Question for my friends South of the Border

[The Jackal]

Parker, Bonds and Van Slyke were not of the same time frame....Parker preceeded them.....so I'm guessing you're referencing the baseball strike during the latter two's time frame?

Btw, my soon to be 8 year old plays on the Pirates.....and they're 4 and 0....have a game tonight also. I bought a 1970 model Pirates hat as I help coach the team....LOL!!!!

[The Jackal]

Mustang,

I'm ALL IN, ALL IN!!!!!! Just don't have any more chips left.....Ozzie took 'em all!!!!!

[mustang54]

  You know it really is a shame how the game of baseball has fallen. One thing about being an ole fart is you remember the players you liked and tried to emulate. I remember tons of us tickling the bat like Ernie Banks. Raising your bat and elbow up high like Yaz. Doing a high leg kick like Marichal when you would play fast pitching. Now I can't think of one player good enough or with enough charisma to make a kid do that. And back then there was no national t v exposure. You only saw those guys on tv when your hometown team played them. To make it worse IF a team has a superstar they don't know how to market them. They rather do stupid commercials like "we are all in." Or, "the kids can play." Then when they do commercials they use a mediocre player like A.J. Yea if I'm a kid I'm beggin dad to take me to see a 240 hitter! Or an ace of the staff like Buerhle, who's a 500 pitcher at best and does nothing but talk about retiring. Why don't he just say keep payin me millions but I hate this game. Then on the north side you got a clown makin 18 million a year and plays left field like a t-baller. Honestly I only put baseball on near the end of the game to see the score or to fall asleep. This product is so bad the added media coverage is helping to kill it at a faster pace. DROP THE PUCK!! HAVE A KICKOFF!! HAVE A JUMP BALL,anything but play ball for me.

[OakParkSpartan]

Parker, Bonds and Van Slyke were not of the same time frame....Parker preceeded them.....so I'm guessing you're referencing the baseball strike during the latter two's time frame?

Btw, my soon to be 8 year old plays on the Pirates.....and they're 4 and 0....have a game tonight also. I bought a 1970 model Pirates hat as I help coach the team....LOL!!!!

Sorry, was Bonilla.

[Ted]

 Well, if you're going to count 1908 as part of "in the past century", then I'm gonna count 1906, so the count becomes 3 to 2.  Cubs are still down by one.

[seebee]

  You know it really is a shame how the game of baseball has fallen. One thing about being an ole fart is you remember the players you liked and tried to emulate. I remember tons of us tickling the bat like Ernie Banks. Raising your bat and elbow up high like Yaz. Doing a high leg kick like Marichal when you would play fast pitching. Now I can't think of one player good enough or with enough charisma to make a kid do that. And back then there was no national t v exposure. You only saw those guys on tv when your hometown team played them. To make it worse IF a team has a superstar they don't know how to market them. They rather do stupid commercials like "we are all in." Or, "the kids can play." Then when they do commercials they use a mediocre player like A.J. Yea if I'm a kid I'm beggin dad to take me to see a 240 hitter! Or an ace of the staff like Buerhle, who's a 500 pitcher at best and does nothing but talk about retiring. Why don't he just say keep payin me millions but I hate this game. Then on the north side you got a clown makin 18 million a year and plays left field like a t-baller. Honestly I only put baseball on near the end of the game to see the score or to fall asleep. This product is so bad the added media coverage is helping to kill it at a faster pace. DROP THE PUCK!! HAVE A KICKOFF!! HAVE A JUMP BALL,anything but play ball for me.

There may not be as many charismatic superstars as back in the day, but there are some guys who still play the game the way I think you'd enjoy. Off the top of my noggin:
Homeboys-
Paul Konerko
John Danks
Marlon Byrd is a player up North
Around the league:
Ryan Braun
Matt Holliday
Carlos Gonzales (OF in Colorado)
Carl Crawford
Josh Hamilton
Catch Roy Halladay pitch a game!
Justin Verlander
Max Scherzer
Tim Lincecum
Tim Hudson
Troy Tulowitzki
Josh Johnson

These guys are fun to watch, and they don't seem like giant headed d-bags just in it for the $.

[Bonster]

Can anyone post the photo of the sox fan with the bag over his head in the Trib today?

Hilarious stuff...not to mention the photo of Ozzie and Kenny playing the $129,000,000.00 Pyramid!

Fantastic stuff!!!

[Robert Pauly]

Parker, Bonds and Van Slyke were not of the same time frame....Parker preceeded them.....so I'm guessing you're referencing the baseball strike during the latter two's time frame?

Btw, my soon to be 8 year old plays on the Pirates.....and they're 4 and 0....have a game tonight also. I bought a 1970 model Pirates hat as I help coach the team....LOL!!!!

Had to give a kidney to get the Yankees this year.

[Diona]

How can anyone make the ASSumption that MOST people are Cubs fans??

I'm a Sox fan, not a HUGE fan, but I do like them & have for a long time.  I know quite a few people that are Sox fans as well, so the phrase "MOST people in Chicago are Cubs fans" is...WRONG!!

Further if you are TRUE fan of ANY team whether they suck ass or not, you still root for them & hope for the best outcome for that team.

Isn't that why Cubs fans always say "next year"?? 

[The Jackal]

....because MOST people in Chicago are, Diona. I'm fairly certain that has been statistically proven.

[Berwyn Patsy]

Aren't most people on the south side White Sox Fans?  Where's the dividing line between
Cubs and socks fans?  Which side of the city north side or south side has the biggest
population of being either fan?

[The Jackal]

Well Patsy, I'm not sure that's an accurate barometer, but YES, there are FAR more people living north than south. Now there are North Side Sox fans and South Side Cubs fans, but if you were to judge solely based on north/south population, north wins hands down.

Nonetheless, EVERY single poll and/or statistical survey I have seen published clearly indicates that the Cibs have more fans in Chicago, by a comfortable margin. I don't think even the most ardent Sox supporter would claim otherwise. Heck, a few years back Sports Illustrated ran a survey which indicated that the St Louis Cardinals had just as many fans in the state of Illinois as the White Sox, and both significantly less than the Cubs.

[Bonster]

Aren't most people on the south side White Sox Fans?  Where's the dividing line between
Cubs and socks fans?  Which side of the city north side or south side has the biggest
population of being either fan?

"socks" fans?  LOL

I have to admit, I'm a fan of socks.

[Berwyn Patsy]

 Ahhh, I am so glad I can laugh at myself!  That was pretty funny. Lol!
It must be because my feet are cold and I didn't have a chance to put my socks on yet!!

[seebee]

Hell, most of us like to root for the underdog, so there are plenty of Cubs fans. Wasn't there a documentary called "The Lovable Losers" made about them? I do like to go to Wrigley once in a while, the friendly confines is a big outdoor party were beer comes first, baseball, a distant third or fourth. It has its charm (when there is no concrete falling on your head in your obstructed view seat, that is.) I'd actually like to see the Cubs beat the odds this year, and go somewhere, since they are pretty much the laughingstock rag tag team of the league this year. Yeah, the Sox are getting laughed at right now, but over the long haul...I mean, it isn't even WARM out yet.

[The Jackal]

Laughingstock?

LOL...hey buddy, in case you haven't noticed, the Black Sox have the worst record in baseball and one of the two major local daily newspapers is running photos of their fans with BAGS over their heads....BAGS!!!! LMAO!

If its too early to judge the Black Sox, then how in the world can somebody judge the Cubs, either?

At the park for a party? Surely at Comsikey, because they sure as hell aren"t going there to see major league quality baseball....LOL!!!!

[seebee]

The Cubs threw in the towel before the season started.  The fans knew it.  The fans knew that the Cubs lineup and P staff was a joke - season's tickets didn't sell out. How many years since they haven't sold out their season's tix?

You can keep railing on the Sox - they deserve it.

[pkd50]

the Southside Irish anthem has a verse that goes:   When it comes to baseball we have two favorite clubs our Go Go White Sox and whoever plays the Cubs.  Pretty much sums it up. lol    When the Trib owned them, it was a Cubs town. WGN being a superstation brought Cubs games all over the country to cities and towns that didn't have a team, so that created a fan base.  Tourist come to see Wrigley, so I guess I'd agree there are more Cubs fans.  

[The Jackal]

Seebee,

Throwing in the towel and/or waving the white flag is the special province if theSox, not Cubs...BAD reference, try something else. St. Petersburg anyone?

[The Jackal]

There may not be as many charismatic superstars as back in the day, but there are some guys who still play the game the way I think you'd enjoy. Off the top of my noggin:
Homeboys-
Paul Konerko
John Danks
Marlon Byrd is a player up North
Around the league:
Ryan Braun
Matt Holliday
Carlos Gonzales (OF in Colorado)
Carl Crawford
Josh Hamilton
Catch Roy Halladay pitch a game!
Justin Verlander
Max Scherzer
Tim Lincecum
Tim Hudson
Troy Tulowitzki
Josh Johnson

These guys are fun to watch, and they don't seem like giant headed d-bags just in it for the $.

Pitchers, by definition (especially in the AL), don't really PLAY the game....they pitch. For the most part, they don't hit, field or run.

In Chicago, the only guys who really fit the description of playing the game the right way are Fukudome, maybe Byrd, Vizquel and possibly Pierzynski.