Kalapse

Hawk was at his absolute worst tonight, apparently Livan Hernandez is Sandy Koufax reincarnated. I understand he's a homer and all but give me a f***ing break all he's doing is adding salt to the wound.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ May 7, 2008 -> 09:13 PM) I FINALLY saw Jim hit to left field tonight in the 6th. Thanks Jim. So you weren't watching in the first inning? Or the first inning on Monday?

Swish . . . finally.

Heh, Farmer just said Konerky

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ May 7, 2008 -> 08:46 PM) 2-6-3 Catcher, to Crede, to Konerko The shortsop is #6 and Uribe was covering first. So it's 2-5-4.

Maybe Buehrle should just stop pitching to Carlos Gomez

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ May 7, 2008 -> 08:44 PM) Nick Punto of the baseball retarded Puntos. Doesnt run. 1-6-3 double play. 2-5-4

You gotta run it out Punto.

QUOTE (knightni @ May 7, 2008 -> 08:18 PM) He is less of a CF than he is a LF or RF. That doesn't mean he isn't a CF. Just because Grady Sizemore would probably be better suited in the 3 hole doesn't mean he isn't a leadoff hitter.

QUOTE (knightni @ May 7, 2008 -> 08:07 PM) Dye's not a good RF anymore. Swisher's not a CF. They're going to have to make some decisions next season. Why do you say that? He's been damn good out there. He's probably better suited for a corner spot but to say he isn't a CF is just false IMO.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ May 7, 2008 -> 07:10 PM) Damnit. If Kenny was at all looking to trade Crede, he might be holding off now. I still think we need to trade Crede somewhere. I cant imagine his value being any higher than it is now. The longer we wait, the closer to a FA he becomes and less interest. There aren't many -- if any -- teams in need of a 3B right now. Hell after going 3-4 w/ HR and 4 RBI last night Blake Dewitt now has an .886 OPS as the Dodgers starting 3B and he's just as good if not better than Crede defensively.

QUOTE (PorkChopExpress @ May 7, 2008 -> 01:40 PM) Not to mention that most of this team has not seen him before, and that is never good either. Let's hope tonight is all about changing trends. Career vs Livan: AVG OBP SLG OPS Cabrera: 10-22, 2B, 3B, 2 BB, K .455 .500 .591 1.091 Quentin: N/A Thome: 6-19, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 7 K .316 .381 .526 .907 Konerko: N/A Dye: 0-3 Pierzynski: 0-3, K Swisher: 0-3, K Crede: N/A Uribe: 3-17, 4 K .176 .176 .176 .352 Ozuna: 0-3, K Vazquez: 1-5 .200 .200 .200 .400 Floyd: 0-2, 2 K Look out for O-Cab tonight

In the 4 healthy seasons Ted Lilly has had since becoming a full time starter his combined ERA is 4.12, if you remove last year's performance you still have a 4.23 ERA over a 3 year span in the AL East, that's pretty damn good. I'd say the odds are in favor of Ted Lilly finishing the year with an ERA at or below 4.35. (assuming he's healthy of course)

Lets get an update on Reed Johnson's kickass season. AVG: .257 (56th out of 75 qualified MLB OF) OBP: .336 (49th out of 75 qualified MLB OF) SLG: .297 (74th out of 75 qualified MLB OF) OPS: .633 (69th out of 75 qualified MLB OF) WHERE ART THOU EASYW?

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ May 6, 2008 -> 11:30 PM) Kalapse, I assume that is only the list of managers who did it successfully? Or is that the list including games where the no no was broken in the 9th? Because that last stat is probably harder to find. Those are just the successful no-hit bids. A list that includes no hitters that were broken up in the 9th would require a bit more work than I'm willing to put into this right now.

QUOTE (3E8 @ May 6, 2008 -> 10:27 PM) Oh really why don't you check the box score from April 18, 2007 /Conan [ASS] stamp I have compiled a small list of managers who have broken the suddenly widely known 9th inning defensive replacement unwritten rule (this is just the NINTH inning rule, the list of managers whom have broken the EIGHTH inning rule is much larger): Joe Girardi 2006 Tony LaRussa 1999 Jim Leyland 1997 John McNamara 1984 Steve Boros 1983 Tommy Lasorda 1980 TOMMY LASORDA HATES BASEBALL TRADITION!!!!!!!!!

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 6, 2008 -> 09:46 PM) Not exactly the 9th inning was it? Joe Girardi replaced 1B Mike Jacobs with Wes Helms in the top of the 9th during Anibal Sanchez's no hitter in 2006. And is there a reason as to why Guillen couldn't have mixed up his OF in the top of the 8th? Dye did make the final out in the 7th, it was doubtful he would have gotten another plate appearance.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 6, 2008 -> 08:46 PM) I stand corrected then on the karma thing. I guess Oz will get ripped in the media again for not putting in Anderson even after we finally win a game. I still think it would be bush league to take out our morale boosting starting center fielder who was out there for the first eight innings of the no no. I also still say you can't guarantee me the ball would have been hit in the same spot if Anderson was in the game. I think the bigger issue is that Guillen apparently doesn't find much value in using Anderson as a late game defensive replacement, he's only done it a few times this year despite all the close ballgames this team has played. He refused to replace Podsednik late in ballgames now he's doing the same with Dye/Swisher.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ May 6, 2008 -> 08:47 PM) Taking Floyd out was obvious. The no hitter was gone, he didn't have a shutout, he was over 100 pitches, it was a big lead, he has never thrown a ton of innings in a season, and Jenks needed work badly. That was an obvious and correct move. Plus you give him the opportunity to walk off the field by himself to a roaring standing ovation. It was the right thing to do.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 6, 2008 -> 08:40 PM) Because its a baseball no-no to change the defense when theres a no-hitter in the 9th like that. You just dont change the team on the field. Pretty basic baseball concept. Is it different if it's the 8th inning?

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 6, 2008 -> 08:37 PM) I knew somebody was gonna mention that. Can't switch the lineup in a no-no. That's a baseball no-no as somebody else pointed out. Guillen replaced Mackowiak with Anderson in the top of the 8th of Buehrle's no hitter last April.

Uribe is in the lineup for tonights game FWIW.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 6, 2008 -> 03:03 PM) Good post. Its been clear the last few games, Thome is trying to adjust to the shift and go to center and left-center. Not always successful, but you can see him working on it. After his basehit to LF yesterday in the first I remember muttering: "What does it matter? Another 35 minutes and people will forget it ever happened."

QUOTE (lvjeremylv @ May 6, 2008 -> 02:03 PM) Thome seems like a great guy and has been one of the most prolific HR hitters of my generation, but it's just time for him to go. Watching him hit has become nauseating. Every time he swings it's like he's in the homerun derby. Why can't he hit a ball down the 3rd base line? Is he incapable? Or just unwilling? Either way, he should not be in our lineup. When both he and Paulie are on base (which is rare) - say 1st and 2nd base - it will literally take either 3 singles or a single and a double to score both of them. So the Sox need 4 or 5 baserunners in a row just to score 2 runs. That simply will not get it done. Either trade him for prospects or as some of you have suggested, sit him against lefties and let him play part-time and pinch-hit late in games. The second thing is 2B. Uribe just has to go, it's that simple. His D has been very good, but I can't stand to watch him swing for the fences anymore. Him not scoring yesterday on that grounder by Cabrera is probably going to be the nail in his coffin. The Jays were conceding the run and he still didn't score. How does that happen? Aside from Thome and Uribe, I think our club is fine. Just slumping right now. Paul Konerko 2007: PULLED: 51% of total hits | 59% of total doubles | 65% of total HR MIDDLE: 43% of total hits | 32% of total doubles | 32% of total HR OPPO : 6% of total hits | 9% of total doubles | 3% of total HR 2008: PULLED: 41% of total hits | 50% of total doubles | 60% of total HR MIDDLE: 46% of total hits | 25% of total doubles | 40% of total HR OPPO : 13% of total hits | 25% of total doubels | 0% of total HR Jim Thome 2007: PULLED: 29% of total hits | 47% of total doubles | 34% of total HR MIDDLE: 53% of total hits | 26% of total doubles | 54% of total HR OPPO : 18% of total hits | 26% of total doubles | 14% of total HR 2008: PULLED: 30% of total hits | 33% of total doubles | 17% of total HR MIDDLE: 56% of total hits | 50% of total doubles | 83% of total HR OPPO : 14% of total hits | 17% of total doubels | 0% of total HR Jim Thome is hardly the most pull happy hitter on this team. And I don't recommend looking at Dye's numbers either, he of the 7 opposite field hits in 2007 (he put ONE ball down the RF line last year) and 1 oppo hit this season. In 2006 Konerko had 5 XBH to RF, Thome had 15 to LF. If it were at all possible to use an extreme pull shift for a right handed hitter there would be no one anywhere near 1B when Paul Konerko and especially Jermaine Dye walk up to the plate. The shift just makes Thome look bad because the fact of the matter is; since arriving in Chicago Jim has gone oppo a WHOLE lot more often than the other sluggers int this lineup.

I think it's pretty obvious that Jerry Owens and his current .268/.355/.354/.708 (+4 in SB) line at Charlotte is the answer to the offensive woes. Or you could just fire Walker and pray your proven veteran players decide to start hitting. With the pitching going as good as it is right now, if this team could hit even a little bit they'd probably be capable of competing for a few months.