NorthSideSox72

LOL, David Cook's OBP is .479. He reached base 2 times in 5 plate appearances yesterday and his OBP actually went down.

Ozzie could do a couple things - fire Walker, and shift the order around. The former is, at this point, probably a good idea. The latter may or may not help, but probably doesn't do a lot. As for the roster, there are actually a few small things that could be done, and that may provide a little spark. Here is what I'd do, now that Uribe is ready to come back... --Send Wise back down to AAA --DFA Ozuna --Bring back Uribe as a backup infielder, righty PH and defensive replacement (Ramirez to start 2 out of every 3 games or so) --Bring up Chris Getz, to get a lefty bat on the bench (and Getz can play basically all the positions Pablo does) --Start playing Anderson as the de facto starter in CF --Put Swisher, Thome and Konerko as a rotation at 1B/DH. Sit Thome against LHP, DH Konerko and 1B for Swisher. Against righties, mix it up, but keep Thome in. --Once one or two of those three bats comes back to life, move Swisher back to CF. --Also, if PK starts having major problems with his hand/wrist, put him on the DL for 30, and call up Eldred, and continue that rotation. So, there are actually some things that could be done that may help out the offense. They are at least worth a shot, IMO.

A win here splits the series on the road against the best record in baseball, and makes for a 4-3 road trip against CLE and TB, going into a heavy home stretch in June. MB has been struggling, and I just don't think he's that bad. Big, big game. Get 'er done, Mark!

With Swisher's historical stats, I think its a mistake to outright bench him. Plus, he won't get better playing only twice a week. Just play Anderson once a series, at least for now.

QUOTE (lostfan @ May 31, 2008 -> 09:12 AM) What? Is this a serious post? Shhhh, stop interrupting the death match here. I think we may see a record for bizarre points made if these two keep at it.

Playing Anderson every 3rd game or so in CF would be a good idea at this point. Just like it made sense in 06 to play Mack every 3rd game, when Anderson was hitting .150. Then, when Swisher starts hitting, start playing Anderson less (that's the part that Ozzie forgot to do in the Anderson/Mack situation).

QUOTE (lostfan @ May 30, 2008 -> 07:30 PM) IMO her last chance was really Texas and Ohio but the Hillary camp spun that into a major victory and the media ran with that. Granted, she DID win both states and snapped Obama's winning streak, but those were both supposed to be blowouts for her only a couple weeks before, and she lost a lot of ground to Obama in a short amount of time and made the delegate math really difficult for her to overcome. After that everything else was just a formality. Actually, she lost Texas, it later turned out.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ May 30, 2008 -> 05:04 PM) Why would aliens come to Nebraska? Because water is deadly to them. Haven't you seen Signs? This also explains why they like New Mexico.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ May 30, 2008 -> 04:03 PM) Here something from MLB.com when he was drafted in 2005. But I still wanna see some velocity numbers. That's actually a pretty positive little blurb - makes him sound pretty projectable, with good movement and location. Velocity may be a concern (who knows), but, its not everything in any case.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ May 30, 2008 -> 04:55 PM) You are both right. There is no way that this sort of stuff is 'new'. They have had Pflager there before as well and referred to him as a friend. However the level that he brought it to that night was probably elevated to new heights, knowing that cameras were on and people would see it. And Obama was not there. I agree. And like I said, I do actually understand the concerns about Obama, Wright and that church. It made me think twice. But in this case, I think its a stretch to attach Pflegler to Obama. And I won't even go into the debate about how much the pro-Black or racist tone of the church may or may not be important, because we've pretty well exhausted that discussion.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ May 30, 2008 -> 03:40 PM) I just watched the video LOL this is great that some guy who wants to be president has been going to this church for 20 years. what an idiot Ah yes, and you fell right into the conservative press push on this. People now have the idea that Barack Obama somehow was sitting in the pews hooting and hollaring in agreement with this assclown. Except... no, and not even close. Obama went to a church previously, where now some assclown is preaching. That's like a derivative of a derivative. I get how people are or were worried about Wright, because he was close with Obama for so many years. But this, well... its an understatement to call it a reach.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 30, 2008 -> 04:32 PM) Yes, but you said he was doing those things as a #2 hitter. He hasnt since he has been in that slot, I dont know how much more clearly I can make it. There is no stats doctoring, no timelines, no way for me to change the fact that as a #2 hitter this season for the White Sox in 13 games 52 AB's .231 .286 .613 OPS with 1 more strike out than in almost half as many at bats as in the #6 position. He had more RBI per AB, more HR per AB, more 2B per AB, and about the same run ratio in the #6 position than in the 2 hole. Its pretty clear. Sample size. His whole season, he's been an ideal #2 hitter. Of the 13 games since he was moved to the 2 slot, the back half he's been awful. The first half of those 13, he was awesome. But again, those samples are really too small - 6 or 7 games each. IMO, you look at the broadest stats you can, which is full season to date, and see if he profiles well to that slot. And he does, to a tee, better so than anyone else in the lineup. Now, if he hits in that slot another few weeks and struggles, then I think you have a legitimate case to move him out of it.

Well, no one has done an AAP on him yet. Why don't you take a shot at that? Might find something in your digging. ETA: Looking at his baseball cube page, he was a 26th round pick in 2005, but didn't sign in time to play that year. Did lousy in Bristol his first year (2006), then pretty good in GF in 2007. Now he's dominating in Low A. He also just turned 22. With his numbers improving dramatically each year, the org may have a gift 26th rounder. Or, it could be he's just a low-level dominator. One worry - he's listed at 6'2" and 170, which is pretty skinny. Or, per MiLB.com, he's 6'3" and 180 - still skinny. And here's a really bad pic of him.

Yeah, I know. I was there, helping sandbag.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 30, 2008 -> 04:16 PM) Actually as a #2 hitter he hasnt really done any of that. As a #6 hitter he has, but in the #2 hole, not so much. I'm not going to go on a week's worth of stats. That gets you nowhere. He's been doing all those things all season, with a few slumps here and there. Making decisions on a week-long time span, which is about how long his slump has been going (7 or 8 games), will just be problematic. When you do that, players never get comfortable in a slot, the lineup changes too often and that effects other hitters around them, every player in baseball goes through periods like that, and its just too few at bats to make a judgement. If he's hitting .200 in the 2-hole for another couple weeks, AND if there is someone who is ready to move up (i.e. Swisher starts hitting), then you make that move.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ May 30, 2008 -> 03:06 PM) argh. what is the bigger problem: having no true #1 hitter or having no skilled #2 hitter. i mean AJ has done well, but he doesnt do the specific things you want from yr #2 What games are you watching? He does precisely the things you want from your #2 - high contact, low strikeouts, hits to all fields, high (or decent) average, decent OBP. What else could you possibly want from a #2 hitter? The only realistic criticism I see of AJ at #2 is a lack of speed, but then most of the lineup fits that category. His OBP could be a bit higher, but he's still above most of the lineup.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ May 30, 2008 -> 01:31 PM) Sounds like the flooding is getting bad enough that they are looking into sandbagging Hilton Coliseum, built in the middle of the world's biggest flood plain... Yeah, I have to say, that was some stupid planning to put Hilton, Stephens, the new athletic complex at Jack Trice, Rieman and all that other stuff on that plain. I can't believe they didn't try to put them on some sort of raised earth, if they were going to build there. Just plain dumb.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ May 30, 2008 -> 12:49 PM) Sorry Northside72, but those 4 minutes are gone. But you should have known better than to watch a Father Pfleger video. Yes, I suppose I should have. I have learned my lesson.

QUOTE (scenario @ May 30, 2008 -> 12:52 PM) This is Cook's 5th year since being drafted. So, we'll have to put him on the 40-man this fall to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. If he keeps hitting like this, and gets to Charlotte, I'd bet he gets added. Unless there are a bunch of moves in the fall that make such a move not possible.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 30, 2008 -> 12:25 PM) AJ has also hit at below .200 for the last week. One thing you sort of do want out of your top 2 guys is a lack of streakiness. Because if they're hot and cold, then you are hot and cold in terms of having runners on base for superQ to drive in. There is no such thing as a non-streak hitter, or at least they are rare. Some certainly have more pronounced ones than others. I think its a terrible idea to move someone around based on one week of play, for a number of reasons. Now, if AJ hits .200 for another couple weeks, and Swisher or someone else looks ready to step up, then by all means make the move.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 30, 2008 -> 11:13 AM) I simply can't imagine what it would be like for the country if there was an actual failure and run on a major bank, let's say, Citibank, for example. Where millions of people are actually making use of the FDIC in order to get some chunk back of their balances, where suddenly because the company is no longer operating people have no means to make use of their active credit streams, etc. What would a run on a major bank like Citigroup actually be like? (Just for reference, I just cashed in a gigantic boatload of my reward points from my Citibank credit card...just because I've been worrying about this for about 6 months) I am not talking about true failure of a major bank here. I am talking about a few banks and a lot of small fish investment players taking big hits. No big banks are going to actually go under - I was not suggesting that, sorry if I gave that impression. What will go under is the profits of those banks, and for the smaller players, some of them may in fact go under. But many of those will be acquired or auctioned or whatever. Some individual investors are going to take a bath. And I think all that will happen before the Fed makes any major move to print more money.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ May 30, 2008 -> 12:04 PM) lets say we keep things as they are, and we keep winning at a decent clip. come very close to winning the division, lose to Minn by one game what if right now we could maximize things by getting Swisher up in the order where he belongs? keeping things the way they are can be a negative, too. By what measure do you conclude that having Swisher in the 2 slot is better than AJ? Because right now, even with AJ's slump, his OBP is slightly higher, his AVG is far higher, and AJ is striking out half as often (in fact, AJ has one of the lowest K rates in the lague right now). Those are hallmarks of a solid #2 hitter, whereas Swisher has a profile that for now is much better suited to the heart of the order.

QUOTE (Cknolls @ May 30, 2008 -> 10:07 AM) In response to Balta, if the Fed used up their entire balance sheet on garbage collateral, the last resort would be to print. The Fed cannot go bankrupt, but they can print print print. And yes it kills the dollar, but didn't they say they couldn't allow Bear to fail? What happens next time if its LEH, or Citi? These companies will be shells of themselves when this passes. I for one cannot wait to see what LEH reports for earnings next week. I still believe they are hiding some bodies that are starting to stink. The spreads on their CDS widened considerably over the past week. And I still believe the bailout of BEAR STEARNS was actually a bailout of JPM; that is why BEAR was to big to fail IMO. JPM was counter-party to a boatload of BEAR trades. You're still not allowing for what I think is the most likely possibility - to LET some banks and funds fail, or at least to make them soak in some of that bad debt themselves. The loss of money will be primarily in devaluations that will occur over time for the holders of these debts and swaps.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 30, 2008 -> 07:43 AM) No joke, I don't think I have seen a person outside of her camp say that she has a chance to win on TV. She is constantly mocked by just about everyone in the mainstream. I'm not sure whatelse is supposed to be done? Its funny, it looks to me like their recent tactic has been to play both sides of that fence. They run articles saying its over, and they start to focus on Obama v McCain... but at the same time, their pundits will talk about how Puerto Rico is Clinton's last chance. She still has a chance?

blah blah blah, who cares about this noise? I want my 4 minutes back.