South Side Fireworks Man

Bottom line is the decisions Ventura made in the Angel game and tonight both failed. They were different situations but in the first instance it turned out he left Sale in too long and tonight it turned out he pulled him too soon. Of course hindsight is 20/20, but managers ultimately are judged on their record, by how well their decisions work out. I would hope that those who defended his decision to leave Sale in against the Angels would at least be consistent and admit that he shouldn't have pulled him so soon tonight.

f*** Boston.

Nice. Gillaspie stayed with it.

Apparently Sierra's hammy is OK.

Just don't blow this game!

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 08:48 PM) Kinda like when he was cruising against the Angels and then Robin decided to leave him in with ~105 pitches and we destroyed him He wasn't cruising against the Angels at that point. I forget the exact stats, but after cruising for most of the game he had given up something like five hits in the last seven hitters or something like that.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 08:46 PM) Bad bullpen performance is the bane of any manager Jake just didn't have it tonight. He was due for a bad outing sometime, it happens to everyone. Robin did leave him in a bit long, though.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 08:44 PM) I came here to make sure that Soxtalk, who melts down over Sale pitch counts, was fired up about him getting pulled with 107 pitches Sale was not struggling tonight. He was cruising.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 08:35 PM) If Petricka gives up a hit, we RIOT There's a riot goin' on...

Nice Eaton!

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 07:26 PM) Hawk certainly seems to think we're getting AJ. I didn't pick that up from him at all.

Stand up triple for De Aza on a ball Gomes lost in the sky.

Gillaspie can't be stopped!

Nice play there by Bradley in CF.

Wow! Conor!!

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 06:20 PM) To answer this question, as soon as the white sox claim AJ off of waivers. If only Ventura were big enough to approve it.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 06:10 PM) I don't buy the clubhouse chemistry thing. First off, the team is about 40 under .500 since he left. If getting him off the team helped the chemistry, I hope they go back to the bad where they actually won a World Series. Secondly, if he was as hated as the people who have never been in the clubhouse on game day seem to think, I doubt the White Sox would have signed him to the 3 or 4 contracts they signed him to, and kept him around 8 seasons. That said, if the Sox are ready to pull the plug on Flowers, at this point, they need to see if there is any hope with Phegley before they bring back AJ. Phegley can't even catch the ball. The Sox need to respect the game and their fans more than running guys like Flowers and Phegley out there for two years in a row.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 05:47 PM) TWTW=15 wins from AJ Ridiculous.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 05:03 PM) Is that going to happen 15 times in the remainder of the year? Because if not, "AJ puts us in wildcard contention" is pretty laughable. They have been getting zero, zilch production from Flowers lately, and they're still only 5.5 back of the WC. Continuing to run Flowers out there is a slap in the face to fans who pay to see major league players. Flowers is not the answer going forward so why not admit it and go with someone like AJ until they get a better option for the future?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 04:55 PM) There has not been much of a difference offensively with Pierzynski the superior hitter thus far. Tie game, runners in scoring position, two outs in the ninth. Who would you rather see batting for the White Sox, AJ or Tyler?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 04:44 PM) Because playing a catcher with a .633 OPS is how you get taken seriously. AJ is a bona fide major league catcher which Flowers is not. Even though he's on the down side of his career, he's still better better than Flowers and can handle the pitching staff. Plus brings intangibles that Flowers lacks. And he's a LH hitter which gives the Sox more balance. The only thing that will stop the Sox from bringing him back is Ventura, which is a shame.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 12:26 AM) Just keep winning.. 5.5 back from WC Seattle, Toronto, KC, New York, Cleveland are in front of us.. Replace Flowers with AJ and they're in contention for the wildcard. Keep running Flowers out there and they can't be taken seriously.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 02:28 PM) Can't help but wonder if the timing of AJ getting DFA'd while the White Sox are in town might mean he's indeed coming back to the White Sox. That would be sweet. They can use him for the rest of this year and next year as well. There's no one on the horizon better than him. If they do acquire a good starting catcher for next year somehow, AJ would be a good backup while Nieto gets evreryday ABs in the minors. If not, he can mentor Nieto next year.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 01:43 PM) I would expect the Sox to explore this ASAP. The inexperienced Ventura felt threatened by AJ. I think Ventura stands in the way from AJ retiring in a Sox uniform, which is very sad. Please tell me I'm wrong.

Let's hold this five run lead and go home a winner.