fathom

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 04:25 AM) Its a higher percentage than Frank Thomas' career clutch homers vs. career homers, and his stats are still updated almost daily on this site. Thome is having a great year, and has had his share of clutch hits. He didn't get Rivera tonight. Guess what? Not a lot of people do. He's going to the Hall of Fame. Up until his last few seasons with the Sox, I always thought Thomas was terrible in the clutch. The only memory I have of him being clutch during his glory years was a massive homer against Jeff Montgomery in a big game vs the Royals in the 1990s. That's one of the reasons his walkoff against Guardado was so special a few years ago...it was totally unexpected.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 04:22 AM) I think any critical comments of Thome are stupid. I can understand being upset about that particular at bat. But cmon. It's just stupid to criticize a guy with his numbers. And how Brian Anderson and his .220 average isn't crucified more is beyond me. I know he's a good outfielder. Sure, I would like to see Thome come up with more hits against closers. However, there has to be a line you don't cross when complaining after a game. Thome, PK, Dye, and Crede have earned the right to not receive crap after every play they do.

QUOTE(champ @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 04:22 AM) Pssst...Riske was the guy who put the game out of reach. Surrendering two extra runs in the 7th. Riske can be good, or he can suck. Same thing with Cotts. He put the game out of reach? Are you freaking kidding me? I think I'm watching different Sox games than some people now.

QUOTE(ceffa2000 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 04:20 AM) I like having pitchers fear 2-6. I mean REALLY fear. But the only problem, no one fears our pitching. THey've been hit around long enough now where hitters relaxing in the box and waiting their turn. They know if they hang around for 4-5 innings, they'll get their shot more often than not. Here's what I've noticed about our starters. If you're patient enough against them, they're going to have an inning where they implode and lose their focus. Our starters don't have the greatest stuff on the planet (Vaz has above average stuff, and Contreras does sometimes), and they become very wild in the strike zone. It's one of the main reasons why I think we have 3 wins this year when we score 3 runs or less. We probably had like 20 last year.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 04:19 AM) I agree with Fathom here. However our bullpen also can be mediocre to s***. I can't understand why the people who wanted Garland out of there can't see that the bullpen also likely would have sucked. Oz can't win either way. It's not like these bullpen guys are studs. Our bullpen, compared to our starting pitchers, is much better. The only guy who's really struggling is Cotts.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 04:14 AM) Last night he drew a HUGE walk in the 11th to get the game winning run into scoring position, that's pretty damn clutch in my book. I can't believe anyone would blame any of the following on the Sox this year: Thome, PK, Crede, and Dye. Those four guys are having superior years, and they've all been pretty damn consistent all season.

In regards to Pods, I've made no secret that I can't stand him on the field. However, I would love for him to shut me up and contribute to this team. The thing that sucks is he continues to get worse, and his confidence seems shot. For a slap hitter, he has no bunting ability and he strikes out way too much. QUOTE(ceffa2000 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 04:14 AM) I wholeheartedly agree. Its a slight upgrade on defense, big upgrade in batting and who the hell cares about base stealing? Pods hasn't been stealing bases since the ASB. While he's not your prototypical leadoff hitter, its not like Pods has been tearing the cover at all. Mackowiak is two times the base runner Pods is now.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 04:10 AM) Its unbelievable to me how poorly you can pitch wearing a White Sox uniform and still be praised these days. Yep, I agree. The expectations are sky high, but I've never seen people celebrate mediocrity so much (a line from "Meet the Fockers").

QUOTE(Dan Pasqua @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 04:11 AM) Nice numbers but can you name the last time he got a clutch hit for us at a crucial time? I watch every game and it seems like every time he comes up late in a game and we need a homer or hit, he doesnt do anything If u know a time when hes come through when needed..Please refresh my memory Thome doesn't hit righty pitchers with great stuff. The righties that he really hammers are sinker ball pitchers. You don't see a lot of closer with sinkers.

Why not give Gload a chance to play LF? There's no chance he can be worse than Pods or Ozuna out there. Those guys can only catch fly balls hit directly at them anyways. Even Pods today said his arm is awful. However, Ozzie said he's the best we have out there, so he'll keep playing.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 04:05 AM) If the starter has given up 3 homers, and you are going to take him out if he gives up a hit, and its the 7th inning, why bother waiting for the runner to reach? The thing is Ozzie most likely had given up on the game by that point. Well, the PFB told me that it's not a problem that Buehrle allowed 3 homers, since they were all solo.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 04:06 AM) If KW wants to get bmac in the rotation he needs to trade one of our starters. If we mosey into next year with what we have, bmac will be in the bullpen again for the year. Another year towards arbitration down the toliet. Either Buehrle, Garland, Vazquez, Garcia, or McCarthy won't be on the Sox next year. We can all pray it's Garcia that's not here. I'd take my chances with Contreras, Buehrle, Garland, Vazquez, and McCarthy.

QUOTE(Felix @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 04:04 AM) Because he wants to try and get out of it preserving the bullpen. I see your point, and I tentitively agree, but I can't blame Ozzie for trying to save his bullpen in the middle of this stretch without a day off. Also, keep in mind the score at the time. I understand that you play to win every game, but if you have a chance to save the bullpen an arm so they could be used the next day when the score is closer and your team has a better chance at winning, you might want to take it. I mean seriously, who wants to waste arms during a blowout? If it's a blowout, why not pull Garland after 6 innings, and get him a little more rest. We're going to need a strong Garland the rest of the way a lot more than a strong Riske (who hasn't pitched much at all). If Ozzie was going to use Riske for 2 and MacDougal for 1 tonight, then he should have just let Riske start the inning. Great news! Papelboner just blew a save, and KC beats Boston 5-4.

QUOTE(ceffa2000 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 04:02 AM) Its so disheartening for our 2-6 guys to do their job and get on base. Then to know that the next 4 guys are rallys killers waiting to happen. Once in a blue moon you can get something out of them offensively. At least BA can hold his own in CF usually. We're a 5 man offense. If Thome, PK, Dye, Crede, or AJP don't produce, we're likely not going to get anything. Still, having 5 players you can count on to do something good every series is pretty good.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 04:02 AM) Well I was hoping to see bmac in the rotation this year, however according to Ozzie bmac was terrible last year. I guess having a 1.59 ERA down the stretch is horrible and our current rag tag group of starters are a much better option than the super stud that we dont want to trade unless we get a kings ransom. I would love to see Ozzie call Garcia or Vazquez horrible.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 04:00 AM) That's the problem. The starters are not performing, but our manager insists on extending them game after game after game, and it almost always results in more runs scored for the opposition. And then we act surprised that they're tired. As you've mentioned numerous times, their whole rationale about how they were going to use McCarthy to help take away some of the innings from our starters was an absolute crock. These starters look so tired, but Ozzie seems to be trying to push them now as if they're fresh.

QUOTE(ceffa2000 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 03:58 AM) Would you say that he was playing for the playoffs last night, using Jenks for 2-2/3 innings? I think he does think about it. It just comes down to our starters not performing. We can't expect to score 6-9 runs a game every game. Yes, but when your starters are giving up rockets all over the field, it might just be time to take them out after 6 innings against a great team.

Our starting pitching sucks, as does our LF and CF position. If we can get some improvements from those positions, we're going to play better baseball.

QUOTE(Felix @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 03:54 AM) Ozzie kept him in to save his bullpen, which has already been used a lot on streak of 24 consecutive games in 24 days. He wanted to get more out of him to save the pen some work, but it didn't work out. I can't blame Ozzie for that. But if you're going to pull him after allowing one hit, you might as well just let the fresh pitcher start that inning. This is an argument many of us have had all year. Why wait for the pitcher to fail...give someone else the chance to come in and pitch better. As you know, our starting pitchers are not pitching to their abilities this year....we can't keep throwing them out there late in games and acting surprised that they're not getting the job done. QUOTE(Colorado Sox Fan @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 03:54 AM) If Riske does his job, maybe Sox win. Another ESPN game where we're getting blown out, make an incredible comeback and then fall short. Ugh. Jim Thome, please do something one of these days, meaningless solo homer, strikeout or walk isn't cutting it. Win ballgames for us, stud. Wait, you're blaming Riske and Thome? Thome just had one of the more impressive weekend series in Sox history in terms of getting on base, and Riske went 2 innings, 1 run in relief. If he was a starter, he'd be our number 2 with those numbers.

Just for fun, the greatest rotation ever assembled has the following ERAs: 3.75, 4.83, 4.89, 5.16, 5.18

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 03:46 AM) Garland is going to have his share of starts where he s***s the bed. Unfortunately it happened tonight. He was close to weaseling out of some runs but the homers killed him. When you can't consistently strike out guys, you're going to give up a lot of 2 strike hits. That same thing happened today. Garland had a pretty good sinker working tonight, but he kept getting burned on his offspeed stuff (which is an average at best pitch).

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 03:42 AM) Well, one thing is sure for me. No matter how obvious it is the Sox need a different LF, we aren't going to see anyone new until Sept. call-ups or 2007. I also don't understand bringing Garland back for a batter in the 7th. That cost another run. Evidently Ozzie has a rule that the last batter the starter faces must reach base. And what was the worst managerial decision of the night, pitching to ARod with first base open in a 5-0 game. QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 03:44 AM) Ozzie needs to click the eject button on the 2005 WS DVD. Because I think he uses that to help him figure out when to pull his pitchers. He waits until they get raped in the 7th inning, then pulls them either with men on or men in already. Then he picks the worst possible guys to get out of it, either Riske or Cotts is the flavor of choice with men on. Two contact pitchers who have a propensity to give it up. If the Sox are getting so screwed by the umpires, why is Ozzie just sitting in the dugout? Instead of seeing our pitchers continue to stare down the umpires and possibly lose focus, we need Ozzie and Cooper to go out there and stick up for his players. I'm not a fan of managers getting tossed, but this team seems to be getting very frustrated with the umps.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 03:37 AM) Its Paulie getting 1 base on a double clearly over the RF's head. It wasn't close. The only thing that makes me feel an ounce better about this is that Rivera would have been brought in to face Crede. Torre is a great manager when it comes to that.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 03:35 AM) Well, there is one reasonable option out there... Jose Cruz Jr. Of course, that'd mean that one of Gload or Ozuna would have to go. BTW -- the culprit of that 7th inning rally, which was killed, was AJ. 2-1 pitch, Villone had just thrown six of seven balls, and that pitch was several inches inside. AJ has been great this year, but man... he doesn't see a whole lot of pitches that he doesn't like. The AJP bat was bad, but it's just symptomatic of how asinine our catching situation is right now.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 03:35 AM) Mackowiak has been raking righties all year. All fudging year. And he's looked bad recently at the plate, which isn't surprising as he's one of the streakiest players I've seen over the past few years. It's too bad he didn't get more playing time, not in CF, during his good stretch.