Baseball 2005

[Big Al]

  Johnny E said:

  Big Al said:

  Dan Gould said:

  Big Al said:

  Dan Gould said:

The Sox suck right now, but with Tampa coming to Fenway, the Yanks in Texas and Baltimore at Minnesota, I think we could actually hold on to first this week.

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You're kidding, right? Don't count on my boys for anything right now. Except blowing ninth-inning leads. They're REEEEEEAL good at that right now!

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Well at the moment, I figured, with the Yankee pitching staff and the Rangers offense, they ought to win two out of three, and the Sox ought to sweep the Devil Rays.

But what the fuck do I know?????

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Believe me, brother, I hate this as much as you do! I mean, my guys fuckin' HELPED the Yankees into first place, short of laying out the red carpet for 'em.

And Chan Ho's on the mound tonight! I predict we'll be in third place before this night's over!

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I predict they'll end the season behind the Mariners.

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I think you may be onto something there.....

[Dan Gould]

Yeah, but you came back with two in the 8th to beat the Yanks, Cordero had no room for error and still got the save ... and the Sox are back in first as SCHILLING records his first save!

Now do us all a favor and pound on this guy Smalls who pitches tomorrow for New York!

[Soulstation1]

junior may be traded

wouldn't that be some funnny shit if he wound up with the fuckin' evil empire

ss1

[Dave James]

I've been thinking about Griffey in pinstripes for the last week or so. Nothing solid upon which to base these musings, just some kind of intuitive sense that this was a strong possibility. Randy Winn is the other name that I've actually seen discussed, but I'd take Griffey in a heartbeat. Junior in the Big Apple. How sweet would that be?

Up over and out.

[Big Al]

  Dan Gould said:

Yeah, but you came back with two in the 8th to beat the Yanks, Cordero had no room for error and still got the save ... and the Sox are back in first as SCHILLING records his first save! 

Now do us all a favor and pound on this guy Smalls who pitches tomorrow for New York! 

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Nobody was more surprised than me that Coco held a one-run lead! Hell, last night was chock-full of surprises: Chan Ho going 7-1/3 innings and only giving up one run (it’s too bad he didn’t get the decision; he sure earned it this time); FINALLY some clutch-hitting when it counts; and, of course, Coco showing the flashes of brilliance that made him the much-trusted/much-feared closer last year!

It’s only one game, but who knows? I sure hope it’s turnaround time.

[BERIGAN]

  BERIGAN said:

.

Has anyone else noticed that ESPN.com has quietly put most of it's baseball content behind the Insider portion(Pay in other words) of their site? Gammons is there now as well. I hate to pay for something that was free before, but the Altanta paper has done the same thing with almost all their baseball content, may have to bite the bullet...any good free baseball sites out there???

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If you want something done, do it yourself Berigan! Googling dug up this site with links to many a rumor....(The headline is the story link, took me a minute to figure that one out! )

http://www.prosportsdaily.com/mlb/mlbrumors.html

Edited July 20, 2005 by BERIGAN

[Dan Gould]

Thanks Berigan, though it doesn't take the place of Gammons writing and insight.

(that's aimed at ESPN, not you!)

[Johnny E]

Hey Al,

What's with the constant rumors of Texas looking to trade Soriano? I look at the guys numbers year after year and he's a monster, yet the Yankees shopped him and the Reangers now seem to be shopping him around. Is there something about Soriano that I don't notice because I don't get to see him play day in and day out?

[Big Al]

Yeah, I hear that, too. It's like when Charlie Brown was looking to make a trade, and ended up trading his best player (Snoopy) to Peppermint Patty's team just so he could get some decent players.

We need pitching. Badly. I guess as far as expendability goes, Soriano's first on the list, cuz we're not letting go of Mench, Blalock, Big Tex, etc. At least, we better not be!!!

Soriano's a decent enough player, but he's made some costly blunders here lately, both offensively and defensively. Thankfully, none of them have been game-changing (to my knowledge, anyway); but it's like sending Cordero out there with a lead: you know he's more than capable of blowing it, yet you send him out there because of what he's done in the past, praying that he doesn't blow it THIS time. Thankfully, last night more than justified people's faith in him.

But then, with all the homers flying out of the ballpark tonight, Soriano could've played standing on his head and it might not've made a difference. And now the A's are coming back to give us more abuse. I tell ya, John, we may be behind Seattle before this weekend's out after all!!!!

[Johnny E]

  Big Al said:

Yeah, I hear that, too. It's like when Charlie Brown was looking to make a trade, and ended up trading his best player (Snoopy) to Peppermint Patty's team just so he could get some decent players.

We need pitching. Badly. I guess as far as expendability goes, Soriano's first on the list, cuz we're not letting go of Mench, Blalock, Big Tex, etc. At least, we better not be!!!

Soriano's a decent enough player, but he's made some costly blunders here lately, both offensively and defensively. Thankfully, none of them have been game-changing (to my knowledge, anyway); but it's like sending Cordero out there with a lead: you know he's more than capable of blowing it, yet you send him out there because of what he's done in the past, praying that he doesn't blow it THIS time. Thankfully, last night more than justified people's faith in him.

But then, with all the homers flying out of the ballpark tonight, Soriano could've played standing on his head and it might not've made a difference. And now the A's are coming back to give us more abuse. I tell ya, John, we may be behind Seattle before this weekend's out after all!!!!    

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Don't bet on it. The Mariners are pretty stinky. We scored 10 runs last night and still lost. The only decent pitcher we have under the age of 42 is Eddie Guardado and he's our closer...he doesn't get much work though as you can imagine.

[Big Al]

Well, look at it this way: when our two teams meet, there won’t be any winners: just a contest to see who can play/pitch/hit the worst!

[Dan Gould]

With all the B.S. that's gone on between me and Paul about the series between the Sox, lost is the fact that the Yanks visit the other division leaders, also for four games. Be real interesting to see how the top two teams in the East stack up against the top two teams this weekend.

Edited July 21, 2005 by Dan Gould

[Dave James]

That whole ESPN Insider deal really rubs me the wrong way. I'm sure you've noticed that everytime something predictable in sports is about to happen, like the NBA or NFL draft or the MLB trading deadline, everything that you're interested in reading about winds up on the pay to play Insider. Nothing more than another shamelessly blatant attempt to separate the die hard sports fan from more of his money. I won't go down for it, but it sure as hell pisses me off.

Up over and out.

[Soulstation1]

espn.com is kinda like porn sites

you can get a free sample, but you gotta pay for the good stuff

[Johnny E]

That's why I visit http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/ instead. At least there I can get the latest trade rumors without having to pay.

[jazzypaul]

  Dan Gould said:

With all the B.S. that's gone on between me and Paul about the series between the Sox, lost is the fact that the Yanks visit the other division leaders, also for four games.  Be real interesting to see how the top two teams in the East stack up against the top two teams this weekend.

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I have to admit Dan, I'm kinda worried about the next month or so in the CWS schedule. The first half, we played lots of Central and West teams, who are, for the most part, weaksauce all the way. Now we've got Boston twice, the Yanks twice and Minnesota (I'm hitting games for that series, and probably the Indians as well). Considering how poorly we've done against Oakland and some other formidable teams, I am shaking in my boots a hair.

However, after losing two to the Tigers (!), I think the boys will be pumped to do some damage this weekend. We'll see how it all turns out.

[Brad]

Well, the Mets finally swept a series. It's about f'in time. They've been here before (3 over 500) so this weekend will be interesting. It would behoove them to sweep again. That would make them 6 over as they hit the road.

[Soulstation1]

dan

i thought you had gammons' cell number?

[Soulstation1]

i wouldn't trade coco crisp for sammy so-so

he looks lost up at the plate

[Dan Gould]

  jazzypaul said:

  Dan Gould said:

With all the B.S. that's gone on between me and Paul about the series between the Sox, lost is the fact that the Yanks visit the other division leaders, also for four games.  Be real interesting to see how the top two teams in the East stack up against the top two teams this weekend.

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I have to admit Dan, I'm kinda worried about the next month or so in the CWS schedule. The first half, we played lots of Central and West teams, who are, for the most part, weaksauce all the way. Now we've got Boston twice, the Yanks twice and Minnesota (I'm hitting games for that series, and probably the Indians as well). Considering how poorly we've done against Oakland and some other formidable teams, I am shaking in my boots a hair.

However, after losing two to the Tigers (!), I think the boys will be pumped to do some damage this weekend. We'll see how it all turns out.

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And now we know: four game split, and the pitcher you were ready to concede would be a loser saved you from losing the series.

Might be interesting come October, because if the wild card comes out of the East and the White Sox do indeed have the best record in the league, it will be the White Sox hosting the wild card team. I figure, as long as Schilling is in the rotation and the back end of the bullpen is set, we'll do OK.

[Johnny E]

  Big Al said:

Well, look at it this way: when our two teams meet, there won’t be any winners: just a contest to see who can play/pitch/hit the worst!

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A's sweep Rangers, grab share of wild-card lead

Texas lost its fifth straight and fell to 2-9 since the All-Star break, completing a 1-6 homestand. The Rangers, who've dropped seven of eight to the A's since the break, dipped under .500 (48-49) for the first time since they were 13-14 on May 2.

I see what you're sayin' about the Rangers Al. That must hurt.

[Big Al]

It hasn’t sucked to be a Ranger fan THIS bad since the 80’s.

Y’know what I think? The Rangers have given up on themselves because management has given up on them. All this talk from the empty suits about being ready to win in “a couple of years” has GOT to make these guys feel small. The stupid thing is, the talent is there (offensively and for the most part, defensively), but we have ZERO pitching. (How’s Drese doing again? Four-and-something? Like I said, empty suits running this team!) And we have a management that is not interested in rewarding the hard working current players with any chance at winning because they don’t wanna deal. (And if Soriano keeps playing as stupidly as he’s been playing lately, NO ONE’S gonna want him!) So the guys who are busting their asses on a daily basis are caught in a quandary: even if we win, they may think, then management will just say, “See? You guys didn’t need any help.” And if they lose, then management will likely deal their good players for the next Chan Ho Park.

Johnny, in terms of dealing with idiotic baseball management, I not only feel your pain but am in the same boat with ya!

[Dave James]

With as much hitting talent as the Rangers have, if I was their GM, I'd be looking as hard as I could at the team's farm systems who are still in the hunt for a wild card and unload Soriano to the guy who's willing to part with some pitching. With a couple of key additions, and with the overall youth of the team, I think they could be right there in a couple of years. Of course, that doesn't make the next year or so any easier to deal with, but at least it's a start.

In defense of Soriano, I don't think he or anyone else tends to play their best baseball when they know they're on the block and they're just waiting for the hammer to fall.

Up over and out.

[jazzypaul]

  Dan Gould said:

  jazzypaul said:

  Dan Gould said:

With all the B.S. that's gone on between me and Paul about the series between the Sox, lost is the fact that the Yanks visit the other division leaders, also for four games.  Be real interesting to see how the top two teams in the East stack up against the top two teams this weekend.

←

I have to admit Dan, I'm kinda worried about the next month or so in the CWS schedule. The first half, we played lots of Central and West teams, who are, for the most part, weaksauce all the way. Now we've got Boston twice, the Yanks twice and Minnesota (I'm hitting games for that series, and probably the Indians as well). Considering how poorly we've done against Oakland and some other formidable teams, I am shaking in my boots a hair.

However, after losing two to the Tigers (!), I think the boys will be pumped to do some damage this weekend. We'll see how it all turns out.

←

And now we know: four game split, and the pitcher you were ready to concede would be a loser saved you from losing the series.

Might be interesting come October, because if the wild card comes out of the East and the White Sox do indeed have the best record in the league, it will be the White Sox hosting the wild card team. I figure, as long as Schilling is in the rotation and the back end of the bullpen is set, we'll do OK.

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If doing okay means losing in 5 to the White Sox who will have had another chance to face you guys and learn from our past mistakes, then sure, you'll do okay.

Don't get cocky. Guillen and company are doing one helluva job managing a team with a meager bankroll and usually fairly empty stands. For the most part, they're getting everything they can get out of these players, and these guys are playing AS A TEAM and kickin' some major ass.

[Dan Gould]

You didn't kick ANY major ass this weekend, and you didn't have to face Schilling in the rotation.

Talk about me getting cocky?? Go fuck yourself. Who said you'd win three of four this weekend? Who got lucky to pull out game four to salvage a split?

There's a fucking reason why you're barely over .500 against teams that are over .500 themselves.