BlackBetsy

I just checked Javy in the Metrodome since he was with the White Sox. They are 1-4 with him on the mound, with the 1 victory a meaningless one after both teams had been eliminated one year ago today. Here are the boxes: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MI...200605130.shtml http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MI...200608200.shtml http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MI...200610010.shtml http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MI...200705080.shtml http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MI...200709220.shtml Totals: 31 1/3 IP, 34 H , 18 ER , 5 BB , 31 K - 5.17 ERA

QUOTE (NCsoxfan @ Sep 22, 2008 -> 03:42 PM) ive never seen a guy with Javy's stuff and strike out ability get less out of his stuff... +3. How he winds up like he does every year with his peripherals - 3/1 K/BB rate, low Opponent AVG., decent HR rate - is beyond me and smacks of "can't pitch out of the stretch / chokes with runners on."

It's amazing how good managers look when their players perform on the field and amazing how bad they look when they don't. Ozzie has made some bad moves that have worked out OK - playing Swisher against Lackey when Swish was 4 for 40 against him - and some good moves that went south because the player didn't perform. Boone Logan collapsed this year after a very very good start - hard to blame Ozzie for trotting him out a couple of times after he struggled to see if he could get past it. To Ozzie's credit, he understands the concept of cutting loose the folks that aren't performing past the period of normal slumps. Hawk says he's the best he's seen in bullpen management. I tended to believe that in '05 and '06 when he eschewed Larussa-type overmanagement to trust his relievers vs. LH and RH. But when his bullpen went to crap on him, he did what most managers tend to do - get defensive and play matchups, because no one can criticize you for bringing in a LOOGY to face a LH. Of course, when the LOOGY is Boone Logan or Horacio Ramirez, you are better off going with a RHP that can actually pitch. Ozzie's best feature probably is his ability to draw attention to himself and away from the players when things are going bad. It works a lot better than you think - how many articles have been written since 2004 hammering on any Sox players? Hardly any, compared to the articles criticizing guys like Fukudome, Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, etc. And that probably, on average, makes Sox players a bit happier and probably play a bit better and probably want to stay with the Sox a little bit more.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 22, 2008 -> 03:29 PM) I think Ozzie knows his personnel and probably has a feeling the Twins will be bashing balls off the baggies and this one will be over in the fourth inning if Javy pitches as he has in some "big games" before. Might as well try this to make it clear uh this is a big game, Javy. It's a f***ing huge game. Win game one of the series and it'll take a real choke job to blow the division title. Lose game one and the Twins might steamroll us in Games two and three. Whatever ... I'm sure the Oz detractors will call him out if Javy implodes. I dunno. Not sure this is "calling Javy" out so much as it is telling the truth. Maybe Ozzie should have shut his piehole here, maybe not. I hope he knows what motivates Javy. I think Javy's main problem is that he gets too upset when anything goes wrong - he doesn't get a close pitch, an infielder throws a ball away - and then starts throwing meatballs. One day, Javy will pitch a perfect game. It's just that he'll give up 150 4-run innings before he gets there. He also seems to wilt under pressure. I think the first three innings are the key for him. If the Sox win the first three innings (say, they are up 2-0), he'll be fine. If it's 0-0 or the Sox are down 0-1, 0-2 or worse, just pull him after 5 and get someone else in there. He tends to come apart trying to keep games close. Note - in games that Vazquez has started and the Sox have lost (they are 16-15 in his starts), they've scored 0 runs 3 times, 1 run 4 times, 2 runs 3 times, and 3 runs 3 times. The most they've scored in a game they lost is 4 runs (twice). In other words, get Javy some runs.

If you scatterplot Vazquez's ERA against the winning percentages of the teams he has been on since 2000, you will see that Javy is more comfortable on losing teams, period. I suggest that we grant him his wish and send him to a losing team for next year. (How about Javy +$10 million for John Lannan)

QUOTE (lostfan @ Sep 22, 2008 -> 09:39 AM) It has less to do with BA himself and more to do with the fact that Griffey, as much as everybody loves him, has contributed nothing offensively or defensively. Offensively, both BA and Wise have blown him away since he's been here. Griffey has added very little power, that's for sure, and his defense is suspect. I don't have much of an argument about putting defense on the field against the Twins. I would probably just play Griffey for as long as the Twins' righty starter is in and pull Griffey when you get to the Twins bullpen. I really wish we had TCQ for this series. And a healthy Joe Crede.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 22, 2008 -> 09:32 AM) Yes, BUT the Slowey start where he shut us out (9 IP, 6 H) was, of course, in the Metrodome. And in 2007 he held the Sox to 1 run in 7 innings in the Dome. So 1 run against him in 16 innings in the Metrodome. That's a bizarrely huge home / road split and I would suggest it's not significant.

QUOTE (Jake @ Sep 21, 2008 -> 11:31 PM) I love BA, I won't argue if Griff plays. I'll be so pissed when BA goes someplace and becomes a well above average CFer. I don't understand what is to love out BA. He's an outstanding defensive centerfielder - probably in the top 5 or 10 in the league. But he strikes out in more than 25% of his at bats, and doesn't hit with enough power or average to compensate. He's had essentially a full season of at bats at this point and he's .222 / .277 / .382. And he's not young anymore. He's 26 and should be in his prime. I just don't see where BA goes up from here unless he is really just a "change of scenery" guy and can go somewhere like Washington or Cincinnati or San Diego and play in the Suck League.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Sep 22, 2008 -> 09:16 AM) There is no doubt Hawk is trying to hype up BA's trade value. I think Brian has done a very good job this season, but he's going to get traded. I wonder if any GMs listen to Hawk and would be persuaded by him to go get Brian Anderson. I hope for the White Sox there are, the possibility seems very remote that anyone is that ..... gullible? dumb?

QUOTE (daa84 @ Sep 22, 2008 -> 09:24 AM) and scott lewis scares the crap out of me...soft tossing lefty we've never seen before With a good changeup...the ultimate in threats to our lineup.

I voted one, because a sweep is too horrible to imagine. I think winning just 1 pretty much gets the Sox to 90% winning the division. A 1.5 game lead with 3 to go is pretty big - even if the Indians are hot. I rank the matchups in terms of favorability like this: (1) Buehrle vs. Blackburn - Buehrle on full rest, he's a big game pitcher, and Blackburn is slumping and the Sox hit his well this year. (2) Floyd vs. Slowey - This would be #3 except for the fact that I think if we lose the first two games of the series, Floyd wins the third. He always seems to do well coming off of a Sox bad streak. Slowey also only had 1 good game against the Sox - in the other two, he was lit up. (3) Vazquez vs. Baker - I know we've beat up Baker, and Vazquez will be on full rest. But I just hate Vazquez - he seems like a loser to me. I wish Buehrle was starting the series instead of him.

Just looking at matchups for the Twins series and noticed this - Joe Crede hit 7 home runs against the Twins this year. Wow. Brian Anderson hitting .462 / .462 / .769 AJ .404 / .440 / .489 Crede .400 / .429 / 1.050 A-Ram .341 / .357 / .512 OC .339 / .361 / .373 Dye .327 / .368 /.635 Swish .321 / .390 / .660 Konerko .240 / .298 / .460 Thome .234 / .362 /.362 Swish actually hits against the Twins, which is nice. I left out Quentin, but he was meh .242 / .277 / .468 Sox have outhomered the Twins in their 15 games 27-12. Wow. Crede with 7, Swisher and Dye with 5. On the other side of the coin: Mike Redmond .467 / .471 / .533 Gomez .350 / .381 / .550 Punto .346 / .414 / .500 Mauer .327 / .411 / .429 Cuddyer .294 / .368 / .471 Delmon Young .288 / .351 / .404 Morneau .288 / .354 / .475 Casilla .278 / .316 / .444 Kubel .237 / .262 / .579 (4 Homers) Span .235 / .350 / .412 B Harris .216 / .322 / .333 I doubt we'll see Adam Everett in the series...if we do it's a clear victory for the Sox ... he's .053 / .053 / .053

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Sep 21, 2008 -> 07:24 PM) Until there is a hard salary cap, baseball will never truly achieve parity. The fact that the 2000 Yankees are the last repeat world champions is more of a testament to how much of a crapshoot the postseason is then anything else. Look at this year, there is a distinct possibility that half of the postseason teams will be from the 2nd and 3rd largest cities in America, with team 5 from the largest market, and team 6 from the 6th largest market. That list doesn't even include Boston and their huge payroll. Parity has improved in the last decade, but it's nowhere near where it needs to be. 100% dead on accurate.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 21, 2008 -> 04:26 PM) Outstanding Danksy. Nice to see what happens when a pitcher throws on normal rest. That was just a huge outing. For a guy who's "hit the wall", he's got a sub-1.00 ERA in his last 3 starts (0.98 ERA with 3 BB and 16 K in 18 1/3 innings).

QUOTE (Felix @ Sep 21, 2008 -> 03:52 PM) I still wish Danks was pitching in the Minnesota series. What a job by him today! Amen. What a time and a place for a shutout.

QUOTE (Felix @ Sep 21, 2008 -> 10:13 AM) Pretty sure he meant divisional title, as there weren't divisions in 1906. But there were league titles.

QUOTE (StatManDu @ Sep 21, 2008 -> 08:42 AM) http://journals.aol.com/dmarran359/Soxalmanac/ Red Faber could flat out pitch. He'd put on a clinic, Itellyouwhat. That'd be fast. Not as good of a teammate as Catfish Hunter, but he knew how to pick up his defense.

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 20, 2008 -> 04:01 PM) First time ever they will have both won a title in the same season. ?? 1906??

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Sep 20, 2008 -> 08:21 PM) Swisher = Useless Not totally useless. He's a good cheerleader. But Ozzie should give him some pompoms and a megaphone instead of a bat and a place in the lineup.

Well, at least Alexei hit the 20 HR milestone. Congrats, Cuban Missile.

Too bad the Royals have the best bullpen in the division. If we were playing the Tigers, Indians or Twins we'd have a chance.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Sep 20, 2008 -> 07:58 PM) Boone should get the soap treament after the game from his teamates ala Private Pile. Agreed.

If Ozzie had some guts he'd chew out Boone in front of everyone and announce that he's never pitching him again this season.

Wow. Boone Logan. Final will be 9-0 Royals.

Pull Gavin. Save him for the Twins. This game is beyond reach.