Howard Dean was a gamer, still...

The Red Sox put on a good show in Texas …

Bill:
Now that's what I'm talking about. Wake going 8 strong and the offense all hoo-ray for homahs …

 

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Doug:
What about Manny, eh? Anothah slammah now alone in second on the all time list.

 

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Bill:
Unbelievable. Aftah he hit his 19th I was thinking how it could be a long time before he'd came up again with the bases loaded let alone the odds of hitting it out in that situation.

 

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Doug:
Yep. Absolutely unbelievable. And how 'bout Foulke? "Suddenly" there is something wrong with his knees?

 

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Bill:
Yeah, are we fans supposed to play along and feign surprise or what? I mean, Christ, the Bennifer 2 breeding and subsequent connubialism had more mystery than Foulke's knees.

 

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Doug:
Yeah, and he now "might," you know, have to go on the DL. Wink nudge wink.

 

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Bill:
Yeah, evidently, Foulke is such a gamah the only way to get the ball out of his hands is to put him on the DL.

 

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Doug:
Jeez, when are they gonna put that tired "gamah" shit to bed when talking about professional athletes?

 

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Bill:
Fercrissakes, haven't four seasons of American Idol auditions taught you people anything? Desiah nevah trumps ability.

 

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Doug:
Hell yeah. If desiah were such a factah in determining outcome, I'd so be doing the Kinsey with Carrie Underwood every night. All "C'mere Checotah cow girl and let me show you what we mean by aberrant sexual behavior Boston stylee."

 

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Bill:
Boom chicka waa waaa.

 

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How

Comments

[El Jefe]

What? No 'YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!' ???

[RonF]

Just to completely change the subject; as you all know, I live out in the Chicago area. Whoever meets the White Sox in the playoffs is going to have their hands full. It's what, a week and a half before the All-Star break, and these guys are 30 GAMES OVER .500?! Ozzie Guillen must pinch himself every morning when he gets up to make sure he's not dreaming. They're 22-9 in one-run games, and have come from behind to win ... I don't know, probably about 30 games. They've had the lead at one point or another in all but about a dozen games all year.

Pitching has been excellent. Fielding has been good. Hitting was good but Frank Thomas apparently not only got his ankle fixed but got a head transplant as well, so now it's excellent. The one thing they lacked was power, with only Konerko a threat. However, in his 24 games this season, Frank Thomas has 17 hits, of which 10 have been home runs, and just about all of them have been meaningful ones that have helped win games (or at least tie or take the lead); I don't think any of them have been "late in a 10-3 game" type of dingers like a certain MFY fattens up his stats on. He's also keeping his mouth shut. He's also taken 13 walks, which helps balance out the 18 strikeouts.

And these guys, led by their CATCHER, of all people, who's stolen about 40 bases and whom I've seen steal 2nd and 3rd in one at-bat a couple of times, are running the bases like deer and using that effectively to score runs. They have scored runs in 75% of the innings that they've made a sacrifice bunt, which is ridiculously high. Everyone seems to have bought into Ozzie's philosophy of how to play the game. As long as the pitching holds, this team is going to be hard to beat.

[JB]

Catcher? Perhaps fly-ball-catcher. Although at least Pod would have more value, in addition to his zero HRs and laughable OPS, if he could spell Pierszynski.

[h.b.]

Chicago is hot, no doubt. But what about St. Louis last year during the regular season? Didn't they win a bazillion games and were declared unstoppable going into the playoffs?

And aren't there some recent 100+ win Yankees teams that have crashed and burned during October?

[SawxSince67]

Yeah...uh...Carrie Underwood...Ok, I guess. It's all good...

“Gamer” = Completeing a GAME with an injury.

“Irresponsible” = Completing Half a Season with an injury.

I hear you Ron—the White Sox are Pitching and they play mad Defense. Dustin Hermansson (?!?!?!) has 20+ saves already (?!?!?!)

Three “Gratuitously Contrarian” points.

-Essentially a three man rotation—Garland, Buehrle, Garcia. El Duque already has a DL stint and then there is Contreras the Enigmatic.

-They’re really not hitting that well.

-I think they’ve played near 30 games against sub .500 teams.

Oh yeah, the Red Sox have no Bullpen whatsoever and play mediocre Defense, so there!

[d56]

RonF -

See, the thing is that while certain things other than dumb luck can cause aberrations in things like one-run victories (a solid 'pen, deploying your resources correctly) and scoring a bizarre amount of runs higher than normal run expectation (a better-than-average lineup, great baserunning), I'm not sure that the Fighting Guillens show these characteristics. They have speed, sure, but in general the types of sacrifices Scarface prefers tend to be the types that run them out of big innings.

Compare that to the TitoSox, who lead the planet in 'big innings' (5+ runs), due to SLG and OBP, plus a desire to not bunt their way out of big innings. It doesn't much matter if you're station-to-station if you're bouncing them off the walls.

Outside Buerlhe, I'm not too scared of that staff, and their hitters really aren't performing in an outstanding fashion (Konerko has been particularly overrated) - bring on the PaleSox.

[illegitimate son of dwight evans]

I'm with d56 and h.b., but I think the Sox on Sox series coming up after the break will be a big test. I'm also not too scared of the White Sox rotation, but I think the Red Sox will need a few big innings in those games to put it out of reach.

How about Timlin last night - 6 pitches! Wa wa we wa.

[AJM]

//Christ, the Bennifer 2 breeding and subsequent connubialism had more mystery than Foulke's knees.//

//Fercrissakes, haven't four season of American Idol auditions taught you people anything? Desiah nevah trumps ability.//

Great, great lines today h.b.
What made last night's win extra special for this Penn alum is that they did it by hammering a Princeton guy. Brought me back to my undergrad days sitting in the Palestra chanting "Bo-o-o-r-ring" at the Princeton slow-down "offense".

As for the Chisox, I frankly cannot fathom how a team put together by Kenny Williams and managed by Ozzie Guillen could possibly be 30 games over .500.

And lastly, speaking of the Chisox, don't forget to vote for Scott Podsednik for the final slot on the AL All-Star Team. He's got a narrow lead over Jeter...Vote Captain Intangibles off the team!

[NV in SD]

"They're 22-9 in one-run games, and have come from behind to win ... I don't know, probably about 30 games"

Sounds suspiciously like a certain New York team from last year, and we all know what happened to them when it got to the playoffs...

It seems to me that the ChiSox are about one Buehrle/ Garland DL stint from going the way the O's are currently going. They should thank their lucky stars that they do have the record/ cushion they have now, because I can see them needing it in about two months.

Dewey's bastard- "How about Timlin last night - 6 pitches! Wa wa we wa." Thanks, I just spit coffee all over my computer. Good times.

[AJM]

Apparently Tito was on EEI a little while ago and said that Schilling would start in the bullpen when he comes off the DL. Schilling, Timlin and Foulke all available to close.

Just repeating what I heard...

[Aaron]

So it sounds like Francona's planning on putting Schilling in the bullpen until he builds up enough strength to start. Hell, why not let him close for awhile? Think about the gas he could throw if he knew he was only out there for an inning or two.

[SawxSince67]

I have no emotional reaction and I can not determine if this plan of Tito and Schill's makes sense or not--insufficient information.

That said, they know better about Curt's health/state of mind than I.

Probably better to stretch Curt out in the bigs than in Pawtucket, though.

[RonF]

Don't get me wrong, folks; the White Sox (or, as Ken Harrelson refers to them when the Red Sox are in town, the Pale Hose) are by no means unbeatable or inevitable. But right now it's my guess (barring multiple injuries) that the World Series winner, whoever it is, will have to spend some time at O'Hare Airport this October.

[Follower of Tito]

Re: Schilling going to the pen. I said yesterday, put I was half joking, but hats off to Theo and Tito for having the balls to suggest it and a tip of the cap to Schilling for saying yes. Of course, everyone is using the word 'temporary', but if memory serves weren't alot of aging starters careers saved/resurrected/lengthend by moving to the pen? (Eck, for example) I don't want to rush things, but just IMAGINE if Schill turns out to be a natural in the pen!? Would that not be a cool solution to the 'Stopper/Closer' problem?

[NV in SD]

Ooooh. FoT, you just gave me goosebumps. Imagine- Timlin, Keith "I never wanted to be a closer" Foulke, and Schill to end games. I think the rest of the AL would be crappping their pants thinking of that, followed closely by Santana, Lilly, and the big eunech, and others heading to the 'pen. PLUS we could kick Halama to the curb and not have to worry about Mantei coming back.

Sorry- getting a little ahead of myself. Though the possibility of this happening (and actually working) is wicked enticing, a healthy, productive Schill is best used in one spot- the front of the rotation. I've been waiting all season to see the same #38 as last year, but if I have to wait a little longer, that's just fine by me.

[NYSoxfan]

Hmm. Schilling in the pen, imagine that... As for the Chisox, they are 26-5 against their own division which is impressive. But I'll be a believer if they can show something against the Bosox later this month. I like Posednik and voted for him to go to the AllStars instead of Jeter... but until they show they can beat the big boys of the AL, they are still a bunch of South Side Johnnies and Jurassic Carls...

[Aaron]

Holy crap, I was only joking when I made that crack yesterday about the Sox trading Foulke to the Mariners (ie, "Slocumb II") and raiding them for bullpen talent. But what pops up on today's Globe Sports Buzz? Management is interested in no fewer than three Seattle relievers (Guardado, Villone, and Hasegawa.) Hot damn, I'm the next Peter Gammons!

[SteveG]

Geez, all kinds of weird stuff today.

"Carrie Underwood?" Uh, can I list the 7000 or so I would prefer?

And Ron... I live a little South of Chicago myself, and while I agree they are an interesting club, they still make a living fattening up on the biggest joke of a division in baseball. This team is much better than the Carlos Lee/Ordonez White Sox, but I'm sorry, they don't scare me.

Oh, and that "catcher" you were talking about is still stuck on zero steals, not 40.

[h.b.]

"Carrie Underwood?" Uh, can I list the 7000 or so I would prefer?

Ah, no. Because there aren't 7000 American Idol finalists. And to complete and close the thread between Bill's "Fercrissakes, haven't four seasons of American Idol auditions taught you people anything?", Doug needs to have the desire be based on an American Idol finalist. It'd destroy the continuity to just bring in a random, unrelated chick.

Get it?

See, this is why I write the strips and, er, you don't. I'm just sayin'... :)

Just bustin your balls.

[AJM]

And Captain Intangibles was voted off the All-Star Island tonight! Podsednik gets the final AL slot.

Derek: You're Fired!!!

[SteveG]

uuuhhh..., h. b.

My balls are so appropriately busted. How could I miss the chick-continuity so clearly apparent upon further review?

Point taken. "E"-me. (for you scoring at home)

[RonF]

SteveG: yeah, I blew the bit on the catcher leading the White Sox in steals; I hurriedly confused the names. Oops.

I also agree that the White Sox are in a weak division. Mind you, 30 games over .500 is impressive even if you're playing the Little Sisters of the Poor every day. But we'll see how they do against teams that get tested in the fire all season. Still, I think that taking them lightly would be a mistake.

And they are entertaining to watch.