fathom

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".

QUOTE(Greg The Bull Luzinski @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:20 PM) ^^^^^^ DING DING DING DING Did Ozzie do his homework to know this? Or was he busy thinking of his next insult for Jay Mariotti? Even though I have no problem with his argument today, his verbal immaturity with Mike North got him one step closer to the exit door though. He needs to show some professionalism....and I'm sure KW just loved his comments today.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:17 PM) Tell that to Garland when he was micromanaged by Manuel. Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, Ozzie has done wonders for the starting pitchers since he has been here. Ah yes, the old Garland was mentally abused by Manuel argument. I guess it has nothing to do with Garland's maturity, as well as his improved command.

QUOTE(jenksd @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:16 PM) As opposed to the bashers who have yet to make a single argument in this entire thread towards what exactly Ozzie did to lose this game. Brought in MacDougal to face a switch-hitter. Coming into today, MacDougal was allowing lefty hitters to hit him at a .417 clip. If you're going to bring him in, then let him face Theriot.

QUOTE(Greg The Bull Luzinski @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:13 PM) Even the biggest Ozzie supporters have trouble supporting his non-sense today. We're hearing that a few too many times this year....even though I still think Ozzie has managed much better than he did last year.

QUOTE(Hideaway Lights @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:12 PM) Right, but we will ADDRESS his roster spot at some point this season, via waiver or via trade you can make damn sure of that the real problem here is that Kenny is in between, and it's what I was saying all offseason. This team is about good enough to win 84-87 games, which means we have to stand pat with major pieces all year because we are never more than 4-5-6 games out, but never much closer. He acquired just enough pieces to "contend" but not enough to compete with the two or three other juggernauts in this division. Still, we're in better shape than I thought we'd be right now given the circumstances. He's "in-between" because he tried to rebuild during the offseason instead of going for the title one more time with the core group of players.

QUOTE(BearSox @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:10 PM) Also, Toby did his job today. Went 2-3 and scored a run. It isn't his fault that MacDougal sucks ass. He would have been a great addition to the team....unfortunately, he's going to be a liability due to a certain idiot trying to play him at 1B.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:07 PM) And Ryan "The Natural" Sweeney is now down to .200. Well, at least he has SOME clue at the plate, watching Terrero up there with Hall at 2B was laughable. And Erstad's now 4 for 34 against LHP. Great AB against Lilly, although a good LF catches that ball that Darin hit. Sweeney has hit maybe 5 balls hard so far this season. As I've been saying all along, he's not strong enough to play at this level yet. He looks good at the plate taking pitches, etc., but the ball just dies off of his bat. He's the anti-Soriano right now.

QUOTE(Hideaway Lights @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:06 PM) we still don't have Jim Thome or Scott Podsednik, and we just got back a backup catcher capable of hitting at the major league level a little patience beyond one game would be completely refreshing Oh come on....the chances of Pods coming back 100 pct this year aren't very good. KW should have never brought him back, as he's as fragile as Barbaro. As for Thome....it's hard to put a lot of faith in a 36 year old power hitter who swings very hard with a rib cage injury.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:05 PM) No offense, Ozzie asleep at the wheel, and Jose on short rest for Sunday = Cubs sweep. I smelled Cubs sweep a week ago, but that's just my pessimistic nature. Marquis is throwing the ball great, and I'm sure Zambrano will dominate us on Sunday.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:03 PM) No team that gives up more runs that it scores has ever finished in first, probably not even in 2nd. We're simply not that good. Our offense is the worst in the AL, and our bullpen is tied for 2nd in blown saves. We're exactly where we belong with our strong starting pitching (20 something starts of 6+ innings) and good defense...it's cancelled out by our offense and bullpen. Bingo! Look at our talent level....it's nothing special.

QUOTE(Hideaway Lights @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:02 PM) Is this coming from the same guy who basically invented the "choke" avatar in 2005? I never once used the avatar, thanks! And to say that team didn't choke over the last two months of the regular season is a nice case of hindsight.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:02 PM) Pathetic. You suck Ozzie. It's not just Ozzie that deserves the suck label right now. It's ok, as long as our pitching does well, Greg Walker's job will be safe.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ May 18, 2007 -> 09:01 PM) 6 hits against the Cubs!?!?! WTF Quite the outburst. Only 2 more hits than errors.

QUOTE(Hideaway Lights @ May 18, 2007 -> 08:58 PM) I see. I didn't realize we went undefeated in games against teams with worse records in 2005. No, but we won virtually every close game we had. We probably have more blown saves this year than we did in all of 2005. My grandma could have managed a team well with 3 lights out relievers.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ May 18, 2007 -> 08:57 PM) 1-2 already on Uribe. At least Sweeney is in the hole. Should've played him over Terrero in the first place. Of course Ozzie Guillen's too much of an idiot. Sweet...Sweeney can work the count full, and then break his bat. Hopefully it'll be a bloop.

Lefties are hitting .417 against MacDougal coming into today. Good thing Ozzie brought in MacDougal to face a switch-hitter. Nothing like putting your team in the best chance to succeed.