southsideirish71

QUOTE(RockRaines @ May 14, 2007 -> 09:02 AM) well he said he strikes out a lot, never did he make a player comparison. I would like to hear your reasoning with the data from the last 2 years on why Uribe would be a better 2 hole hitter than Iguchi has been. If that wasnt your point, then you might want to find another avenue to express your displeasure in the team taking 3 straight series. Here is the quote for those who didnt read it. Doesnt seem like a comment that would make me think he is an idiot, in fact he shares the opinion of most fans on this site regarding uribe's approach at the plate for a majority of the time. Since he agrees with us, wouldnt that make US the idiots? But Guillen doesn't expect Uribe to stay in the No. 2 hole. "I don't think he's a second hitter," Guillen said. "[saturday] he impressed me more because he took pitches and was patient. I don't know how long that patience will last. This kid strikes out a lot." The only reason to keep Uribe at number 2 is to maximize the amount of fastballs he will see. Which will be a ton when Thome comes back. I would like to see Iguchi go back to the 2 hole. His new free swinging mode doesnt jive to well. He needs to go back and try to shorten his swing up and hit to right. Plus he will see more fastballs. In the future, Ryan would make a good 2 hole hitter. Especially with his bat control and eye.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ May 14, 2007 -> 08:41 AM) Wow, if you can see those intricacies that easy, why can't the team or players? Do they watch tape on themselves? I look at it from a pitchers perspective. How to exploit the swing. Gellinger was on the radio telling everyone that they dont review tape to watch for mechanical flaws, they watch it help them get their feelings for that day. I mean why check out your swing when you can see how your feelings were that day. The one that could be a problem for a while is Konerko. Konerko tinkers way way way too much for his own good. He closes his stance, he opens it. He changes the level of his bat. How he puts together good ABs is beyond me because of how much his mechanics change over the course of a season. Crede's hand high set was something that was instituted last year. But my feelings is that they put this in, to help him strike down on the ball and square it up more to get more contact out of his swing. The hands high set takes some discipline because that natural thing is to dip the bat and get under it. It looks like that has shifted into him trying to do more. Maybe the Boras talk, and him in trade rumors has him putting more and more pressure to put up big power numbers. Who knows. Dye is in his walk year also. Maybe he can see the payday at the end of the tunnel and is trying to hit all the balls onto lane 3 of the Ryan. The easiest way for any hitter to come out of it is to simplify things and work on solid contact first. Then power. Try hitting it up the middle and to right. I have seen some of these hitters do it, for a game. But then right after it they go back into trying to hit it onto lane 3 of the Ryan. Look at Dye's ABs on Saturday, look at how his swing was going and what he was trying to do. Hell Crede has done that on and off. He will go to right one game, have some good ABs. Then the next game he must think he is cured and you get the popups and poor ABs.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ May 14, 2007 -> 07:25 AM) Does anyone think any of these slumps are from some type of injury that is not being disclosed? Crede (back), Konerko (hip), and Dye (back/leg) all have had injury problems or concerns for several years, and I was wondering if some of these lingering things were becoming an issue. Now this doesn't account for others like Iguchi and AJ, but it seems like it could be a possible scenario. I dont think its injury. Crede has a very pronounced hands high set when he bats. That will slow his swing down as he has to drop the bat onto the lower level of the ball to square it up. If he was having back problems, he would drop his bat more to help with it feeling better. Konerko is pulling off the ball when he swings. They are spotting him low and away. Plus right now he is in between and guessing on the pitch over committing. He is a combo mechanical/mental right now. Dye is just pulling off the ball. His feet are moving like crazy and he pulls his head off the ball just before contact. Iguchi is definitely pulling off the ball. His entire swing is a bit longer from when he came up. Keeping him in the 2 hole does one thing, it keeps him closed off, and allows him to concentrate on going to right more. When he is down in the order, he is trying to power it.

QUOTE(diegotony06 @ May 13, 2007 -> 11:47 PM) We are 4 games out of first place and we have won 6 of the last 8. I just don't understand all this negativity. The hitting is gonna come around. 2005 was the same way, the pitching saved us, and we did just enough hitting. I just think this team has a history of hitting, and it will. In the end if KW feels he needs to make a move, I trust that he will. Everyone just needs to relax, and enjoy was is gonna be an exciting season, and at times a frustrating season. No one is gonna run away with this division. In 05 we hit .255 in April and 106 runs. In May they hit .254 and 123 runs. Kong and Dye struggled in April, but in May people started to hit a bit. In 07 we hit .225 in April thats 30 points less than our horrible April of 05 and scored 95 runs. In may so far we are hitting .216. I will relax the minute large amounts of our team start to hit like major leaguers. Wasting this pitching is terrible. I remember hearing the same argument last year, when we dropped games to the Royals. Oh well, its April and the pitching will come around. Ozzie is resting his starters for October thats why the starters only play in 25% of the games together. We won 90 games. If we didnt lose a few of those games we should of won those victories would of put us smack dab in the middle the division/wild card race. You cant waste this pitching. If our offense is medicore we would have 5 more wins. Oh and the well this is going to be long, and we will win it in the 2nd half. When do you remember a whitesox team that was noticibly better in the 2nd half. We have been for a long time a first half team. Our successful seasons involve a great start, and playing 500 ball in the 2nd half or like last year sub 500 baseball.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ May 13, 2007 -> 11:06 PM) KW shocked the Sox world with McCarthy's trade; he should've done the same with Dye and Crede, IMO, but definitely Dye because the return value would've been significant. How much money do you invest in your season tickets. Because a few years ago, with the 05 season a lot more people decided to drop a lot of money, and I mean a lot on season tickets. Now imagine you are a new season ticket holder who saw a team just miss with 90 wins your invoice just came in for 07 renewal. So its a lot of money but you love your whitesox. So is the average new season ticket holder about to drop a s***load of money when you ditch Crede, Dye, Garcia and Bmac. I just have an Ozzie plan which still wasnt cheap and I would be livid if KW decided to cut out Crede and Dye at the same time. Season tickets and attendance have a direct impact on the sox payroll.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ May 13, 2007 -> 11:01 PM) Oh yeah, Erick Aybar is going the be that spark -- the guy who put up a .283/.327/.413 line in the freakin' PCL last year. We're going to live-and-die with most of the guys on this team -- this includes Pierzynski, Konerko, Uribe, Crede, Dye and Thome. That leaves three spots -- 2B, LF and CF. Who is available at 2B who is going to be a big upgrade over Iguchi? Iguchi will probably hit at some point -- his defense will still suck, but he'll eventually hit better. That leaves the two OF spots. All the options I can think of are going to be costly. Baldelli is going to cost the Sox Gio (plus more), Ichiro will probably play out the season, Ryan Church isn't going anywhere... We're in a tough spot. If the guys we currently have don't start hitting, this team is f***ed. I'd like to see the Sox continue building with an eye towards next season by giving Sweeney the LF spot permanently, and maybe make a play for Chris Burke. Burke hits left handed pitching can play the outfield and 2nd base. He would make more sense for our bench right now than the either the same player(cintron and Mack) or Ozuna.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ May 13, 2007 -> 11:00 PM) I wanted Dye gone in the offseason. Maximize his value. How do you move a guy who had an MVP type season. That would be crazy. Everyone including I would of considered that KW went nuts and was trying to go cheap and didn't want to compete.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ May 13, 2007 -> 10:52 PM) You know, I wonder if Crede for Willits straight-up could've been done in the offseason. I'd have done it. Or Crede + something for Willits and Figgins. Dye to the Dodgers. Dye to anyone would've been good. This team is too slow. Period. Konerko can't be moved for political reasons; Thome can't be moved for his NTC. Here is the problem with the lets move Dye because he is in a walk year and he is hitting poor. He is hitting poor. So what does a sub 230 hitting guy in his walk year call for as far as moveable talent. Do you think that someone is going to give us major league ready talent, or top prospects. No. This overall slump is a double edged sword. It screws us a team for performance reasons, and it messes their trade value.

QUOTE(BearSox @ May 13, 2007 -> 10:42 PM) First off, this is hypothetical as it seems like KW and Ozzie aren't going to try and upgrade this team... But if we were, how would we do it? Sweeney would stay in LF, and Erstad would stay in CF. You aren't going to trade or bench Konerko for obvious reasons. And even if you were going to trade him, you wouldn't be able to get anything from him. And guys who would probably be on the market like Dye and Crede, they won't fetch anything via trade either. Uribe and Pierzynski have been doing good so far, so no need to change them. The only spot I can honestly see us having a shot at upgrading is 2B. Iguchi looks like he has lost it. Everyone else looks like they forgot how to hit, but Iguchi looks like he forgot the whole game of baseball. If we can get someone like Aybar for 2B, that could be a nice spark. Thoughts? This is the first time in a long time I cant see any noticeable fixes out in the MLB. The only thing I can see is if we could get Crawford. That would help. But that would cost Danks and possibly everything in AA.

QUOTE(briguy27 @ May 13, 2007 -> 08:17 PM) yes i think i know that, but we have to be realistic- we caught de la rosa on a his good day, and we couldnt hit him. plus, its early may, and everyone is panicing. we only have 3 or 4 good hitters right now- uribe, sweeney, erstad, and pierzynski. i think dye and konerko and crede will all be heating up at some point soon (considering anything is heating up, u cant go to far down from where their at) Before you break your arm tipping your cap, remember that if you have a left hand and you are a pitcher you automatically turn into Johan Santana. We hit .204 as a team with a pathetic .290 OBP and a horrible .582 OPS. So the De La Rosa's, the Odalis Perez's look forward to this date on the calendar. When they can face the 30th ranked team in baseball against lefties

QUOTE(briguy27 @ May 13, 2007 -> 06:38 PM) why is everyone so down. we've won 6 out of our last 9 games, with a bad offense. just think when our offense heats up (if it does anyway) and stop saying this week is going to suck. the yanks have no pitching, and when they do pitch, they score 1 or 2 runs. and the cubs, in 2005-2006 we have won 4 out of 6 games vs them, and they suck. their very inconsistent. people say their playing well- well yea i hope so, in the past 12 games, they have played the pirates or nationals 9 times. we will win 2 out of 3 vs the yankees and cubs. period. The Royals have no pitching either. This is the american league, you need to hit to win here.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ May 13, 2007 -> 01:53 PM) Still waiting for a response on this one. SSI71, how come Texas' coach is getting praise when he team is having bad results just like the Sox? Is it because of Sosa's turn around? The Texas Rangers are hitting as bad as we are. Are you watching the same thing. Lets see the whitesox had a horrible April and their May is worse. The Rangers had a bad April, and have picked it up in May. One team shows no sign of life, while the other team has started to pick up showing that one month was the odd ball. One team has an entire team hitting rotten, while the other team has key players hitting well, and others showing signs of life in May. Texas Rangers April/May Team BA April .235 May .262 Key Contributors to the Rangers team. Notice their sluggers are starting to heat up as a group. Kinsler .298 1.042OPS In May .091 He has gotten worse. Sosa .244 .855 OPS In May .364 .948 OPS Texeria .231 .868 OPS In May .409 1.230OPS Blalock .247 .678 OPS In May .333 .959 OPS

QUOTE(BearSox @ May 13, 2007 -> 04:00 PM) He hasn't been doing much better... Check his splits, he can hit lefties.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ May 13, 2007 -> 03:56 PM) I feel like I've said the same damn thing all season long. "If we can go five hundred on this road trip here... If we can go five hundred in this next stretch..." When the hell is this team going to make a that puts them above five hundred? I don't want an answer to that question. I am waiting for some more brilliant non-baseball quotes by the hitting coach after the game. It was weather, its depression, its pressing, its the wind, a fart by a girl in the first row. We will see some more press on how hard Walk works. Then we will see some more quotes about how we would be absolutely foolish if we got rid of the best hitting coach in baseball. IF I see one quote, one quote about him working to get Sweeney more power and then KW needs to be fired. You have the first line drive contact guy in years, and if the lift and pull king has his way, he will hit about 235 and hit some homers.

QUOTE(diegotony06 @ May 13, 2007 -> 03:54 PM) We'll go 4-2 Are they changing the rule that requires the other team to bat.

QUOTE(winninguglyin83 @ May 13, 2007 -> 03:50 PM) for the record Toby Hall homered for Charlotte's only run today. They're down 4-1 in the ninth. four hits -- two by Owens, one by BA and the homer by Hall. Its nice to see the like the twins preach the same brand of baseball throughout their system, corpseball is being preached through ours. Longer loopier swings are being generated in the minors so we can get 2 hit by some dusted off pile of dung in 2 years. Woo Hoo.

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ May 13, 2007 -> 03:49 PM) serenity now actually kind of works Make sure you dont drive today, they have lowered the blood alcohol requirement for being impaired.

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ May 13, 2007 -> 03:43 PM) There might be some truth to that. Team chemistry is important and when you start messing with success it can bite you in the behind So if we get rid of Walker they will hit worse? Thats impossible.

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ May 13, 2007 -> 03:40 PM) I think I remember hearing sometihing about the players losing confidence in one or both. No, they hated Ward because he was a prick. But Von Joshua was liked. And they had confidence. Last year Paulie said they could win the world series with the team they had, and KW didnt need to have any changes. Sentiment overriding logic is a funny thing.

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ May 13, 2007 -> 03:36 PM) So is Baines and others. Close friend or not to me it's called supporting and believing in the whole team regardless On the northside they print Believe wristbands, how does that help them year to year. THis is a business. Von Joshua and Gary Ward never had a team look this bad from the Batting standpoint. Why are they not still here?

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ May 13, 2007 -> 03:31 PM) I have also believe and have heard that hitting is contagious. Our guys are not rag tag players. Part of the problem is they struggle and try to hard to improve and put alot of pressure on themselves. It's a vicious cycle when your not going well. I am not defending Walker by the way I think that's an issue for the team and management and they seem to thing Walker is doing good and give him their support. The hitting is contagious is one of the most overused comments in baseball. Hitting is not a disease, that gets passed around from hitter to hitter. Hitting is a very individual thing. Situations, counts, and that can help you get better pitches. THese guys are seeing good pitches. They are not doing anything with it. You want to know how they get back out of this. Start trying to hit line drives, and go back up the middle and to right. The more they sit up there and try and it cars on the Dan Ryan the more this team is going to slump against low and away.

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ May 13, 2007 -> 03:28 PM) You fill nine hitting positions on a team. You have to grade or evaluate them on how they perform against others in their specific position and keep in mind things like speed, defense, team player, etc, Homers don't make the player by themselves. Crede has improved every year as a hitter. If this is a slump year for these guys then that's too bad it had to happen to all at one time, but tha's the nuances of the game. They can all get hot at the same time or break out of it individually and contribute to wins. All the hitters slumped at once? If thats the case we need to check their betting activity because the probability of a team that slumped as a group that pretty much has the same characters here that scored 520 runs in the first half last year is remote. We heard weather, we heard the pucker factor, now its slump year.

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ May 13, 2007 -> 03:22 PM) Dye-Konerko-Thome-Crede-Iguchi-AJ Perz are all above averegae hitters. The others maybe are average So let me get this straight. We cant fire walker because he is a great hitting coach, best in the league if you ask the sox. We have these stellar hitters who suddenly as a group have decided not to hit. So what is it. Slumps do not affect entire teams, and affect people for almost a month and a half. Hitting is an individual endevor. Sure a good hititng guy behind you can allow you to see better pitchers. But the rag tag group of Cy Young guys who have shut this team down have blown.

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ May 13, 2007 -> 03:18 PM) Team slump not an indication though of how good we can be. I ain't happy either, but you gotta believe they will come out of it. Right now for the most part our pitching is keeping us in there and hopefull the bats come around. We hit better in April when we used cold as an excuse. Its quite pleasant out these days. They getting worse, week by week hitting. Check their last 7 day splits, and check the month of May.

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ May 13, 2007 -> 03:12 PM) Irish we have Thome and Pods, both lefties, on the DL. Healthy and we are doing good. Or am I missing your point here? Konerko and Dye were not hitting when Thome was healthy. They walked him, because the two guys behind they cant hit. They cant hit now. So where magically do you think that with THome here things just poof are good again. We were last in the league when Thome was healthy.