Pastime

Sometimes I wish that the Sox would rebuild the team the way Cleveland did. Yes, their fans suffered for a few years, but look at them now. I said SOMETIMES, not always.

****Just 15 minutes to Armageddon.**** Don't forget to tell your friends.

Those of us here in Chicagoland suffer a lot. The Cubs are always the first team shown on the highlights, even if they lost 12-0 and the Sox won 5-4 on a 9th inning grand slam, their fans are everywhere polluting the landscape (much like cockroaches), everyone assumes I'm a Cub fan when I'm on vacation and they ask me where I'm from, the papers in Chi-Town are so biased it's sickening, and I can't turn on sportsradio without hearing about the Cubs. Plus, people keep ripping our ballpark, even though it's 10X nicer, 10X cleaner, 10X more modern, 10X better, and our true fans are 10X more knowledgable about the game of baseball. By the way, I spent the last 6 years in college, and trust me, the dumber and stupider students wore Cubs hats and jerseys. The Sox fans were always the better students, and the ones who had a much better future. My wife is a Cubs fan, SADLY, (is that grounds for divorce - no, according to the law, *SIGH*), and I've already made it very clear that when we have children in the next couple of years, they will NOT root for or watch the Cubs. She argued and fought with me on that, but I put my foot down. I don't want my kids ending up stupid. My wife's an enigma - a smart person who's a Cubs fan (they do exist, but are as rare as red diamonds), and I want kids who strive to succeed, not kids who strive to be ignorant loser assclowns.

we had 4 post season appearances from 1901-1979 we have had 3 post season appearances from 1980-2003 JR's % is pretty good in Sox history That post brought a chuckle and a big smile to my usually grumpy face.

Jamie Burke is our version of Craig Wilson. Now if we can just get the boy to grow out his hair and be hygenically irresponsible, we're on to something. . . . We're not all going to die, Cowbell. Some of us will survive the nuclear holocaust launched on us in a half-hour. Hey, some of our ancestors survived the Great Ice Age, so I'm not too worried.

It's a backhanded shot at Konerko bashers, Yas. The only thing I've ever bashed is how S-L-O-W he runs. I've seen stoves with more mobility.

Mike Jackson is slider-happy, and that's all he throws. The hitters have figured out the relic's strategy - hitters just wait for a slider in their wheelhouse and then hammer it somewhere. Jackson isn't fooling anyone (except for the Sox, that is).

On Jan, 19. bill Veeck's second and final tour as owner of the WhiteSox ended with the sale of the club to real estate developer Jerry Reisndorf and television executive Eddie Einhorn. Sadly, the Reinsdorf Era has failed to produce a World Series winner OR even a World Series appearance - and has only produced 3 playoff appearances in 25 years. What a truly great era it has been.

Buehrle's strength has always been changing speeds and keeping the hitters off balance by fooling them. Lately, it seems like he's challenging hitters and just putting the ball in there, daring the hitters to do something with it - and they are. He doesn't have the stuff to really challenge anyone. The sooner Mark remembers that he's a Tom Glavine/Jamie Moyer type of pitcher, the sooner he'll start tasting success again. I've seen Barry Zito doing the same kind of crap - hence his mediocre record. You win with what made you successful in the first place. You don't change approaches just because you feel like it.

It has been nearly nine months since Konerko has had any contact with his former manager. From what I've seen lately, it seems like it's been nine months since Konerko has had any contact with a baseball, too.

This start today may just very well be Jon Rauch's last chance with this organization. The fact that he's facing one of the best offenses in baseball hardly inspires confidence, but that's why they play the game. If he changes speeds, he's got a shot. But if he tries too hard to impress and just fires fastballs in there, it will be ugly.

From the "DUH" files, the Sox need another starter and 2 relievers. Simple as that. Well, not that simple. Can you imagine the cost for 3 pitchers? I don't think we have the resources to acquire that, unless we mortgage the farm system, and that will kill us for the future. It's almost a lose/lose proposition.

On a positive note, the Sox are playing their worst baseball of the season over the past 3 weeks, and they are still only 2 games out. They're in their "annual slump." (You can almost set a watch by it). It's sad, really. As for Mike Jackson, if you watch the games or at least listen to them, you will know that Jackson throws 95% sliders. If the announcers know it and you and I know it, then you can bet your sweet bippy that the hitters know it as well. Broussard knew EXACTLY what was coming, he waited on it, and he launched it. Mike Jackson is useless at this point unless we need someone to throw batting practice, because he's throwing that in games lately.

I don't think Buehrle will "plunk" anyone, but don't be surprised if Lawton just happens to get a pitch "up and in." You can be subtle without being obvious. Whatever that means.

None of you are helping my already diminished confidence.

Before anyone confuses "Ozzieball" with "Florida Marlins baseball," remember that Florida has Pierre/Castillo at the top of the lineup. (Slap hitters with great speed). After that, their lineup is much like ours. Slow, plodding power hitters who run station-to-station. If we could find a 1-2 combo like Florida's, then we could basically do the same thing they do. Let the tablesetters do their thing, and then let the boppers drive them in. "Ozzieball" would involve us having a team of contact hitters with speed, but not a lot of pop.

I just want to say that it was beautiful to see the highlights last night and see full bleachers instead of seeing empty seats. I've been to 5 games this season, but the Sox are 0-5 when I attend, so I am scared to go to any more games. My dad told me I was a jinx when I was a little kid, so I keep that in mind. His softball team was 54-4 when I wasn't there, and was 0-14 when I was. You do the math. Over the past 3 years: The Sox - 5-23 when I attend. The Bulls - 1-8 when I attend. The Blackhawks - 1-14 when I attend. The Bears - 2-13 when I attend. Either I pick games where the opponent is really really good, or I really am a jinx.

I remember a Cubs team in 1999 - they were in first place in late June and riding high. They ran into the White Sox, who swept their asses and sent them in a season-long tailspin. I only hope the we can revisit history and stick it squarely up their asses yet again. And please don't fear Prior. He's still in "spring training" mode, and he's hardly looking very good. We'll stick it to him but good. I think Frank homers in all 3 games and drives in 9 for the series. I only wish I wasn't going on vacation - I want to see all the games. However, all I'll see is Red Sox games.

The fans - most of them know about as much about baseball as I know about aeronautical engineering. The park - it's an old, outdated, dank, stinky park with no modern amenities OR modern plumbing for that matter. It's just the city's largest singles bar. But if you love soaking your shoes in other people's piss, you're right at home there. The media coverage - we are the red-headed bastard stepchild, but that just makes it sweeter when we win and they flounder. The Chicago media can kiss all our asses, quite frankly. When they write or report a cogent thought, call me. The aura surrounding the team - never in my life have I seen such love and dedication to a s***ty franchise with a LOSING tradition. In my sick little world, if you follow a perennial loser, then you are a loser as well. People surrround themselves with what makes them comfortable and makes them feel at home - losers like to be around other losers, and they love to follow losing entities. Sammy Sosa - not a team player, swings for the fences always, thinks he's the greatest thing in the world, plays loud music with no consideration for his teammates, cheats by corking his bat, makes stupid commercials, hot-dogs in the field and off it, loves to tell you how good he is, etc. How can you not dislike that team?

I'm leaving for Boston Friday, so I have a simple request for anyone going to the Sox/Cubs game. Please bring some sneezing powder with you and blow it at Sammy. Thank you.

"Slugfests" are fun once in a while, but we wouldn't need to worry about that if we had a f*cking bullpen. I'm really getting sick of watching big leads fade faster than a puddle of water in the desert. Kenny needs to not only acquire a proven starter, but a couple of decent bullpen guys would be nice as well. The Expos, Pirates, Mariners, and Blue Jays are basically finished, so let's attack their rosters. Is it a rule that only Jim Hendry can stick it up the Pirates GM's ass?

And I agree with Brando, we need a real good starting pitcher added to the staff, not some piece of crap "lower tier" guy who just happens to come on the cheap. Attendance is up, and that obviously means profits are up. It's time for Reinsdorf to s*** or get off the pot. It's going to be hard enough to keep the Twins at bay with our 3-5 starters as it is - if we make the playoffs with the starting staff as it is now, we'll be one and done AGAIN.

Coop's doing the best he can with what he has. Takatsu is the only member of the bullpen who has been "automatic." Let's face facts: Pollite is a journeyman with no control, Marte is still trying to find his old self, Cotts and Adkins are basically rookies, and Koch was the Devil Incarnate. Plus, Scott Schoeneweis is now starting to show why he ended up in Anaheim's bullpen and should be in ours, Garland is as up and down as a playgroud see-saw, and our 5th starter du jour keeps getting their ass handed to them. If Coop had some better pitchers, we would be seeing better results.

This is just a simple thought, but when I was slumping in my 4 years of baseball (high school and Division III), I would concentrate on just one part of my hitting - hitting the ball with solid contact. I was a power hitter - if you want to call it that - and when working on my swing, I was content on just making solid contact and driving the ball in the gaps and solidly on the ground. When you're in a slump, you try to correct one thing about your swing, and then you work on the other stuff (HR's) once it's sorted out and corrected. Once I had that "contact" thing down pat, I would then look to drive the s*** out of the ball once my swing was more normal and natural. Believe me, he'll be in the 20-25 HR area before it's all said and done. And even if he isn't, as long as he has 85-100 RBI at year's end, it's okay by me. I would rather that Carlos finished with 17 HR and 105 RBI than have him finish with 31 HR and 77 RBI. He's not Rob Deer, after all. Or even Sneezin' Sammy, who can't get RBI's unless he does hit home runs. ACHOO!!

Well, we got Jon tonight, but I still saw the Scarecrow (Joe Crede), the TinMan (Carlos Lee), and the Cowardly Lion (Ron Karkovice - don't know why he was there).