Mr. Wedmesday

QUOTE (Willy52 @ Sep 8, 2010 -> 10:20 AM) Why don't you people admit that they're the better team? They're in first without Morneau. Pretty damn impressive. They beat up on the division unlike us. We're not catching them. End of story. We're in second without anybody. Even more impressive. They beat up on the division so far. By your "logic" the story was over in June. Very glad the season has ended for you. It frees you up to go away and try to grasp the fact that it is not over until we are mathematically eliminated.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Sep 8, 2010 -> 01:34 PM) Wasn't Cabrera intentionally walked last night with one runner on and first base open? The game was over after that anyway. Last night, yes. I was referring to pre-game statements in the past that were forgotten or ignored in games where we leading late

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 8, 2010 -> 07:55 AM) It's not even that though. Even when guys get hit repeatedly and on purpose and Hawk is sitting up in the booth saying "it will be dealt with", like after the Delmon Young/AJ play, and perfect opportunities to plunk Young come up (early in the game, nobody on base), we don't do it. And speaking of Delmon Young, if we are buried by game 3 of the Twinkies series, we should be headhunting early and often. And a bench clearing brawl might be in order. Other teams have hurt our chances by hitting our guys all season. I'd rather just win, but if we don't, payback time.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 8, 2010 -> 07:55 AM) It's not even that though. Even when guys get hit repeatedly and on purpose and Hawk is sitting up in the booth saying "it will be dealt with", like after the Delmon Young/AJ play, and perfect opportunities to plunk Young come up (early in the game, nobody on base), we don't do it. That's true. Just like when he says, "No matter what, we will not let [insert former Sox slugger or current HR leader here] beat us." We then proceed to pitch to said slugger with two on and first base open. More often than not, game over. And it doesn't even take courage to put a guy on. Just more brains than ego.

QUOTE (flavum @ Sep 7, 2010 -> 09:44 PM) I don't think it's out of the question that the Sox go 4-1 and the Twins go 2-2 before they play each other. If that happens, the Sox will be 3 out going into the Twins series. 2 of 3 cuts it to a 2 game lead with 16 left. And then anything can happen after that. So, I'm not giving up on them. This season so far would make it silly to give up until we are mathematically eliminated. I'm in for the duration. But tonight's "losing ugly" flashback to early June is distressing. The only way to lose at this time of year is to get beat straight up. Even a one run heartbreaker gives you something to build on. Nobody showed up up tonight. The good news is we own KC this year....

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 7, 2010 -> 08:45 PM) I'm puzzled as to why someone that likes to act like he's a hard ass is so scared to retaliate when our hitters get HBP. The instantaneous warnings make it counterproductive for the retaliating team. Tonight was the night, since no warnings were issued. We f****d it up and hit the umpire instead. You can't make this stuff up......

QUOTE (IamtheHBOMB @ Sep 7, 2010 -> 09:03 PM) I'm hoping the Sox are within 2/2.5 games by the start of that series. The Twins aren't going undefeated the rest of the way even with that easy schedule. No way the Twins go undefeated the rest of the season. If the Sox give a couple more games away with unearned runs, running the table will be our only hope. The math is starting to look ugly. Not to mention the injuries. At least three of these road wins were gifts that we took advantage of. Tonight we handed Detroit the game tied up in a bow. Paulie must play, Teahan and Kotsay must not. Bad juju. Take a chance on one or two of the call ups.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Sep 7, 2010 -> 06:26 PM) Too bad he cant do either of those. You are correct, sir. Not to mention a big time jinx. Let's hope Manny's winning juju is more powerful....

QUOTE (iamshack @ Sep 7, 2010 -> 02:30 AM) It can't really be done. We're already putting Freddy out there tomorrow coming off a stiff back, then Danks on Wednesday on short rest. Edwin is scheduled to pitch Saturday against KC. He could probably be moved to pitch Thursday against Minnesota, but then you'd have to move people all over the place. It's just not worth it. Spinning the rotation like a roulette wheel is never a good idea, but the Twins juju needs to be neutralized, as in the Boston sweep. Edwin has been lights out and may be too new to have "Minnephobia". Manny seems to live in an alternate reality in which fear does not exist. He loves this s** t. I say go for it. The Twins are not going to run the table and they might as well blow a tire at the Cell. OTOH, KC has been a big problem for us all year......

Any discussion of Ozzie's relative strengths and weaknesses has to take into account how bizarre this year has been. You can't pin the blame for the entire first half on Ozzie, just as you cannot give him all the credit for the entire second half. This team has been beyond streaky. Has Ozzie made bad on-field decisions this season? Absolutely.what manager hasn't? Has Ozzie made the right decisions this year, only to have usually reliabe players fail horribly? Absolutely, show me a team that hasn't happened to. The result is love/hate for Ozzie that has whipsawed as violently as the team's performance. As tired as I am of his truly idiotic rants, his feud with KW, his kids and all the other drama, he is the face of the franchise, and like it or not he keeps this team relevant in a town where the odds are always against that. How many other managers are nationally recognized by their first name alone? Ozzie sells tickets and draws national media attention--remembering that if you're the White Sox there is no such thing as bad publicity. He has certainly cost us some games--how many is for people smarter than me to figure out--but he also has his team back in a race that most of us considered a totally lost cause as recently as the ASB. I am not defending his inexplicable fondness for Kotsay or his part in management's inexplicable but collective decision to let Thome go. I'm just saying this team is still alive and actually showing more late-game resilience than we've seen in years. You can certainly blame Ozzie for the Sox trailing the Twins by 3.5 games, but then you gotta give him some of the credit for not trailing by 13.5, without Peavy and with an erratic Jenks. Oh, and speaking of managers we love to hate, "Gardy" is at the top of my list. He comes across as smug, arrogant and is hailed as a genius when in fact any of us could win with that lineup--even without Morneau and Nathan. And he plays dirty against us. I'd much rather beat on him than Ozzie. Now, could we please just get on with it and win another World Series?

QUOTE (mcgrad70 @ Sep 4, 2010 -> 11:52 AM) I would like to be whoever is the majority owner so I could stage a coup to remove the Chairman. Since the Chairman is the majority owner, you'd have to remove yourself.

QUOTE (mcgrad70 @ Sep 5, 2010 -> 12:29 PM) The chairman didn't pitch one game in the playoffs. 2005 was a one-hit wonder. He and his cronies have owned the team for 28 years. What's your point, beyond illogical hostility?

Threads like this are what make this board great.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Aug 30, 2010 -> 06:51 PM) I don't understand how the deal is made official this afternoon, yet he won't be taking a flight until 6 AM tomorrow. How was he not put on a flight tonight? It's not like this trade came out of no where. It has been talked about for 3-4 days now. Real s***ty that we will have to waste 2 games. We are paying him $3.8M for 1 month, get him here in a timely fashion. Perhaps he has unfinished "business" to attend to. We will no doubt see a Web Gem of Manny leaving LA a steaming pile of his regard for them in the main concourse at LAX.... But seriously, you gotta love how this guy goes about his business..... He's one of the most feared players in the business... And I predict this will prove to be one of KW best business decisions...... Sorry this s**t writes itself.... I was actually hoping he would play tonight, especially as we have now blown yet another solid lead against yet another AAA caliber team.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 27, 2010 -> 03:18 PM) I find it so ironic that you want the Sox to win with class yet you are so in love with Ozzie. Most fans outside of Chicago would call him a classless jerk. Yes, but he's our classless jerk. Which is exactly what Manny would be, especially if he helps us win, as Ozzie has. I personally have had enough of talent-challenged nice guys at DH. If Manny somehow ends up here and somehow helps us win it all, he will be described by everyone in far more flattering terms. Otherwise, KW said ot best: "We can put up with any one for 30 days." I personally hope he's our problem for about sixty days.

My gut tells me we better wake up and find a way to f***ing win tonight. And my pants are still clean, but at this rate, not for long.

It seems the Kenny and Ozzie show is now in syndication--nothing but reruns. And twitter represents the end of civilization as we know it.

Threets seems to be a decent option in a pinch, and this is as big a pinch as we've been in all year. Sale has been a very pleasant surprise.....Santos is utterly dominant one day and utterly lost the next. Pena has what it takes for long relief. To believe that Linebrink can deliver under pressure is to believe in unicorns and Santa Claus. If Thornton is done so is the season. Time to think old-school and get more innings from the rotation.

Frank should be used much as the Blackhawks are using Hull, Mikita, Esposito and Savard. They are "ambassadors" who left the team under less than perfect circumstances despite the fact that they were and are beloved by the fans. Bringing them back is just good marketing. I think the intention is the same with Frank. Mend some fences, use him in the post game show, honor him on the field, cut to him during the games. (There is anincredible amount of fan buzz around his "day" this Sunday.) This past weekend proves that as a color man he has all the verbal chops of Stosh Mikita, and is hoping to one day match Denis Savard. He's not bad with Chuckles and Melton after the games, though.

To quote the Hawk: "it's a mindset. Either you think you can, or you think you can't. Either way, you're right."

I haven't been happy since they took Jimmy Piersall away. That leaves Hawk and SS, but only if Hawk's contract is modified to guarantee the removal of three old catchphrases and the addition of three new ones every year, as well as banning any comparisons of current players to players that have been dead for more than 30 years. Oh, and Frank could make a game seven walk-off grand slam boring--if anyone could hear his Mike Tyson-esque whisper.

Manny fits with the fading-star-slugger theme of the past few years. As such it would be a patented KDub move, allowing him to re-establish his authority over Ozzie after the Thome veto. If it would help us win some of the one run games that have kilt us this year, why not? Bonus: I very much doubt he's afraid of the Twinkies. At the very least, we'd get to watch Manny being Manny together with Ozzie being Ozzie. We may not win, but we'll certainly be entertained.

QUOTE (AWhiteSoxinNJ @ Aug 23, 2010 -> 04:59 PM) And they're done in August. This is not a playoff team. I am done with anyone who proclaims this team is done unless and until they are mathematically eliminated. Further, as of today, there are no playoff teams whatsoever--only division leaders, of which two or three have seen their leads erode over the last couple of weeks. Further still, in baseball, as in life, "Nothing good ever happened in August".

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 22, 2010 -> 10:01 PM) Minnie just played an amazingly clean game on TV in a shutout of the Angels. Minnie is so good with limited talent it's scary. I can't help but believe that the reason for that consistency is related to the utter lack of drama in and around their clubhouse and front office. They start, stay and end up focused on one thing only--playing baseball to win. No, media brouhaha, no reality shows, no Twitter bs, nothing but fundamental baseball. And don't tell me it's a function of the smaller market; the Favre sideshow shows the Twin Cities are as susceptible to those distractions as anyone.

Isn't an annual second half fade a big part of Toronto fans' being glad to see Rios go (aside from the ridiculous contract)?