henry wiggins

QUOTE(Spiegle @ Jun 16, 2006 -> 07:06 PM) man, he has looked like a completely different hitter, and even defender as of late... he looks happier out there too... hopefully he has ajusted to the bigs and we can start seeing some signs of those numbers he put up down on the farm! he is gonna be good Way to get a heads up steal Brian! My belief: it was *huge* for him to have Ozzie say 'we go with Anderson, everyone can STFU about it now.' I look forward to the rest of his season. This kid is a beautiful ballplayer, and I don't just mean his looks. :rolly (So I'm a shallow female who appreciates eye candy, is that so wrong?)

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Jun 13, 2006 -> 11:38 PM) That's right, Cubs vs. Tigers this weekend. I dislike the Cubs as much as everybody, but for 3 days, I'm a BIG Cub fan. I want to see everybody in here (that includes YOU Hangar and Cuck the Fubs). Hehehehe, this weekend will filter out who is a Sox fan and who is a Cub hater that just kinda likes the Sox on the side. Go Cubs! They can't lose them all (-- can they?), and it's time for a winning streak at Wrigley! I actually root for the Cubs to win every so often just because I feel so sorry for the players. Most of them deserve better. Is it just me or does Jerry Hairston Jr. look *much* happier these days, even in the 105-degree heat of Texas?

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jun 16, 2006 -> 10:29 AM) If Ozzie hadn't said anything, I'll lay you 3 to 1 odds that Mariotti's column today would have been about AJ the Agitator and the fact that Ozzie didn't have any of his pitchers defend his players, he should be fired, it doesn't show the heart and strength a manager needs to, etc. OR about how AJ is such a pariah in the game that not only does he get hit all the time, but his own teammates don't defend him, and CLEARLY he is the 'clubhouse cancer' that he was called by his teammates on the Giants, and the Sox can't win with that kind of player on the club, and Ozzie needs to do something to get control of his team, and Kenny Williams needs to address the caliber of player he's signing!!!! Hey, writing this garbage is easy! You mean K-B gets paid for this?!?! I want a piece of that action!

QUOTE(VAfan @ Jun 16, 2006 -> 10:34 AM) I think that is a fair response. But AJ can also get hurt by continuing to be the target. And if a future beaning broke a bone in his hand or arm, it would cost us a lot more than 5 games. (Of course he could hurt his hand punching Padilla in the nose too.) At this point, I'm not advocating taking any further revenge other than to keep playing winning baseball. I think that is the best revenge anyway. But if someone targets us as blatantly as Padilla did, I don't think we can always just shrug it off, and I don't think sending out a rookie you know is going back to AAA after the game to do the dirty work is the proper response. We have responded effectively to the Padilla-esque nonsense in the past. We didn't do very well in responding to it this time (at least not within the same game). I agree with you, and at least in retrospect, the move to use Tracey to even the score -- if that was the intention -- wasn't a very good move, but it might have been what Ozzie saw as his best available move at the time. Ozzie's comments since then, that he expects that his players will answer any and all future such incidents, read *to me* like Ozzie saying quite clearly that ANY time a Sox player gets hit from now on, the pitcher in the game has a duty to hit back. If Vasquez had done that after the first time AJ was hit, the situation would not have escalated as it did, IMO. How the umps can allow Padilla two hits and not toss him, I don't understand, but that's another thread. So from now on, we will see if Sox pitchers answer back every time a Sox player is hit by a pitch. That, more than anything else, will give us an idea of what Ozzie has really said to his players. If I have counted out the rotation correctly, Vasquez will pitch the series opener when the Rangers come to the Cell in July. Maybe then the accounts will be settled. (I have tickets to the last game in that series. Sweet! :finger )

QUOTE(VAfan @ Jun 16, 2006 -> 09:53 AM) I didn't see the incident, but having read enough and thought about it, I decided to offer my two cents. AJ Pierzynski should have charged the mound after he got hit a second time. Yes, this would have resulted in an automatic suspension for AJ, but how hard could baseball punish him when it would be clear to anyone looking at the tapes that Padilla intentionally hit him twice? It is also clear from the Barrett incident, the Escobar incident, and others, that teams have decided to target AJ Pierzynski on our club. It no doubt stems from the way he gets under other teams' skin, and the way last season's postseason unfolded. Almost as much as Ozzie, AJ has become the mouth of the Sox. I think that's unhealthy. Ozzie should be the lightening rod and keep all the crap away from his players. The only way for AJ to stop these incidents from repeating themselves is to go directly after those who have targeted him. Do they really want a piece of him? He's a big boy (6'3" 235). I think once would be enough to end the beanings. The repercussion would be that AJ would get suspended, and others might have during the ensuing brawl. But the Sox wouldn't have to be talking about sticking together - they would just be sticking together. We can survive 5 games with Widger behind the plate. ************ As it is, with this incident having passed, the best revenge is to just beat the pants off the offending club and knock them out of first place, which is what we did. "We" can survive 5 games without AJ? Glad you're going to help out! You're assuming a few things, with IMO no basis for the assumptions. First off you assume that AJ would get a 5-game suspension. What if he got a 10-game suspension? You're assuming Widger will be able to play 5 games, that he won't get injured. If he were to get hurt, the Sox would be without a catcher. Um, does the team really want to bring up a AAA catcher in June or July to play some really important games? You may want to, but I doubt that Ken Williams and Ozzie do. That's an assumption on my part. As a long-time Sox fan, I don't *want* a team made up of irascible hotheads who do stuff like charge the mound. I want them to recognize that there are a-holes in the game, like Padilla and Carlos Zambrano (two that spring to mind) and to NOT play into the stupid games that those a-holes start. Every team in the league, and especially in the division, is out to get the Sox this year. The good teams are out to get them by beating them in ballgames; the losers are out to get them with the kind of crap that Padilla pulled. Being a target goes with being a World Series Champion, and the measure of a repeat champion team is how well they deal with it *and keep on playing winning baseball*. I also want, as a fan, to see the manager take charge of every situation in which one of his players is dissed or harmed. I want the manager to determine an appropriate course of action and implement it. Don Cooper said last night that this thing isn't over, and that Texas plays at the Cell once more this year. They do. We'll see then what happens, and it better not be AJ getting tossed out of any games.

As I read that, I kept trying to figure out if the man is more funny than stupid, or more stupid than funny. It's a tossup! But when you cross funny with stupid, what you get is pathetic. I will never buy or subscribe to the Sun-Times as long as they carry K-B's column. Thank goodness for the Daily Southtown.

QUOTE(3RDBASE @ Jun 15, 2006 -> 04:50 PM) POST OF THE DAY, MADE MY DAY!!!!! THANK YOU!^^^ I'll drink to that!!

QUOTE(soxpride77 @ Jun 15, 2006 -> 03:30 PM) Ozzie shouldn't have had to asked Tracey to hit anybody, it was Vasquez's job to make sure that got done. Ozzie calls the shots on stuff like this, and he doesn't want to lose his fifth starter in mid-June, which would have happened if Vasquez got tossed or suspended. You call in the expendable player to do it, and that seems like what Ozzie did last night. Tracey pitched just terribly on Sunday night at the Cell; I was at the game and when he threw a strike after 9 or 10 balls in a row, the fans applauded derisively. I figured then he was going to get sent down, and with Politte coming off the DL, someone had to go -- and then the Riske trade in the works, etc. So that all made Tracey the logical choice to plunk Blalock, if indeed Ozzie ordered it done.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jun 15, 2006 -> 01:51 PM) I think that Ozzie was out of line, but I'll say this: For anyone who's never been unfairly chewed-out by a moody boss before, welcome to the real world! It's not fair, but it happens all of the time. And it usually has nothing to do with you personally. Just let it go. Hopefully Tracey knows this. I agree with this. I don't know if Ozzie was out of line or not; I wasn't there, I don't know ANYTHING about what Tracey was or wasn't told to do -- nobody here knows that, unless we have some Sox players posting incognito, which I doubt -- and so I don't know if the reaction was disproportionate to the offense. Ozzie is a volatile guy. Lots of people don't like that about him. I don't think that bothers him much, frankly. And Sean Tracey's the rookie who was all ballsy in spring training, going into Ozzie's office and telling him he was going to make the team (or so I read). If Tracey was told to hit Blalock, and he had a problem with that instruction, he SHOULD HAVE spoken up before he went into the game. Because to fail to execute a command from your manager is to invite a meltdown that may be public, and will certainly be painful. OTOH, if Tracey is so fragile that he is ruined as a big-league pitcher by last night's events, then it's a good thing the club found that out now, and not when they'd signed him to a million-dollar contract later on. Ed Farmer recounted last night his rookie year when he was ordered by Billy Martin to hit an opposing player, upon Farmer being brought in from the pen. Farmer did it. It's baseball, and my liking it or not won't change that ...

QUOTE(Friend of Nordhagen @ Jun 12, 2006 -> 11:36 PM) I think the real question here is if Freddy will be awake for the first inning. Most of the time, he's pretty sleepy in the early going. You can get away with that as a pitcher, but not at first. So I propose that AJ cover first on all grounders hit during the first innning, except the ones hit to Iguchi, who should just run over from his position and take those unassisted. This approach will have an initially unseen benefit: Tadahito will lead the league in putouts, becoming the first Japanese second baseman to ever do so. Bud Selig will make a special presentation on Opening Day next year, honoring number 15 for a great accomplishment. I really believe in this plan. Yeah, I read somewhere that Garcia comes in and naps in the clubhouse prior to his starts on days when he pitches. If you're going to have AJ field a lot of Freddy's plays, in addition to calling the game and playing his own position, then I think you have to propose a percentage of Freddy's salary be given to AJ. And maybe some to Iguchi too. If that's done, I think this is a plan worthy of consideration by the great minds on the Sox. And I hope that when they adopt it, they give you the credit for coming up with it.

QUOTE(bmags @ Jun 12, 2006 -> 04:08 PM) i feel like freddy is built to be that slow first basemen we've never had. I think you're right! I wonder how Freddy's going to take the news that he has to play every day -- or do you think that Ozzie will let him start at first base only every 5th day, consistent with the rotation Freddy's used to? And once at first base, will Freddy be able to go into the 7th inning or later? Because I don't think he knows what the 8th and 9th innings look like this year, from the field. I'm just saying.

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Jun 12, 2006 -> 03:04 PM) If fans didn't overvalue the home run, steroids would likely not be as much of a problem as it has become. Mark McGwire put it best in an episode of the Simpsons when he said "Do you want to know the awful truth or do you want to see me swat some dingers?" America has wanted and still wants dingers...and they've shown that they really don't care how they get them. I think I agree with this. I'm interested to note that an awful lot of fans (not here, just in general) don't seem to care as much about the pitching side of the game as they do about the hitting side. When the opposing team is at bat, the fans want outs, and they want them quickly, and there isn't much interest in the rythmn of the pitches, why this or that was thrown to a particular batter, etc. Lots of people assume that every ball (non-strike) was a mistake and that every pitcher means to throw 3 consecutive strikes to every batter. There's not much interest in how a catcher calls a game, either. No doubt that watching the offensive half of the inning is more adrenaline-producing than watching the defensive half, but I think it's too bad that hitting is so much of the show. Howard Bryant addressed this, and much more, in his excellent book "Juicing the Game." Great read. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4736039

QUOTE(Damen @ Jun 12, 2006 -> 01:26 AM) Seeing Garcia throw nothing but garbage yet again, I was wondering, why don't we put Ozuna in his spot in the rotation. He's fast and always tries hard. It would probably help our team chemistry and give us more heart in the rotation, which is why haven't been winning as much. What do you guys think? Well, since Freddy's still under contract, he's got to play somewhere ... has he got the range and speed for the outfield, do you think?

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jun 12, 2006 -> 10:30 AM) I would think if the official scorer loved him the least bit he'd have three hits. They didn't score it as an error immediately, and we were saying that Ozzie probably was on his cell to the scorer -- 'this kid needs it to be a hit, come on, you know it was through!'

Good game for BA -- he hit the ball 3 times, and his homerun was nothing if not timely. IMO it made a huge difference last week to have Ozzie say to the media 'put a sock in the AAA talks, Anderson is my center fielder.' I think Ozzie will be able to manage BA into the player we all know he can be. (And no, I don't just feel this way because I'm a girl and Anderson's cute, as one of my co-workers insists. Well okay, maybe a little.)

QUOTE(rangercal @ Jun 11, 2006 -> 10:29 PM) I feel very stupid right now. I know we did not win, but I can only imagine the energy over there. If the sox won, I would have felt like that redsox comeback scene in fever pitch. did anyone else also leave early? I left early too. The person I was with wanted to leave after the 7th, and since he was driving, and with the Sox down 9-1 and it being a Sunday night, I said sure, let's go. And when we turned on the radio in the car and listened to the 9th, we were kicking ourselves!

QUOTE(Pauly8509CWS @ Jun 11, 2006 -> 01:24 PM) Exactly my point as well. True, but here's what some people see as a difference -- say you're a .280 hitter. You come in with a hangover and totally out of it. You can't even freaking focus to see the ball coming at you in BP. Then you take a few greenies, you get in the game, you're your usual self, playing at the top of your .280-hitter game. Maybe you get a hit and draw a walk and you don't actually fall down on the basepaths -- pretty good, considering what a mess you were a few hours ago. But the greenies didn't make you better than you could be if you weren't hungover as hell. If you'd gone to bed on time, not gotten wasted, and shown up ready to play, you could have had the same day. Now, if you take HGH and 'roids, you stop being a .280 hitter and become a .330 hitter -- not just for one game, for the *season*, and beyond. And some people say that's quite different. That's all I was trying to point out, not that one is okay and the other isn't, at all.

QUOTE(Queen Prawn @ Jun 11, 2006 -> 11:17 AM) That's a few minutes of my life I will never get back. While, to some degree, I agree the Sox players/coaches should keep their mouths shut about the roid issue until it becomes an issue the team is directly involved in, couldn't he have written the article without calling out the Sox? I guess not or else it would be a Mariotti column. Same here, I can't believe I read that, now I need to wash my brain out with soap. Boy, he's got some serious Ozzie-hate going, huh? What's with *that*? Makes me think that Jay-baby got taunted by the sports players when he was in middle school and has been seething ever since.

IMO the best answer to any celebrations by the other team is just to beat them and win the game. Farmer gets his blood pressure up about all kinds of stuff that he thinks merits brushback or knockdown pitches, but he also says yeah, he played the game 30 years ago and times were different then. I do like to hear him and Singleton discuss that stuff, though -- funny.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Jun 11, 2006 -> 01:40 AM) It's on... This was championship baseball at it's best, and I am happy to say that I am a f***ing Chicago White Sox fan. Stretch. It will.... you can put it on the board............................................. yes. There seems to have been a change in atmosphere on the ballclub, or what we fans see of it anyway. I hope this is the beginning of the group coming together and driving for the title phase of the season. And I hope that KW is able to work some trade magic to help the pitching. (I know Garland has a no-trade clause, but that only means he would have to okay a trade -- maybe he wants to be somewhere else, which would give the Sox that trade option. Dunno.)

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 10, 2006 -> 01:52 PM) I take it I'm the only one sad that our best option right now is Anderson in CF, according to our organization. I can't believe the mediocrity has gone on for so long, and it doesn't look like there's going to be any changes for a while. Mediocrity? Are you watching the games I am? Anderson's in the mother of all batting slumps. He's a f*cking GEM in the field. I don't get mediocrity out of that, I get an insanely talented rook struggling mightily ... ???

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jun 10, 2006 -> 11:06 AM) If anyone was expecting him to win 18 games than you deserve to be dissapointed. Never mind the 18 wins, I'd be happy if he'd quit feeding that damn gopher.

QUOTE(Balance @ Jun 10, 2006 -> 10:53 AM) Jon, the critics in this case are entirely under your control. Pitch better, and the critics will shut up. Until you pitch better, you ought to do the same. That's pretty much what Ozzie said, too. ******************************************************************** But Guillen also had a very pointed response for Garland's comments in regard to not wanting to hear how he wasn't as good as last year. "Well, he isn't, but he should prove you guys wrong," Guillen said. "Garland is frustrated? So are we. We expect a lot from him. "I don't expect him to win 20 games. I don't expect him to win all his games. I expect him to every time go out and throw the ball better." ******************************************************************** I love Ozzie. Another manager would be all "Oh, Jon's just had a few bad innings, he really is as good as he ever was, blah blah blah." Not our Ozzie! Garland's making way too much money to be pouting about media questions. Contrast that to Anderson, who's making way less and being very cool about all the sh*t he's getting from reporters.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Jun 10, 2006 -> 08:26 AM) I think Ozzie finally saying this could be very big for BA. I feel we may finally see a turning point with his offense a bit. I don't know if Ozzie is finally realizing this, but I'm just glad that his glove is being recognized for what it is. We need that a lot more than any offense he gives us. The offense will come around though, and anything he gives us there is just gravy. I agree with you. I just read the morning papers, the news that Anderson is the regular center fielder was mentioned but not as prominently as I would have liked, given that Ozzie's little "he's our guy, now shut up" speech opened his post-game press conference last night. Freaking news media -- they roast BA on a spit for weeks on end, to fill up the space they can't fill with intelligent analysis, and then when the club says "Okay, nothing to see here, move along" they just shrug. When I heard Ozzie say it last night, I thought that this is huge for Anderson. This takes a LOT of the pressure off him -- not the pressure of the batting slump, which of course he does have still, but the pressure of "is he a minor-leaguer playing above his level." For Ozzie and KW to say "he's a major leaguer and he's the starting CF'er on our world championship club" seems enormous. I am also struck by Anderson's class when dealing with the media. He is still making jokes about stuff that has to have gotten beyond annoying for him. Good style for the kid.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Jun 9, 2006 -> 10:26 PM) Jermaine.Dye. Bigtime. See Ozzie hug him as JD ran off the field at the end?