southsideirish71

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 04:20 PM) If so, he could make a solid guy to spell Thome, with PK at DH. But that means AJP has to play, so if its against a lefty, you only replace one of them instead of both. So I don't see that happening too often. I really wish they'd consider using Pablo as a DH against lefties. With the power righthanded bats we already have (Dye, Crede, PK, Gooch), our DH does not necessarily have to be a power guy. Why Mack can play 1st also. I trust Hall at 1st, with Kong as the DH, and AJ as the catcher more than I trust Thome hitting against a lefty.

QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 04:17 PM) So, does Hall play a lot of first base? Is he a viable back up there? I think Ozzie and company are playing with an idea. They are trying to see if Hall can play 1st. This would lead me to believe they are thinking of using Hall as the backup right handed 1st baseman, and Perez would go. Terrero is playing himself right into Charlotte or release.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 03:56 PM) Erstad with another single. F***. Those singles are nice, they would be suited playing LF and hitting leadoff.

QUOTE(bmags @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 03:50 PM) well, i didn't really listen to the radio last year because i heard it was so painful. I have to say singleton doesn't sound very awkward at all. This is pretty enjoyable sans farmeyo Singleton sounds last year like he was working at 88.1 at Argo High School. I still remember how bad some of his calls were. In Tampa bay. Theres a hit, pause, its a line drive, pause, over the left fielders head, pause, pause, its over his head, its a home run, yeah a home run thats what it is. It was a no doubter. This year he sounds better.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 12:06 AM) Sox sign AJ s***, I've already drastically limited my whining following Jermaine Dye's signing. Even Cubkilla himself must applaud Williams' commitment to our club. DAMN NEGATIVITY! I have a good memory.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 11:57 PM) Man I loved that AJ move, I remember getting into my car on the way to work (probably 3:40pm or so) and hearing George Offman report that AJ had been released by the Giants. I jumped up out of my old Imperial and yelling to my brother on the other side of the front lawn "WILLIAMS BETTER f***ING BRING HIM IN!". Williams bringing AJ in for an interview to see if he was "White Sox material" was just too perfect, of course AJ aced that exam. That was the one move before '05 (Dye right behind that) which I absolutely LOVED at the time and I first started getting optimistic about the 2005 season after that. I still remember the debates with a few posters on here that were worried about chemistry. I wanted AJ because he typifies the type of hitter that I think complements our thumpers well. A line drive guy who can hit gap to gap. To me you need 4 types of hitters to balance a line up. One high OBP guy who can get on base. A guy who has absolute control of the bat, cant hit and run, hit to the right side, make contact. Your protypical thumpers who lift and pull. Then your gap to gap guys who keep the line moving after the thumpers get through. Between that move, and I remember being at Soxfest when they were asking Kenny about Iguchi before he was signed and he acted like he never heard of him. It scared the crap out of me to think that Willie Harris was going to be our starting 2nd baseman.

QUOTE(SoxAce @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 11:52 PM) I was there too bro, and my memory may not be as good as it used to be considering my old man age I'm sportin now, but I can't recall a TON of negativity. Hell alot of posters liked El-duque mostly because of his playoff experience that would've helped us. There was doubt and negativity of course, but I don't think there was a ton. It was more optimism. If I'm wrong though, it's all good as well. We are all human and maybe the weed smokin and drinking has effected my baseball knowledge. Everyone liked El Duque and had positive thoughts on that one because he wasnt the Felix Diaz/Jason Grilli/Danny Wright/Arnie Munoz pinwell of hell known as the teeball stand.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 11:42 PM) Where does it say that I didn't see it? A lot of posters just saw his age and injury history and couldn't care less about how it was better than our 5th spot of a year before. The loss of Lee and Ordonez for an injury plagued Dye and some one year wonder Pods was not well received either. We were just going on the cheap. You don't recall this? Oh yeah, there was a ton of negativity prior to the 2005 season. A TON! And not one quote in that statement or my previous statement was BS. Total truth. I welcomed the Pods for Carlos trade, because I hated our lift and pull approach. I was sickened watching Carlos Lee hit what he thought was home runs shots, only to get thrown out at 2nd trying to put on the fake hussle. Between him and Valentin who I didnt like the most was hard to figure out. Carlos was fine, until he and Walk worked on turning him from the guy with the long hitting streak ripping doubles all over the park driving in runs, to a monolithic home run hitter who had some sexy numbers but had a propensitity to fall over trying to hit the dramatic homer, when we had a man on 3rd and less than two outs. Now of course hindsight is 20/20. I was hoping that we would balance our all or nothing hitters with some smart line drive types that would get on base, and would hit to all fields. I was a huge proponent of AJ, whom I thought would be a doubles machine hitting to the left side a lot. I never thought how much the offense would sicken me the entire 2005 season sans the playoffs. Before Pods was traded, we were all talking about Frank Catalanato as a possibility for left because of his line drive abilities. The big debate before that season was if we were going to sign Dye or Hidalgo. It was a wash at the time on which would be better, now of course it seems that we won that in a landslide.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 11:36 PM) Mackowiak for Brady Clark rumor in tomorrow's Tribune. It makes a ton of sense. Now thats a move a few of us can get behind.

If you are going to bat prancer first and then Erstad 2nd you might as well just ditch that, have Thome lead off and have Kong follow. At least that way you would get our top 3 hitters as man ABs as possible. Because with prancer and erstad you really cant be serious that you want baserunners. Check their OBP. Thome will be batting a bunch of times with 2 outs and no one on base.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 08:59 PM) I don't think KW traded Rowand + Young away because he wanted to "clear the way" for BA -- he traded them because he wanted Vazquez and Thome. I'd bet KW would prefer either one of them to Brian Anderson. Maybe Young, but not Rowand. Just because someone throws themselves on the ground and smashes their face into a wall, it doesnt make them good.

Actually Brian is hitting .303 right now. But still. If they trade Brian then everything they told us about building for the future is full of s***. They should of trade Crede the minute he hit .234 and should of sent Garland gone a while back. They told us for years to wait on these guys, and now we are ready to jetison a 1st round draft pick who plays great defense and has some potential so we can put some

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 05:25 PM) Thornton comes in, and promptly blows away Buck on 3 pitches. See ya. In recorded ST games, not "B" games, Logan has an ERA of 0. Including today. 4th pitch is popped up to Molina. 2 outs. Ricky Ledee coming up. Average back up to .303. Prancers OBP is probably not .303 at this point.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 05:12 PM) And that's why I don't mind (not that it really matters either way) when you get on Pods case. I get the feeling that some people root for him to fail, just so they can be right, despite the fact that it could help the team. I don't even get a small hint of that from you. None of us root for any player to fail. When you see a player fail for most of the time that they have been here, you dont need to be a fortune teller to think that they may struggle again. He is a leadoff guy and he has to be on base for our offense to function properly. If he plays like he did in the 2nd half of last season he will cripple our attack.

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 05:00 PM) I really hope Pods kicks some major ASS this year to shut all you up. Actually, if he hits .280 and has an OBP of .345, I think all of you Pods haters are going to have to eat some major crow. C'mon, Ozuna and Mack with Guch leading off? No bueno. .345 OBP is still not good for a leadoff guy. Aim higher. I also hope that Buerhle has 35 wins and a sub 1 ERA. Dreams versus reality is a stretch at times. QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 05:00 PM) Who would have ever thought after last year that we'd be starting 2007 with Pods in LF, Erstad in CF, and a clusterf*** in the 5th starter spot, while our bullpen isn't improved? Our bullpen is a bit better than you are giving it credit for right now. The prancer erstad combo is really going to be teh suck though.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 04:50 PM) Well, Terrero o-fers on the day, 3 AB's, 2 K's, then Anderson walks. After a hot start, Terrero is looking like himself. I'll definitely be upset if Terrero and/or Perez make this team and not Anderson. Perez and Anderson should make the team. Terrero and Prancer should be finding new careers. Erstad can leadoff and be our LF for all I care. Platoon him with Ozuna.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 04:43 PM) AJ grounds out to first. Fields singles to right. Anderson batting for Mackowiak. That's something I've never seen before. And he takes a 4 pitch walk. I believe I hear Ozzie swearing. Terrero flies out to a leaping CF, I believe first pitch swinging after a 4 pitch walk. Inning over. Terrero is taking the Juan Uribe school of patience at the plate. If someone swings at the first pitch after a 4 pitch walk, his ass should be on the bench right then and there.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 03:50 PM) Bradley flies out to Terrero on the CF track. 2 outs. Of course, if Podsednik could still run...there would be no reason to bunt there, as he could just, you know, run. If Podsednik cant run, then he should be a 4th OF.

QUOTE(klaus kinski @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 03:42 PM) I hope that climate is part of the equasion when it comes to evaluating Haeger above all else because of the knuckler. He can be much more effective in the air at home But this could be used for all 3 pitchers. Danks and Floyd have plus curveballs, that will break a bit more outside of the desert. Danks uses a fastball to offset his breaking pitches, and to set them up. While Floyd has a good fastball, and his issue is control and not the desert.

The first inning wasnt a problem from an offensive standpoint. They got a guy on, they got him over and they got him in. If that is how it works great. I just fear that we wont have a guy on, and then we will be working in a drive the ball on every pitch mode to score runs.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 02:48 PM) Tom, If it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck... At this point, I think a very logical step to take would be the admission that this organization has soured on Anderson. So, what has led to such a souring? Could his play on the field have merited such a souring? Yes. Could his off-field antics, work-ethic, level of seriousness, maturity, etc. have merited such a souring? (I do not claim to have any inside sources or first-hand information; I am simply using what I have read/heard to make this claim) Yes. So, rather than place the blame on the organization--as so many loyal Soxtalkers/prospect-martyrs have--can we please start to place at least some of the blame on Anderson? Brian Anderson need not look any further than the mirror for a reason as to why he is being thrown to the way-side at the age of 24. This was a once-heralded top-prospect who is in serious threat of losing significant playing time to a very suspect, injury-prone, declining thirty-year-old center-fielder. Is this because the organization had it out for Brian Anderson? No...a resounding no. Brian Anderson finds himself in the position he is in today because of Brian Anderson--no one else. I just can not continue to sit here and read these posts suggesting the organization has it out for Brian Anderson. It behooves the White Sox organization to have found its center-fielder of the future in Brian Anderson. This organization traded the single most popular player on a championship roster and traded one of the brightest outfield prospects in the game because it felt Brian Anderson was the guy. The fact that Brian Anderson is getting s***canned in only his second Major League season suggests that there is more here than meets the eye. But, rather than use any logic, let us all put the blame on the organization for having it out for such a prized prospect. How can a guy like Todd VanPopple (once dubbed the second-coming of Roger Clemens) get chance, after chance, after chance based on his Minor League merits, but a very successful top-center-field-prospect get s***canned in just his second year? I can not believe that this perception has become reality on this once-intelligible baseball fan site. Ian, I am not someone who gets all hyped up over prospects. However I am using some experience in seeing guys like Crede - who even in 2005 I hated and wanted gone, and Garland who I hated and wanted gone as examples of maybe its worth taking a real look to see if the kid can hack it or not. Anderson had a platoon role for the most part of the season last year. Maybe the kid is a bust, maybe he is Borchard II. But we need to find out. If we had gone out this offseason and picked up a real CF sure ditch Brian. But we didnt, we picked up a guy who has declined over the last few years. Someone that doesnt project all that much of an improvement over what we had last year. I am concerned not that Brian Anderson is not on the team, is that we didnt fill that CF role with a honest replacement. And now we are looking at having 2 guys uptop in front of our thumpers that have poor OBP. It just looks bad from a run scoring standpoint. I dont think the organization has it out for Brian. I dont think Ozzie is a fan though.

Terrero is staring in CF today against Oakland. Good to see that we are really getting to see what Anderson can do, and allowing him to fight for the job.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 02:09 PM) ok. Just wondering. Disliking him because he isn't good is different than disliking him because he's an asshole, as an example. I am sure that Pods is a sweatheart as a guy. However he is a major league baseball player, and there are a few basic standards for his position. Get on base at about a .360 to .390 level, get into scoring position and run like hell when our thumpers crush the ball. I dislike our leadoff hitter and sparkplug for our offense having a .241BA with a less than 300OBP for half the year. I dislike the same player playing really crap defense. His job is a few things. Get on base, try to get into scoring position for big thumpers. When your sub 700 OPS hitting LF cant get onbase, cant hit and is playing poor LF with no arm. I dont see why this guy is our starting LF.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 12:43 PM) I personally thought that the Freddy Garcia trade would initially bank on how hard he was throwing in the spring. If he regained his velocity after a full offseason, big mistake; if not, then not. I'm really interested to see how he does in the NL. He will dominate it. The NL is teh suck!

QUOTE(SouthSidePride05 @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 12:43 PM) I know we shouldn't worry about attendance, and it's a tired subject, but I'm still interested to see what you all think the attendance will be like at USC in April. Unfortunately I'm stuck at a job with coworkers who happen to be Cub fans (only 2 other Sox fans in my department) and they always talk among themselves about Sox attendance.. and when it's high they turn it around with talk about bandwagoners. It's just fascinating how obsessed they are with all things Sox-related. I overhear them talk about the Cell all the time.. even more-so than Wrigley. With that being said, I have a feeling they're gonna have a lot to talk about in April. I wouldn't be surprised if most games in April are half-full with the outfield seats and upper deck seats completely empty. Checking w/ ticketmaster and calling for tickets yesterday, April games, like every year, are selling the slowest. I also noticed during the broadcast the other day, Hawk, DJ and Brooks were begging the fans to get their tickets early, particularly for April. Personally, I think they should have cut all April ticket prices in half for "fan appreciation month" (in honor of last year's highest attendance record) and promoted the hell out of it. Again, I know it's something we shouldn't worry about it, but it does put a little damper on the excitement when that's all you hear about it April. The easiest way to deal with this is whenver a cub fans asks you about attendance just tell them the only number that really matters is 2005 which the last time I looked is > 1908.