whitesoxfan101

Haha, we aren't hitting the ball hard AT ALL this inning, yet 3 runs. Earlier, we crush it and get next to nothing. Ahh baseball is a beautiful game.

We'll take it!!

THATTA BOY JUNIOR!!!!

Come on Griff, make it hurt. 1-1 in Minnesota, 1st and 2nd 0 outs for Cleveland.

This is like a nightmare, so many near misses on good pitches to hit.

Angels win again. They are now 7-1 on their 10 game road trip through the AL east, including 5-0 at Boston and New York. K-Rod with save #45 to win it 1-0 for them, they can improve to 70-40 if they win tomorrow. They are unreal.

Carlos Gomez has a .289 on base and a .641 OPS, while being only 21 for 30 in steals. Hawk can love him all he wants, but he should be sent to triple a with numbers like those. Nice play OC. QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Aug 1, 2008 -> 08:28 PM) There is no reason what so every that this bum is shutting us down like this. This should not be a pitchers duel. The KC fans are probably saying the same thing with the way Javy has pitched lately.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxfan1986 @ Aug 1, 2008 -> 07:04 PM) The Cubs are really going to regret passing on Matt Wieters in last years draft. The guy is absolutely raking and I could see him in Baltimore by the end of the year. It's suprising too because the Cubs aren't really afraid of taking Boras guys. Yeah, and they passed on him to take a 3rd basemen too when they have Aramis Ramirez. Although Wieters is a catcher of course, and Soto has been solid this year.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Aug 1, 2008 -> 08:21 PM) wtf - hochevar blows, how are we not pounding this guy? We've had some very bad luck on hard hit balls this evening. We still should be doing better, but we could for sure have 2 or 3 more runs tonight.

Griffey had a .271/.386/.541/.927 in July, so hopefully that continues for the last couple months and perhaps into October. His lefty/righty splits though say all of Griff's days off need to be against lefties.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 1, 2008 -> 08:13 PM) Javy keeps hanging these pitches, and we're going to be losing soon. Reminds me of Danks last night, although he didn't have a terrible outing. But at the same time, his off speed stuff was up all night and you could see the Morneau home run coming. Out of this inning though, hopefully some of our hard hit balls start falling.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 1, 2008 -> 08:05 PM) Real kick in the balls with Griffey Jr. thinking that was gone. In live speed, it didn't look like he thought it was, but on the replay it looked like he did. Kind of in between, which makes sense since it was close.

Masset so far tonight: 3 IP, 1 hit, no runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout in relief of the AWFUL Homer Bailey. I think soon enough Masset will be in Bailey's rotation spot. I hope he does well there.

Blah, Griffey's reaction gave away that it wasn't gone but I thought it had a chance anyways. That's a home run at most ballparks though, the one thing I can't get over from my trip to KC a few weeks ago is how big the ballpark is. It might be the biggest ballpark in the AL, certainly in the top 3.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Aug 1, 2008 -> 10:50 AM) Oh I think you would grasp it quickly enough, what to do is the question. Wrestling with a mad man with a chef's knife doesn't seem prudent, but doing nothing is also wrong. You run away and you run away fast. If the man has a knife and is stabbing the person over and over, odds are it'll be too late by the time you get there anyways. At some point, as cruel as it seems, you have to just save yourself.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Aug 1, 2008 -> 06:39 PM) Alabama and Rutgers not ranked? Wow. Is this the poll that matters or is that the AP? I would also have Illinois at #17 and BYU and Tennessee move down one. I can see why Alabama isn't ranked right now (although they will be before the season ends), but no Rutgers and Michigan instead is a joke. Michigan should have a very good defense, but they will not be able to score any points between having no quarterback, a new and radically different system, and losing almost all of their offensive starters to boot. I actually thought BYU would be higher, they very well could be this years Hawaii.

Michigan is going 5-7 this year, I'm not really sure why they are ranked, Rutgers should be in the top 25 instead IMO. I also think Wake Forest is very underrated, they are poised to have a great season. At least they got #1 right though, Georgia is so scary that they could even go undefeated in the incredible SEC. Of course the ironic/sad part in that is the last SEC team to have a perfect season was 2004 Auburn, who never received any sniff of a shot at the national championship in the biggest joke this side of 1994 Penn State.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 1, 2008 -> 12:04 PM) For the people who laugh at things like chemistry and personality conflicts being important, you just had one of the shining examples of Bill James-ness dump a numbers guy because he was a tool. Jason Bay this year: .282/.375/.519/.894 22 home runs, 23 doubles 64 RBI's in 106 games. Manny Ramirez this year: .299/.398/.529/.926 20 home runs, 22 doubles, 68 RBI's in 100 games. Bay has a career .900 OPS, is six years younger than Ramirez, is a better defender, and is also under contract in 2009 and could be kept long term to play left field. Not to mention the fact that Pittsburgh is a HORRIBLE hitters park for a righty* like Bay. Obviously seeing AL pitching won't help Bay, but the green monster in left field will. Team chemistry and personal conflicts are still overrated BS people like to say because it's been said for a long time. Manny Ramirez is an extreme example case, and they still got Jason Bay to play his spot, who at this point in time isn't that big of a dropoff (a minimal one IMO) from Ramirez at this stage of his career.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Aug 1, 2008 -> 02:52 PM) Chemically enhanced? Any one standout great season from about 1987 through 2005 or so will be looked at as steroids, and I can't blame people like fathom for thinking Brady Anderson circa 1996 and Esteban Loaiza circa 2003 cheated when you look at guys like that and their results in all other seasons. As for Javy, his problem is location. Early in the year, he mixed his pitches well and kept the ball down, and for the last several weeks, he's kept the ball up and his location has sucked. He has great stuff so he can turn it around, but he needs to quit throwing pitches up there begging to be hit out of the ballpark.

Since being reacquired by the Sox, Hernandez has spent all of his time at Birmingham: 5-4 with a 4.08 ERA in 32 relief efforts. 46.1 IP, 42 hits (2 homers), 26 walks, 42 strikeouts, 1.24 GO/AO, .249 BAA Yesterday was his 24th birthday, and Fernando has very good stuff, especially for a 49th round pick. But he's had some control problems this year, and before he can think about Charlotte or beyond, that needs to be rectified.

Like David Cook, Rodriguez was promoted to Class AAA Charlotte earlier this year. First, his 2008 Birmingham #'s: 5-1, 3.38 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, in 29 relief outings covering 42.2 innings. 30 hits (2 homers) allowed, 18 walks, 44 k's, .203 average against, 0.91 GO/AO At Charlotte though, he's been ever better so far: 0-1, 1.25 ERA, WHIP under 1, in 13 relief outings covering 21.2 innings. 11 hits (1 HR), 6 walks, 28 strikeouts, .145 average against, 1.47 GO/AO Although he is 25 now, Rodriguez is a guy that you could see in our bullpen at the major league level, and be a help to it, very soon. I wouldn't be surprised if we see him this year in Chicago in fact with the injuries and Masset being traded.

Cook was of course promoted to Class AAA Charlotte earlier this season. His finals stats at Birmingham in 2008 were: .313/.467/.577/1.044 12 home runs, 30 RBI, 15 doubles, 2 triples, 8/15 steals, 62 walks, 47 k's in 208 at bats. So yeah, clearly dominant. Cook hasn't played in over a week (July 23rd) so I wonder if he is hurts, but here are his numbers at Charlotte so far: .267/.355/.452/.807 in 146 at bats. 5 home runs, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 18 RBI, 3/3 steals, 18 walks, 40 strikeouts (yikes)

That pic is just so awesome. Approve.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Jul 31, 2008 -> 11:13 PM) I don't disagree with a lot that has been said. This series was gigantic, and the Sox really s*** the bed. I suppose it could have been a lot worse, but the fashion the Sox lost was pretty devastating. To have 3 of the 4 games in your hands against the team that is breathing down your neck as piss two of them away is inexcusable. With that said, I am going to remain optimistic, especially if this next 3 gamer is a success. The Sox August is loaded with home games. I don't fear any team that comes into the Cell with the way the Sox have played at home. I am one of the last Contreras fans on the board, so my optimism isn't going to be felt by most, but I am encouraged by the sound of the side session Jose had. I expect him to come back strong after a break. Same goes for Joe. This is crutch time, and I expect the guys to step up down the stretch. I pray Linebrink can come back sometime in August healthy, as it will be a tremendous boost to the entire bullpen, and team. Put this series behind us, leave the Dome in the rear view mirror, and hope for another Royal beating. I actually think our offense and starting rotation will be fine and even above average, especially the offense. The problem is the bullpen is injured and performing terribly, and I'm not sure if that is going to change. Also, I think the defense will cut down the error totals as time goes on, but our lack of range on defense could get us killed. It just feels so much like 2003, hopefully I am wrong though because like in 2003, I love this roster. It just feels uneasy right now.

Congrats!! And the engagement is bigger of course.