DBAHO

That's utterly ridiculous.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Apr 19, 2006 -> 10:48 PM) Gotta love our exports :-) Well our state is finally getting a Krispy Kreme by the end of the year, so I guess we're finally heading somewhere.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Apr 19, 2006 -> 10:33 PM) The wierd thing about the Twins is that they were all about letting the young guys play, and their young guys turned into a great team(Hunter, Pierzynski, Jones, Radke, Santana etc.), and now that great team is pretty much broken up, and the Twins are resisting another youth movement. I think Gardenhire was great for the Twins when they were ready to compete, I dont know so much about his ability to assimilate young players into the mix. So far his results have been a pretty mixed bag, and more recently he hasnt been all that good with his treatment of Kubel, Bartlett, Castro and Cuddyer. His development of young pitching has been pretty awesome though If you listen to a lot of Twins fans, I think you'll find Gardy's act in terms of how he handles his offensive players is starting to get really old. For example, not using a platoon partner for Jackass Jones against lefties, when he was really terrible against them. I think he just falls in love with his veteran guys too much, and doesn't give his young guys enough of a chance. I mean Bartlett was hitting .246 and .227 in his 1st 2 months, not terrible for a rookie by any stretch of means, and they replace him with Castro who hit .257 last season and had an OBP of .279 (9 BB's in 272 AB's). Because I mean I would definitely be more worried about the Twins if they let Bartlett stay in the majors last season, and he'd definitely be more settled in now, and would probably produce a lot better. Same with Cuddyer.

I'm really looking forward to this game, from an offensive standpoint. Our offense has been much improved over the 1st 2 weeks. But we've long had a history of guys like Elarton dominating our lineup from time to time. He's not going to strike us out a lot, so we've got to be patient. And hopefully they'll come through enough to provide some support for Javy. He also needs a good outing here to re-assure himself that he can pitch well here at the Cell, because if he doesn't, the questions about him and his fly-balling ways here are only going to get stronger.

Some interesting statements here;

QUOTE(whitesoxin' @ Apr 19, 2006 -> 01:59 PM) I buy Monster Energy drinks in bulk at Costco. It's about $1.25 per can when I buy a case there, so it's worth it. They've gotten me through countless late nights and early mornings. And they taste great too. If there's one thing I'd love to have in Australia from America, it'd probably be a Costco. For example, when I was in Phoenix we bought a 6 pack of Pringles for $4. They're usually $3.50 each down here.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Apr 19, 2006 -> 03:44 PM) Ozzie might not be the best guy guy to manage a ballgame, but he is the perfect guy you want in this situation. While a manager like Gardenhire is great, Anderson would have been down in AAA last week. Ozzie is giving Anderson every chance in the world for Brian to succeed, and like Ozzie, I believe he wont let us down. And that's a really good statement Tony. You've seen how the Twins have handled Jason Bartlett, he should be in the majors no doubt, instead he's stuck in AAA while the Twinkies have Juan Castro of all people in front of him. Jason Kubel just a couple of days ago got demoted because Gardenhire wasn't using him enough. The Twins have a great knack for finding and developing good young pitching. It's lucky for us, they don't have that same knack for finding hitters.

Beautiful ain't it. And when we're in slumps, just remember these times, because as we showed, we're a much better team than one that goes 1-4 after its first few games and has its fans disgusted with its play. This is a team built on pitching. And when we get performances like we've gotten from Mark, Jose and Jon over 3 of the past 4 games, we're going to win a LOT of games this season. So just enjoy it. Please.

Indians have decreased a little from last season. Their big 3 should be a little better than last season, but Byrd and Johnson are downgrades from what they had in there last season. Michaels has done the job so far in replacing Crisp but I still have my doubts on whether he can do it for a whole season. And they've lost Riske, Rhodes and Howry from their pen. Mota HAS to hold up for them otherwise they're in trouble on that regard. Twinkies still worry me a little. Thier SP is still one of the best in the league. If Scott Baker and Lohse can hold up and provide ERA around 4, then they can keep Liriano in the pen (even though he'd be just as good in rotation), and he can provide that 2 innings of relief where he's been just flat out dominant. But a lineup that includes Juan Castro and Tony Batista ain't going to take you places, and that'll be there downfall. The Tiggies still have their problems. Some of their starters still aren't consistent enough (Bonderman still has his bad days, Maroth and Robertson aren't going to wow you) etc., while their pen needs guys like Jones and Rodney to hold up. Zumaya looks the goods though in the pen. Offensively, they've still got 1 main problem. Plate Discipline. They don't walk, and they can't keep hitting over .300 forever.

QUOTE(shawnhillegas @ Apr 18, 2006 -> 11:10 PM) somebody who is going to the game needs to make a giant sign telling jon to pitch inside. And to get ahead in the count. I'd really love to see some stats for Jon's success rate when he's 0-1 in the count, instead of 1-0 or 2-0. Makes a huge difference for him.

QUOTE(EvilJester99 @ Apr 18, 2006 -> 11:32 PM) You're damn skippy we're lucky!! Skippy agrees;

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Apr 18, 2006 -> 11:26 PM) Why is that worthy of a 4-man headbang salute? I dunno, the drinking of the beer perhaps? Not really the type of thread you want to be using the "headbanging" smily for though.

QUOTE(GoSox05 @ Apr 18, 2006 -> 11:14 PM) Right now he's the best pitcher in the AL. You'd be hardpressed to find a better pitcher in all of the MLB since the ASG of 2005. And we're lucky to have him. Very lucky.

I read an article tonight saying that DeShawn Stevenson may opt out of the final year of his 3 year deal (3Y/8.5M) and become a FA this off-season. The Magic Brass don't really want to give him up, but they want an upgrade at SG. My suggestion, let him walk, and draft Roy or Brewer at 11. We're also making noise about re-signing Ariza (restricted FA) and Darko. I'd probably lock up Darko now to a cheaper long - term contract, except of waiting another season, where if he performs well then he's gonna demand more. But the max he can get is 6 years $83.5M. And there's a couple of rumors saying that Isiah Thomas wants Scott Skiles now to be his next head coach. And I'm sure Scott is gonna run over there in joy and sign straight away.

Jon needs to be on from the get-go tonight, and not let things get into his head, even if something bad happens that he can't control e.g Ozuna's lack of OF defense etc. He's back at home, got a team that's really struggling offensively, it's a perfect situation for him to get back on track. And we need to keep beating up on the Royals. We'll have them 6 times already from our 1st 15 games, so we need to make sure that we're right up there at the top of the central after tomorrow's game.

Cody Ross is going to be moved from the Dodgers; He hit .267/.348/.509 in AAA ball last season. He's only 25 so he's still relatively young. Another guy, I've long had an interest in, is Scott Hairston. He's never going to make it on the D-Backs. Currently they have Gonzo, Green, Byrnes and DaVanon as outfielders, with Upton, Young, Gonzales and Quentin in the minor leagues. He can play a little second base, but they've moved him to LF. He's not the greatest fielder out there, but he can hit. The Sox orignally drafted him in 99 as well. Hit .311/.384/.608 in AAA in 2005 and is hitting .318/.412/.545 so far for them this season. He's too good for AAA and deserves another chance in the majors somewhere. And the D-Backs aren't asking a lot for him.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Apr 18, 2006 -> 01:41 PM) Real nice win for the Bulls, Orlando had won about a dozen in a row at home and hadn't lost since late February down there. To sweep the Florida back to back is great, gotta come home and beat Toronto and see what happens. For this team to finish 41-41 would be something considering all the stupid losses they have. Yeah props to you guys coming back from a double digit deficit at half-time on our home court. Our big 3 had 15 TO's combined (even though Hedo and Dwight still played extremely well), and we shot only 43% (we've been shooting over .50% since the ASB). So today, Rudy Gay, Adam Morrison and Tyrus Thomas declared for the draft. Morrison should probably end up in Portland if they end up with a high pick. Big character guy, and they need to appease the locals, plus they have a hole at SF (if they can move Darius Miles). Gay makes sense for a team like Charlotte possibly, while Thomas is still prob the fav to go #1. Atlanta could use him at PF, with Zaza manning the middle. And could we have another Yao on the way? From nbadraft.net;

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Apr 17, 2006 -> 09:25 PM) Could you do that for the 2-7 hitters? I am sure there is a huge difference there as well, at least in BA and OBP. Every hitter from 2-7 is batting over .300, while 3 players have an OPS over 1.000. If the 8, 9, and 1 hitters can get it going, this will be a Top 3 offense easily. Sure why not; 2005 April Iguchi - .333/.357/.372 (OPS .729) Everett - .280/.330/.488 (OPS .818) Konerko - .218/.320/.494 (OPS .814) Dye - .175/.205/.313 (OPS .517) Pierzynski - .269/.329/.358 (OPS .687) Rowand - .233/.295/.326 (OPS .620) Average BA = .251.3 Average OBP = .306 Average SLG = .391.83 Average OPS = .697.5 2006 Iguchi - .310/.388/.429 (OPS .783) Thome - .342/.528/.974 (OPS 1.502) Konerko - .362/.426/.702 (OPS 1.128) Dye - .333/.474/.567 (OPS 1.040) Pierzynski - .308/.341/.359 (OPS .700) Crede - .324/.372/.541 (OPS .913) Average BA = .329.83 Average OBP = .421.5 Average SLG = .595.33 Average OPS = 1.011 Enjoy the hot offensive start while it lasts folks.

Much has been said already about the impact these 2 have had. But I just want to show how much of an impact already these 2 have had, compared to the production we got from Everett and Konerko in April last season; Thome - .342/.528/.974 (OPS 1.502) Konerko - .362/.426/.702 (OPS 1.128) OPS b/w 2 = 1.315 Everett in April 2005 - .280/.330/.488 (OPS .818) Konerko in April 2005 - .218/.320/.494 (OPS .814) OPS b/w 2 = .816 That's a .499 difference alone from those 2 spots, for the 2 hitters. We scored 106 runs in April in 2005. So far with half of the month gone, we've already scored 67. Imagine if we had the pitching from the start of last season to go along with the offensive boost that we've had so far.

QUOTE(Jeckle2000 @ Apr 17, 2006 -> 02:54 PM) We need more intense players like AJ... If we could Anderson for Bradley straight up i'd do it in a second... Let's see here, Billy Beane was asking for Brian Anderson for Juan Cruz. I don't think he would trade Bradley about 2 or 3 months after acquiring him from the Dodgers in the 1st place. And it's one thing being intense. It's another thing to be a total jackass.

QUOTE(chitownsportsfan @ Apr 17, 2006 -> 02:53 PM) I don't understand how impulsive some fans are. Welcome to Soxtalk. It's a fact of life here unfortunately.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Apr 17, 2006 -> 02:51 PM) I've been hearing rumors that Brewer might stay now. We'll see, I'd still bet that he comes out but it doesn't seem 100 percent certain anymore. There's a few guys in that mold. I mean in a weak draft, he's got a chance to go top 10, he should probably come out now. Next year's draft is a LOT stronger IIRC.

QUOTE(Jeckle2000 @ Apr 17, 2006 -> 02:51 PM) I still say we should of gone after Milton Bradley when we had the chance... Clubhouse Cancer. Doubt he would have fitted into KW's mold of bringing in good guys for the clubhouse. And you can argue Pierzynski was an exception, but KW did his homework on him. Bradley's had 2 chances on 2 different teams, and hasn't made the most of it.

QUOTE(Jeckle2000 @ Apr 17, 2006 -> 02:47 PM) What worries me about Anderson is Ozzie has lost faith in him... If that happens he will lose confidence... and Mack is not a starting CF... He's struggling, of course Ozzie is going to give him a day off or two to clear his head. Let's not forget, last season Jermaine Dye was terrible in the 1st 2 months of the season, and Sox fans were calling him Jermaine Dead. How did that end up turning out?

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Apr 17, 2006 -> 02:38 PM) I have no idea why people think Anderson is a defensive liability. Probably because we were so spoiled by Rowand's defense in CF last season I guess. In no way, is Anderson a defensive liability in CF. Any person who's watched him in the minors (e.g Randar) would tell you that.