Sox Machine

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Nov 18, 2006 -> 10:02 PM) Honestly, I don't see how anyone can think that Garland is our best pitcher unless these people who do decide to erase all of their histories except for the last two years -- and even then, I think Garland comes off looking weaker than all of them except for maybe Javier. In a case like Garland's, the last two years mean more than his first three. He joined the rotation at a very young age. It's not like he's Kent Bottenfield or anything. Considering he's the only pitcher who didn't finish the year 1) on the DL, 2) dealing with diminishing velocity, or 3) battling 76th-pitch demons, he comes out looking pretty good in comparison.

QUOTE(Felix @ Nov 10, 2006 -> 12:39 PM) Why aim so low? They should ALWAYS get on base. That's right.. a 1.000 OBP. Anything less would be severely disappointing. And sac bunts don't count against OBP, so they really have zero excuses.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Oct 15, 2006 -> 03:29 PM) Someone got too close to his yipeta (four-wheel drive vehicle, from the word ‘jeep’), and got shot in the stomach and hands with some type of pellets. Yipeta is slang for SUV. The article says the men were passing by the SUV, which may diminish the likelihood of it being self-defense.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 28, 2006 -> 02:06 PM) ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Big time polluting factor there. Not a good measure. That first line doesn't mean much. It's mainly to sort the short outings -- both good and bad -- to see how he fared when he got the chance to go further. I went a step further and removed the first three batters from the equation in the 20 outings in which he pitched two innings or more. He gave up 11 earned runs in 37 1/3 successive innings from those outings, or a 2.65 ERA. It's not by any means perfect, but it does illustrate that when he does get to a second inning, he generally succeeds. That's pretty much what the story was with Freddy in 2005 -- given the way hitters beat him up in the first frame, he might've had as rough a year as Brandon out of the bullpen.

Reading this thread makes me wonder how Sox fans survived in 101 out of the previous 104 years.

I think Gload was in Hawk's doghouse more than he was in Ozzie's doghouse. Perhaps this is my selective memory, but it seemed like whenever Gload did something well, DJ would be the only one to say something about it. Now that Gload's become a valuable bench player and Ozzie's singing his praises, Hawk's come around. Before? I'm not so sure.

I don't particularly care either way, but I prefer it when announcers talk around it. Not because of any jinx, but it's nice to see otherwise cynical, jaded adults do something silly/harmless.

According to The Hardball Times, Wilson and Cruz were the second- and third-worst center fielders in the National League behind Ken Griffey Jr. last year. Cruz is a good corner outfielder, but both are disasters in center. They'd look better than Mackowiak in center (like taller shortstops look better than Juan Uribe), but they wouldn't constitute an improvement.

Post arbitration right-fielders: Ichiro: $12.5M Guerrero: $13.5M Ordonez: $16.2M Green: $10.2M Nixon: $7.5M Drew: $11.4M Abreu: $13.6M Giles: $7.7M Jenkins: $7.8M Alou: $7.5M Sheffield: $10.8M Jermaine is the best value at that position, hands-down.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 11:39 AM) I agree with you. He will go out and get that SS to be our leadoff hitter. You can tell who KW likes and he usually gets the players he likes. He has liked one SS for a while. That SS being Cesar Izturis from LA. I would bet money that Pods is let go and Fields/Sweeney is moved into LF and into Uribe's spot in the lineup while we pick up Cesar Izturis and move him into Pods' spot in the lineup. That is what I see happening, but I may be wrong. God, I hope you are wrong. Cesar Izturis is making more money than Uribe this year, and he's a black hole offensively (career .633 OPS to Uribe's .733) and no upgrade defensively. Kenny would be going far out of his way to make a significant downgrade. And given Izturis' sub-.300 career OBP, he'd be a worse leadoff hitter candidate than A.J.

QUOTE(Greg Hibbard @ Jul 20, 2006 -> 11:51 PM) I know who this 2006 White Sox team reminds me of they remind me of the 2006 White Sox. I don't buy it. Seriously, you can't really build a team on "timely hitting." For the most part, it's either something that happens or doesn't. You can increase your chances of it by piling up as many competent hitters as possible. Would a team with Carl Everett (10-for-65 with RISP this year) instead of Jim Thome produce more runs when we need them? Highly doubtful. Run prevention is a bigger issue -- and here's hoping Anderson's increasing presence can iron out the defensive issues of that equation.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jul 20, 2006 -> 08:48 PM) Widger didn't even try to bunt that at bat IIRC. He tried to bunt for a hit leading off an inning later in the game. Blew my fishing mind. Bunting is how he got his last hit -- One month, four days, and 25 at-bats ago.

He should bat in front of Widger when he's in the lineup -- but here's hoping that won't be an issue much longer.

QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ Jun 24, 2006 -> 11:41 AM) It's sad, because if Bobby were on this forum, he wouldn't even be able to read his own appreciation thread. Who was it in the Sox front office that decided to convert him to a closer anyways? Was it just because he sucked starting? He had recurring elbow problems -- that's why the Angels let him go. Between that and the discipline issues (they're probably one of the more buttoned-down orgs), they thought they'd be too much to overcome. Glad they were wrong.

Maybe he's just waiting until the offseason so they can televise it.

One thing that worries me: Uribe's only walked once since April 28, and that one doesn't really count because 1) it was by that "Triple-A [bleep]" Rich Hill, and 2) he swung at the only pitch in the zone and fouled it off. He's struck out 24 times during that stretch. Juan's not really the walking type, but a 16-BB pace is pretty rancid.

QUOTE(WinningUgly85 @ May 21, 2006 -> 01:19 AM) I am going to create a petition to have a Ozzie Statue made for next season. Make sure it has a pull-string in the back so it talks.

Percentage-wise, he was a better basestealer than anybody in the top 10. Excellent on-base percentage, largely in an era that favored pitchers. Probably the best leadoff man not named Rickey Henderson. He deserves a good, hard look by the voters. The offensive explosion of the 1990s has really screwed with the stars of the '80s.

One-trick ponies grow insufferable as well.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ May 16, 2006 -> 12:25 AM) I might switch the 2. Coop has done more with less than Mazzone, has just as many rings, and hasn't had nearly as much time to bulid up a resume. Plus, check out the numbers in Baltimore right now. You can't judge Mazzone on one month of working with a new staff. Cooper didn't exactly fix Contreras right away either, and Bartolo Colon had a disappointing year with the Sox, only to win the Cy Young two years later. Mazzone might've had Glavine, Smoltz, Maddux and Neagle. He also coaxed outstanding years from Jaret Wright, John Burkett, Damian Moss, resurrected Mike Hampton's, Chris Hammond's and John Thomson's careers, helped keep Russ Ortiz afloat....he's also gone seamlessly from closer to closer when Mark Wohlers contracted Steve Blass Disease. Coop's not there yet. He could get there if he keeps it up, but you can't dismiss Mazzone's accomplishments that easily.

QUOTE(SoxAce @ May 16, 2006 -> 12:12 AM) 1. Mazzone 2. Coop Top two pitching coaches in the AL, possibly MLB. Dave Duncan is in the discussion, too, as his track record is 20 years longer than Coop's.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ May 15, 2006 -> 12:56 AM) You mean unearned? D'oh. You are correct, and my post has been amended.

It'd also be nice if the earned run accounted for times when the pitcher made the error. My one complaint about Buehrle is that he let in an enormous amount of unearned runs. He led the league in the department last year with 17, and has 48 over the last three years. Meanwhile, Garland, who had the reputation for years as a pitcher who couldn't overcome mistakes, has allowed only 20 during that stretch. Part of that's due to the discrepancy in innings pitched over the years, but a larger part is days like these. Buehrle's six unearned runs in six innings tonight match Garland's total from 221 innings last season.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ May 14, 2006 -> 06:58 PM) Mark Buerhle doesn't whine about money. Mark Buerhle doesn't trash the team. Mark Buerhle isin't a selfish, loud-mouthed asshole. Any questions? I have a question: How great of a guy can he be if he doesn't inspire you to learn how to spell his name correctly? Here's what I know about Frank: Frank Thomas probably helped the Sox win more ballgames than any other player in Sox history (it's either him or Appling). Frank Thomas wanted to play his entire career with the White Sox. Frank Thomas is the only player to have at least twice as many homers as the runner-up in any franchise's history. Considering Frank's biggest fault was not being cordial enough to people whom I will never meet, I really have a hard time understanding how a group of fans who had no prior experience rooting for a world-class hitter in their team's uniform could take everything so damn personally. Buehrle seems like an all-around great guy, but let's see what happens when contract discussions come up. He is a loudmouth (how many times has he brought up wanting to be a Cardinal so far?), but it hasn't truly come back to bite him yet.

I live a little over an hour from Cooperstown, so I'm there about once a month. It's a thrill every time. As far as Frank's concerned, 1) the HOF picks what's on the hat, so Nuke's SOL, and 2) if I were capable of that kind of venom, I'd reserve it for somebody who DIDN'T want to play for my favorite team, not for somebody who did.