LVSoxFan

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 20, 2005 -> 08:17 AM) Casey Blake dropped a flyball, which lead to a big inning. The Indians also had massive warning track power last night, as they could have easily been up 5-0 in the 2nd inning. I bet the Indians fans are saying how great of a comeback the Sox made last night, and it still wasn't good enough to beat them. You're not kidding. I was there for batting pratice and Cleveland was just CRUSHING the ball. I don't think I've ever seen that many balls go into the stands, and I mean WAY into the stands. I'm surprised they only got the four runs that they did.

I've seen this before, and it never makes sense to me. Cotts comes in, looks great, and then gets pulled after a batter or two. When he pulled Cotts last night (I was there) and trotted out... Marte, we were all like "WTF"? It wasn't a rightie that was coming out, and even if it were, I really agree with a lot of people here: since when can relief pitchers not get out people who bat from either side? Yes, this matchup thing is ridiculous now. I don't blame Jenks--so a guy gets a hit once in a while off him. A single should not have been the end of us last night. And Freddy was so-so. It wasn't the worst I've seen him, but he certainly didn't dominate them. Oh well. These next two weeks cannot end fast enough.

I don't mind Mariotti like most Sox board posters do, sometimes he has a point. My only problem with reading that column the morning it came out was that, to my knowledge, there were no big players on the block for KW to pick up. Some names were tossed around, but none were the kind of "impact" players that he does rightly state we need to have. Except for Griffey; and my understanding is that it wasn't KW who was screwing that up, the one of the intransigent Cincinatti owners. If that's the case, KW's hands were tied. If it wasn't, then like I said back then (on another board): Lord oh Lord, if we lose out, we're going to be spending until Spring 2006 asking "Why did we not pick up that guy?" But as far as I know KW went after him, and I don't believe that after this season (at least back then) and being this/close, that JR somehow handcuffed KW on budget. As far as pitching, the move we would have made would have been for Burnett--which seems disastrous now. That was to plug the Cuban hole in the lineup. But wouldn't you know it, Contreras is the ace right now and the Big Three have been crappy. Nobody foresaw that. I do give Mariotti credit for some things, like pointing out during the first half that we're the best team in the league and this town is still obsessed with the loser Cubs--and talk about a bad front office in town! And he certainly seemed to be on the bandwagon as we were rolling along, and is not afraid to be the dark cloud as we start to sputter. Although, this is the same guy that said famously, after the Bulls managed to survive the Pacers in that final season, that we would never beat Utah because we were too old, beat-up and tired. Oops! So I take it all with a grain of salt.

I agree; I'll roll the dice with BMac. What troubles me about El Duque is that he gets rocked and rocked hard. It's not like Garland last year where he'd have the Big Inning but then settle down, E.D. Gets pounded; it's like he comes completely off the rails. Good points about maybe he's a 2nd half pitcher that we shouldn't use in the first. And look at Contreras! God, did I hate that guy and could NOT wait to get rid of him for somebody like Burnett. Not only is he saving our ass right now, Burnett's having a horrible second half. I just hope one of the Big Three steps up and starts dominating; IMO that's all it's gonna take to get us the rest of the way to the playoffs. Either Buehrle, Garland or Garcia to get back on track and start shutting down teams. But yeah: I hate to see anybody on the Sox fail, but E.D. has been simply awful.

I don't know, for some reason, I'm not that worried. If we can at least take the series... Plus, if they start going on any kind of a losing streak, it won't be too long until we clinch.

I'll put it in list form. 1. We sucked in late August because the bats were awful, even if the pitching was good (Garland: 1 hitter and we LOSE). Now the bats are there and the pitching's awful. Should the two align themselves in the next couple of weeks, this may all become a bad memory. 2. Losing two to the lowly KC Royals when we needed a win the most is the lowest of the low--if this doesn't motivate the team, nothing will. They need to forget the "sure thing" playoff spot--they're underdogs now. Period. Maybe that will light a fire under their ass. 3. I cannot believe that KW and even let-it-roll-off Ozzie are going to sit there and let this happen, on their end. 4. If the slump is broken in Minnesota, that's a confidence-builder going into Cleveland. 5. If we rough up Cleveland (a stretch, I know), then they're out of it. 6. Maybe it's time to bring in McCarthy, as he is the hot hand. Sounds ridiculous? Remember, Contreras was a goat until August--right now he's an ace. If we have two dominating pitchers, that's a momentum-swinger. Right now the problem is we only have one. Buehrle has been awful, Garland has been thin, El Duque's been a disaster. I'm just as worried as you guys, but I'm not going to concede this thing until it is over. Remember: the Boston Red Sox were dead and buried in the ALCS last year. Dead. And look what they did. Just a few plays changed the momentum of the whole thing. We've come back to win some impossible games; consider the rest of the season that impossible game. What we lack now, IMO, is heart. Everybody's taking the losses too hard because I believe they, like us, never thought they'd be fighting for it after such a dominating season. Well, here's your chance, boys--nobody's gonna hand us anything. You can look at this at the end of the world, or you can look at it as an opportunity. If they completely collapse, there's plenty of time for crying in October. I'm not going to even think about until then, or until we're mathematically eliminated before then. 'Cause stranger things have happened. I'm no delusional, and I'm glad everybody here's such a realist (I got banned from another site for being a dark cloud--HAH! You should see what they're posting on that site now! 10X worse than anything I even suggested), but it is not over yet. And I won't give up until it is, quite literally, over.

You know what burns me? Not just that we've let our massive lead slip away and been a .500 club since July, or that Cleveland is the White Sox of the 2nd Half, but seeing things like Cleveland socking it to the A's, whom we just cannot beat. Aaaaagh!

I'm certainly not going to bail on the team--what fan does that when we're still technically in it--but I am pretty disappointed in the team and the way they've played the last two months. The errors have been costly, yes, but what really has been sucking--offense or not--has been the starters. All of them except Contreras, amazingly. That was the cornerstone of this "new" team and they have been a letdown 2nd half. And they just seem so blase about it, which amazes me. Or: where's Don Cooper when all this is going on? I realize he can't pitch for them, but it's like they start to founder and we wait painfully long before Ozzie goes to the mound or anybody does anything. Yes we still have the best record but the playing has been embarassing. It's like a different team from the first half, with its mojo removed. But it's not over yet; who knows what will happen? It's just really hard to watch. Go Sox.

I don't think we can just outright state so-and-so is going to be any game starter. It's going to be all about matchups. I hardly think Buehrle or Garland would be offended it they weren't first.

LOL. I was thinking the same thing this guy was last night. There's a little instrumental bit that Nancy plays throughout the night that sounds sort of like somebody playing bells, or a toy piano. It's probably related to something that happens on the field, as most of her stuff is. I was going to ask about it here, too--but how do you "explain" a piece of music? I feel your pain dude? Here's one though, which should be easier: what's the tune they always play with that sort of house/techno beat that sounds like a bunch of cheerleaders? And at the end they go "WOOOO!"? I can never understand what they're saying, but they play this at every game, numerous times. I've never heard it outside the Cell. It's obnoxious but also insanely catchy.

Those are good points. I was going to say, what a choice from hell: Crede's gold glove defense but awful hitting. Ozuna seems to hit well, but can be iffy over there (although he seems to have settled down lately). But as you guys said: if we're built around pitching and defense, I guess I go with the guy who's the better defender. And hold on to your hats should Crede find his swing during the final stretch.

That was one of the cool plays I've seen this year--typical of the whole new team mentality and execution. Like when Tads did the suicide squeeze the another night. And after it happened, I thought we had the game. It was one of the low-scoring snoozefests that reminded me of the KC game back in the spring where we won the game without batting in a run--KC walked in two. I thought: another KC game gem... and then... poof. I don't think that pitch was even across the plate yet when Hawk called it as outta there. Oh well. We took the series, which all season is fine by me.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 10:48 PM) This is a cubs town. Always has been, always will be. Anyone want to venture a guess on the percentage of cubs fans in this city? There just aren't enough 'sox fans' to go around and make it 35,000 every night. There are many other reasons, but that's the big one in my mind. You know what? I think this just may be the flat-out, simple answer. Let's guess and say (don't get made, but c'mon) that 70% of the city are Cub fans--by "city" I mean people who go to games. Like you said, that remaining 30% don't leave enough people to sell out consistently. That just may be it, as simple as it seems. I can't really figure out another answer, except that the Sox are unable to gain new fans (young or otherwise) as the years pass.

Remember Ozzie said something a couple of weeks ago that I thought was interesting: he said Contreras has the best stuff, even though he's not the best pitcher. Side note: how funny is it when Ozzie blurts out stuff so bluntly? He was talking about B-Mac this week and he says something like "The kid plays three games this season and he sucks," but now he's lights-out. LOL! You won't hear that from Dusty Baker!

It's the best I've ever seen; although my Sox history starts in the 80s.

Well can I make a suggestion that will probably be unpopular here? At the risk of getting my negative, dark-cloud, rain-on-the-parade, doomsayer ass expelled from yet another board, there may be another explanation: The games are too expensive. Hold on a sec, just hear me out: -As somebody pointed out above, if he brings just his wife to the game and drives, he's spent $70 before he walks in the gate. -I go almost always on my own (I meet my friends there, they're from all over). For one person--and remember not a family--it's something like this: -Ticket $30 -2 hot dogs/polish: $8 -Drink a beer an inning, for example: $42 And I don't need to drive or park, I take the el. That's $80 per game or somewhere near that. I cannot IMAGINE what it would be like to take a family there and everybody's eating or drinking $4 sodas. Let me give you an example of someplace else: I was in KC for two of those three games. The most expensive seat in the house there--I was behind our dugout, first row, but could have been behind home plate, is... $27. That's right, you can get front row for that kinda money there (although the concessions were just as bad). At Comerica it's the same as us more or less, and wouldn't you know it: great park, but they never sell out. There are no cheap seats in the Cell. Sure UD is cheaper, but in a lot of ballparks they have areas where you can pay like $10 to be right behind the fence in the outfield (like San Diego). The Cubs can get away with it because they have outrageous demand and limited supply. They even scalp their own tickets. Also think of where you're located: if it's city people who are coming, you might get some downtowners or freak Northsiders like me, but the park is on the South side. Latinos and African Americans in that part of the city generally, I'm guessing, can't afford numerous nights at Sox park. For all those from the South suburbs that come in, with all the driving and hassle and add to that the expense... Does this make any sense now? I remember on another board when ticket prices went up people were astounded to see a guy raising prices on seats in a park he can't sell out with any regularity. I know they can't even sell all the skyboxes (you can see the empty ones), and it's rare that you see the Scout Seats sell out. Just a thought. I could be wrong, and I'm not saying open the park up to street people, but it is not cheap. And maybe attendance is also a result of the economic times and people's economic outlook (post-Katrina, with gas prices also at $3). One other point: the Comcast numbers for Sox games has been down, but so has the Cubs. Media people don't know if this is an actual attendance drop or because of the Nielsen switch to people meters.

QUOTE(Bias @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 11:44 AM) My only beef with Ozzie is him basically saying screw the fans (those that boo), I'm trying to win games. How the hell can you be trying to win games when you know Marte has been a gas can? Either he's lying or he doesn't actually know what he's doing and is more lucky than good. Man, I sure hope he's lying....... Gas can. LOL! I think Ozzie does have one point though, with the best record in baseball and this season thus far, why the hell are people booing him? From what I heard he didn't complain--he said that's his job to get booed. But on the other, he mentioned the reason those booing are sitting in the stands and he's in the dugout is because he's the boss. Plus we won the game, and he certainly didn't hesitate to yank Marte when he was throwing away the game. But booing Ozzie? Man that seems a little harsh at this stage...

I know what you mean about the games moving slooooooow when El Duque's up there. Ouch. Even Contreras seems like Buehrle in comparison.

Yeah, I'm saying that I prefer it not to be jam-packed. By that, I mean where the concourse is packed and the lines are tremendously long for everything. That's no fun. I forget which game(s) this year that was, but there was one or two where it was that crowded. But as far as selling out, that's fine. What always interested me is all the "sellouts" I've been to where you can see tons of empty seats. Even at the Boston, Yankees and Cubs series. How does that happen? People buy the tix and just don't go for some reason? Or they buy them hoping to scalp them and then can't get rid of them?

[/i]I do agree that the media attention about this is sort of silly, but then again Ozzie himself mentioned it. In this Cubs dominated town; go figure. I remember reading a piece in Maxim before the season talking about Boston and breaking their curse. Then they mentioned Chicago and how there's another curse there: the Cubs. Hello? Talk about lazy journalism; even the most casual fan can tell you we have the two longest remaining droughts in baseball. But nope; this guy thought: Chicago = Cubs. Whatever. I don't mind our second-banana status in the media or elsewhere. Honestly, if we win it all, it will make it that much sweeter. As somebody pointed out a while back, if the Cubs are truly the cursed team (I believe they are to some extent), the absolute worst thing would be that we are the ones to finally win the WS. Man, would that be sweet!

I hated this guy for months. I've been to SO many games where he started and I would just cringe. We lost most of them. I was PRAYING that we were gonna get that Florida pitcher and get rid of him when the opportunity arose. But you're right: all of a sudden he's been the only one (well at least in August) who wasn't getting rocked, and even on a bad night (for him) like last night he still shut them out. So I take it all back. Maybe he's just a 2nd halfer, who knows? Now, El Duque's the one I'm slightly concerned about, though...

QUOTE(SouthSidePride05 @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 08:50 AM) Here's a question for everyone: Right now the avg attendance stands at 28,879. Do you think the average attendance will be above or below 29K at the end of the regular season? I'm predicting it will be above 29,000 after the last regular season game, which is WAY UP from 24,000 last year. A 5,000 jump is IMPRESSIVE, and we should all give ourselves a pat on the back! That's a 21% increase for those of you keeping score. Pretty darn good.

QUOTE(SouthSidePride05 @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 08:44 AM) It's because people don't like going to games with small crowds.. it's kind of depressing. They'd rather put a dent in their wallet to see a game with a full crowd and more electricity, or just wait and save up $$ for the clincher game and playoff games. People are already figuring out how freakin expensive it's gonna be for them to get tix for the ALDS, ALCS, and the WS. You know, you might be right about that. Everyone's anticipating playoffs, so maybe they're thinking now's the time to not go because we'll be going in October. Me personally I don't mind small crowds at all. True the large ones are more "electric," (if we're winning, that is), but I've been to some small-crowd games (especially back in April/May) where it was REALLY loud and impressive. But man, I turned on the TV last night and saw the outfield seats empty more or less and thought: "Wow. WTF is going on?"

I actually went down to get laundry when he pulled Jenks. Why did he do that? Was Jenks struggling, or was Ozzie trying to "matchup" his pitcher to the hitter? BTW, WTF with Marte hitting two guys in a row?! The second after Ozzie was apparently chewing him out on the mound?! I don't think I've ever seen a manager do that (on the mound, that is).

Does anybody have any insight into why attendance has dropped so low this month, especially when we're in the thick of it? The only thing I could think of was: school started? But I can't believe the majority of the fans are college/high school kids. Back to the attendance arguing: of COURSE Wrigley is always going to have better attendance year after year, for the simple fact that it is right smack there in the middle of Lakeview. People go whether they win or lose because it's more or less a tourist attraction. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here. The Cell, as great as it is, is a little more remote--yes, I know it's in the city--and really has never been known as a place (at least for us Northsiders) where you go to parrr-tay and hang out. You go to watch the games. And while yes there's more Cub fans than Sox and yes it's a Cub-obsessed town, I've heard a good explanation for this, which sort of fits into the above. We probably have the same number of die-hard obsessive fans, it's that they have infinitely more casual fans than us that makes them so much better-attended. But I really am perplexed at the dropoff, especially considering the weather's great, they're playing great (especially after that trainwreck August) and they're in first place and on track for the playoffs. So odd. Or maybe, quite frankly, casual fans view games as a "summer" thing and when summer unofficially ended, they moved on to football or something else.