DBAHO

From our favourites at da Cubune, TUCSON, Ariz. -- White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has Willie Harris penciled in as his Opening Day second baseman. Pencil, not pen. "I can still erase it quick," Guillen said. Juan Uribe may be the human eraser. Uribe had a pair of hits in Tuesday's 11-4 loss to Colorado, including his second triple. He also scored two runs to give him four in four games. Uribe is 4-for-13 (.307) this spring; Harris is 1-for-8 (.125). Guillen still is counting on Harris to win the job outright, but Uribe is making things interesting. "The way Uribe swings the bat and plays second base, it's making us think," Guillen said. Uribe has more power than Harris, who has more speed. Guillen likes the fact someone is there to push Harris. "I think that's a great push for Willie," Guillen said. "I don't want him to go put pressure on himself. He has to play hard and play better." … Mark Buehrle didn't get much help from his defense, but still was knocked around a bit in his second outing of the spring. "I just didn't hit my spots as well as I did last game," he said. "You throw the ball down the middle of the plate enough, these big-leaguers are going to hurt you." … With the weather warming up, the fields are going to start baking under the desert sun, making ground balls a challenge. The Sox had five errors Tuesday. "That's not an excuse, because [Colorado] made the plays," Guillen said. … Jose Valentin, normally a switch-hitter, batted left-handed against the left-handed Joe Kennedy and singled and tripled. Last season, hitting primarily right-handed, Valentin hit just .131 against left-handers. … Joe Borchard is scheduled to DH Wednesday against Colorado after resting his left quadriceps Tuesday. Jeremy Reed played center field Tuesday and went 1-for-4 with an RBI. He's 3-for-13 in the spring, all singles.

LOL, damn I don't know what I'm doin here then.

U copy cat.

Jeff Garcia signs with the Browns, and now Tim Couch is expected to be traded to Dallas.

Beer Goggles, see da world thru the eys of a drunk!

Mr. Softee! Truck comes with a generator, not sure how it works?

Nice play on words there Greasy. I've really been impressed by Reed's work ethic, I think it shows how hard and how much he really wants to make it as a player.

My connection terminated afta bout 5 mins.

I'm thinkin it won't come out til at least next week mayb the week afta that for me.

LOL, hey Yahtzee did he answer your question about how he likes being your wife?

Same for me too. Hopefully it'll pick up a bit as da season starts.

That sounds like Homer Simpson talkin, except he'd only hav Chocolate, and not Vanilla or Strawberry.

Hopefully he gets what's comin to him and what he deserves. There are sum really, really sick ppl out there. Damn Yahtzee, our thoughts are with u and ur girlfriend, hope everythin works out for da best.

How bout Danny Baez Southsider?

It's called Playoffs.

Sounds like that dog from Bruce Almighty.

SCORE: White Sox 6, Athletics 5. SPRING RECORD: 4-1. AT THE PLATE: Jose Valentin tripled and doubled, Magglio Ordonez had two singles and Joe Crede homered. ON THE MOUND: Shingo Takatsu and Billy Koch each pitched one inning, yielding one hit and no runs. Takatsu had a strikeout. IN THE FIELD: Paul Konerko got Dan Wright out of jam by starting a slick 3-6-1 double play in the second inning. HE'S READY: After striking out in his first at-bat of the spring, Ordonez lined two solid singles in his next two trips before calling it a day. He had been nursing a sore heel. NEXT UP: Vs. Rockies at 2:05 p.m. in Tucson. Mark Buehrle will make his second appearance against Joe Kennedy for Colorado. Jeremy Reed will start in center field for the Sox.

TUCSON, Ariz. -- For a brief moment Monday, Dan Wright looked vintage 2003—and that's not a good thing. After yielding a solo home run to Oakland's Bobby Kielty in the first inning, Wright walked the first two men he faced in the second. Images of last year's control problems threatened to erase those of the solid first outing Wright had Friday. But Wright induced Damian Miller to hit a double-play ball and got Bobby Crosby to fly out. End of jam, end of inning and another step away from last season's disaster. "My breaking ball wasn't as sharp as I wanted it to be, but other than that it was OK," Wright said. Wright may have a slight lead in the chase for the fifth-starter job. He yielded only the home run and struck out two in three innings of work. "He threw the ball outstanding," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. … After jumping to a 6-1 lead, the Sox had to sweat in the ninth, when Oakland scored four runs. The inning prompted Guillen to make his first trip to the mound, and he lifted Gary Majewski for Darrin Ebert. "The umpire said, 'Which one do you want?' and I said, 'Nobody, that's the last one,'" Guillen said. … Shingo Takatsu gave up a line double to the first man he faced, Eric Byrnes, then retired the next three in his second spring outing. "I'm happy with the outcome, but I'm not really satisfied with what I've been going through," Takatsu said. "Skill-wise, I need to improve some stuff." … Guillen plans to give outfielder Joe Borchard a couple of days off to rest his left quadriceps. … Left-hander Neal Cotts yielded one hit in three innings in a 5-0 "B" game victory over the Diamondbacks. Cotts walked four and struck out two. … Francisco Campos struck out seven in three innings against Arizona and may get a turn with the regulars in his next outing. "He's a veteran pitcher and would be a pretty good long reliever," Guillen said.

TUCSON, Ariz. -- About two hours southeast of the hustle and bustle of the Phoenix metropolitan area resides a little hub of spring training baseball. Die-hards can pretty much be assured of a game a day throughout March, when the White Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies all make Tucson home and play their games a 10-minute drive from each other. The Sox moved their spring base from Sarasota, Fla., to the desert in 1998, joining the Diamondbacks at Tucson Electric Park. How much longer the Sox will remain here is a recurring question amid rumors that they would like to move northwest to Scottsdale. Good seats are usually easy to find for most games at the 11,500-seat stadium. Last season, the Sox averaged 4,856 a game. There is ample seating on the lawn in left-center and right-center field for $3 and plenty of parking just outside the stadium. Some other tidbits: How much are the other tickets? $16, $14, $8 and $6. Tickets can be purchased at the box office, tickets.com or by calling 520-434-1111. How's the food? Standard concession fare—burgers, hot dogs, polish sausage and chicken sandwiches—with a barbecue stand down the right-field line. What time is batting practice? When the Sox are the home team, which is most of the time, they hit from 10:20 a.m. to 11:05 for a 1:05 p.m. game and until 5:05 p.m. for a 7:05 game. Don't worry about the night games, though. The only one this spring is Wednesday against the Rockies. Are tickets still available for the March 19 game against the Cubs? Yes, but they are going quick. As of Monday afternoon there were about 1,500 bleacher seats and 1,500 lawn tickets available. If that's the game you want to see, the best bet is to call and order tickets soon. When is the last chance to see the Sox in Tucson? The last game is Friday, April 2, against the Milwaukee Brewers Where is the best place to get an autograph? There are a couple of hot spots. The Sox dugout is on the first-base side, so down the right-field line when the players are running and stretching is good, as well as on either side of the dugouts. Also, behind home plate is a tunnel that leads outside and back to the clubhouse. Players will stop right inside the tunnel and sign there. Outside the stadium there is an area near a gate on the southwest side of the stadium that players have to walk by to get to the clubhouse. Some will stop and sign. Some people wait on Ajo Way at the driveway entrance to the complex and try to get autographs as the players drive away. If you want Magglio Ordonez's autograph, look for a yellow Lamborghini. Can't miss it.

From da Cubune, TUCSON, Ariz. -- Willie Harris was on first base and Sandy Alomar Jr. on third with two outs in the second inning of Monday's White Sox-Oakland exhibition game. Harris took off for second and A's catcher Damian Miller sailed his throw into center field, enabling Alomar to score. The manufactured run is an example of the aggressive "National League" style of baseball Sox manager Ozzie Guillen is determined to bring to the South Side this season. Or is it? Stolen bases, hit-and-run plays and bunts—small ball—have long been associated with the National League because it's assumed those teams are at a disadvantage because their pitchers have to hit. But a look at some statistics from last year raises questions as to whether the perception is reality and whether bringing the offensive style of the Florida Marlins—for whom Guillen was third-base coach last season—would be much of an improvement for the Sox. The "small ball" National League wound up hitting 2,708 home runs last season compared with the American League's 2,499. The NL's 16 teams scored 11,945 runs to 11,033 for the 14 AL teams. And for all the emphasis on stolen bases that has been associated with the NL, its teams had only 15 more steals than AL teams—1,294 to 1,279. Meanwhile, there is scant evidence to suggest stolen bases lead to more runs. The Toronto Blue Jays stole 37 bases last season, fewest in the majors, yet scored 894 runs, third most behind Boston and Atlanta. The Marlins won the 2003 World Series, but their final offensive statistics were in the middle of the pack in the National League and similar to the Sox's final stats. No one stole more bases than Florida's 150, yet the Marlins scored only 751 runs, or 40 fewer than the Sox scored last season. The Marlins had to manufacture runs because they hit only 157 home runs playing half their games in spacious Pro Player Stadium, compared with the Sox's 220. "Ozzie and (hitting coach) Greg Walker know what we're capable of," first baseman Paul Konerko said. "As for hitting and running and stealing bases, we'll probably do more of that." Aside from Harris, the Sox don't have much speed in their lineup, as Guillen concedes. Harris said Guillen has given him the green light to run whenever he feels he can get a jump. "He told me if I get thrown out, who cares? Be aggressive," Harris said. Being aggressive doesn't just mean stealing bases. It means getting good jumps, going from first to third on a base hit, taking the extra base whenever possible and putting pressure on the defense. "We don't have too much speed, but if we run the bases the way we should, it should be easy for us," Guillen said. A team that doesn't run looks dead when it's not hitting, as opposed to a team that is always on the go. The running team may not score more runs, but it seems to have more energy. "I remember last year when everyone was on us in May and June," Konerko said, recalling a prolonged dry spell at the plate. "Then in July we hit a ton of home runs, and everyone was saying that's the best thing." Ideally, a team wants to strike a balance between big-inning capability and resourcefulness, playing for one run when the game dictates. For the Sox, the best part of Monday's six-run output came in the first inning. Jose Valentin tripled and Frank Thomas, with two strikes, drove him in with a flyball. That's the type of situational hitting the Sox often seemed incapable of last season, which cost them countless scoring opportunities. "Once you put those two things together, you have a potent offense," Thomas said. "[Guillen] will know when we're swinging the bats well, and when we are I'm sure he'll slow it down."

We get Letterman free to air about 11:45 p.m every weeknite, I try to stay up and wtach it most of da time. Did any1 catch da joke when Bush was laughing at his own joke about faulty checks at a speech.

1. San Diego Chargers - Eli Manning, QB, Ole Miss 2. Oakland Raiders - Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Pittsburgh 3. Arizona Cardinals - Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Miami (OH) 4. New York Giants - Robert Gallery, OT, Iowa 5. Washington Redskins - Kellen Winslow, TE, Miami 6. Detroit Lions - Sean Teaylor, S, Miami 7(coin). Atlanta Falcons - Roy Williams, WR, Texas 7(coin). Cleveland Browns - Shane Andrews, OT, Arkansas 9. Jacksonville Jaguars - Will Smith, DE, Ohio St. 10. Houston Texans - Kenechi Udeze, DE, USC 11. Pittsburgh Steelers - Steven Jackson, RB, Oregon St. 12. New York Jets - D.J. Williams, LB, Miami 13. Buffalo Bills - Tommie Harris. DT, Oklahoma 14. Chicago Bears - Kevin Jones, RB, Virginia Tech 15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Reggie Williams, WR, Washington 16. San Francisco 49ers - Vince Wilfork, DT, Miami 17. Cincinnati Bengals - Chris Gamble, CB, Ohio State 18. New Orleans Saints - DeAngelo Hall, CB, Virginia Tech 19. Minnesota Vikings - Derrick Strait, CB, Oklahoma 20. Miami Dolphins - Philip Rivers, QB, North Carolina State 21. New England Patriots (via Baltimore) - Jonathan Vilma, LB, Miami 22. Dallas Cowboys - Chris Perry, RB, Michigan 23. Seattle Seahawks - Randy Starks, DT, Maryland 24. Denver Broncos - Antwan Odom, DE, Alabama 25. Green Bay Packers - J.P Losman, QB, Tulane 26. St. Louis Rams - Dunta Robinson, CB, South Carolina 27. Tennessee Titans - Darnell Dockett, DT, Florida State 28. Philadelphia Eagles - WR, WR, WR, WR, WR, WR, WR, RB, LB, DL 29. Indianapolis Colts - CB (upgrade), LB, DL 30. Kansas City Chiefs - LB, DB's (Upgrade), DL 31. Carolina Panthers - WR, LB, FS 32. New England Patriots - RB, LB (youth), DL, FS

Los Angeles.

I think if it's a choice b/w the Junkyard Dog and E-Rob, the Dog will be stayin in Chicago. He's a energy guy off da bench, and gets lots of boards and plays good D.

As much as I would like to hav an outhouse, ......