scenario

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Oct 2, 2008 -> 05:04 PM) He will work as a reliever until he develops that next pitch. He desperately needs that IMO to be anything more than a reliever. He has 4 pitches (fastball, slider, changeup, and curve) and all of them were working well in the minors. He has thrown all of them up here too. In fact, I'm looking at a stats analysis of the September 9th game he had against Toronto. He threw 53 pitches over 4 innings: - 38 fastballs (24 for strikes) - 8 changeups (all 8 for strikes) - 6 sliders (5 for strikes) - 1 curve (not a strike) I get the feeling he just needs to develop the confidence in the offspeed stuff at the major league level, because they're not bad pitches. If he adds a cutter like Danks did in the offseason and mixes that in with his fastball, changeup, and slider, he could be quite a helpful addition to the staff next year. Like Danks last year, Richard needs an effective pitch to throw to righties. The cutter could be the ticket.

Wasn't too long ago that people on the board were chasing him around with forks in their hands.

Alot of times Javy has one bad inning and then settles back down. Let's hope that's the pattern today.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Oct 2, 2008 -> 01:31 PM) Let's offer him to Pittsburgh then. My guess is he's pitching somewhere in the NL next season. St. Louis. Let's share some of this pain with them. I can't stand Dave Duncan.

I've just got a gut feeling that OC comes up with a big hit today.

I don't see either being in the Twins budget. They save their "real" money for fan favorites.

I love how they throw in the Toronto and Twins games to try and make us look like a weak opponent. We were 3-4 at the Trop and we probably should have won a couple more of those games. Meh.... No matter. I'm glad they're giving us some locker room poster material.

One of the main reasons for having Danks go 3rd is that the Rays hit 20 points worse as as team against lefties this year. And their power stats drop off a table too. OPS drops by 50 points. So... to improve your chances of beating them... throw every quality lefty you have at them first.

I agree falsealarm. I'm not trying to suggest that we have boatloads of talent in the upper minors. It's pretty obvious that we don't because we traded away our best talent... most of which is sitting in the Oakland A's system right now. (3 of Oakland's top 10 prospects are former WhiteSox.) But I just feel compelled to respond when posters suggest our farm system sucks because we don't have guys on top 20 lists. BTW, Cassel isn't 25. He just turned 24 in late September. So... he'll spend a whole season in AAA next year at 24 years old. And Lucas Harrell just turned 23 mid-summer. I think Poreda didn't make it because he was listed as a top prospect in the Carolina League.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Oct 1, 2008 -> 02:51 PM) BHam shut out in the southern league as well....our farm system rocks So... none of our AA guys made it to the top of the prospect beauty pageant. Doesn't mean there wasn't any talent there. Birmingham had the lowest team ERA in the Southern League and made the playoffs. How horrible... they must suck. Keep in mind Clayton Richard started out there this year and played well enough to make the Southern League All-Star team, the Olympic Team, and get promoted to the Sox. And several other guys did well enough to get promoted to Charlotte at mid-season.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Oct 1, 2008 -> 11:33 AM) Has that ever been proven? I have heard about it, but I thought I read that nobody ever proved it happened I've never seen anything that says that incident actually took place. In fact, I have not been able to find anything that suggests AJ was a real irritant in SF except: - Brett Tomko and Matt Herges didn't like him - He refused the Giants offer, took them to arbitration, and won... a move that ticked off Sabean and may have set back their relationship. - They already had a catcher (Torrealba) and fans didn't like the trade so they didn't warm up to him (not unlike OC with the Sox this year). - He hit into 20-something double plays and that compounded the fans irritation. I've read many articles by San Francisco writers and have found no evidence suggesting that AJ did anything else causing him to be disliked. (If anybody does find them, please link them.) And interestingly, Jason Schmidt had a big year with AJ behind the plate and had nothing bad to say about him. All the 'cancer' talk came from two 'anonymous' sources who started chirping less than a month into AJ's only season there. Those sources were later identified to be Tomko and Herges. All the other "hate AJ" references I found are from players or fans of other teams.

CJ, What's your favorite baseball position to play? I read somewhere that you suffered an injury your senior year at Arizona State. What happened and how did it affect your season? When you went to Arizona State did you see your future as a pitcher or position player? Congrats on your success so far. How is it that pro scouts screwed up and missed drafting you? Do you have a favorite moment as a pro player so far? A play or game that really stands out in your mind? Do you have a favorite moment playing baseball (at any level all the way back to being a kid)? A play, a game, or an experience that really stands out in your mind? How is it that Tim Blackwell decided to have Adam Ricks play every position in a game this year and not you? LOL. Who is the best player (or players) you played against in college? Who is the best player (or players) you have played against in the minors so far? We'd like to know more about you. Tell us about yourself. What kinds of things do you like to do when you're not playing baseball? What's your favorite food? What kind of music do you like to listen to? Do you have brothers/sisters? Did you have a favorite baseball team growing up? Who was your favorite player? Is there any player who you'd compare yourself to in style? Anybody that you patterned yourself after? What is the most exciting game you have ever played in? If you could pick a song that would be played when you came up to bat what would it be? Describe the process of how you came to be signed by the WhiteSox. What are the most significant differences you noticed between playing in the Pioneer League last year and the Carolina League this year? Pitching? Overall talent? Other? (I'm just brainstorming here. Use any/none of the questions as you feel appropriate.)

Link to the AAP for CJ

This from Joe Cowley on Wednesday, Oct. 1st... "Why do opposing teams and players dislike A.J. Pierzynski? Because he's smarter than them. He proved that against the Angels in the 2005 playoffs, and he added to his legend this season. Tied up in the 10th against Tampa Bay and facing a sweep, Pierzynski went "Fall Guy'' and drew the charge on third baseman Willy Aybar for the phantom interference call. The Sox go on to win, Tampa Bay hates A.J. ... same old song. Lost on all the boos, however, was that Pierzynski is a winner. Period."

QUOTE (Wanne @ Sep 30, 2008 -> 11:31 PM) I feel like I'm at an AA meeting..... "Hi... my name is ______________. And I'm a Soxaholic."

Javy has pitched very well in that ballpark the last couple of years. It makes alot of sense to have him start down there.

The Sox are 8-23 at home (.258 winning %) when they score 4 or fewer runs. The Sox are 45-5 at home (.900 winning %) when they score 5 or more runs. So, history shows... The odds are 1 in 4 that we win when we score 4 or less at home. And 9 out of 10 that we win when we score 5 or more. I think that pretty much spells out what we need to do tonight.

Too bad bureauemployee isn't around. I'd like to hear him explain how his scouting analysis last winter missed on Alexei. Profiles to be nothing more than a utility guy... the next Omar Infante, eh? (good natured ribbing intended)

Great post caulfield.

12:15pm... The rain has stopped in Rockford and the skies to the west are looking promising. (The reason I figure this is relevant is that often we get the same weather as Chicago about 1 hour ahead.)

How's the weather in the city? I'm in Rockford and it has been raining all morning.

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Sep 28, 2008 -> 10:04 PM) Sheffield is sitting on 499.... could be some kind of weird storybook ending, I dont like it. If we pound them something like 10-1, I'd be willing to let Sheffield have his brief moment. In that case, it might even be nice for the home fans. Not too often you get to see somebody hit their 500th.

Whew. We live to fight another day.

I personally would like to apologize to anyone I beat on recently for criticizing Javy. He had three consecutive chances to shed the choker image he developed in New York... the inability to win a game under pressure... probably even if he had won just ONE. Instead, he had this three worst games of the season in a row... and cemented his bed-wetting image in stone. So... BlackBetsy, fathom, whitesoxfan101, and anyone else I called out... I'm sorry. You were right. I was wrong.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Sep 28, 2008 -> 12:06 PM) I also feel good knowing how hard KW would take a collapse. He will make a few major moves like in 2005. Yep, I don't think gagging away a 2.5 game lead with 6 games left in the season would sit well with him.