Friend of Nordhagen

Sweet throw to the cut-off man's feet by Jermaine. He's really getting it done all around out there. LOL.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 09:59 PM) No intensity, especially from the veterans. It's really frustrating to watch. I'm just thankful we didn't mortgage the future for this season. Same as the second half last year and in 2006. (2007=irrelevant.) Same lousy at-bats. Same terrible body language. Same general appearance of old badness.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 09:55 PM) I've said this a few times, but it's really home run or nothing for the 3-4-5. Konerko might be the worst culprit. I only remember one real positive play by him since the ASB, and that was the 3 run homer off of David Price. Paul was great earlier this year, really making a concerted effort to go up the middle and to right. Loved, loved, loved his approach. Now, when's the last time he's done that? (By the way, if I can see this, the hitting coach recognizes it, right? And, like, he's pulled him aside and told him, right?)

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 09:54 PM) Oh you will probably see Pods in CF, CQ in LF and Rios in RF... even though Rios is a much better CF than Pods could ever dream of being. That sounds about right.

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 09:50 PM) Dye should get a rest day... swing CQ to RF and Pods to LF and Rios in CF....even though CQ isn't really playing a good LF..... I doubt that'll happen. The White Sox seem resistant to moving Quentin to right.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 09:49 PM) I can't wait for this lineup to be shaken up permanently, at the end of this year.

QUOTE (GordoTheGreat @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 09:47 PM) Sorry JD, but you really suck right now. It's important for him to keep hitting 3rd because, um, well, no reason, really.

QUOTE (nastymasty21 @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 09:19 PM) dye, thome, konerko is getting real old Happens every year. But I don't think it'll happen next year . . .

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 08:45 PM) Spot on. This is why hitters like Fields and Chris Young don't realize sustained success at the major league level. They are flawed from the start, and are unable to make adjustments. You can’t teach patience. Well, in Fields's case, it wasn't a lack of patience. It was an inability to hit letter-high, medium-speed fastballs. That was a problem even in 2007.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 07:07 PM) That was certainly the case, as I remember exactly which play you are referring to. And perhaps he was in the correct position THAT time, however, there were numerous other instances where Stone and Hawk both commented on his defensive positioning, and it did, in fact, come back to hurt us in other instances where Alexei could not turn a double play because he was late getting to the bag. My theory on this, and I've mentioned it here before, is that Alexei doesn't move well to his right. If you recall, he had limited range toward 2nd base last year, with very good range toward 1st. Well, this year, that lack of range to the right means that he can't get to the 3B-SS hole. So he cheats. And he's gotten burned by it, repeatedly, by not being able to cover 2nd to turn the double play and by letting grounders go into center that really should be outs. I don't think he's a good defender. And that lack of range isn't really going to get better. The only question is whether his instincts improve on how to position himself -- that, and the ability to make routine throws, which he's struggled with from time to time.

QUOTE (Friend of Nordhagen @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 11:41 PM) Again, I'd chalk a lot of that up to our lifeless middle-of-the-order guys. They give away at bats late in games, and if they happen to get on, it takes 3 hits to score them. Oh, and did I mention their generally s***ty body language late in games, behind? Annoyingly whiny, Thome excepted. I'm talking Konerko, Dye and Pierz.

QUOTE (SockMe @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 11:39 PM) im still laughing over that 0-48 soon to be 0-49 stat Again, I'd chalk a lot of that up to our lifeless middle-of-the-order guys. They give away at bats late in games, and if they happen to get on, it takes 3 hits to score them.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 11:29 PM) This 3-4-5 is home run or nothing since the All-Star Break When we're trailing by a few late (from the 7th on) and starting an inning, I'd say the 3 hitters I want to see least are Dye, Thome and Konerko.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 10:46 PM) terrible ab by Thome Brutalicious.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 10:40 PM) I'd rather he cheat to the hole, as he's a lot more comfortable going to his left than to his right. There's a lot of times where you can criticize his range, but that one probably wasn't one. He did just seem to flop down on his dive though, but this entire infield is pretty horrific at making diving plays. Nah, that was my point. He's cheating to his right because he can't move that way. That's why he was so far out of a play that he should have been able to make. Bottom-line: his lack of range to his right compromises the whole infield defense. He's just not a good shortstop.

On that single, there was a classic case of Ramirez cheating to the hole and not being able to get to a ball that was well to the 3rd base side of 2nd. His range is just so pedestrian.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 06:16 PM) For some reason there's a very real anti-Pods faction that has to do with nonbaseball related stuff. He kind of has that Rex Grossman type personality that (while perfectly OK to me) rubs some people the wrong way. I don't think it's the personality. I think it's the quantitative guys who dislike the stereotypical "grinder" fans, the kind who've often supported Pods in the past, even when he was lousy. Of course, these folks -- with their hyper-emphasis on "metrics" -- have become a stereotype unto themselves, and quite irritating, as well. The irony is that Pods, this year, should be a metric guy's favorite, putting up decent OBP with some pop that boosts his OPS, too. But their likely response will involve "regression to the mean" and such. Good Lord. Can we all agree? Pods is not a good fielder, but -- over the course of his career -- has been a pretty darn good leadoff man. The usual question is health.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 05:39 PM) I suspect this is the end of Dewayne Wise. Somehow, some way, Dewayne will hang on.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 05:33 PM) Stay tuned, folks. "Jays just called press conference. Alex Rios? TBA...10 minutes ago from mobile web" http://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/3233546881 "Rios to White Sox - nothing in return" --same source

Maybe time to figure out why this team consistently looks asleep in the last game of a series.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 03:39 PM) Beckham looks like he could use a day off. Anyone see Dye try to go with a pitch in the last, say, 2 weeks?

QUOTE (PeavyTime @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 03:28 PM) Linebrink needs to be benched the first half of every season. His arm is dog tired by the all-star break EVERY YEAR! And it's always, "Yeah, it's a little cranky and tight from time to time, but it's fine, blah, blah, blah." Linebrink's the guy who can pass a physical but actually is really hurt, always.

QUOTE (Brian @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 03:25 PM) 5.5 a year for Linebrink next year and the year after. Awesome. Maybe the Mets can be duped into taking him. Seriously, even if Alex Rios ends up on this team, he'd have to hit .180 and break both legs every year for the next 5 to have a worse contract than Linebrink's.

QUOTE (beckham15 @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 03:09 PM) what are you talking about dude konerko has saved our asses so many runs this yr its not even funny i take it you didnt watch the yankee series where he robbed jeter like 3 times at least Well, you're right. I didn't watch that series because I was away. But I did watch him the 3 weeks before that, and I did see some E's in the stat sheet. More alarmingly, his bat has been slow. All he needs is a day or 2. I'd think they could do that, with all the time Thome gets off.

QUOTE (beckham15 @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 03:09 PM) what are you talking about dude konerko has saved our asses so many runs this yr its not even funny Not the past few weeks he hasn't. I agree he's been excellent most of the year, but I can't be the only one who thinks he's been erratic over there in the last month.