southsideirish71

QUOTE(Ozzie Montana @ Aug 17, 2005 -> 01:19 PM) I only hope the sparkplug will be 100% when he returns. I hope that people start to try and get basehits instead of hitting the ball to mars with RISP and less than 2 outs. That of all things should solve a lot of problems.

QUOTE(Ozzie Montana @ Aug 17, 2005 -> 01:06 PM) We cant count on Junior to be the savior of this offense. At this point, the deal looks dead. What if we dont get him? Are people going to just give up on them because we didnt get a superstar? We have to count on this offense coming through for themselves. If we dont get any help our pitching will have to pitch their brains out and our offense will have to click in the offense to give us a chance. Our pitching can do it. But ask the twins about pitching and no offense in the playoffs.

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ Aug 17, 2005 -> 12:50 PM) Why is this bad news? If you haven't noticed, the last thing we need is less batting practice. Also, my Sox BP on the field was cancelled. But the good news, I still get my 10th row tickets and free premium parking....AND I will still get to do BP and tickets, since I did already pay for that. I realize nobody cares. All that batting practice does is allow our hitters to work on their popup stance, or the slam the bat or helmet into the ground pout, or the big swing and K with men on. Maybe its time for KW and Ozzie to have a team meeting. Call out this terrible offense.

QUOTE(Ozzie Montana @ Aug 17, 2005 -> 12:57 PM) Interesting I must say. We were dominating in April. Probably not much of an argument or anything cause its only one month but we were very hard to beat in the cold. This pitching has always been consistent this year even through the hot weather but the cold weather definately seemed to play in our favor. Our offense has been a joke all year long. We have had a few periods of hotness. And I think Frank Thomas did have a huge effect on that. They started getting hot in June and dumped off after Frank got hurt. He is someone that by himself cant carry the team anymore. But he is still an imposing force and makes people around him better. This is why they need Ken Griffey Jr. He would provide the same thing and I believe this one guy would make the team a hell of a lot better. We dominated April because our pitching was out of their minds. We have this record because of our pitching and our pitching only. To put any laurels on this offense is a joke.

QUOTE(thedoctor @ Aug 17, 2005 -> 12:49 PM) a baseball season is long. these ebbs and flows are going to happen. no team has the pedal to the metal for 162. what has made me confident since the asb? probably the fact that even though we are playing like s*** we still took two of three in new york and swept cleveland in their park. Our pitching won us the Yank series. If you think putting up the aenmic effort against the Yanks starters was something to hold for confidence then you will be amused this weekend when the Yanks invade the Cell and some of those awsome plays that Arow had crashing into dead center at Yank stadium fly deep into that good night in the cell. Lets see if we can hold them to 2 runs this series. I think not.

QUOTE(TheBigHurt @ Aug 17, 2005 -> 12:44 PM) What have you. WE actually did an amazing job yesterday. I couldn't be prouder of Bobby Jenks and the amazing job he did, as well as every other arm IN the bullpen besides Adkins. Not that Adkins did absolutely horrible at first, but he didn't last very long. When I saw that he was the last arm in the bullpen, I groaned. Staying up to watch game that lasted nearly two games worth just to see Adkins give it all away. Sitting in the stands watching men reach 2nd with less than 2 outs to watch the popup and K machine go to work was sickening. But maybe our 230 Team BA in the month of August is just a mirage.

QUOTE(White Sox Josh @ Aug 17, 2005 -> 12:31 PM) relax. Brad Radke and the guy pitching tonight are pretty good pitchers. So was that Matt Guerrier character.

This game was lost on our inability to drive in the runner from second with less than 2 outs. Inste ad of getting the big hits they popped up ala corpseball. Not by the bullpen or by Adkins. After 16 innings and you havent pushed a run across you deserve to get beat. We couldnt hit Matt Guerrier for 4 innings. Thats sad.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Aug 17, 2005 -> 09:43 AM) I'll remember that when Pods comes back. Is Pods causing Dye to hit below 200 in August or Crede to hit below .140. Pods is responsible for Timo playing at that is it. Uribe and Crede killing rallies last night was the reason for the loss. They were walking Arow like he was barry bonds to get to the blackhole of the lineup. URIBE POPS IT UP on the first pitch!!!!!!!!!!!! CREDE POPS IT UP!!!!!!!

QUOTE(Steff @ Aug 17, 2005 -> 09:37 AM) The fat lady has sung... Her name is Hawk and she was doing a rant I guess last night on how Everett is the anchor of the offense and Griffey as a great player for 8 years but times change. Hawk is insane if he thinks that Everett is better than Griffey. Maybe Timo is also.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Aug 17, 2005 -> 09:24 AM) Actually that was another thing I questioned. Blum made a heck of a nice pick in the bottom of the 9th, but I can't figure out why Blum is out their for defensive purposes. I figure Konerko is the better of the two defensively, especially when it comes to picking the ball. Maybe I'm wrong though and that was a sweet pick by Blum on Uribe's throw (it was a very good play all around). Blum should of come in for Crede. His bat is absolutely no existant right now and he is having some problems over at 3rd on positioning and basic plays.

If they blow a double digit lead and dont make the playoffs after this start a few things happen. KW is out of a job. There is about 13K at the Cell next year. And Soxfest is a bloodbath.

QUOTE(Dam8610 @ Aug 17, 2005 -> 01:00 AM) I wonder if he'll ever be able to start at the ML level. He proved tonight that he can throw his heat for at least 3 innings, and he's still very young. If he could start down the road, he'd help make the Sox rotation even more formidable. I know the Sox see him as their future closer and that he's had trouble in starting roles in the minors, but other prospects whose organizations viewed them as closers have become starters after having problems in starting roles. He has had some injuries, a stress fracture last year and he has a pin in his arm. I dont see his arm holding up with lots of innings and the stress of throwing that fastball. For the long term its best to use him in a short relief role.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Aug 17, 2005 -> 12:53 AM) Nice idea............Where did you ever get that from? HAHA A certain FOCKER. Diaz isnt up this year and Grilli is not on the team anymore. Adkins is the designated Tee Ball Stand.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Aug 17, 2005 -> 12:37 AM) He was dominant tonight. Twins hitters were literally walking to the dugout shaking their heads. It was pretty sweet to see. Then the 16th hit. Jon Adkins came into the game.... His ERA sits now at a sweet 17.18

QUOTE(3E8 @ Aug 17, 2005 -> 12:26 AM) You got off lightly. I paid $$ to sit through it. I was at the game sitting in the upper deck with a ton of jackass twink fans with circle me bert signs. I paid $$ also. It blew.

QUOTE(ScottPodRulez22 @ Aug 16, 2005 -> 11:41 PM) Umm the twins bullpen is just as good if not better then the angels and A's I am sure glad Matt Guerrier shut us down for 4 innings. That was pretty sweet. The only thing that would of been better is if Mulholland came in and shut us down. Please more helmet slamming by sox players after they choke popping the ball up or King with men on. That is very retro-2000-2004 whitesox offense. Jenks pitched filthy and showed he had a sac. Then Jon Adkins came in and showed us why he blows wet dog. And I wasted my time sitting through all 16 innings of crap.

I just got back from this game. 16 innings to watch Jon unravel in one inning. How can a championship caliber team have so many holes. This team is not sucking because of trade talks. That is just plain foolish. Every year teams that are going for it deal with trade talk. We are losing because of good old corpseball. Nothing like watching sox players slam their helmets in disgust after failing time and time again to drive in runners in scoring position with less than 2 outs. High popups, K after K with men on. I felt like I was at last years August twins series. In fact Radke pretty much did the same thing. All I have heard all year long is that Crede is a streaky hitter and that he is a second half hitter. Well Mr. Crede is batting now .136 in August. That is about as much of an auto-out as you can get. And stop giving the excuse that he is playing gold glove defense. He is misplaying basic plays now. It would be better to sit him and play Blum at 3rd. If this is because his back hurts then DL him and get him better. Jermaine Dye has completely disappeared again. He is now batting under .200 in August. I watched him K silly again tonight. And his defense is suspect. Now later today we face Santana who could put us at a 5 game losing streak. Then we get the Yanks who will probably hit better in the favorable conditions of the cell. We are on the verge of a very long losing streak if we dont tread lightly. I have a funny feeling if we got Griffey he probably would of went better than our best hitter at 2 for 7.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 16, 2005 -> 03:11 PM) Yes, but also in 2000 it was our offense that got us to the playoffs. It will not be our offense that gets us there this year. Everyone on this site keeps banking on our pitching just shutting down the opposition in the playoffs and our offense just wooping on the opposing pitching because it doesnt match up. Boston has a killer offense. They have beat up on some of the best pitchers in the league this year. We will have to have our pitchers have great games and our offense will have to step up. While they have done this a few times, other times they get shut down by mediocre pitching. Vlad is the X factor. The minute he came back that offense started to hit. We have not faced Vlad this year and barely and I mean barely squeaked some victories out. Does his bat change some of those games, maybe it does. We had hard times hitting Lackey and in some respect Colon who would be one and two out of the rotation. The As. We cant hit Zito at all, if Harden is on he is very difficult plus we have a hard time winning against that team at all. Their high OBP hitters are murder against our team and the type of hitter we have. A power pitcher has a distinct advatage over the As. But finese pitchers who pound the strikezone like we have for Garland and Buerhle and Garcia(not finese but he does pound the strikezone) are at a disadvantage. Each opponent will be a tough challenge for us. We have great pitching who will have to get hot so we can ride them. We have to get our hitting more consistant by October so we are not a homer or nothing team. If we get back to stringing hits together, making contact, moving the runner over, playing smart we have a chance. If our offense stays the same as it is now. We will be swept out of the playoffs no matter who we play.

QUOTE(VAfan @ Aug 16, 2005 -> 03:02 PM) The problem in 2000 was a complete breakdown in our pitching staff in August/September. This year our offense threatens to go in the tank. However, I would happily take 15-13 and 16-12 as a W-L record these two months, as it would almost certainly ensure home field advantage in the playoffs. How far back is the surging Boston team. Are you sure that just coasting along we are ensured the home field for the playoffs. Methinks you under-estimate our opponents. Plus in the playoffs our pitching staff pitched relatively well. It was our offense that decided to disappear. The birth of Corpseball was in the 2000 ALDS.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 16, 2005 -> 02:52 PM) SSI, our arguments last WAY too long and I dont feel like getting into it, agree to disagree? True, I respect your opinion even though we do come up on the other end of the argument at times. Can we both agree that Timo doesnt belong as the leadoff guy. I think that is where we can find our middle ground. LOL

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 16, 2005 -> 02:46 PM) Wow, you cant be more wrong. Even if he busted it out of the box, which he didnt, he wouldnt have made 2nd base standing up. He didnt overshoot 1st base, he stood between the two waiting for the throw to go into third instead of 2nd so that he could take the base. He then beat the tag and was safe, but the ump blew the call. From his own mouth this is what he was trying to do, and I believe him. He is not a showboat, and is not the kind of player who is lazy. He is a constant perfectionist who works as much time in the cage as on the field. You are way off base on this one. I am not saying that if he busted out of the box he would of got to second. Most MLB players sure, but Konerko is slower than an ox. But he did stay in the box to watch his ball. He DIDNT run the ball out. We need to grind every play out because our .231 team BA in August doesnt allow for a lot of mistakes. Pauly has been hitting the s*** out of the ball. But he did watch this one, he is human and we all would watch a would be dong if we could. But he did watch it. 4 He has watched a few balls go out of the park like Carlos Lee.

Rock you are dead wrong on this one. I know that being 15 feet from the play you feel that you had a better angle. Watch the play over and over via tivo or on MLB.com. Konerko hits the ball. Then stands at home plate watching the ball. The minute it hits down fair he takes off. He overshoots his rounding of first and sees the ball going into 3rd and then hesitates and takes off. The third baseman throws over. The tag is late however the ump called him out. He did watch it, and if he is not guilty of this then Carlos Lee is not guilty of standing watching 2 balls hit off the fence last year in August and getting thrown out doing the same thing. Konerko didnt bust out or even run the play out. He got caught making an ass out of himself, no matter what the excuse is. You can sugar coat it and say that he doesnt need to run out every play because this aint little league, but this team without any offense is built on getting timely hits, making good decisions on the basepaths and hustle. Hence the grinder crap we have been hearing over and over. We have had year after year of guys admiring their homers, and a few times it catches them. This time it caught Pauly. Hopefully this embarassment will help him and his play for the rest of the season.

QUOTE(TLAK @ Aug 16, 2005 -> 05:53 AM) He fouled off a couple over his head, can't lay off them but he was missing them entirely earlier. At some point our meathead hitters have got to stop swinging at crap neck and up. Arow Kd over the weekend on a neck high fastball from Schilling. Pauly swung at a pitch chest high last night. Do these guys have any clue on what a strike and what a ball is.

OMIT TIMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DONT REST GOOCH BECAUSE YOU WANT TO GET BLUM PLAYING TIME. SIT URIBE OR CREDE OR SOMEONE ELSE THAT CANT HIT. I WILL BE THERE TONIGHT HOPEFULLY BRINING THE LUCK OF THE IRISH. RIP EM