Friend of Nordhagen

QUOTE (frankie5angels @ Apr 29, 2008 -> 08:06 PM) It's corpseball. Solo home runs but can't manufacture a run to save our lives. This offense is so flawed it's pathetic. Haven't you heard, though? It's all about high OBP. Balance. We need balance.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 06:49 PM) You mean how when he hooks a one strike fastball 400 feet foul, he's out in front of the 2 strike offspeed pitch that even my grandma knows is coming? Yep. Sometimes he waves at it with one hand. But sometimes he waves at it and the bat goes flying. THAT's the way that winning players adjust. By the way, is your grandma left-handed? If so, she can strike out Thome on 3 pitches.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 06:28 PM) I'm sure there's a lot that will disagree with me, and I'm probably wrong....but I don't think Thome is a winning baseball player. Sure he is, fathom. Think of all the adjustments Jim makes to game situations, how he's being pitched, etc.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 06:24 PM) Thome hits like its a pick up game and you arent allowed to hit to the opposite field. Yeah, I was hoping the Orioles would trade for Sabathia and put him in there against Big Jim. Cuz, you know, Thome hit two home runs off of him about a month ago, demonstrating to all of us that, actually, he's GREAT against lefties.

QUOTE (Jimbo's Drinker @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 06:23 PM) I cant stand Thome But Thome's a great guy. And he walks a lot. So there.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 06:07 PM) They were throwing everything in on Anderson there. The hardest ball to bunt is something hard and in. That's where the league pitches him. He's really never made the adjustment, even when he's swinging and not whiff-bunting.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 04:43 PM) Kong, with a couple hits today, is almost hitting his weight. Mora makes a nice play, gets it over to Millar. By 7 o'clock, Konerko will get to first base.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 04:42 PM) Thome continues to be Mr. Clutch. What surprised me here was that he fanned on a fastball up and in.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 04:40 PM) The problem with having Swisher bunt there was you were putting Cabrera in a situation where he'd have to knock in some runs. He hasn't hit the ball hard enough for a sac fly in a week. Now this has some truth to it.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 04:37 PM) Now the idea to bunt really f***ing blows. Yeah, 'cuz when Swisher swung away, he really did well with it.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 04:33 PM) nice inning fatty Roberts. Speed's worthless, right?

QUOTE (SoxFan101 @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 05:31 PM) This has been a frustrating series to watch.... we might still take 3 of 4 but very ugly Bobby's got to get the ball up, with some velocity. When he's down in the zone, he's losing 3-4 MPH.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 25, 2008 -> 07:54 PM) This reliever the Nationals brought in, O'Connor, is terrible. The talent level in the NL is just embarrassing. Seriously, fathom, I was thinking the same thing. My goodness, there are some truly terrible baseball players over there. And they all seem to play the Cubs quite regularly.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 24, 2008 -> 08:37 PM) After seeing Floyd struggle with the Yankees due to their patience, I'm still baffled as to why we set our rotation so that Buehrle wouldn't face the Yankees. Because they have a series of left-handed hitters who Buehrle would be effective against.

QUOTE (southsidehawkeye @ Apr 24, 2008 -> 08:33 PM) Im under the assumption (or maybe the hope) that JD will be our DH when Thome is gone... Until then we'll just have to live with his below average defense. Agreed. But if they're serious about going with Quentin every day, then he should be right and Dye in left. To me, it's just like sitting Thome against some lefties. This team is far too concerned with the feelings of some of these older guys -- make the move that makes the team better.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Apr 24, 2008 -> 08:28 PM) Though the runs are earned we should've been out of that inning. A throw by Dye on target and the inning's over. So I didn't see this play. But let me guess: did it involve JD not getting lined up properly to make the throw, stutter-stepping to get himself into position, throwing essentially flat-footed and then being off line?

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Apr 24, 2008 -> 08:28 PM) Though the runs are earned we should've been out of that inning. A throw by Dye on target and the inning's over. Apparently, only the fans can see that Jermaine's been in decline out there for 2 years. Like the team's infatuation with Juan Uribe (and Mackowiak in center), I guess certain mysteries are only understood properly by Kenny Williams and Ozzie Guillen.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 17, 2008 -> 09:32 PM) Even if its 75 percent, its his best pitch, his out pitch. Do you think Pad's fans are wondering why Hoffman throws his change so much in 0-2 counts? It makes me mad that even a few of the people on here are putting it on pitch selection and Bobby. The defense failed, our bullpen FINALLY cracked and it is what it is. We will go out and win the the next series. I am mad that they lost a game they should have won, but frankly, the fact that our 5th starter appear so dominant makes me giddy. If Floyd pitches like that all season, we will win probably 95 percent of those games. Agree on Floyd; that's encouraging. I'm not laying this on Bobby, merely making a comment about something that's been pretty obvious for awhile. And Bobby's not as precise as Hoffman. He misses a lot with the curve; he gets it up sometimes, he bounces it. So, as an out pitch, it's not so good that he can be that predictable. And, frankly, it's so predictable at this point, Bobby could probably get an awful lot of outs with his fastball, provided he can still bring it. If Hoffman could throw a fastball even at Bobby's present velocity, you bet he'd be throwing it sometimes on 0-2 or 1-2.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 17, 2008 -> 10:02 PM) Bulls***, would you like to check his game tapes? He will throw a fastball, slider and change on 0-2. He didnt nail it down, so what? It happens, go out and win the next series. Yeah, it happens. I think I said that earlier. I'm not even all that upset. You sound like you might be. And, sure, I guess maybe I overstated the case about throwing the curve every time (although you'll see that I'm not alone in thinking that). But, if we were to check those tapes of yours, I'd estimate he's more than 75% of the time with the curve there. I'd put the fastballs at under 10%. Off-speed, in the dirt -- that's what he predominantly throws. In fact, the whole thing that shows his growth as a pitcher is that he has TOTAL CONFIDENCE in throwing that off-speed -- often wild -- pitch now, even with a runner on 3rd. He didn't have that before.

QUOTE (Wanne @ Apr 17, 2008 -> 09:46 PM) You mean like the scouting reports that says Jenks throws a goddamn 0-2 curveball every time. Please with the velocity. They gun they had on him said 94 or so. It's not his velocity. It was simply crap pitch selection IMO and not attacking the hitters with 2 strikes. We heard this same crap last year... Seriously, totally agree on the 0-2 curve. Every. Time.

QUOTE (Frankensteiner @ Apr 17, 2008 -> 09:43 PM) I guess we will see how this holds up the rest of the season when people aren't looking at scouting reports from last year. You may be right, but as a general rule, I never like hearing a guy's velocity is going down. And then it's said the guy is just becoming more of a pitcher or something to that effect (which to me is usually a euphemism for "he's losing his stuff"). This approach is not working out very well for Justin Verlander. The real issue, as I see it, is that Bobby's a young guy who pitches no more than an inning at a crack. Given his role, and even though I understand that it's a long season and maybe a long career, I'm not quite sure that Bobby should be leaving one of his weapons out of his arsenal, if that's what he's doing. No doubt he has a great arm and great stuff -- including that wicked curve -- but he shouldn't be depriving himself of a weapon that can help him.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 17, 2008 -> 09:41 PM) The more I see what someone like Swisher brings to the team, the more I want the Sox to trade PK. I'm one of his biggest fans, and never thought I'd say that. I don't disagree. But I guess the other way we could look at it is, if Thome and Konerko do get it going, they're going to carry this team for awhile -- because they'd have to get real hot to start getting back to their averages. But I guess we said stuff this a lot last year, too. Ah, I don't know.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 17, 2008 -> 09:35 PM) Ozzie: I don't care if Anderson made fun of your family, punched your dog, etc.....if he's on the roster, he needs to be on the field defensively in the 9th inning. But then Brian wouldn't be carrying out his important responsibilities in the dugout -- waxing the helmets, applying Swisher's eye-black, filing Ozney's nails. The list goes on.

QUOTE (G&T @ Apr 17, 2008 -> 09:34 PM) PK and Thome have no clue what's going on at the plate. Might have to split them up. Put Dye between them or something I'd work Carl Everett in there. You know, really mix it up with some crazy.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Apr 17, 2008 -> 09:32 PM) Uribe is pathetic with the bat, can we DH for the 2nd baseman and let the pitcher hit. At least the pitcher might take more pitches. Yes, but could he carry a team for stretches?