Friend of Nordhagen

QUOTE (joejoedairy @ May 4, 2009 -> 06:45 PM) no Super managing from Senor Smart Ball.

It was the height of stupidity to have Lillibridge swinging there. Bunt the damn ball. And how can a guy who can't get around on the ball have the damn bat wrapped around his head?

QUOTE (robinventura23 @ Apr 17, 2009 -> 05:45 PM) My Cub "fan" friends are calling him Fonzie. These are the same ones who were booing him mercilessly last year. And will be again when he cools off, which he will. Streak hitter -- and just happens to be on a bad streak every time the calender hits October.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 17, 2009 -> 03:59 PM) Cardinals lose...they should be 11-1 this season. Too bad they didn't have any money to spend on their bullpen (Fuentes). If I were a Cardinal fan, I would be very pissed about my team's ownership. New park, huge attendance -- and never real spending to put them over the top. Pujols? Sure. But they always have about 3 or 4 guys in their lineup who are spare parts. And their bullpen is a travesty, given their resources. Stupid.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 16, 2009 -> 08:21 PM) Holy crap, Dye is so slow. Thrown out by a mile at 2nd base. I'm so sick of this team making outs on the bases, especially since Dye wasn't busting it out of the box. Love JD, but he dogged it.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Apr 16, 2009 -> 08:07 PM) thome hitting a whopping .170 I love those fast Thome starts. Let's see, last year I think it was June now before big Jim stopped fighting himself and overswinging.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 16, 2009 -> 07:50 PM) Weak groundout on the 3-1 pitch...thanks once again KW for getting us a true CF this offseason. When it comes to finding a centerfielder, for the last 3 years, Kenny Williams has been a complete and total bulls*** artist.

QUOTE (lord chas @ Apr 13, 2009 -> 04:22 PM) hes getting a nice size strike zone to say the least And that's a good thing, too. If it weren't, the umpire would see a thrown mitt coming his way.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 8, 2009 -> 09:09 PM) I just don't know what the f*** KW was thinking this offseason. He was too busy trying to clean up his mistakes from last offseason (Swisher, OC's arb), and inexcusably did nothing to help this 25 man roster. It's honestly one of the worst GM decisions you'll ever see, and it's reflected in the booing by our great fans (I mean this sincerely, as it's fantastic to see people booing the decisions being made). This is right. At least I hope that's why people are booing. But I'm afraid that Williams and Ozzie are doing to Dewayne what they did to Mackowiak by putting him in center -- putting him in a position to fail miserably and draw the ire of our fans. Wise has many drawbacks (cue the OBP numbers), but the guy was a useful player off the bench last year -- had some good pinch hits (and usually got good at-bats even if he didn't get on), stole some bases, and could fill in throughout the outfield (not brilliantly, but he was okay). But he's exposed in the way he's being played, and it's really a function of lousy decisions in the general manager's office. Whatever happens, I hope that he can at least be serviceable in the role he played last year. But I wonder what will happen to his confidence, thanks to being sacrificed at the altar of "no deals were available."

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 27, 2009 -> 03:49 PM) Milton Bradley broke straight back on that weak lineout by Owens. Who the hell breaks back on a ball off the bat of Jerry Owens? I guess there's only 1 way to break when you're standing right behind the 2nd baseman.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 9, 2009 -> 03:21 PM) Lillibridge and Getz get down the line faster. I've also never seen a base stealer stumble so many times while getting his jump as Owens. I noticed the other day that Owens doesn't even use a crossover step to get started. He pivots, turns and runs. That's the inefficient way to get a jump. And it may be why he stumbles so much.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Mar 7, 2009 -> 04:13 PM) Its been said before, but moving Alexei to CF would solve a lot of problems. Maybe Southside, but he'd have to get over that Soriano-like fear of the wall he showed last spring.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 7, 2009 -> 04:05 PM) I'm thinking guys like Michael Bourn, Chris Roberson and Felix Pie might be a larger factor in Josh Kroeger's playing time in centerfield than his own defensive prowess. Those guys are going to take precedence over a minor league free agent signee or waiver claim like Josh Kroeger. Please, no more trying to wedge guys into centerfield because they can hit or are decent enough athletes. If the guy has played center before and well, then he's a centerfielder. If he hasn't, he shouldn't be out there. I am so tired of the Mack, Swisher route that this team has taken the past few years, all the while with Kenny expressing shock that centerfielders are hard to acquire. I think he's a fine GM, but you know what? Make centerfield a priority, not an afterthought, and you'd find a guy who can play out there.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 7, 2009 -> 11:27 AM) Jermaine is just slow as s*** and even if he's somehow getting better reads than his younger counterparts (I highly doubt it) he just can't move quick enough. As for his arm, it blows. He catches EVERYTHING flat footed and as a result he's unable to get anything on the majority of his throws, his arm may be strong but it's not nearly strong enough to make up for some of the worst throwing mechanics I've ever seen in an outfielder. This is so true. I've never understood how a guy who was once such a good outfielder can catch every single ball leaning backwards, no matter how near to the ball he was when it came toward the outfield. I mean, they work on this stuff, right? Or is Jermaine just a veteran "who knows how to play," so they don't say anything to him or work with him?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 5, 2009 -> 04:11 PM) What's the over/under on how many games into the season when Bradley and Zambrano get into a fight in that clubhouse/dugout? "They just care too much." Can't wait to hear that one.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Dec 28, 2008 -> 02:53 PM) It's true and it's really evident the past two quarters. He just looks at the receiver and doesn't bother turning his head whatsoever. He doesn't even even slightly tilt his head. You know who he's going to all the time. That's why we need to "lock him up" with a big 7 year extension or whatever that bulls*** was people were saying earlier this year. What a joke.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Dec 28, 2008 -> 02:40 PM) He was injured Nov 2nd vs Detroit, meaning he was about 7 1/2 games into the season. Rex was good for 1/2 a season, too. In any event, if it's an injury, count me as being against a guy who's taken 10 games and still isn't effective after an ankle injury. Actually, Orton's perfect for this group: M - E - D - I - O - C -R - E.

What a heartless crew. Quite a reflection on the head coach.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Dec 28, 2008 -> 02:29 PM) Because he was pretty damn good before the ankle injury. Yeah, that was a good 4 games.

I saw a couple people here mention Ball Four. To me, that's one of the great books, let alone baseball books. In fact, I think it made that New York Public Library Top 100 20th century American books list. That's a hell of an accomplishment for a baseball diary -- and well-deserved. It's some kind of perceptive and absolutely hilarious. I read it every spring training, just to get fired up for the season. I'd also recommend anything by Roger Angell, who used to be (and still is occasionally) a baseball writer for The New Yorker. There are a few compilations of his stuff, the best of which, I think, is Five Seasons -- fun little articles about players, teams and the game from the 1970's. Very cool and enjoyable.

Interesting note today by Rosenthal about J.J. Putz, which might tell us what the market would be for Jenks: Cardinals have offered Rick Ankiel and a prospect for Putz. Now maybe Putz is more valuable than Jenks (older but with better velocity), but that's a pretty good return. Ankiel's a good ballplayer.

QUOTE (b-Rye @ Dec 8, 2008 -> 10:40 PM) Brent 'Looseass' Lillibridge I'm not even sure why, but that made me laugh real hard. Thanks.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 8, 2008 -> 10:36 PM) Are you making a joke about Nick Masset? Or Jon Adkins? Or Felix Diaz? Wouldn't that be a deadly 1 through 3 in a short series?

QUOTE (Hawkfan @ Dec 8, 2008 -> 04:54 PM) definite lock based solely on his sick baserunning skills "I mean, DJ, some guys are smart and some guys are aggressive. But Jose -- Jose . . . is smart aggressive."

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 8, 2008 -> 10:18 PM) Well, SUPPOSEDLY, he was battling a wrist injury/nagging problem and he adjusted his swing (as is normal, to compensate for injury to play through it, especially when given a legit shot to start in the big leagues) and ended up completely messing his mechanics up. That's the KW story at least. Why yes! And, when spending time in Mexico, he throws only a tick or two less than Bobby Jenks!