Now that's a picture I need to see

by The Cheat on Mar 31, 2006 12:17 AM CST in News Comment 17 comments

It was a dress-up hazing for a quartet of young players on the trip to Atlanta. Jenks was given a Fred Flintstone costume to wear, Anderson received an Arizona St. female cheerleader get-up, while Ryan Sweeney had the male cheerleader version. Boone Logan dressed as a gladiator.

Personally, I think Jenks would have made a better Barney Rubble. Also, the Sun Devil cheerleader outfit had to be a little bit extra painful for to wear Brian Anderson, who went to the University of Arizona.

Since I linked to a couple of smallball articles yesterday, here's a link to a member of the traditional media who actually gets it.
ESPN, who is currently running a series of news-pieces on Barry Bonds' career and devoted an entire BBTN episode to Bonds, recently held a two-day seminar where -- you guessed it -- the main topic of discussion was their coverage of Barry Bonds. It seems that some members of the greater ESPN family don't like the position they've been put in with the network airing Bonds personal "reality" show beginning Tuesday.
Baseball America's website moved out of 1997, getting a much needed makeover. They also posted their 2006 Organization Talent Rankings. The White Sox rank 14th, in case you were too lazy to click the link.
Eric Wedge and Ozzie Guillen sat down with members of MLB.com for a brief Q&A session.
The White Sox have introduced another way to squeeze some money out of it's fans, The Sox Pride Club. -- I hear Telly Savalas is a memeber. -- I'm unsure what it's advantages are. Even the pitch at Chisox.com is rather cryptic. Near as I can tell the only thing of value they are offering right now is a discounted rate for the Gameday Audio feature on MLB.com. So if you haven't signed up for Gameday Audio, it's probably worth the 10 bones($5 savings) to sign up for the Sox Pride Club and see what other benefits are. Regardless, I'm sure Reifert will start shilling it on his blog very soon.
I'm pretty sure the that the Hardball Times will be putting their 5 questions feature on the Chicago White Sox online in the hour or so. Without exploring the archive, it seems like all they're missing is the White Sox and Yankees previews. -- [Insert link here]

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You forgot

the membership card and letter of certification. Oh, and access to a special message board on whitesox.com. And finally, for your convenience, the membership will automatically renew each year. So $10 for gameday audio, some paper, a few additional html pages, and the opportunity to spend more money on the sox via special ticket offers, special monthly auctions, and special sales on merchandise through the website. Yeah, sign me right up!

Yankees preview up on Hardball times...no sign of the Sox yet.

by hiphopnerd on Mar 31, 2006 1:02 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Sign Me Up!

I am now a FOUNDING MEMBER! I will have my membership card in only 8-10 weeks (Jeez...mid-June?)

What about those special members-only events being promised? I'm thinking BBQ at Pods and Lisa's place - SWING!

by tailgater on Mar 31, 2006 2:09 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Replying to Myself

Speaking of Pods, on the 10pm Channel 5 News last night, he appeared on a segment called "Take 5" (hmm...stolen fron Mac, Jurko and Harry?) with a female sports reporter where he proudly proclaimed he's a "meat eater."

Interpret what you will from that.

by tailgater on Mar 31, 2006 2:15 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

thoughts

05 Indians = 00 White Sox?

AIM: shaftr01

XBL: TheMattressMan

by shaftr on Mar 31, 2006 7:32 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

maybe

but i don't think their whole rotation will suck/get hurt. sabathia, lee, and westbrook could have good seasons.

sue me, i like joe crede Like pizza?

by FAQ on Mar 31, 2006 9:59 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

So the hope is that...

...the 2006 Indians will be like the 2001 Sox? I don't think so, unfortunately. Like the previous post said, Cleveland has much better starting pitching than that team had, plus it's deeper as well (Byrd is a fantastic 4th starter and they have guys like Sowers in AAA if someone goes down). And their key position players are younger (VMart, Sizemore, Peralta, Hafner, Marte).

I know a lot if people think Cleveland will regress a little year. But I don't think so. I doubt their offense starts as cold as last year, when the lost so many games. And I think their starting staff will be better this year, despite losing Millwood. They'll be very tough.

by hitlesswonder on Mar 31, 2006 11:11 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Tribe rotation = better?

That's really tough to say. Paul Byrd is going to be a huge downgrade from 2005 Kevin Millwood. That's not to say Byrd won't continue to be his usual self (slightly above average), but there's a rather large step-down between the two.

Jason Johnson isn't a whole lot better than Elarton. I'd say that's a wash (Johnson with the slight edge).

Sabathia is a tough call. At worst he's league average, and who knows if we've seen his best. Even his best year, however, wasn't really ace-like (118 ERA+ in 2003). From an outsiders standpoint, I'd say he's there best pitcher, and that he'll probably improve sligthly in 2006.

Westbrook is another question mark. He clearly isn't as good as his 2004 season, but isn't as bad as last year, either. Probably another league average starter.

And, honestly, I don't know what to expect out of Cliff Lee. He strikes me as another (at worst) league average starter, but I don't think he has a real high ceiling. I'm thinking, at best, he'll be in the 115 ERA+ range.

So, it seems to me like they have a bunch of good starters, but no one really dominant.

Will their staff be better than last year? I'd say it'll be slightly better, but still well behind our staff, as well as Minny's.

by CWSKeith on Mar 31, 2006 1:56 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

sabathia

i have a feeling (based on his talent, age - only 25 with 5 full mlb seasons already under his belt, and improved peripherals last season) that sabathia will be close to an ace this season, as he was in the second half of last season (9-5, 3.53 era, 96ip/91k/31bb).

he's also very durable, but hasn't really been overworked.

by goldstone97 on Mar 31, 2006 2:47 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Re: Byrd being a huge downgrade

Statistically/peripherals? No argument from me there. But the Tribe somehow managed to win only 14 games that Millwood started in last year, despite how well he pitched.

If Byrd can give them at least 200 innings, he will help them win at least that many games, with the definite possibility of winning more.

AIM: i2ockbotm

by 3E8 on Mar 31, 2006 3:14 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

bullpen

what about their bullpen? they lost their set-up guys for wickman. i'd be most concerned about that if i were chief wahoo.

by larry on Mar 31, 2006 2:05 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Cleveland's Bullpen is Stacked

Betancourt is one of the best relievers in the AL. Huge K rate and good control.

Cabrera is a stud who would be the best pitcher in the White Sox bullpen.

Sauerbeck, Miller, Davis, and Karsay are all under-rated. And even Mota has high upside, if he stays healthy.

Of those guys, Wickman might be the 5th-best arm in that pen.

by Tybor on Mar 31, 2006 5:42 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Karsay was cut -- they chose Graves

Which strikes me as a fairly stupid move, because even when Graves was 'good' (saves wise), he wasn't that good (awful K/9, pretty mediocre ERA+).

Mota's last 100 IP have been pretty bad for a reliever. I'm doubting that he can return to his LA-Dodger form, though it's not impossible.

I agree with you about their two righties, though: I love Cabrera and Betancourt.

by CWSKeith on Mar 31, 2006 7:11 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Mota

Mota had 43 K in 43 IP in the 2nd half last year. That's a nice little rebound to have coming into '06. (He did walk a ton of guys, however.)

by Tybor on Apr 1, 2006 5:10 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

sox preview

I've been told the Sox preview will run Monday. I hope it meets your expectations!

by studes on Mar 31, 2006 9:25 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

That's terrible!!!

Terrible, I tell you! Now I won't know what I'm watching on Sunday night. What good is a season preview after the season has started? I mean after one game, you'll already know how the season is going to turn out. It's USELESS!

AIM: SouthSideCheat

by The Cheat on Mar 31, 2006 2:13 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Yea, No Sox preview today...

I love the internet...nothing like reading, "I've been told the Sox preview will run Monday". Then wondering "and who's saying this?"

Why only studes of course!

by madvillian on Mar 31, 2006 10:52 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

pods ready for opening day

i have heard on Chicago Tribune Live that new reports say that Pods feels good to go on opening day. Now whether Ozzie will let him play im not sure, but its good that he feels comfortable for Sunday Night.

AIM: JoeCoolMan24 www.2ksports.com/forums Thats where i spend most of my day

by JoeCoolMan24 on Mar 31, 2006 11:47 AM CST reply actions 0 recs