almagest

Wow, Todd Rizzo. Surprised I even remember that name.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ May 6, 2008 -> 06:56 PM) All comp gurus, I've been getting the classic blue screen lately. I have a Compaq, bought in August 07. Runs Vista. Sometimes the computer restarts fine, sometimes it doesn't. I'm on it right now, but came home to the blue screen today. Haven't downloaded any new programs lately or anything. Besides running virus and spyware stuff, what can I do? I always have Trend Micro and Webroot Spy Sweeper enabled on here. I don't know s*** about computers, so I'm looking for help before resorting to hauling this thing to the Geek Squad or something like that. Thanks in advance for the help. First step, open Internet Explorer and run Windows Update (it's in "Tools"). Make sure you have the latest driver and OS updates provided through there. I'd also suggest finding out what video card you have (should be in the model info), and grab the latest drivers for it -- essentially, Google the card's manufacturer. I'd also suggest Memtest 86+ to double-check your RAM, if the above tips don't help. Does your Trend Micro AV include a firewall? In my experience, they make a pretty solid one, so I'd definitely check to see if it's part of your package. Also, everyone else is right about the stop error. Googling the error code will get you a quick fix most of the time. Good luck!

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 7, 2008 -> 07:18 AM) I've seen many a pitcher start hot. I've seen many a former top prospect get hot at certain times, ignite the excitement and then fall back down to Earth. I am here to say that, what I see in Gavin stemming all the way back to the end of last year, is that he's turned the corner. A former top prospect picked 4th overall by the Phillies, was a complete steal in the Freddy Garcia trade. KW won this one, and may very well have given us our future ace. Regardless, I do think the pitching will be there this year. If the hitting can get any consistency going, the Sox actually have a shot in this thing. Thank you, Gavin, for taking our minds off losing, blow up dolls, and cursing managers. I tip my cap to you. I'm a little worried about him because of the walks, and that absurdly low BABIP. I don't think his current success is sustainable over the course of the entire year, especially in the warm summer months, and as the innings pile up on his arm. Then again, I'd be happy if he could give us 5 IP 3 ER in every start, and I don't see him falling below that with regularity this season. I don't see him being an "ace," but I certainly think he could be a solid #3.

Short runs of cheap cable carrying 720p/1080i signals is fine. Runs over 50 feet, or future-proofing your cable for 1080/1440p content, are better served by better quality cable. Gizmodo had an article about this a while back.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ May 6, 2008 -> 03:02 PM) We've had the top payroll in the division every year of KW's regime. Tigers ahead of us this year by ~18 mil. They're number 2 in all of baseball.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 6, 2008 -> 02:54 PM) It's just amazing how many hitters we have all whom cannot seem to fix their issues or bust out of slumps... the only place to look is Walker, who by the way was more than happy to come out and brag during the first two weeks of the season, but now we yet again have a team that can't put the bat on the ball and does nothing but try to hit homeruns. I cannot fathom how a change has not yet been made. My favorite quote by Walker this year was how the Sox would start walking less once their bats heat up. While that may be true, it gives the impression that once the bats start heating up, he'd start telling hitters to be less selective. I don't see how that advice would be valuable to any major league hitter.

I've been advocating this change for about a week now. Getz hits left-handed, and has had success in the minors. I don't see how it can hurt to add him to the 40-man, bring him up, and replace Ozuna/Uribe/Ramirez. Platoon him with one of those three against lefties until Richar comes back.

QUOTE (Chet Lemon @ May 6, 2008 -> 02:29 PM) Of course, the answer is no. He must only play 3b forever. "On this issue there can a-be-a no debate!" If he's bad defensively at third, and very likely replaces Crede at 3B next year, then I don't understand how putting him at a different, more difficult position to play for 3/4 of a year will help him next year at 3B. I also shudder at the thought of the defense he'll provide at 2B. Also, can we please stop with the "Jerry Owens is our savior" stuff? He's not performing at Charlotte, he can't hit lefties, and he certainly can't steal first base, or home. People behind him still need to hit.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 6, 2008 -> 07:45 AM) This isn't defined probability, though. There is nothing that guarantees a regression to the mean like there is in flipping a coin or drawing numbers. Its possible that the team can suck enough to continue hitting below .200 w/ RISP. Is it likely? No, they'll pick it back up somewhat. But its very possible that they hit worse than last year given how bad they've looked lately. It's not defined, but reasonable expectations over a season with 10,000+ total ABs for a team is that they won't continue to perform so poorly.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 6, 2008 -> 01:14 PM) Is that Jose Valentin? Looks like it. Wonder if he plays second...

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 2, 2008 -> 10:18 AM) You're right. All loses are identical. Losing a 1 run game to Johan Santana is the same as getting shut down by some no-name scrub while your best pitcher and bullpen get lit up for 10 runs. Give me a break. Just as you can win in a dominant fashion, shutting down the opponent and having an efficient offense, and you can "win ugly," you can lose a close-but-well-played game leaving hope for the next time or you can get embarrassed. To keep this positive, look at the difference between the way they lost the 1st and 2nd games of the season. After the first game, everyone was optimistic because this team battled back and made a game out of it after being down. After the second game, it looked like 2007 all over again. They also gave up a crapload of runs in the first game, whether or not they battled back. There's something bad in every loss, hence why you lose. Let's not get all "Hawkified" and go into a semantic debate about "good losses" or whatever.

My lineup: CF - Quentin LF - Quentin RF - Quentin 1B - Quentin DH - Quentin 3B - Quentin C - Quentin SS - Quentin 2B - Quentin

I like how Hawk is blaming this inning on the call at 2B, not on the meatballs Contreras served up. Think it's about time to shut this one off.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ May 3, 2008 -> 07:01 AM) You must not have seen opposing teams batting average against Marcum. This was no fluke. Marcum's actually a pretty good pitcher. I knew we'd have trouble this game. Not 0 runs, 2 hits trouble though.

QUOTE (MAX @ May 2, 2008 -> 02:58 PM) He is still a career .761 OPS guy by your stats. That's not bad. Not bad != #3 hitter. At the very least, move him down in the lineup. QUOTE (Kalapse @ May 2, 2008 -> 03:02 PM) Except this year he's hitting .300/.364/.700/1.064 w/ 3 2B and 3 HR in 30 ABs vs southpaws. Sample size.

QUOTE (lostfan @ May 2, 2008 -> 09:18 AM) Is Getz left-handed? Bats left, throws right. QUOTE (Hawkfan @ May 2, 2008 -> 12:41 PM) Can anybody reference any success stories with this much rotation? benching thome and konerko options with rotating in anderson seems strange. Thome and konerko are premier players who are tough to bench for an organization. Also seems hard for someone to get hot and stay hot with that much rotation. I wanna see everyone play just as much as the next, but I think finding a good lineup and stickin with it is the way to go. Ozzie rotates in enough already. I'm not advocating benching Konerko -- I'm advocating giving Konerko a few days off here and there, with Swisher going to 1B, and Anderson in CF. Also, Thome has NEVER hit lefties well -- career .241 .342 .419. He shouldn't be in the lineup against lefties much at all, which would slide Dye or Konerko over to DH, Swisher to 1B or LF, Quentin to RF, and Anderson in CF.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 1, 2008 -> 08:37 AM) Don't look now, but since starting 0-8 the Tiges are 13-7... They're gonna have to get and stay pretty hot to dig themselves out of that hole. Sweeping the Yanks is a good start, though. I still think they'll have a hard time maintaining a long winning streak because of their pitching.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 30, 2008 -> 02:39 PM) It's not that they lost 3, its the way that they've looked losing three. Generally when you lose, you look bad. It's hard to look good and lose without accidentally ruining it all and winning.

I'd really like to see Dye switched over to DH against tough lefties, with Thome coming out, or Quentin switched out against lefties (he's not hitting them much this year), and have Anderson start in CF on those days. Also wouldn't mind Swisher switched (that's fun to say) over to 1B to give Paulie rest on occasion. Ideally, I'd like to see Anderson in there 2-3 times a week, and also brought in late in games as a defensive replacement, possibly getting an AB or two. As long as we're tweaking the roster, I'd also like to see Alexei sent down to AAA for regular playing time, maybe bring up Getz (though his numbers are nothing special right now), and have Getz, Ozuna, and Uribe fight it out for time at 2B, with Uribe and Ozuna able to fill in at SS/3B if necessary. Jerry Owens can come up in September or if an OF gets hurt.

QUOTE (lostfan @ May 1, 2008 -> 11:06 AM) I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm "up in arms" about the offense like the "trade Thome, force Dye to waive his NTC and trade him, DFA Konerko and call up Fields" crowd is but I'm definitely worried about the fact that the offense seems to completely disappear every couple of games, and the team struggles badly against certain types of pitchers. I just don't feel comfortable about that. On the other hand, they are prone to light up the rest of the types of pitchers at any given time. Every team struggles against certain types of pitchers. Every team has slumps. I, too, have reservations, but it's really not worth getting too upset about, since unless we get hit with a rash of injuries I seriously doubt our regulars will hit close to the mendoza line this year. Their career lines indicate that all will get very hot at some point this year, and that will be when the offense really starts taking off. The Cubs have, by most definitions, a solid offense. They scored 19 runs last night, and managed 3 tonight. They were shut down by a cruddy Nationals team. The Tigers didn't hit AT ALL at the beginning of the year. The Yankees and Red Sox have bad stretches. The Diamondbacks were shut down a few times this year. Brewers as well. QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ May 1, 2008 -> 02:30 PM) Actually the Sox are 9-10 since they won 5 in a row. So they're not supposed to have stretches where they play ~.500 ball? They're 14-10 over that 24 game stretch. I'll take that anytime.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Apr 30, 2008 -> 09:08 PM) MarioKart Wii is f***ing awesome. That is all Damn right. Tossing the wheel in for free with the game was a great move by Nintendo. You can't snake as well with it as you can with a Gamecube controller, but it's an incredibly fun way to play. Reminds me a little of the Mario Kart arcade game.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 02:33 PM) Yep. I would like to point out the media bias in these stories. Not once have I read about a woman that keeps a guy chained up in some dungeon and forces him to have sex with her. But a guy does it and it is front page news. Damn liberal media! Seriously, though, I bet his wife knew, but was in denial. There are some things you'd rather NOT believe a person is capable of.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 30, 2008 -> 05:36 PM) Carlos Quentin, Nick Swisher > Darin Erstad and Scott Podsednik ITS F***ING APRIL. Can we atleast wait until like June to declare that the offense is terrible? It's so frustrating the way people are jumping to conclusions. It's May 1st and some people have essentially conceded that the season's over, some have declared that the offense is terrible, and some are trying to trade the Sox two best prospects for a 2Bman who won't make or break the lineup. We also don't have to worry about seeing Luis Tererro, Andy Gonzalez, or Alex Cintron either. Pablo's back, Crede's back and playing alright, Thome's not hurt, and Dye has no lingering injury concerns. We've also scored a ton of runs this year, and really only started to tail off within the past 5 or 6 games. Out of 162. Yes, I am a little worried, and yes, it's disgusting watching the "offense" lately, but anyone up in arms about this team's offense needs to take it easy.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Apr 29, 2008 -> 10:25 PM) Pitchers are attacking this team low and away to keep the ball from leaving the premises. So if they pound the zone ( not walk people), and spot low and away how exactly with the worst BA in baseball how exactly are we mounting an offense. Sonnenshine, Blackburn, Bonser are all examples of pitchers who pound the zone, spot low and away, and use their breaking pitch to offset the fastball. These are pitchers that will shut this team down because our lack of a hitting attack outside of the lift and pull lock and launch offense. Pretty sure pounding the strike zone, spotting pitches away, and changing speeds is a good recipe to get almost any major league hitter out. At least, that's what I've seen in watching countless games from all teams the past few years. But apparently the White Sox are the only team to struggle with this approach.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 29, 2008 -> 10:08 PM) I'm not really going to bother arguing semantics on what a straw man is or his reason for making that post, but OPS has its usefulness. It just has its limits, like any other stat. It's one part of a bigger picture. GPA was being talked about not too long ago. You make a semantic argument, you get one in return. And a strawman is a misrepresentation of someone's argument for the purpose of proving a point. Anyway you look at it, OPS is one of the more useful metrics. More useful than batting average, that's for sure.