YASNY

All these statistics are impressive as hell, but I know this much. The '01-'04 versions of the White Sox could not "manufacture" a run if their lives depended on it. When you are in tight games against good teams, those "manufactured" runs are, in most cases, difference makers. The past few seasons, we would get shut down by a good pitcher then pad our offensive stats against mediocre and lesser pitchers. We'd hit Kansas City's 4 and 5 starters for a ton of runs, then face Radke the next game and score 1. This team could not have won a playoff series even if it got there. You know, those are series against good teams with good pitchers. Someone called the '03 team a World Series caliber team in another thread. I say 3 and out if we would have made it.

QUOTE(Texsox @ May 1, 2005 -> 09:43 AM) Maybe that's why a few Giants pitchers complained. He probably isn't always correct. This is where the manager needs to step in and make the call. I suspect Ozzie has done so with Garland and Contreras. Whatever is happening, it's working.

This is really going to help increase payroll. :headshake

Congrats to Jon for a great month and getting the deserved recognition.

QUOTE(Steff @ May 2, 2005 -> 11:05 AM) So now my opinion is pointless..??? Some people are SO touchy!

Who would have kicked who's ass is pretty pointless. With all the HBP's our hitters have had lately, it's about someone stepped up and sent a message.

I think it's still too early to determine our needs yet. Let's wait a month.

Congress may implement a tougher policy. The MLBPA has to listen to thsi stuff. Another band-aid ain't gonna stop the bleeding.

Not good.

QUOTE(qwerty @ May 2, 2005 -> 02:04 AM) Garlands third and final arbitration year is after this season. Thank you. I thought so.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ May 2, 2005 -> 02:05 AM) Tough but I think we can handle it. Minny & Toronto will defenitely be tough but we can handle the Mariners & Red Sox. Spankees and their 100 million dollar rotation aren't worth a s*** either. The matchup I really want to see is us versus the Orioles. Two top teams in the AL us with out pitching versus them and their hitting. What looked like was going to be a "Sosa returns" series is shaping up to be a battle of the titans. Who'da thunk it?

QUOTE(KWs OK for Me @ May 2, 2005 -> 01:59 AM) This is his 6th year of major league pitching, if I remember the rule correctly isn't it 6 years of arbitration and then eligible for free agency? His first season was 2000 in which he appeared in 15 games and pitched 70 innings, which I believe qualifies as enough to count as a season towards free agency. I don't know what the details are, but I believe service time on the big league roster is the determining factor.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ May 1, 2005 -> 07:44 PM) It's a retarded theory & I wish they would just give it up already. A much better one is the 16 wins/mo. We finished April with 17 wins. We are now +1. Minny is -1, & DET is -5. The rest are in trouble. Oh hell, you just like your theory so you can throw stats out there. Win a third, lose a third and what you do with the other third is too simple.

Ozzie knows how his pitchers are throwing. He doesn't need stats to see that.

I really don't think so. I wouldn't bet my life on it, but I think he won't be till after '06.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ May 2, 2005 -> 01:51 AM) Do any of you guys think that this being his contract year has anything to do with it? It may be a contract year, but it's not his FA year. This is no different than last year for him. He'll either sign or go to arbitration.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ May 2, 2005 -> 01:01 AM) Well, I definitely wasn't referring to your post. I was just explaining my original point in greater detail. Pitchers do face pitchers. You said that you don't need any run support if you're tossing shutouts, which is 100% correct, but Garland ain't Hershiser. This won't last. If he finishes with a 3.50 ERA on the season, I'll be ecstatic. Of course this won't last. If it did Garland would have a season for the ages. I'm not unrealistic here. I do feel like he'll have the first of many damn good years though.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ May 2, 2005 -> 12:52 AM) I called bulls*** on what nitetrain said. He stated that pitchers don't face pitchers. You quoted me when you called bulls***.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ May 2, 2005 -> 12:23 AM) Right on, but he's saying that Garland is only facing the opposition's batting order, and not the pitcher. While this is an interesting theory, I'm gonna go ahead and call bulls*** on that. If run support ain't one hell of a psychological boost, I dunno what is. And yeah, while Garland may act cool and front like nothing in the world bothers him, we all know that the dude is human. I can't argue that point. However, Garland is pitching lights out right now. I'm sure Garland couldn't hand like Clemens with the lack of run support he's gotten this year. Or the Unit last year. But those two are grizzled veterans and Garland is a comparative pup. Wait. I said you don't need much run support when you pitch shutouts and you call bulls***? What's bulls*** about that? By definition you only "need" one run per game of run support.

QUOTE(Capn12 @ May 1, 2005 -> 11:43 PM) Lets not overlook 1 HUGE fact from this years pitching staff: AJ Pierzinski and Chris Widger Our 2 backstops have done a helluva good job in calling these games for us so far. I was one of the folks that wanted to see Olivo in a Sox uni for a long time, but lets be honest here. Olivo and pitchers confidence didn't seem to go together often. AJ and Widger have been EXCELLENT additions to this 2005 squad. While alot of the credit goes to Garland for finally going after hitters, trusting the defense behind him.....the 2 catchers deserve an awful lot of credit themselves. Good post. Garland trusts the catchers, and he's said as much. Credit KW and OG for acquiring and keeping these two. In theory, you'd think Sandy Alomar would have been as effective, but his CERA was nothing to brag about. Garland trusts the defense. Credit KW and OG for putting a decent defensive team behind him. However, I think Garland has finally gotten the self confidence he needed. Maybe the changes to the team were the catalyst that helped him get there, but I've always believed he would, eventually, be a solid major league pitcher.

QUOTE(SEALgep @ May 1, 2005 -> 09:11 PM) From cbssportsline Arizona Diamondbacks Updated:04/29/2005 Diamondbacks infielder Alex Cintron is drawing serious interest from the Cubs, according to Chicago's Daily Herald and the newspaper speculates the White Sox could get interested as well. They are about 4 months behind Soxtalk with this newsflash.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ May 2, 2005 -> 12:01 AM) YASNY, I always knew you were smart but this comment just blew me away. Short and to the point. That's my style.

QUOTE(CubKilla @ May 1, 2005 -> 10:57 PM) I'm happy for Jon. It's about time all those stats the Garland-loving stat-heads threw my way turned into direct results in the W-L column for the month of April. But as Harvey Keitel said so eloquently in "PULP FICTION"..... "Let's not start sucking each other's dicks just yet." There's still plenty of time for Judy to make an appearance or five. I'd settle for 20 and 5.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ May 1, 2005 -> 09:30 PM) I knew those late nights with YASNY and I defendin Jon Garland weren't for nothing. There were quite a lot of them.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ May 1, 2005 -> 11:56 PM) Well, he's talking in terms of run support. When Buehrle faces Santana, Radke, Sabathia, or Greinke, he ain't getting much run support. Now, Garland on the other hand? I don't have the statistics handy, and Garland doesn't exactly need any run support for the time being, but how many runs have we averaged per game for Garland thus far, and how does that figure compare to the rest of our starters? Actually, can anyone recommend a site where one can look these things up? You don't need a whole lot of run support when you pitch shutouts.