Kalapse

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 05:09 PM) The only positive about Pods over Wise/BA/Owens right now is the plate discipline. He'll draw more walks and see a ton more pitches than any of those other 3. And he can get a bunt down. It just reminds me of how much I hate watching him hit. He works counts well because he just doesn't swing the bat. For his career he's only swung at 36.7% of his total pitches seen. Last year that would have been the 4th lowest swing% of the 343 players who had at least 200 PA. He makes contact at a very high rate; his 88.1% number would put him in the upper 14 percentile of qualified hitters last year but he chooses to just watch pitches. For his career only 7% of his total strikes are from him swinging and missing while 38% are looking. That's why back in '05 and '06 50% of his strikeouts (total: 171 K) were looking. He's incredibly disciplined, anyone who watches 63%+ of pitches into the glove has to be but his strikezone vision isn't great. Good discipline + poor zone vision = bat on shoulder approach. He doesn't really draw walks but 8 to 9 percent of his plate appearances will likely end in him jogging to 1st.

QUOTE (shipps @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 03:27 PM) I would really like someone to answer this for me. I dont know if its in my head that I can directionally hit the ball or if I am suppossed to just press x for the swing. Its a basic thing but I am not that fluent in video games. Sorry, I missed your post. Go into the options and turn "Plate Coverage Indicator" on. You'll now have a yellow circle on the screen that shows you where you're swinging and how much of the plate you're covering, it's very helpful IMO.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 04:08 PM) I don't know how good BA would be if exposed over long periods of time. Start BA against lefties and keep Pods down at 9th against righties. See how it works out. I have a feeling Ozzie is tempted to put Pods at leadoff...ewww. Scott Podsednik is a 33 year old marginal offensive player (.256/.322/.353/.675 in 1008 PA over the last 3 seasons) and terrible center fielder with an awful arm. Why anyone would a player such as this to receive 75% of the total PA in center field is beyond me.

Josh is hitting .318 with a .464 OBP and excellent defense at third. No reason to go changing anything when things are going this well for him.

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 02:43 PM) This is a different team with different circumstances. After 07 BA spoke of his attitude adjustment, Ozzie does have to manage a team whom he sees every day, it's possible more than our video-game minds should be brought into consideration. I'm not saying he's always right, but the overreaction, hyperbole on this board is astoundingly ridiculous. BA should have someone to platoon with, and we DO need a contingency plan if Getz has trouble. Pods is hardly a great contingency plan, but he's sure as s*** better than Owens. Edmonds. may. not. have. been. able. to be gotten. I don't think the Sox (KW or Ozzie) would be interested in Edmonds regardless. I do believe they're proud of their new found speed in CF. With another plodder in Center they could no longer claim that greater than half the lineup is capable of going first to third or score from second on a single.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 02:35 PM) As the past two people have said, you really shouldn't get all worked up over anything posted on Bleacher Report. Any idiot can create an account and post whatever idiotic article full of flawed logic, horrendously one-sided trade ideas or flat-out inaccurate assertions that they feel like writing in their spare time. That's why I find it sooo frustrating when I read a trade rumor on say Google news, a team message board or a blog and the source is 15 year old Trevor from Waukesha Wisconsin who thinks Bill Hall is going to be dealt to the Yankees for Phillip Hughes. I guess on the internet anyone with an email account, 5 free minutes and a wild imagination is a reliable news source.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 02:11 PM) Well I wouldnt expect that to be ironic at all as he's a knowing baseball person. The people on here are all knowing. I have some serious doubt that everyone booing at the stadium had that amount of perspective. I guess we wont know one way or the other. It's interesting to me that some here say this would easily happen at Wrigley but not at US Cellular. I remember Brian McRae saying that taunts from the bleachers were disgusting. I wonder how Milton Bradley will find the Confines. To the Sox fans' credit I havent heard anything of Brian McRae's type complaints from a Sox outfielder. Jaque.Jones. Horry.Kow.

He hit .240/.381/.320/.701 in the spring with a 11:6 BB:K and 4/7 in SB Spring training is PERFECT for Scott Podsednik's approach at the plate. Most pitchers have trouble finding the zone during march and Podsednik's bat-on-shoulder-don't-swing-for-nothin' approach will lead to many walks. I'm sure his 6 K's were all looking.

Why the f*** do people read bleacher report? It's some of the dumbest s*** on the internet. I have no idea why google news links to that god forsaken site.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 01:55 PM) Important point. Most of the Chicago sports media were starting the "Wise is not a leadoff hitter" talk, and I'd say that's where the average fan gets their info. And ironically enough; Lawrence Holmes was one of the more vocal Wise detractors.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 01:39 PM) But if we're real real honest, dont you think the majority of those booing fans wanted to win that day? Even if they dont know anyone's minor league #s (i think a lot of those fans fall in that category)...... they shouldve liked the most recent stuff they saw from Wise which was postseason clutch hitting! I agree that shouldnt make Wise's leash long. I'm glad he's out of #1 hole. But the leash is microscopic if we boo after 2 at-bats, c'mon. He got 2 f***ing hits in the postseason, that doesn't make him a leadoff hitter for a title contender. The fact of the matter is: at every stop in this guy's career he proved that he shouldn't hit atop a major league lineup and the fans knew it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 01:38 PM) Am I the only one who remembers people wanting to sign Joe Randa in April 2005? ChavezTalk.com Joe Crede was on the outs with the fanbase going into 2005.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 01:32 PM) Are you saying we could compare Adam Jones to BA, or Adam Jones to Wise? Adam Jones was the centerpiece of the Bedard trade...and was even more highly-regarded than Anderson. Personally, I don't think he would be booed in Chicago...had we traded Buehrle for him, until at least 3-4 months into the season. The issue here is that Anderson is not so tremendously/clearly/quantifiably BETTER than either Wise or Owens in any respect but defensively...and yet Anderson wouldn't receive nearly the level of booing (and we can say it was all for Ozzie and KW, fine), especially had he failed on 3 bunt attempts. I also don't remember Crede ever being booed as loudly as Wise was, despite extended periods of non-performance/K's and flares to 2B/RF...the fact that it was only the first or second game of the season, that's the thing that doesn't make sense to me. It's not like we are a sure-fire contender for the World Series. Are the expectations so high in Chicago that we're now like the Braves, Yankees, Angels and Red Sox fans? Or, how about this, has a player in only the first or second game of the season ever been so roundly booed in St. Louis? We're booing KW and Ozzie because they won a World Series championship and because we've had the most successful franchise since 1990 of every team but the Yankees, Braves and Red Sox??? How the hell can you say that with any sort of certainty? And are we really comparing the loudness of boos now?

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 01:30 PM) Also just aside from the discussion, Wise was .319/.402 last year at Charlottle. Getz was .302/.366, albeit in many more at-bats. If fans are booing the front office for not preparing us for THIS year, they need to keep on doing it I guess until Getz proves he's a top of the order MLB hitter. My whole view is though that booing is pointless to begin with. What Wise did last year as a 30 year old in AAA is irrelevant, he's proven over the past 12 years that he can't even hit minor league pitching, a few fluky months changes nothing. You're comparing a 31 year old with a career .309 minor league OBP and sub .300 2009 spring OBP to a 25 year old with a .361 career minor league OBP and .400+? 2009 spring OBP.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 01:02 PM) There really just aren't very many black baseball players to begin with. Here's a challenge for you: If I spot you CC and Dontrelle Willis (lol he doesnt really count) then name another black, non-Latin MLB SP. Also, finish this sentence: If Adam Jones was drafted/acquired by the Sox and had similar results to what he's had on the Orioles, injury included, Sox fans would _______ if he struck out 3 times on Opening Day. Half of David Price 2 months from now and Edwin Jackson. Is Jeremy Guthrie part black? That's about it. If you expand to relievers you'll get a few more like Darren Oliver and Arthur Rhodes. And as for Adam Jones, they'd let him be seeing as how he's incredibly talented and still very young.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 12:55 PM) If Makowiak, Griffey, Everett, and Swisher could play CF for Ozzie then so will Pods. Hurray for lowered standards.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 12:16 PM) Like that game in Oakland back in April of '07. QUOTE (Capn12 @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 12:18 PM) Jesus H. Christ on a popsicle stick... Are you serious? Why... Hell, I guess if nothing else, my avatar and Tag title are now meaningful again! Speak of the f***ing devil.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 12:17 PM) There are the White Sox fans who grew up with Thomas from 1990-1998 and then the younger fans in their teens and twenties who tend to post more on these boards and have a lesser appreciation for him, because they never really saw in person or on TV how good he really was back then...they just heard about all the off-field stuff, the divorce, the bankruptcy, the sniping back and forth with KW and Manuel and the "he's an idiot" stuff. But here, chisox.com, wsi, etc., I think it was about 75% really in Frank's corner and 25% saying "get him out of the way and move on" basically. As a 22 year old I can say that this is just 100% incorrect. I don't know about kids in their mid teens but nearly every Sox fan I know of the same age (including MANY on this board) attribute their White Sox fandom to Frank Thomas. The 2005/2006 offseason was one big love fest for Frank.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 12:14 PM) Ozzie was quoted as KW told him he was calling up Owens "for a few days". Maybe they think Pods will be ready in a few days as he hasn't played in couple of weeks. I can't see how anyone thinks Pods, when he's not hurt, isn't better than Owens. Pods in CF is a scary thought, but you can say that about several White Sox when they are out on the field. I do know Ozzie would sub defensively for Pods and he probably wouldn't for Owens, so BA might get on the field late in some games he normally would be riding pine in. Hopefully though, its all moot, and BA starts scorching the ball. Like that game in Oakland back in April of '07.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 11:55 AM) I'm about as passionate as it comes when talking about Sox players and criticizing them. Not one time have I thought "well, Billy Koch is white, so we shouldn't despise him". I think that's why Paul Konerko gets a pass in this town. Oh s***, wait.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 11:54 AM) Was this necessary? It's been a running joke on the board for 4 years and very, very true.

I never do tire of being called racist. I'm just glad someone said it. There's been a s*** load of beating around the bush the past few days, at least have the balls to call us racist.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 11:38 AM) Oh brother... QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 11:38 AM) This is like a bad dream. PLEASE PLAY WELL BRIAN ANDERSON! Certain players will just never go away.

His average pitch was 75 MPH with a top speed of 80 MPH.

If Anderson is thrust into the leadoff spot and sucks he'll get booed.