LVSoxFan

I agree completely. The Cuban Missle has been quite a find and exemplifies the kind of ball I want to see. Yes I'd keep AJ too because he may not be fast, but he's about a smart a player as they come, and he's been catching these guys all along. Oh yeah and I have his jersey so he's going NO-WHERE!

Nice to see people's faces for once. I just tagged the wall with mine. Nice job!

Whether we get in or not, it's time to blow this team up. Hell I thought that after last season. How many more seasons in recent history do we have to watch, with feast-or-famine, HR-dependent offense? It's like having bi-polar disorder on the diamond: the highs (home runs) are oh so fun, but the LOWS (i.e., nada) are unbearable. No mas. Problem of course is that we have too many aging sluggers who aren't trade bait: Konerko, maybe Dye... Thome, maybe, Griffey. I say spare nobody in trying to get us back to a team that... yes, I'll say it because it was no secret back in 2005: plays like the Twins. It's almost poetic justice that if we get knocked out of this this year it's because yet again, the Twins are showing us how their brand of ball conquers long ball every time--except the year that we weren't playing it. And for God's sake put BA in center. His .233 average may not be great but he absolutely patrols CF. Any ball hit there when he's in I have total confidence he will get to. And he's cheaper than Swish or KG.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA2yEVG_T8s Sorry mods if this is the wrong forum, but I couldn't figure out where to put this. It's been a tough week for us, so maybe we could all use a laugh. This certainly provides plenty. Enjoy.

This bullpen better stop handing over games left and right if you want to see bubbly a week from Sunday. Just a thought.

Good point about don't worry about the Twins at this point; just win your games. Let the chips fall where they may. I'm starting to get that warm feeling again (not since '05!), but honestly it's still just too damn far away to even start to make predictions. The Cubs are in; we don't have that luxury of saying yet.

We keep having chances to pull away and yet we're still stuck in 1st gear, neck-and-neck with Minnesota. And in that scenario, they win. I haven't given up yet, but if the bullpen is going to be the sieve that it was last year, we are doomed.

Cubs don't need him; they have a good team in the booth already. DJ + Stoney would've have been classic.

QUOTE (G&T @ Sep 14, 2008 -> 02:37 PM) I really don't get the DJ love. He doesn't provide anything. I guarantee everyone will change their tune about Hawk once Stone is in there to keep him honest and stop him from b****ing about umpires and tell pointless stories. That said, if DJ is paired with a real PBP guy it would help him a lot. Basically, Hawk and DJ is just a bad pairing and DJ and Farmer would be even worse. Have you ever heard DJ do a game on FOX? It was like night and day; he's not bad at all when freed from Hawk hell.

This is sOoooooo wrong. It should be Stone and DJ, not stone and archaic Hawk. Stone's awesome insights will be canceled out by Hawk's lame stories and saying things like dadgummit. How Hawk survives is beyond me. www.heavethehawk.com

The most satisfying thing about that win last night was it was classic '05-style smallball. Some great pitching, defense, a suicide squeeze (?!?!?! when was the last time you saw that), timely hitting, stolen bases... and not one homer. oh how I miss this. The only thing that sucked was the bullpen, who almost gave the game away. I WANT TO SEE MORE OF THIS KIND OF PLAY!

I'm going to be the surprising optimist here and ask: panic about what? We have no business being in first place in this division, this late. On paper, from the beginning, our HR-addicted team seemed destined to be a 3rd or 4th place finisher behind Detroit and Cleveland, not to mention possibly Minnesota. And here we are on 9/10 in first place? Amazing. I have no illusions on how far we'll go but I'll be the first to admit I can't believe we're still in it. Enjoy it. We shouldn't be here, but we are. And if we do by some act of God get into playoffs, who knows? Tampa Bay seemed unbeatable and now they're barely holding off Boston. Who knows what could happen? I'm just enjoying it as it goes on.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Sep 1, 2008 -> 10:37 PM) It's not misguided people, it's just LVsox looking for a chance to bash Thome and home runs. Only a matter of time before we get the "Man, I miss that guy [Rowand]" post. Boo hoo. I never even mentioned his name and here you are knee-jerking. Is PK Thome? Is Griffey Thome? I don't miss Rowand FWIW since Swish got here although his batting has sucked too. And he's better at 1b. I also can only roll my eyes at people who insist that smallball had no part in 2005 and it was HRs that made that season. Actually it was BOTH except now we have one but not the other. Amazingly some here are fine with a one-dimensional offense. Which sure has paid off in recent years. Meanwhile, people keep comparing Tampa to the 05 Sox, and look where they are.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 1, 2008 -> 09:51 PM) All things that are easy to do when you have a bullpen that is among the best in baseball history. So if we just beef up the pen, remaining in 2004 style will pay off. No thanks.

You can talk about the hitless wonder stretches in 05 all day but that team: -could hit clutch -had stellar defense -found endless ways to win by only a run Do you really think this team in any way resembles 05, besides four strong arms (that aren't as consistent this year)? I see a lot of big boppers who, when they're on, its great, but when they're not we have no answers. #1 and #2 should be setting the table for the middle of the lineup, not watching them from the dugout or standing on base hoping for that homer which all too often ends in a popup. I just do not get how people don't remember how we retooled in 05 and how radical and questioned it was. This team looks nothing like 05.

Welcome to your 2004 White Sox, as I've been saying all year. That team, like this one, was a HR-dependent, feast or famine team with zero speed and a revolving door 5th starter. So we got rid of big bats Magglio and Lee and basically built our version of the Twins. And bang: we win the World Series. So, if it aint broke, fix it, right? Yet here we are three years later and its 2004 all over again. Our big fix-it trade made no sense whatsoever unless he was literally brought in because Paulie and Swisher weren't hitting. What can we do? Start over next season. Get back to pitching + defense and the ability to play small ball to compliment our already there slugging ability. Get a real leadoff hitter. No more experiments. Just say no to any more 2004 lineups.

Thanks for this thread. It is fun to get a glimpse into the enemy camp and discover that no matter what the team, baseball fans are pretty much the same. We b**** when they're down and thump when they're up. Me personally this season I've taken a "I believe it when I see it approach" which has paid off nicely. I expect the worst and am surprised--like I totally am now--when things are actually going well. 2 games up, to boot? Get out! I think it would be interesting to see what kind of misery exists on say, the KC board. Or what Seattle's thinking right now. Even better: Detroit. That team was picked by everybody to win the World Series for chrissakes and they're 11 games out in September? Amazing. Although that could kind of be like our 2006 (although we started okay that year unlike them). How about the Yankees? What do they talk about when you have the biggest payroll for years and still nothing to show for it? That would be interesting.

I think this is going to come down to one main issue: bullpen, bullpen, bullpen. Depending on how many more days Linebrink is out and how many more wobbly performances (or outright losses) they bring, our season is going to come down to this. We've lucked out with our starters (and missing 5th starter) in that we've had the offense to keep us in it this far. But when those home run bats aren't swinging and we have a thin lead and in comes the bullpen... Our other huge gaping deficit (amongst the many, but that's another thread) is men stranded on base. I'm not aware if there's a stat for that, but holy crap do we leave a lot of guys there, bases loaded, and not bat them in. I wonder if we're one of the league leaders in that. Last night's mini-game was a perfect example. I'm always going to assume in a non-2005 year that Minnesota gets it, based on history. But we've made it this far, so who knows? I do predict however that it's division or nothing for us; I can't see us getting the WC over Boston.

QUOTE (almagest @ Aug 5, 2008 -> 10:46 AM) Any offense will look moribund when the pitching staff gives up 12 runs a game. Offense isn't our problem, and hasn't been for a while. It's not? What team are you watching? Same ole, same ole: -Feast or famine -Live and die by the home run -And HOW MANY times have we seen, repeat after me: men. Stranded. On. Base. Bases loaded, at the corners, you name it... and then PK pops up. Or Swish hits into a double play. I don't know why people keep fighting me on this. This is a 2004 offense. I realize the pitchers have stunk lately but they're the one thing I really wouldn't change. Unless you could dump Contreras which I know we can't do. Don't get me wrong; I haven't thrown in the towel on the season; I'm just not holding my breath.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Aug 4, 2008 -> 04:40 PM) Bingo. Wanna stop someone from posing? Don't let them hit a HR off of you. That simple. Posing is not a reason to hit someone. LOL at how plain the logic is here. Agreed.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Aug 4, 2008 -> 02:20 PM) and Ramirez...and Floyd....and Danks...and Linebrink....and Dotel....and Thorton...and AJ Apparently after dropping down .5 games, it has become easy to just say we suck now. Um, I've been pretty consistent all season about questioning whether the composition of this team is what we want to get us to the playoffs and through them. I also said going into the ASB--said it here--that hey: I'm surprised we made it this far and are in first, but I'll take it. I was speaking mostly about the offense, so while you're right about Danks and Floyd (and I overlooked AJ), it certainly took Ramirez a while to come around. But I'll take that, too. Point being that TOGETHER this offense has been very 2004-like. The only time this team felt different to me was when PK was out and Swish was at first base. I really liked the look/feel of that.

This team is 2004 all over again. A feast-or-famine HR-dependent team with no speed and now the missing fifth starter. I kinda knew going in that we'd be lucky to snag 3rd place. What nobody saw coming was PK's collapse. You look at a team like Anaheim or even Boston and we look like an AAA team. The one bright spot has been Dye, who's getting it done at the plate. And Quentin. Bringing in Griffey seemed like patching a hole that PK created in the lineup, making it essentially a zero-sum gain. I think 2009 is a must year for rebuilding. Without speed and a leadoff hitter we're going to be seeing this year after year.

Well, I guess the most obvious move is Griffey to CF, Swish to 1B and Platoon Thome/Konerko at DH or have Paulie backup at 1B. Right?

Who's freaking out? I'm just being realistic. This team was flawed from the beginning in its construction, unless you think an aging, slugger-loaded team with little speed, two young pitchers and one really old one was going to go thrashing the AL central. The only surprise has been Dye, who although older and not exactly fast, has been doing a hell of a job hitting .300 and lifting the team up. But how many times have we seen the dreaded Paulie/Thome slump, and now for whatever odd reason Swisher seems to be having a crap--or okay, inconsistent--year at the plate? I'm not saying it's over, I'm saying I'd be really surprised to not finish third. And if that doesn't turn out to be true, well then: cheers!

Sorry but I'm surprised we made it this far. Yeah, Detroit started awful but it's not how you start... All it takes is Detroit to go on a tear in August and Minnesota to keep chewing away and we'll be in the rearview mirror soon enough. When two highly-paid sluggers (Konerko and Swisher) are hitting around the Mendoza line this late in the season, you're in trouble.