pettie4sox

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 9, 2014 -> 10:43 AM) Well then he has a chance to be THE main Japanese guy in the 3rd largest market in America. That seemsl ike a pretty good reason. Then why not sign with the cubs?

I would be all for pumping money into infrastructure. America is so ass backwards compared to some of the other first world countries of the world.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 9, 2014 -> 10:29 AM) VERY slim chance unless for some reason this guy wants to play for the Sox. We can have some money available if need be, but is this the right way to spend it? I dont know. I see no reason why he would want to play for the Sox personally. Not saying it's a factor but Seattle, Texas, Boston, and NYY have Japanese players on their team. I would give them a better chance than the SOX at this point.

I cancelled two of my cards last year and consolidated my credit limit into one card. That was a huge mistake. My score dropped significantly because I had those cards for a few years at least. I am thinking about raising the limit of my current card even more. Do you credit score peeps think that will help and how long will it take for it to recover?

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 10:47 PM) I'd offer a contract like this: 2014: 17M 2015: 18M 2016: 19M 2017: 20M; after the season the player has ability to opt out of remainder of contract; team also has $6M buyout to get out from remainder of deal 2018: 20M - guaranteed year if no opt-out by either side 2019: 20M - another mutual option with a $5M team buyout 2020: 20M - guaranteed year if no opt-out by either side A deal like that would give Tanaka $80M guaranteed over 4 years, or $74M for 4 years plus a shot at hitting FA before 30. Further there are options for the Sox to get out of the deal should things go bad later, but should they stick in the deal the Sox guarantee Tanaka more money. Something that would provide flexibility for both sides I would do. However I think he's getting everything guaranteed. *Edit: deferring some of the early money in 2014 & 2015 to a later point in the deal could be nice too as it could offset the posting fee some. TUC why would you want an inferior NPB scrub like Tanaka? Go get a real American pitcher like Dylan Axelrod.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 08:28 AM) Please cite Tanaka's ground ball percentage in Japan. If you have nothing, than I will mention that his K/9 over the last 3 years has been 8.7, his BB/9 has been 1.15, and a HR/9 of 0.26. If you can provide that ground ball percentage and something other than your tinfoil hat theory of "THE NPB SUCKS I SAID SO," I will be much more willing to subscribe to your newsletter. In the meantime, get off this schtick. No one's buying it except you. If he shouts it out enough, I expect he believes people will get on his bandwagon.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 09:03 AM) I'm indifferent about adding two more playoff teams. Here is something I would like to see, though it's far too radical to have a chance of ever happening: Convert one preseason game to a regular season game. Make the extra regular season game at a neutral site for all teams (London, Toronto, LA, college stadiums, etc.) Push the start of the regular season back to the 3rd Sunday in September. Have the first 15 weeks of the season, with each team having 1 bye. Then everybody has 2 weeks off the last Sunday in December and the first Sunday in January. Then have the last three weeks of the regular season. Playoff schedule picks up from there, with the Super Bowl the first week in March. Get rid of the Thursday games, except for the opening week and Thanksgiving. Have 3 Saturday games each of the last three weeks of the season. Why?

The Pack did play very tough. I like that they didn't just roll over. I think if ARodgers is giving the ball with scored tied at with 5 minutes left, the pack win.

Sayounara GB! Muhahahahhaha

I just went to my hometown in Central Illinois and just got back. Yeah, I'm not going to work tomorrow.

Yeah I'm still happy that Chicago didn't get the Olympics.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 3, 2014 -> 10:30 AM) I have a very bad feeling about these Olympics. Those black widow bombers have already started. I really hope I am wrong Yeah russia needs to get their s*** together and fast.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 2, 2014 -> 01:49 PM) What is the point of this post? It's a packer fan and bear fan ribbing each other.

That is way too much money for Jay Cutler.

Best of luck all with your resolutions. I'm planning on running more races this year. I started out yesterday with 5K and I'll do the another 8K Shamrock Shuffle in March.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Dec 31, 2013 -> 03:45 PM) I'm just being a typical all-or-nothing type of fan ready & fully willing to dismiss anything less than MLB excellence. NPB, if perfectly on par with AAA, "sucks" to me just like AAA does. However, in both leagues, there are exceptional talents which appear here and there, but unlike AAA, in Japan they stick around because there is no other higher level to transition to. I'm just an asshole sometimes in general, but I do respect Japanese culture & the way their athletes approach sports. As an MMA fan I've followed MMA in Japan, totally different sport, but in both MMA & baseball I can tell the approach to sports is just about completely opposite. In Japan it's about honor, respect, tradition, the fighting spirit, the art form, basically it seems like sports are done in large part to show how exceptional the human body & spirit can be. Winning isn't everything. In contrast, in America (and Canada & Brazil in MMA) it's all about the money, the records, bigger is better, the lifestyle, the status, the jaw-dropping amazement factor, etc. In MLB the best athletes may roid to the gills to become superhuman, and it's a giant sponsor-aided dick measuring contest where how fast you can run or how high you can jump supersedes the respect you have for the sport & how you treat other people. In Japan, I doubt many athletes would say "If you ain't cheatin you ain't tryin" or "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." With that said, while as a fan it warms my heart when I read about how Ichiro won't spit on the field or in any way disgrace the dugout, if I had Ichiro on my team I'd gladly ship him out of town for some spoiled brat rich kid with the ability to hit a baseball 450ft. That's how I approach the game as a fan, which probably explains why I'm a dick. You're just not a fan of Japanese baseball. That's fine and that's your right. If you would have said this from the beginning you would probably got flamed less. I think it's how you presented your thoughts that rubbed me the wrong way. Water under the bridge.

I really hope it's an NL team.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 2, 2014 -> 11:57 AM) Getting in is pretty important, even if you feel your team doesnt have a shot. Nobody thought those same 7-9 Seahawks were going to maul the Saints like they did a few years back, but they did. Yeah but I'm just saying I don't know if it's worth the rage, not that I can tell people how to feel.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Jan 2, 2014 -> 11:52 AM) Rage. All I feel is rage. Meh, the Bears avoided a wildcard exit. With that terrible defense, there were going nowhere fast.

Anyone have figures? I haven't seen anything from the sports sites.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Dec 31, 2013 -> 10:06 AM) And I still don't care about any of that, but whatever. You win, I'll retract my statements about NPB players being incapable of making it out of AA and being far lesser than AAA guys. Of course I still stand by everything else I said, i.e. that the league sucks, the stress level on a pitcher is far lesser than anything they'd have to experience in MLB & as such the pitch count worries are probably overblown, and if quality AAA players/fringe MLB guys are the equivalent to most of your star NPB players then I don't see why they wouldn't beat the unholy dogs*** out of the NPB league if enough of them ever went over there at once. Caulfield says there are rules in effect preventing that, and good, there should be, because it would be embarrassing overwise. The goal over there is to win; the goal here in America is to create enough competition to develop the few legitimate prospects that exist around the league while creating an opportunity for fringe-roster players and rehabbing MLB vets to get playing time. Should the games matter as they do in Japan you wouldn't bench your best performers to let a top prospect struggle while you're contending, nor would you give out gift organizational promotions to under qualified prospects simply to maintain an organizational status quo. In Japan you throw a 1000 pitches to be a living god, in America you throw 50% breaking balls in important games/situations just because your pitching coaches want you to develop the pitch. But otherwise, I agree that your work here is impressive and you are definitely devoted to the numbers at a level where you should honestly pursue a career in baseball if you're not doing so already. And I don't like it when you disagree with me. Please refrain from doing that, just agree with me please. You are entitled to your own opinion. You can think the league sucks but most people with baseball knowledge will simply disagree with you. The MLB is the MLB and the NPB is the NPB. They have completely different playing styles. The MLB is a conglomerate of the world's best literally. The NPB is primarily Japanese. So yeah, it should be no shock that the world's best would beat a league full of the best Japanese players. Most of the good players aren't even America in the MLB which is kind of ironic if you ask me.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Dec 31, 2013 -> 10:09 AM) Totally. I heard they are thinking about canceling the game. I'm just salty man, ignore me.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Dec 31, 2013 -> 10:20 AM) At what level? I understood it; I just didn't like it. I was being facetious.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Dec 31, 2013 -> 10:05 AM) Personally, I thought it was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I guess you have to be at the level to understand the movie. However, James Franco was pretty funny in that movie. LOOK AT ALL MY s***TTTTTT!

No chance for the Pack, absolutely none.