LVSoxFan

QUOTE(alexgtp @ Sep 11, 2006 -> 10:51 AM) Strong supporter of OZZIE here. But enough is enough. RANT ON/ Your complete lack of handling your bullpen is killing this teams chances of making the post season. Why do you insist on this nonsense lefties ve lefties and righties vs righties matchups! Because of this ridiculous notion you have we have blown many games. Please for the sake of this team use the person who is shutting ppl down and or on a hot streak . Be it thorton, jenks and or macdougal. Because Tracey, Cotts ,Bmac, and Heager are obviously not hot right now! RANT OFF/ I agree with this. I don't think I've ever seen a team where this lefty/righty stuff is so over-thought.

I've always sort of rooted for BMac but I think he's terrible. He has not impressed me at all this year. His stuff just seems flat and easily hittable. I'll even go out on a limb and say when it comes to "stuff", I'm far more impressed with Vasquez than Brandon. At least with Vasquez you can see why he's major league, despite his problems this year. The other thing I notice is it seems that BMac gives up homers like mad. Ain't it just typical of this season, though? First our starters wobble but our offense props them up. The last month or so the starters have been pretty good but then the offense goes AWOL (like yesterday). Now the bullpen is blowing solid performances by starters. Sorry, but Javy's been good lately and he was good yesterday. Yeah he gave up two in the sixth but came back for the seventh. So basically the game was back to 0-0, and we could not score one run. What REALLY red-flagged it for me, though, was Saturday. For us to be crushing them 10-1 and then give up SEVEN runs in one inning from our BULLPEN? !!!!! Or, Friday, where Jenks gave up, what? Four consecutive doubles? Now THAT worries me...

QUOTE(WCSox @ Sep 8, 2006 -> 04:38 PM) We haven't had great luck in avoiding injuries this season. It only appears that way because they haven't been severe enough to warrant long stints on the DL. Buehrle, Contreras, and Dye have all been fighting through back injuries. Thome has been battling hamstring and other nagging injuries and CLEARLY isn't the same guy who hit 30 dingers before the All-Star break. Garcia isn't "injured" per se, but his arm strength is only at about 80% of what it was last season. So, do these other players lose 5 mph off of their fastball (Buehrle) or have to alter their delivery (Contreras) when they experience back pain as well? I think there's been more injuries than we've been told. My baseball nut coworker said right away after Buehrle's slide started: he's hurt. And I don't buy that Jose just decided one day to throw sidearm only, for the hell of it. Freddy's just a mystery, that's for sure. A mystery an injury would explain. And Thome's been kinda quiet second half, wouldn't you say?

YES! I did see that LOL. He likes to mess with them Boston fans obviously. QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 8, 2006 -> 04:17 PM) I just don't buy into the injury excuse right now. We've had great luck avoiding injuries this year, and I guarantee Mark Buehrle and Jose Contreras aren't the only players with sore backs after 140 games into the season. Here's a question I have for people: what's with posters saying they turn the game off, especially in a close game like the Boston series? I'm just as pissed off as anyone else about how the game is progressing, but if you're going to invest 3 hours watching the game, why not just finish watching it and hope for the best? Not close games, dude. Blowouts or 3, 4 run leads we can't even get on base. Of course if it's close I'm there to the bitter end.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Sep 8, 2006 -> 03:56 PM) This is the major problem. It's difficult to play like a champion when your back hurts like hell every time you throw a ball or swing a bat. Trust me, coming off a back injury that flares up about once a year, I know how crucial that is. There's nothing you do that doesn't hurt with a back injury, especially lower. I can't imagine throwing a baseball or swinging a bat. That said, then what? Do you lose with your tired/injured starters then or go with the bench? I could be wrong on this, but our bench has gotta have probably the most playing time in the majors? I've never seen a lineup with so many versions as this year's. QUOTE(Hangar18 @ Sep 8, 2006 -> 03:59 PM) YES. I did say that. My basis? The SOX stumbled badly and the only way we'd win the division was a monumental collapse by the Tigers AND the Twinks in conjunction with the SOX suddenly coming to life and going on a 10 game (or so) run. The first to variables happened, sort of, but the SOX didnt hold up their end of the bargain, continueing to bumble and stumble their way thru these games. Their record since the ASBreak is awful. Too many things stacked against us at this point. Can they come back? Sure. And man I still hold out hope ........ Im just not as Frustrated when we lose (like we did last nite) Hey you know what Hangar? I hear that. Last night and many nights lately I've done the unthinkable: just turned off the game. Granted not a lot to hang out waiting for when you're down 7-0 in the sixth, but... all of a sudden that L&O rerun looks pretty good by comparison. Last year I remember during the swoon actually skipping two Angels games here to which I had tix because I just didn't want to deal. That said, as I posted originally and even though the thread has the gloomy title: we are not out of it until we're out of it. We are ONLY 1/2 game behind in the wild cared. So I have NOT given up on the season. What prompted this thread was it seems like some of the players/management have.

QUOTE(Hangar18 @ Sep 8, 2006 -> 03:47 PM) And theres the rub ................... This team should be able to reel off 9-10 in a row. Problem is they HAVNT done it at all this season, so whats to expect them to suddenly do it in the last 2 weeks of the season? The SOX have had NUMEROUS opportunities to run away with this division, but they havnt. Of course, now watch them finish the year on a 9game winning streak and miss the playoffs ............. I have been saying this all second half: the one thing that's been AWOL this year and why it's been so painful 2nd half is we have not gone on ANY extended winning streaks. It literally feels like we literally win/lose, win/lose, win/lose every two games. Or worse. What has been our longest streak this second half? Like, four? Or at least it seems that way. What's so odd is that every season a team has a hot streak and you just hope it happens when it can do some good. I don't know that I've seen anybody go this deep into the season and still not have had one. The Twins just had one, Cleveland's been kind of on a tear, Tigers are sort of in a reverse one now but were basically us this year... but for us? Nada. Which means one of two things: we get to the end of the season and that streak just never appeared or, in the most optimistic result, it hits just at the end to propel us into the playoffs. You know what, too? I was wrong. This has been more painful than the September slide, because this .500 stuff has been going on for months it seems.

Fine. Well short of this or having a voodoo chicken-sacrificing ceremony at home plate (hmmm...not... bad...) I'm not seeing anybody trying to buy a one-way ticket so our mojo can fly back. From outer space, apparently... Workin at the car wash.... car wash, yeah...

DISCO DEMOLITON II: THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL Oh hellz YEAH, TELL me I'm wrong. We'll see how much of a badass Travis Hafner is when he's being chased around the field by some ****faced fan from the UD waving around a scorched copy of If I Can't Have You. Sabathia will think twice about coming out for another inning after getting nearly scalped by a flaming 45 of Boogie Oogie whizzing by his head. And the Cleveland bullpen? Toast. They'll be huddling with each other on that bench out there, afraid to move while watching everyone in section 105 launch self-detonating 8-tracks of I Love the Night Life into center field before storming it and "sacrificing" an effigy of Barry Gibb on a pike right behind 2nd base. The benefits of this will be twofold: one, nobody will know WTF is going on, especially those under 30. Second, it's all anybody will talk about from now until the end of the season. Lastly, the Sox can get it through their thick heads: after this riot, if you guys are just gonna go out with a whimper, what do you think is going to go down at Sox Fest 2007? I'd be scared too. And start hitting. Who's with me on this? Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Arrrrgggghhh...

Maybe I just don't get this baseball thing but I'd say with the wobbly pitching and on/off offense we've had all along and crappy play and blown games and weird errors... to have 20 games still left while 20 games over .500 and STILL right in the race? I'd say that's when it's time to suck it up and go for broke. This kind of talk, this week? I'd put a gag order on the team except for game-related talk until the season's over. It is right there in front of us, reach down these last 20 games and give it your all, right? But all this other stuff... ridiculous. QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 8, 2006 -> 02:06 PM) I don't like how people argue Ozzie knows how to handle his players, and that's why he's tougher on guys like McCarthy and Anderson than he is Garcia and Pods. Last time I checked, Garcia and Pods are getting worse as the season goes on. This team is so tight on the field, and they just don't look like they're having any fun at all. You know what? That's a good point, too. I'm sure not having fun, but damn I can't remember the last time I saw one of them smile. Tight is a good description. Like paralyzed almost. You're right, they look like zombies. So here is my question: what happened to "keep it light" Ozzie from 2005? I thought that was the whole genius of him: he knows when to be serious and knows when to clown. I remember seeing Ozzie, as a coach for the Marlins, while the Marlins were losing to the Cubs in 2003. Their pitcher wound up and lost his grip and the ball sailed into the Marlin's dugout. Ozzie wouldn't let it go, calling to this guy to throw another one here, holding up his hands, during the game. Laughing. I thought right then and there: boy does that guy know how to keep things in perspective, which is why I loved that we hired him. Right now he looks like Jerry Manuel.

I like the description I read that they're not good enough to run away with the division but too good to miss the playoffs. The season is not even close to decided which is why all this kind of talk from the team alarms me.

This is not meant to be a sky-has-fallen thread, just some observations. Losing games or not even making the playoffs happens, but it's not the threat of that that makes this season painful, it's the way this team has been playing, acting and hinting. Things I've read or heard from them in the past two weeks make me wonder what happened to the 2005 club that we knew--I'm not talking reliving the glory we know that's hard to repeat, I'm talking the go-go attitude and just play ball approach. Here's what just blows my mind: -Buehrle: today we read that he's talking about how the pitching staff has not done it for the Sox this year and that's why we are where we are. Yes, but last time I checked you guys are only 1/2 game behind in the wild card race with 20+ games left? Who GIVES a toss about "so far" when you still have a chance to get in? What kind of defeatist talk is that? It sounds like we're planning to not make it. -Then Ozzie already flashing ahead to not making it with all his blame me/blame you talk to the team. Ozzie freakin' Guillen? With 20 games to go still and this/close in the wild card? Talking about "what if" and what to say in defeat? Ozzie Guillen? -Isn't it a little late in the season to start threatening Anderson's job, and publicly at that? You chose to stick with him (and I supported that) but with just 20 games left, NOW you're calling him out? -With the world's worst kept secret being Freddy Garcia's outta here after this year, why was that allowed to become the world's worst kept secret? How does that help? You think that INSPIRES him to play better? I'm not saying Freddy's not responsible for being Freddy, I'm saying being public about this in a season is at the very LEAST a distraction. -I'm going to go on a limb here. Armchair. Nobody likes an armchair manager, but so what? Here goes: yes, the starting pitching has been shaky all year. But that was apparent easily around the ASB. So we knew that far back that the offense was going to have to carry us the way the pitching did last year (think about it, it was almost the opposite last year, generally: the pitching carried the low-run offense). Continuing to ride the pitchers publicly and privately wasn't going to change the fact that our offense is, let's be honest: 2004. All over again. Feast or famine. So while we got smoked last night and a few times this week, I'm really finding it hard to get all over the pitchers when we score... one run. Or zero. Guess what? When you score that few or not at all, you could have Santana on the mound and you're still going to lose. -To that end, yes, KW made the fateful (it appears now) decision to stick with the lineup and not get any big trade this season. Last year it was genius, this year he gets to be the goat. Everybody's calling him on it now, but as WS champion GM I believe he gets the benefit of the doubt. This year. Here's what I'm saying, in my non-scientific opinion: we have the pieces (God I sound like Wannestadt) but IMO the clubhouse aura is what's killing us. Ozzie going off on people, Freddy sulking, Uribe in-trouble-or-isn't-he?, Ozzie calling people out in the press, the constant shifting of lineups and weird decisions like keeping the useless Pods in, the Tracey thing.... What I expected to see when Buehrle was obviously not going to have a great night last night was Ozzie rallying the team, saying stuff like "We're gonna have to back him up tonight, then!", stalking the dugout, looking like Ozzie on the 2005 DVD "Let's go boys! Don't stop! Don't slow down!" Instead, everybody was sitting there sulking. And THAT is what's making this painful to watch. No fire, no go-till-the-end spirit. As painful as this all is, the reality is that we still have a great shot at making the playoffs, and once there, as we proved, anything goes. Seasons are forgotten. Clean slate. Reading stuff like this in the paper today tells me we're going to lose this, if we do, because of mental and management bad vibing--not because our damn pitching staff isn't what it was in 2005. And I'd hate to see that. What I CERTAINLY don't remember from 2005 was all the b****ing, complaining, threatening, hinting, calling out and distraction. IMO just STFU and play ball already. There'll be plenty of time for talking if we DON'T make it, trust me.

I'm just not sure what role he's here to play at this point seeing that we have a full bullpen.

I have my questions here and there about Ozzie but I agree. How can we even start to evaluate his managing when the pitching has been so volatile this year? If the team's built around pitching and the pitching's not happening, I'm not sure how you out-manage that. Now if the pitchers were having a 2005 year and we were still blowing games like last night or KC... maybe then we'd all be singing the same tune.

But doesn't that leave us with a dreaded five hole again?

Sorry but I agree with the fact that B-Mac is overrated, even if his POTENTIAL isn't. Unforunately, we haven't had a situation where IMO we can see how much of it will come to fruition. Face it, we've used him in a few games last year and this year he lopes out of the bullpen once in a while--what kind of consistency is that to make the final call? My point is, we haven't seen enough of him to make the call. However, the original poster is right when he states (or maybe others have said it, I'm sure he agrees) that people act like all of a sudden we'd have our 2005 rotation dazzle if we dumped Vaz or Freddy and made B-Mac a starter. That COULD be true (I've pleaded for this this season too) but really it's all speculation right now, which only actual playing will bear out. That said, and I like McCarthy, he sure does seem to give up a lot of dingers in his limited innnings. I wonder about him, too...

LMAO at the cynicism across the board here (no pun intended). Ahhh, some classic one-liners. This is why I love Sox fans--you can't say we're a deluded bunch!!!! And no doubt: the way this year is going, Hermy may make Arnie Munoz look like Rivera...

Hell I knew this wasn't 2005 in the first two weeks. I'm not too optimistic about the team, but if we get into the playoffs, all bets are on. You're right in that we got all the breaks last year, especially in the playoffs, and this year we don't. And the pitching is wobbling back and forth all year. What's so tough to watch this year and especially of late is that we cannot seem to put any sort of a stretch together. It's like: win one, lose one, week in and week out. At least it seems that way. Just went we could be 3-1/2 down on Detroit, we lose. So yes all the squabbling aside about other stuff, we live and die on our pitching. And that has not been like last year. Garland: great second half Contreras: went from lights-out to okay Buehrle: went AWOL for like 10 games, now apparently back Freddy: let's not even go there Vasquez: um, who? The only thing that blows my mind is keeping Pods in the lineup at this point, day after day, when he produces nothing. I've just resigned myself to "what happens, happens" at this point because games like last night are just too painful to get emotional about. On the bright side, it's not as stress-inducing as last year's swoon, but only because we've been scuffling since the ASB.

What's killing me about Ozzie--and I try not to armchair--is why in God's name Pods is in the lineup. What exactly does he contribute? -Stealing? Nope. -Hitting? Nope. -Leadoff spark man? Nope. -Fielding? Pfft. Why not put Mack in LF and leave BA alone for God's sake. I'd rather see Mack lead off than Pods at this point.

I call them Commucast. Because they are the devil.

Yo what's going on!? Some of us can't see a TV right now!

WHAT IS GOING ON here, people? Could we get some play by play? Thanks!

QUOTE(Molto @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 02:04 PM) it's already boomed. the market is definitely slowing now ... more sellers than buyers. the area is and will continue to grow though, just not at the crazy pace it was at a year ago. this is purely business. is it s***ty? in a way, yes, but it's business. when renting or leasing, you are renting or leasing. it's not yours, so something like this shouldn't come as a surprise. as far as putting a bar east of the Dan Ryan? there has been talks of that happening for years now. Putting a business there based on hope and then on top of it doing it because of the business you'll get 81 days of the year, doesn't make sense. A sports stadium will help businesses that already exist, but you can't just start a business because of the traffic you'll get 81 days a year, what about all the other days? East of the Ryan is a wait-and-see. Well I agree, hence my Wrigleyville comparison. You're right: what are they gonna do for the rest of the year?

LOL!

I missed out on the whole McCuddy's thing but certainly didn't miss out on Jimbo's--heh heh--but unless they owned the building (VITAL POINT) their days were numbered the moment that area started coming up. And from what I can tell that area has been coming up like crazy, with the 2000 WS only adding to that. So out with the ole' favorites like Jimbo's and helloooo, Starbuck's, etc. I still think the hidden treasure in the area is east of the Ryan. That just seems RIPE for a "strip" centered on Sox fan traffic (although in reality what would they do in the offseason? Wrigleyville still has all the foot traffic and surrounding neighborhoods).

I love the new lineup and thought this was overdue. That said, GET. PODS. OUT. OF. THERE. NOW. He is WORTHLESS. Thanks for 2005, buddy--seriously. But this year? See ya.