fathom

This offense is absolutely awful now. I'll be absolutely, absolutely stunned if Garcia doesn't allow at least one run this inning.

Keep pulling that outside pitch all month PK...you'll be back home in Arizona in no time.

That's a disappointing AB by Thome leading off the inning. You'll get a good pitch to hit from Byrd...no reason to be overly aggressive.

QUOTE(Mr. Showtime @ Sep 9, 2006 -> 12:55 AM) I hope so. Maybe he never recovered from last year, but how can someone with his speed not get more bunt hits? Jesus, we need a Scott Skiles like "Run" quote... He's lost about two steps. He's not even close to being a "burner" anymore. He also has a terrible baseball IQ, which doesn't really help him out. He has the physical abilities of a Frontier League player now.

I think the Indians are using aluminum bats tonight. Every ball sounds like a rocket coming off of the bat.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Sep 9, 2006 -> 12:53 AM) Do you think that's a fact? I hope so. The way he's been seeing less playing time is a good indicator. Sources indicated he wouldn't be coming back to the Sox, and this was before he started to suck even more, and Ozzie started saying he would have to platoon him with Ozuna. I'd say there's a zero percent chance Pods is back.

Our catalyst continues to be such a bright spot though. 22 games and counting until Pods becomes a 4th outfielder on some crappy NL team.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Sep 9, 2006 -> 12:50 AM) Oh nellie ... do we stink sometimes. This is not a good time to let Byrd have one of those rare 7 inning, 1-2 run outings. He sucks, white sox! Did you not get the memo??? We've made lesser pitchers look like Cy Young lately.

It seems like we go 1-2-3 in the first inning every single freaking game now.

We really making quick outs these days. At least it takes away from the torture that is White Sox 2nd half baseball.

You still suck Pods. QUOTE(greg775 @ Sep 9, 2006 -> 12:47 AM) By the way, Paul Byrd is a hack. I am not trying to jinx us, but this guy is a hittable pitcher. Just do it, Sox. He changes speeds a lot. We've had no chance against those guys lately.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Sep 9, 2006 -> 12:45 AM) If Fred is a competitor, he has to be thanking his lucky stars right now as well as shaking his head at how such a highly paid pitcher can throw such crap up there. Wow was that line smash smoked! Can we pull him now? A hanging slider popped up, a hanging slider hit to the fence, and a mediocre fastball ripped deep to the right fielder don't make me very confident. QUOTE(greg775 @ Sep 9, 2006 -> 12:45 AM) p.s. Do we ever get our leadoff man on base anymore? Cheat had a stat that said they're hitting about .140 leading off the game since the ASB. The last time I can remember was the first game of the Tampa series.

QUOTE(beautox @ Sep 9, 2006 -> 12:44 AM) Garcia is "teh sux" and shin soo choo is awesome. Garcia is one of the most painful Sox pitchers to watch in a long time. Thankfully, that one was right at Dye. It looked like a 3 run homer off the bat.

Garcia has no velocity or bite on his pitches.

Well, I'm happy Pods hit the cutoff man...it's not like Sizemore was going to 3rd on that fly ball. Don't let Garko beat us with 2 outs again!

Man, AJP really is awful at transferring the ball to his throwing hand.

Freddy throwing meatballs already. Get McCarthy up in the pen. His fastball is at 88 mph.

Ozzie better have a tight leash on Garcia tonight. If he allows 3 runs, he should be pulled.

QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Sep 8, 2006 -> 09:57 PM) I think there's been more injuries than we've been told. My baseball nut coworker said right away after Buehrle's slide started: he's hurt. And I don't buy that Jose just decided one day to throw sidearm only, for the hell of it. Freddy's just a mystery, that's for sure. A mystery an injury would explain. And Thome's been kinda quiet second half, wouldn't you say? Well, if these players are injured and not telling Ozzie, then shame on Ozzie for not communicating well with his players. Buehrle hasn't lost 5 mph...he was throwing 88 mph last night, which is high for him. Look at how some other teams we're competing with have lost core players for an extended period of time.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Sep 8, 2006 -> 08:56 PM) This is the major problem. It's difficult to play like a champion when your back hurts like hell every time you throw a ball or swing a bat. I just don't buy into the injury excuse right now. We've had great luck avoiding injuries this year, and I guarantee Mark Buehrle and Jose Contreras aren't the only players with sore backs after 140 games into the season. Here's a question I have for people: what's with posters saying they turn the game off, especially in a close game like the Boston series? I'm just as pissed off as anyone else about how the game is progressing, but if you're going to invest 3 hours watching the game, why not just finish watching it and hope for the best?

Mackowiak at 3B tonight

I don't like how people argue Ozzie knows how to handle his players, and that's why he's tougher on guys like McCarthy and Anderson than he is Garcia and Pods. Last time I checked, Garcia and Pods are getting worse as the season goes on. This team is so tight on the field, and they just don't look like they're having any fun at all.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Sep 8, 2006 -> 05:53 PM) This is what I would do... 1. Trade Freddy for mid-level prospects or whatever, trying to eat as little of that $10 million as possible. Move B-Mac into his spot in '07. 2. Dump Pods and give Sweeney a shot in LF, possibly platooning with Mackowiak. 3. Pick up Buehrle's option for next season. I'm not convinced that he's healthy right now (he's had back problems recently), so I don't think that he's lost it. 4. Keep Anderson in CF. 5. Keep Uribe at SS. 6. Look to trade for a leadoff hitter with speed. Where is the leadoff hitter going to play, as you have all the positions covered? Also, why would you platoon Sweeney with Mackowiak? That doesn't make much sense. I do agree 100 pct with you that we need to dump Freddy, no matter what we get in return. It's too bad we didn't do that at the trade deadline. QUOTE(WCSox @ Sep 8, 2006 -> 05:56 PM) But it may be necessary if Sweeney doesn't hit. HOW ABOUT THE SOX ACQUIRE A 4TH OUTFIELDER WHO CAN PLAY NUMEROUS OUTFIELD POSITIONS AND BAT RIGHTY!!!!!

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Sep 8, 2006 -> 05:50 PM) And wastes a ton of talent in the process. More than likely that's true, but if KW/Ozzie are stupid and go out and try to get someone like Hunter to play CF, then I wouldn't mind having someone with Anderson's ability on the bench. I always thought Rowand would have been an amazing 4th outfielder that would play against LHP.

QUOTE(StrangeSox @ Sep 8, 2006 -> 05:43 PM) So where does BA go? Becomes a perfect 4th outfielder who can provide a righty bat off the bench and terrific defense at all three positions.