Wong & Owens Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 Sure feels good to see an article like this first thing in the morning: http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...ome%2Dheadlines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxFanForever Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 That was a great article. Phil rocks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwsox Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 nice to see someone likes us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CubKilla Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 What's the gist of it? All I had pop-up was a registration page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwsox Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 cubs suck. all cubs are is pr. Sox rock. Security precautions have been taken to keep CK from reading this. That was about the gist of it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CubKilla Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 Security precautions have been taken to keep CK from reading this. Tight It must be tough working for the Tribune and being Phil Rogers though..... printing lies about the White Sox winning and not buying into the pro-Cubs media hoopla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wong & Owens Posted March 27, 2003 Author Share Posted March 27, 2003 Here you go: Book it: Sox will succeed Sometimes image really is everything. Otherwise how do you possibly explain Sports Illustrated's curious viewpoint on Chicago's two baseball teams? When SI's annual baseball issue arrived in my mailbox Wednesday afternoon, I stopped what I was doing and ripped it open. It was no surprise to find the Minnesota Twins, and not the White Sox, picked to win the American League Central. While I would reverse that order, few other analysts with a national perspective seem to have noticed the Twins won many more games than they should have last season. I see fragile pitchers and underachieving hitters. Everyone else, it seems, sees a good team that will be better this year. Ken Rosenthal, a respected voice from The Sporting News, ranks Minnesota as the No. 1 team in the majors. ESPN's Peter Gammons picks the Twins to lead the AL in victories. That speaks loudly, considering that Oakland has averaged 103 the last two seasons and that the New York Yankees are spending $164 million on player payroll. When you spend a ton of money, you ought to win a lot of games. That's a good place to bring the Cubs into the discussion. ESPN and other outlets have been saying nice things about Dusty Baker and his new team all spring. This is more than a little puzzling to those who watch them regularly. The Cubs were the biggest flop in the majors in 2002, spending $76 million to go 67-95. They addressed only one of their many needs in the off-season (installing new guts in the bullpen) and have had a miserable spring. Yet there they are on SI's ranking of the 30 major-league teams—a proud No 14. That's one spot higher than the White Sox, who won 81 games last season, have since added Bartolo Colon and Billy Koch and are wrapping up a quietly productive spring. Amazing. Take 94 years of getting them next year, add ivy, Sammy Sosa and Baker and you have yourself a product with presence, if not shelf life. And unless the subject is bad ballparks or unpopular superstars, the White Sox remain perpetual afterthoughts. But there's no comparisons between these rosters. The Sox have six players who drove in at least 75 runs last year, the Cubs have one (and the Twins have only two). The Sox have two starting pitchers who each won more games last year than Kerry Wood and Mark Prior did together. The Sox's closer had 25 more saves and five fewer blown saves than the Cubs' closer—who, by the way, already is hurt. And still SI says the Cubs are a better team? It might make sense if the issue was dated April 1, but it's not. Some quick observations as I get ready to break out a new scorebook: The Sox, a sleeping giant since winning 95 games in 2000, have the kind of team—that is, one with a deep bullpen and power throughout the lineup—that can go a long way if they make the playoffs. How far could they go? Well, despite an understanding of Chicago's woeful history in the postseason (the White Sox and Cubs have combined to lose their last 14 playoff series), I'm on record picking them to go to the World Series. There. I actually wrote the sentence and haven't yet turned to stone. Sure, a Series pick is a major reach, but I think it's likely that they will not just make the playoffs but become the first Chicago team to win an October series—even if it's just the first round—since the Sox won the 1917 Series. It's a given they are going to score a ton of runs. When you can hit Joe Crede seventh, you're on to something. The keys are the table-setters, D'Angelo Jimenez and Jose Valentin, and limiting the opponents' scoring. Don Cooper's pitching staff is much deeper than most acknowledge, and there's depth beyond the 25-man roster. Joe Borchard, Aaron Miles, Willie Harris, Josh Stewart, Dave Sanders, Arnie Munoz, Edwin Almonte and Felix Diaz all could wind up on a playoff roster if the Sox do what it takes to beat Minnesota in a two-team race. Remember Juan Cruz's 2002 season? The kid pitched well early, allowing three earned runs or less in eight of his first nine starts, but the Cubs scored only 3.3 runs per game behind him. Eventually he grew frustrated and crumbled. That's a likely scenario for the Cubs in Baker's first season. They have a lot of pitching—Wood, Prior, Matt Clement, Carlos Zambrano and the rebuilt bullpen—but only one reliable run producer (Sosa) in the lineup. The Cubs were 11th in the National League with 706 runs last year and aren't likely to improve, not when they have a rookie (Hee Seop Choi) hitting fifth and all four 136-strikeout guys still in the lineup. Moises Alou (two homers in 42 at-bats) has shown few signs of a NL Comeback Player of the Year performance, and Sosa's so-so spring (13-for-39 with two homers) is a carryover from last September, when his age showed. Doesn't look like a contender to me, but maybe general manager Jim Hendry can pull off a big trade—something like Kyle Farnsworth and Bobby Hill for Mark Buehrle and Magglio Ordonez. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CubKilla Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 Doesn't look like a contender to me, but maybe general manager Jim Hendry can pull off a big trade—something like Kyle Farnsworth and Bobby Hill for Mark Buehrle and Magglio Ordonez. Don't give KW any ideas Phil Great article though. Summed up my analysis a few days ago in a separate thread..... although Rogers was much nicer the the sCrUBS. Thanks ghost Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soxfest Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 Good article, points about Cubs being ranked above Sox were excellent, it shows me the MEDIA thinks D.Baker is the messiah and Cubs will win 25 more games because of him. Cubs suck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CubKilla Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 Good article, points about Cubs being ranked above Sox were excellent, it shows me the MEDIA thinks D.Baker is the messiah and Cubs will win 25 more games because of him. Cubs suck Actually, I think Dusty Baker is John the Baptist..... Jesus Prior is the Messiah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 They are make Dusty Baker out to be the god of baseball coaches....making him seem like he is the best manager in the league. How many people remember back in October when Russ Ortiz had a 5-1 lead (or was it a 5-0 lead?) in the 7th inning....he had fewer than 100 pitches.....yet, Dusty still took him out because he had allowed two runners on base. Having Barry Bonds in the lineup is what got the Giants to the World Series....and having the pitchers step up and pitch decently....and having the bullpen come through and pitch lights out....not Dusty's great managing. When a player hits the most homers in postseason history, while hitting 1 like very 3 ABs or so it seemed....you're gonna do some things, even if your pitching is bad and your manager is an idiot. He's a decent manager....but I'm not even sure he's the best manager in Chicago. JM may not be that great of a manager.....but he's not much worse than Baker....MHO anyways Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BridgeportHeather Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 I'd love to be Mr. Rogers' neighbor! He knows what's up in here! How anyone can think the Cubs are even a far cry from being as good as our Sox is beyond me! The Cun...errr...Cubs...have always been, are, and will always be our b****es!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YASNY Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 The reason the sCrubs are hyping Baker, is because, basically, that's all they have done to improve a 95 loss team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwsox Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 The reason the sCrubs are hyping Baker, is because, basically, that's all they have done to improve a 95 loss team. ya gotta sell what ya got and that is all they got Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxFan1 Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 Exactly, Baker and Sammy Loud Mouth Sosa is all they got. They are garbage! Go Sox! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 Its nice to see someone in the media who has a lot of confidence in the Sox. I just hope all the players got confidence in themselves, cause this is going to be a very good team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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