Princess Dye

Juan is securing himself some dough for next year.

i worked at comiskey for a second and did Y.M.C.A. on the dugout. a second.

Really nice.

OK gavin, quick inning

That last almost pitch is why i dont like Hawk's announcing. Homer is one thing but the late ump time-call granted to Alexei is something for which he absolutely tore into an ump for going against Danks w/ a week ago. Hawk will NEVER call something like that against us. Only if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

He must be the luckiest guy on the staff (not that this amazing at bat was luck at all) but I do like that Gavin Floyd.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Sep 16, 2008 -> 07:33 PM) The Gavin i've known responds to that w/ Ball 3, but I hope i'm wrong. My life long test taking career results hold up.

The Gavin i've known responds to that w/ Ball 3, but I hope i'm wrong.

OC with just just just enough range to stop a run from coming in.

Cleveland has not packed it in yet, which is great for us -- but just imagine if they're like this now, how pumped they'll be to support Cliff Lee tomorrow.

Our starters have reappeared on earth. That gives me an amount of hope equal to the amount of pain the pen is giving me. Going into a playoff series, I'm going to prefer strong starters to strong middle relief...mainly b/c we still have two relievers that have been very consistent this year. That's me and my full glass. Also I like Griffey's surprising wheels in CF. maybe he actually does want this thing bad.

Griffey looks about the same speed as Swisher would be out there, w/ better arm. It's not saying a ton but I really didnt think that was possible before.

Lets hear it from all those people who were calling OC's defense subpar

Wise at age 30 has figured out how to hit.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Sep 15, 2008 -> 07:46 AM) Yeah, but there is no guarantee we will be there still. 2 weeks left and a pesky Minnesota bunch. His presence in the lineup is something that could be big for opposing teams' pitching strategies and our team's mental state. Honestly, the way the Twins have been playing recently, if we can't beat em sans Carlos then it's not going to matter. If we're at our best, he's good enough to make us WS worthy, which is why I would wait til playoffs and see wehre he's at

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Sep 14, 2008 -> 10:50 PM) Dotel's struggles over the past month and a half are likely a bi-product of the number of innings he threw in the first 4 months (4 incredibly effective months) of the season. He has over 60 IP this year, he hasn't thrown anywhere near this many since 2004 largely because of the Tommy John surgery he had in 2006. So you have a 34 year old reliever who hasn't thrown much over the past 3 seasons and is really coming off ligament replacement surgery and yet he was able to remain effective for 4 months/50 innings to start the season? I'd say the Sox have gotten their money's worth. First 50.2 IP from Dotel: 3.02 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 72:23 K:BB, 5 HR, .193 BAA and stranded 75% of his inherited runners. Relievers are going to be fickle, one day they'll save your ass, the next they'll kill you, it's just the nature of the bullpen. That's easily worth five million dollars. He's been truly awful since the start of August, like 8 ERA, s*** load of hits, .330+ BAA, 50% IR stranded, 1.200 OPS against bad. His arm is about to fall off. Helpful post, thanks. Way more productive than the usual DOTEL BLOWS DOOD. We're kind of caught where, everything you say is right, and saving his arm some now for playoffs would be ideal. But we have no other option so he's gotta go out there and K people.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Sep 14, 2008 -> 10:42 PM) I agree the risk is too great. We have a potential franchise player here. There is no need to risk further injury upon him and his hand, and this swing mechanics at this point. We have plenty of power in Dye, Thome, Swish, Griffey, and Konerko when hes back next week. They just need to perform. In the end CQ and Farmer can say what they want but there is no way the Docs and Herm let CQ go out there if they dont 100% think hes good to go, thats the way this organization is and always has been. I agree it's not smart to push it, but at the same time I wonder if this is really the kind of injury that can really worsen to something really really bad? I mean if it worsens then he just takes the offseason to heal completely. Maybe in the playoffs we can just DH him against a lefty

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Sep 14, 2008 -> 11:29 PM) I hope we can somehow get him back for the last week to play Minny even if just to pinch-hit in a key situation. Or just stand at-bat and get walked. That I dont know about, but it would be kind of cool if they could bring him up shockingly in a big moment when a team brings in their last lefty. Then they go right to RHP and we switch to Griff or Wise or something. I was hoping they could do that tonight w/ PK and AJ in one situation.

Farmer supposedly mentioned this as being possible today on the radio? Uh, really? I have no link so delete if this is garbage, but perhaps give a chance for someone who had the radio on to back this up if it's for real.

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ Sep 14, 2008 -> 10:05 PM) Thornton is too hot and cold for my liking. He has some control issues at times. It'd almost be like having Billy Koch save for us, just not as bad. Nothing on earth is like having Billy Koch save for us.

Twins have to face Cliff Lee coming up in a few days, but tomorrow also they face a pretty impressive looking newbie named Scott Lewis.

QUOTE (scenario @ Sep 14, 2008 -> 11:07 PM) If the Sox make it to the World Series... I WANT them to play the Cubs. I hate when people say 'we can't play them, because we might lose'. That's loser logic. The series starts in the Cell. Advantage us. I say "bring it". Plus their lineup is struggling more than at any point in the year. Big problems w/ D-Lee and Fukudome Other NL opponents may be easier, it's true. That argument I can see.

Z pisses a lot of people off w/ his personality - but my biggest gripe w/ today's athlete is their seeming dispassion regarding the actual in-game happenings. In that sense, Z is absolutely a positive force, i can't deny it. When you hear him explain it in a postgame, he's quiet, semi-embarassed and realizes he was acting insane during the game. Like a fan, no?

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Sep 14, 2008 -> 10:37 PM) You don't live in Chicago. 1. Being in the World Series is stressful enough. Having it be the Cubs takes it to a whole new level. Whoever wins, thats it. All over. If the Cubs won the World Series over the Sox, it would be one of the worst winters of all time, and you just had the team you love make it to the World Series. 2.The city itself would be on absolute lockdown, which wouldn't be very enjoyable, especially in the Loop and surrounding areas. It would be very interesting to see how the city would handle it. It could get borderline dangerous. I agree w/ all this (and your av, incidentally)..but i still want it to happen. and i live in Chicago (northside even) but I would want to put up w/ the insane stress in order to have the once in a lifetime thing go down. A loss would be life shattering, but the upside would be so unbelievably amazing. 2 WS to zero and the head-to-head bragging rights + upset.

The way I see it, bullpens are bullpens. They're so-so, so often. What I take a lot more from is our starting pitching really stepping up and putting up tons of zeroes. Really good to see.