nitetrain8601

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Oct 2, 2009 -> 11:03 AM) Which Daley will be mayor then? A different one. Daley was holding on strong for the Olympics. Despite the anti-Olympic sentiment, there was a tonnnnnnnnnnn of support for it. A nice percentage of those people don't like Daley, but believed this was a great idea. Everyone's going to see Daley come up with a reason to raise the price of living here and state it's for infrastructure, but alot of people now understand, it's not for that.

I guarantee Chicago will not push for another Olympic bid until 2024 at earliest.

BTW, sorry MHIZZLE, I just heard from my girlfriend, tour was cancelled. No reason given. It's all over the news outlets now.

To each their own I guess. Personally, I think today's culture has gotten too enamored with the production. It has to be something can vibe too and the lyrics are put on the backburner. I think Joe Budden's put it best on 5th Gear. "The game used to make ya sell your soul, not it gotta come with a dance." That's not to say, production is weak. To me, part of the instrument are the lyrics. It's as important as a strong bass line, or crazy melody. We need both, and nowadays, especially, it's only one.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 28, 2009 -> 04:29 PM) Rude, you are assuming he'd have woken up in a Sox uniform and played some ball for us. He wouldn't have. It was a bad fit. He was a total out machine in Chicago, do you not agree? But Rios will wake up in a Sox uniform? Sounds like that is wishful thinking as well as Swisher offensively has outproduced Rios over the course of their careers. And the numbers a page or so back prove that.

From what it sounds like in today's sun-times, it was a couple of people and they were watching already during the game with maybe more joining after the game.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Sep 27, 2009 -> 10:58 AM) Probably because for the most part those guys have been succesful offensive players, so they'll stick with what has made them be successful in the batters box. And a guy like PK basically struggles when he's injured, last season with the wrist problems he had early on IIRC being a perfect example. Swisher had success everywhere but here. His OPS+ since entering the league has been 101, 101, 125, 127, 92, 124. So maybe we need a new clubhouse considering his worst year came with us and three out of the last 4 years, he's had a pretty good OPS+. Rios, for all the awesomeness that his stats are portrayed for wasn't even as good as Swisher in his best years offensively. Rios since entering the league has OPS+ of 85, 84, 120, 122, 111, 79. With 79 being this year. At his peak offensively, he is an inferior player to Nick Swisher. Over the course of their careers, Swisher is the better player offensively and is more convenient. Again, Rios' defense doesn't make up for the salary he is paid, nor the average offense he provides.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Sep 27, 2009 -> 10:37 AM) When you hit .219, you've need to work with the hitting coach. Even if you're a veteran. So allegedly, why doesn't Walker tinker with guys like Thome, PK, Dye, or Pierzynski when they are struggling? And there have been definitely times where they've struggled for months.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 27, 2009 -> 09:18 AM) I wouldn't. Rios has been an All Star, can steal bases and play CF, and won't strike out 150 times if he plays every day. Money-wise, I think Rios contract is something I would rather not have, but as baseball players, I'd take Rios over Swisher any day of the week. He's a lot better player than he's shown. Its funny, it appears you want to throw out Swisher's year last year as basically a fluke, but take Rios' performance in a month and a half in a Sox uniform as how he will always perform. Rios is a good player. He's better than Aaron Rowand ever was. Vazquez was a salary dump. It freed up funds for Peavy. They couldn't have pursued Peavy is Vazquez were still here. I never uttered Aaron Rowand. In fact, I was never ever a huge fan. And I'm not taking just Rios' year in consideration. I'm looking at overall. And again, I don't care for Vazquez. In fact, I stated moving Vazquez was the right move. QUOTE (Disco72 @ Sep 27, 2009 -> 09:32 AM) Swisher is/was better than Rios this year, but not necessarily over the past couple years, especially considering Rios plays premium defense at a premium defensive position. You also can't say Rios has never lived up to his potential as Rios hit at/near .300 with a .350 OBP and over .850 OPS in back to back years (2006-2007) and had a good but not great year last year: .291 / .337 / .798. I'm not sure how Swisher is "miles ahead offensively" than Rios. Both players are completing their sixth year in the MLB. Swisher's career line: .245 / .357 / .816 at a non-premium defensive position (1B / LF). Rios' career line: .281 / .330 / .775 at a premium defensive position. Swisher's OBP is clearly the one big advantage he has over Rios, but that is more than negated by his production as compared to others at his best positions. Rios has been awful this year, but just as people argue that last year was clearly a down year for Swisher, this year looks like a clear down year for Rios. Just as some argue that it was obvious Swisher would rebound, it should be just as obvious that Rios will also rebound in 2010. Frankly, I find it funny that you call Rios a douche but ignore all the "douchey" things about Swisher that make him also a bad clubhouse personality. And Rios' potential is a 30/30 guy. Heck, with his talent, he should be 40/40, but who knows why he's never reached that. His defense is outstanding, and I'll never disagree with that. It's not enough to make up for his salary provided his offense stays near his career numbers. I'll take Swisher's higher OBP and OPS over Rios along with very good defense from LF and 1B positions. His CF defense was adequate, not great, just adequate. And my statement about Rios being a douche actually had to do with Swisher being called a douche. People say we got rid of Swisher because he was a douche, and he probably was, but so is Rios, so I don't buy that argument. Also, Swisher is the guy we're going to be looking for in the offseason. A LH bat with good power and OBP who can also play the field. Swisher happens to be able to switch hit. QUOTE (WCSox @ Sep 27, 2009 -> 10:17 AM) Unfortunately, those statistics don't account for the fact that Ozzie and Swisher didn't like each other and Swisher wasn't working with Greg Walker. If you and your boss don't like working together, you're not going to be as productive at work. Most people on Soxtalk, myself included, would say it's good that Swisher didn't pay attention to Walker. And whatever happened to Walker not messing with vets. It appears in Swisher's case, he does.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Sep 27, 2009 -> 09:57 AM) In all honesty... last nights game is keeping me from buying tickets to todays game. Who wants to see a team get thrashed by the team who beat you out for the playoffs? And I HATE the fact that Tigers fans are going to be all up in the house cheering on their playoff team louder than our fans. They have a reason to cheer though and we don't. This is depressing just line 2007. I hate when the Sox suck... Well stated

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 27, 2009 -> 07:58 AM) I was all for those trades so I can't rip them even if eventually they are mistakes, however, there's no guarantee Vazquez would be doing for the Sox what he's doing for the Braves. In fact there's probably a guarantee he would have been as bad as ever. Swisher wasn't going to play CF so he had no spot,and I still think you aren't going to want to be paying him what you will be paying in the next couple of years. Nunez and Flowers may pan out to be good. They claim they spend Swisher's money on Viciedo and I find it hard to believe Peavy and Rios, both of whom I would take in a heartbeat over the 2 dealt, (although I'm no fan of Rios' contract) would be here if the trades weren't made. The White Sox actually upgraded even if none of the players received in the trades ever pan out. Would you rather have Viciedo, Flowers, Peavy and Rios or Richard, Russell, Poreda, Swisher, and Vazquez. I'll take the former. I don't think you can look as it like that. I think you have to look at the trades seperately. If you look at it collectively, Flowers, and Peavy came from Javy(Flowers through direct trade, Viciedo probably was coming no matter what, and we got money for Peavy). For Swisher, you can say we got Rios indirectly, Betemit, Nunez, and Marquez. I'd take Swisher out of all those guys.

For those stating moving the salary allowed us to get Peavy and Rios, I'll argue. Javy could've and should've been gone. No doubt about that. Swisher though, when taking payscale into consideration, has proven to be a better player over the past couple of years over Rios. No way can you tell me Rios is the better player either. Rios is better with the glove, but Swisher is miles ahead offensively. Does Rios have more potential? Yes, but he's also always been a douche who's never reached it. Swisher at least has.

PK said the tv's were already on by the time the team got in the clubhouse. Me suspects, PK was one of the guys watching college football because in the article in the Sun-Times today, he seemed to try and downplay it. My other guesses would be AJ, Beckham, and probably JD.

Swisher trade in retrospect shouldn't have been made. Honestly, KW, from what it sounds like, is going to look for a guy like him who they could swap out at DH and place in different positions such as OF/1B/DH, he has a good OBP and has good enough power.

Twins. They never stopped fighting, always having to deal with injuries and are still contending. They deserve it.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 10:47 AM) In which, you're probably correct. I didn't think of the whole thing, just the way you thought of it.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 07:40 PM) It would mean a hell of a lot of money flowing in for infastructure. But I guess that's "bad"... with that said corruption of the flow money would be rampant. Think of it this way. No Olympics = Raised taxes for corrupt politicians pensions Olympics - Raised taxes for need improvement of infrastructure and side money for politicians Either way, we're going to be paying, so might as well as have some sports and the opportunity to rent out our homes for profit.

Felix Hernandez Kevin Youkalis Dustin Pedroia Miguel Cabrera Victor Martinez Bobby Abreu Grady Sizemore Carl Crawford Andrew Bailey Manny Ramirez Justin Upton Bj Upton I think if KW were to obtain all of those guys, this team would compete.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Sep 23, 2009 -> 11:09 PM) More like June, this is the arrogance of KW, KW knows Walker has not done the job but he is so much smarter than anyone else just ask him. Walker as hitting coach has been a problem since June 2006 this team is in a 3 and a half year funk. KW had no trouble making sure Tim Raines was shown the door when they said he was not doing the job. Walker having a seizure on the field in the 80's should not mean lifelong employment by JR! Hey I am not afraid to say it, his actual job performance surely is not why he is still employed as the hitting coach. Perfectly stated. Raines was shown the door and probably did more than any other coaches not named Razor Shines or Joey Cora.

Oh wow, KW has made his first idiotic statement IMHO. If a coach is not getting through to his players, it's because they're tuning him out. If they are tuning him out, that means he is unable to perform his job. That really stuck out to me the most though.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Sep 23, 2009 -> 07:42 PM) I disagree on this. Professional baseball players already know how to hit, they already know how to perform the task, they wouldnt be in the mlb if they didnt. The problem is that each hitter is unique, and for most of them it is their uniqueness that makes them great. No one will hit like Frank Thomas, it wasnt the hitting coach that made him. Walkers job is to prepare the hitters, and I believe that he is doing that. I just dont believe the Sox are filled with players who actually care to listen. And that is an indictment of the players, not the coaching staff. So the Sox have had players for over 6 years not willing to listen? In that situation, Kenny needs to be fired since he brings in players who are deaf. QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Sep 23, 2009 -> 07:42 PM) Would you say Coop is just a whipping boy then? It's f***ed up how people can say Walker doesn't have much influence/control over the situation and then praise Coop. And also, if the players like Walker so much, and if the organization likes Walker so much, then maybe that is part of the reason they're all s***. Maybe these miserable f***s need a drill sergeant in there. Or maybe they just need a dunce corner and after every s***ty AB, that player will have to put on the dunce hat and sit there in silence at the end of the bench while the other players spit on him and throw garbage at him. And if by the fourth inning the entire lineup is sitting there on the end of the bench and there's no one left to put in, just call the game, forfeit, and save the arms on the pitching staff. But Walker can control weaknesses and have a direct effect on hitting just like Coop does on pitching. He can tell his hitters to stop trying to pull outside sliders. He could tell them to go the way of the pitch instead of pulling which it seems almost everyone on the team does. QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Sep 23, 2009 -> 07:47 PM) Well you could have read my caveat: The difference with Coop is that there are a good amount of players who did not perform as well before he was the pitching coach, or as well after he was the pitching coach. With Walker there is absolutely no evidence of players being better and performing worse, or being worse and performing better. Not to mention pitching and hitting are completely different. As a pitcher you control the game, so if Coop says "use your curveball more" well you can throw it more. As the hitter the pitcher is still in control. So even if Walker is telling them 100% the right information, the pitcher can still attack their weakness. As for the rest, good luck running a team like that. I personally think baseball players perform the best when they are enjoying the game. You don't know if the players are going to perform better or worse without getting some new blood, a new voice in there. Again, are you saying if the Sox should've never fired Jerry Manuel as there was no evidence that they would do better without him? QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Sep 23, 2009 -> 07:52 PM) So what you're suggesting here is that Walker does his job in preparing hitters for upcoming pitchers (and that's certainly important); yet the players on our team just don't listen? Now when you consider that only a few players (Dye, maybe Podsednik, Wise) will not return in '10, and maybe an additional player unknown as of now will be traded, we're going to have a large percentage of this seasons roster here for 2010. What's the purpose of having him around? You know what, if the players are going to ignore the hitting coach I'd rather it be someone else. I'm tired of Walker. Even if absolutely nothing changes, it'll atleast be another name. It's like the whole Anderson issue. It was at the point where whether people believed he was mistreated by Guillen, or was nothing more than a 4th OF, I just wanted him gone so I didn't have to hear his name anymore. Let us build resentment for another hitting coach. What I'm getting is that Walker is able to prepare the players without them listening, therefore he's doing his job at the same time as not doing his job. QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Sep 23, 2009 -> 08:00 PM) Thats where I disagree, I think continuity in a coaching staff brings success. And I really dont think there is much for a hitting coach to do, unless its a huge mechanical flaw or you notice that they completely changed their swing, there is not much you can do. Not to mention, the reason why the Sox offense is doing bad is JD and CQ. CQ is coming off an injury so well see what happens next year, JD was amazing in the first half, horrible in the 2nd. Not sure what any hitting coach could have done with that. Rios was slumping bad when the Sox got him, it was kind of wishful thinking to believe hed just turn it around immediately. Continuity is good in the workplace if people are able to successfully do their jobs. If I have a supervisor who constantly gets ran over by his workers, which is what you're essentially saying, are you saying that is better than firing the supervisor and getting someone in there that knows what he's doing and that the people would listen to? I think that's incorrect.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Sep 23, 2009 -> 07:34 PM) Indians scored less runs than the Sox last year. Texas has scored 719 runs this year, scored 901 last year. I personally havent seen anyone from management state Walker isnt doing his job, so Im not sure what your criteria is for his job. My criteria is not based on the success of players who he basically has no control over and I dont make changes just to make changes. I'm stating when they made the changes. Cleveland made there's sometime in 2005 or 2006. Texas made their's around the same time. And teaching is Walker's job. Managing the hitting is Walker's job. Getting the players to know how to perform their tasks as hitters is Walker's job. So far, he's failing miserably at one aspect in that, from what you state, say he preaches using all fields, but none of the players listen to him.

I'm fine with this team if they fired Walker. Honestly though, I think they need to complete their tweaking of getting older guys out of here, and the youth in. Let go of Jermaine. Trade PK and Jenks for some influx of young talent. As far as the bullpen, it's so crazy that anything can turn it upside down, so there's no point in wasting top dollar for a bullpen arm.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Sep 23, 2009 -> 07:21 PM) What reasons would I fire a hitting coach? Conflict with the manager. Hitting coach and manager do not have the same philosophy. Other than that I dont really think that a hitting coach is very important. I guess I feel like Ozzie likes him and more importantly the players like him. Im not sure that ive ever heard a bad word said about Walker. All players do is compliment him and say that he works as hard as anyone (or at least that is what I can recollect.) Its the players job to hit the ball, in my lifetime I cant name any hitting coaches that I think make a huge difference, and there really are only a handful of pitching coaches who you can say the same about. For the most part hitting and pitching coaches are whipping boys. Didn't someone here say that Walker and Ozzie didn't get along almost all of last year? Also, I'm sure Rusty LaRue worked as hard as anyone, but it doesn't mean the Bulls should've kept him in favor of someone who can do their job better. Off the top of my head, Cleveland and Texas in this decade took off after getting new hitting instructors.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Sep 23, 2009 -> 06:47 PM) Looks likw my memory wasn't that far off. Anyone got a link to the old story? I would go digging, but I'm on my blackberry right now.. I tried to do a quick google search, but basically if you look up the peavy rejection article on padres.com, it mentions a blurb in there.