CHW - BOS 2005 ALDS Thread

If they can come back and win 7-6 at home in Game 1, then they'll make a believer out of me. Otherwise, their asses are going home in four and Ozzie Guillen will have to put off his retirement for a few years.

and the best record in the AL is "fumes"? They won five in a row to close the season, nonchalantly sweeping a series on the road that their arch-rival HAD to have.

No one would even be saying a bad word about the Sox's September if Cleveland hadn't won EIGHTEEN of TWENTY games before faltering. I mean, what the hell can you do against that kind of a run? Cleveland was out of their mind. Doesn't take away the best record in the AL, nor that nice five-game win streak to close, with all five starters looking very sharp in the process.

Hardly ... they were a Padres-like 36-34 in the second half before closing with those five straight wins (four of which were close, very much in line with how they've been winning all season). A week ago, just about everyone agreed that the Indians were a better team (and I think the Sox believed it too), and one 1-6 stretch doesn't change that. Cleveland's Pythagorean record is six games better than Chicago's, and you can thank a gaudy 35-19 record in one-run games for that.

The White Sox are a 90 win team, tops, who got lucky. Most of their starters have been wildly inconsistent in the second half, and their hitters can't get on base (24th in OBP in MLB).

None of this is news.

Contreras' last 10 starts:
IP/ER:
7	0
6.2	4
8	1
7	3
7	3
7.2	0
5.2	3
8	1
9	1
8	2
Buehrle's last 10 starts
IP/ER
7	6
7	4
8	1
7	4
7	1
6	5
6.1	4
6	4
9	1
5.2	0
Garcia's last 10 starts:
IP/ER
8	0
7	3
8	1
4.1	8
7	1
7	3
5.1	7
6.1	4
8	1
7	2
Garland:
IP/ER
5.1	5
7	2
7.2	0
4.1	5
9	0
6	7
8	1
7.1	5
6.2	3
6.2	2
McCarthy:
IP/ER
5	6
4.2	6
6.1	3
3	5
7.2	0
7	0
5.2	2
3	1
8	1
6.1	3

Aside from a few bad outings from Garcia and some mediocre ones from Burly/Garland, the White Sox's starting pitching has been commendable down the stretch.

So it will be Boston's bats vs. our arms. The White Sox will need to get guys like Everett, Rowand, Crede, Pierzynski and Iguchi going, and hope that Podsednik and Konerko can keep up what they've been doing. I foresee a lot of 8-6, 7-5 type games and probably one pitcher's duel.

Remember: the <pre>

tag is your friend </pre>

g!

          1st half (ERA, WHIP)            2nd half (ERA, WHIP)
Garland        3.38, 1.08                      3.65, 1.28
Garcia         3.53, 1.18                      4.28, 1.34
Buerhle        2.58, 1.11                      3.84, 1.28
Contreras      4.26, 1.32                      2.96, 1.14

The Boston offense is just way too much for about any pitching staff. I like Buehrle's chances against Boston, but the rest of their starters I don't excite me. Chicago is going to have to hit way above their heads to win this series.

I could see the White Sox beating the Red Sox, but I will have to see it happen to become a believer.

My picks to click in this series are Carl Everett and Mark Buehrle.

And Mind..., where do the BoSox starters stand in comparison, in the second half? I admit, I don't know much about their stats but my impression is that Boston's starting rotation has been pretty brutal of late.

But with the White Sox, if the pitching goes, they go.

Game 1 is key. Contreras vs. Clement.

The thing is, you can't not pitch to both. That's the advantage of there being two of them.

Seconded. Last year I almost died.

I have to say I'm with jhoshea all the way, here.

"There are White Sox fans?"

Yeah, there are a few on this board. I mean, if you've been around here for more than
a day.

What is it about the south siders that prompts you to play this game where you pretend that you're ignoring them ('cos we all know that your vain self really ain't...)?

C'mon east coast...unburden yourselves. We all know how important guilt is in your culture.

Please. God I wish you snobs would all get struck by a New Orleans-style hurricane.

on the other hand GO WHITE SOX, eff a sabermetric fatwa

I'm not sure I want to know what you mean by that.

Red Sox in 5, if only due to my abiding faith in Jose Contreras to turn into a human taco machine every time he faces Boston. Come back to the AL East, comrade!

Listen, you're in the playoffs, time to toughen up. I know you're used to be ignored, but now people are going to make fun of you for being ignored and for not existing. I know it's hard to hear that you don't exist. But I think what needs to happen is for all the white sox fans of the world to band together, forming a bond stronger than east coast elitism. Maybe if someone has a biggish couch, you could all watch the game together?

Please. We got this condescending shit from the Cubs for years. We know your gaslighting game...it's covering up for some nasty crimes coming from your side of the country. And that's one thing about the playoffs that you don't know.

Ignored, our ass. You know damn well that the Sox are a little problem for you history-wise, as if the Black Sox invented throwing games.

I can't believe you east coast types are still trying to slide this nonsense under our noses. Fact is, you are obsessed with the White Sox - to the point of lying to the press and getting your handlers to cause all sorts of trouble for us.

Does that make us 'whiners'? No - it means you screwed us, and it's time for you to pay. Why, you wouldn't even be coming here out of nowhere if the situtation didn't require one of your patented 'handles'.

Use other cliches next time. Irish people don't take kindly to being talked down to by their WASP inferiors and their lackeys.

hey now, there are more than a few white sox fans on the east coast! i've been wearing my hat all day, man.

and hey, it's just baseball, folks.

Coincidence? Oh please cut the crap, already. Awwww...I'm sorry things aren't as 'romantic' as they seem. Boo-hoo.

All I can say is, give me more. I want details. Like, how exactly is hbo involved? Is it against just chicago teams, or the whole midwest? And who's in on it, mlb, the government, Tim McCarver and Joe Buck, Steve Bartman?

For starters, you folks are fond of show trials. Shall we talk about the one you tried to provoke back in 1992, or is this getting a little too ugly for you?

Fact is, they were stalking my brother when he was in Little League, fer chrissakes - how many other kids did they do this to? Oh yeah, and they've been harassing my family forever. Oh yeah, please do go on about how the Irish are 'white' and all...that really makes up for seventy-five years of slander, libel and extortion. Is it really that difficult? Do some research on 'nativism' and the fears regarding the Irish community and Irish power during the teens and twenties.

I'm fucking fed up with the bullshit, and I really couldn't care if you want to stage another 'show trial' on yet another bulletin board. Suit yourselves. Spend your whole lives in your vain morality play if you so desire.

Oh yeah, and the gambling thing. No, that's not a 'conspiracy'. That's the sort of history you might learn if you weren't masturbating to baseball statistics all the time.

xpost :D !!!!!

Are you like some kind of famous ChiSox fan?

I mean, we all know about the Eastern Seabord Programming Network's preferences towards all things Boston and Yanquis, but I'm afraid my compatriot here has lost me.

are much better IMO

I give it up. I give it all up. I surrender.

Why don't you people just fucking tell me what you want from me? 'Cos I have the piles of paperwork and evidence now.

'Cos I surrender. I surrender. I'm sorry I don't understand your little east coast social codes, but your code rapes and robs us, quite frankly. Go ahead - hire a rape like that Tribune guy did in 1992. Stage a show trial so that you can drag your mortal enemy - my dad - into the gutter. And oh yeah, get some provocateurs like Ligue to make the Sox fans look like trash. And you know the mafia thugs who wormed their way into the Tribune were behind that.

Oh, go ahead - tell me you're 'baffled' and all that. I love it! I'm long past caring whether you think another woman is having PMS or 'going crazy' and all.....

I love it when all you college pricks who've benefitted from the blackballing feign ignorance. They pick some to succeed and blackball others. That's what you get for having no culture, for never having to have to fight for your independence. You don't have any history. Well, the south siders DO have history, and the WASPs have never forgotten that. God forbid my family were Irish Republicans who refused to screw black people to get ahead.

Fact is, they treat the White Sox like their property...it's much more serious than media bias. It's fucking slavery and terrorism. They stalk the shit out of these guys. They act like they OWN them. The White Sox got blackballed. You know, 'blackballing'....it's an Ivy League thing? Or are you too irresponsible or too comfortable to know about it?

I don't want to hear anymore about how you feel so guilty and liberal for 'not knowing'. I'm sick of people who didn't know and I wish they didn't exist.

Go ahead - there's another straitjacketed crazy Irish troublemaker, just like my Aunt Grace. Go ahead and presume and masturbate to that and your comfort and your fat bank account.

'Cos I don't give a shit anymore.

As for the 'famous Sox fan' thing...well, I guess I just started sticking my nose in where it didn't belong a few years ago. And I now have two attempted murders in the past year to show for it (and I got the paperwork for that, too).

But sorry about that. Enjoy the postseason. I'm doing you a favor by letting you know how truly ugly your favorite pastime is, but no doubt you'll just chalk it up to Irish Catholic hysterical craziness...

While I appreciate Kerry's contributions to this board, I'd prefer if we stay on topic.

Dan and Ally, please don't post here if you don't like baseball and you're just here to stir things up.

I have locked Dan and Ally from this thread.

Now how about that Jake Peavy?

(i don't like the red sox either, btw.)

XPOST TO ALLY: NOT

I think I'll be listening to the radio.

You're gonna have to fucking ban me if you don't want your misogynistic blackballing Harvard secret-stalking-club ass exposed here.

Go ahead. Make my fucking day.

I'll personally come to Massachusetts and shove my fucking evidence -
including the attempted murder -DOCUMENTED- up your patrician asses.

Serbian? Fuck you, too. You're probably one of those potato famine Irish who isn't paying the price for Ireland's liberty. I don't want to hear about how you're one-eighth Irish, or feigning an Irish identity or whatever. Impersonation of the Irish is deserving of death as far as I'm concerned. Oh go ahead - call the police, the secret service, the FBI whoever....ooopsie, you're in organized crime and you won't do that, will you Ivy boy?

Or you're all a bunch of identity thieves who play blacks and Irish to make Ms. Kerry Keane appear as if she's having a nervous breakdown.
'Cos that's what the Ivy gang does.

I'm not playing nice anymore. You want a fucking psychotic break. I'll start psychotic breaking all over the board until you post all of the backchannel information you have on me, my family, and the White Sox...'cos I have PILES of evidence against your patrician east coast racket and all the shit you've been doing to me, my family and to my employer, Columbia College Chicago.

Start here, bitches:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/raspberrywho

And fuck the next rape and murder apologist who calls me psychotic. You've already been conditioned from birth to call any Irish woman who gets out of line that.

And I'm staying here until you shut this thread down, delete my posts, or kick me out, 'cos baseball is reallll ugly and you deserve to know about it.

Do you also know that they hunt women who go to baseball boards? 'Cos there are gay stalkers who imagine that any woman who likes baseball just wants to sleep with players. Then they flood the boards with misogynist crap to keep them out.

They did the same shit to the music boards - look at I Love Music. It's nearly all men - doesn't that strike you as funny?

Give me a fucking break. Your claims of 'psychotic breaks' don't mean squat until you be a REAL man and come to Chicago where I can show you my fucking paperwork.

Until then, maybe your pussy Ivy League frat boy selves should shut the hell up.

'Cos you took everything from me, and you know what a girl who had everything taken away from me - including my fucking kids - is willing to do.

I'm taking over this thread until you ban me, shut down the thread, or give me some fucking answers. And I don't care if you hide behind Dan Perry's name, or Ally's name, or whoever's identity you're stealing or borrowing today...you do that to make it look like no one agrees with me, and to make it look like I'm crazy.

Go ahead - drive me to do it. I have nothing to lose.

Keep feeding, Ivy bitches....I love it when you call me crazy.
That means I get to post more of your dirty laundry.

Frankly I don't give a shit about public approval on this board anymore, so that's one card you can't use.

Try another tactic....oooops, you're running out!!

First the Cubs, then the Red Sox....yeah, you really believe that shit is REAL.

Go ahead - you think I'm that dangerous, then come to Chicago and have me arrested. Or are you going to be like the last bitch and call my dad and tell them I'm being 'disruptive'.

Oh fuck you and your secret slandering campaign.

OH WHOOPS MY BAD HE STRUCK OUT

uh xpost

Don't believe I was raped?

Don't believe in attempted murder?

Take responsibility for your i.d. theft (oh that's right - first a black, then an Irish, and then a Chicago boy...that's good...let's keep that blackballing image going...don't want the parents to find out how badly our little masturbatory secret s&m 'final club' screwed up) or from here on out, consider yourselves party to an attempted murder. I have the police report, the 911 calls and witnesses.

Read the fucking blog. Go ahead and bait me - I'll keep posting until I get some fucking names, dates, facts, and JUSTICE.

How the fuck do you expect a multiple victim of attempted murder to act?

And don't pull that anti-Semitism crap on me. My grandmother was part Jewish and you know that, because you're stalking the shit out of my family. I'm tired of your race-baiting blackball tactics.

You're not a Sox fan unless you get off your lazy ass and do something about this shit.

this is kinda worrisome tho & can someone contact her or something, please?

no one here has stalked you. no one here has done anything to you.

we have been your friends in the past.

okay?

Ned and n/a, please feel free to stay if you have something to contribute aside from an errant puppy-pee in this corner of ILX. I'm sure everyone would appreciate any topical commentary from non-regulars but this situation got out of hand and focused on pretty inconsequential things that you guys could easily bring up on ILX if you choose to do so.

If so, then feel free to yellowcard my ass, because that's just nonsense.

[xpost]

And somehow the ChiSox actually have 4 LOBs.

Bosko Balaban Stats For Season
Name Bosko Balaban
Team Aston Villa
Total Appearances 0
Starts 0
Substituted 0
Total Minutes Played 0
Avg Minutes Played Per Start 0
Goals 0
Avg Goal Mins When Starting 0.0
Avg Mins Played/Goal Scored 0
Goals Scored As Sub 0
Number of Bookings 0
Total Booking Minutes 0
Avg Bookings Per Start 0
Number of Red Cards 0
Total Red Card Minutes 0
Avg Red Cards Per Start 0

David, I'd kind of like that to be the case myself. I don't wanna see Boston win the series but I don't want them to do...that again. I always feel weird when the first game of a series is a total blow out, wondering if the losing team just badly underestimated the winner? Exhaustion from the regular season? Choking? I'll think about it way longer than I should, even if it's a team I hate!

I'm saying next game is gonna be more a one-run game, Boston's gonna shape up wake up. I just can't decide if the one-run will be in Boston's favor or Chicago's...

I'm thinking the White Sox try more Smallball today (since it worked so well yesterday!), but it backfires. Then the Red Sox grab the lead (YARD WORK BIG PAPI), and the ChiSox deficiencies come to the fore as they go down kicking & screaming and are unable to cope with Senor Gout's unerring control.

I guess Ozzie looks like a genius for leaving Jenks out there to pick up the two-inning save, but why wasn't Hermanson out there for the ninth?

this is 2005 not 99 or 03. statistics like that mean nothing. and I don't know how you could definitively say those teams were better than the Sox, but I'm sure you'll throw some "facts" at me to prove it.

I guess they're technically ALL must-win games from here on out, so I imagine he sticks with Wakefield.

xpost - I'm pretty sure he's making a qualitative analysis! Feel free to disagree with him; I definitely think these White Sox are at least as good as the 1999 Indians.

You gotta win 3 in a row. I wouldn't change the rotation at all.

GRAFFA-EL-NINO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Because Hermanson is his closer? Because Ozzie is old school and I'd expect that he'd prefer a veteran over a rookie in that situation? Because if Jenks had coughed up the tying run then you would have run to this board complaining that Ozzie was an idiot for leaving Jenks in there?

What statistics? The Red Sox did come back from 2-0 down in both of those years. Those are facts.

Here are some more facts:

1999 Indians

Scored 1009 runs, Allowed 860 runs. Pythagorean W-L: 93-69

2003 A's

Scored 768 runs, Allowed 643 runs. Pythagorean W-L: 94-68

2005 White Sox

Scored 741 runs, Allowed 645 runs. Pythagorean W-L: 92-70

You'll have a hard time arguing that those A's and Indians clubs weren't one of the two or three best teams in the league that year.

so which argument is it? first the '03 a's and '99 indians are "better" than the '05 white sox (despite your evidence not really being that convincing, esp. as the a's and sox numbers are very close to one another), now it's "You'll have a hard time arguing that those A's and Indians clubs weren't one of the two or three best teams in the league that year." which is funny, since nobody claimed that. but keep on digging, it's funny. in the meantime, i'll enjoy the sox and their postseason bid.

For all the shit I've gotten from you (and others) about Dustin Hermanson's more than fine job this season, the fact that you can't (BBTN-style) see through Wells' charade of a season (driven by that W/L record) is telling!

Batters are hitting almost .300 this year (.324 BABIP)! His WHIP is 1.31, that is not what I would call the mark of efficiency. Maybe compared to Arroyo, Wakefield and Clement, but still... BP has his LUCK at +8.77, trailing only Cliff Lee and Colon. His 2005 performance ranked #83 in VORP across all MLB pitchers.

And yes, we can always reminisce over the glorious Wells of yesteryear, but his 2005 charade is over.

now switching gears to the White Sox:
The White Sox are scoring runs in curious ways (3 HRs yesterday between AJ Pierzynski and Scott Podsednik) but I think that is more sympomatic of the Sox current state of pitching. I don't think they are half as bad as some ILBers are making them out to be, but I have to admit I am curious how their offence is gonna stack up against good pitching* (which they might not see until the World Series if the Yankees beat the Angels).

*I have to admit I did not watch much of the ChiSox this year with the exception of the A's series, but the ChiSox made the A's look REAL good.

The White Sox had the 4th best Pythagorean record in the league, which is a much better indication of how good they really were during the regular season. Behind them were the Red Sox (one game back), the Yankees (two games back) and the Blue Jays (three games back).

If Halladay hadn't been knocked out of the season by a fluke injury, then they very well could have made up that three game deficit. So in response to you -- yes, a reasonable argument can be made that the Blue Jays were better than the White Sox this year.

Also, who are you to talk -- METS FAN. Mets:NL = Blue Jays:AL.

and c'mon, the mets were definitely worse than the jays. you're slippin', man.

Freddy Garcia goes at 4pm Eastern on Friday; he's been v. good during day games and away from home, so the White Sox have a strong chance of sweeping. Unbelievable.

Chicago's Game 1/2/3 Starters:

Contreras-Buerhle-Garcia composite season ERA: 3.53

Toronto's 1-2-3 Starters:

Halladay-Chacin-Towers composite season ERA: 3.39

Jon Garland's ERA was 3.50 this year, so he doesn't bring the average down much. Adding one of Toronto's other starters would even things out a bit more. As for the offense:

White Sox runs scored: 738
Blue Jays runs scored: 768

What was your point again? Are you saying that luck has no bearing on who makes it to the postseason and who wins the World Series? Because that's what you seem to be saying.

-- hstencil (hstenc!...), Today 7:53 PM. (hstencil)

or rather, they had a shitty year except for September (and allow Wang to prove me wrong tonight since he's not up against the D-Rays) but outside of RJ, their staff is a house of cards.

What was your point again?

that a couple of out-of-context stats have no bearing on who the better team is. the white sox dominated their division for most of the year, and are in the playoffs (where they're enjoying a two-game lead). the blue jays didn't. c'est la guerre.

Are you saying that luck has no bearing on who makes it to the postseason and who wins the World Series? Because that's what you seem to be saying.

nope, but i appreciate you trying to construct an argument for me (since you still haven't constructed one for yourself yet).

BABIP != BAA

His BAA is .296, tho. That said, he mitigates that w/ his stinginess on the basepaths. Please note that today's start would've been totally different had Tony G been able to field a routine ground ball right at him.

And whoop dee doo his VORP is 83rd this year among all pitchers (59th among those w/ 150+ IP) - like that's so bad! Divide that by the # of teams in MLB, and that's about 3rd-starter good, which is what he is - a good 3rd starter. That he's the defacto Sox "ace" says more about the sorry state of their starting staff than his actual quality - he's been good, but obviously not THAT good. Still, I wouldn't throw him out of bed for chewing out Graffinino for muffing that ground ball. And I never said anything more than he's "an effective, high-quality, low-walk workhorse."

There was a lot of parity in the league this year. Coming down the sretch, it looked like the Indians were the only team without major weaknesses. Otherwise, there were a few good teams, none of whom would be obvious favourites against any of the others in a best-of-five series.

Precise W-L records aren't necessarily relevant to this argument ... if the Phillies had won the WC by a game over the Astros, would they be favoured in the playoffs to the same degree that the Astros are?

Easy on the Pythagorean cage matches! While the Chisox aren't as good as their record, 92 'expected' wins are pretty good for a team few besides Rob Neyer expected more than 77-80 from.

How has Chicago hit Wakefield? cuz Schilling 2005 is no sure thing.

Very good. Career-wise, Wakefield is 4-9, 5.28 against the Sox. This year: 1-1, 6.57, WHIP 1.38.

*they = THE MAN

YEAH I SAID IT

WE CALL HIM E-ROD NOW.

GET WITH IT U R SO 2004 LOLOLOL

LOSER!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF!!!!!!1111 LOL

I have no memory of who preceded Graffanino at second before they got him in July. *scratches head*...

TS: being a Yankee fan in a Mike Myers film v. being a Red Sox fan in a Jimmy Fallon film.

xpost That Jimmy Fallon film is AWFUL, I watched it on a boat. It really made the Red Sox look bad, associating with that movie :\

All a guy like Bellhorn has to do is be one more buried-on-the-bench Yankee standby for me to forget him. But he's great in even years, the Sox should get him back!

I do not like the White Sox, but I respect them. Guillen might give me hives, but he sure knows how to run a pitching staff.

For proof, look no further than yesterday's ALDS Game Two. On the basis of one big inning and one horrible defensive gaffe, the White Sox entered the eighth inning clinging to a 5-4 lead. Guillen had a number of options to choose from as the Red Sox came to the plate. He could stick with Mark Buehrle, who had thrown just 95 pitches and had retired 14 of the last 16 batters. Or he could turn to arguably the deepest bullpen in baseball, mixing and matching his way through the last six outs, knowing that with an off-day coming up, he could empty out his bullpen if need be.

Instead, he used a tactic straight out of a bygone era, an era more associated with Winning Ugly than Moneyball. He didn't bring the game to a screeching halt while shuffling through half a dozen relievers to get the platoon edge three times. He brought in his closer in the eighth inning, and he rode his closer for six outs, two scoreless innings...and one win....

One of these years the notion that closers are born and not made will finally be exposed as the silly canard that it is. Bobby Jenks was not born a closer. His ability to nail down a one-run lead in October was not forged by years of experience. He did not bring the White Sox within a game of their first playoff series win in 88 years because he wears a magical "C" on his back.

Bobby Jenks isn't a good closer because he has that special fire in his stomach that allows him to pitch the ninth inning when men of lesser fortitude would fail. He's a good closer because he's a good reliever, and because he has a manager who decided he should pitch the ninth inning. And last night, the eighth.

A) Chicago has 1 more team homer than Boston (which is true, tho the White Sox still trail the Red Sox in team SLG by 30+ points)

B) The Red Sox only averaged 1 run PER GAME more than the White Sox (which is, um, you know, A BIG DIFFERENCE)

HermansonSchmermanson. If all goes well, Jenks should be the closer next year, and a dominate one.

-- oops (don'temailmenicelad...) (webmail), August 26th, 2005 3:16 AM. (Oops) (link)

um, I meant at the end of this year. yeah.

Meanwhile Chicago did what they did best -- pitch well, and score just enough runs to win (except for the Game 1 abherration. They obviously can't expect to score 14 runs too often). Their big three starters can now rest up, and Jenks has proven that he can be the man in the late innings. If Hermanson can come back healthy then they're going to be that much tougher to beat once the 7th inning rolls around, and with those starters, the 7th inning will roll around damn quick.

One thing Gammons brought up a couple of days ago I did not realize is that the White Sox actually hit more home runs than Boston this season. I never really thought of Chicago having that much power.

A) Chicago has 1 more team homer than Boston (which is true, tho the White Sox still trail the Red Sox in team SLG by 30+ points)

Thank GOD I don't have to listen to Chris fucking Berman one more second this postseason. You could feel the disappointment dripping from his throat when Renteria grounded into the final out.

shhhh, it spoils the Official Story.

Fox is prolly panicking over how to exploit '1917' when the country doesn't know about it. "Let's do the Game 1 open with Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe..."

Well, I mean, Renteria is a historically superior player, for one thing.

But yeah, bad year. They should trade him and bring up Hanley already.

Cabrera:
2004 .264 .306 .383 16SB 237TB Age29
2005 .257 .309 .365 21SB 197TB Age30

Renteria:
2004 .287 .327 .401 17SB 235TB Age28
2005 .276 .335 .385 9SB 240TB Age29

I mean, they both sucked pretty badly both year, and Renteria makes an extra 2mil. However, Renteria is pretty clearly the better of the two players. Obviously Renteria's decline in SBs probably has more to do with organizational philosophy than anything else. Otherwise, he's superior across the board.

Again, I'd rather stick Hanley there for $250k than either of these two bad options, but the idea that they should have signed Cabrera is baffling to me, and the idea that they should have signed Eckstein is the ultimate in 20/20 hindsight.

Also - THIRTY ERRORS?!?!?!

I mean, if I go all in on a two of clubs and a seven of diamonds and flop a 7 7 2, that doesn't mean I didn't make a bad decision.

I was all wet on the length, but unusually correct on the means.

Scoring playoff prognostications = measuring 'clutch'

My 'predictions' are what I want to see happen, slightly reined by probability.