Congratulations Sox! - Page 2

jimmytheg · #26 10-31-04, 12:25 PM

There's more to it than that....You think Pedro would fit in, in the Yankee clubhouse? I sure don't. Nevermind the fact that most Yankee players hate him, Pedro is a character,(as were most of the Sox this year) and the Yankee players are just plain dull. Steinbrenner wouldnt even let Pedro keep those soul-glow locks of his if he signed there.

And to say he wouldn't be happy being second fiddle, didnt he seem happy this year? The guy was having the time of his life during these last couple months...

junYUN · #27 10-31-04, 05:25 PM

i'm a cubs fan, so i don't know how to feel about the sox winning. a part of me wants to be happy for them, but another part loathes them for leaving us as the only cursed. oh well, next year?

eddo31 · #28 10-31-04, 05:39 PM

all three of my college roommates were cubs fans, so i understand what it feels lie for you guys. i am not sure the suffering is the same, as the cubs have basically been cellar dwellers and the sox have a history of getting close, but never going all the way.

i drove down to atlanta last year when the cubs were playing in the playoffs, and it was a very cool experience. one thing that is very similar about the two teams is that they have fans all over the place. for the game in atlanta there were at least 20k people in from all over the place who were there to cheer on the cubs.

junYUN · #29 11-01-04, 02:44 AM

i love my cubbies...hopefully they make some moves this off-season. i'm starting to enjoy this "contender" thing

eddo31 · #30 11-01-04, 07:24 AM

i hope the cubs can get rid of sosa. he is such a phony.

the guy acts like he is just doing it for the fans, and that all he wants to do everyday is win. well, when he hits .250 on the year, and then throws a tantrum when he gets moved to sixth in th elineup, he shows his true colors. i dont think that the cubs will go anywhere with him still on the team. he just doesnt provide the type of leadership, and his production is slipping severely.

maybe the corked bats played a bigger role in his performance than we thought before.

GeoffM · #31 11-01-04, 08:47 AM

I think Sosa came off the roids and that has led to his drop in numbers. That being said, the guy should still be able to reach the career 700 homer total, and probably place in 3rd on the all-time list behind Aaron and the freak Bonds. The problem with him is that nobody wants that big contract from a guy that, you said it, hit something like .260 this year and his homerun numbers have dropped off significantly since the 60 homer days.

I like Ramirez on the Cubs, that guy is just awesome. He is like a poor mans Albert Pujols, nothing to be ashamed of at all.

They chose to buy out Alou, but maybe they will re-sign him.

This is my 200th post, lets see if TP is awake

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junYUN · #32 11-01-04, 07:39 PM

sosa is a phony, and you really see it being a cub fan. he's such a little whiney baby, and he gets paid 17m a year. we're allowed to boo your ass if you're not performing, it's that simple -- we pay for your contract.

GeoffM · #33 11-02-04, 08:16 AM

Ya, ya, ya, you know what, I don't feel for Cub fans at all. You know why? Because I'm a Leaf fan

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eddo31 · #34 11-02-04, 11:38 AM

i think any hockey fan in general shouldnt have to feel the pain of other sports fans right now.

i really got into hockey when i was in college, and i absolutely love the game now. unfortunately for us bettman just said today that he doesnt expect there to be a season this year. very sad.

i'm a bruins fan, as you might have expected from my rooting interest in the pats and sox. last years playoff loss to the habs was tough, but thornton was injured and couldnt do anything that series. i was at the game when he got injured, and it was brutal. the capitals had a complete goon squad out there, with 4 guys on the team only known as fighters. they ad no skill at all, and thornton got hurt when he was hauled down from behind. im still bitter.

GeoffM · #35 11-02-04, 01:08 PM

Well, the Bruins aren't going to be a very good team this year (if there is one), losing your best goal scorer isn't exactly going to move you up in the standings.

Players are having a meeting today, probably 5 minutes from my work. Nothing will come of it though, just a bunch of bs. I think there will be a season, but if there isn't, I'd estimate 6-8 teams will likely fold up.

eddo31 · #36 11-02-04, 02:29 PM

yeah, the bruins have been pretty mediocre for a while, and very disappointing in the playoffs when they have had good teams.

just from things i have heard, i would really doubt thatthere will be a season. they will have to do something to make the league economically viable. th eowners got so greedy with expansion recently that they killed the game. there is absolutely no reason why there should be hockey teams in miami, tampa bay, dallas, phoenix, los angeles, etc. those cities havent seen snow in years, why should they have hockey teams? i know they have had some success, but it just doesnt make sense that there should be teams there, and that teams like the nordiques, whalers, etc either move or fold.

hackers238 · #37 11-04-04, 09:11 PM

Any others from Massachusetts out there?

I remember back when Larry Bird and the Celtics were the ons to watch. It's funny because baseball and football used to be the unpopular sports around here... and now its quite the opposite, with basketball and soccer being out worst teams.

BlibbityBlabbity · #38 11-04-04, 09:50 PM

Marlborough here (Metrowest).

hackers238 · #39 11-04-04, 10:03 PM

I believe the white sox are cursed too, not just the cubs...

Kidd7138 · #40 11-04-04, 11:06 PM

I think the Cubs will be the next "cursed" team to win it all. They have a great core of key players, some great young pitchers, and a great farm system. The two things they really need to do are, 1. get out from under Sammy Sosa's contract, he's getting worse by the year, and could possibly be the most overpaid player in baseball in terms of salary to performance by the end of his contract, and 2. get rid of Dusty Baker, he's a terrible manager and will ruin the arms of those young pitchers, it's no coincidence that both Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, and Matt Clement all had injury problems this year after the workload Baker gave them last year. It would be a shame if Prior's potentially Hall of Fame caliber career is cut short or sidetracked because of injuries caused by overuse this early in his career.

junYUN · #41 11-06-04, 05:18 PM

i think dusty baker is a good manager, but i would like to see him use less of the young guns. however, the bullpen he had the last two years was absolutely atrocious. whenever dusty went to the pen and they blew it... everyone says "why take out starting pitcher X he was doing great." but if he leaves them in for more than 100 pitches he gets criticized for that too....double edged blade :[

GeoffM · #42 11-08-04, 04:36 PM

You know, I've always felt that if your best guy is on the mound, than you have to disregard the lefty-lefty or righty-righty matchups and just go with him. It makes no rational sense to bring in someone to pitch just because he is a lefty and there is a lefty at bat. Stick with your best until he is clearly ineffective, then make the move.

junYUN · #43 11-08-04, 06:47 PM

there is some merit to that argument, but, you have to make sure you also look at the numbers -- they don't lie. sometimes there is a decent hitter against a dominant pitcher, and that hitter just happens to have the pitchers number his entire career for whatever reason. that's what makes managing so tough and underated.

eddo31 · #44 11-09-04, 02:44 AM

nice to see the boroughs being represented.

i currently live in northboro, and went to algonquin.

eddo31 · #45 11-09-04, 02:47 AM

i think that dusty baker is the most overrated manager in the game. he rides the talent that he has, but he never adds anything to the talent by means of strategy or good game decisions. he is awful with a pitching staff, and probably always will be. if he didnt have guys like bonds, schmidt, prior, wood, etc on his teams, he wouldnt have anywhere near the reputation that he does today.

eddo31 · #46 11-09-04, 02:51 AM

i think that this strategy is for the most part ridiculously inefficient, and the only thing that it accomplishes is the need for 11 man pitching staffs. the platoon splits of some batters makes it a winning situation to make the pitching change at times, but for the most part the differences are unimportant, and all they do is burn through the bullpen.

look at a bullpen like the yankees this year. did anyone but yankees fans really fear felix heredia coming into the game? and yet he has a major league job only because he is a lefthander reliever. the same goes for john franco, mike myers, jesse orosco, etc. sometimes they are valuable to a team, but they are really only valuable to the very best teams, and even then their value is only maximized in the post season, where the short series give greater importance to every out.

Kidd7138 · #47 11-09-04, 05:08 PM

The matchups are beneficial if you have a lefty who is actually really tough on LHB. Mike Myers is pretty good, as was Scott Sauerbeck before he got injured, Eddie Guardado is another. But more often than not managers just throw the lefty out there because they want a lefty/lefty match up. Not all left handed pitchers are abnormally tough on lefties, just from watching the Red Sox I can tell you Alan Embree is equally as tough against lefties and righties. Felix Heredia is just plain bad, he's a terrible example of a LOOGY, the only reason he was in the majors this year was because he was under contract and knows how to throw a baseball in the general direction at home plate, which was enough to earn you a spot in the Yankee bullpen this year.

jimmytheg · #48 11-09-04, 05:49 PM

Side note: I am still giddy about winning the series...and I also think we will have an edge over the Yankees for the next few years. The Yanks did a wonderful job of depleting their farm system, while ours is one of the best in the game. The Yanks couldnt get Randy Johnson by trade because they had nothing to offer.

Steinbrenner's only option to really strengthen his team is through free angency, and while i would never put some imaginary cap on what he would spend, he certainly does have a lot of money already tied up....jeter arod vasquez and mussina together make over 75 million each per year.

I love the Red Sox players, the front office, everything about the organization....maybe 40 years from now we'll be talking about the curse of AROD as the Red Sox win yet again

eddo31 · #49 11-09-04, 09:07 PM

the yankees have something like 170 million tied up in 16 players under contract next year, and then 130 for about ten players in 2006.

dont forget giambis monster contract. arod, jeter, mussina and giambi are all making about 20 mill for the next couple of years, bernie is over 12 mill, sheffield is over 10, vazquez makes good money, etc. they will actually have to bump their payroll well over 200 mill in order to make their team significantly better, just because their system is so bare. their onyl good prospects are essentially still in A-ball.

jimmytheg · #50 11-09-04, 10:05 PM

yes, that does make me feel good inside. I wonder if that is a by-product of George taking over more control....because Cashman did a great job building that system over the years