fathom

Fascinating article about the whole thing. KW probably wants to punch something right now. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Astf...p&type=lgns

Must be nice to be the Indians....they get down 4-1 in the 2nd, and three batters later, their game is tied. Andrew Miller is pitching for the Tigers, and he looks pretty good. If he can pitch well for them this year, I see no reason how they don't make the playoffs. Watching these offenses makes me so jealous.

QUOTE(KevHead0881 @ May 18, 2007 -> 11:15 PM) Yet, you suggest he puts in Thornton, who hasn't been much better than MacDougal this season. Is that putting us in the best position to win? Over the last few weeks, Thornton has looked very good. His fastball is up near 97 mph, which is great to see.

QUOTE(Melissa1334 @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:59 PM) im not trying to say that he sucks or got lucky. im just saying that any other hitter could have done what he did in that situation. i think everyone knew it was a fastball coming. MacDougal is probably the last pitcher on our team who regularly throws a first pitch fastball down the plate.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:57 PM) That is one issue I had. I like Mac when he sets up his breaking stuff and uses his fastball off of that instead of the other way around. He has nasty movement on his fastball, but way too often that movement takes it back to the middle of the plate. I would've also liked AJ in to catch him. He's extremely difficult to catch for someone who never has. The only two mistakes I really put on Ozzie today in the game were bringing in MacDougal to face a lefty hitter, and not bringing in AJP to catch in the bottom of the 7th. I know that no one cares, but there's a reason I'm not lumping this game along with the two I mention in my signature.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:55 PM) He is having enough trouble hitting in AAA this season it seems, I definitely dont want him in the majors unless Joe is going to be out for an extended amount of time. I thought he's still crushing lefties though? It's just too bad that all the political s*** happened over the offseason and we never let Fields get some playing time in left field.

QUOTE(Melissa1334 @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:55 PM) ...mac threw a first pitch fastball and he knew it was coming and got a hit. anyone batting would have known it was coming.. Pagan's been crushing the ball over the last two weeks.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:54 PM) We've been giving Mackowiak, Ozuna and whoever we play at LF/DH an awful lot of atbats, none of who should start for any team. I wish he'd protect BA like that. Seriously though, I agree with you. I think people are just freaking since it's the Cubs. I really wonder what Anderson has done for Ozzie to dislike him so much. This isn't bashing Ozzie....it just seems amazing that he can go out of his way so much for some guys, and have such disgust for a few others.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:53 PM) We've been giving Mackowiak, Ozuna and whoever we play at LF/DH an awful lot of atbats, none of who should start for any team. I'm all for calling up Fields now to see if he can provide a spark against LHP.

Pagan has just as much athleticism and skill as any of our outfielders besides Jermaine Dye (I know he's slow, but he has that thing known as hitting talent).

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:48 PM) Protecting his players. I'm not mad at Ozzie for today. I think all of you who are wrong as hell, but that's just me. The Ozzie blame for this game is definitely overblown....I think it's a combo of losing to the Cubs and his immature act on the radio today. However, would you agree it's not a good idea to bring in MacDougal anymore when a lefty is up?

QUOTE(Heads22 @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:47 PM) Does it bother you when our mediocre players have been winning? No kidding....what must the Astros think about Pods.

QUOTE(rangercal @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:39 PM) not many things you say I would agree with. You are a attention whore on these boards, you do it through b****ing and negativity. You b****ed every game of 2005. The act is so tired. Again, please point to something I said today you disagree with? I'm one of the few negative people who didn't say this game falls only on Ozzie's head.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:36 PM) Ummm...apparently you missed 2004 and 2005. If you had the choice of: 1) Riske 2) Nelson 3) Cotts 4) Politte 5) Tracey 6) Montero Who would you have used of that bundle of mediocrity that would have pitched amazingly better for you? Cotts and Politte had amazing seasons in 2005. Riske isn't a terrible reliever....he was just used in spots that he doesn't excel in.

QUOTE(WhiteSoxfan1986 @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:35 PM) I know that, but where exactly did he get hit? I find it hard to believe he couldn't have played. or be brought in for defensive reasons late in the game. AJP should have definitely been in the game after the top of the 7th.

QUOTE(rangercal @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:35 PM) I can not figure out what Fathom is doing posting on these boards? Surely a MLB team is out there that would LOVE to hire him as a manager? Ok, what about aaa? aa? a? high school? little league? tee ball? no takers? At least he has xbox. I love these types of responses. Rangercal, please point out something I said today that you don't agree with.

QUOTE(jenksd @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:30 PM) I acknowledge that you answered my question. But it's ludicrous how the onus is almost exclusively put on him regardless of what else happened during the game EVERY single time the Sox lose. It's annoying. Ozzie's been blamed less for losses this year than he did in 2005 and 2006. Greg Walker has been the whipping boy all season. And he's the one making the decisions, and when a reliever comes in and immediately blows the game, he's the one who's going to get criticized. I never said he cost us this game though. QUOTE(jenksd @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:32 PM) and two of them "Clearly shouldn't ever pitch again" two weeks ago. Who ever said that? Now you're just making up s***.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:30 PM) But the weird thing is that, at one point, 8 of our 9 wins on the road were "comeback" wins, which flies in the face of that...overall, this team has been terribly inconsistent and looks like the offense isn't good enough to go on a prolonged winning streak, and the starting rotation will prevent a long losing streak. It was, what, our fourth or fifth chance to climb to 4 games over .500 this year? I hope that's not the high water mark for this season. Sorry, I was talking about the games where we maybe took a 3-1 or 4-2 advantage by the 3rd or 4th inning.

QUOTE(jenksd @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:28 PM) Wasn't it Cliff Thornton a week ago? Wasn't it Nick (Masset) Cotts the week before? The two guys that people are arguing should have pitched in his place? If Ozzie had taken out Macdougal quicker and put one of them in, we'd be hearing "OH OZZIE IS PLAYING THE MATCHUPS AGAIN" if something went wrong or some other hindsight bias junk that's continually on the board. Aardsma, Thornton, and Jenks are clearly the three best relievers we have right now.

QUOTE(BearSox @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:28 PM) You can't be any more wrong here. Ryan Sweeney has quick hands and can turn on the ball at any time. He just needs a good hitting coach to give him good advice. Sweeney isn't gonna be hitting any inside pitchs with that new stance he has. Sweeney breaks more bats right now than any player I've seen in a long time. Until he starts driving the ball into the gap, he's going to have to overcome the Sean Burroughs comparisons.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:26 PM) Maybe it's just the fathom in me speaking, but even when we were up 3-1, but all game, it just felt like waiting for the other shoe to drop with the Sox. That says nothing of Buehrle, who was pretty good -- not as efficient as he usually is with his pitches, but still pretty good -- but that one (then two) run lead never really had me comfortable. The Sox really need to win tomorrow, as I'm not liking that Sunday matchup one bit. One of the reason our bullpen has blown so many games is that we never, ever, expand the lead in the 6th or 7th inning if we're leading early in the game. It's just a pathetic all-around offense right now. Our offense is playing a 6 inning game, and our pitching has to get 27 outs.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:25 PM) You want Anderson and Erstad to start in LF and CF? We will average 3.5 runs per game for the rest of the season with that line-up. So our offense will improve?

QUOTE(jenksd @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:23 PM) Wow so one move lost the game entirely for us. Not the four errors, not the fact that this team can't hit for s***. I could have sworn I answered your question about a move Ozzie made that led to the loss today. When you're up 3-1 with 9 outs remaining, you go for the f***ing win and don't assume you'll score another run that game.

QUOTE(BearSox @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:24 PM) The only thing Sweeney needs is a real hitting coach. and steroids or an aluminum bat

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:20 PM) The thing with Ozzie is this... Fine MacDougal blows the f***ing game, you're down 1...ok. BUT HOW DO YOU SEND HIM BACK OUT IN THE 8TH? I've said this for four years now. If the Sox are down by a run or two in the 8th inning, Ozzie never manages with any urgency. It's like he's one of us and just starts pouting and says "f*** this, the game is over".