hogan873

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Aug 16, 2010 -> 08:58 AM) We are 3-7 in the last 10. Prior to that stretch, we had gone 38-13 over the previous 51. I realize the past two weeks have been tough to swallow, but every team has a 3-7 stretch in the last two months of the season. So many things went wrong over the last ten games. I'd say the book is still out on whether this is a real august-september fade or just a tough ten games. If we can somehow win the series in minnesota, the season still has life. If we lose two out of three, we're probably out of it, but have a chance if the Twins fade a bit after playing us. If we get swept, we're definitely out of it. These are good points. Every team has bad spells, and the Sox are going through one right now. Their bad spell is amplified by the fact that they lost to a bad Baltimore team and the fact that the Twins are playing good baseball right now. It seems to me that the Sox are a fragile team and a lot of things have to go right for them to have a good run. Let's hope things start clicking soon because the Twins are for real.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 15, 2010 -> 08:19 PM) I know baseball's a long season and you don't want to get too high or too long, but the organization needs to figure a way to have more success against teams in the division. Sox have been average to s***ty against Central teams two years in a row now haven't they? Yes, they have. I can almost accept a hard time against the Twins, but playing like s*** against Cleveland and KC is ridiculous.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Aug 12, 2010 -> 10:02 AM) Pet Semetary where 3-year-old Gage gets hit by the truck and all they show is a bloody shoe rolling across the road. Then at the end of the movie where the father had to stick him with a needle to "kill" him again. As a parent, these were especially disturbing, although the desriptions in the book were much worse. Oh yeah. The movie is bad enough, but the book is very disturbing.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 15, 2010 -> 08:01 PM) Yeah, but how in the hell are we gonna win two? They routed us in two of the three at the Cell and found every which way to beat us 3 of 4 last time in Minnie. It will take three amazing starting pitching performances, Oz making the right calls with the bullpen late, and whomever he calls upon in the pen doing the job. All with our past history against the Twins suggesting failure. I haven't felt more fatalistic about a series than that horrible road trip to Boston, NY and Minnie last September. Greg, I actually agree with you. The offense needs to take the game out of Ozzie's hands by scoring a lot of runs.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 15, 2010 -> 08:11 PM) What about Putz? If he's not hurt, he'll probably be closing if we somehow have a lead in the ninth. And based on hit perfomance as of late, he may blow another save. The offense needs to make sure the Sox are up by 4 or so going into the ninth.

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Aug 15, 2010 -> 06:36 PM) No one else besides me thinks we sweep this series? Trust me...Ozzie will have this team ready to play! I laughed out loud here. Ozzie hasn't had this team ready to play much this season. He's been too busy trying to get Kotsay as many at bats as possible.

I can't figure it out. This year it seems like the lack of a real DH and the sometimes baffling managing decisions by Ozzie are finally catching up with them. The long run of great baseball was probably a lot of over acheiving. THe team is good, but I'm not sure they are good enough to be playing beyond the first week of October.

Gotta love a good hooror movie or a good action flick. What about those scenes in movies that make you cringe? - Tom Hanks busting out his own infected tooth in Castaway - Ed Norton curbing that guy outside his house in American History X - When Shauna McDonald got stuck in the cave tunnel in The Descent Post the scenes that really disturbed you...

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 11, 2010 -> 02:36 PM) Really, he can't be less effective than Kotsay. The problem with JD is that he had no interest in being a low paid part time player. And now he's a no paid no time player. I wonder if he regrets not signing somewhere.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 11, 2010 -> 01:11 PM) Freddy pitched last night. I got that. Nice.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Aug 11, 2010 -> 02:03 PM) Let's see if Jermaine Dye is available for September He's more than available, but as far as I know he doesn't want to just DH. You'd think by now he would have changed his mind?

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 11, 2010 -> 09:37 AM) Watching Jim Thome put up a .972 OPS for the Twins because we couldn't promise him enough at bats, while watching his replacement get probably more than 350 at bats and put up an OPS about .3 lower is going to be hard to top on the annoying list. I think the topper would be if we finish only 1-3 game out of first, since such a scenario means we can put losing the division almost directly on that idiotic decision. That's what I've been thinking. If the Sox lose the divsion by 6 games or more we can shake our heads and say the team wasn't good enough. But if they lose it by 1 game or so, we can easily pin enough loses on the lack of a real DH to have made the difference.

I thought this was going to a poll about whether it would hurt more to lose the division by 1 game or 6 games. But, I do like the choices. I voted for the last one, even though we all seem to know that the dome wasn't the real cause for the Sox to play so badly against the Twins.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Aug 11, 2010 -> 06:50 AM) You know what would cheer me up? A serious ass whuppin put on the twins tonight in our ballpark in front of our fans, followed by another serious ass whuppin put on the twins Thursday night in our ballpark in front of our fans. That will get the job done. 'Nuff said.

Constantly losing to the twins is getting very old. What makes last night's loss even worse is the fact that they played poorly in Baltimore. Now this series against the Twins is that much bigger. I'm sick of not having a legitimate DH, and I'm tired of hearing Ozzie defend his rotating DH idea. If KW takes one note about this season it should be, "Don't listen to Ozzie." Winning the next two against the Twins is very important. Winning only one will put the Sox 1 game back, which wouldn't be horrendous, but still inexusable because of what happened in Baltimore.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 9, 2010 -> 03:34 PM) For a little perspective, if we went .500 for the rest of the season, we would end up at 89-73. Who would have taken 89 wins going into this season? I don't think many people had expectations above that number. That's a good point. I'd be willing to bet that there were a number of posts before the season started saying that the divsion could be won with around 85 wins. The Sox shoud have no problem playing .500 ball the rest of the way. The trouble is that playing .500 ball the rest of the way probably won't win the division. I for one did not think it would take 92-93 wins to win the AL Central. That many wins is good baseball.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 9, 2010 -> 03:25 PM) You disagree that we are a mediocre to decent team? What are we then? I criticize the team as well. I don't like Kotsay. I don't harp on it day after day after day. He's in the lineup against righties. That's how it is. I'm still not crazy about Pierre. I despise Teahen, etc. I also hated Randy WIlliams and despise Linebrink and still am not crazy about guys like Pena. Yes Kotsay sucks. Yes AJ is having a bad season offensively. Yes Bobby has blown some saves. We get it. I just don't see how anybody would take the energy to write more about Kotsay on here. We know. He sucks. I feel we're a mediocre to slightly above average team that is contending for a division title and I'm enjoying the baseball. What are you saying here?

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 9, 2010 -> 12:51 PM) Lillibridge via twitter: Lillibomb with the attitude!

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 9, 2010 -> 12:18 PM) When is this 4th game whence you speak of? Did...did you say "whence"?

Edwin!

Interesting, small sample size stat: AJ - 6 HR and 33 RBI in 327 AB Castro - 6 HR and 15 RBI in 72 AB

QUOTE (knightni @ Aug 8, 2010 -> 11:25 PM) If Teahen can wait until Aug 16, then they can 15 day-DL Kotsay with "bat problems." Fixed

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 9, 2010 -> 01:54 AM) "You've got to win" doesn't make sense in baseball. Too many games. Too much s*** happens. It ain't like the Bears wetting the bed in an 18 game season or whatever they play in the NFL. s*** happens in baseball. We are a mediocre to decent team. We don't win all the games "we're supposed to win." There are no, "you've got to win" games this season regarding the Chicago White Sox. The team is what it is. A nice little team, nothing more, nothing too much less. Are you really surprised Baltimore on its home field is giving our team fits? I'm not. Sorry, I ususally don't do this, but worst...post...ever. Kidding a bit, but there are plenty of must win games in a season where you are playing for a division win against a team that wins and loses just as often as you do. I disagree that this is a mediocre to decent team. This team is better than mediocre, and the way they have been playing lately has shown that. Why wouldn't you be pissed off by these loses to an inferior Baltimore team when winning a series like this is so important? The Sox had a few chances as of late to gain a game or two on the Twins, and they failed to capitalize on it...because they lost bad games to a bad team.

Thanks guys!