Dick Allen

QUOTE(beautox @ Sep 1, 2006 -> 08:03 PM) AJ has said that catching his knuckle isn't any harder than catching Jose's fork. The ball seems to pop out of AJs glove a lot.

They are talking about Haeger. I think one big question with him will be do the Sox have a catcher who can handle him.

Anybody else's sound off a bit? I hear the ball hit the glove and bat a hair before seeing contact.

The Sox have to score to win anyway. Its time for a crazy offensive inning.

QUOTE(iguchi=dank @ Sep 1, 2006 -> 07:54 PM) Sortable Batting PLAYER TEAM AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB BA OBP SLG OPS 1 Reed Johnson Tor 385 75 126 30 2 11 41 8 1 28 .327 .400 .501 .901 2 Manny Ramirez Bos 430 77 140 26 1 34 100 0 1 95 .326 .442 .628 1.070 3 Carl Crawford TB 502 74 155 17 13 16 67 45 9 32 .309 .354 .490 .844 4 Emil Brown KC 442 61 128 35 1 12 68 6 3 44 .290 .353 .455 .807 5 Melky Cabrera NYY 369 64 106 19 2 7 41 11 5 43 .287 .363 .407 .770 6 Raul Ibanez Sea 505 80 142 28 5 26 104 2 4 54 .281 .348 .511 .859 7 Garret Anderson LAA 445 55 124 24 2 15 76 1 0 31 .279 .322 .443 .764 8 Craig Monroe Det 439 73 119 29 2 23 74 1 2 25 .271 .309 .503 .812 9 Jason Michaels Cle 412 62 111 27 0 9 50 5 5 32 .269 .323 .400 .723 10 Scott Podsednik CWS 455 80 118 25 6 3 43 36 15 50 .259 .333 .360 .693 RK PLAYER TEAM AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB BA OBP SLG OPS 11 Nick Swisher Oak 467 87 116 18 2 28 78 1 2 74 .248 .359 .475 .834 Honestly I would MAYBE think pods is better than michaels.. but not right now. This is just ranking their batting average. Pods provides no power and DH-like defense.

QUOTE(SoxnGiants @ Sep 1, 2006 -> 07:54 PM) Sox pitchers have developed a really bad habit of falling behind hitters. What happened to attacking the strike zone? That's what happens when you get hammered around the park for a few starts. You lose confidence and are afraid of anyone making contact. Contreras looks decent tonight.

This game is reminding me of a couple of Esteban Loaisa's starts against the lowly Tigers in 2003. It looks like Contreras has no room for error tonight.

This is not the time for the offense to go into the tank. 3 runs yesterday was unacceptable.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 1, 2006 -> 07:46 PM) We're hitting the ball hard, it's just right at them. Hernandez has pitched better than his record lately. Pods had a couple games when it looked like he may become a major leaguer performance-wise. Apparently it didn't take.

I heard Phil Rogers say today, and he was a little surprised Anderson wasn't playing, that he believes the reason he's sitting, is that he needs the rest since most of his career has been injury riddled. Of course the good posters know the real reason he doesn't play, and they don't post in gamethreads.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Sep 1, 2006 -> 04:08 PM) I certainly hope that if they're calling up Ryan Sweeney, they plan on giving him a non-trivial amount of playing time (Hell, if nothing else, I hope we NEVER see Rob Mackowiak in CF again with this guy up). Solely because sitting on the bench and watching a pennant race will not help his development as much as playing in the minor league playoffs, but facing big league pitching in a pennant race may do a lot of good. I have no inside knowledge, and I do know that Ozzie is one of Sweeney's biggest fans, but I really have the feeling he is being called up more as a defensive replacement and a guy who can throw than anything else. I don't think missing the minor league playoffs will hinder his development at all. Sitting on a major league bench and getting into a couple of games even if its only defensively or to pinch run may be better for his progress than facing washed up ex-big leaguers.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Sep 1, 2006 -> 03:34 PM) Logan might be a better option than Cotts right now. I'm a better option than Cotts right now. Neal needs to get back to the drawing board.

I think Sweeney won't see much playing time. I am looking forward to seeing him though. I also am looking forward to seeing Stewart play although I don't think the plan is to play any of these guys much. If Logan or Haeger pitch a lot, it means something has gone very wrong.

QUOTE(JoeBatterz @ Sep 1, 2006 -> 02:37 PM) Funny line from Bill Simmons Sports Guy column of today: Insert your own joke here. Wasn't Harry Caray adored and wasn't he a homer? I'm sorry, any White Sox fan who b****es about Hawk being a homer is really just looking for things to complain about. John Rooney was a homer and he just gets praised and praised and praised. I for one, would rather listen to a guy calling a game that wants the same results I do. Some of Hawk's calls this year have been priceless. The way he belts out Joe Crede when Crede does something spectacular is so good it has to be geniune. Hawk does go overboard with the umpires sometimes, and goes out of his way on occassion not to rip the Sox, but he's also been very candid, and wants the Sox to win just as bad as any of us do. If Bill Simmons doesn't like it, he doesn't have to go out of his way to listen to it.

I think you are really stretching the definition of the word helping when you use Neifi Perez and Phil Nevin as examples.

I think smallball was pretty exaggerated last year. The Sox used homers to score most of the time. They would have a much better record than last year if the pitching was up to par. This offense has been very consistent. They have scored less than 3 runs only 20 times this year. Its the fewest in the majors. They also have a 58-9 record when getting a quality start. Unfortunately today was a loss, but considering it really doesn't take that outstanding of an effort to get credit for a quality start, the record is staggering.

Although it was a better gamble than earlier failures, Joey Cora has another guy thrown out at home today. It has to be getting close to a record.

Boomer is going to SD.

There's always Schaller's and Shinnock's. We don't know the entire story. This has been around for a couple of weeks, even the dates. Jimbo is playing up to the media making it look like they are giving him 30 days and he's just shocked by it. I don't know why the owner of the building doesn't want him open if there are playoffs. They must be feuding. The truth with the entire story as far as what has been communicated between the 2 parties over the last few months probably falls somewhere in between what Jimbo claims and what the landlord will claim. I just wonder, does anyone go to Jimbo's on a non-game day? I can't imagine he being too busy. Maybe he does a decent lunch, but I remember going in there back when the crowd at USCF was about 5000 people and some tumbleweeds, and the place was dead.

I just wish Pods realized he was a fringe major leaguer and busted his ass all over the field. It may keep my blood pressure from attaining stroke levels everytime I see that tip toe BS.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 08:40 AM) Just sayin', if I was Jimbo, and let's say I was getting close to retirement age, and wanting to get out. This would be the best possible scenario. I agree, I just wonder what kind of role his son plays in this. Maybe the plan was to turn it over to him.

QUOTE(Steff @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 08:33 AM) The possibility has been being talked about for over a year now. The date was not told. Ray initially said after Christmas back in March. A guy on the whitesox.com message board posted August 10th that Jimbo's would be closing October 1st, with a possibility of remaining open for the playoffs. I'm sure Jimbo knew before a guy posting on a message board. Besides what's really the difference between the end of the baseball season and Christmas to Jimbo? The article stated that the outdoor patio is what fuels the place. I don't think many people would be using that in November or December. I have no idea, but what kind of business does Jimbo do on non-game days?

QUOTE(Steff @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 08:25 AM) Of course. Someone said the landlord is doing something wrong? Maybe he would, but it being where it is, IMO, is key to the success. I think the anger is more because of the kind and generous ONE month notice. Jim and Joyce secured their retirement fund long ago, so it's not about having to work. This story has been all over the internet and was on the Score for more than a month. Jimbo has known its been coming for a while now. The August 26 date was just the formality.

In an note in chicagosports.com, Brooks Boyer said the lower deck seats down the lines will be facing more toward homeplate next season when the rest of the green seats are installed.

Couldn't Jimbo just find another spot and re-open? His place needs a makeover anyway. This kind of stuff happens everyday, and its the landlord's right to do what he's doing. Personally, I think if they fix it up and open their own restaurant/bar, it probably will do fine. I could understand Jimbo's frustration, as now the crowds come, he maximizes profit and loses his lease.