mmmmmbeeer

Sorry...couldn't help it.. I just felt this wasn't spring training without a thread about it....it's become tradition it seems.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 10:16 AM) If Selig did that, he would be breaking the contract signed with the union. It would result in an instant strike and that is something MLB could not allow to happen so soon after 1994. Granted, Selig does have those 'best intertests of baseball' powers, but he cannot assume a K.M. Landis attitude in this day and age. This is an issue though, in my opinion, that the union will break shortly after a strike. How much public support do you think the union would get for refusing drug tests? Selig would only have to utter the words, "if they aren't cheating, then we shouldn't have a problem with testing...I'm looking out for the integrity of the game." Seriously, what the hell could the players' union possibly say in response that would justify a work stoppage in the public's eye? They say that the MLBPA is the most powerful union in the country, Selig had a chance to knock them down a notch. The players who weren't taking PEDs would have been pissed to be out of work to cover for the cheaters, the fans would've been behind Selig and against the union, leaving nothing but the hardcore union guys and PEDs users feeling strongly about the strike. I don't know, I firmly believe Selig could not have messed things up much worse.

QUOTE (joesaiditstrue @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 01:02 PM) The only asterisk that needs to be placed is next to Bud Selig's name, for allowing that entire era to exist without stepping in and nipping it in the bud before it became what it is today. He seriously needs to be canned and replaced. If ARod is suspended, they damn well better suspend the other 103 players whose names we don't know. Talk about getting a raw deal... an anonymous test that he didn't even have to take, and he's going to get suspended for someone illegally leaking his name 6 years later? Selig REALLY needs to go.

If every GM had the ability to have as many "sure things" as you seem to expect, the game of baseball would be pretty boring, imo.

I'll bet he gets a couple of ab's on June 7th when I'll be in the stands. Thanks, dude.

Anyone got the presale password for mlb.com users this morning? I registered again this morning but apparently I was too late to receive an email containing a password. Thanks

QUOTE (3E8 @ Dec 8, 2008 -> 08:57 PM) I believe you were going for Jonah Hill Yeah. That guy.

I think they hired Seth Rogen to draw the logo.

We should have traded Bobby at the same time we should have traded MB.....but we didn't trade either of them. So yes, although it's a year or two too late, I'm in favor of trading Jenks. He'll command more than he's actually worth and his return can be used to fill atleast one of our holes with a stud everyday player.

I didn't read this whole thread, but I'll chime in having been a member of the board for a while now.... The one thing that REALLY separated this site from the other guys was the unfiltered, say whatever the hell needs to be said aspect. If I felt like dropping 16 F-bombs after a tough loss and have sympathetic ears, this is where I could come and read posts from others who were just as pissed off as I was, maybe more if they had 17 F-bombs in their post. For the most part, this board seems to attract a much younger crowd and yet the rules are fit for a family site. I used to like the attitude that said, "hey, if you don't like it, you don't have to stay". Now it seems as if there is a whole bunch of coddling going on to attract new posters, as if the profanity and unedited content was scaring away new members. I think we've kind of seen what the effects have been...it is slower here. It's a damn shame too because baseball minds like Kalapse, DBAHO, CHISOXFN, BHAM Barons, PTATC, and MANY others are being kept to the eyes of less 'viewers' as newcomers see more activity on WSI and choose that board. Not that I really give a s***....I'm still here and happy to be here and will always be here. I just wish there was more new blood and more, eh, animated conversations to be shared.

This was very reminiscent of the Twins series at the dome...getting beat by the 2 guys in the lineup who can beat you. I understand that Oz is reluctant to give free bases; we've seen numerous examples since he came on board. But ya know, it's never too late to change your strategy and pitch around/IBB the guy in the lineup who can hurt you.

I hate to do it, but.......where would he play?

Big shout out to Jim Thome for his exceptionally veteran at-bat with a runner on 2nd, 0 outs, in the 9th inning. Only a man of his stature in the league, experience, and talent would have the where-with-all to swing at the first pitch and aim to the left side of the field. Nice job, Jimmy!!!

This game pissed me off, no doubt. But ya know when I screamed the absolute loudest at my TV? When Mr. Veteran, Jim Thome, steps to the plate and not only swings at the first pitch he sees but was HITTING TO THE 3B SIDE!!!! An inside out swing. As a veteran he better know damn well what to do in that situation, work the count and pull the ball. He did neither, nor did he attempt to do either. Retire Jim.

Me thinks this team likes playing at the Cell. This could be a very nice month.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 21, 2008 -> 01:14 PM) Im not so sure Alexei is an upgrade offensively. Bingo....certainly not enough to make up for the freaking kickass dp duo of ocab and juanie. I really don't like Juan much as a player...i think he's out of shape, plays selfishly, and doesn't listen to his coaches...but the man is a true pleasure to watch in the field. That cannon of his gets my heart pumping when he goes to gun someone down.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Apr 10, 2008 -> 09:01 PM) Last year a game against Tampa Bay I was going to was called off due to rain about an hour and a half before gametime. It stopped raining by scheduled game time and didn't rain again that day (you could even see the sunset). Game was rescheduled for a Monday afternoon in late August/early September and I couldn't go because of school and couldn't get tickets for a different game. What a brutal screw job by the Sox that was. Yes!!! That whole thing sucked. I had brought my family of 5 up to Chicago from Atlanta, planning on taking my two sons to the game. Needless to say they were really excited. My brother and his fiance were in from New Hampshire for the game as well. We were also planning on taking my uncle, the uncle who had taken my brother and I to a ton of games when we were kids and really did a lot to turn us onto the Sox. With the kids in school we didn't make it up for the make-up game. I had bought pretty good seats off of a guy on Ebay and was now stuck with some Monday afternoon, meaningless tickets. Luckily my dad sold 4 for $100 to someone at his work and I gave the other two and the parking pass to my uncle to use (he doesn't like to go to games much anymore because the price of parking REALLY pisses him off). I couldn't believe how nicely it cleared up that night, wish they'd just delayed for a bit instead of calling it before game time.

This is the first time in many seasons that the Sox have had success scoring this early in the season. I like what I've been seeing. I hope Owens doesn't come in and screw it all up.

Considering Ozzie's threat to share something about Maggs during their little spat, I'm pretty sure this is spot on and this is precisely what Ozzie was referring to.

AL East -- Sawks AL Central -- Injuns AL West -- Halos AL WC -- Yankees Sawks take the pennant NL East -- Mets NL Central -- sCrUBS NL West -- Dodgers NL WC -- Dbacks Mets take the pennant Mets over Boston for the trophy

Didn't he and Javy pitch together up in Montreal?

He's giving a speech to a bunch of impressionable kids who look up to his success. He was going for the dramatic, telling the kids that it's going to get rough sometimes but keep at it. I doubt he seriously contemplated retirement and/or quitting the game. It's like a coach's pep talk, it's full of a bunch of hyperbole to get the kids pumped up.

Our offense will be great, better than we expect....I think both Quentin and Richar will be big contributors this year. Our BP problems are essentially solved. Our rotation will cost us the playoffs. And worse yet, we have nothing to trade to acquire a mid-season starter.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 19, 2008 -> 10:14 PM) That might be the dumbest thing to come out of a Presidential campaign if this is true. #1 would cause a deflationary cycle that would destroy already shaky housing and credit markets, not to mention explode unemployment nationwide. #2 Would completely stall growth in this country, and in fact it would contract our economy to fit into how much gold we have. It would cause a massive inflationary cycle in the dollar. It will KILL the lower classes in this country. You can't just assign an arbitrary value to a currency. Free market systems dictate that, and tying it to a fixed commodity limits growth. The dollar might be worth more, but no one will be using it, because the world wouldn't be dealing with the US under the protectionism that is being pedaled here anyway. #3 More inflation. Who is going to produce all of the goods we take for granted that China now supplies us with? Are you willing to pay thousands of dollars for a basic TV? That's what it would cost to make it in the good old US of A. #4 All you have to do is look at the enormous boom and bust cycles in US economic history, ending with the Great Depression before the Fed Bank was established to understand why we need it. #5 Under the first four things you have proposed, umemployment would probably be double what it is now, if not more. You are literally talking about pulling the bottom cards out that our economy is built on. Plus the idea that we could still function as a country without an income tax is just laughable. #6 Wall Street won't exsist if the first 5 things came to pass. Large corporations would pretty much have to fold up and leave the US because of the spiraling inflation and unemployment. Their wouldn't be any capital to do business with, because the money supply would disappear. Economically Ron Paul is a dreamer with no grips on reality. This stuff might work on a chalkboard, but it would literally destroy the USA as we know it to do this stuff. #1 Please explain how moving the military out of other nations results in deflation. You lost me. Unemployment of locals employed at bases, sure, but hardly a significant enough number to equate to a global economic impact. #2 How we were doing before 1971 when we had a gold standard? Arbitrary value to a currency?!?!? What in the hell are we doing now? #3 We're also China's biggest client, if you will. Their economy would be instantly destroyed if we got in a trade war with them. I, as well as Dr. Paul, think we should call their bluff. We're supposed to be an economic superpower, right? The "richest" country in the world, right? Why in the hell are we bowing down to the demands of a nation whose entire economy is dependent upon us. Oh yeah....our mainstream candidates in the house, senate, and white house have racked up SO much debt with the Chinese that maybe we aren't in control. I'd take my chances and place a ridiculous tariff on all Chinese imports until they let the market dictate the value of their currency. I can say with 99% confidence that they will bow to OUR demands. Oh, and we have great trade relations with Japan for our TVs. #4 What does the fed do, exactly? I see them falsely manipulating the value of our currency, an absolute no-no in a capitalist, free market system. Their work is counterproductive and their devaluation of the dollar, along with other policies outside of the fed, have got us in the unfortunate position we're in now. #5 What'd we do before 1913? We weren't building an empire then. #6 The money supply would disappear? With every American having every dollar they earn to spend, the Chinese no longer able to undercut domestic manufacturing, and the dollar actually based on a material object again.....I beg to differ with your take. Please, listen to some of Dr. Paul's speeches on economic policy on youtube or what have you. He can speak to the matter much better than I.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jan 19, 2008 -> 11:13 PM) When Paul gets rid of the FBI and the CIA and some of the other federal agencies to pave way for his savings he can have Deputy Dawg and company deal with this. CiA and SANS admit that Cyberattacks have already caused on major power outage. When has Paul ever mentioned eliminating the CIA and FBI? Please provide a link. Here's a hint, watch his appearance on Meet the Press.