Friend of Nordhagen

I didn't know that they'd moved the Metrodome to Seattle.

QUOTE (GordoTheGreat @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 10:25 PM) Yeah, the dugout. I tell ya, this is one feisty crowd. Good stuff in here tonight.

QUOTE (WHarris1 @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 10:18 PM) My dump this afternoon had more of a pulse than this group of dead beats I hope we don't sign another dump off waivers. That might make your dump extra-pouty.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 10:15 PM) Just keep praying we don't give him some ridiculous contract extension. 1 year, $12,000. Old school, 1964-style. Go for it, KW.

Here's what I'm wondering. Can 2 guys who were great in a World Series -- Podsednik and Dye -- be so mentally fragile as to let the new guy's arrival make them suck even more than they were already sucking? I'm leaning yes.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 10:12 PM) You have three players in Dye, Thome, and Pods who are all free agents after this year. You'd have to be crazy to think they were going to be excited to see their at bats go down due to Rios coming aboard. Way to swing at ball 4 Alexei! I think we're now officially in a teamwide slump.

QUOTE (GordoTheGreat @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 10:10 PM) It's impossible to inspire this team, they're like a sack of potatoes. What do you mean "like"?

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 10:08 PM) I said when the rumor about the waiver claim came out that if the Sox got Rios, I really thought the clubhouse morale would get really bad. Let's hope that doesn't happen. You're probably right. And that would probably cement for me why they'd need to cut the chord with some of these guys. Remember last year when Cabrera was the most hated man in the clubhouse -- but the only guy who showed up in Minnesota at the end of the year? Some of these other guys are just too comfortable.

QUOTE (bobryansson @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 10:07 PM) Need to really shake things up. Ozzie rant at an ump. Ozzie spout off to press. Take advantage of Rios' arrival and sit JD for 2 instead of one. Move CQ up in order. Something to defibrillate this team. It's dead emotionally. We'll see Rios and Wise tomorrow. Count on it. (Yes, I'm serious.)

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 10:07 PM) Guys seem to be inspired by the acquisition of Rios.

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.