The White Sox thread

...and just as I post that, Rowand gets thrown out by A MILE trying to steal 2nd. WTF?? Whose call was that?

Dale Sveum's?

heh. That standing ovation he got the other day for NOT sending a guy was pretty funny. Much as the concept Red Sox Nation annoys me at times, y'all are into your baseball team.

Anyway, put a fork in the palehose.

red sox nation is more than a concept. i respect it i do. when i'm feeling really benevolent anyway.

Yep, Feisty. When the ol' Pale Hose give up a bunch of crooked numbers to the Kitties, they got some problems...

I went to last night's game, and I couldn't be more pissed off, but if it's any consolation, someone sent me this:

"Last night John McEnroe's on MSNBC was a repeat from during the Democratic National Convention. It had a piece in which John Cusack interviewed Barack Obama. At the end Cusack made a point of saying that both he and Obama are Chicagoans. "But," said Obama, "you are a Cubs fan and I'm a White Sox fan. Go Sox."

Why the hell was Garcia pitching to Manny in the 8th inning? I'm not upset (go RED Sox), but, damn, after 114+ pitches of 4 run, 7 inning ball, I'd think Ozzie would be quick like bunny to give Freddy a pat on the back and turn it over to that super terrific ChiSox bullpen.

BUCK SHOWALTER SLAPPED DOWN! In case you missed it, pasted from Ryan Wilkins' Week in Quotes column on BP:

"The comments he made, I think they were unprofessional, because I was doing my job.... The only reason I did it is because he would do the same if he was on my side. And I didn't make it a big deal because it was Mr. Wetteland coaching first base. If it was somebody else coaching first, I will make a big deal about it because that's the rules. I think you can call up people to be on your coaching staff, but you can't have them on the field."
--Ozzie Guillen, White Sox manager, on Buck Showalter's Thursday post-game comments, which questioned Guillen's knowledge of MLB's coaching rules (Daily Southtown)

"Even after the game, I forgot about it. Now all a sudden they come up with his comments and I think it's unprofessional. But when the 'best manager' in the history of baseball talks about you, that means you're on somebody's mind. And when you're beating the crap out of the best manager in baseball, and we beat the (bleep) out of them, it makes me feel a lot better."
--Guillen, on Showalter's comments

"To me, I think [Atlanta skipper] Bobby Cox was the best.... To compete against the guy [Showalter] that invented baseball, and beat him, that's something you should feel good about as a rookie manager."
--Guillen, on Showalter

"I could have made a big deal about it, but I was professional enough because I respect the guy that was coaching first base.... Wetteland did something in the big leagues. [Showalter] never even smelled a jock in the big leagues. He didn't even know how the clubhouse in the big leagues was when he got his first job...'Mr. Baseball' never even got a hit in Triple-A. He was a backup catcher or a first baseman all his career. Now all of the sudden he's the best ever in baseball."
--Guillen

"He told somebody he didn't like me because I have too much fun in baseball. I have fun in baseball because I was good playing this game. And I made a lot of money playing this game...something he never did. And I have a championship ring on my finger. He made comments he's not supposed to be making about anybody."
--Guillen

"It's too bad I didn't have to go to the minor leagues to get this job like he did. I was coaching straight up in the big leagues. I was a big-league coach and I went straight to big-league manager. Ozzie Guillen had to do something to take those steps. I only played two, three years in the minor leagues and played 14 years with the same team."
--Guillen

"There are so many different things he might be jealous [of]...I was a better player than him, I've got more money than him and I'm better looking than him."
--Guillen

Dr. M, I confess I haven't watched more than an inning or two of White Sox baseball in the last several weeks -- what's the backstory with the feud between Showalter and Ozzie?

Hahahaha OMG LOL!!!!

I hadn't seen any of this. that is HILARIOUS. Classic Ozzie.

This is my favorite: To compete against the guy [Showalter] that invented baseball, and beat him, that's something you should feel good about as a rookie manager."

god that's beautiful

BBT, I haven't a clue what lit the fuse and can't find an account on ESPN.com. Was there a 1B coach outta the box or something?

Background:

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Round 2 between White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen and Texas skipper Buck Showalter not only proved to be anti-climatic but also seemed to be the end of the fight.

One day after Guillen laid into Showalter because of comments the Rangers manager made following Thursday's 7-3 Sox win, both seemed to want the war of words to end Saturday.

Guillen's Friday tirade came in the aftermath of Showalter questioning Guillen's knowledge of the rules concerning replacement coaches at first or third base. Texas had received special permission from Major League Baseball to have roving pitching instructor John Wetteland take the spot of a suspended coach on Thursday, but Guillen didn't know that.

After that game, Showalter all but said that maybe Sox general manager Ken Williams should explain the rules to Guillen, and that didn't sit too well with the first-year Sox skipper when he heard those comments Friday.

Guillen blasted Showalter, calling him "Mr. Baseball," and insisting that not only was he a better player then Showalter ever was, but had, "more money than him and I'm better looking than him."

haha!

Well, Showalter has a guest appearance on Seinfeld and Ozzie doesn't, so let's call it a draw...

But Showalter is responsible for the Diamondback unis. Advantage: Ozzie.

And Ozzie never bitched about Junior Griffey wearing his pre-game cap backwards.

Really, though, this is a "lesser of two evils" debate where no one wins.

ok so i go to see les savy fav (infuckingcredible show btw) and there's this kid in the audience, he looks a bit mentally unstable, that sort of expressionless face. at one point he runs across the stage (the stage is maybe 3/4 a foot higher than the floor), he has to be held back by audience members to be prevented from doing it again, he's constantly touching the band, throwing ice, etc. on stage, henry owings of chunklet finally had to lay the hammer down on him. anyhow he was wearing a batting helmet. you guessed it. wtf is it with chisox fans?

was it c3p0lerud?

Was it a White Sox retro '83 batting helmet?

was it Crazy Carl?

Bruce Levine reports today that Magglio had additional knee surgery to repair his torn miniscus, which would take 3-4 months to heal. Assuming the worst, this means that Magglio would BEGIN his rehab in early February, which by extension means that whichever team signs him is taking a huge gamble that he'll be healthy for all or part of the 2005 season. Which, by further extension, means that Jerry Reinsdorf won't come anywhere near Maggs except with an incentive-laden pole, at least going by history. Even at a discounted rate, I could see Maggs' agent demanding $10 or $11 million next year, and I just don't think it's worth it for such a gamble.

Yeah, I didn't say anything on any WS forums, but my dad had the exact same problem in the early 70s, and his doctor told him he couldn't run anymore. He's in great shape, but he never did run again.

It just gets better for Sox fans, I tells ya! Frank Thomas is pondering having bone fusion surgery on his ankle, which either way could lead to the premature end of his career. Thomas's entire batting power comes from pushing off his front foot, so this could completely cripple his ability to hit for power, not to mention diminish his already diminished speed on the basepaths.

If the Sox enter '05 with no Frank and no Maggs, Ozzie may be getting his wish for a faster, less powerful team earlier than he hoped...

I just saw the item that Ordonez had his surgery in Vienna? WTF?

Either he decided to get in some cool sightseeing at the same time, or his condition is so exotic only a handful of surgeons could handle it. Not good.

He's having the cutting-edge "pastry therapy".

So Maggs fired his dumb-ass agent, looks like. Good move.

Yeah, but his new agent is Reinsy's archenemy, Scott Bor-ass. IOW, buh-bye Magglio (as if we didn't know that before).

RIP Ursula Snelius. I wonder if Alex will continue to dole out $100 per dinger next year?

Was it $100 or $1000?

I was trying to figure out who the Sneliuses were, and how they got their money, and then I remembered, and I found this article. People who are born wealthy are usually tightwads, so it figures:

Paying home-age to the King
January 14, 2001
BY NEIL STEINBERG STAFF WRITER
Devotion to Elvis Presley, for most, is expressed in the form of a music collection or video library, supplemented by various posters, black velvet paintings, ceramic busts, wristwatches and official commemorative plates from the Franklin Mint.
Tom and Cindy Sanocki are going beyond that. Way beyond. On Jan. 8--on what would have been, or, to some, is, Elvis' 66th birthday--ground was broken for the couple's new Palos Heights home, a faithful $1.3 million copy of Graceland, the Memphis mansion where Elvis lived from 1959 until his death--or, if you wish, disappearance--in 1977.
Only the Sanockis' Graceland is bigger. More than twice as big.
"We're not trying to relive Elvis," said Tom Sanocki, 42. "We found his home to be a beautiful place we spend much time at, and now we have the opportunity to do it here, and bring some of that Southern hospitality up North."
The opportunity came courtesy of Cindy's parents, Alex and Ursula Snelius, who won $64 million in the Big Game lottery last September. Electing to receive their jackpot in a single $18 million payment, they promptly gave a million dollars to charity and told their four children to go out and buy or build their dream homes.
"Each one gets a house," said Alex Snelius, 64, a former truck mechanic. "That's all they get. The rest of it, they got to go to work. I started out with nothing, and I was blessed with this and wanted to buy them a home."
"My father-in-law said, `Whatever floats your boat, whatever you want to do, do,' " recalls Tom Sanocki.

http://www.biwa.ne.jp/~presley/elnews135.htm

RIP, Ursula.

It was $100. (I doubt anyone would want to dole out $200,000+ a year, even they won $18 million.)

Holy shit, no way! RIP.

I had no idea how they had achieved their wealth either. That's a great story! Thanks for posting that, Kerry. You could tell by looking at them that they seemed pretty normal, when the TV cameras would occasionally show them sitting at the games (always in the stands, never in a box.)

I had actually been thinking of using Ursula Snelius as my ILX name after I got bored with this one, no joke.

Oh now I know why I'm confused about the amount - there is a band called 'Ursula 1000' - hahahahaha. You're right - I didn't see the part where they only got $18m.

'Ursula Snellius' is so outer-space sounding.

Guys, I have one of those $10 off passwords if you're thinking of buying tix for any April or May games. It expires next Friday, the 18th. Let me know, and I'll e-mail you the details.

And here is where a dopey non-ChiSox fan tries to guess what the South Side's starting line-up for 2K5 will look like:

1B - Konerko
2B - Harris(?)
SS - Uribe
3B - Crede (BREAK OUT OF IT, SON!)
LF - um...
CF - Podsednik
RF - Rowand
DH - Big Hurt
C - um...Ben Davis?

ROTATION:
Freddy G.
Mark B.
Jon G.
Jose C.
Ozzie G. (?)

what about el dookie?

surely they signed him to start not relieve, no?

See, I forgot about The Duke.

2B will split between Harris and Japanese dood that they signed, Rowand moves to Left, Right is Dye, C is AJ P / Davis.

and yeah, they'll probably stink. You never know. Actually the rotation could turn out to be pretty decent. We shall see.

and .... goodbye Dave Wills (longtime pre and post-game dood, die-hard Sox fan; moving on to do PBP with the D-Rays), you'll be missed.

So:

1B - Konerko
2B - Harris / dude from Japan
SS - Uribe
3B - Crede (BREAK OUT OF IT, SON!)
LF - Rowand
CF - Podsednik
RF - Dye
DH - Big Hurt
C - AJ Melanoma

W/ the batting order looking like:

Podsednik
Uribe
Rowand
Konerko
Big Hurt
AJ
Dye
Crede
Who's on 2B

Are all their middle-order guys rightie? Again?

Last night I had a dream that an ILBB poster kicked this thread and was laughing incredulously that the Sox were in 1st place.

ho-lee SHIT what a game by Buehrle!!!!!

Complete game, three-hitter, 12 strikeouts!! ANd he's not even a strikeout pitcher. That's gotta be a career high.

Gametime: 1 hour, 40 minutes.

Bueuhrle -- 106 pitches, 73 for strikes. 12 strikeouts is a career high.

All three of Seattle's hits were by Ichiro. Ichiro now batting .432

from Prospectus Week in Quotes...

"I don't think they're going to be more than Dominicans and Latin Americans; they're cheaper down there. Every time you sign a Japanese player, it's a lot of money. In the Dominican and Venezuela, you can sign them with rice and beans."
--White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen (Chicago Sun-Times)

"I'm from Latin America. The first time I signed, they signed me for like $1,000. What can I buy with $1,000 in Venezuela? Nothing."
--Guillen, who last week said 55 dollars could buy gas for a year in Venezuela

"If you sign 10, 11, 12 [Latin American] players, at least one is going to take a shot in the big leagues. Japanese rules are different. You've got to be a free agent and do all kind of different things to come to the big leagues. But when Japanese players come to the United States, they're ready to play in the big leagues."
--Guillen

"I keep saying that it's not small baseball, it's smart. That's what we're playing now. How long are we going to play like this? That's up to my players. Everybody has to be ready for the hit-and-run. Everybody has to be ready to take the extra base. It will be 162 games just like this. We might fail, but that's the way we're going to play."
--Guillen, defining the “speed and defense” makeup of the team

"Too bad the only good player from Cairo was [Robinson] and not Willie Harris. I told Willie, `What happened to you?' Jackie didn't leave anything for Willie."
--Guillen, on how White Sox infielder Willie Harris and Jackie Robinson both hailed from Cairo, Georgia (Chicago Tribune)

yeah, umm...ouch.

Crazy Carl is on fi-yah!!

1:39 actually. It was cool too see BOTH pitchers throw complete games.

Sox are first in the AL. Brings back lots of memories of 1906.

I posted this before, but it got lost, so excuse me if it ends up a duplicate. I went to last night's game - good game, on both sides - the bats were more alive than they have been. I got my money's worth.