Chisoxfn

QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 08:53 PM) The thing is, I like Erstad. I just hate the role he's in/way Ozzie uses him. He'd be perfect as a 4th outfielder if we had a better outfield. But why hate on a guy because of the situation. And no, I don't think BA should be the everyday starter. In a perfect world maybe Erstad is a backup, but you know what, when he's healthy he's still a pretty solid role player (in fact a pretty good role player). Sure he's no star, but every good team needs good role players and Darin is exactly that.

Guchi whiffs looking, but Sox do a nice job now they got to have the pitching hold this one and keep the momentum on the Sox side.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 08:50 PM) He did last night to tie the game. Ozzie's confidence in Erstad is starting to pay dividends. And we're doing all of this without Pods in the line-up. Heaven forbid people give him a bit of a chance to get going, afterall its been about two years since he's had any sort of consistent playing time due to injuries. Afterall, the Sox gave Anderson plenty of time to dig his own grave last year (not only with his production but with his approach to the game, day in day out).

QUOTE(Capn12 @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 08:51 PM) I'm starting to develop a small man-crush on grindErstad... Join the club...its fun, especially since everyone hates him on here.

Thats right baby....Erstad with yet another clutch hit!!! WHOOOO. Nice job by BA to keep the inning alive.

I think there's a shot he could be interested in being a catcher and my guess is the club prefers him to Molina. But I also know the Sox have told him he could coach (at least in the past) in the org so maybe they are about to announce something. Either way he's more than welcome in the dugout because he's a great baseball guy.

I'm just sad that Frank won't get 3000 hits. The guy was one of the best pure average hitters for a long time in his career and it sucks he'll never reach what I consider the elite plateua for an offensive player (3000 hits). One thing that frustrated me with Frank the past 5 years is that he became much more interested in the homer and his average suffered immensely because of it.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Apr 23, 2007 -> 09:44 PM) Jason -- I was surprised to see Cunningham start the year at Winston Salem, as normally the Sox (seem) to like to push their OFers in the minors (cases in point: Jumping Chris Young straight from Kanny to B-Ham, the pushing of Sweeney despite his lack of dominance at one level, and even starting Fields at Charlotte last year after a less than stellar campaign at Birmy). Anyways -- how long do you think he has until he's wearing a Barons jersey? Month-and-a-half? Barring some sort of disaster he'll be in Bham by the ASB, if not sooner. However, with the Sox depth of outfielders (Anderson, Sweeney, Fields and I guess Owens deserves to be mentioned too just because Ozzie is a fan of his speed and I'll admit he's really made some strides with his swing) there really is no reason to rush Cunningham and I think thats why the Sox are giving him more time in Winston Salem as opposed to having him open the year in Bham. Note: Until Crede is moved I will mention Fields as both an outfielder and infielder because he's completely capable of being an average to above avg left fielder (defensively speaking).

I completely agree. I discussed this on the weekly podcast this week, but whatever it is the 2 hole is good for Iguchi. When he's down in the lineup he gets HR happy and his swing becomes way too long to have any sort of success at the major league level. However, in the 2 hole he's forced to shorten up and go opposite field and as a result he's one of the better 2 hole hitters in baseball.

Positive thoughts and prayers are headed your way Jim.

QUOTE(StrangeSox @ Apr 23, 2007 -> 09:25 PM) G35's can be had in AWD. Just remember, AWD helps you maintain traction under power, but not necessarily while turning and especially not while braking. I see plenty of people flying around way faster than they should be in their AWD cars in the winter because they think AWD makes them invincible. Oh ya, no doubt...thats just people being idiots.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ Apr 23, 2007 -> 09:29 PM) How many HUGE base hits did Anderson get to drive in runs when we really needed them, like Erstad's to tie the game against the Royals' ace, Meche? It might have happened 2-3 times all last season. I'll go with Erstad. If he's still hitting .200-.225 on June 5th, then I would certainly be willing to look at giving Anderson or Terrero a shot. His bat has been coming around the last week or so, and those "seeing eye" hits are exactly what most hitters need to feel the momentum is turning in their direction. Baseball is 90% mental, and Erstad's 18 months removed from being an everyday regular. I wouldn't be shocked if that was the case (Erstad hitting in the low .200's on June 5th) that the Sox gave Sweeney the starters job to see what he could do (and if he didn't produce you'd see the Sox trade for a stop-gap). Right now I think Sweeney is the CF of the future. I hate writing off BA because he's talented but he's in a tough spot. However, some time in AAA could really change things. He could get consistent playing time and hopefully he's already began improving his attitude and earn himself a fresh start next time he comes back up.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Apr 23, 2007 -> 08:39 PM) I am the same way, although I really do like Ortiz. He just seems to have a blast with the game. Its funny...I too hate the Red Sox more than the Yanks. The reason is because everyone still acts like the Yanks are the only team that tries to buy World Series (and yes I'm jealous, I would have no problem at all if the Sox were in the Yanks position with 26 or so world series titles) but BoSox fans act like they are some small market team and it just sickens me. However, I absolutely love watching Arod/Manny play (Manny at the plate more than anyone).

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Apr 23, 2007 -> 09:16 PM) Paulie has risen. This is a REALLY REALLY good roadtrip if we can get it done tomorrow. I still contest we could have lost all 3 games at Detroit, so to have a 4-1 roadtrip in all division games would be outstanding. In other news....we are now in a 3 way tie with Cleveland and Detroit for 2nd, 1/2 game behind Minnesota. Gonna be a crazy race. I happen to think this is going to be the best divisional race since the league expanded to its current setup. There are four teams in this division that are playoff teams in most other divisions and its not too often you can say that.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Apr 23, 2007 -> 05:56 PM) Yeah, I think the G35 has traction control. And like I said, even though I love AWD, I really only used it maybe 4-8 days this winter. Do they not have AWD on the G35 coupes? I know a year or two back I was looking at the G35 4 door (one of my dads clients owns a dealership and they had some sick lease deals) and I remember they had AWD versions that drove fantastic (this was the 4 door, but I'd imagine if they had it on the 4 they'd have it on the 2). I also know someone that had the G35 and just upgraded to a new 5 series BMW. They like the BMW more (but its also a bit more costly) but had absolutely no trouble with the G35 (its a real good car) and the coupe version of it is absolutely beautiful (one of the nicest looking cars on the road, imo). I can't comment on the snow, but if they make the coupe in AWD I'm pretty sure it would handle real good. Another car that can handle fantastically in the snow is the Audi with the Quattro. One of my friends that lives up in NoCal in the mountains has that and I've taken it out a couple times in the snow and it has excellent traction/control.

Haeger hasn't exactly been lights out this year in Charlotte. Seems like he's been having a bit of trouble getting command of his knuckler.

You won't hear that Konerko sucks out of me. Baseball is a long season and guys go through the motions. Paulie has proven he's not only one of the best Sox players of the last 10-20 years but that he's also one of the best run producers in baseball (no, he's not the best nor does he rank amongst the top 5 or so) but he's in the group right behind that) and when you do that you deserve the benefit of the doubt. Great game for Paulie, not only offensively, but defensively as well. Crede is also looking better and Erstad has continued to get better and better cuts (which is important since like it or not, he is the starter as long as he's heatlhy). Buehrle pitched well too!!!!

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Apr 23, 2007 -> 09:05 PM) Who said he wasn't healthy? Why do you want a guy batting .111 to replace a guy that is batting .206? For what purpose? He isn't that much of an upgrade defensively, if at all, over Erstad. So while Erstad is healthy, why not play him. Erstad is a veteran who knows how to hit in certain situations, can bunt, and can move the runner over, and makes contact consistently. BA has not shown that he knows how to do anything with the bat. I really don't understand how starting BA over Erstad helps this team. I don't understand that argument at all. I'll say one thing, since Ozzie likes Erstad he should at least be smart enough to know that if Erstad is going to stay in the lineup he's going to need consistent rest (especially early on since he's been recovering from a slew of injuries over the past couple years and last year gave him ample time to recover from a lot of them, but he still has to go through the daily battles of the season) and that means Terrero or BA get at least a start per week (just my 2 cents).

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Apr 23, 2007 -> 01:17 PM) How is Floyd doing exactly? He's been pretty solid and his last couple outings have been better. More importantly his velocity is back to what it was when he was one of the top ranked pitching prospects in all of baseball (ie the mid 90's) and he's been getting a ton of break on his curveball. The problems with Floyd were due to him being rushed, losing confidence and when he got into that funk he started to get into some bad habits that he couldn't get out of (as he was just in a funk in the Philly system) and so far Coop and the staff have given him a fresh start, made some minor adjustments and he's continuing to work his kinks out and will likely be talked about a lot if any starter goes down (or if the Sox lose one of there starters to FA or trade this off-season).

I'm sorry, but whether you like Pods or not (and I'm well documented to the fact that I'm not one of his biggest fans) his signing was not a bad one given the market conditions over the off-season. Pods contract was a value compared to what guys like Pierre & Matthews Jr. got. Plus Pods, while not the most gifted offensive player tends to do a good job with his approach at the plate for a leadoff hitter (taking pitches) and really was playing well before getting hurt (even his defense, while still horrid, was a lot better than last season). And as far as Erstad goes, yet another good game for the outfielder as he seems to finally be getting a bit of his stroke bad (which is resulting in a few more line drives, although he's still been way too pull happy).

Jenks got hit hard today with his velocity up a bit, but part of it was just really good approaches by the Royals hitters (going with the pitches and letting Jenks velocity work against him) but I think Bobby knew he was just out there to throw strikes and it almost looked like he was specifically working on his fastball. We have to remember that he was a couple weeks behind where he'd usually be when it came to his spring training start and as such he wasn't where he'd like to have been (in terms of having his velocity) by the start of the season but it has continually climbed and tonights gun appeared to be pretty accurate (based on how both Meche/Buehrle have historically pitched velocity wise as well as Sisco/MacDougall) and Jenks was a consistent 95-96 with some good movement. The only thing he didn't have going was any of his breaking stuff (and thats been a rarity this year because his breaking stuff has been a lot more consistent than I've ever remembered it).

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Apr 23, 2007 -> 04:51 PM) Alex did it again today. He is amazing. Indeed. Too bad he's a Yank, cause I absolutely love Arod the player.

QUOTE(danman31 @ Apr 23, 2007 -> 02:24 PM) Erstad sucks at the plate Jason. You gotta stop with your Angel love. You've always hated on players for bad attitudes (in this case Anderson) and it's no surprise you took this stance. Dan, let me know if you'd be interested in doing a segment on the show one of these weeks (with some minor league discussion). I won't deny Erstad is bad at the plate, but I also am not going to play a guy who has had a poor attitude and doesn't produce over Erstad (a guy who may not produce offensively, at least not thus far, but is still better offensively and has a superior attitude).

Download the Show The White Sox couldn't finish off a sweep in Detroit on Sunday, but the crew at the Southside Report finished off a sweep as they completed there 3rd straight show. And just as the crew is getting in a rhythm so are the Sox and despite a positive week a couple key pitchers have continued to get little support while Scott Podsednik's injury leads to an interesting debate on the entire left field/center field situation... Download the Show Streaming Version of the Show How to Subscribe To Our Feed

Best wishes go out to Cintron and his family.