southsideirish71

QUOTE(Capn12 @ May 16, 2005 -> 09:34 PM) Between El Duque and Contreras, we could single handedly set a new record for BBs allowed...f***ing hell...HI! attack the hitters please, quit trying to nitpick them to death. Remember all of the press on how having El Duque would help Contreras throw strikes and be better. Maybe Contreras is a bad influence for El Duque. The mirror each other as far as wildness.

The constant strikeouts are the most disturbing trend. Watching fastballs down the middle of the plate with the game on the line for strike three is unacceptable.

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ May 16, 2005 -> 09:28 PM) Yes! If Konerko could ever get back on track- and/or the Big Hurt gets back I think we will start having some production and it will be led by Aaron. Konerko will get back on track the minute he stops changing his stance like 50 times in a week. Pick something and use it. I am all for making an adjustment, but good lord.

QUOTE(ptatc @ May 16, 2005 -> 08:21 PM) They'll go through the same thing. Like I said everyone does at a certain point in the season. I hope this is the problem but it could just as easy be they are reverting to past poor habits. Pitchers dont go through dead arm phases in May. In July/August/September maybe they can go through a dead arm phase. If they are all having dead arm phases now, injuries are on the horizon.

All the hitters should watch what gooch did in his AB tonight. He fouled a bunch of pitches off and hit a pitch where it was pitched. Our big hitters right now swing at crap in the dirt or take pitches down the cock for strike 3. If they get fooled on strike 3 by a slider or a curve but a fastball down the plate. They should be able to handle that.

EAT s*** RUMP RANGERS!!!!!!

QUOTE(sox-r-us @ May 16, 2005 -> 10:54 AM) Even when Frank Thomas makes it back from his minor-league rehab stint, Guillen says nothing will change for Konerko. "When Frank comes, I hope to give him some DH [at-bats]. Carl [Everett] is there, and he'll play some outfield, and I'm going to mix my lineup more often. But Paulie's going to be my first baseman.'' ======================== http://www.suntimes.com/output/telander/cst-spt-rick16.html ========================= Personally I will be happy with Carl in the OF and Frank and Paulie in the line up. That makes our middle of the line up so much more formidable. Its not like Dye has been a shadow of his old self in the field. I think Everett can do better than dropping fly balls, missing cutoffs and not reaching ground balls and then letting them run by you. At least Everett can make contact.

QUOTE(Steff @ May 16, 2005 -> 10:53 AM) I had a dream the other night that Sweeney was on first base.. in a Sox uni.. I wish KW would have that same dream. Heavenly.

QUOTE(Chisoxrd5 @ May 16, 2005 -> 10:48 AM) I agree..Gload at least is a more viable alternative. However, his injury sounds very odd...Inflamed Shoulder, unable to throw and barely able to swing a bat, he could be on the shelf for a long time. We really dont have any insurance policies at first base right now so Paulie has no choice but to step it up. I also miss Gload coming off the bench to pinch hit. The idea of having a free swinger like timo coming off the bench in tight games scares me.

QUOTE(Chisoxrd5 @ May 16, 2005 -> 10:40 AM) I think it would be fine to bench him for a game...but Chris Widger as our everyday first baseman? Thats comical To bad Gload is hurt or we could bench Konerko here and there.

Kudos to our pitching staff for pitching their asses off night in and night out. The offense needs to be a bit more consistant. Pods and Gooch have been getting on for the thumpers. However the middle of the lineup has barely been clutch this year. Watching a few stat padder solo homers at the end of the game when down 5-0 is easy instead of in the 2nd inning with men on and two outs. I hear interviews with Greg Walker and he says the right things. However our team constantly pulls the ball. We tinker with stances, we thinker with everything. Its one thing to tinker with a crede who has had nothing but problems, but why is Konerko using a new stance after he had a good year. Yes raising your hands gives you a better power stroke. But its hard to square up the ball when you have a dip in your swing. Pull Baseball Son!!!! This is our motto. If you want to shut down the sox for the last few years its a simple formula. Spot the fastball on the outside corner about 80% of the time. Every so often toss a cutter in to keep them off ballance. Our hitters dive over the plate and try to extend their arms to pull the outside pitch. This is why we make soft tossing 6+ ERA pitchers look like Cy Young. Our hitting approach in itself is a problem. If they have a pitcher that has the propensity to throw outside lthen the hitters who have better scouting than we should go up there trying to hit the ball up the middle and the other way. If they start to make solid contact with that approach the pitcher will try to get them to back off the plate and will go in. The minute they go in its time to turn on the pitch and launch it. Pauly and Dye are pulling the ball over and over. Pauly last year hit a bunch of pitches to right field especially with men on. This year I see a ton of strikeouts and a lot of grounds and lineouts to the 3rd basemen. If we want to play smartball then we need to commit the whole way. There is a time to launch a pitch into the stands. Its not with men on in the early part of the game. Its not when the count insnt in your favor. These guys can hit, these guys can succeed. Its time for them to approach this by trying to hit to all fields and to stop being one dimensional. If we do this our offense will start to click and make everyone a lot less nervous.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ May 16, 2005 -> 09:26 AM) Wait, wait, so what's your hobby again? The point is, when he's not letting the ball go at a totally wrong place, he's not all over. Yesterday -- it was high, high, high... He's not lacking command entirely (see Daniel Cabrera). That's something a pitching coach can help w/. Just f***ing stop trying to put words in my mouth. It's NOT okay to throw wildly. But s*** happens, pitchers have bad games and bad stretches, and they aren't always bad for the rest of their careers. Mind blowing concept. From the posts I read, we should replace about half the pitching staff. Good God, people, do you have no memory of what a bad pitching staff is? It wasn't that long ago. But s*** happens, pitchers have bad games and bad stretches, and they aren't always bad for the rest of their careers. Mind blowing concept. 2005: 6 BB per 9 IP 2004: 4.5 BB per 9 IP 2003: 13 BB per 9 IP My point is his wildness isnt something new. His biggest problem with his wildness is the fact that he looks for the plate late in the delivery and short arms the pitch. The pitch sails. Its fixable. But fix it in the minors and then bring him back up. Not in games with Baltimore. He should of never been in Saturdays game. It should of been Politte.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ May 16, 2005 -> 09:20 AM) Most of the time, at least with Cotts when he's on in the 6th or 7th, at least the Sox can come back for a rally. Quite amazing his ERA hasn't changed this month either, it was down to 2.89 before the Tampa game. See this is what I don't like with all the Cotts bashing. Who are you going to call up to replace Neal Cotts? Jon Adkins? He's struggling starting down at Charlotte. Brandon McCarthy. Don't go there. Arnie Munoz? Still needs more time. Jeff Bajenaru? A righty, and his September stats from last season are still going to hang over him no matter how great he's pitched down in the minors over the past season and a half. His ERA doesnt change when he gives up someone elses runners who are on base. The guys coming out of the pen after a starter has come out are there to stop the bleeding or to keep the situation from becoming a disaster. Cotts arm designation doesnt matter. He cant get lefties out so whats the point. You can replace him with a righty. I would take Arnie against a lefty over Cotts. Baj at least throws strikes.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ May 16, 2005 -> 08:58 AM) He didn't debut in NY. I know that's the style here, it's much cooler to proclaim early that someone is total garbage or the next Gagne. (How many fans did Politte and Hermanson have a few months ago?) But I'm not gonna do that. Honestly, I don't know how good he is, how good he will be. But I don't think a young pitcher being inconsistent is a rare thing. His splits against lefties are awful this year, agreed. (Why exactly is a lh changeup guy our lh specialist anyway?) He hasn't been great at stranding runners, but that doesn't mean he's been awful. His control is off, especially now. He throws those wacky pitches every once in a while, or keeps it high. That's something for the pitching coach to work on, not a sign that he'll never be any good. We're not talking about Rick Ankiel. And in terms of both control and stranding runners, Damaso's been just as bad or worse. What's his excuse, or should he go too? QP: Baseball Prospectus has some stats on this, link. This post makes my head hurt. I dont get the Cotts apologists at all. Especially after the gems he has put on the field over the last year. So let me get this straight. Its ok for a guy to come into a close game and launch a few pitches over the guys head, plunk a guy get behind hitters and then let the inheritted runners score or walk them. If that is the formula we should get Thriller or Koch back. They are both looking for jobs right now. He throws those wacky pitches every once in a while, or keeps it high. He throws these pitches with a few men on in a tight game. Do you really think after throwing the masterbator into the net he is going to get the close calls. He cant throw strikes. These are ankiel like pitches. Its not like he missed the corner or let one sail a bit. He rememinds me of the guy from Bull Durham. He doesnt look and just fires the ball. If he had any velocity I think he may kill someone. Maybe he can get his control. But the time to learn control is not in a major league game. Especially when the team is tryng to make the playoffs. I dont want this guy up when the game is on the line. Last year we jacked off trying to see if this experiment or that would work. And we dropped senseless games between the disaster at 5th starter and the Cotts, Thriller, Koch craptacular trio. Enough already lets get someone who can throw strikes and strand a few runners.

QUOTE(Chisoxrd5 @ May 16, 2005 -> 08:19 AM) Some of the posters odd and creepy obsessions really intrigue me... :banghead :headshake :rolly :puke Ok that about sums up my opinion of that I really don't get how Cotts is the 'downfall' of this team or how his promotion or demotion a 'priority'. He's the last guy in our bullpen how is his anything important? I'll never understand...but i digress How is he the last guy in our bullpen. He is up most of the time. And he came into two games over the weekend to stop the bleeding and he cant throw strikes. Its one thing to walk a guy, its another thing to plunk a guy and then throw a pitch almost over the head of a batter. His wildness is almost funny if we werent a good team. This guy coming out of the bullpen in a close game is terrible.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ May 16, 2005 -> 07:51 AM) As many of us said, Aaron has the tools to be a solid #3 hitter. I would like to see them slide Frank to #4 when he gets back even. That is a great idea. This lineup should be able to score runs. And Everett is not that much worst than DEAD in RF. Dead of old maybe, this years DEAD no way. Rowand will see a ton of fastballs with Thomas behind him. Everett and Thomas should be able to get some RBI's with Arow and crew up ahead. Pods LF Gooch 2b Rowand CF Thomas DH Everett RF Kong 1B Pierz C Crede 3B Uribe SS This and sending Cotts down are the priorities to keep this thing going.

QUOTE(JimH @ May 15, 2005 -> 04:22 PM) Naahhhh ... I remember plenty of times where you hide behind your uniform. That's ok ... if you say you haven't in certain forums, then you haven't. Fine with me, I know you're always right anyways. I could care less if you post anything negative about me ... when you post your over the top crap and you don't know what you're talking about, I'll call you out. Walker always preaches going the other way, if you knew anything about him and his philosophy, you'd know that. But you don't. Try reading and learning more, and talking less. When does walker preach going the other way. If he does then explain why the entire team when presented with a pitcher who paints the outside corner 90% of the time and we watch them roll their wrists over time and time again. Walker tinkers with hitters. Here is a very recent example. Carlos had a slow start last year. Then he had a 28 game hitting streak and raised his BA from 220 to 300. He has a very short compact swing. Then Greg Walker worked with him to change that nice compact swing into a power swing in the middle of the season. This goes against the theories of hit it to all fields.

PULL BASEBALL SON. JUST BECAUSE THE PITCH IS ON THE OUTSIDE CORNER REMEMBER ITS SLOW, IF YOU PULL IT YOU USE ALL YOUR POWER. greg walker

I am sick and tired of this boob routine. Has he said anything that is not a backhanded stab at the sox. How this guy is a paid journalist is beyond me, more like shock jock of writing. I cancelled my Suntimes subscription over a year ago because of this douchebag. I still wish I could get the Southtown, but I moved out of its subscription area. Just because we dont import the elderly of Iowa every week doesnt mean that our fans our any less. f*** YOU KOTEX BOY, AND f*** YOU SUNTIMES FOR PAYING THIS DOUCHE[/size] :fyou :fyou :fyou :fyou :finger :finger :finger :finger :finger :finger :finger :finger :finger :puke :puke :puke :puke

QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 14, 2005 -> 10:02 PM) Cotts throws "The Masturbator." You know why I am smiling. Some dumb franchise paid me money to go out there and throw the ball all over the place. Maybe one day I will learn how to throw a strike. But why start now.

Neal Cotts in spring training Neal Cotts after throwing the pitch over the backstop in tonights game.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 14, 2005 -> 09:53 PM) Damn straight... Angry politte is so much better than Neal "Wild Thing" Cotts. Wild Thing you make my head sting. You walk everything, you are s***ty.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 14, 2005 -> 09:51 PM) Politte hit 98 MPH on the gun in his last outing. Thats because Politte was angry. Dont mess with him when he is angry.

QUOTE(knightni @ May 14, 2005 -> 09:45 PM) 12-13 wins 4.25-ish ERA is average for a "#2" guy. Garcia has a natural sink to his fastball. Yet he continues to give up gopher balls at a good clip. This is not the first year he did that, he gave up 30 or more at Seattle and that is a huge park. The reasoning for this is he elevates his pitches. Most likely reason is he throws a downward breakin curve and uses the high fastball to give the appearance that the pitches are coming of the same arm slot. It gets you strikeouts in the first few innings but doesnt do anything to help you later. You get tired or your concentration goes away and you give up the dong. He has the talent. He just needs to get the ball down. Or its going to be a long summer for Freddy.

QUOTE(qwerty @ May 14, 2005 -> 09:36 PM) Vizcaino. Politte. Garcia. Koch. Who else recently has lost velocity once joining the sox? The sad thing is even shingos fastball is down from last year. If that is possible. The only one that is still throwin the same gas is contreras.