Backtobanks

Of course, it doesn't help when the temperature is the same as your age.

There's no such thing as a safe prediction for the WS, but it I would think that it might set records for the lowest scoring series. Very good pitching and mediocre hitting on both teams. Also, I would expect the national TV ratings will be pretty low, except for Chicago & Houston.

Konerko will probably get $50 million over 4 years from someone, so he would be crazy not to test FA. I think his departure will really hurt the White Sox next year since he is what holds their offense together. Many of their other players had career years, while Konerko has proven tobe pretty consistent.

In 1945, when the population of the US was 140 million, we had 16 teams in MLB. There were no blacks in MLB then, no Asians, and few Hispanics. Today, with a population of approx. 280 million, there isn't a reason in the world why we couldn't support 32 good, competitve teams in MLB. Of course back then you didn't have all of the other sports bombarding you on TV, cable, and satelite on an hourly basis. If baseball was going to expand, there would have to be some sort of financial considerations. Right now you have a handful of teams that aren't being supported while the Yankees are spending over $200 million. Baseball is having trouble calling itself "the National Pastime" and I'm not sure they could support 2 more teams. Look at what happened to the NHL with expansion. Scoring records that were sacred for decades fell to mediocre players. Defensemen started scoring 40+ goals per year.

What opportunity? Nobody had the opportunity to get Mazzone out of Atlanta except his lifelong friend. Quit blaming Hendry for options that aren't available.

Yeah it would have been nice to see the CUbs at least try to get in on this but it would appear it wasn't just about money for Leo as he turned NY down. This is all purely my opinion but in addition I think it was either working with Perlozzo or staying put. He grew up in Maryland and has wanted to work with Perlozzo, who remains his best friend from childhood, for a long time. I don't think we had any shot at getting him. Yea, one of them was best man at the other's wedding. Nobody had a chance of getting Mazzone to leave Atlanta except his best friend (Perlozzo) or a ridiculous offer from someone like Steinbrenner. With Steinbrenner's reputation for overpaying, I'm sure Mazzone had to at least listen to the Yanks' offer.

Today's Tribune has a chart comparing the last time the Sox were in the WS and this year. This year's WS ticket costs $140 while the 1959 ticket was $7.20. I know I'm not a spring chicken anymore, but I have a hard time believing that $7.20 was a lot of money for a WS ticket when I was 12 years old. Of course, I still wouldn't have spent the money since I was a die-hard Cub fan.

Except for the ones that are 1-0

There are a lot of reasons not to re-sign Nomar, but I just have this terrible feeling that he will go somewhere else and hit .310 with 25 homers and play 140+ games. Health is a gigantic question mark, but if by some miracle he is healthy, he ends up being at the top of the free agent class.

I think Hendry has targeted certain free agents and players to get in a trade regardless of the Sox' success. I do think that if nothing is happening for the Cubs during the off season, the success of the White Sox may pressure him to make a trade later (spring training).

probably rests somewhere in between fluke and genius, much closer to fluke than genius. i also love your term "on base percentage average", i've never heard of that one. And whoever said that Podsednik is a good leadoff hitter probably needs to re-think what skill sets make a leadoff hitter a good one. Podsednik had a RC of 62. The exact same number as Neifi Perez. I agree that he rests somewhere between a fluke and genius. The Sox played great ball all year, but they did get "career years" out of 6 or 7 players. Also, they had a lot of luck and breaks throughout the year and the playoffs. Finally, let's not forget that the perennial division winners (Twins) had a horrible season and the next best team (Indians) were too inexperienced to win it at the end. Good teams take advantage of everything that happens and the White Sox did that this year.

Astros are coasting through the NL too. Made quick work of more balanced teams then the White Sox have to face. Astros in 6. They are a better pitched team and the White Sox will struggle in Houston. I'm sure the networks aren't too excited about an Astro/White Sox series. It might be a great series if you love 1-0, 2-1, and 2-0 kind of games. I give the Sox credit for having a great season and taking advantage of every break and piece of luck that they got. That's not sour grapes because that's what good teams do. I've posted in an earlier thread that the Sox could be in trouble next year if they lose Konerko and don't get the "career years" out of the 6-7 players that had them this year. Congrats to the Sox and hopefully the WS can end quickly so the Hot Stove can get heated up.

S.D. is in the driver's seat, in my opinion, but I'm not sure how much money they will or will have to spend. Giles has been critical of PETCO and while he may want to stay home, he may want out of that park as well. Anaheim could go after him, but will he be their main target. They already have Finley, Vlad, and Anderson for the OF and numerous young candidates for DH. They will be losing Salmon money, so they could afford Giles, but he may or may not be their primary target. Boston won't do anything until they move Manny. That could happen, or it could not. Right now it's just a lot of speculation. Even if Boston has its eye on Giles, if there's a delay in dealing Manny, it could hinder any efforts to sign Giles. LA is likely the one I'd fear the most, but they signed two big contracts in Kent and Drew last season. Also, is McCourt cutting payroll? That could play a huge factor in what happens. St. Louis will no doubtly place an offer. I think if we wanted, we could siginificantly outbid anything the Cardinals offer. I think if it's between the Cubs and Cardinals, he'll go with the highest offer. Unless he'll play for 6-8 million, he's not going to Houston. I've detailed the Astros finances in another thread, so I won't do it again, but I don't see the Astros adding any big name signings this offseason. The cash isn't there. The main hinderance I see in the Cubs getting Giles is that I don't think he's Hendry's main target. Because of that, I figure we'll be in the discussions, but may not make the final push needed to land him. If th Cubs fail to land Giles, I think it will have more to do with the fact that Hendry pursued other needs moreso than because of other teams winning more. I think he will stay on the West Coast, but he would fit right in with the Cards and he's their type of player.

Everything I ever heard made it sound like everybody loved Tommy LaSorda when he was managing.

You would think that the bandwagon Sox fans alone would fill up the stadium three times over. It is interesting how the fans quit the White Sox when their owner took them off of "free" TV and yet the fans still follow the Cubs even though most of their games are now on cable. I guess the difference is that now everyone has cable (or dish) and when Reinsdorf did it, quite a few less people had it.

This morning's newscasts were reporting that Sox tickets were readily available last night and that scalpers were doing no better than face value for the tickets they had. As pitiful as the sports history has been in Chicago, you would think that all of those big-time Sox fans would be lined up for ALCS tickets at any price. Can you imagine if the Cubs were in the NLCS? Tickets would be going for $1000.

I heard somewhere that Betemit seems to be getting heavier and the Braves might think that a different position might fit his body frame better.

I love it. He's no Sojo. No, he sure isn't. And Matsui is no Paul O'Neill.20 03 NYY 163 623 82 179 42 1 16 106 63 86 2 2 .287 .353 .435 .788 2004 NYY 162 584 109 174 34 2 31 108 88 103 3 0 .298 .390 .522 .912 2005 NYY 162 629 108 192 45 3 23 116 63 78 2 2 .305 .367 .496 .863 Total -- 487 1836 299 545 121 6 70 330 214 267 7 4 .297 .370 .484 .854 I'd do my best to live with them as Cubs, however. Matsui may not be a Paul O'Neill, but I would love to have him playing OF for the Cubs.

I disagree. Winning 95 games doesn't mean squat to Steinbrenner. He bought this team to win the WS and the fact that they're not even going to the WS will drive him crazy. Also, I wonder whether Steinbrenner will sit back and assume Small, Cano, Wang, and Chacon will be dependable enough to win next year. It's kind of driving a dependable Chevy, when you can afford a Rolls Royce. I look for Steinbrenner to go after Burnett, Millwood, and Damon.

Well, now that the Yankees have lost, all of us Cub fans have more ammo for the off season. Not just Giles, Manny, or Abreu for the OF, but maybe Sheffield or Matsui. Not just Furcal, Nomar, or Cedeno for SS, but maybe Arod. Of course, when it's all said and done, we will be predicting the WS with the likes of Preston Wilson and Austin Kearns. That is what being a Cub fan is all about.

Dempster (like Borowski) is not a lights-out closer and certainly has a tendency to worry me, but what would have happened if the Cubs low-balled Dempster and he signed with another team. Now you have to get in a bidding war over someone like Wagner that will end up costing $8-9 million per year. Is Dempster worth $5 million...... NO, but 99% of the players aren't worth what they're paid. At least it's money being paid to someone who has an important role on the team and not a bench-warmer.

Dempster (like Borowski) is not a lights-out closer and certainly has a tendency to worry me, but what would have happened if the Cubs low-balled Dempster and he signed with another team. Now you have to get in a bidding war over someone like Wagner that will end up costing $8-9 million per year. Is Dempster worth $5 million...... NO, but 99% of the players aren't worth what they're paid. At least it's money being paid to someone who has an important role on the team and not a bench-warmer.

The Tribune stated that his first move would be to hire Don Zimmer as bench coach. Zimmer has always been one of my favorite baseball people. Let's take a vote: Girardi & Zimmer or Baker & Pole. I'd go for Girardi & Zimmer in a second.

I don't think that's the way you have to look at it. The way to look at it is would I rather: Nomar 3b Furcal SS Beltran CF or would I rather have Aramis 3b Furcal SS Preston Wilson CF Beltran could probably use a change of scenery about now. Bad move by the Mets. They still have Cameron, so they could put Floyd in LF and Drew in RF. Beltran is a much better player than his 2004 season. He's what we hoped Corey Patterson would become. It's not a deal that is likely to happen, but I would make that trade. One problem with your scenario is Nomar is a health risk, so who is your sub? The 2nd problem that I see is that Beltran is a wonderful player with one of the worst contracts in the history of sports. I don't want that albatross on the Cubs future spending.

Congratulations to the White Sox for the success they have acheived this year. They have played exceptional baseball and have combined very good pitching with timely hitting to get this far. That being said, I do think that the Sox will have trouble repeating their success next year. They have had "career years" from 6 or 7 players who are not likely to repeat those numbers. There is a very good chance that they won't resign Konerko, who I think is one of the keys to their success. Also, this was a year when the perennial champs (Twins) had a horrible season in a weak division. The Indians showed signs of promise, but their youth caught up with them. So congrats to Guillen & Williams on this year, but things could get ugly pretty quick.