IlliniBob72

I agree with all but point 3. IMO, Garland was not the option last night. Starting pitchers have a routine on their scheduled start. Telling Garland 1 to 2 hours prior to the game and then sending him out to toe the rubber could have been devastating. Maybe I'm wrong, but knowing how quirky some starting pitcher are about their game day routines, Jon wouldn't have been in the right mindset. Just my opinion, of course. Well, then either way the Sox were f***ed. Schoeneweis may have been OK since he pitched decently last night, but we all saw in Boston that Wright cannot start a game. Before last night, Schoensie was also a poor option.

OK, let's try this hypothetical... Manuel decides to ignore Loaiza when/if he tells him he's feeling under the weather, but will pitch through it. He starts Garland instead, who goes out with one hour of prep and gets lit up. When asked why Garland went instead of him, Loaiza tells reporters that he was feeling under the weather, but was more than willing to take the mound. Result? Manuel is absolutely crucified in the press, by the fans, and his bashers here. Holy s***, he'd be burned in effigy! Based on the importance placed on telling pitchers when they're going that I saw here after the Buerhle/Cotts decision, I can only assume that Garland would have been less than good going on such short notice. That is unless that was overblown before.

C'mon guys, don't you think this is such a no-brainer that it can't possibly be as you're making it? JM may be a s*** manager, but are we really to believe that Loaiza walks up to Manuel, wipes the vomitus off his chin, and tells Manuel that he's too sick to pitch. Manuel then says, "That's great, Steve, but we need you. Now wipe that puke off your shirt and take the bump." We've also seen great performances from guys who were sick. Michael Jordan, Roger Clemens...s***, I saw Donovan McNabb step away from center, puke, and get back to take the snap. Not saying that JM should have expected that from Loaiza, but is there a slight chance that Loaiza expected that??? Hell, Scottie Pippen took hell for sitting out with a migraine headache. Perhaps Loaiza just wanted to gut it out. Until I hear from a reliable source that Loaiza told JM he couldn't go, I'm going to assume he wanted the ball.

LOL How could he take offense to that?

There you go again, stating that the team has a ton of talent. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems that the players are always the last to be blamed by you for their failures. Maybe you're too close to them, I don't know, but it always seems to be the owner, the manager, the general manager. Hell, tonight you laid all the blame on JM, again. The team is loaded with talent...KW brought that talent here. JR is paying that talent and the GM that brought them here. JM certainly has his faults, but he didn't walk 5 tonight. He didn't get rocked by the Twins for the second start in a row. He didn't bow his head while getting out of the box on an easy 5-4-3 DP like Konerko did. Players lose ballgames, IMO.

Until this season, I always felt that I'd rather have myself at the plate in a clutch situation than Frank Thomas, but this season he finally got some huge hits. Too bad he hasn't gotten more seemingly little ones along with them.

One that spends more money than the team brings in? Jerry Colangelo already owns a team.

Jesus, when did this thread become a Party of Five episode?

He gave up a ding-dong to Giambi in the ninth to blow it. I felt at the time and still do that that game was the turning point of the season. It killed the Sox.

Foulke failed last year as the closer, plain and simple. He was too expensive to keep around as a set-up man. It appeared to me that he was too wrapped up in his desire to be in the starting rotation. I'm sorry the trade didn't work out better, but I was happy to see him go.

Yeah, it's obvious his terrible reputation is hurting the Sox. He can't seem to pull off a deal anymore! Other than R. Alomar, Everett, Colon, Koch, Marte, and Sullivan, he can't seem to trade for anybody! Have you noticed that practically all of KW's deals from "ShoulderGate" on have involved strictly our young, healthy, minor leaguers with possibly bright futures ahead of them? Or maybe it's just me. KW's mortgaging the minors because no GM wants a Sirotka-like acquisition from the Majors courtesy of KW. It's just you. Minor league players get injured just like major leaguers. Just ask Jon Rauch. If anything, it'd probably be easier to sneak an injured minor leaguer into a deal than a major leaguer. Besides, Foulke, Kip Wells, D. Jimenez, S. Lowe, Josh Fogg, were all traded from the major league roster after "Shouldergate". And I don't buy this whole thing about mortgaging the minor leagues. Other than Ring, the Sox gave up nobody. Webster may be something someday, but Reed offsets him. They still have Reed, Borchard, Rauch, Honel, so they're OK. And besides, why is winning in 2007 better than winning now?

Yeah, it's obvious his terrible reputation is hurting the Sox. He can't seem to pull off a deal anymore! Other than R. Alomar, Everett, Colon, Koch, Marte, and Sullivan, he can't seem to trade for anybody!

No, that doesn't make sense. First of all, heaven knows what kind of pitchers he's catching in the Florida League. He should have it held against him that some acne faced 20 year old kid can't throw strikes? Second, he's just only learning how to handle a staff. He probably can't be expected to do that for several more years.

I think being a great hitter at an historically weak hitting position helps him.

John Ritter was easily one of the nicest celebrities I've ever heard interviewed. Heard him once interviewed by Wendy Snyder and Bill Leff on the radio and I could not believe what a nice guy he was. Almost TOO nice. Thought it was an act, but everything I have seen and heard says he was the real deal. A true shame.

My wife had kidney stones while pregnant with our son. We had more than a few trips to the emergency room. She thought she was going to die and from the way she was acting I believed her. It was so bad, even though she was 6 months pregnant, they took x-rays and filled her with morphine. It's amazing the kid didn't end up damaged. Perhaps that's why he came out 10 lbs 6 oz.!

Terry Boers on The Score was saying that Mauer was ready to head to Florida State to play football for Bobby Bowden. Not sure if he knows what he's talking about. Mauer would be a fool to leave baseball. He's no Drew Henson.

Well, I'm glad that the fans aren't losing heart. The Sox are tied for first with less than three weeks to go. It's exciting as all hell and I'm going to enjoy it. Three more games with the Twinkies and 7 more with the fading Royals. Sox go to Boston where they won't see Pedro and open with the very hittable Jeff Suppan. Yankees at home, whom they whipped the last series they met up with them. Say I'm in denial, I don't care. I like the Sox. And I've got too many other important things in my life to get angry with a baseball team.

You wouldn't pitch Colon for 8 days??? And how is JM supposed to know who Gardenhire is going to pitch in which game of the series? Surely if JM has so much luxury in tinkering with his rotation, Gardenhire does also. It really doesn't matter anyway. Since the Sox scored 3 runs in the last two games combined, whether they had Colon and Buerhle pitching or Cy Young and Koufax, they probably would have lost anyways. The top 4 guys pitched in the series, you can't ask for much more than that.

I'm looking for a Twins letdown versus the Tribe. Count on it.

That's rich, coming from a teammate of A.J. Pierzynski, who made an ass of himself with his celebration in front of the A's dugout in last year's playoffs.

I started umping high school baseball this past season and after doing that for a dozen games, I'll never b**** about an ump again. Well, hardly ever

That's pretty funny, considering the Twins have become notorious for their on-field antics. Pierzynski's embarrassing fist-pumping at the A's dugout after they knocked them out of the playoffs last season is the most glaring example. The Twins are annoying and should go away.

The Sox haven't seen me pitch before. Think the Twinkies would pay me say $50 to pitch tonight? Well, I'd have to drive in. Maybe tomorrow.

I guess the moral of this story is never let facts get in the way of a good hatred.