Capn12

Well thats an....interesting lineup. Heres to hoping we can scratch out a hit or 2 today.

I wasn't implying that BA was that player right now either. Fact is, we traded away that player to Arizona because we had full confidence as an organization, in the guy we kept(BA). Now after 400 some odd ABs, we're ready to go with an aging vet who brings nothing more to the table. It sickens me, and confuses me as to where we're going with this team.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Apr 15, 2007 -> 11:46 AM) First let me say I have no problem with Erstad being on the team. I liked the signing. But...........There's a reason why the replacement for Anderson was available for a 1 year $1 million guarantee. He hasn't done much recently. In fact, his 2006 was worse than Anderson's. Ozzie said at the beginning of last year that he did not care what Anderson hit. That turned out to be total BS. Obviously Anderson has to hit better than he did last season, but the guy was a rookie. Robin Ventura sucked when he was a rookie, why didn't they just replace him? Anderson was decent is spring training this year. I really don't think Erstad was much better. If its all about spring training performance, what is Boone Logan doing in Charlotte? There has to be something personal, and that's too bad. KW should send him to Charlotte or trade him away, but I'm sure he knows he'll never get fair value for him right now. Maybe the plan is to let him rot so he'll take even longer to develop and maybe not develop at all, then trade him away for nothing so the organization won't look as bad. And whats more unreal is that we traded away our other CF options, and now we have BA, and no one else remotely close to being ready. Slick fielding CFers that can handle the bat well, young, and still cheap aren't exactly plentiful. I really hope Ozzie gets his head out of his ass and drops whatever beef he has against BA before we end up with no one to play CF except washed up veterans(see:Darin Erstad).

Exactly Rex!! Ozzie is wrong apparently, grindErstad brings more than just 'a baseball player' to the field, but quite a few of them!

QUOTE(rangercal @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 09:07 PM) I don't know if you were around in the 80's and 90's or if you just jumped in 5 years ago or so, but I have seen too many mediocre seasons. Ozzie brought in a ring his second year, and has fielded solid teams since he became manager. Nothing you crybabies say will change my view. Oh c'mon ranger, can you HONESTLY say that the reason we won in the playoffs was because of all the great things Ozzie did? Did you SEE the pitching in the postseason? You can't attribute that to Guillen. The pitching was so far beyond unbelievable, we caught the perverbial lightning in the bottle, in the form of lights out starting pitching, at EXACTLY the right time. I'm not a fly by night ChiSox fan. I've been around more mediocre years than I care to think of. I just don't get the whole "Well we won a ring under Ozzie, anything he does is a-ok with me!!" conjecture that some like to exude. Ozzie is WAY too petty, bullheaded, obsessed with his own vendettas, and too clingy to the guys that he thinks are the grinder Hall of Famers. I don't want Ozzie fired, or run off. But I DO want him to wake up and realize that there is a better way to handle his players, his lineup, in game decisions.

QUOTE(rangercal @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 09:02 PM) I will stand behind Ozzie until he retires While you are back there then, will you at least point out when the other team brings in a LOOGY to face his awesome back to back to back lefties at the top of the order, so he can pretend to use the bench? (BTW that .256 OBP is from out current savior and saint, Sir Darin grindErstad)

Damnit Kalapse, ruining my "Guess the OBP"!!

Let me spit some numbers out here: .275 .372 .256 .243 .442 .316 .389 .343 .310 Can you guess whos OBP is whos? I don't think the worrying about Thome is justified. Its just as much up to the guy BEHIND him to produce...yeah, Paul Konerko and the Suicide Shrug. Thome has K'd alot. Is that anything we didn't expect? Not really. He is getting on base, and also has the 3rd highest batting average on this godforsaken offense right now. He is doing his job.

Ozzies lineup almost plays RIGHT into the hands of opposing teams...I mean seriously, who would stack a lineup like that? Its a bullpen managers dream!

I'm telling you, its the same lineup card Oz carries around daily. Since grindErstad hits 2nd, he just crosses him out and puts Anderson there. Thats the ONLY explination I have for a low OBP type hitter like BA is at this point in his career being 2nd in the lineup.

I can't understand for the life of me, why he thinks 3 lefties followed by 3 righties is an acceptable idea?!? When he makes that silly lineup, we get situations like today...team uses LOOGY to get the first 3 out, then righty reliever to handle the rest. We never really get back around to the 3 lefties again after that.

He is our ONLY CFer at the moment, and not because he possesses the only skillset to play the position.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 05:20 PM) An observation about Erstad: He's a decent backup OF. Further elaboration on above point: He's a decent backup OF, being forced into a starting CF job because management fell in love with what he accomplished 7 years ago.

We're gonna live or die with the vets though, Flash!! Its Ozzies strategy and it will surely work, won't it? We are an aging team offensively, station to station offense is back, lift and pull mentailty has returned, and it won't result in many good things against pitchers that are smart and learn quickly how to pitch against this team.

I'm taking that comment firmly tongue in cheek, wite...

Opponents were hitting .241 against us coming into todays game, which it surely went up in.

11 LOB in terms of team LOB, but it felt like we coulda left 119 out there today. No one has the RISP killer mentality right now

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 04:23 PM) And as some of us said, Ozzie is setting him up really well. Get a start against Sabathia, a pitcher that our entire lineup struggles with, sit for another week+, and we will see where we can get you in next. If Erstad was hitting right now, I would have zero problem. I am an Anderson fan, but a White Sox fan first. However, when Darrin is currently hitting worse than Anderson was in 2006, I have a real problem with Brian sitting on the bench. Exactly how I feel(minus the misspell of Darin grindErstad). I am a ChiSox fan first and foremost. I've been THE biggest Pods hater on Soxtalk for quite some time, I don't think he is a very good ball player period. But if he goes out and does his job as a leadoff hitter, and it helps us win, then go Scotty Pods, I'm all for it!! There is NOTHING right now that dictates that Erstad should be starting over BA, at least splitting starts with him. And I find it comical that when BA did FINALLY get a start, all Ozzie did apparently was cross grindErstads name off the order and put BA there, still hitting 2nd, which made no sense at all.

Gimme Gooch back in the 2 hole, grindErstad(if we MUST play him, and apparently we do) hitting 7th or 8th...then I would be quite a bit happier.

If thats the case, I'm scared to ask what Ozzie 'thought' he was going to get this year from grindErstad. What, does Erstad give some of the Indians players a ride to the park?

OK bud, lets see you start once a week, and have to face Johan and CC. GL with that. I truly don't understand what people see in Erstad that is so great. What does he bring to the table that we didnt already have in a guy much younger, and ready to try and improve on his first season in the MLBs EVER??

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 03:58 PM) He won't. Oz already said Pablo and Anderson are in. Ha! Ozzie only says that because he knows theres a snowballs chance in hell that we play tomorrow.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 03:57 PM) Give me one f***ing reason Erstad should start tomorrow. Its pretty simple. Don't you see all the intangibles that he brings to this team?? Do you need Ozzie to reiterate them for you?

Fitting end. f*** you grindErstad and Ozzie

Yeah, Erstad does all the things Oz wants in a grinder. He keeps the opposing teams second baseman in great shape with his 4-3 putouts. GMAFB Ozzie