fathom

Keep Iguchi in the 2nd spot, as he's been hitting better and we all know he doesn't really adjust to change well. Let Mackowiak leadoff.

Molina got pulled early in the game, as he got hit in the arm with a bounced ball. Then, their back-up catcher probably tore his knee on a great play at home. Feliz went behind the plate, and actually made better scoops on pitches in the dirt than AJP. Sadly, the game didn't go 14 innings.

Hopefully we still get to face him next week.

There's been a lot of excitement in the A's games recently. It's been a great time to have the MLB package.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 04:50 AM) I love how the only guys that provide us with any speed get hurt. Owens is no good to us at all without his speed, as he can't hit, get on base, play defense or throw the ball at all. It's truly amazing how many of our offensive players have been dinged up this year. It's like all the years of good health have caught up to us. Oh well....as long as Danks and Jenks don't suffer any serious injuries, I won't lose any sleep over these injuries.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 04:47 AM) He's made some changes recently! But what kind of changes do you expect him to make that he hasn't already made unless we get some new guys? I don't believe Ozzie deserves zero blame but I don't give him much of it at all. It does shock me but listen: this is a bad team. Older, slower, and injured. The bullpen is garbage. I don't think anyone could lead this team too far. Well, then let's trade Buehrle while he still has a ton of value. Ozzie said after today that he's not ready to start trading players though. Personally, I give this team two more weeks to turn it around. If we lose about 75 pct of our next 15 games, including losing the series to the Cubs, then you blow this team up. You put Buehrle on the market, Thome on the market, as well as Iguchi and Dye if he can be healthy.

And Cintron's elbow is still bothering him. He really needs to go on the DL for an extended period. Let Gonzalez be the back-up SS. We also need another legit outfielder with Dye being injured who can play some defense. Might as well call up Sweeney or Anderson again.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 04:42 AM) "I know that's 99% on the players, but Ozzie still gets blame from me!" You're grasping at straws. Huh? You honestly believe that Ozzie deserves zero blame for what's happened? You think Ozzie's handled our relief situation well, including his use of Logan and not bringing in Jenks in a couple of situations where he was fresh? You know we have some type of respect for each other, but what would have to happen for you to think he deserves any blame? This might shock you, but I actually think that Ozzie might be the only manager who could lead this team to a good final 100 games. He just needs to get his mojo back. Oh, and by the way, Ozzie making some jokes about how he should have Konerko lead off tomorrow. Like I said, he talks a big game in the media. I'm still waiting to see any type of change to our lineup.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2007 @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 04:32 AM) Please, fathom, you've been riding Ozzie for months. Even when he, in your mind, does something right, you're still making snarky remarks. How many times have you said "I wish Ozzie had kept his word and quit after we won the World Series"? When he does something right, I'm one of the only posters who will say something. Hell, I was sticking up for him with the decision to let MacDougal start the bottom of the 9th at Minnesota a few weeks ago. I've made no secret that I wish he quit after we won the WS like he said. I think he's been a horrible manager for the last year and a half now. However, I'm not that big of an idiot to expect him to be fired after what happened during 2006, and I don't think he'll be fired now. I've said all along that I thought it would be his mouth that got him fired. I hate how arrogant Ozzie and KW have become since 2005. KW has no bigger supporter than me a few years ago. Now, I want to know who kidnapped him after Thanksgiving of 2005.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 04:17 AM) Criticizing Danks now is stupid. But I imagine that his decrease is from Cooper. Cooper telling him to throw more strikes! Not necessarily a bad thing, but definitely not a surefire good thing. Come on GP....stop trying to pick fights. We weren't criticizing Danks at all. We were just saying that the Sox seem to be miscalculating the velocity of some of these guys. Nick Masset was throwing 92 mph tonight...that's nowhere near what they were expecting out of him.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2007 @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 04:25 AM) I blame Ozzie a lot more for what happened last year than I do this year. NOBODY could've predicted the ENTIRE offense would be this bad for over 2 months. Show me a manager that could win with a team hitting .232 in our division. Where did I blame this entire debacle on Ozzie? I just want to see a little more looseness and creativity from now on. These guys not only play not to lose, but they just seem to tight. As someone said so perfectly the other day, Ozzie seems to have lost a lot of his fire since the Mariotti incident. QUOTE(Jordan4life_2007 @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 04:28 AM) Why are you still on last year? And what makes you think Gload, a guy who's not an everyday player, could've held down the leadoff spot last year? Because you didn't catch on that I was referring to the Gload situation in 2006. What makes someone an everyday player or a bench player if they never get the chance to prove they can be an everyday starter? The one time Gload got extended playing time during his career, he was good. The ironic thing about this is that I was nowhere near the Gload-aholic that many on this board were. I just thought he was a better option during the 2nd half last year than Pods, and I wanted Ozzie to not be afraid of making a big move.

QUOTE(BabyJesus69 @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 04:20 AM) give ross gload a chance to leadoff? that's brilliant.... yep, and Jerry Owens is such a bright idea? I know that .354 OBP that Gload had was awful last year, especially since he hit .351 after the ASB. Pods hit .241 after the ASB.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 04:15 AM) PS: haven't you said he's done a good job managing this year? s***, the last several games have been close until relievers came in and gave up ten runs. You can't blame Ozzie for that. No, I said he wasn't bad at the beginning. However, every single move he's made lately seems to go wrong. Now, I know that's 99 pct on the players....but he's going to get some blame from me for that also. And yes, there's things Ozzie can do to help the relievers. Why bring in Thornton to face Abreu in a huge spot yesterday instead of Logan? Lefties hit over .100 pts higher against Thornton than they do Logan. Why didn't he bring in Logan to face Lind in a huge spot at Toronto last Sunday? Why is he more scared of Matt Stairs than Vernon Wells? Again, I'm not calling for him to be fired. For all the changes he's made to the bullpen, he sure seems to be trying to keep the same formula with our lineup. We have no balance in the lineup, as we have all our slow guys right in a row and our weak hitters in a row also. Why not trying something unconvential like letting Mackowiak bat lead off or 3rd? QUOTE(Jordan4life_2007 @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 04:20 AM) I like Anderson as much as anybody. But the guy is seriously lacking in certain areas. He's got a terrible swing and seems incapable of making any sort of adjustment. He's hitting .256 in AAA right now. Not exactly inspiring. Gload as our leadoff man? I guess that .317 OBP would look oh so sexy right now. Last year for Gload....you know that's what I meant. Pods was just killing this team's offense for a few months after the all-star break, but we kept trotting him out to the leadoff spot before a terrific 3/4/5.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 04:14 AM) I half-believe that you make these posts in an effort to get momentum on your side with regard to "Ozzie sucks!" No, I know that there's some people on here that hate him no matter what, some people that would never dare criticize him....and some people that just like to bash Greg Walker or our minor league system.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 04:07 AM) Danks fastball is good. What're you talking about fathom? His fastball sits around 89-90 mph. When we traded for him, he was supposed to consistently throw 93 mph. Just ask flash about this.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 04:05 AM) Hey Fathom, Please stop trying to manufacture some outrage over Ozzie Guillen in an effort to get him fired. Sincerely, Gregory Pratt Where did I say I'm trying to get him fired? I know that nothing I type is going to have any impact on that type of decision either. All I was saying with my initial post is that it's time for Ozzie to right the ship. Things have been going downhill for far too long. I just want to see a better effort from basically every single member of this organization (besides Jenks right now), and Ozzie's at the top of the underachieving list. QUOTE(Jordan4life_2007 @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 04:08 AM) Or maybe it's time for you to realize you have a silly blind hatred for Ozzie that makes you very annoying sometimes? I mean really, what the heck is Ozzie supposed to do when the ENTIRE offense can't hit for this damn long? .232 as a team? Is Ozzie supposed to make established vets like Konerko/Dye/AJ/Crede hit? Is it Ozzie's fault that Iguchi was hitting .221 just a week ago? Uribe? Mackowiak? Cintron? Ozzie's fault, too? What's he supposed to "prove"? Make this team play with energy and confidence? So you know for a fact he's not doing that? I'm not saying Ozzie has been perfect this year. No manager in baseball has been. But it's mostly, and I know this is a concept that's hard for you to grasp, on the players. I guess I just won't read Ozzie's quotes about how he feels the guys aren't having enough fun. It's real funny too, because I thought my first post in this thread was as even-tempered as I could write about him right now. So are we saying that if the Sox go 68-94 this year, it has nothing to do with Ozzie? Just how bad does this team have to play in order for him to get even the slightest bit of criticism?

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 03:49 AM) This is a stupid thread. We're blaming Ozzie for the bad roster? "Just go out and get the team to play with energy!" What, should he get them amphetamines? Why do so many people believe that the manager has no say about the roster?

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 03:27 AM) Guillen feeling "embarrassed" and not himself. Doesn't like coming to the ballpark everyday, watching this ballclub, then having to talk about it afterwards to the media. I don't how he's going to last through the season, to be honest. When's the last time he was around a losing team? From what I can recall, every team he's been associated with in his coaching career has been a division contender.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 03:24 AM) None of your ideas would change the fact we are a bad baseball team though, and you know that as well as I do, that is just shuffling the furniture on the Titanic. Your point about an Ozzie-led team never going through an extended slump is well taken, but that was a myth perpetuated by the parrot in the booth and you know that too. Ozzie did enough last year to make me never argue whenever he is fired, but this year Kenny has done enough to make me never argue whenever he is fired. You should have seen enough of my posts to know that I thought KW did an absolutely horrible job this past offseason. I just want to see Ozzie try different things. He refused to make changes last year when Pods was brutal and Mackowiak was losing games in CF. What does Ozzie have to lose right now? Let Mackowiak lead off. Let Iguchi lead off. Hell, really shake it up and let Thome lead off....he's our best OBP guy and it's not like he has men on base much of the time anyways.

QUOTE(briguy27 @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 03:18 AM) or joe girardi as manager No way would I ever let him get around young pitchers. He's to young pitchers as Michael Jackson is to young kids.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 03:17 AM) I still want you to explain to me what tangible things Ozzie can do to somehow fix this. It doesn't exist. He can't just "light the fire" right now, we have a bad team. Place the blame for this year on KW, a man who has a much longer track record than Ozzie at being bad at his job. - start using Logan as our main lefty specialist - use Jenks in situations where we need a big out in the 8th if we're winning or 9th if we're down by a run - stop letting Owens leadoff - break up the slow foursome of Thome, Dye, AJ, Konerko - tell KW to send Andy Gonzalez down - send down Masset to become a starter, and let MacDougal work things out All I know is that for 2.5 years, we were told that an Ozzie-led team would never go through an extended period where they didn't show a lot of fire. All I'm saying is that I want to see results on the field, and not in the press. I'm not calling for him to be fired, even though I think he's feeling miserable about our direction. QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 03:18 AM) Come on now. You know damn well that most of the time, the manager doesn't deserve the blame. They're just the guinea pigs. And the fact that Walker is still here is what should really be alarming. And could that be because Ozzie has a hard time ever throwing his friends under the bus?

QUOTE(SEALgep @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 03:11 AM) You think Anderson would make any difference on this team right now? He should have been the 4th outfielder on this team, and be used as the defensive replacement for guys like Dye. We all knew that Pods and Erstad would eventually get injured. Terrero has been decent out there....but Owens is just a disaster.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 03:10 AM) I'm sure your comments to Ozzie will make this team play a whole lot better. Seriously fathom, I wouldn't expect this from you, though you are the biggest Ozzie-criticizer. There is still no way you can blame Ozzie for this teams abysmal play, IMO. All the blame should go on KW. Ozzie can't go out there and pitch for our relievers or swing for our hitters. These are grown ass men and they shouldn't need to be motivated to play to their potential. This s*** is just getting ridiculous. When a team is failing in every aspect, the manager will get blamed. How he gets none of the blame is baffling to me. This team is playing more lethargic right now than any of the "corpseball" teams did. Were you calling for Manuel's head a few years ago? I still wonder what caused Merkin to mention the rumors that Ozzie was losing the clubhouse about a month ago? And by the way, this was about as tame of a post I could make about Ozzie right now. I would love for him to prove to me he still has the fire and still has the ability to lead a team.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 03:07 AM) For his next rebuilding effort, he should probably avoid players who've performed well in Mexican Leagues --without stellar minor league numbers -- or who were drafted high and had yet to reach their potential. And we need to buy new radar guns. How inaccurate must our guns have been to state that Masset can throw 96 mph and Danks can throw 90 mph?

QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ Jun 9, 2007 -> 03:06 AM) Now the real question is: can Ozzie do ANYTHING with the talent (or lack there of) that this team is built with? I'm not an Ozzie fan, but lately, he just doesn't have any better options. Eventually, Kenny needs to man up and stop talking a big game too. This falls about 75% on his shoulders. Ozzie had a lot to do with who's on this roster also though. He's the one who needs his "speed" guy at the top of the order. He's the one who didn't want to give Anderson an extended shot this year. He's the one that never gave Gload the chance to see what he could do as a leadoff hitter. In no way am I blaming Ozzie for how bad this talent level is....but he isn't exactly out of the loop on these decisions.