Kalapse

QUOTE (Brian @ Sep 23, 2008 -> 03:57 PM) This line up would produce 2 runs. Because replacing the light hitting Griffey with the light hitting (but seemingly infinitely more powerful) Anderson and swapping your worst hitter over the past 30 days with your hottest hitter over the past week in the 2 spot hurts your lineup? Since that series in Baltimore in late August AJ is hitting .183/.227/.225/.452 w/ 3 XBH, 4 RBI and 2 BB over 74 PA. Yeah, that's who you want in the 2 hole. Oh and when AJ was having those awesome games against the Twins earlier in the season he was hitting 6th.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 23, 2008 -> 03:29 PM) Yep, quite a few teams have gotten to him this year or pushed him to the brink, unlike, say, 2002-2003. Actually, the White Sox have always fared comparably well against the guy, I think we've forced blown saves 2-3 times in his career, unlike Mo Rivera. I'm just saying, some of the baseball writers that don't stay up late (the Bristol/NY/Boston crowd) haven't really watched the guy very much this year. They just see the Angels' record and the sheer number of saves. Also, please/please/please, Javier Vazquez DO NOT let Justin Morneau beat you or throw a meatball with a 3-1 or 2-0 count. Walk him with the bases loaded, I don't care Ozzie. I would rather that than a grand slam or bases-clearing double into the RCF gap. He has 8 saves that took less than 3 outs to get and 0 multi-inning saves, 6 blown saves, has allowed a good amount of runs and more baserunners than any of the other elite closers this season. He just hasn't been all that dominant, he's just had an incredible amount of save opportunities which has more to do with luck than anything he's done on the mound. When Smoltz saved 55 in '02 he had 8 multi-inning saves and only 1 save that required less than 3 outs to record, he also had over 80 IP that year compared to K-Rod's poultry paltry 67.

K-Rod is no where near Cliff Lee. Rodriguez is having one of the least impressive record breaking seasons I've ever seen.

QUOTE (LosMediasBlancas @ Sep 22, 2008 -> 07:18 PM) Has there been a regular season series bigger than this in...how long? Which one? The late September Cleveland series in '05 was pretty damn big, if we had lost the Rally Crede game the Indians would have had a .5 game lead on Sept. 23rd (assuming everything else goes the same.)

QUOTE (Brian @ Sep 22, 2008 -> 11:27 AM) It's actually 4 days rest. Javy pitched Thursday, was off Fri, Sat, Sun, and Mon. It's regular rest. Yeah his start tomorrow will be on normal rest but this thread is about the CLE series in which he'll be pitching Saturday on 3 days rest (wed, thur, fri).

QUOTE (Frankensteiner @ Sep 21, 2008 -> 09:20 PM) On the other hand, I believe all 3 of those teams had sub .500 records when the Sox won those series. The Sox have played 9 road series against teams that at the start of the series had a winning record. The Sox are 1-6-2 in these series with a 10-20 record. The Sox were swept in only 1 of the 6 series losses (Cubs).

Just f***ing win, that and a Twins loss would drop the magic number to 4. Then all that is necessary is 2 wins in Minnesota to clinch the division or 1 win in Minny to go along with 1 win vs Cleveland and just 1 Twins loss to the Royals or 1 win in Minny and 2 wins vs CLE. That final game vs Detroit should not be played. No f***ing excuses.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Sep 20, 2008 -> 11:07 PM) Chris Young is a speedy version of Josh Fields who happens to play CF. He has a low OBP, low BA, and hits homers. Of course he is a product of our system. The only reason I would want him, is that some other GM might over value him and give us lots of goodies for him. But I would rather have Vazquez right now. He has 13 SB in 18 chances and 19 HR in 661 PA this season. He's not doing either very well this year.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Sep 20, 2008 -> 07:13 PM) I was just typing a class assignment when they read the vote on Alexei deserving MVP. What did it say? I voted no. It was rookie of the year not MVP. Why the f*** can't a fan base just be honest with themselves? Why is there this need to be dishonest with themselves? If there's actually anyone out there who still thinks Alexei is deserving of the ROY then they either don't follow any team outside of the Sox or are baseball retarded. There is no case for Alexei.

Fathom, Dewayne's service number will be over 3 (for the first time) but under 4 so he'll be eligible for free agency for the first time in his career. Wise is under White Sox control for the next 3 years.

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 19, 2008 -> 08:41 PM) Holy s***! An Uribe walk! He's been walking regularly for about a month and a half now.

6 more PAs until Thome's option vests.

Just for the record: Jim Thome's $13M (a large portion of which may or may not be picked up by Philly) 2009 team option should vest tomorrow, assuming he gets 5 PA in either today or tomorrow's game.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Sep 18, 2008 -> 08:11 PM) more white less good

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Sep 18, 2008 -> 08:08 AM) I wont deny that Span has been great, but i dont feel he's been better than Alexei. Their splits are fairly similar, but Alexei has had 135 more ABs, which shows he has sustained it longer. I know they have different roles (Span: leadoff; Alexei: run producer) but I just feel you need to acknowledge Ramirez' HR and RBI total here. Also, I dont know about Span's defense but Alexei has been great and has made a few phenomenal plays this year. If you want to make an argument for Galaraga i'd be more willing to listen, but i really do feel Alexei should be #2 in ROY voting. I'd go: 1) Longoria 2) Ramirez 3) Galaraga 4) Aviles 5) Span Alexei's defense has not been great. At times he's been amazing but he still makes some awful mistakes (ie: any cutoff throw), he's made 10 errors (9 fielding) at 2B which is the second most in the American league at that position (4th lowest Field% in the game) and his RZR (revised zone rating) is the lowest in baseball amongst the 17 qualified 2B. He has definitely shown flashes but you can tell this is his first time playing the position.

Alexei has 3 HR in the 15 games since Quentin went down, Evan Longoria has 3 HR TONIGHT.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Sep 18, 2008 -> 05:45 PM) 3.42 era in his career in the playoffs. That's pretty good, not spectacular. He went 9 innings and allowed 1 ER in the ALCS, in his other two starts he went 7 while allowing 4 earned in both. Not exactly what you're looking for from your #1 starter.

QUOTE (joesaiditstrue @ Sep 18, 2008 -> 05:41 PM) clayton richard will be on the playoff roster, out of the bullpen, per ozzie just now Good. He's redoubtably better than Horacio out of the pen.

OC SS AJ C JD RF JT DH PK 1B Jr CF AR 2B DW LF JU 3B Gardner CF Jeter SS Abreu RF Rodriguez 3B Giambi DH Nady LF Cano 2B Miranda 1B Molina C

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Sep 17, 2008 -> 03:17 PM) As much I personally dont want Morneau to win the MVP, I have a hard time saying he doesnt deserve it this year, especially with TCQ missing Sept. He leads the AL in RBI on a team with a weaker lineup, that nobody expected to be in the playoff hunt into the final week of the season. I know the starting pitching has carried them, but his bat in the cleanup spot has definitely helped a lot too. That's funny because he sure seems to come to the plate in a whole lot of RBI situations. Morneau: Total PA: 661, PA w/ men on: 367 (56%), PA w/ RISP: 213 (32%) Quentin: Total PA: 569, PA w/ men on: 245 (43%), PA w/ RISP: 149 (26%) Dye: Total PA: 592, PA w/ men on: 276 (49%), PA w/ RISP: 159 (27%) For a "weaker" lineup they sure do get their big time hitter an awful lot of RBI opportunities and many more than The Sox provide their two best hitters.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 17, 2008 -> 11:59 AM) My first Robin Ventura memory was tuning into the College World Series when Stanford and Oaklahoma State played each other. I watched because I wanted to see recent Sox first round pick Jack McDowell pitch. That day he and a reliever ended Robin's record 58 game hitting streak. I remember watching it thinking how nice it would be to get ahold of him, especially because at the time we were running a s***ty converted left fielder by the name of Williams out at 3B. My favorite two Robin memories were the walk-off homer against Goose Gossage, and the walk off grand slam single in the World Series for the Mets. It took me a really long time to forgive the White Sox for low-balling Robin out of Chicago. I didn't go to games for a couple of seasons after that. QUOTE (Texsox @ Sep 17, 2008 -> 12:04 PM) I'm trying to find the monster month that Ventura had. He batted somewhere around .500 with 15 home runs, or something sick like that. I remember the last day of the month he hit one out in his lst at bat. Possible a walk off. July of 1991: 12 HR, .357/.431/.739/1.170. It was by far the best month he ever had and the only time in his career that he tallied double digit HR in a single month. On July 31st 1991 he went 4-6 w/ 2 HR and 5 RBI, a solo shot off Kevin Brown and a walkoff Granny off Goose Gossage.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Sep 17, 2008 -> 10:58 AM) Yeah, I'm still not 100% sure who is starting. Clayton was warming up in this series, so I'm not sure who's starting. If the best case scenario works out and the Sox bash out a victory and the Twins lose tonight, I would be tempted with the 3 1/2 game lead to start either Clayton or Broadway (whoever doesn't start tonight) tomorrow and let the rest of the rotation go on regular rest. I seem to remember that Javy pitches horribly if he doesn't get exaclty 4 days rest I've also heard that said about Vazquez. Perhaps Javy has said in the past that he doesn't like to go on less than normal rest? Because there's no data to back up the theory that he sucks on short rest. The guy has made 2 starts on 3 days rest in his entire career. The first start came in his second year in the league in 1999 so it holds little relevance to today but he went 6 innings allowing 5 R, 3 earned and took the loss. The other came in 2004, he went 6 allowed 2 runs and K'd 8 but of course took the tough luck loss. That's 2 starts, 12 IP and a 3.75 ERA. So either Javy has stated that he doesn't like to go on short rest or someone looked at his numbers on 3 days rest, saw that he hasn't won a game and drew up a conclusion.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Sep 17, 2008 -> 01:31 AM) IMO, if you give Longy the ROY, then you give Q the MVP (when we make playoffs). I still think Q should get it if we make the playoffs. You can't argue that without him we wouldn't be here, and I can't think of another guy on a playoff team with that much of an impact. And if you don't give it to him because of the injury, then you can't give Longoria the ROY because of his (strikingly similar) injury. Why? Even with his injury Longoria still has 452 plate appearances this season compared to Alexei's 461. It's not like he's put up his numbers in significantly fewer PA than the competition. Carlos is going to finish with 120-150 fewer PA than the other MVP candidates, that's a pretty damn big difference. I agree with you that even with this large difference in playing time that Carlos has still been the most valuable player in the American League this season but the two situations are not comparable.

Alexei Ramirez is hitting .245 since Quentin went down with his injury, sure he has 3 HR over that 13 game span but I'd hardly call that "raising his game." Longoria has been back all of 5 games, not really sure how a team can be "streaky" over a 5 game period but he hit .364 in his first 4 games back so I doubt he's been a part of the problem. Evan has easily been the better player this season both at the plate and in the field so he should probably win the award with Armando Galarraga and his 122 ERA+ being the wild card.

In the 46 games since Uribe took over for Crede at 3B Juan is hitting .312/.355/.504/.859. That's in 141 ABs.