Milkman delivers

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 03:29 PM) Our CF defense this year is better than last year. Our problem is the RF and LF are both a lot slower, and Pods defense, why relied ALL on makeup speed in the past (and was STILL bad), is now a joke because he has no arm, gets bad reads, AND can't run very well. At least with Dye in RF, he's a beast at the dish and still gets good reads and can throw. Couldn't agree more.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 03:22 PM) Like I said, I was talking about the offensive production of Pods, or lack of it. I don't think Brian's in CF just because he's a good (definitely not great) CF. I don't think we have any other options. They wouldn't run Mack out there if we did. Definitely great. Every defensive stat I've seen says he is, and so do my eyes.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 03:06 PM) Regarding the offense, a lot of blame gets heaped on Pods and I'm not disputing that he deserves a fair share of the blame, especially considering that he bats leadoff. But don't overlook the absolutely s*** seasons of Juan Uribe and Brian Anderson at the plate, particularly Brian. I don't want to hear about his average for the last 30 days or whatever; when all is said and done he'll end up barely hitting over .200 for the season, virtually an automatic out. Worse, those outs were rarely productive when they needed to be. I still think he's a great bet for the future; I also think the decision to bring him to the bigs this season was a serious mistake. Uribe and Anderson also play great defense. Pods' defense can't even be considered bad.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 02:57 PM) I've wanted Mack to start in LF everyday for almost a month now. Your probably the only guy here that's been on that soapbox longer than I have. At least the movement is building steam. Now if we could just make Ozzie see it. QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 03:04 PM) What do you mean? Just saying that I've been pushing this issue forever.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 02:17 PM) Remember when it seemed like we'd be up 1-0 after the first inning as a foregone conclusion last year? I love Pods as much as the next guy, but we need a new leadoff man next year. Right now, Ozuna has been off since he was hurt. I, at this point, have no problem with Mack starting in LF and leading off. At the very least, Rob's an intelligent baserunner. QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 02:23 PM) Agreed, and I've thought that for a couple weeks (although I'd bet you have too). Rob gives better at bats, gets on base more, is an average left fielder (no really, he is....which is way better than Pods) and is just a better option to play LF and lead off. Excellent...eeeeeeeexcellent. QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 02:33 PM) Nope, just a real, hardcore team discussion. I haven't seen very many bash posts. The closest to that was someone calling Thome non-clutch. I thoroughly enjoyed this thread last night. I agree 100%. I said it earlier in the thread that I think Mack should be lead off and LF, it just makes perfect sense, for this team anyways. Pods isn't working, and the Podsednik Expirement needs to end soon. Hmm, sounds good, but I disagree with BA being 2nd... his OBP is terrible and he strikes out way too often to be the #2. He would definately need to learn to walk more if he was going to be any higher than #8 or #9. Now, that's not to say he WONT learn to do that, but I don't know if he can within the next two months. Maybe next year, or in the future. Don't go stealing my thunder.

QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 12:39 PM) I saw this too and thought: hey, after how many innings of no-hit, OF COURSE fans are gonna cheer the first hit--they're almost doing in tongue-in-cheek. Kind of like when a pitcher being shelled (God knows we'd know about that) finally gets the third out. Although, the irony disappeared last night when that one hit turned into a romp which damn near won the game for us. This is the way I look at it: the pressure is OFF. We are in third place, people. In a division with one of the sickest teams in recent memory (40 games over .500? Inhuman!) and Minnesota playing great ball after a blip in 2005. Our wildcard chances are against teams like New York, Boston, Minnesota and God knows who else, and nobody has a commanding lead. Point being: for all intents and purposes, nobody is expecting us to win. So let's relax, play the game, and with that 2005 pressure off, let's see what happens. The Yankees are always supposed to win, so are the BoSox, the Twins are now without Liriano and who knows what will happen if Detroit suddenly finds itself on a losing streak after a year of invincibility? To that end, the press needs to STFU and start treating us like a day-in, day-out team and worry about the post-season if we get to it. The constant deathwatch and countdown-to-elimination is just defeatist. Completely disagree. The pressure on this team is probably greater now than it has been this entire year.

I can't believe people could lessen how good Iguchi's play was, while all Fisk had to do was catch a ball and apply a tag to two guys running right at him.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 11:34 AM) Actually, that's one of the places that immediately popped into my mind as a good destination for him. They want to compete now, it seems Angelos doesn't want to trade Tejada no matter what they're offered, they have a young pitching staff who could use a vet leader, and they do have some young talent/pitching that we could ask for. And they always seem to make the wrong move. So, getting Freddy would be perfect for them.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 11:07 AM) His speed was overrated coming in last year, and everything else about him was WAY underrated. He's a great player to have on your team, amazing that we were the only ones after him (and signed him after only seeing a freaking tape of the guy). I think two other teams were after him, one being the Red Sox.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 10:40 AM) We're 1-4 against the Yankees this year. We're now falling behind in the Wild Card, and we're several games behind the Yankees as well. We've got the Tigers this weekend, who were beaten last night by the Twins. It'd be nice to have momentum against them. This is the definition of a must win game. Javier Vazquez can forgive a lot of ills by repeating his Toronto performance tonight. It sure is. Don't fool yourself into thinking it isn't.

QUOTE(Greg Hibbard @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 10:41 AM) jesus f***ing christ for those of you saying this is a more frustrating season than 2004, or any year before 2005, you need to get a grip. prior to 2005 we hadn't even won a home playoff series, let alone anything of real significance, in like 800 million years. I think you are forgetting what true frustration is. we are 20 over and in the thick of a playoff race. if you can't take the heat, for christ's sake... Also, in regards to last night, Garland did get squeezed, and I don't know what Brian Gorman's vendetta is against the White Sox, but I will go on record as saying the man downright Hue Hollins'd us in the fifth inning with that bulls***. Having won the WS last year, seemingly getting better for the next year, having a payroll of roughly $100 million, and constantly beating ourselves all have a tendency to frustrate the living hell out of anyone.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 10:25 AM) I'm sorry, but we should all be outraged, and so should kenny. According to Freddy, he isn't giving 100% unless he deams its against teams that matter. Trade this fat sweaty f*** and be done with him. He should be off the team for admitting that. Normally you'd expect the manager to get pissed at his pitcher (nephew) for saying this, but he's too busy telling our young stud pitcher that he sucks while he does only what he's told to do.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 12:30 AM) Umm, right now, our players are simply getting outplayed by the best teams in the AL. If the Twins end up winning the Wild Card, it will be because they're better than us. That's the beauty of our situation right now. If we don't make it, we have no one to blame but ourselves. There would be a lot of blame to go around, and Ozzie would and should get a lot of it. His managing this year has been anything but good.

I'm still waiting for Ozzie to explode. I think any other manager in baseball would have torn his team a new asshole by now. He just seems complacent. Flip some f***ing tables. Get in a few faces. Try to be more like Leyland.

QUOTE(GoRowand33 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 03:18 AM) might as well start it up for tonights game it's not a must win game as many people on this board seem to think, but it would be a really nice boost heading to the detroit series for the weekend Javvy needs to prove that saturday wasn't a fluke and the hitting needs to keep it up At what point do games start becoming must-wins? Is it after we find ourselves in a race with 3 other teams for 2 playoff spots? Or when we find ourselves in second place for the WC? Yeah, I'd say it's a must-win game. We're going to have to keep winning every series to make the playoffs.

QUOTE(Beltin @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 10:06 AM) Please refresh my memory. Fisk tagged out Dale Berra and......? I always forget the other player. No idea, I've only seen the replay of it.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 09:57 AM) Nothing is as bad as not getting more runs on bases loaded with no outs. How many times have we done that this year? It's been quite a few.

I don't care what the circumstances are. If you can't score from 2nd on a double, then you are both slow and terrible on the bases. That is the epitome of both.

QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 09:36 AM) Of all time? That's almost too tough. But yes, the Iguchi play while diving earlier this year is one of the best I've ever seen in my life. The Fisk play may not have the "wow" value of that, but it was such an oddity that's why it's classic (and why they have it on the opening reel every game, I suspect). My point is that the Iguchi and Uribe plays were definitely better than the Fisk one. I haven't seen that Calderon catch or the one that DA described, but they both sound better, too.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:53 PM) Since the allstar break... Pods .215BA .273OBP He is 3 for 4 in SB. 16ks vs 5bb Ozuna is hitting .080, with a .115 OBP, He is 0 for 1 in SB, he has 1bb and 10ks That is really really bad for our leadoff crew. Too bad KW didnt pick up Brady Clark. He jacked one off of Zambrano tonight. That .380OBP would be nice in front of the thumpers we have. And unlike our tandem of antiproduction, he has hit .327 with a .379OBP since the allstar break. AVG .284 | HR 2 | RBI 22 | OBP .380 | SLG .340 I thought the 4th OF was a complete luxury and wouldn't help us at all?

I know it's never really happened besides the famous play, but what is so special about Fisk tagging out two runners at home? Wasn't it just two sweeping tags? From how I remember the video of it, the Iguchi and Uribe plays were about 10 times tougher to make.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 10:37 PM) Its Paulie getting 1 base on a double clearly over the RF's head. It wasn't close. That right there is about as bad as you can get on the bases. You can't score from 2nd on a double. It's actually kinda funny if you think about it.

Mackowiak has been raking righties all year. All fudging year.

Ozzie has his hand in another loss. It certainly wasn't all his fault, but he contributed to stealing another loss from the jaws of victory.

Hawk already painting it like a great game. "Gave 'em a thrill" They've done that quite a bit this season and fallen short.