CWSGuy406

Charlotte beats Norfolk 4-3. Anderson 1-for-4 with a K (he's still striking out, despite his .300 average), Fields 3-for-4 with two doubles. Toby Hall went 0-for-3 with a walk. Haeger bouncing back from his rough April, going seven strong, allowing two runs on four hits, striking out four. Birmy is in the ninth with Mississippi, 1-1. Kris Honel went six innings, gave up no runs while striking out five. Dewon Day continues to strike out guys while allowing runs, going two-thirds of an inning, striking out two while allowing a run on a hit and a walk. Lucy 1-for-3 with a walk, Getz had a hit. Winston Salem beat Lynchburg 7-3. Cunningham 0-for-3 (did have an RBI), his average is now under .300. Schnurstein had a double and Lujan allowed a run but struck out four in two innings pitched.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 13, 2007 -> 02:21 AM) Whew! End this freaking game. You know you're going to see the hero cuts this inning. Too bad we can't have Sweeney/Erstad/Uribe up again...

QUOTE(danman31 @ May 13, 2007 -> 01:39 AM) My only problem is people will love or hate who they want. There's no way Podsednik wouldn't have kept that up. My hatred directed towards Podsednik is wrongly directed. It's not his fault that he really isn't healthy or a useful baseball player at this point in his career. I'm pissed that the Sox tried to sell the fans that he was a healthy ballplayer, because if he isn't 100% healthy, he's completely useless. And he's been supposedly hurt the past two seasons, yet the Sox are acting like his getting hurt was a complete shock. That's not to say you can predict injuries, but you have to weigh risks, and this was an awful risk that is jumping up and biting the Sox right in the ass. I'm not treating you like s***. You know way more than I do about the Sox' minor league system and I always appreciate your insight there. It just seems like -- and maybe I'm wrong -- you're not happy that Sweeney is succeeding with some of the comments you've made, like saying he's performed 'average' when in reality he's been the Sox best hitter since Thome has been gone, and ditto the comment about the walk.

QUOTE(danman31 @ May 13, 2007 -> 01:28 AM) People are calling him a god and all this garbage. It just bothers me when Scott Podsednik was hitting .300 and people value him like a piece of s*** and Sweeney has played like an average Major League hitter and everyone is gaga over him. That comparison is totally apt. One is a 32 (?) year old, one (maybe zero now?) tool player who hasn't been a good baseball player since pre-ASB 2005. The other is a 22 year old who has been the best hitter on the Sox besides Jim Thome. Average? Sweeney has been average? Offense all around the league has been down, and you're going to call Sweeney's .875 OPS, plus baserunning and plus defense average? Go ahead, keep posting, you're giving me some good laughs on a dysmal night.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ May 13, 2007 -> 01:23 AM) The theory of lift and pull as an offensive strategy needs to be put to bed on the southside forever. This is a f***ing joke that this craphole pitching staff of the Royals is holding us to 3 runs. The Tigers put a 9 spot on this crap, The indians would put a 9 spot on this. The aenmic Oakland offense torched them for 17 runs, and no they are looking like Cy Young again. "The hitters are just putting too much pressure on themselves." "It's not technically summer yet, so it's okay we're not hitting." "It's a domino effect -- one hitter starts pressing, and then the other guy starts pressing. Poor guys!" "Injuries!" Am I missing anything?

QUOTE(danman31 @ May 13, 2007 -> 01:20 AM) Look at the replay of that 3-2 pitch, the catcher caught it just above the dirt. Talk about a joke. No, he caught it just below the knees. You watch it again. Kid's 1-for-1 with 2 BBs and a homer and you're b****ing about people being a little excited that he's one of the few competent hitters in the lineup. No, a joke was this past half inning. My f***ing gosh...

QUOTE(danman31 @ May 13, 2007 -> 01:05 AM) Sweeney's at bat sucked ass before Grienke came nowhere near the plate. Sweeney's swings were awful, but he showed a good eye on that backdoor curve. Sweeney is the only hitter on this club that gets credit for a walk, most of the rest of the hitters it goes unmentioned. You see what you want to... What a joke. Greinke buried a beautiful changeup on 3-2 just below the knees and Sweeney laid off of it beautifully. You're just pissed that Sweeney is doing better than you expected. You called out a poster last week for saying Sweeney would be hitting (insert batting average) after the week was over. He's probably not going to continue this up, but give the guy some credit. He's one of two hitters (Uribe the other) who looks competent at the plate as of right now.

You suck, Erstad. If this organization sends Sweeney down, someone needs to be punched.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ May 13, 2007 -> 12:51 AM) Erstad sucks. Quit making crap up. It was a weak grounder hit to the SS. I'm glad we finally agree on something. Defending that pathetic AB is ridiculous.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 13, 2007 -> 12:51 AM) I don't like Buehrle facing Buck here, as Buck's launched two homers off of him this year. Nope, Mark's gotta have a chance at getting a win here, even if it means giving up a two run shot here.

What a crappy throw by AJ. Poor job by Buehrle holding him on there, but has AJ ever bailed out our pitchers by making a perfect throw when we needed it? QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ May 13, 2007 -> 12:47 AM) Situational hitting. You have a man on 3rd with less than two outs and a double play up. You then dip you back shoulder and try and lift the ball into the outfield. Yup. And all offseason we heard how Erstad is perfect for those situations, always gets the job done. Whoops...

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ May 13, 2007 -> 12:37 AM) That groundball up the middle, for instance, was up the middle. It wasn't badly hit. LOL, it wasn't badly hit. You have to be kidding me. It was a perfect double play ball. Erstad couldn't have made it any easier for their defense.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ May 13, 2007 -> 12:33 AM) Ozzie hates young guys and doesn't play them... No Erstad posts from you lately. Wonder why...

Nice throw, Erstad.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ May 13, 2007 -> 12:16 AM) DJ starts the Cy Youngification of Scott Earlton. DJ is a f***ing moron. He just said, "Crede is showing signs of popping out of his slump." Does DJ watch the game, or does he just kiss Hawk's feet the whole game? Here comes Hawk the PR machine. "Walk is a good hitting coach." This is embarrassing. Elarton has NOTHING tonight. He sucks, he's hanging stuff all over the place. What a f***ing joke.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 13, 2007 -> 12:11 AM) Lucky these balls are staying in the park. Buehrle might want to not pipe it on the first pitch of each count. Stop speaking, dammit. You're calling everything. This is embarrasssing. f***ing pathetic.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ May 13, 2007 -> 12:09 AM) Its nice to see a power hitter like Sweeney for KC going the other way. He doesnt get greedy. Just puts wood on the ball. Our hitters should take note. 2 runs isnt going to hold up. This f***ing offense better get their heads out of their asses. Had a chance earlier. KC pretty much tried to hand us four runs in that second inning. Runners at second and third, nobody out and already a 2-0 lead. Sox score no more. Tied.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 12, 2007 -> 11:52 PM) Sweeney's swing definitely seemed longer and not smooth. Still gotta love taking his ability to take pitches, though. And he's taking cuts at pitches that are good to hit, too. You were also right about the Sox blowing a huge chance in that prior inning. The Royals just tried to hand the Sox the game there for the second straight night.

QUOTE(JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ May 12, 2007 -> 11:53 PM) guess we need a new RF, 1B, and 3B since their OPS are all lower than erstads man, kennys gonna be busy! Oh, right, I forgot that Erstad has a history of hitting the ball well, making the comparisons to RF, 1B and 3B totally apt!

Erstad's OPS now sits at .640. Of course, he'll bunt a runner over next week and drive in a run on a 1-for-4 night, and everyone will be gah-gah over him again. We need a CFer. Let's let Erstad play in a role he'd be perfectly acceptable in as the 4th OFer, and hopefully Kenny can get the Sox a real CFer by July.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 12, 2007 -> 11:44 PM) So freaking sick of Iguchi's at-bats. Erstad needs to hit that ball in the air there. It's too bad we couldn't take advantage of the Royals trying to let us blow them out. F***ing Erstad... Sweeney has a nice AB as Elarton wasn't giving anything to him, and Erstad goes and does that. Erstad sure is great at those 6-4-3, 6-3 and 4-3 putouts. Reminds me of our post ASB CF in 2005.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ May 12, 2007 -> 10:23 PM) Young has been a big disappointment this year He's a rookie who is slugging .475 and playing a strong CF. His OPS+ is 96, pretty much league average. He's going to struggle this year, but "struggle" for him is going to be a .250/.325/.460 year at the plate. He does walk -- 120 ABs doesn't change that. You can paint the picture how you want to. I'll say it's very hard to find CFers who play above average defense who hit for power and get on base at a good rate. This guy is going to hit like a corner OFer while playing CF. Wouldn't surprise me at all if he becomes a slightly worse or 'lightened' (because he's not going to match his defense) version of Andruw Jones.

QUOTE(BearSox @ May 12, 2007 -> 06:18 AM) His biggest problem to me seems to be his control. That makes no sense. His control is his best attribute, not his biggest problem...

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ May 12, 2007 -> 06:18 AM) Home runs are a great thing. However going up to the plate and "trying" to hit one, or more to the point "everytime" you go up to the plate you swing for the fences is counterproductive. Our park plays small enough that if you just try and make solid contact, a lot of those well hit balls will go out of the park. The approach from the whole team was probably the most pathetic I've seen all season. When Juan Uribe has the best approach at the plate -- he did a great job vs Odalis -- you know you have problems. BTW, Sweeney needs to be in there against lefties. That's the beauty of having Ryan on the team -- you don't need to platoon him. Sure, he's going to struggle a bit against lefties, but he still gives you a good approach and see some pitches. Ozzie has to stop this platoon s*** with every single prospect that comes through the system. He did it with Anderson, he's doing it with Sweeney.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 12, 2007 -> 03:18 AM) I'm still mystified why we didn't take Garza over Broadway...well, Broadway probably carries a little more "cache" than we think as a former first rounder, that's worth a little premium I guess. Around the time of the draft, Garza's name wasn't even in the discussion. There were three guys they were considering -- Broadway, Carrillo, and the third guy was a pitcher/OFer southpaw from Tulane (?), maybe? His name isn't coming to my head right now. Anyways, point being, I didn't see anyone at Baseball America saying the Sox should grab Garza. I can't actually believe that you wanted Garza -- perhaps a link of you saying the Sox should take Garza? The only thing I remember about Garza was that I was intrigued by his breaking ball. But IIRC, Garza was not throwing in the high 90s like he is now.