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Jim Thome

Best.Comedy.Currently.On.Television. no doubt

QUOTE(Felix @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:44 PM) He was brought in to face Farnsworth I believe, not Rivera. And sadly, he K'd against both.

QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:47 PM) Sorry guys.... can I get an official definition of LOOGY? I don't feel like looking it up right now... Sounds good to me Lefty One Out Guy Y AKA Kelly Wunsch.

QUOTE(Dan Pasqua @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:40 PM) sorry about that double post....but I watch every game and to me it seems Jim is good for a solo homer early in the game and thats it. I know his numbers indicate a great year but I just cant help myself from getting a sinking feeling when he comes up late in games. When I think of clutch I do not think of Jim Thome. I think of Joe Crede and Jermaine Dye. And there has to be a reason why I think these guys are and Jims not. But i guess Im crazy if Im the only one who thinks he could come through a lot more late in games. Dont know what team im watching I guess. There seems to be a good amount of people who also have this "feeling" about Jim, I at times admit that I feel it myself. But in all reality it is just not true, when you go back through the season the guy has been incredibly clutch, even as recently as last night in the 11th, what he did there is just one of those things that you don't normally remember. I think the amount of times he's been K'd late in games by LOOGYs may be skewing some opinions here, those tend to stand out more than anything.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:30 PM) --Yeah, but Scottie was DAMN GOOD last year. Cmon you cannot deny that. This year is different, I agree. But give me a break downplaying how good he was last year! 80 R | 25 RBI | 59/82 SB (72%) | .290/.351/.349/.700 Is not "damn good" for a leadoff hitter IMO. It's actually quite mediocre.

QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:36 PM) Huh? That was 4/21. 4/22 we beat up on Radke. It was 4/21, I have the game saved on my Tivo but it has 4/22 as the date on there so I went with that. I'm actually watching it right now, Santana was shutting the offense down until Thome popped it into the bleachers.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:31 PM) Are you sure about that? I thought the homer made it 2-0, and we eventually won 7-1 in that game. Damnit you're right, I mixed that up, it still turned out to be the game winner. QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:33 PM) Hmm yeah, on 4/22 we beat up on Radke pretty bad. He had 6 ER in 5 IP, but Thome did hit a 2 run homer. It was 4/21, got my dates mixed up.

I got them off Baseballreference.com so yeah. If you're not going to go off stats in this situation I do not know what you're going to do. Do yourself a favor and read this whole thread, there's been quite a few clutch plays by Thome mentioned in here. And for the record I am not a sabr guy but thanks for insinuating.

On 4/22 Jim Thome took Johan Santana deep in the bottom of the 6th inning with the team down 2-1, it put them up 3-2 which turned out to be the final score. So yeah, Jim's had about 6 clutch HRs this year just off the top of our collective heads but he's not clutch.

QUOTE(Dan Pasqua @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:16 PM) Im not blaming Thome. Yes his numbers are very indicative of a great year statistically. However, he reminds he of sammy sosa when with the cubs. Great numbers statistically if not better, but when it came to teh clutch, he was no where to be found. And if you remember those years, these two players seem very much a like IMO 2 game winning HRs he's had and another huge clutch play were just mentioned. Also, Sammy Sosa had 11 career walkoff hits (9 HRs), Jim Thome? 9 Walkoff hits, all of them being HRs. The stats really don't back you up on this one.

QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:12 PM) Most likely not the last one, but the solo homer against the Cards was a game winner. 8th inning I believe (possibly the 7th) and our only hit of the game. That was HUGE. Good call Tito, that's 2 game winning HRs (non walkoffs) right there that he's had this year, both of which were in huge clutch situations and agianst good teams (Twins, Cards).

QUOTE(Dan Pasqua @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:11 PM) Nice numbers but can you name the last time he got a clutch hit for us at a crucial time? I watch every game and it seems like every time he comes up late in a game and we need a homer or hit, he doesnt do anything If u know a time when hes come through when needed..Please refresh my memory Last night he drew a HUGE walk in the 11th to get the game winning run into scoring position, that's pretty damn clutch in my book.

Also, on the whole Thome thing, Jim has 3 HRs close and late which is equal to Konerko and 1 behind both Dye and Crede who have 4. So yeah, he's not not just hitting meaningless HRs. One more thing, 4/22/06 Jim Thome single handedly won this game against the best pitcher in baseball.

QUOTE(Colorado Sox Fan @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 10:54 PM) If Riske does his job, maybe Sox win. Another ESPN game where we're getting blown out, make an incredible comeback and then fall short. Ugh. Jim Thome, please do something one of these days, meaningless solo homer, strikeout or walk isn't cutting it. Win ballgames for us, stud. Jim Thome has 18 HR with runners on, that's over half of his total HRs which is pretty damn good. 9 HR, 50 RBI, .367/.500/.785/1.285 W/ RISP. 34 AB, 2 HR, 11 RBI .265/.390/.471/.861 W/ RISP & 2 out, still not horrible. Jim Thome is not the problem, there are so many other players to who deserve so much more blame.

Disorder and Disarray

I really think a guy like Brady Clark could sneak through waivers, yes I'm bringing his damn name up again he'll make about $750 for the rest of the year but he also makes $3.8M which is a pretty penny for a guy like him. This is probably just wishful thinking but I don't think it's completely out of the question.

QUOTE(Felix @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 07:28 PM) Offensively, the numbers are close (Crede still comes out on top slightly thanks to a much higher slugging percentage), but when you factor in defense, it's not close. Then this statement is false. QUOTE(Felix @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 07:08 PM) And if you look at the numbers this year, there is no debating. Crede has been clearly better.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 08:46 PM) I also agree with that. Actually, I agree with every single thing Ozzie said. I don't have a problem with it at all. I think others will take one quote out of context and make it a huge big deal/tragedy, but I don't think he said one thing that isn't true. So McCarthy was bad last year?

QUOTE(Felix @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 07:08 PM) And if you look at the numbers this year, there is no debating. Crede has been clearly better. While I still think that A-Rod is the better player, he hasn't played up to his usual level this year, and Crede is clearly better. 407 AB | 115 H | 17 2B | 23 HR | 80 RBI | 78 R | 100K:63BB (1.58) | 11 SB | .283/.386/.499/.885 382 AB | 116 H | 24 2B | 24 HR | 75 RBI | 61 R | 41K:16BB (2.56) | 0 SB | .304/.336/.555/.891 Ok, maybe I'm missing something here but it seems to be a lot closer than it's being made out to be.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 07:05 PM) It is on ESPN Not in the Chicagoland area however.

QUOTE(chisox72 @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 06:39 PM) Keep it up big Jon... Time to put the hurtin' on the ugliest man in baseball....make him realize he is DONE... Wait, when did the Yankees acquire Ezequiel Astacio?

QUOTE(Felix @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 07:03 PM) While I agree that A-Rod is better than Crede, that hasn't been the case this year, which is what BBTN is basing it off of. They said there's no debating between the 2, which is horses***.

QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 06:50 PM) True, but the new guy still said he would take A-Rod if he were building a team. I don't know about that, Crede is younger, and better defensively. But I think its good, because any press coverage will give Crede a better chance of the GG. Tomorrow, BBTN is focusing on the best web gems in Chicago White Sox history. Joe Crede is only 3 years younger than Alex Rodriguez and doens't have anywhere near the track record that A-Rod has. Alex Rodriguez is the best 3B in baseball and probably still the best player in baseball despite the down season. A-Rod >> Crede, I'd say there's much more of a debate between choosing A-Rod or David Wright (23)/Miggy Cabrera(23) than the 28 year old Crede. Alex Rodriguez is likely still a .300, 45/50 and 120/130 guy even if he doesn't reach those numbers this year. It's just another case of ESPN hating on A-Rod any chance they get.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 05:58 PM) I just saw it in the other thread. Should have started there. Look, B-Mac had 3 good starts last season. 3. And everyone does want to annoit him as HERE AND NOW. I think he's ALMOST ready to step in, but our starting 5 is probably our best starting 5 right now. Otherwise, B-Mac would be there. He IS our future, though, assuming he's here long enough for it to happen. Actually he had 3 great starts and 2 very good starts over the final month alone last year as well as 2 other very good starts earlier in the year after making the jump to the bigs directly from AA. Remember even after sucking early in the season he still managed to post a 4.03 ERA in 10 starts last year that's better than 4 guys in the rotation right now have done over their past 10 starts.