BobDylan

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 04:34 PM) 21 IP, 11 Saves. 0 ER for 2 whole months. Did he have a hidden no hitter in there? Maybe a hidden perfect game?

QUOTE(Felix @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 10:38 AM) 'If [starting McCarthy] went through my mind, we would have done it already,'' Guillen said. ''I think those five guys we bring -- put it this way, if we throw those five guys from my starting rotation in the air, they won't land. Somebody would pick them up. ''Everyone talks about McCarthy. Last year we threw McCarthy, and he wasn't too good either. OK? Check the records. Thank you. Everyone thinks McCarthy is [blank]-damn Cy Young.'' http://www.suntimes.com/output/sox/cst-spt-soxnt09.html Ouch. You've got to think with comments like this and the teams current performance (in terms of games thrown away), Ozzie's going to be under the microscope. This is a manager who's known for boosting confidence. If that were a quote about me, I'd be crushed and I wouldn't want to play for Ozzie anymore. That's a step way over the line if you ask me. EDIT: I read the article. I think his quote is taken a bit out of context in this post. "I don't think McCarthy has the stuff and experience right now,'' Guillen said. ''I don't start McCarthy in front of those guys yet. In the future? Yes. But right now? No, I don't think he should.'' That's the kicker. But I still think Guillen crossed the line. I don't think he should be talking about a pitchers "stuff" and saying it isn't there yet. He should be praising his starters, talking about how he still has confidence in them, and saying McCarthy is an important piece of the bullpen right now. Buehrle shouldn't be taken out of the rotation. A few years back he had a stretch where he lost 9 games in a row. This is the way it goes for Mark, unfortunately it's happening at a time where the Sox can ill afford it.

http://www.isoma.net/games/GogglesBeta09.swf It doesn't have very many cities, but it's fun to knock around in for a half hour or so. EDIT: The maps are from Google.

The Ari Gold game: http://www.hbo.com/entourage/games/ari_interview/index.html

QUOTE(Young Gun @ Aug 8, 2006 -> 03:01 PM) Will Ferrell has got to be the funniest guy on earth. I don't know why, but his stupidity is so funny. Or the dumbest. Slapstick comedy is not funny in this country.

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Aug 8, 2006 -> 05:29 AM) I am so tired of this argument. No, it is not Ozzie's fault that the starting pitchers are pitching worse this year. But he is exacerbating their negative effect on the team by leaving them in long enough to make sure they have time to get shelled. Dozens of times this season a struggling Sox starter has gotten into the middle innings and started to collapse. Ignoring this, Ozzie has waited until the starter gave up a few runs in the middle innings before finally pulling the starter. Last night is a perfect example. Buehrle wasn't pitching well, but he was hanging in there. We were lucky that Buehrle made it through 6. Through that inning, he had 6ip and 3er. Then in the 7th, Buehrle gives up some hits and walks and Ozzie just sits on his hands until Buehrle has completely imploded. OZZIE turned a mediocre pitching performance into a complete failure. A moderately competent manager would have pulled Buehrle earlier and the bullpen would have given us a better chance to win. This is what Ozzie does. He has no idea how to handle a pitching staff and is managing to make the worst out of mediocre or poor pitching performances. I've been an optimist all season long. But the fact is the Sox are underperforming in every aspect of the game and they've underperformed for a long time. It's August, these pitchers aren't going to turn it around. Kenny couldn't get another starter, so he went with the second best option and bulked up the bullpen. f***ING USE IT.

QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ Aug 7, 2006 -> 09:48 PM) So, 3 homers ISN'T getting shelled? Hot damn, sign me up then, I'll pitch. Ask Curt Schilling. They were solo jobs. If Buehrle was pulled when he should've been, the Sox more than likely are facing extra innings and a bullpen battle. 2 on and 2 out in the 7th is EXACTLY when you should see MacDougal/Thornton. NOT Buehrle to face two too many batters. (I can see SOME reason why you'd leave Buehrle in with 2 on, but after the BB to load the bases Figgins base hit was pretty much history before the happening.)

Trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/thedeparted/hd/ Scorsese and Nicholson seem like a team long overdue.

Hadn't seen any episodes until this season. I'm hooked to it. (Is Drama going to be roughed up after the fight and lose the pilot?)

QUOTE(DABearSoX @ Aug 7, 2006 -> 11:20 PM) What I find funny is there is no blame being put on Coop. COOP THE MIRACLE MAN, the only reason he gets so much credit is because of last year......SO WHAT THE HELL IS HE TELLING THEM NOW..... Coop seems to have a track record of one year wonders since coming to Chicago.

QUOTE(winninguglyin83 @ Aug 6, 2006 -> 09:27 PM) hate to pour water on a good story line, but Belle and Navarro were Ron Schuler and Jerry Reinsdorf productions. And this thread is about franchise history.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 6, 2006 -> 05:59 PM) Steroids are MUCH more helpful in terms of recovery time for relief pitchers, which is why bullpens around baseball are worse than ever this year IMO. I've never been on the juice, but I can buy recovery time. We should've shot Politte with the juice.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 6, 2006 -> 04:46 PM) Steroid policy comes around in 2005. Freddy begins to lose velocity in 2005. I think steroids are pretty overrated for a pitcher. A throwing arm is a tricky thing, but added muscle (in the wrong places) is a bad thing. As a former pitcher I can relate to Freddy here. One day I threw a shut out, then the rest of the season my velocity was totally gone. I can buy the mass amount of innings he's piled up as a problem -- as you saw a decline in 2005 -- but steroids seems like a crap excuse to me. Maybe a pitcher can benefit from steroids by strengthening their legs, but if you bulk the arm too much, it doesn't flow through the slot the same. If anyone can remember a few years back James Baldwin had the problem of bulking up too much. A baseball player is born with his throwing arm...it can be strengthened to add 1-3 MPH, but not 10, as Freddy's drop off here is suggesting.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Aug 6, 2006 -> 05:40 PM) That would be Jerry Owens AND Charlie Haeger, both of whom are still with the Sox. I will go to the bathroom and reconsider my opinion on this topic.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 6, 2006 -> 03:35 PM) ...kept Pods in LF rather than Chris Young and his stud future getting a shot. So in a sense, that trade has worked out great. Chris Young is the guy that dropped out of winter ball? If so, it's his fault he's not in a White Sox uni.

QUOTE(beautox @ Aug 6, 2006 -> 04:36 PM) I lolled at that. You're one of my biggest fans. I've lolled you twice now.

Okay, cool.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Aug 6, 2006 -> 04:14 AM) I saw this article today on Foxsports.com, thought it would be an interesting discussion; Do you really think something like that has messed up Freddy's arm and velocity this season? http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5846084 Pitching around the league has been VERY interesting and VERY bad.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Aug 6, 2006 -> 02:16 AM) Man, I'm probably the most optimistic person on this board ( well, outside of Jphat, Heads and Kap), but I don't see it happening for Freddy. It would be different if it was just mental. But dude's stuff just isn't there. It hasn't been all year. I'm happy when Freddy can give us 6 innings and 4 earned runs. I agree, but DAMN, if the Sox can get Jose, Mark, Jon and Javy to throw well on a regular basis that 8 game lead ain't so safe.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Aug 6, 2006 -> 03:19 AM) I watched Saturday's game and caught myself wondering why I dislike Pods so much. His batting average isn't horrific and he swipes bases. He takes pitches and seems to have a clue at the plate. So is he underrated? Do you all like him and think he should be our leadoff hitter the next couple seasons? Or do you find yourself like me disliking the guy for some reason? I have a feeling that I'll be one of the few that will support Podsednik here. But alike many players in a White Sox uniform, he's gotten a lot of spiff from SoxTalkers for what I see as little reason. He's not having the season he had last year, but his numbers aren't far off. He's still one of the leagues top run scorers (has scored 73 runs this season compared to only 80 last year) and base stealers (31). And for all the flack he'll get for his on base percentage, it's only 7 points lower than last season. He's been pretty much worthless against left-handers this year (a dismal .239 hitter in 2006, he hit .330 against LHP in 2005), but some of that drop off should be nailed on Iguchi, who is hitting .223 against left handed pitching despite a clear advantage from the other side of the plate. Gooch has dropped from .274 in '05. Protection may be overrated at the top of the order, but it may also be undervalued at the same time. The Podsednik-Gooch duo we had last season is no where as good this season. I haven't spoken up and I probably won't get much support in this argument, but Iguchi deserves just as much flack as Podsednik does. (Don't tell me about his .284 average, not with the thunder behind him.) Most will say that Podsednik caused "havoc" on the basepaths last year and hasn't done that this year. I won't dispute that. But he doesn't have that same pressure to perform at that type of level, not when you insert Jim Thome into the line-up. Also, the amount of times Gooch has fouled a ball of with Scotty on the move, or the amount of times Gooch has failed to bunt him over has been highly overlooked. You can also reason that teams took a different approach to Podsenik on the basepaths this season: keep the pressure on the hitters and hold him like you would any other base stealer. And I really don't think his fielding has been that bad.

QUOTE(jparkman @ Aug 5, 2006 -> 12:16 AM) 2. use matt thornton a little less in close games. And use Cotts more?

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 08:30 PM) I'm saying he's the answer to our problem in LF. You're pushing the idea like it's the bridge to 30 wins in a row.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 07:37 PM) They're not the problem, but they sure as hell are problems. But we shouldn't try to fix them just because it wouldn't solve every problem we have. I'm saying Rob Mackowiak isn't the answer.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 04:46 PM) Why won't either of these two "get it done" for us? Pods plays almost exclusively against righties right now, and Mackowiak is tearing righties apart. Why would having a guy batting over .300 with a .400 OBP against righties leading off for us not get it done? And how is leaving Vazquez in there to inevitably give up a bunch of runs in the 6th any good for us? McCarthy is on this team for a reason, and that's to be the guy to go a few innings. Because Podsednik and Vazquez are on this team to do something they haven't done. Mackowiak is a good bench player, a below average starter (face it) and Vazquez is getting paid 11 million dollars to pitch like spiff. Call it a bad move on Kenny's part, but alike Kenny, I sink with the ship I have. The guys on the bench are good bench players, they add incredible depth to the team, but when the front line plays the way they're playing, it doesn't much matter. The fact is the Sox need a surge of energy and while they close in on the end of the season it should be pretty apparant that it's not going to come from the current roster. Maybe they can flick a switch on (I hope they can), but I really can't believe making a few changes with players on the current roster is going to make any difference. Make all the line-up changes you want...Scott Podesnik is not the problem to this team. Nor is Javier Vazquez. It's the whole damned team.

I'd just sit and beach about how the players on the field aren't doing what is expected of them. Mack in LF ain't going to get it done. Pulling Vaz after 5 ain't going to get it done. Benching Uribe ain't going to get it done. The solution is pretty damn simple if you ask me and it doesn't involve any on field changes. It involves the players on the field doing what they're supposed to do.