You Can Put It On The Board! YES!

New White Sox Faces

Even after winning the 2005 World Series, Kenny Williams was not satisfied with just one and made some great off season moves to bring in new players to make this team even better. The team is now more rounded and a lot more versatile than last years team. Let's meet the new members of your 2006 Chicago White Sox.


Alex Cintron

A great role player who can play 2B, 3B and SS. He can be a solid bat off the bench that makes a lot of contact and he is also a switch hitter.


Boone Logan

The 21 year old lefty came out of no where in spring training and earned himself a spot on the roster. He not only adds depth to the bullpen but he is also very tough on lefties. He should be used during late inning situations VS left handed hitters.


Rob Mackowiak

Kenny Williams admitted that he had been trying to acquire Mackowiak for years now and now we finally have him. Rob will be such a key player on this team this year. He plays every position except pitcher and catcher and he will be used a lot by Ozzie to give certain guys days off throughout the long 162 game season.


Jim Thome

Everyone knows who this big guy is and we are all expecting big things from Thome this year. He looks very healthy and primed to have a great year. You know Thome is not satisfied with how he performed last year and he is very hungry to win after seeing what we did last year.


Matt Thornton

Thornton was acquired from Seattle in the Joe Borchard deal. Matt Thornton is a stud! He is a 6'6" lefty that throws 95 MPH with ease. He will be another key ingredient in the bullpen to provide much needed depth in the late innings.


Javier Vazquez

One of the biggest deals in all of baseball during the off season brought Javier Vazquez to the White Sox from the Diamondbacks. This deal put the White Sox starting rotation way above the rest and they now easily have the best starting five in baseball. With Vazquez now in the rotation, all five Sox starters pitched over 200 innings during the 2005 season. No team has had five starters do that since the 1980 Oakland Athletics.

So six new faces added to the 2006 White Sox sure does improve this team in all aspects of the game. Look for all the new comers to make an immediate impact in helping the Sox charge for another championship run.

Ring 'Em Up!

Another great day on the South Side Tuesday as the Championship Rings were passed out to the team. The rings were designed by Jerry Reinsdorf's wife, Martyl, who also designed five of the six championship rings for the Chicago Bulls. The rings are made of a 14-karat yellow gold with a 14-karat white gold insert. Each one contains 95 diamonds of various sizes. In all, 432 rings were made for the team's players, staff and employees. That's right, 432 rings! Also getting rings were Hall of Famers Luis Aparicio and Carlton Fisk and families of past team owners, including Charles Comiskey, Mary Frances Veeck and John Allyn.

Former players Aaron Rowand, Orlando Hernandez, Willie Harris and Timo Perez were all on hand to receive their rings. Frank Thomas and Geoff Blum were the only two that could not make the event.

Sweet Beginning

It sure didn't take long for the Sox to continue their winning ways. After a 2 hour 57 minute rain delay, the Sox came out charging and clobbered the Indians 10-4 to begin the 2006 season. The highlight of the night was of course the unveiling of the Championship banners in the outfield. It was such a great moment. But as the banners were uncovered, you could tell the players were watching it but wanted to have no part of it. To them that is all in the past and 2006 is a totally different season. That's what I love about this team. They enjoyed the off-season but now that means nothing to them as they are all charged to go on another championship run. All the new faces on the team are hungry to experience what the Sox did last year and that makes everyone even more hungry to do it all over again. It definitely was a sweet start to the 2006 season.

That is by far the sweetest picture I have seen in a while. Jim Thome looks like a mad man right after he crushed a 430 ft home run to right field for his first homer in a Sox jersey.

Brian Anderson went almost unnoticed during last night's game. He was the most solid player out there. He went 2-for-3 with 2 runs, 2 RBI, a walk and a double. Not bad for the rookie's first game.

Brandon McCarthy cleaned up the mess after the rain delay pitching three perfect innings to pick up the victory.

The best intro of the night had to go to Boone Logan who was greeted with "Booooone" from the fans as if the 21 year old has been playing on the Sox for years.

Prediction Time

It is the best time of the year! Opening Day is here and it is time to make my predictions for the 2006 season. Let's get to it!


AL EAST
1.
2. Toronto Blue Jays
3. Boston Red Sox
4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Tampa Bay Devil Rays

AL CENTRAL
1.
2. Cleveland Indians
3. Minnesota Twins
4. Detroit Tigers
5. Kansas City Royals

AL WEST
1.
2. Los Angeles Angels
3. Texas Rangers
4. Seattle Mariners

AL WILD CARD


NL EAST
1.
2. New York Mets
3. Philadelphia Phillies
4. Washington Nationals
5. Florida Marlins

NL CENTRAL
1.
2. Houston Astros
3. Milwaukee Brewers
4. Chicago Cubs
5. Pittsburgh Pirates
6. Cincinnati Reds

NL WEST
1.
2. San Diego Padres
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
4. Arizona Diamondbacks
5. Colorado Rockies

NL WILD CARD


WORLD SERIES
over


White Sox News and Notes

On Saturday, the White Sox and Jose Contreras agreed to a three year contract extension worth $29 million. Right now Contreras is in the final year of his contract that will pay him $8 million this year. He will then get $9 million in 2007 and $10 million in both 2008 and 2009. A no-trade clause is also in the deal but only for the 2007 season.

Scott Podsednik is set to go after some shoulder problems and is scheduled to be in the lineup for the season opener on Sunday night against Cleveland.


Tonight is going to be one awesome night! Lets raise that banner and get this thing started!