southsideirish71

QUOTE (robinventura23 @ Sep 21, 2009 -> 09:35 PM) 12th ranked? That's unbelievable that there's 2 teams worse than the Sox offensively. The Royals and the Mariners.

Hawk puts the blame for the season on the bullpen. I guess the 12th ranked offense in the AL gets no mention.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Sep 21, 2009 -> 09:14 PM) HE would have been worth it when we had to endure Josh "can't" Fields at 3rd. Not many look back at the beginning of the season when games were given away because of over all s***ty play. No he wouldnt. For all of you guys clamoring for Uribe let me put it pretty simple. If Uribe is on the team Beckham is in the minors still working on his craft. The reason Beckham was brought up was due to Josh "can't" Fields being so bad. Remember, if Beckham is up we are in trouble. Beckham >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Uribe

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Sep 21, 2009 -> 08:56 PM) Passed balls, wild pitches, hit batters, walking in runs, wild throws. Have I left anything out? Yet we are still going for it. I would rather see whatever kids we can play, and figure it out for next year. Hudson needs to get whatever 5th starter starts from now on. Floyd needs to be shut down. Can we just bench Dye. High fly ball, he is backing up on it instead of getting behind it. Then short hops it to AJ. Strong arm. Terrible fielder.

Can we finally start to see Flowers at DH getting ABs instead of waiting till we get mathematically eliminated.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 21, 2009 -> 08:44 PM) Hudson did pretty well; drawing praise from Stoney and Hawk. Maybe our staff will be studly next year, but the defense has gotta be improved and hitting with men on base. We get more hits that turn out to be meaningless cause we can't string any together. Our starting pitching should be fine. Removing a lumbering DH from RF should help out next year. Removing our heads from our rectums when they go to the plate is something else that we need to accomplish.

QUOTE (Wanne @ Sep 21, 2009 -> 08:32 PM) Seriously. I hate that phrase "corpseball"...but it sure fits this team. 2007, last in the AL in runs scored. 2009, 12th in the AL in runs scored. Considering what park we play in, this is a joke.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Sep 21, 2009 -> 08:22 PM) Quentin: one year wonder? or hobbled by injuries this season and shouldn't be judged on these results? I go with option C. Bought into his own press and thinks he is Barry Bonds trying to park every pitch.

QUOTE (tommy @ Sep 19, 2009 -> 06:57 PM) How did they score the third run? I'm cleaning my place and totally missed it. Butler oppo.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Sep 18, 2009 -> 09:51 AM) Shame on you, Tex! Where the hell is the poorly photoshopped picture of Bartolo Colon, i was expecting upon entering this thread? Here he is.

QUOTE (Tex @ Sep 18, 2009 -> 09:01 AM)

Two of the worst offenses in the AL going head to head creates this offensive explosion.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 11:49 AM) I swear to god, some of you guys have never played the game of baseball. I don't care what some dweeb from Stanford has calculated. Sure, the new wave of stats have become a great way to further evaluate players and a great way to try to determine who are the best players in the league by factoring in stadiums, etc. However, sometimes all you need is an extra run, not 3 or 4 and while the stats may show that bunting is going to hinder run production, the way it does it is by potentially preventing the big-inning, but sometimes you just need a f***ing run, not a big inning. If the Sox got a few extra runs, we'd have seen there 1 run record swing drastically the other way and that starts with playing good fundamental baseball. There is such a thing as a productive out and the Sox are one of the worse teams I've seen in a long time at doing that. And part of fundamentals is good defense and I think we all know the Sox have sucked awfully at that all season. You find a way to improve the defense and get the club to make more productive outs as opposed to useless outs and we are talking about a 2010 team that should content for a World Series. And I'll call whomever I want a jackass. I'm one of the most behaved posters on this site and when people get too far away from the way the game was meant to be played and start thinking it really is just fantasy baseball, than I'm going to step up and speak up. Note: I'm also the biggest supporter of the hit and run possible and if the Sox get a team of guys that can handle the bat this could turn into a huge benefit. You essentially open up a massive hole every time you do a hit and run and a guy that can handle the bat well can essentially sky-rocket his batting average in that situation. Jas, There are other ways to put pressure on a defense than laying down a bunt. I don't think anyone is saying not to be aggressive or just to lay back and wait for the home run. The Rays were an exciting offense last year. They put pressure on people. But that had nothing to do with their ability to bunt. It was about speed, excellent base running and bat control. Things from the offense I would like to see addressed. Some of this is philosophy and some of this is definitely personnel. 1.) The ability to go 1st to 3rd. 2.) The ability to hit and run. 3.) Hitting to the right side to advance the runner instead of striking out. 4.) Secondary leads 5.) The ability to hit a sac fly when you get a man on third. 6.) Taking pitches, especially when you get a guy who is wild up there. 7.) Being able to make contact on 2 strikes. 8.) better prep on pitchers we never have faced. 9.) Philosophy of calm yet explosive when we get down late in the game. The pucker factor past the 6th inning is probably the thing that kills us the most in close games. Just have the thought execute my attack, and if I fail the guy behind me will pick me up. 10.) Better communication on dynamic parts of the game. H 11.) Trying to adjust from AB to AB.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 11:19 AM) If I was a pitcher, I'd be more pissed off if the other team was trying to bunt with a guy on base than I would've if I gave up a home run. Because when it comes to bunting, the other team is manipulating the game and forcing me to field my position, but if the other team hit a home run then it's my fault and they wouldn't have hit that home run if I had located my pitches better. Of course you can try and hit a line drive, or a double into the gaps, but when you do that there's always a CHANCE that the ball will go where you don't want it to go, such as into the 2nd baseman's mitt for a double-play. If a pitcher gets more upset on a bunt, which may move a runner into scoring position over a guy who just crushed one to the upper deck and definitely scored a run, he needs to get his head examined.

So Pods singles in the first. Are we really saying that he best solution is to have Beckham square around to move Pods up 90 feet. I would say the ability for Beckham to make solid contact, hit doubles and for power would outweigh any benefit of moving Pods up to second. Also the problem has not been, getting the guy into 2nd. Its been getting him in. How does bunting all of a sudden fix the pucker factor our team has when men move into scoring position.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 10:52 AM) Too many people are overvaluing outs, and what they're forgetting is that we have some players (Pods/Getz) who can outrun a bunt. Bunts, if performed right, can mess up another team's psyche and sometimes it leads to mistakes being made by the flustered opposing pitcher. I'm a big fan of bunts, and I see nothing wrong with using bunts at any point of the game, especially if someone is already on 1st base and there's less than 2 outs. Using a timely bunt can help in avoiding a double-play and allowing the next batter (who might be a power hitter) to hit a home run. It's called strategy, I'm just really surprised at how people don't get this and how people seem to prefer constant groundouts and popouts in home run attempts. At least with bunting, the team batting is controling the game, despite willingly giving up an out, which usually pays off in a run or 2 in the long run. How about a good old fashioned line drive swing. Maybe a double into the gaps. You realize that there is an in-between from a all or nothing home run approach, and playing slap and tickle right. Also there are other ways of moving runners over. The hit and run, steals, and even base hits. You don't need to flup it 7 feet to move a guy 90 feet. Pods is pretty long in the tooth to all of a sudden become this master drag bunt artist. He is not a particularly good bunter. Bunts don't fluster pitchers. Home runs fluster pitchers, doubles into the gap fluster pitchers, the opposite field gork shot flusters pitchers. Some guy imitating a pitcher in the NL and giving up an out moving a guy to 2nd doesn't fluster a pitcher.

Wish I could say I was geeking up for "The Unit", but the powers at be over at CBS decided to nuke it. Morons. Supernatural Smallville ( at least Friday has something to watch now) Criminal Minds NCIS and the spin off NCIS/Los Angeles Fringe The Office Law and Order ( another Friday TV show ) Want to see Day One Flashforward Cougar Town

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 10:23 AM) While that may be true, but it's a good way to manufacture runs when in a prolonged slump. This years team, no good. But a quicker team, absolutely, if used correctly. We play in the American League, in the 21st century. The day of playing a slap and tickle play for one run attack has been over for a while. Sure they do it alot in the NL. Then again, the NL is retarded because they let their pitchers hit. Late in the game, need a run to tie or win. Sure I can understand the bunt thing. In the 2nd inning, no reason.

Our elimination number is 11 now.

Well we are currently 12th out of 14 teams in the AL for runs scored. 2 out of the last year years we have been near the bottom in runs scored. We need to fix this s***. With our pitching next year we can compete. With our rotten offense, and rotten defense we might be lucky to be 500.

Gordon Beckham crushes one and the shutout is ovah.

So how do we approach this guy we never faced. Do you watch video, do you check scouting reports. ....nope. Here you go.

You know this bulls*** excuse of, well we haven't faced X pitcher before so we are f***ed needs to get addressed. You can't just drop your pants everytime some rook takes the mound. Lets see how the Tigers did against him. 5.1 innings, 5 runs, a couple of dongs on the 20th of August Hell, KC just faced him a few weeks ago and they scratched out 3 runs against him. We face him. And its pants down.

The umpiring over the last few years has been terrible. No one has a set strikezone. Umpires figure that people pay to see their lame asses as they interject their rotten dispositions into the game. Missed calls, bad calls. Then of course they are untouchable. You can't criticize them because they are the golden cows of the league. f*** it. The minute they can be replaced with robots, cameras or computers the better off the game will be.

Angel Hernandez is living proof that you can earn a check while not being particularly good at your given profession.