Start of Spring Training

I would have posted this last Sunday, but my computer had an epic meltdown and is now in the shop, getting fixed.

From my little desert lair, I officially kick off White Sox Spring Training.

GO WHITE SOX!!!

tamtam

Ozzie on Twitter

Guess what?! Our favorite manager is now on Twitter!! Now, people get to hear more memorable quotes from my crazy manager. Ozzie hasn't been completely technologically isolated to this point, (he writes a bi-weekly column in Spanish on whitesox.com) but this is his first official social networking site.

So now that Ozzie's on twitter, let's take a peek at what he's said so far (or at least what Ozzie Jr. and Oney have been writing in place of their dad when he's too busy swearing at the press to post):

• 2/23/10: finally I am on this twitter thing it's about time!
• 2/23/10: what I saw on the field today was a lot of grass...
• 2/23/10: 3 day of Spring Training and im already boreddddddd
• 2/23/10: going to eat in half hour why dye no have a job ? (my personal favorite)
• 2/23/10: Iam tired from bad very bad golf
• 2/24/10 (last update as of this posting): Un saludo a mi gente latina gracias por el apoyo especial a mi pais venezuela pero no sabia que me traia dolres de cabeza con la gente (rough translation: Greetings to my fellow Latinos thanks for this special opportunity to my country of Venezuela but I don't know why these people give me a headache)

I guess it's him-the poor grammar says a great deal.

To Oney and Ozzie Jr: If you're reading this, for the love of God, DO NOT edit your dad's profanity-laced comments!! They make for good page-fillers on a slow news day, and bring me a little taste of home since I am a transplant, like many of my fellow Chicagoans.

Stay tuned for more colorful quotes from my manager in the months to come.

GO WHITE SOX!!!

tamtam

Thome or not Thome

So in the course of this busy offseason, we have aquired Omar Vizquel-a 43 yr old wonderboy, avoided arbitration with that fat dustmop Bobby Jenks (although he reportedly slimmed down alot since the end of the season, so now I might have to just call him a dustmop. Wonder if Bartolo "Fatso" Colon took any hints too) and my boy Carlos Quentin. JD might be going to the Cubs (NOO!!), and we officially have no DH now that Thome is gone.

But this gaping hole at DH is precisely the topic for today's post.

"Big League Stew" says that Ozzie intends to use a rotation of Vizquel, Mark Kotsay, and newcomer Andruw Jones in the DH slot. The reason for this, according to the Sun Times, is that if needed, Vizquel, Kotsay, and Jones can pick up a glove and play defense. Thome will be 40 in August, and is clearly well past his playing days, but was our most productive hitter over the course of the mediocre 2009 season. Now that the Dodgers have released Thome, and no one has picked him up so far, big Jim just might come back to the AL central, but as a dreaded Twin or Tiger.

As a loyal White Sox fan, I would excore Kenny Williams to pick up Jim Thome. But reality says that even if we did pick him up, where would we put him? With the whole concept of a rotating DH, Thome might sit on the bench for days at a time, and then get grilled by the media for not playing. And as even the most dimwitted of economists knows, it's never a good idea to waste money on something that doesn't produce its value.

BLS speculates that because the Sox don't look like they want Thome back, we just may as well have traded away our shot at winning the AL Central. Of course, it's early in the season, so there is still the possibility that we'll be fine, provided Alex Rios, my boy, and Mark Teahan all have career seasons. If not, Kenny's got some explaining to do...

Yet in spite of all these concerns and unknowns, I trust Ozzie and Kenny. Don't forget, there's still Spring Training, so if our rotating DH doesn't work out as planned, it's still not too late to go after Thome!

GO WHITE SOX!!!

tamtam

the end of spring training

cactus league spring training finally winds down to a close. since i have nothing better to do, and im waiting for 'basic instinct' to load (this movie so far is really creepy, really gross, and i wouldnt recommend watching it with someone else in the room. im watching it on these chinese websites that take forever to load!), i figured id put my final thoughts into spring training.

recordwise, spring training was a mess. the white sox came out with a poor record, bartolo shows us that he still cant pitch, carlos either hasn't got used to his new wrist, or its obvious that the injury has killed his power (no home runs this spring training!), and kenny cut some surprising players (general soreness jerry owens comes to mind). that said, lets hope that this spring training has worked out the kinks for my boys in black and white.

FINALLY!!! let the REAL games begin! only 3 more days till opening day!

though this has nothing to do with the white sox, i cant get it out of my mind. id like to take this opportunity to express my screaming anger at jerry angelo, the chicago bears gm, for taking in jay cutler. cutler, who will now be referred to as 'diva jay', is exactly what his nickname implies-a diva who, like TO, is a proven champ but will cause nothing but trouble in the locker room and destroy the team's chemistry. although, the bears havent really got any team chemistry to call credible, but still. its fragile and having diva jay around won't exactly help our cause. the sports hernia, a blog i frequent and comment on alot, had 2 dedications to diva jay. 1 was 'the painful period', and the other is the 'i dont give a shit'. my favorite is 'the painful period' (photo shown above) cuz that will be the look on diva jay's face 4 plays into training camp >:]

GO WHITE SOX!!! world series here we come!!

tamtam

gold gavin

though spring training has been otherwise dismal, some good news surfaced!!

gavin 'pink' floyd, one of our best pitchers inked a $15.5 million dollar deal for the next 4 years, today. this is key, as next to 'miracle man' john danks, mark buehrle, and bobby jenks, gavin is a critical part of the rotation, and got us wins in some big games.

gavy was one of 3 players who were elligible for arbitration, the other 2 being the miracle man and q. now that 1 of the big 3 is secured, time to focus on the other 2.

in kenny i trust.
GO WHITE SOX!!!
tamtam

camelback ranch

ok, i know ive been slacking, but i've been kinda busy this week. i had a test in bio which prevented me from writing an entry about my boys in black.

since im on spring break, my uncle decided to treat me to a baseball game. no trip to phoenix is complete without a baseball game (when its in season, of course). we decided on camelback ranch, as i had not yet been there, and i wanted to see if it was really all the hype.

the facility is nice, but i dont know that i would have picked glendale, or that particular design for a ballpark. for 1 thing, glendale is a little out-of-the-way, and the stadium is located in kind of an isolated area. but im probably speaking too soon cuz knowing arizona, they never stop developing. within a few years, there will be more houses and shopping malls surrounding the park. personally, id disapproved of the sox moving north cuz 1 of the reasons i chose to go to u of a was to be near the white sox for spring training!! it should also be known that before hightailing north to phoenix, the sox had a contract worked out with the tucson park district about staying in tucson electric park (to which i have yet to pay a visit) all the way till 2010. since the sox broke their contract, they worked out a deal to reimburse (sp?) the tucson park district for what the remainder of the contract was worth. if they hadnt done this, the city of tucson could have sued the white sox for a breach of contract, which is totally legal. i know, i know, kenny (thats our gm, for those of you unfamiliar with the white sox management system) had his eyes set on phoenix for a while, but it would have been economically, and legally less of a hassle to just wait until the contract expired, and dont bother to renew it. although i know a lotta players make their offseason homes in phoenix and it is a far drive to and from tucson (its 2 hrs going there and to come back is another 2 hrs), i wonder if tucson electric park is located in a dumpy area, and maybe kenny really wanted to get outta there just cuz of the neighborhood.

but enough legalspeak bitching and on to BASEBALL!!! todays game was white sox vs. texas rangers. and no, josh hamilton was not playing, so carlos quentin couldnt eat him (see 'hopped up on hamilton' for this one (note-each word is a separate image), courtesy of the ever-amazing carl skanberg). i got to see my boys stretching and doing batting practice.

before the game, however, some team in the white sox minor league organization won some championship, so the sox honored them. while the team was honored, i was taking pix of my boys engaged in some roly-poly-style-stretching

this over here is the team that the sox were honoring.

and this below is my boys doing roly-poly stretching :)

first 1 on the right is paulie, all curled up and rocking back and forth like a japanese wobble toy :)

this next one was ba. he was literally going head-over-heels during his stretching routine. as the guys at south side sox might suggest, the 'honies' (or alternatively spelled "honey's", basically a slang term for cleat chaser groupies) that ba likes to pick up after games are gonna have a good time taking advantage of his flexibility (and wallet, among other things).

finally, my favorite stretching pic.

aside from that gorgeous man in the middle on his knees (none other than my boy, carlos quentin :D), i liked the groupshot of jd getting a real rubberband man workout from the trainer along with ba.

the game itself was a thriller. our miracle man, john danks, got the start for us. the sox were down 3-1 at one point, but came back to win 8-4 after consecutively scoring a run in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings. the 9th inning was the best cuz my boy q, after having a rather dismal game, got a rally going. he hit a double, and then scored on 2 subsequent singles, tying the game 4-4. after the pitcher walked the bases loaded, ba came on and hit a grand slam. it was the 1st grand slam id ever seen live. i was glad i went.

as for the stadium in general, the food isnt too bad. for lunch, my uncle bought me a hot dog with all the fixin's. basically, that was a vienna beef hotdog with relish, onions, gardinia (at least i think thats how you spell it. its that italian hot pepper salad that you find in the grocery store in the glass jar), cheese, chili, jalapenos, and finally ketchup and mustard (although i didnt put mustard on mine. i dont like mustard). it was messy, but it wasnt bad. id definately have it again. for dessert, i had this italian ice dessert, i think its called 'sorbeto'. it tastes like a popsicle, and was actually kinda refreshing. it got rid of the peppery aftertase left behind by the hotdog.

the giftshop was REALLY CROWDED!!! they were selling the st. patricks day green jerseys of various players. the special was of my boy quentin. well, the man does have some irish roots, so it was appropriate (i remember reading a tribune article about him, and that little tidbit was mentioned, among other things). my dad went to the game on tuesday, and told me that in the team store, you could find a manny's-dreadlocks wig, complete with bandana. i couldnt believe it, so after the game, my uncle and i went to the team store and fought the crowd to see if we could find it. unfortunately, the store was sold out of those wigs, but thats ok. the next time i go to camelback ranch, they'll probably be in stock. i dont intend to get 1, but i just wanted to see it cuz i couldnt believe they existed.

that was my day at camelback ranch. i would love to go back in the near future :)

GO WHITE SOX!!!

tamtam

sox vs. australia

today, i was able to watch some of the sox vs. australia game before i had to run off to english.

i got to see q for the 1st time this spring training!! he went 1-3. kinduva bad day, but compared to the rest of spring training, its not too bad.

bff ba had a good day today. i saw him wack a home run over the left-center (i think, i dont remember) wall. as the folks at south side sox like to joke, after the game, ba went for the aussie wives (ba is rumored to be pretty promiscuous. so is q, allegedly, but it hasnt been confirmed for the latter).

as i was watching the game, i noticed how dead camelback ranch was. im serious!! there were only like 50 people in the stadium, at most!! man, this economy really truly spares no one. not even the sports industry.

in short, sox win. hope the same for tomorrow.

GO WHITE SOX!!
tamtam

sweep in vegas!

hi-yo!

this just in, the sox swept the cubs in vegas!! i saw a bit of today's game. it was ok, but then i had to run off to class, so i didnt get to see the rest of the game. but our guys won, so it doesnt matter.


the other half of the sox was broadcast over mlbtv. i caught a bit of the free broadcast but i had to run, so i only saw a bit. our boys lost that game 4-5 to the dodgers and manny the diva.


in the meantime, i did see the game last night. i would have blogged throughout the game, but i also had to finish my calculus homework >:[, so homework came 1st. it was my 1st baseball game on tv in a long time, and i was very happy to see it. unfortunately, it was bob brenly and len kasper, the cubs guys, telling the game. i was hoping it'd be hawk and stoney (that would be steve stone), as i have yet to hear those 2 (im so used to 'dj' darren jackson and hawk calling the sox games).


i was impressed by the sox last night, aside from winning in a bottom-9th tiebreaker thriller. aj caught a good game, and tdogg (my new nickname for tyler flowers) looked ok in the 1st game ive seen him in. miracle man john danks pitched well, giving up only 3 hits in 3 innings. paulie, wilson betemit, and michael restovich all hit homeruns, and the sox won 7-6.


to sign off this post, i'll conclude with a colorful quote by ozzie upon returning to vegas


"I just told my wife I never thought I would come back to Las Vegas in my life and be the manager of a ballclub. That's a lot of years ago," said Guillen with a laugh. "I've been pushing for this game for a little while."





we love you ozzie!!

GO WHITE SOX!!!
tamtam

game tonite!

finally!!

there's a split squad game against the cubs tonite at 8 (my time), but i think its a rebroadcast cuz 8pm is kinda pushing it? it'll be on wgn, and i'll be sure to watch it.

before my wireless goes out for the billionth time today (i seriously don't know whats wrong with my wireless card-it keeps losing the signal!), i should also say congratulations to mark buerhle and his wife who gave birth to a baby girl. best wishes to the buerhle family. full story can be found here.

bye everyone!

GO WHITE SOX!!!
tamtam

splits!!

sorry i havent written in a few days. i've been kinda busy with school and shit like that >:[.

the sox are on a split-squad game today. 1/2 the team is in vegas, the other 1/2 is in phoenix. most of the regular starters are in vegas (jd, aj, paulie, etc), while jim thome, q, and most of the bench guys are in phoenix. i dont think buerhle is with the team today. he left sunday's game early to be with his wife who's about to have their 2nd baby.

octavius-whatever you do, DONT FUCK THINGS UP!!! even in split-squad spring training, you're still giving the fans a heart attack whenever you go up to the mound. ive come to wonder...who makes you retreat to your happy place faster, dotel or the cubs' fukudome? oh, who am i kidding. fuck the cubs, at least our guys can HIT!!!

q got his 1st hit of spring training on sunday, which was the opening day of camelback ranch. it was a double. its a good start, but when will he start hitting home runs?! i miss q's home runs, as well as that wimpy cross he used to make as he crossed home plate.

but to be honest, it totally blows following the white sox from out here in AZ. not only do i not have comcast cable (dorm doesnt provide it), but the score won't broadcast the games over the internet! some shit about 'copyright infringment from MLB' >:[. i do get wgn though, so i am careful to watch the broadcast schedule for airing games (its mostly cubs that are on, but i think a sox game is coming up soon!)

if i find the results of the game, i'll post them here.

GO WHITE SOX!!!
tamtam

sox vs cubs, the spring training edition, round 1

today, the chicago white sox were ass-raped 13-0 by the rival chicago cubs. adam russel got lit up in the 8th for 6 earned runs and marquez, the starter, wasnt so good either.

and to top that all off, our ever-outrageous smartass manager ozzie guillen picks a war of words with ted lilly-the cubs pitcher. check out this quote (courtesy of the chicago sun times joe cowley)

MESA, Ariz. - Ozzie Guillen doesn't need a talk with Ted Lilly. As a matter of fact, the White Sox manager wasn't looking for an apology, a chat or even an acknowledging glance from the Cubs' left-handed pitcher.

But a "little thank you'' on Saturday morning, that would have been nice."He should say at least a little, 'Thank you Ozzie,' '' Guillen said, when asked about Lilly's Friday "Sure, I wouldn't mind [seeing Ozzie]'' comments to reporters.

When asked why a thank you, it was classic Guillen."Because of what I was doing when guys were making $60,000 and $70,000 a year and now they're making $10 million,'' Guillen said. "Back when meal money was [bleepin] $10 a day and now it's $80.''

ozzie, ozzie, ozzie. you never fail to catch america's attention with your brashness. you're crazy, but you get the job done, no matter who you piss off (mariotti-beware!).

maybe tomorrow will bring better fortune (and a win!!)

GO WHITE SOX!!
tamtam

game 2

sox win!!

unfortunately, the game was neither broadcast over the sox website, nor televised. but from what accounts i've been able to gather, the sox had a good game. gavy pitched well, our bats were productive, and the baserunning was on cue. since the game was here in tucson, i would have very much liked to go, as hi-corbett field is w/in walking distance of my school (its a long walk, but its do-able). unfortunately, thursday is my busiest day. i had classes all day today.

here's a funny quote by our ever-outrageous smartass manager, ozzie. courtesy of southsidesox

"I hope I die on the field. I hope when I walk to change the pitcher, I drop dead and that's it. I know my family would be so happy that it happened on the field. They wouldn't feel bad because that's what I've always wanted to do. You die on the field — good luck, get him out of here, next man."

as someone on sss posted: 'ozzie discussing his death: not a good sign when your manager is suicidal after the first game of the season'. (sorry everythings so crowded-having some formatting problems here)

but thats our ozzie. the bold, outrageous, smartass, occasionally annoying, yet oddly lovable ozzie guillen :)

GO WHITE SOX!!!

tamtam

updates, part 2

1:45-top of 3rd. scott shields pitching for angels. thome is up to bat. strikes out. jd up next, 0-for-1. pops into shallow right. alexei ramirez up next. 2-for-2 at this at-bat. lines out to 3rd.

1:50-bottom of 3rd. new pitcher for sox-the pidgeon toed octavius comes up. terry evans up for the angels. KO. brad koon up next, hit by pitch. niley (i think) stacia is up-koon steals 2nd. pops fair in front of q and koon scores. 2-1 white sox. abreu is next, walks. kendry morales comes up to bat, but abreu caught on fielders choice. 2 outs with runners on the corners. napoli gets a double to left-center, angels score 2 more runs. 3-2 angels. brandon wood up to bat. pops out to jerry owens all the way out at the warning track

2:04-KO on ben brussard. arodondo pitching for angels. josh fields bunts and it rolls foul. top of 4th. 1-1 count on fields. lineout to third. 2 outs. chris getz steps up to the plate. KO on check swing. angels being very efficiant today

2:10-shawn rodriguez thrown out by getz. matt thorton and his out of control arm are pitching. bottom of 4th. kerry evans at bat, base hit to centerfield. brad koon is back. still hanging in, fouling off pitches. chopped to shortstop, fielders choice.

2:19-rich thompson pitching for angels. top of 5th. jerry owens leading off. 3-1 count on owens. 3-2 count on owens. groundout. aj number 2 hitter. fly ball to center, popout for aj. quentin up 3rd. 0-for-2. flies out to center. 1-2-3 inning.

2:25-randy williams lhp, tyler flowers c, 3b javier castillo; changes for bottom of 5th. hinely stacia up 1st. doubles to left over castillo's head. chris pettite for angels. bouncer to pitcher, and rundown btwn 2nd and 3rd for stacia. 1 out. kendry morales batting next. hops out to castillo, pettite held up. hank conger bats in place of mike napoli. KO. 0 runs, 1 hit, no errors.

2:34-thome up to bat, pops out to pettite in center. thome 0-3. jd is next. angels have freddy sandoval at 3rd, luis figueroa is at ss, terry romels at 2b; changes. jd 0-2 right now. lines out to the pitcher. alexei swings at 1st pitch, strike. pops out to left field. yet another 1-2-3 inning, sox bats have quieted down alot

2:39-figueroa up to bat for the angels, ehren wassermann up to pitch for the sox. figueroa lines to left for a base hit. sandoval up next. stolen base for figueroa and throwing error on flowers. KO sandoval. no balls and 2 strikes on johnson. KO. kerry evans next. figueroa at 3rd. scores after wassermann's wild pitch. KO next batter. end of the 6th inning. angels up 4-2.

2:52-start of 7th. fransisco rodriguez (NOT k-rod!!) to take the mound for the angels. error on 2b brown for brussard. next batter, javier castillo. popout to 2nd. next batter, hicks, gets a double on a long shot to center. runners at 2nd and 3rd. fly ball to center, sac fly from owens. broussard scores, 4-3 angels. flowers up to bat, KO looking. time for the 7th inning stretch.

update, part 1

class got cancelled today! updates for as long as i can
all update times are in arizona time

1:37-napoli leads off for the angels. bottom of 2nd inning. 1 hopper stopped by fields and thrown to brussard. jd catches a fly on the warning track from brandon wood. sean rodriguez is up. sox have righthander warming up. hops out to getz

bad news

uh-oh, bad news!!

at 1, i tuned into the score to listen to the sox game. unfortunately, due to some stupid regulation thing, i can't get the games!! the score is not legally allowed to broadcast the games over the internet. i guess, i'll just be stuck having to check the whitesox homepage for the latest news.

i'll update here as often as i can throughout the day over the course of the game.

GO WHITE SOX!!
tamtam

**UPDATE**i CAN get gameday audio over the internet via the white sox website, but only the los angeles angels radio network carries the game. based on this newfound info, the sox have just scored 2 runs off a pierzynski at bat w/ q coming up to bat at the top of the 2nd

lineup

lineup for today's game

Jerry Owens
CF

AJ Pierzynski
C

Carlos Quentin
LF

Jim Thome
DH

Jermaine Dye
RF

Alexei Ramirez
SS

Ben Broussard
1B

Josh Fields
3B

Chris Getz
2B

GO WHTE SOX!!
tamtam

tips for tomorrow

this just cleared the wires at south side sox!! sorry-im having some formatting problems with the schedule. the times were lined up in a chart, and i couldnt get it to cross over to here.

oh well, i at least got the basic info. i'll post the rest of the dates, times, and broadcast carriers as the games come up.

here's whats on the stove for tomorrow:

Wednesday, February 25
@ Angels
2:05 PM
WSCR 670

the score 670 am is gonna carry the game. i have the link on my blog, but if you can't access it from the side panal for whatever reason, click here. to listen to the game, click the 'listen live' icon at the top right corner of the webpage. the browser will load and streaming will begin almost immediately.

hope this helps!

GO WHITE SOX!!
tamtam

wednesday's projected lineup

hey-

just cleared the twitter from joe cowley at the chicago sun times 'bout 2 hrs ago:

Starters for the Cactus League opener will be Owens, Dye, Quentin in the OF, Fields, Ramirez, Getz and Broussard in the infield.

starting pitcher:

Jim Thome will DH and Pierzynski will catch Clayton Richard.

GO WHITE SOX!!

tamtam

sox vs angels, opening day predictions

dear readers,

instead of watching the oscars, like everyone else right now, im blogging about sports. although, now that im on it, let me be honest in that i didnt think americans liked indian movies all that much, but when i saw the bit that i did, 'slumdog millionare' was practically sweeping the board! for those of you who don't know, 'slumdog millionare' is an indian movie. well, its not authentically indian cuz this film was more like a collaboration between the american and indian movie industries. this isnt the 1st time america and india have joined up to make a movie; 'gandhi', about the life of mohandas 'mahatma' gandhi was, i think, the 1st time hollywood and bollywood worked together to make a movie.

but enough about indian movies, and onto sports. the 1st spring training game is on wednesday. its gonna be sox vs. angels, and im pretty sure its taking place at camelback ranch. i'm practically dying from excitement over here in AZ!! i've been dilligently scanning the tv listings for wednesday, and it doesnt appear that im gonna get the game (or any other baseball game, for that matter!), but then again, thats in 3 days so stuff could change till then.

naturally, i will cast my fate with my beloved white sox. im confident that they will win game 1. i can't find the starters for game 1 (and i probably won't know till wednesday), but i bet it'll be buhrle cuz he's 1st on the pitching rotation. buhrle's one of our best, wait, he IS our best pitcher. i trust that he will do a good job. i expect him to go 7 or 8 innings, have octavio do setup, and jenks will close out the game for us. like i said, i dont know the stats side of sports (or find it remotely interesting for that matter), so i'll keep things nice and general. i predict at least a solo HR from jim thome, and 1, if not more, from carlos quentin (who's team picture day mugshot continues to remain elusive >:[ ). alexei will get at least 1 steal, probably in the 4th or 5th, and dayan will get a double in the 6th. aj will likely have a down day, going 1 for 3, and paulie will hit some singles.

like i said, these are merely predictions. i don't expect the game to follow exactly as i predicted, but it would be good if it did (and just a wee bit creepy as well, given how specific i went on some players).

good night, and GO WHITE SOX!!!

tamtam

picture day

dear readers,

today was picture day for all the baseball players. the white sox' mugshots are slowly coming up on yahoo sports, and though not all the players have been uploaded, so far they're looking good.

jd (shown left), jeff marquez (below and on the right side of the blog-sorry, having some formatting problems here!), and the ever adorable pidgeon-toed octavio dotel (lovingly referred to by me as 'octavius do-tell'-thank 'dj' darren jackson for coming up with that one; shown below and left) looked cute in their mugshots, however, like always, there are always a few anomolies.

such an example was bartolo colon. until i saw bartolo colon's mugshot, i didnt realize how fat he really was (plus, he needed to shave). its like this: you just know picture day is not the right time to be photographed. until mom fixes your hair and reminds you to smile, you just know that something's gonna come up and the pic won't come out nice. yeah, that tub-o-lard you see below is the infamous bartolo colon. not that i dont have anything against the big fella, but given that this pic is goin up on the white sox website and soon enough it will adorn entries on countless sports blogs all over the blogosphere, make at least a half-ass attempt to look nice.

speaking of half-assing looking nice for the team pic, i wonder if q (that would be carlos quentin-that hungry fella who's biting his bat in the picture below) remembered to smile for his team pic. normally he does not and that bugs me cuz he's got a really cute smile (plus he's a total cutie when he smiles). this year he's got some reasons to smile in his team pic-he's a happy newlywed, he's virtually cemented his legacy here in chicago, and he's got good dental work (im a dentist's kid-the first thing i look at is people's teeth!!). if he didnt, im gonna whup him (just kidding-i wouldnt whup my favorite baseball player-he's huge and i would likely die from that fight)!! i promise that when his mugshot goes live, i'll post it here too.

speaking of q, his bff brian anderson (lovingly called 'ba'; and i can honestly call ba q's bff cuz everywhere q goes, ba's always with him: wedding, some bar with john danks and a woman who looked suspicously like q's new bride) went live. to be honest, he looks like he's getting the shocker or something else up an unmentionable orfice. just not comfortable at all. but then again, i heard ba gets more ass then a toilet seat so why should this be a surprise? ---------->

there were also some surprises. paulie shaved his goatee! i knew from pictures that paulie had shaved his beard, but i didnt think it was permanent! he doesnt look bad w/o the beard, but to be honest, it looks...different. might take a little getting used to.

now its aj's turn. i cant go an entry about the white sox without a piece of aj. i call this man my dad's twin cuz if you saw a picture of my dad 30 yrs ago and aj today, you would see a frightening resemblance. i know aj went bleach blonde again-i saw that in spring training videos. im a little torn between which picture i should upload of aj-the one where he looks like he's about to kill someone (see below)

or the more friendly one. (see below)i guess i'll upload both.

jim thome was looking jolly. didnt appear that he slept much cuz his eyes are all bloodshot. or...it could just be the dry arizona air. judge for yourself cuz i dont figure thome to be a drinker. -------->

now to the pitchers: first on my hitlist is the great bobby jenks (see left). he's earned a reputation as an untouchable (almost) closer who will shut down the opposing batters. unfortunately, dying your beard bleach blonde for the team photo probably wasnt the smartest thing. it appears that a dust mop has settled on our closers' chin and it aint goin anywhere anytime soon.

the second target on my pitcher list is ehren wassermann. this guy was a rookie last year and was injured most of the time, if my memory serves me right. normally, i wouldnt care 1 way or another about this guy, but when i saw his picture, i knew there was some material there. to be honest, i feel a little bad for poking fun of his picture cuz he looks absolutely terrified in it, but it was sitting there, ripe for poking with my sarcastic pen (well, keyboard more like), screaming 'pick me!' so i did. at least its nicer than joba chamberlain's now-infamous up-my-nose team mugshot (or as someone on 'big league stew' commented 'joba being asked: "how's life now that johnny damon has moved into your garage?"').

i guess i'll be signing off for the night. if carlos quentin's picture doesnt go live by midnight tonight, i'll put it up for sure tomorrow. i'll be monitoring the search engines till midnight. after that, it's goin up tomorrow. he's the only 1 im waiting on.

good night and go white sox!!

tamtam

**update**-looks like q's picture isnt coming up. I CANT FIND IT ANYWHERE!!!! looks like you guys will just have to wait a little longer >:[