventureland, and it only made $2.2 million on Friday and will die a quick death. OTOH, Fast/Furious 4 made $30 million in one day already, will end up at around $75-80 million for the entire 3 days...and is one of the most mindless/brainless movies you could ever hope to see. On Sunday, it will be announced that this movie set the ALL-TIME opening for an April release. Hard to believe, isn't it? It's hard to believe there are so many Vin Diesel fans out there, the Asian presence from Tokyo Drift/Part 3 has been eviscerated almost totally and African-American actors/actress (T. Gibson) nowhere to be found. If there is a subniche for this movie, from watching it once, it would seem to be Hispanics, who, along with Asian-Americans, are one of the most difficult audience demographics to predict in terms of ticket buying behavior. I still think that audiences reward "smart/thinking" movies like Taken with good box office numbers (and word of mouth advertising), but I have no explanation for Paul Blart other than the "people in flyover territory like stars they can identify with and movies made for them and not too laden with insidery Hollywood gibberish (see Tropic Thunder or The Player). I will be interested to see if Wolverine survives all the bad press...Valkyrie held up surprisingly well, considering it might even end up making a SMALL profit when you add in the international marketing and box office for the film. Another movie that could go either way (huge hit or bomb, you know Transformers 2 will make bank) is James Cameron's AVATAR.

QUOTE (bighurt4life @ Apr 4, 2009 -> 06:32 PM) Beckham will be playing in b ham No, I meant Escobar will be starting at W-S and Beckham at BIRM, backing him up on the depth chart. Escobar is far and away our best defensive SS in the system. The only question is his bat at the upper levels...he's obviously aggressive, I think he had 2 steals just today. Ultimately, in 2011/12, I think it will look something like this... 3B Viciedo SS Escobar 2B Beckham 1B/DH Fields/Allen C Flowers CF Jordan Danks LF Alexei Ramirez RF Carlos Quentin Utility player/s: Shelby, Getz, Lillibridge That's a MUCH more athletic and defensive-minded team. You could probably pick Shelby over Danks and not go wrong either, except for the fact that Jordan Danks is a much more natural CFer and I see Ramirez being another Soriano in LF, albeit with much better defensive ability at that position and a very strong arm as well.

Go, go, go Escobar. We have too many middle infielders now. I remember when Andy Gonzalez was the best of our MI prospects. Now we have Ramirez, Getz (10-15 games), Lillibridge. Beckham, Betemit, and Escobar...Silverio and Wilder can go to hell. Another walk by BA. That would probably total Wise, AJ and Ramirez for one month. Lillibridge with a .562 OPS. That's almost Corky Miller-esque. The funny thing is he's hitting .260. Well, that doesn't include his double today...hopefully he'll walk more when the lights come on, as indicated by his minor league lines. Wise and Funny Ears have both left the bases loaded now.

Christian Marrero PHing for Thome gets a SAC fly after Lillibridge got a hustle double. I think that was his first PA. 2-0 White Sox now going into bottom of 5th. Escobar with a solid single for his first hit of the spring. I guess he'll be playing in Winston-Salem behind Beckham in the pecking order.

I would be excited to see Betemit (against only RHP), Viciedo or Allen get some playing time at 1B, but I wouldn't want to see Konerko out for more than 2 weeks. Walk for BA...that's good news. He's going to have to take more pitches, but he's a lot like Wise and Ramirez up there usually swinging early in the count or getting down 0-1/0-2 and getting punched out with offspeed stuff off the plate. Anderson gunned down by Montero stealing 2nd, then Wise makes the 3rd out after he flew out deep into the RF corner and almost hit it out. 1-0 White Sox going into the bottom of the 4th. Big inning for Jose, Young/Drew/Jackson coming up. Highly touted defender Eduardo Escobar in at SS for his second game of the spring with the big league team. Chris Young strikes out, DBacks 1/11 against Jose so far in this game. That's a nice (Paciorek)! Got one pitch up to 94 now, but his average FB is 90-91 now. Lillibridge with a nice play up the middle....now the problem is that Jose has only 50 pitches and they need to elevate his pitch count and give Colon at least innings out there too. So I guess Colon will come in for the bottom of the 6th. Another 1-2-3 inning for Jose. Awesome El Gran Titan De Bronze!

http://www.wgntv.com/weather Right now, if they don't up playing Monday...Tuesday through Sunday looks fine for the time being. Monday looks 50/50 at best...unless they moved the game back to 6 or 7 pm, but then it would be brutally cold. Nothing wrong with Konerko. Salvador Sanchez is already in the game in LF for Quentin, whoever Sanchez is. Contreras through 3 scoreless innings, averaging 91.3 MPH fastball, highest was 93. ONLY 41 pitches through 3, that's good news.

LOL. They said Ramirez was going to be a "force" by the end of this season. I think they're a little late on that observation... White Sox leaving quite a few runners out there, but it doesn't really matter as much as the weather next week. I guess delaying the first starts for Contreras/Colon and having them pitch in better conditions might not be the worst thing is the world if they lose a couple of games the first week due to weather cancellations.

QUOTE (CryptviLL @ Apr 4, 2009 -> 02:36 PM) man i am so ready for beisbol Are you Cubano or Sammy Sosa in disguise? Contreras through 2 innings, seems to be pitching much better this time out...30 pitches through 2. KW expects Colon to pitch at 90-94 today.

"I don't know who's crazier, me, or you for hiring me?" Ozzie to KW. KW tried to give Garland (rent free) his Paradise Valley house but Garland refused to take it for this season...haha. Ah, to be a suffering multi-millionaire who didn't get $10-12 million but had to settle for poverty. Didn't know Josh Fields was also battling hip problems last year....as well as the knee. Mentioned that he was concerned (DUH!) about the leadoff position but satisfied with 2-9. Played up that the White Sox were being picked by some for 5th place. I don't think most predictions have them last...maybe 2nd-4th. Attributed this to the losses of Crede and Cabrera. Had a lot of praise for Garland. Also lots of praise for Cooper. From listening to KW, Contreras will start on the 10th and Colon on the 11th against the Twins, with Buehrle starting the Sunday game against Liriano. Kenny Williams, Jr., will be starting the season at Kannapolis.

and Colon for the 4th/5th starter's spot. Strange to be facing Garland...Thome uncharacteristically swung at a 3-0 pitch and grounded out weakly to 2B. Obviously, everyone just wants to get back to Chicago and get settled in...this game will be over in 2 hours. KW will be getting interviewed on the Diamondbacks' radio broadcast, I'll try to report anything noteworthy. Contreras with 2 quick outs....91-93 with the FB so far. Gave up a hit to Drew on a FB but got Conor Jackson for the K (Jackson the 10th toughest in th NL to strike out last season, so that's encouraging.) Wise with an 854 OPS for the spring and BA at 798.

Between Ramirez's arm and wild/sailing throws and Josh, Konerko might come close to earning part of that $13 million offensively and DEFENSIVELY this season...and yet another reason why Josh Kroeger couldn't make the team, he's a butcher at 1B...certainly nothing like Ross Gload.

Let's say Linebrink or Dotel goes on the disabled list...hypothetically. Who's the first reliever you would call in from Charlotte to force into that 7th/8th inning role, after MacDougal was moved up? Omogrosso would probably be my choice. Russell? Wasserman? Santeliz? Link? Santos Rodriguez? Ely? Cassel? Signing another Cuban or Japanese pitcher? German, Nunez and Jiminez all failed to distinguish themselves this past spring.

What's interesting is that making James Bond "dark/er" has had very much mixed results. In a way, he was kind of becoming tired and cliched under Moore and Dalton has a character...now he's something like Jason Bourne, Jr., almost too evolved and too modern and not enough one-liners and meaningless sex. Maybe part of it's a reaction to the parodies too, movies like Austin Powers. I'm still not sure if that last Bond movie was horrible because of the script or Olgy Kurylenko is meant to be a leggy Ukrainian ubermodel and not actress.

Interesting that Mr. Ryan Sweeney didn't end up mentioned...a lot of people are ready for him to have a "semi" breakout season in OAK...or Carter/Cunningham.

Merkin should be sentenced to do Bristol Sox games with Bill Melton for six weeks this summer...wow, that would be both a snoozefest and a laugh a minute. The sad fact is that Bender was so much more obviously prepared to discuss the White Sox than either one of our guys when they appeared on the audio broadcast. I ALMOST would have preferred Mariotti doing the games, seriously.

And Joe Borchard was worth $5.3 million before they discovered he couldn't hit a breaking ball or above average FB.

MacDougal or Dotel are the only candidates we have internally if Linebrink isn't 100%. At least the fact that he's already throwing 91-93 is much more encouraging than high 80's at this point. The problem seems to be more with the command of his breakin stuff than his FB.

If Wise can hit .280-.290, then we can live with him at the 9 spot, but not leading off...he just doesn't walk enough. The only real candidates for the top 2 spots should be Getz/Ramirez and eventually Beckham. I think the back-up plan (Plan B, Plan A would be trade or waiver wire or Edmonds) would be moving Alexei back out to CF. Remember, the Twins are starting the season without Mauer, Baker (although supposedly Liriano was miffed he wasn't the OD starter, so Baker agreed to take the hit for the team and go on the DL for a short stint but not really miss a start) and possibly Morneau with his iffy back. Maybe they are just saving Baker and Liriano for the White Sox the 2nd series?