Chisoxfn

I don't think people quite grasp how little veteran hitters truly use the batting coach. I was listening to Chipper Jones the other day and he was saying that he'll have the hitting coach help him with video but when it comes down to it, he goes to his dad whenever his swing is in trouble. Walker is widely respected around baseball. I remember the last guy the Sox ran out of town as a hitting coach ended up fitting in quite nicely in Boston. The only reason I can really condone the firing of Walker is because it might just send a message to the vets to wake the f*** up. However, this season there is built in excuse for Paulie (a hurt hand is going to f*** your bat speed up and much much more) so really its Swisher/Thome that you can look at. Swisher got all screwed up from being at the top spot in the lineup and needs to come out of his funk. He hasn't shown much lately but I'll give Walker some time to really figure out Swish and for the two of them to work. In Thome's case, I really don't think it has anythign to do with Walk and much more to do with Thome just not being the same player he once was (slower bat speed makes him cheat and makes him even more suscepitble to the strikeout). OC is all f'd up but he's actually showing signs of coming out. Walker probably did little the first few weeks with him (usually vets try to figure out things on there own initially in a slump and after that I'm guessing Walk got more involved). Juan Uribe is just bad offensively so whether its Walker or Jesus Christ himself it wouldn't matter. Bottom line, instead of blaming the easy person people start blaming the guys putting on the uni's and making the outs. I've long said it could pay off to get more young blood in the lineup. Quentin has helped and maybe we'll see a little bit more of an infusion once Kenny/Ozzie finally realize that Thome is past his prime and that Uribe is just god awful (the Sox do need to find alternatives though so they can replace such players).

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 24, 2008 -> 02:27 PM) Is Masset's fastaball really reaching 93? Gameday must be messed up. I've never seen him throw that hard. I guess it doesn't matter when you're walking guys. He's easily throwing that hard.

They don't have much more.

Weavers been nasty

Rally Lock

He hits a s***load of groundouts to 3rd.

Interesting, Wise is pinch hitting. He looks a lot like Willie.

Or groundout to 3rd. I got a feeling Sox are gonna come back though.

That was a bulls*** strike call.

Anderson is gonna homer.

Nice DP. Solid play by OC touching the bag after the bad throw and still turning two.

Masset has so much movement on his FB and such a nasty curve.

QUOTE (daa84 @ May 24, 2008 -> 03:03 PM) i havent listened to many radio games at all this year....but holy christ i thought hawk slurped opposing pitchers...stone and farmer are just as bad Weaver has pitched stellar, but the Sox have had some opportunities to get one or two home. I can say the same about Saunders yesterday. Still, these guys deserve the love. That said it doesn't mean you can't also discuss the Sox offense as clearly there are still some issues there (ie, it is too power driven and the team really could use a few guys that are just pure average type hitters as opposed to pure power guys).

QUOTE (knightni @ May 24, 2008 -> 03:03 PM) NOTE TO THOME: HITTERS ACTUALLY SWING THE BAT SOMETIMES. I still say that they should check his vision. It wouldn't matter, when he swings he has the worse percentage of making contact than any everyday player in all of baseball. I heard about two days ago that he makes contact on ~30% of his swings. That is f***ing HORRID.

I want to really see Swisher start pulling the ball. Its a rare time where I think him pulling will actually help (where as for 95% of players in a funk, it comes down to hitting the other way). As I type that, Swish damn near hits an oppo fielddouble.

Hang With Em. Crede scolded that, nice play by Wood.

QUOTE (RME JICO @ May 24, 2008 -> 02:54 PM) That is a pretty good move for a RHP so young. Hard to teach that. That move was awesome. Masset is starting to come around. Still needs better command but long term I'm really happy the Sox held onto him instead of letting him go at the end of spring.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ May 24, 2008 -> 02:51 PM) If he's worth anything at all, he should be able to help them. I don't think people quite grasp how little veteran hitters truly use the batting coach. I was listening to Chipper Jones the other day and he was saying that he'll have the hitting coach help him with video but when it comes down to it, he goes to his dad whenever his swing is in trouble. Walker is widely respected around baseball. I remember the last guy the Sox ran out of town as a hitting coach ended up fitting in quite nicely in Boston. The only reason I can really condone the firing of Walker is because it might just send a message to the vets to wake the f*** up. However, this season there is built in excuse for Paulie (a hurt hand is going to f*** your bat speed up and much much more) so really its Swisher/Thome that you can look at. Swisher got all screwed up from being at the top spot in the lineup and needs to come out of his funk. He hasn't shown much lately but I'll give Walker some time to really figure out Swish and for the two of them to work. In Thome's case, I really don't think it has anythign to do with Walk and much more to do with Thome just not being the same player he once was (slower bat speed makes him cheat and makes him even more suscepitble to the strikeout). OC is all f'd up but he's actually showing signs of coming out. Walker probably did little the first few weeks with him (usually vets try to figure out things on there own initially in a slump and after that I'm guessing Walk got more involved). Juan Uribe is just bad offensively so whether its Walker or Jesus Christ himself it wouldn't matter. Bottom line, instead of blaming the easy person people start blaming the guys putting on the uni's and making the outs. I've long said it could pay off to get more young blood in the lineup. Quentin has helped and maybe we'll see a little bit more of an infusion once Kenny/Ozzie finally realize that Thome is past his prime and that Uribe is just god awful (the Sox do need to find alternatives though so they can replace such players).

QUOTE (Heads22 @ May 24, 2008 -> 01:48 PM) I don't see how anyone can defend Greg Walker. In the case of the vets it isn't his fault at all and he's actually done solid things with the Sox younger hitters. I'm not saying I'd have a problem if he's ousted, solely because its easier to fire the coach than the entire team and such move may wake the struggling vets up. Bottom line though, it really isn't Walkers fault, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be a bad idea to fire him and see if a new voice helps.

QUOTE (knightni @ May 24, 2008 -> 02:44 PM) Thank God that the 7-8-9 of LAA can't hit. The Angels are saying the same thing about pretty much the entire Sox lineup. The Sox have AJ/Quentin/Dye/Crede and everyone else consistently has been awful.

That was quite nice. We going to see Thornton in the 7th?

Nice, Wood did what he's good at, whiff. On a sidenote, I would really really like the Sox to pick up Reggie Willits and let him leadoff. Put Paulie on the DL and work on moving Thome for one good prospect and call it a day. THe Sox badly need a legit leadoff hitter and Willits won't cost much to acquire and has proven himself to an extent that he can at least get on base at a high percentage. I'm not calling it a long term solution, but I think it would really help the Sox offense. Of course with Paulie down, I also would not be opposed to calling up Fields if he gets on any sort of roll and let Paulie sit and get 100%. We also can only hope Swish picks things up because he's been just as terrible as Thome, if not worse (and that really says something).

Dotel scares me everytime he is in. I just don't know whether he's going to throw strikes or what. Did a nice job getting 1 out though, hopefully he can put Wood away on a K.

God two terrible throws today by Quentin.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 24, 2008 -> 02:20 PM) Motherf***. Swisher, along with half this damn lineup, is getting on my f***in' nerves. Are you guys nuts, that was a f***ing ridiculous play by GMJ. Tip your cap, but Swisher should be going for 2 everytime in that situation and 95 out of 100 times he's safe.