fathom

We have a Timo sighting tonight!!!

Every single f***ing game in Oakland seems the same. We play like minor leaguers, and Oakland just seems to retire every batter from the 4th inning on.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 05:04 AM) Huff's average isn't much better than Crede's and he's only hit 6 homers. I like him, but I heard a scout talking about him on the radio, and they said he isn't the hitter he was a couple of years ago. His bat has supposedly slowed considerably. He may be a right handed Ben Grieve. Considering Huff is lefty, that might be hard to do. However, every time I watch Huff bat, he seems to hit the ball hard. However, Crede isn't going anywhere. Did you hear the Sox PR machine, Hawk, praising Crede tonight?

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 05:02 AM) Cotts would have never pitched in the 5th anyways, they'd save him for the 7th or 8th. If Marte was healthy, you can bet your ass Cotts would have been in to face Johnson in the 5th inning.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 05:01 AM) Exactly. Moneyball means 100 pitches and you're done. The patient approach worked great the first inning, and then it was forgotten. Especially with Frank on the bench, this Sox team isn't going to have a lot of success trying to be patient. What puzzles me is how Pods had the great AB in the first inning, and then had 3 simply miserable ABs after that.

Marte's injury really hurts us a lot more than we thought. The difference between Marte and Walker is huge, and the effect it has on our bullpen roles is bad. Instead of the lights-out Cotts being put in for the 5th inning in the crucial situation of this game, we had to bring in Walker, who hasn't done a f***ing thing to deserve a spot on our roster. Just sucks to lose a game when you lose with your worst player on the roster f***ing up (bases loaded walk) with the game on the line.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:57 AM) Harden is a flat out filthy pitcher who has been good of late. We knew going in it'd be tough. You're not going to put up 6 on a good pitcher in a pitcher's park. We'd have been in very good shape had Buehrle, Garcia, or Garland pitched however. We had our chance to make Harden only go 5 innings tonight after the first inning, but our hitters seemed to get less patient as the game went on. The biggest problem with the bottom of our order is their inability to draw a walk.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:55 AM) As bad as Contreras was, the Sox aren't going to win many games scoring 2 runs. After the first inning, I don't understand the offensive approach. It seemed like no one really had a plan at the plate. And Kendall's thrown out 7 of 61 coming in. Except for Konerko and AJ, if anyone else gets on first, they should have been going. Maybe the'll do the unimaginable and score a few of Street in the 9th. I know I'm thought of as the eternal pessmist on here, but my biggest concern with this team is its inability to have good ABs against the top pitchers in baseball. Yes, there's a reason why they're the best of the best. However, we have too many everyday players who are easy outs. Against tough righties, guys like Rowand, Crede, and Uribe are incredibly easy outs.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:47 AM) So is that a yes or a no? Yes, I would have gladly taken those numbers......however, I would have also thought that maybe he had figured some things out to get those numbers lower as the season went on. However, it almost seems like back to square one with him. You can play the whole number game with anyone on the team, and use it to prove a point. How many people still can J. Dye = Dead? Not only has he easily been our best hitter for over a month, but he's also right on with the power numbers we expected from him (HR at least).

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:47 AM) I would think most of us would after how our staff pitched in the second half last year. Here's another one: how many of you really thought we were going to win this game? Be honest! We've found ways to win games this year that I thought we had no prayer going into the game (Duque vs W'brook, etc.). This game would have been a lot easier to deal with if Contreras didn't pitch like a pussy tonight. We suck at Oakland, plain and simple.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:43 AM) Even after today, Contreras' ERA is 4.34. To put that in perspective, C.C. Sabathia currently has an ERA of 4.33. That's a good point, but my biggest concern is that's about the 10th time I've seen a stat like that in the last 3 weeks for Contreras. People were saying similar stats after the Arizona debacle, as well as his awful Cubs start last week.

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:33 AM) I actually think bullpen is the least of our problems at the moment. We should be looking at another starter and a possible position player. While we're in the middle of the league in overall offensive categories, we still have the WORST offense in all of baseball against RHP. That's a problem, especially since a majority of pitchers are right-handed. Yeah, against a tough righty, we really don't have a lot of options from the left side. A big problem against RHP is that Rowand is brutal against them. I definitely don't want him hitting 3rd against RHP.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:30 AM) 7-7 I believe. On a team that is 29 games over .500, that's a pretty poor record.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:27 AM) That right there just makes me think we're losing this game. f***ing Contreras shat the bed once again. 2 runs won't win you many games, especially on the road against a team playing with a ton of confidence. I would have rather Contreras gave up 7 runs, and get hit hard, then the s*** that happened tonight. We have 6 outs to try and get any type of offense going.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:22 AM) This year he's been real good against lefties and horrendous against righties. Stanton isn't great, but he's infinitely better than Kevin Walker. If we have the chance to sign him, we should lock him up. However, we'd have the last chance out of all the AL teams to claim him, so I'm sure a team looking for lefties in the pen will get him first.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:19 AM) Difference - Danny Wright had an ERA above 6. El Duque and Contreras DO NOT. That's what I'm saying. Recently, Contreras's ERA has been well over 6 in the last month or so. It's definitely brought back shades of the Wright era.

Tomorrow's game is absolutely critical. Garland against Saarloos is a match-up that we should have the advantage for. Since we always seem to struggle hitting homers when we're in Oakland, Ozzie really has to implement everything possible in order to create offense. No more of this sitting on your ass, waiting for the homer offense.

I was excited when we released Danny Wright because I'd never have to watch such an annoying pitcher again. However, Duque and Contreras are doing their best Danny Wright impression far too often now.

In his last 23+ innings, I'm pretty sure Contreras has given up 21 ER.

QUOTE(JimH @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:07 AM) Bad outing for Walker there, all he had to do was get it close to the strike zone. Now, let me explain why they brought up Walker. It as much to force the other manager into something as anything else. You absolutely need two lefthanders in the bullpen to prevent the other manager from doing things you don't want him to do. Problem is, they need a better LH option than Kevin Walker. Before someone says Arnie Munoz, I personally don't think he's the answer, he has control issues too. It is easy to say Bajenaru and he cannot be worse than what we just saw, but he is also not the answer for a long man. That should be Walker's role but he is not proving he can do it. Had he gotten Swisher he could have been left in there. It comes down to this, they need better pitchers. I'm not going to freak out over one wacky outing here but they need more relief depth. Then again so do about 26 other teams. We need a long reliever, plain and simple.

QUOTE(Cerbaho-WG @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:06 AM) If Baj isn't called up after this game, I may, I may....laugh a lot. Trust me, he's not coming up. Walker walking one batter isn't going to make Baj look any better to the Sox brass.

MOST ANNOYING GAME OF THE YEAR!

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:02 AM) He's still better than virtually any #4 starter you're going to find. He's having a bad month. The guy's ERA was 3.13 after his first June start. We're really splitting hairs if we're that worried about the back end of our staff considering how well our top 3 are doing and how far in front in the division we are. Contreras has been sharp in like one out of his last 5 starts. His last two starts have been absolutely brutal. If he continues to struggle like he's been, we WILL need to be concerned about finding another starter. The thing with Contreras is that his approach is so different from the attitude of the big 3 starters.

I hate watching these f***ing games in Oakland. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

What does Walker have to do in order to get released from the organization? I'm stunned that he was called up with Marte injured.