BlackBetsy

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Oct 9, 2007 -> 03:20 PM) http://thebaseballcube.com/players/S/Andy-Sonnanstine.shtml I have a problem with you here, Da Chort. You know just as well as I do that a 1.35 WHIP, 1.79 BB/9 and nearly 4/1 K/BB ratio are pretty solid peripherals. Heck, his WHIP was right at about Jon Garland's WHIP, and it's comparable to Scott Kazmir and Jeremy Bonderman. The guy had a BABIP of .333...give him a tiny break here. As far as I'm concerned, Sonnanstine had a decent but unlucky rookie season. In fact, the main concern I would have about the guy is his HR/9 total. He may be walking too few guys...but he'll learn that it's better to be 2.5 BB/9 with a 0.8 HR/9 than it is to be 1.79 BB/9 with a 1.24 HR/9

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jul 14, 2007 -> 12:39 AM) So how does a player manage to play 163, with the same team, in a 162 game season, unless 1 game playoffs for the wild card count towards the regular season. Tie Game. Game is rained out after 5 or more innings while tied, UNLESS the game is rained out during an inning in which the visiting team has tied the score. Then it becomes a suspended game. The stats of the game count and go into the record books. The game is then played IN FULL over again. FWIW, Baseball changed the rules prior to the 2007 season, and there are no more tie games. Instead, they will become suspended games that are picked up at the point they are stopped.

Egbert did lower his ERA, but he still gave up the 4 runs. He gave up a three run jack that was "unearned" because there was a 1 out error and the homer was hit after 2 outs (meaning the inning would have ended but for the error). I don't think earned runs are the REAL basis for evaluating performance here. (That's not to say that Egbert should have given up 4 - maybe the real number is 2 if the guy hits a home run the next inning). More promising is the K/BB ratio last night.

QUOTE(russ99 @ Jul 5, 2007 -> 12:16 PM) Contreras is 40 years old tops. Probably more likely to be 1-2 years over his stated age of 35. It's obvious his mechanics are all messed up due to the back injury. Either it's something (like Crede) that will never go away completely or he's favoring it as to not get injured again. Again, my source was VERY reliable. In fact, my source believes that Jose Contreras is actually just Minnie Minoso playing under another name. He's 82 years old. It's all a secret plot under which they are getting Minnie to play in another decade. (Remember, he played in the 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's & 80's). Minnie Minoso could throw 125 mph when he was in the majors, but the Commissioner at the time wouldn't let him pitch because of liability reasons. He reportedly killed 4 people in Cuba pitching. 3 of them with fastballs, the other one just died of a heartattack when Minoso looked at him from the mound. So Minoso losing 40 mph off his fastball over 50 years isn't too bad. That's only like 1 mph per year.

QUOTE(GoSox05 @ Jul 5, 2007 -> 09:56 AM) I think it had something to do with the fact that he's 65 I heard from a VERY reliable source that he's more like 75-76. He actually pitched in the big leagues for a while before Castro took over Cuba.

I don't quite get what the hubbub is here. Kenny did offer Buehrle a no-trade clause. He can't be traded in 2008, has limited no-trade rights in 2009-10 and then in 2011 WHEN HE GETS CBA NO-TRADE CLAUSE RIGHTS, his Sox no-trade clause goes away. That it's the same limited no-trade clause that Garland and Konerko and Contreras signed makes it seem like Buehrle is the one being aggressive here. Now, if it doesn't give him no-trade rights for 2007, that would be weird on KW's part. The new contract should DEFINITELY add no trade rights for the rest of this year. Doesn't make sense otherwise. If this is what Buehrle is holding out for, and he knows KW won't give it to him, then it's just Buehrle trying to make an issue.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Jul 1, 2007 -> 01:09 AM) Egbert is currently second in the White Sox organization with 103 innings pitched. I'm not big on using minor league ERA to predict future MLB performance, but you've got to like the fact that Eggy's ERAs have read like this: 3.14, 2.67, 2.88 in his three full-seasons of minor league ball. Yeah, the ERAs are good, but it's the dominant groundball ratio that gets me excited. That and a decent K/IP and K/BB. He's certainly not a B Mac in terms of flashy numbers, but that ground ball rate may indicate he's a much better pitcher for the Cell than just about anyone save Buehrle and Garland on the staff.

QUOTE(BB2ZZ @ May 24, 2007 -> 06:47 AM) Here's a kid who is hitting more HR's and driving in more runs than HUNDREDS of others at the same level. Not to rain on your parade, but Collaro's performance is good but not great by any means. He's basically a guy who hits for power and strikes out a ton without walking that much or hitting for a .300+ average in AA. He's having a nice season, but there is nothing to his season that tells me he is going to be a contributor for the big club.

QUOTE(SoxFan562004 @ May 22, 2007 -> 12:10 PM) not to mention the Sox won the world series after moving on from these players Let me also add that Jermaine Dye has been as good or better than Magglio Ordonez from 2005 to the present at less than 1/2 the salary. Dye - .286 / .345 (ish) / .556 with 85 HR, 231 RBI and 195 R ($16 million salary) Ordonez - .306 / .366 (ish) / .493 with 42 HR, 190 RBI and 157 R ($39 million salary) Sure, Maggs was hurt much of '05...but that's part of the issue. He is more injury prone now. Not to mention that Dye plays plus D in RF. I'll trade the 20 points of OBP (artificially depressed by Jermaine's cold start) for 60 points of slugging, even if the Cell is more hitter friendly, for $23 million less. Face facts, Jermaine Dye is one of the best free agent signings the Sox have EVER made. (Probably best signings - (1) Carlton Fisk; (2) Jermaine Dye; (3) Tom Seaver)

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ May 6, 2007 -> 01:18 AM) What reputable person has compared him to Brandon Webb? His #1 comp on PECOTA is Brandon Webb. So, I guess Nate Silver is the person?

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jun 28, 2006 -> 01:51 PM) Okay BB, your gonna have to tell me what ISO is. Is that what Baseball Prospectus uses in its predictions? ISO is "Isolated Power". It is pretty straightforward - Slugging Percentage minus Batting Average. It gives you a measure of how much power a hitter has. Good examples on the Sox - Podsednik's ISO is .128. That's actually pretty high for Scott - last year he had a ISO of .069. That's a singles-hitter only. Thome is the opposite. His ISO is .324. Roughly speaking, when he gets a hit, it's a double on average. An ISO of .200 is usually considered decent power. .300 is very, very good power. ISO's on the Sox: Konerko: .261 Iguchi: .136 Crede: .221 Pods: .128 Thome: .324 Pierzynski: .120 (looooowwww) Dye: .312 (awesome) Uribe: .164 Anderson: .132 Garland: 1.500 (for fun)

Can someone please figure out how to automatically flash Sweeney's ISO on FutureSox.com? That's what we REALLY need. When his ISO hits .200, we can have a party as he is called up to Chicago.

Anything happen with Winston-Salem's ballpark? Seems like the Warthog starters have allowed pretty low homer totals. I thought W-S was the ultimate bandbox in the Carolina League. Does Whisler have a good sinker? No HR allowed this year (I think - maybe I read the stats wrong).

Free Josh Fields.

QUOTE(ptatc @ May 27, 2006 -> 10:02 AM) I do remeber that. Teufel in German means evil. And he was for he Sox. "Devil", no "evil"

More $$$ for the Sox! It's the virtuous cycle right now for the Sox. Success on the field brings more fans in seats and higher television ratings.... More fans in seats and higher television ratings means more $$ for the Sox.... More $$ for the Sox means more money to keep good players / sign free agents / sign good draft picks.... Keeping good players / signing free agents / signing good draft picks means success on the field. Lather, rinse, repeat.

QUOTE(VAfan @ May 25, 2006 -> 05:47 PM) You guys seriously underestimate the Tigers' staying power. Their pitching is MUCH stronger than the Tribe's, and it will keep them in the hunt well into September even if we crack 100 wins. I expect the Tigers to continue on their torrid pace at least through the All-Star break and get far enough over .500 that even if they fall back to a .500 pace, they'll end up winning in the mid-90s and winning the wild card. I don't see the Tribe pitching well enough to go on the 24-4 tear that almost got them in last year. Hitting just isn't consistent enough by itself to carry a team. The Tigers are now 33-14 through 47 games. They have 115 games remaining. If the Tigers go 58-57 in those games - 1 game over .500 - they will win 91 games. That's close to the playoffs right there, ESPECIALLY with the Blue Jays being improved and sucking wins away from the Red Sox and Yankees. The Tigers aren't going ANYWHERE folks. Barring a collapse of Titanic or Hindenburg proportions, the Tigers will be in the race deep into September. I think this absurd start of theirs nearly guarantees that they will hit 94 wins. That's only 61-54 the rest of the way. With a good rotation (probably 2nd best to Sox in the division with the Twins' rotation imploding), a good bullpen (probably better than the Sox right now) and a good hitting lineup (a bit behind the Sox with Thome, but probably better than the '05 Sox), it's hard to see the Tigers not hitting 95+ wins. The good news is that the Sox are 31-15 through 46 games. They have 116 games remaining. If they go 63-53, they hit 94 wins as well. My guess is that we see the AL Central with two 95+ win teams. Perhaps one team with 100-104 wins and the other with 98-100 wins....I just don't know which one will be which right now. PS, last year the Tigers were 22-25 through 47 games, and went 49-66 the rest of the way. If they did that this year, they STILL hit 82-80. That's not playoff contention, but just shows you how bad they have to play the rest of the year to fade away.

So ends the Boone Logan Experiment. My guess is that he takes the short flight from Tampa to Birmingam, and everyone's favorite spring training lefty doesn't see the major leagues before 2008.

QUOTE(Texsox @ May 15, 2006 -> 10:54 AM) Just wondering, but when Kong went to first first, wasn't the correct play to get the lead runner at second? I thought it should have been a 3-6-4 not a 3-4-6. My interpretation was that the guy running from 1st to 2nd had a realistic chance of getting back to 1st if Paulie threw it to 2nd. The guy on 2nd was pretty much standing on 3rd by the time Paulie caught it. In that situation, you get the close out first, then take care of the guy who has conceded the triple play.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ May 14, 2006 -> 11:57 PM) Reconstructed inning. Single out Single out Single -- Run out ---------- End of inning ------- Theoretical start of second inning. Double Double -- Run Single Single -- Run out out One of the deficiencies in the Earned run stat is it completely overlooks situations like this where the pitcher is REALLY REALLY bad. Hmm, given that Castillo's grounder would likely have been a double play with Juan turning it, I think the sequence would have been: Single 1-6-3 DP Single Out. - End of Inning - Single Out Double Double (two runs) Single (run) Single Out Out - End of Inning - That looks like a 3-3 ballgame to me. I agree that the earned run rule is a bit weird, and it's probably not really meaningful anymore in a game in which there are 80-120 errors per team per season, instead of 230-300 per year. Por ejemplo.

In DC, it's easily: (1) Nationals (2) Orioles (3) Yankees (4) Red Sox (5) Mets (6) Phillies (7) Cubs (8) Everyone else I used to NEVER see any Sox hats around DC, except when the Sox were playing at Camden Yards. That was until the 2005 playoffs. Now you see a bunch of Sox hats. I remember the first time, I saw a lady in Giant wearing a Sox hat during the Boston series and I pointed out my own Sox hat. I'm the only Sox fan I know in DC (other than the people I know through the Sox e-mail list).

For the record, I'm worried. I'm not worried that he'll go 8-16 with a 6.50 ERA I'm worried that the Sox paid $27 million over three years for a guy who is going to go: 12-12 4.56 ERA 13-12 4.48 ERA 14-11 4.12 ERA in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Apr 28, 2006 -> 12:14 PM) You know what I discovered last week? Tom Paciorek is now the color guy for the Nats TV broadcast. Yes. And he pretty much does his Wimpy routine still. "Hang wiff em" is still around, etc. Still acts like he is announcing the Sox and people are in on all the inside jokes. He even had to explain one of them on the air to his TV partner. Kind of weird to have Wimpy doing Wimpy on the Nats broadcasts. It's also weird to hear him be a homer for the Nats - an organization he has no ties to whatsoever. (By the way, he's about 1 million times better than Ron Darling, the Nats' color guy last year. Darling hardly ever said anything. In the Nats' blogosphere, a typical quote from Darling is ". . . .") You know who is a great color guy who is a recent ex-player? Al Leiter. When he was in the booth in 2004, I thought he was the best color guy at that time, period.

QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 25, 2006 -> 01:13 AM) That's f***ing awful. 3 straight changeups? Give me a break. Actually a pretty good pitch - Betancourt just got the bat out there and flicked it. It happens.

Somebody kill this thread before the Baseball Gods take their revenge. Here's another hot start that didn't turn out so well. Link