fathom

HOLY spiff! Welcome to the club Ross!

Gotta be aggressive on 3-1.

QUOTE(My Dixie Normus @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 01:47 AM) Did Pods just punch Tajeda in the ass?!?!?!?! He was probably looking for needle marks.

Interesting decision by Ozzie. That bunt takes the bat out of the hands of Thome. Gload is a big time double play candidate with his ground ball swing.

Bunt time? The way things are going, it's very scary. I like Thome's chances against this guy's wind-up though.

Pods gets us started. We've got some lefties to face Ray, so that will help our chances. We destroyed him last season.

Here's one more thought I've had....I get very annoyed with Hawk saying how this team hasn't hit their stride. Am I crazy, or did we have like 6 hitters swinging the bats well above their expected contribution level for about 2 months this season? In my mind, your team is on a pretty good run if you can get that type of production.

QUOTE(JimH @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 01:36 AM) And if the starter has around 100 pitches and are doing ok it probably shows they know how to adjust to the hitters and/or have the ability to get them out. What it comes down to is this, how is the pitcher throwing, does he have control and command? Is he making the proper adjustments to hitters? When they sit on fastballs in certain counts, are they able to throw an offspeed pitch for strikes? My point is, it's nowhere near as black and white as this board seems to think it is. But that's ok, to each their own. I think you also have to know your pitcher. Guys like Contreras and Garland, as they get tired, can still throw their sinker (a lot of people think that your sinker gets better the more tired you are). However, people like Garcia and Vazquez, who throw a lot more offspeed pitches, have their curves flatten out as they get deeper into games. The issue I have with Ozzie is that he's managing his pitching staff this season like he did last year. Of course, the problem with that is that these guys aren't as effective as the pitchers last year. It's hard for Ozzie, and he's been very cautious this season with his decision making. I really feel like he's not being himself right now, and that's hurting the team. I agree with you though...if these players don't execute better than they have, we're going to end up 10 games out of the WC standings.

We better not see Pods ph over Mackowiak.

QUOTE(JimH @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 01:32 AM) Fair enough. So it depends on the level of the mess and who they'd be facing. Of course, there's situations where it's obvious you should bring a lefty in (like having Thornton face Blalock, which was a good job by Ozzie).

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 01:30 AM) There are too many White Sox that give the courtesy jog down the line on routine grounders. If you develop a reputation for busting your ass, you will make the opposition commit at least 1 error every year, and probably more. Thome gets down the line just as fast as Pods on routine grounders.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 01:30 AM) It's a little bit different leaving out a starter to work around trouble when they've faced a lineup three times around and have thrown nearly 100 pitches. Especially with the awful numbers some of our pitchers have as their pitch total adds up. We're not the first team to go far in the playoffs and then have our pitchers fall apart the next year.

It's the 8th inning in a 2 run ball game, and there's absolutely no intensity by the Sox. It's sad it's gotten to this point.

Maybe, just maybe, Crede should get a day off. His recent pop up stretch has been pathetic.

QUOTE(JimH @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 01:23 AM) You didn't answer the question about the relievers. You said they should be allowed to clean up their own mess, but not the starters. Yes, I would give our relievers the chance to clean up their mess. Unlike the starters, most of our relievers can get a big 2 out strikeout. Obviously, if they go out there and load the bases with no outs, you might want to bring in a reliever. However, if there's 2 outs and a runner on 2nd, we don't need to be playing the matchups like we have.

QUOTE(JimH @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 01:20 AM) So ... you think relievers should be allowed to get out of their own mess but not a starter. OK. So when a reliever comes in and doesn't have it, he should just let them stay in and you won't complain about it? Why do I doubt that? The way this season is going, the starting pitchers shouldn't be given the benefit of the doubt. Obviously, you're going to have guys like Cotts, Thornton, or MacDougal who might lack their control in a game. Having a guy warming up in the pen is fine during that. However, he has continued to leave his starting pitchers in to start an inning late in a game, and it hasn't paid off much at all. There's been more times than I want to remember where he let a starter give up a hit or two to start the 7th or 8th, and then pull him.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 01:17 AM) I'm to the point where I don't care if we get a guy or two suspended, but if any dirty play happens to us, the player involved needs to just throw down to try and create a spark, suspensions be dammed. Teams used to try and do this stuff in the olden days and while teams shy away from it now due to suspensions, If I were Ozzie I wouldn't care about that. Any type of thing to wake this team up and get them to forget about the losing baseball and go back to just playing baseball would be a blessing. I was hoping Ozzie would go absolutely nuts on Tuesday night when none of the calls were going our way. I'm not a fan of fights or managers getting ejected, but that would have been the perfect situation.

QUOTE(JimH @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 01:14 AM) I don't disagree with your point but aren't you the one who's always on his ass about bringing in pitchers strictly for the matchup? Sure...when it comes to our relievers in the game. Guys like Cotts, Thornton, McCarthy, and Jenks should be allowed to get themselves out of their own mess (unless Cotts is facing Mench ). However, I'm a bigger supporter of letting our bullpen guys start the inning.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 01:14 AM) WHy have him pitch to the lefty. Our pen is relatively fresh, take him out and put it on the pen. That's one of those decisions where it's hard to think of any reason besides possibly trying to get Garcia the win.

So he leaves in Garcia to face a lefty to start this inning? Will someone please explain this to me?

Ozzie leaving in Freddy for what reason?

We sure know how to not capitalize on hangers. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Dye has a hit with RISP since the ASB.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 01:06 AM) You make great points in just about every post you ever produce, but Parque and effective should never be used in the same sentence. You should know by now that Jim Parque is my standard for "excellence". Hell....Buehrle's been resembling Parque recently.

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 01:06 AM) could javy? Sure...his only years in baseball when he's been good was pitching in Montreal, and their huge stadium.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 01:04 AM) It's sad to see a guy who led the league in ERA years ago and now...well, doesn't. Welcome to the joys of pitching at SafeCo with an amazing defense behind you. Jim Parque could have been effective there.