sunofgold

Kinda throw San Jose in there? I think that they are trying to get the A's to move from Oakland to San Jose. However, if the A's stay in Oakland, could San Jose get a team? Probably not, but San Jose is actually a pretty big city and probably has plans in place and there are a lot of technical companies in the area that could be good sponsors. However, SF is fairly close and they wouldn't like that idea. San Jose would have a better chance of getting a team like the A's moving than a new team but I thought that I would throw them into the mix. '

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 02:56 PM) DKnobler DKnobler Doumit signs with Twins, one year deal, his agent announces Not sure what that has to do with the cuBS? Anyways, Sveum seems like he will make a decent manager. He knows a little bit about cuBS since Milwaukee played against them a lot. Sadly, I think that the cuBS hit botton the last two years. But now they have a decent manager and GM. They are definitely going to bounce off their lows of the last two years. Have to hope that the Brewers, Pirates, Cardinals, and Reds keep getting better as well. lol. And Wrigley Field is still falling apart. Put some superglue on it.

I just spoke to my White Sox source and she said that Southpaw was the one who helped make this happen. Cannot complain with these signings. Low risk, possible high reward. Insurance for lefties if we trade Thornton.

I don't mind Buehrle in the NL with any team except the cuBS. But, he is a Cards fan, thus that doesn't seem likely. Buehrle could do well in the NL. Miami wouldn't be bad. Miami could be where we send our favorite players when we cannot afford to pay them anymore. Thornton and Quentin can go there as well.

Thome has been getting injured while being DH. Good luck with that at 1B. The guy is DH at this point.

Could be a good trade for Royals. They do need starting pitching. Depends on whether Sanchez can stay healthy and not be too wild. I don't know. Wait and see how it turns out. Giants definitely need more offense. Could be a trade that possibly works out for both teams. However, it looks like both guys are free agents after 2012.

Wait I thought Thome was going to retire and be the White Sox hitting coach? I am not convinced that Thome can play first base. And a NL team cannot afford to give a roster spot to a guy who really only can pinch hit. Don't the Phillies know this? Phillies need a left-handed bat who plays 1B? We have one of those. Do they want Adam Dunn in a trade? lol!

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 5, 2011 -> 09:18 AM) He is too damn wild and inconsistent to trust in a LOOGY role. Not really. Look at his last two years stats against lefties. Very few walks and a lot of K's against lefties. If nobody wants him, sign him to a minor league contract or major league minimum.

Dontrelle Willis convert him to a reliever. He had great numbers against lefties last year. Don't use him as a starter. That train has gone and left. Make him a LOOGY.

I would have pinch hit for Harrison there. Cannot afford to give up an out. Harrison isn't pitching lights out and you have Wilson.

Turn the AC on because Allen Craig is still hot! Cardinals have their first lead of the game and 18 outs to go. The Holliday injury definitely helped the Cardinals.

Wouldn't mind some Edwin Jackson pitching tonite. Wonder if CJ Wilson will make an appearance for the Rangers. Craig-Pujols-Berkman-Freese...dang that is nice middle of the order right now. I think that not having a DH helps the Cardinals.

Freese man! That is three big hits in a row. Incredible. Back to tied. Rangers lose their first lead of the night. It was the walks.

Go Cardinals. Incredible win last night. Hoping Cu-bs willing be there for the ceremony next year. Edwin Jackson might see some action tonight. Could see LaRussa use all of his pitchers tonight. Great series no matter who wins.

KW and JR and RV should think about the '05 team. That should be our model/goal: great starting pitching, decent bullpen with a reliable closer (well after Shingo we had two), solid defense, solid on fundamentals (like bunting, hit and run, moving guys over, manufacturing runs, playing hard), and good timely hitting. KW was at his best making trades in and around 2004/2005. Even trades like Contreras for Loaiza and Freddy Garcia (and Ben Davis lol) for Morse, Reed, and Olivo. Just some smart trades and signings. If he only can go back to that. Finding guys who are likely to rebound or contribute like AJ and Dye. Then looking overseas and finding Iguchi. Why haven't we found any other Japanese players recently? Maybe there was a little bit of luck that all of his trades seemed golden around 2005. But, I think if he reflects back on them maybe he can remember what he was doing right for awhile. lol! And our payroll wasn't excessive high in 2005. Not a single outrageous contract that year.

The think that the rainout helps the Cards more than the Rangers. Rangers had the momentum and were looking to clinch it as soon as possible. Waiting just makes it worse for a team that wants to finish off the series. And this allows the Cardinals to turn to Carpenter if the series goes to 7. Edwin Jackson could be used a reliever for either game 6 or game 7. I believe that he relieved some games with TB before coming a starter. Thus it wouldn't be new territory for him. Ranger could start Holland in a game 7 and use Harrison now as reliever in game 6 or possibly game 7. I don't know. Slight edge to Cardinals more so if series goes.7..but Rangers can make this point moot with a win in Game 6.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 26, 2011 -> 02:50 PM) In Cali, Colombia, in a hotel room by myself while I was chaperoning my students for a Model United Nations conference for the country's international school students. Thanks to ESPN Deportes and DirectTV, I was able to watch every single game live. But I still remember most vividly waking up one morning after we'd blown a huge lead to the KC Royals...and the Crede homer off Riske...my g/f at the time and her brother were watching their favorite program and I kept making them flip back during the commercials and you just knew when they won that game the tide had turned. But I do remember playing some really crappy games against the Tigers early in that final week...thankfully that rocket hit off Jenks the final out in the clinching game didn't fly into the RF corner and over Konerko's head or we STILL could have ended up blowing the whole thing. And the Grady Sizemore blown catch in the sun in KC, that was the other big turning point in the final 2 weeks. Then we just steamrolled through the Indians (I think they still had wild-card aspirations at the time) at Jacobs Field and flew into the post-season. Yes, I remember beating the Indians and eliminating them from the playoffs. Even one game where I think we played a lot of bench players. That turned out to be huge b/c otherwise we might have played the Yankees in the first round..and then winners of Cle/Angels if we beat the Yankees. And facing the Indians again might not have played in our favor since they were the hottest team in baseball in Aug/Sept. Look what happens sometimes when you give a team new life in the playoffs when they could have been eliminated in the regular season (Green Packers last year...St. Louis Cardinals this year)

Did anybody else have any rituals they used before the playoff games. I remember always going to the same place for lunch. And then in the ALCS I starting changing into the same t-shirt, jeans, and baseball cap before the game. And after each win I would reward myself with some candy (candy gets even better when you get closer to Halloween...the candy companies bring out their best stuff). ...Guess it worked. Oh yeah I prayed also during the games (''please please strike him out") and I never did this before or after..lol.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Oct 26, 2011 -> 01:53 PM) Coach Ditka says "losers and cowards live in the past my friend!" OUch. There is some buzzkill. But we have been losing lately anyways. lol Oct 26 in 2005 was also on Wednesday. I remember the White Sox flying in and arriving somewhere (don't think it was O'Hare) on Thursday early morning. Oprah Show appearance I think on Friday Oct 28...parade/celebration downtown also on Friday...Pods on SNL on Sat Oct 29. Heck, that was Halloween weekend. That had to be the best Halloween weekend ever though I don't remember any of the non-White Sox stuff going on that weekend. And then the World Series trophy went on tour. I remember seeing it a few times at US Cellular stores. Probably I only time that I have ever gone into those stores. Crede & Rowand went somewhere downtown Chicago for a showing of the White Sox DVD? I think that they got it ready very quickly. Actually I think it was mid-November for that. That Rowand was traded shortly after that and that kinda was a buzzkill for me. lol

To me, October 26th is a White Sox holiday. Also, near Halloween so that is sweet. I think that game 3 ended around 1AM CST and I doubt I got much sleep after that exciting, tense Game 3 and then knowing that we could win the World Series later that same day. Adrenaline got me through that day. Yeah, that series was intense since all four games were close games. But ironically it was a sweep and we were never close to losing the Series.

On this day....in White Sox history...it was October 26, 2005....the White Sox won two World Series games that day..including the deciding Game 4.....waiting for the sequel to come out. Anyways, Happy World Series Winner 6-Year Anniversary! Let us hope that we don't have to wait long for another one. That was a fun time...seems like yesterday.

Impressive win by the Rangers. They looked horrible in that second inning but they rebounded. Those were gift runs, thus Cards really have been shutout the last two games. Momentum goes to Rangers but Cards still have their "wildcard" home field advantage. Good series. Really hope that it goes 7 games!

This is the AL Central...we better at least be close to .500. lol! We did see some nice production at the end of 2011 from our younger players (Morel, DeAza, Viciedo, Flowers)...that has to give us some hope ...to be at least around .500....lol

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 24, 2011 -> 12:48 PM) You mean 82-80 would be enough? Aim higher. Just kidding....but I want a 100-62 winning record. OR you say a winning team on the field. ...guess you want us to only schedule games against teams like the Rangers and Yankees. lol!

The advantage of having a great farm system is that it can enable your team to go on a good run (like the Indians or Braves in the 1990s or the Twins in the 2000s). Start bringing in super talent to fill in holes/opening and keeping your team salaries at an affordable rate. I would including having a good drafts and good player development in the mix when looking at a farm system. In order to just win one World Series or to have a good two or three year streak (like the White Sox 2005-06)..you can make some smart trades, find some reasonably priced free agents, look to sign players from places like Japan or Cuba.. If the White Sox want to go on a good run and win a lot of divisional titles they are going to have to improve their farm system. Doesn't really matter where we are ranked now. We all know that we could improve in this area.