mmmmmbeeer

Titans fan here. It definitely sucks the way the whole thing was handled, but there's no way in hell McNair is worth $9M in the shape he's in, much less $12M. It was time for the Titans to move on. I REALLY wish they would have handled the situation better but I'm glad to see a new chapter begin in Titans football. As much as I despise Baltimore, hopefully Steve can get his ring with them before he retires.

It was a sharply hit ball that he had to take on the inbetween hop. Your insinuation that "any other 3b makes that play" is greatly exaggerated. The throw was stupid, but the stop itself was far from routine. I was disappointed that he earned an error on it.

QUOTE(henry wiggins @ Jun 3, 2006 -> 08:27 AM) I agree. The impression I get, watching and listening to the games, is that the 2006 Sox aren't a team yet in the way that the '05 Sox were a team. This is a collection of good, even superb, players, but the hunger that fueled last year's team isn't evident to me. There have been flashes of it, but only when things are going well. I have yet to see this group come through a bad patch stronger and more together. I sure hope they get to that point, though, and soon. IMO the bullpen is the only *serious* weakness on this club, technically. Pretty much the only pen pitcher who doesn't make me nervous as hell when he comes in, is Jenks. For some reason that kid radiates complete command, and I love that. We'd be better off with 2 NL pitchers at the bottom of our lineup, atleast they know how to put down a bunt. I agree that the pen is the biggest problem but Anderson' bat is hurting the defense due to Ozzie's need to put Mack in the lineup late in games for offensive opportunities.

Seriously, probably 80% of our losses have revolved around one of the following: 1.) BA can't hit 2.) Mackowiak can't field 3.) Uribe's O or D 4.) Bullpen So, two positions and a couple bullpen guys have made this team look like absolute s***. It seems that after every f***ing loss it's the same conversation, BA, Mack, Uribe, or the pen. It's getting old to us as fans, I imagine our fearless GM is climbing up the walls with frustration. KW, I hope you're ready to empty the farm. Even just solving two of the four issues, IE make a deal for a CF/RP package, or SS/RP package, and we're in great shape. This is too good of a team to not improve it, regardless of cost. We're so close.

and with Wickman and Martinez, Pods could have probably stole 3rd as well. horrible.

QUOTE(Dawgs @ May 29, 2006 -> 12:24 PM) How is this a total fluke team? In 2003 the Tigers started a AAA team that consisted of alot of the core guys on the team this year. Few of them were ready to play in the majors and thier record proved it. In 2004 they added Pudge and Guillen and improved by 20+ games. The youngsters had made some strides and they were getting better at the basics. At the start of the 2005 season most prognosticators had the Tigers pegged at or near .500 with the addition of Magglio and Guillens sudden rise during the 2004 season. Guillen and Magglio were both injured for mosat of the season. Even when they played they were hurt. Magglios hernia had him swinging with his arms only and Guillens knee was a mess. The Tigers struggled without thier two best hitters but were near .500 until the last month of the season. At that time they collapsed. The losing took its toll on the veterans, most notably Pudge, and coupled with his divorce turned the clubhouse to s***. Still without the injuries this team would have been close to .500. This season everyone underestimated the Tigers preseason because of the awful finish last year. But Magglio and Guillen arent hurt this year. The two kids brought up in midseason last year, Shelton and Granderson, are legitimate big league position players. And they brought in a crafty pitcher whos work ethic and knowledge of how to pitch has rubbed off on a couple young pitchers who have finally figured out how to get big league hitters out in thier 3rd and 4th years. Add this years rookie of the year Verlander and Zumaya who has hit 103 mph and you have the makings of a title contender. You guys can keep deluding yourself all you want that Detroit is a flash in the pan. They arent. They are absolutely for real. If your team is as delusional as some of you seem to be, comparing this Tigers team to an Orioles team that couldnt pitch, your in for a rude awakening come October. I think his implication was that, due to the fact you're 20 games over .500, you probably aren't a fluke being "flukes" rarely get their record looking that impressive. I love your bullpen, you've got some good hitters in the lineup, great veteran leadership in Pudge, and one helluva manager in Leyland. The big weakness I see with the Tigers is the starting pitching. Maroth, who was pitching WAY over his head, is now hurt and you've got Jason Grilli filling in (we're all too familiar with Grilli's pitching abilities). KR is starting to come back down to his mean numbers. Bonderman, despite his ridiculous talent, never has put it all together to find the consistency to be an ace. Verlander, who I REALLY wish we had, is an absolute stud in the making, but he just won't have the strength to throw that 100mph heat effectively for the entire season as a rookie, unless he's just an absolute freak of nature. Robertson has never had dominating stuff but can be a solid back-of-the-rotation kinda guy. He's obviously got some confidence working for him now, and perhaps KR has tutored him a bit, but a 1.5pt drop in ERA seems a bit extreme. If we learned anything last year, it's that starting pitching will take you a long way. We didn't even have a single hitter hit over .300 last season yet led the AL in the standings the entire season. It IS all about the starting pitching unless you've just got a MONSTROUS lineup, something that DET does not have. I think you'll win the wildcard or fall just short. Next season is the season that I'll really be worried about the Tigers, as that staff matures another season and gets the taste of a playoff race.

No doubt that the pen is killing us. No doubt the the middle of the order was a problem today. But the real issue is having two players hitting under .200 at the bottom of the order. I'm a big supporter of BA, and I'm all for giving him time, but I'm starting to wonder if now, in a tight race with the tigers, is that time. Big Juan needs a break; fortunately we have Cintron ready to step in and do the job.

QUOTE(tigerfan @ May 26, 2006 -> 08:29 PM) Back for the moment. 8-3 going into the 9th. Run came after Maggs led off the 7th with a double, went to 3rd on a flyout by Monroe, and then scored when the throw into the infield was off target. Jamie Walker in now Numbers: 0-0 ERA of 0.84 1-2-3 9th for Walker. Tigers win 8-3. 7th win in a row, 14th in their last 15th. Noticed Comerica looked pretty packed tonight when I was flipping between your game and the Sox game. Must be pretty exciting up there right now. So with Maroth out indefinitely foiling Leyland's plan to skip Verlander from time to time, at what point is Verlander going to hit the wall this season? He's got short term endurance, firing the ball at 99mph in the 9th the other night, but I'm curious if he'll be able to hold up in the long term.

QUOTE(Brian @ May 26, 2006 -> 04:53 PM) Sabathia Man, Sqwerty missed an "are" in there. I thought you were implying that there was a lucky Tigers pitcher who went by the name "Captian Cheeseburger". I'm sitting here thinking why in the hell Maroth or Robertson would be nicknamed captain cheeseburger...lol

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ May 26, 2006 -> 04:46 PM) Tigers lucky Captian Cheeseburger doesn't pitch against them this weekend. Unfortunately we get to see him in our next series. Who the hell is "Captain Cheeseburger" in their rotation?

From the sounds of his column, he's been drinking the Coop-Aid. I love the things he's written, he's put 100% faith into Coop and Coop is doing nothing more than pushing him to be an impact pitcher, not just a middle reliever. After his rough times in SEA, it must just be a huge relief and confidence booster to have a pitching coach, a very highly regarded pitching coach, who was clamoring to get the opportunity to work with you. I think that the Thornton/Borchard deal with rank right up there with KW's best deals.

QUOTE(TLAK @ May 25, 2006 -> 08:11 PM) Must have heard a thousand times this week how the Sox 3-4-5 are the best in baseball. Being of an enquiring mind I checked it out and for once, the hype is true. This chart looks at the top 3 HR and RBI men by team (I don't have batting order in it). And those numbers indicate that there isn't much competition...

Great game. Haren was on his game tonight and we pulled out a win, makes me happy. One thing I really noticed tonight was how MB was just POUNDING the inner half of that plate...I'm really not used to seeing that from Mark. As Hawk and DJ mentioned, OAK has always been successful against MB because they knew strikes were coming and they just went with the pitch, usually outer-half pitches shooting them to rf. MB changed his game plan tonight and it worked out splendidly. Hopefully Jonny boy was on the bench taking notes tonight.

Anytime there's a jersey thread I have to drop in my personal fave, the ole Don Cooper jersey. Out of your options though, I'd go with AJ.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ May 24, 2006 -> 03:31 PM) People always said Mack would be utilized like a starter when he gets going, because he's incredibly streaky. I feel this is just for the short-term. And I agree that BA should be out there the majority of the time. I think you hit it on the head greasy, Mack is in the midst of one of his patented hot streaks. Oz has got to play the hot hand in this situation. I think BA is going to be a hell of a ballplayer, and discounting any trade acquiring a new CF, I think we'll see BA playing nearly full time again by the end of the year and chipping in a few more hits for the O.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ May 21, 2006 -> 06:14 AM) Exactly how I feel. http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?sh...0entry1140783 Sorry man, hadn't visited the diamond club. Couldn't agree with you more. It's one of the most contrarian articles I can remember him writing. "Barrett, according to A.J., muttered incendiary words -- unusual for a highly religious man" -- huh? "Which means, yes, based on his pot-stirring reputation, as well as what he did before and after Barrett's punch, Pierzynski still strikes me as a bad guy in this affair." -- uh, ok. "While everyone else is playing baseball, A.J. thinks he's in the wrestling ring...Did he have to raise his arms as he ran to the dugout, like a triumphant Hulk Hogan?" -- sstttreeetcchhhh "And why raise your arms, point to your jaw and beat your chest in front of the South Side fans, some of whom are known to crash the field and attack people in uniform?" -- this is the point it becomes abundantly clear he's trying to get us going "Barrett, despite a loss of control that will cost him games and money, somehow came off better." -- lmao "When it's Anthony John Pierzynski, resident pest, a God-fearing ballplayer throws a punch at him." -- second mention of Barrett's religion, what does this have to do with anything?

I refuse to link it, but if you feel like gagging please read the Moron's column this morning. Pay close attention to his word choices. It's almost like he bet someone he could write an article taking Barrett's side.

QUOTE(YASNY @ May 17, 2006 -> 10:23 AM) Agreed. But the fact remains, Brian is going to have to pick it up some. And I think he will. Perhaps one of the minor league gurus could chime in, but didn't Brian have a pretty tough time at AAA when first promoted? He's been successful at every level of ball he's played. In order to accomplish that feat you've got to have the ability to adjust. AAA was probably quite an adjustment from AA, it took him some time but once he got adjusted, he was an impact player. I expect much of the same at the ML level. Now if he's still hitting .190-.200 come the trade deadline, well, some tough decisions will need to be made.

I pulled up Brian's name in my fantasy league to get his # of AB's when I noticed something interesting. Brian has 15 runs, 4 hr, and 10RBI in 97 ab's hitting out of the 9 hole. Garret Anderson, who makes millions and plays mediocre D, has 15 runs, 4hr, and 24 RBI in 137 ab's out of the cleanup spot. GA has a better average but I'd say that the difference in their averages is negated by the quality of D Brian plays in CF. Give the kid some time. He doesn't even have 100ab's yet. He's looking much better at the plate and is an exceptional outfielder. There really aren't any offensively dominant CF'ers in all of baseball, it's a defensive position. He's not hurting our team near as much as some of these threads would lead one to believe.

I think he'll end up between 50 and 55. Hitting in the Cell will be quite a boon for his numbers. I also believe that, by season's end, Big Jim will have more home runs than Pujols. Pujols is certainly on a torrid pace at this point but Jim is only 4 behind him. As the season progresses, NL teams will begin to pitch around Pujols much as they did Barroids a couple years ago...honestly I can't believe that they haven't started pitching around him already. Thome has got mad protection with Paulie and JD behind him in the lineup, teams have no choice but to pitch to him. I'm not implying that Jim is a better hitter than Albert, not even close really, but the big picture leads me to believe Thome's HR numbers will be higher.

The thing that jumps out at me in the last week or so is BA's willingness to go with the pitch. He's gone opposite field for a few of those hits, including that nice 2 strike dinger then other day.

QUOTE(Controlled Chaos @ May 12, 2006 -> 02:46 PM) Bottom line...they have a computer looking at a bunch phone numbers....I can care less. If that computer can develop a pattern and help them catch someone, I'm all for it. There are people out there that want to blow up another building. There are people that want me you and everyone else that doesn't praise Allah dead. Intelligence is necessary, not really on this message board, but definitely for the powers that be when runnig this country. Just cause the media uses words like survellience and spying and eavesdropping doesn't mean the nsa is outside your window with binoculars. A gazillion phone numbers in a database, which probably 95% never even get looked at by human eyes, is hardly infringing on your civil liberties. Here ya go 630-362-6971. I believe that they are actually screening, electronically, the contents of each conversation, not just looking for patterns of phone numbers.

QUOTE(Brian @ May 12, 2006 -> 08:29 PM) Also 5 BB's in 5 innings. But impressive none the less. With the Sox game blacked out on Extra Innings I decided to watch this game just to see him pitch. The walks could be a concern but it was his first MLB start against a pretty good offensive team in a hitters park; I'm sure the nerves were runnin' a bit. The thing that most impressed me about the kid was the horrible swings those batters were taking. Pitches WELL out of the zone and they're flailing at them. He's obviously deceiving hitters very well with his pitch selection and delivery. I've got my waiver claim in on him already in my money league.

This Hamels rook from Philly is looking REALLY sharp in his first ML start, outside of some walks. Had a no-no going through 4 2/3. 7Ks, 5BBs, 1H, 0R through 5. This kid dominated in the minors...just a lil heads up to you fantasy players.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ May 12, 2006 -> 12:05 PM) There are some many things wrong with Torri Hunter coming to the Sox. 1.He plays for the Twins. There is strike #1, and why everything else is moot, but I'll go on just for the sake of being bored in class. If we were to nab Hunter, it would be at the cost of getting rid of whats left of a semi weak system as it is(I would think Fields and another pitcher would be involved, maybe just to start the deal out) Im not sure I want those players coming back to haunt me in 09. 2. Torri is very overrated with the strick. While he will outproduce Anderson at the plate, I really dont think there is that big of a drop off when it comes to D. Torii has a few steps on Anderson, but not enough for it to be a concern. 3. If the Twins keep playing like they are, Torii is going to be on the radar screens of ALOT of teams, and I dont think Kenny needs to get into a bidding war for something he doesnt need. I like Torii Hunter ALOT, and would enjoy seeing him on the Sox, but with the makeup of the team right now, it's just not a fit. I wouldn't even agree that Hunter "has a few steps" on Anderson since Torrii hurt his ankle last season. I don't believe he's stolen a base yet this season, whereas last season he ended up with what, like 20sb? If you jack up an ankle severely, as he did, you'll never be the same. Give me Anderson long term, trade those 'spects for bullpen help. *edit* -- Torrii has 1 sb so far this season, 23 sb last season in 98 games.