Milkman delivers

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 24, 2006 -> 05:59 AM) I've been thrilled that he's been as healthy as he has been so far this year. Assuming he wouldn't be out for longer than a week to two weeks, I think it might be just the rest he needs for the rest of the year. I know his numbers have looked good for the last 30 games or so, but I think it's obvious to anyone watching that his bat speed has slowed down. Hopefully he's back on Friday night, and this whole argument is a mute point. I couldn't agree more. It could rest Thome and change the mindset of the offense. Thome used to lead the entire league (or at least be in 2nd) in HR's, but he's a homer by Giambi/Beltran from being in 10th. He's really fallen off that HR pace. He can use a break.

Terrible idea.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Aug 23, 2006 -> 12:08 PM) flashback to '05 during the funk of late August and September. We were all saying the same thing then and they surprised us. Could happen again. I'm in. Pain and suffering are my constant companions. The pitching staff was consistently good last year. This year, it's been bad all the time.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 23, 2006 -> 11:03 AM) What do you mean by this? screwing us over this year = pitching for us

QUOTE(Hangar18 @ Aug 23, 2006 -> 10:38 AM) Last year and this year are too hard to compare. We had a 15 game lead last year. This year, were behind. Exactly. Being complacent with a lead that almost ensures a playoff spot is a little more understandable than seeming complacent when you're fighting for the final playoff spot.

QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Aug 23, 2006 -> 10:27 AM) I'll answer this: no. They look like corpses on the field. Very true. They look like they just want to get the games over with.

QUOTE(TLAK @ Aug 23, 2006 -> 07:35 AM) The team reached it's high water mark of 27 over on July 6, for the following 7 weeks they are 6 under. 7 weeks is not just a bad streak that 'everyone' goes through. This is just not playoff caliber baseball, and they have shown me no reason to believe they will turn it around. It's not impossible, but I see no evidence which would lead me to expect it. I'm in as a White Sox fan, follower and devotee. But I'm out as to predicting this group will make the post season. There are 7 weeks left, at the current rate of play they will end up at about 88 wins. A good season but no cigar. That's a pretty damn good way of putting it. QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Aug 23, 2006 -> 09:12 AM) For those questioning, this was not meant as a "are you a fan of the White Sox or not" type of question. It was mainly a "do you still believe we are going post season" type of thing. I'm sure there are diehard fans of teams that are going nowhere still supporting their teams. Belief in a team NOT making it is not saying you are not a fan. If that were true, then you must not have been a fan in 2001 and all the other years the team was going nowhere. I myself have huge doubts they will make it. If they do, it won't be our stellar play that does it, it will be Minnesota and Boston collapsing alongside and allowing us to get in. I haven't seen anything in a long while that makes me believe this team "has it" any more. But that being said, I will be watching every game still, I will be hoping my doubts are false, and I will be trying to get to a few more games this year and I will support the hell out of my team. But common sense tells me to not get my hopes up. Also a good point.

They definitely have a chance, no doubt. It's really hard to see them making too much noise in the playoffs, though. The starters have just not shown us that they can get on any sort of roll. So, I guess I'm in since I feel they can make the playoffs.

Well, I'll get s*** for this, but I don't want him getting hurt for 2 1/2 months of the year trying to make a single play if he comes back to this team. We all love the intensity, yes. But catching a fly ball in the 5th inning just isn't worth sitting out a big percentage of the season.

I understand that Thome has been tremendous for us this year, but it'd be nice if he'd hit a few homers here and there. Seems like he's hit 4 homers in the past month and a half. And Ozzie had a very big role in getting Vazquez on this team (as someone said it was KW who made the move). Of course KW wanted it to happen and worked out the trade, but isn't Ozzie pretty much the guy who talked Javy into screwing us over this year?

One thing I noticed last night. Juan Uribe has 55 RBI's. I may be wrong, but I think I remember him breaking the 50-RBI plateau in Cincy. Has Uribe really gone about two months basically without an RBI? Or was it the 40-RBI plateau that he passed? Another thing, this rotation is anything but inconsistent. They've held us down the entire year. It seems they always do enough to lose. The entire year, this rotation has failed to live up to its expectations. It's maddening. If we don't make the playoffs, it will be 100% on their shoulders (player-wise). And if we lose another game in this series, and then proceed to lose the upcoming series with the Twins, this year just may be over.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Aug 22, 2006 -> 01:06 PM) He didn't start s*** with Lilly, he's trying to talk to his player but Lilly was being a little b**** about it and ended up sucker punching his manager. Didn't someone else say he started shoving Lilly first? And either way, this is two fights in a few weeks. That's a little telling.

The guy has had two fights with his own players in a span of a few weeks. It doesn't just seem that he's an asshole, but that his players think very little of him. And when you're an over-the-hill manager, you probably shouldn't get into fist fights with professional athletes. You get your face busted up that way, and Gibbons learned the hard way.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 22, 2006 -> 11:01 AM) After all, if you go to the park, or watch them on TV, or buy other Sox products, it's YOUR money that you feel like they're stealing. Eggzactly.

This guy sounds like a douchebag. And I hope Soxace is right that Lilly kicked his ass.

4.04 - $9,500,000 4.73 - $7,000,000 4.80 - $8,000,000 4.87 - $9,000,000 5.13 - $12,000,000 (ugh) And I'm pretty sure all of them are making more money next year.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Aug 21, 2006 -> 04:59 PM) Im with Milkman here, and thats uncommon. I guess it's because im at the Cell all the time, but im paying to see a win. When the Sox are not playing good baseball, I dont want to go to the park. Its not "entertaining" to watch my team lose.

I'd normally take this loss very badly, but I watched it at a strip club. Well, kinda watched it. It's not easy to stay mad in that kind of environment. One thing I did notice and am pretty upset about is that Contreras' ERA is 4.04 now. That means not a single pitcher in the greatest rotation in baseball history has an ERA under 4. These guys should be arrested for all the money they're stealing.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Aug 21, 2006 -> 04:48 PM) Fathom, I dont know, I never have seen Dick Allen post it and I am not in the business of piggybacking on other peoples arguments. All I can tell you is that last years team had trouble winning when they scored less than 4 runs, and this years team has the same problem. You do not have good odds when scoring that little, even the best pitchers in the game have around 3 era, which means on an average day they give up 3 runs per game. So at 3 runs the best teams should be around .500, as they move towards 4 runs their record should improve drastically. Milkman, You pay for X hours of entertainment. You dont pay for a win. You might. When I go to a game, I go there expecting a win. I pay for X hours of entertainment when I go to Snakes on a Plane. I pay for wins when I go to baseball games.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 21, 2006 -> 04:44 PM) Manny/Ortiz. And yes, he's still right. I was thinking pitching. Thought he meant Schilling/Beckett for some reason

Best 1-2 punch in baseball? Who's that?

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 21, 2006 -> 04:36 PM) Just stop it. Drop it, quit picking for a fight. You know damn well what I meant, and now you're twisting it. If the shoe fits, wear it. If not, go on. That's pretty much what's going on here. I'm not the one who told people not to go to games if they're not going to cheer the proper way. I would call that picking a fight. But, alright. I'll drop it.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Aug 21, 2006 -> 04:35 PM) My comment was posted in general to anyone that posted in this thread and felt that they "no longer could take the pain of being a supporter of a team with the 3rd best AL record and in the lead for the WC." If my comment does not apply to you, then you dont have to worry about it. My problem is that people believe that last year was the norm, not an exception. Last years team happens to a city maybe once, a team that outside of a core of people no one thought would do anything, becomes the best team and basically dominates the playoffs. That is not normal. I just cant stand that people act like they are entitled to be given a winner. I was a Sox fan when they were in 2nd, when they were under .500, no matter what. Your a fan, not because the team owes you anything, but because you want to be. We pay for it. We should get it. It's not like we walk away when they're not winners. We're just upset that we didn't get what we expected.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 21, 2006 -> 04:20 PM) Don't you EVER question me about whether or not I'm a Sox fan. Read between those lines and get it good. And don't respond on here, either. ^^^^^^^ Exactly. Is that going to get me suspended or banned? You said we should stay home if we're going to act the way we do. Well, I'll go. It's only a few blocks away for me, I can walk. I'll go when I damn well please.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 21, 2006 -> 03:03 PM) So a fan is one who s***s all over their team every chance they get, only to come back and say "CROW" when something goes right? Stay home. Well, I'm not going to listen to someone who doesn't even live in the state my team plays in.