southsideirish71

Can Ozzie crack walker in the back of the head and tell him to stop teaching the dip the back shoulder and elevate. This flyball to the track crap didnt work last year when we had thumpers on the team.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 11, 2005 -> 12:16 PM) Not this same old s*** again today with every deep fly by the Sox getting caught 2 feet in front of the fence. Our leadoff hitter trying to go yard. Corpseball redux

Brazelton is 1-6 with a 6+ ERA. Thank god for a pitcher with a plus 6 ERA, This is the kind of pitcher we usually rock

QUOTE(fathom @ May 11, 2005 -> 11:57 AM) Why do people think Everett is being pitched around? From my viewpoint, Carl gets as many good pitches to hit as anyone on our team. Everett's problem lately has been that he's fouling off the fastball right down the plate, and then he's chasing bad pitches when he's down in the count. Everett's patience has never been good, but it's been horrible lately. Hes doing the same thing that Kong is doing. Taking the fastballs down the cock, and swinging at crap after the count gets in the pitchers favor. When you have guys on its okay to look for a pitch to drive. But usually its the fastball down the cock.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ May 11, 2005 -> 11:54 AM) but if gooch was a stolen base threat, do you think he would see more fastballs?? Spods is a big reason why gooch is hitting over 300 Yes if he had Pods like abilities yes. But the number 3 hitter typically is protected by the number 4 hitter. If they pitch around the number 3 the number 4 is supposed to drive in the runs. That is how it has worked for a long time in the AL.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 11, 2005 -> 11:53 AM) It's so Ozzie can let his boyfriend Timo leadoff the game. I am sure he will work the count well. Welcome to tropicana field, Timo Perez to lead it off, Brazelton with the pitch, a pop fly in foul territory and the first baseman strolls over and makes the play. And thats how our game starts off Ed.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ May 11, 2005 -> 11:47 AM) This brings up a good point, If gooch was a larger base stealing threat, would Carl see more good pitches??? Carl would get plenty of pitches to hit if Kong was belting the ball. But with the hitters behind Carl you can pitch anyway you want right now.

QUOTE(robinventura23 @ May 11, 2005 -> 11:43 AM) :banghead It has to Hermanson. No question. He should be well rested. But remember this is Ozzie. He likes to get them right back on the horse after they fail. Its a good thing is one way, it drives me crazy though. Shingo has been terrible so far.

QUOTE(sircaffey @ May 11, 2005 -> 11:39 AM) Yeah, I would have liked to see Pods in the game too, but he is 1 for his last 11 maybe Oz wanted to give him a break. I don't know...All I know is Oz is in love with Timo and seems to think he's a leadoff hitter, power hitter, and centerfielder all rapped into one. I do like how he is trying to mix things up with the middle of the order. Carl has been pretty damn bad for a while now. He hasn't square anything up for a while. I was growing tired of his weakly grounding to second or failing with runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. I hope Rowand has a tremendous day today, so Oz thinks about sticking with Rowand in the 3 hole. Rowand's my pick to click...get 'r done... If you take out Pods put Pablo as the leadoff guy. Put Timo in somewhere else in the lineup. Timo Perez is not what I think of as a leadoff hitter. He doesnt take too many pitches and lisnt fast at all.

QUOTE(robinventura23 @ May 11, 2005 -> 11:33 AM) Don't like it either. Pods doesn't need a day off. Konerko does. But who the hell would play 1B then? This is one hell of a dumb lineup. I am putting money on Ozzie putting Shingo in today in a tight situation.

Here are the lineups for todays game. YUCK YUCK YUCK Ozzie what are you doing? Timo our very slow RF is leading off. I would rather have Pablo lead off. Dye is DHing. We may score 1 run today. Chicago White Sox Tampa Bay 1 Timo Perez, RF Alex Sanchez, DH 2 Tadahito Iguchi, 2B Nick Green, 2B 3 Aaron Rowand, CF Carl Crawford, LF 4 Paul Konerko, 1B Aubrey Huff, 1B 5 Jermaine Dye, DH Damon Hollins, CF 6 A.J. Pierzynski, C Jorge Cantu, 3B 7 Juan Uribe, SS Chris Singleton, RF 8 Joe Crede, 3B Charles Johnson, C 9 Pablo Ozuna, LF Alex S. Gonzalez, SS

QUOTE(YASNY @ May 10, 2005 -> 11:59 PM) To answer your question .... One. Didnt Timo have one with the bases loaded last week?

QUOTE(fathom @ May 10, 2005 -> 11:52 PM) The thing is, we're basically playing with house money with our incredible start. Instead of waiting for this team to lose 5 or 6 games in a row, Ozzie should get creative. The current lineup is certainly not clicking in terms of producing a lot of motion on the bases and smallball. Something I've noticed is that besides Pods or Iguchi, we do a terrible job with situational hitting when we have runners on 1st and 2nd, no outs. I've seen enough weak pop ups or routine DP balls to last a season in the last week. How many squeeze bunts have we seen already this year with the boppers coming up. Its almost like Ozzie is in a panic to get some runs in before 3-4-5 get up to kill the rally. How about this for some changes to spice things up Pods LF Iguchi 2b Uribe SS Everett DH Konerko 1B AJ C Crede 3b Arow CF Brian Anderson RF

QUOTE(fathom @ May 10, 2005 -> 11:47 PM) I honestly would like to see Uribe in the 3rd hole for a while, and see what happens. He is the starter who consistently hits the ball hardest, and with Pods and Iguchi at the top of the order, I really think our offense would flourish. We also should have Everett and Rowand batting back-to-back, so a manager can't put in a lefty to face Everett and Konerko (who's worse against lhp than rhp). Uribe in the number 3 would be interesting. He puts the ball in play and has a lot of line drives. Its better than popup, K or GIDP.

Last year we had the three headed monster of Cotts-Thriller-Koch. Cotts would walk a few guys and hand it over to Thriller who would give up the big hit losing the inheritted runners. Koch was the one giving up the big hits and the big blown saves. He would never get out of a game 1-2-3. This year. Cotts walks a few and hands it over to Viz. Who gives up hits and inheritted runners score. And now we have Shingo to give up the big home run and he doesnt go 1-2-3 anymore. Our big issue last year was our bullpen walking guys and then someone giving up the big hit. I see similiar issues this year. Wagner would definately help out. Cotts needs to learn how to consistantly learn how to throw strikes. Vis needs to learn how to throw strikes with his fastball and then use his slider to get somone out. Dingo needs to learn how to throw strike one.

QUOTE(rangercal @ May 10, 2005 -> 11:25 PM) I expect things to change when Frank gets back. They will just walk Frank to get to Konerko or Dye. Its not like they are pitching around Dye and Konerko, they have been challenging them.

Last year we had guys playing station to station, no clutch hits, and lots of solo homers. This year, guys are getting on and are in scoring position. Pods and Gooch have been on a lot. Our 3-4-5 guys have been brutal at best. Long looping swings. The inability to get the runners in from the power part of our lineup has been frustrating at best. Our two big boppers have been terrible at best. Konerko .200 BA With runners in scoring position he is batt .184 with 2 outs and men in SP .091 Dye .194 BA With runners in scoring position he is batting .100 with 2 outs and men in SP .154 We are going to have a hard time beating good teams if our 3-4-5 hitters dont start producing at least a little. BTW Minnys the grinding clutch team. They are batting .330 with men in scoring position and .293 with 2 outs and men on. Our numbers are better than KC, Oakland and Cleveland though. We need to really pick it up when we get men on. Its one thing to get a guy on first, bunt him over and having him come in on a single. But when we get men on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. We need to get both of those runs in. Not just get one. We need to extend and get the big inning and put teams out of it. Or at least take some pressure off of our pitching staff.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ May 10, 2005 -> 09:48 PM) I just wonder what will happen when Hermanson gives up his first run or blows his first save. Dont jump off the bridge to fast. SB Granted the sample size is still early. But we might have a new Tee Ball stand pitcher on the mound. Takatsu vs Thriller Jackson of 2004 ERA 7 vs 5.01 BAA .278 vs .294 SLG average against WOW a .824 vs .487 OPS against 1.19 Yikes. vs .834

Jermaine Dye is a swell guy. But count me out. However he is a double edged sword of terror. When he is not missing the cutoff throw allowing winning runs to advance into scoring position, dropping fly balls, or not bending over to pick them up he is using his bat to foul it up. He has a new uppercut swing. Dye the sox killer was able to hit the high fastball successfully because his swing was level. How we have a guy that when the game is on the line or we have ducks on the pond he will pretty much hit the ball either to the SS for the GIDP or pop out to the warning track. Yes he only has 4 errors(he is an OF right), but he also has numerous game changing bonehead plays that cost us at least one game in Oakland. We are into the middle of may guys. When do you suspect he is coming out of this cold streak. I mean everyone though Konerko was out of his after his big game on Saturday. But that seems to be an abberation. Short quick line drive swings is what will bring Dye and Konerko out of their collective slumps. But all I see if long looping swings looking for power. I am sure that Joe Borchard could do the same thing that Dye is doing, sans he has speed and has better defense. Count me in the bring Brian Anderson up and sit Dye for a bit. Give Anderson a taste of the bigs, maybe new blood can ignite the offense a bit and send a valuable message to Dye that no matter how much money you make you have to perform on the field. PROMOTE BA and McCarthy.

With everyone stating that is okay to lose against the Rays because they have a good hitting team. What happens when we face other good hitting teams that dont have such a bad pitching staff? The Orioles have a good hitting team. They hit with BA and they can thump you out of a game quickly. Plus they have a good pitching staff. Cabrera hit 98-99 on the gun and K'd 11 Twins. The last time I checked the Twins are a better hitting team than the sox. The only good hitting team we have played so far besides the steller hitting Rays have been the Tigers. The twinks were missing Morneau. The Jays are good, but not someone who can thump you silly. 3-4-5 have got to pick up the pace. We changed this entire scheme. Pods and Gooch have been on base. Our big guys need to stop with the homer or nothing crap and make contact. Shorten the swing and make contact. Its funny how if you put the ball into play instead of putting it high in the air you can possibly make things happen.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 10, 2005 -> 09:26 PM) I don't think we were flat tonight. A lot of guys were making solid contact, and we just missed hitting out like 4 homers. We scored 6 runs against Tampa....that should be enough. Ozzie and the pitching staff are the culprits tonight. We hit a lot of warning track shots over the last three years. Line drives win games. This is not a power hitting team anymore. Stop trying to jack homers.

QUOTE(JimH @ May 10, 2005 -> 09:17 PM) It's obvious it needs to be Hermanson as the closer for now. He has the guts for it and he knows how to get guys out. By the same token, he will f*** up now and again too. Plain and simple. If White Sox pitching doesn't walk 9 guys tonite, this conversation is on the back burner. The offense is sucking ass too ... how come no one is clamoring about Greg Walker? I have been b****ing about Greg for almost a year. He tinkers with people who are doing well. Last year Carlos Lee lifted his BA from 220 to over 300 with a nice short compact swing. He was hitting doubles like crazy driving in runs. Then the goofy press got all over him complaining why he doesnt hit a lot of homers, where is the power. Soon after his BA hits 300 he and Walker tinker with the swing. He proclaims success as he extends his hands for power. The power numbers jump. But now his strikeouts and his pop outs jump up. We get all over his case for swinging for the fences. Well that is what Walker changed. Its not entirely CLEE's fault. Now Konerko has his hands up nice and high. This is not the same swing that he had last year. Dye who has been a great high ball hitter is now dipping his back shoulder. Its got to be walker. Everyone who comes to the sox gets a long looping swing.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ May 10, 2005 -> 01:24 PM) Stick with Dye until the all star break at least, if he is still sucking as much as he is now figure something out. Either have Everett play RF or call up Anderson if he is stilling hitting what is it .330 in AAA. So lets stick with him hitting 200 and playing his terrible defense. This is not a single factor decision. If he was hitting like crap but throwing leather in RF its one thing. But he is dropping fly balls, throwing the ball all over, he cant get to the ball, when he does he doesnt bend over to pick it up. This was a guy that was supposed to be hitting at least some. I mean I hate to say it, but Borchard can hit what Dye is and also Borchard is fast and can catch a ball. We took a gamble. Walker needs to earn his keep and figure out whatever is broke with Konerko and Dye. We cant go through the allstar break with 2 of our main power guys hitting 200 and not being able to drive in the guys who are on the bases. Last year we hit solo homers. Now we have guys on base and no one is driving them in.

QUOTE(3E8 @ May 10, 2005 -> 09:01 PM) I thought Konerko had things turned around the other day when he hit two home runs, but he just fooled me. It's getting to the point where I want Widger to start at first base. He lowered his hands for that one game. But when you spend a spring training and about 200 ABs and all these Batting practices changing ones swing you cant undo it overnight. Crede has hit at every level. It took close to three years to get him back on track.

QUOTE(White Sox Josh @ May 10, 2005 -> 08:57 PM) Agreed. Last time Shingo pitched on 5 or more days rest was against the Tigers. He gave up a run. Than aganist the Royals he got 2 saves while working 3 days between outings. Next time was today when he pitched on 5 days or more. He needs to get more work. This outing looked exactly like that Detroit outing. Do you really think we should pitch him more. Hey maybe in the next series. Shingo vs. Raffy Palmero Shingo vs. Miguel Tejada Shingo vs. Brian Roberts I think we all know what will happen if Shingo faces them. The minute they hear the gong, they will be fighting to get to the bat rack.