Dick Allen

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 12, 2012 -> 08:05 PM) Now your argument is that Myers theoretically would have lost the game, had he entered where Thornton did? Just wow. And way to throw Myers' domestic violence conviction into it as well, that's probably what caused AJ to throw the ball down the line against the Twins...or maybe it was because there was a baserunner in the way, but it might have been because AJ has a non-profit foundation set up to protect women from DV and he was deliberately sabotaging Myers??? All evidence to the overall success level of Myers with the Sox, especially against RHBers...we'll just conveniently throw that out. Fathom quoted the overwhelmingly convincing and weighted stats for those A's batters against RHP and LHP in the game thread. Patently obvious that Thornton wasn't the correct move from the very beginning, and shouldn't have been left in to face ANY righties. Thornton's fastball velocity was already down before this season...it's not due to his workload in 2012. It has been consistently declining inch by inch over the last couple of seasons. BTW, Thornton gives up a couple of cheap hits every other time he comes into a game. That's why he has given up more hits than IP. That's BAD if you're a short reliever...and it's a sign his fastball that used to get swings and misses just isn't blowing very many batters away anymore, at least not in key situations against teams like the Red Sox or A's. No, that's not what I wrote. My point was you and a few others would blame the game on Thornton no matter what happened. Thornton was blamed, the wife beater got a pass. It would have been the same had the wife beater come in first and performed exactly as Matt did and Thornton relieved him and performed exactly as Meyers did. No matter what, Thornton's fault. He got a ground ball to SS that was in between hops that Ramirez had to go back on and it was too late to get Cespedes. Then Cepsedes runs and Carter hits a pop up to 2nd but because Beckham was covering 2nd on a steal attempt, the ball is a hit. Thornton then leaves the game with the game tied. Meyers, who, historically, gives up more than a hit an inning, an indication to you he can't be any good, gives up a hit for the lead, and for good measure gives up an insurance run in the ninth. Thornton doesn't "miss enough bats" you say over and over. His k rate is down this year. Its 7.8 per 9 innings. Meyers career k rate is 7.3 and hasn't been as high as Thornton's 7.8 this season since 2008.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Aug 12, 2012 -> 10:06 PM) Wise was on waivers nobody claimed him so he was not wanted by any other teams and money was not the reason why. And any team could have had the legendary Jordan Danks this past winter for 20k when he was exposed in the rule 5 draft. No team even bothered. Wise is no world beater, and despite his exciting home run, neither is Danks. Its crunch time. Better to rely on mediocre veterans than mediocre rookies.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 12, 2012 -> 06:26 PM) And who hasn't been over .200 in the majors since 2007. And for anyone to think since he's having a big year in AAA, things will be different this time...............he's had 5 seasons in AAA with a higher OPS than he has this season.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Aug 12, 2012 -> 04:59 PM) Danks can do what Wise does AND has been doing an admirable job doing what he does. I agree though with the logic here. Just complaining that it's Wise staying up in favor of Danks. Your statement, "He did hit it, but there are a lot of left handed hitters that would have hit the pitch he took deep very hard, probably even Dwayne Wise" ....really dumb, sorry. Dumb is not looking at the facts. Wise career OPS .639 and close to .800 this season. Danks OPS after his homer, .621.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 12, 2012 -> 03:49 PM) COMFORTING NEWS FOR ALL [i]Thornton confident in decisive pitch selection CHICAGO -- After taking the loss Saturday night against Oakland, Matt Thornton went back and studied the pitch he made to Jonny Gomes that resulted in the game-tying, eighth-inning home run. The southpaw still believed Sunday that starting Gomes with a slider was the right call. "Our scouting report said, 'First-pitch breaking ball, outside. Strike 1 every time,'" Thornton said. "My thought was that maybe I'd hung the pitch a little bit. I went back and watched it and talked to [catcher] Tyler [Flowers] and he said that he was going to catch it at the knees. It was going to be the right pitch. "It caught me off guard he even swung, but that's the way it is. It's the game of baseball. He hit a line drive and it got out." Thornton, who entered Sunday's series finale with a 3.88 ERA, admitted that Saturday's loss was a bit mind-boggling but he had moved on and was ready for what's next. The left-hander hopes a few more wins are on his horizon, carrying a 4-8 record through 54 appearances. "As a reliever, I've got a lot of decisions," Thornton said. "Unfortunately, eight of those are losses. But when you give up even one run in a game that's tied, that's the difference-maker. "Frustrating, at times? Yes, but at the same time, I feel like I've come out and continued to attack hitters, continued to make pitches. And you live with results when you throw strikes and prepare yourself every single day and are making the right pitches in certain situations."[/i] www.chisox.com (Merkin) I suppose he should dwell on it, contemplate suicide or some other silly thing. The fact is Thornton has been pretty good lately. He did give up the homer to tie it last night, but then gave up a couple of pretty cheap hits. He left with the game tied and everyone's favorite wife beater came in and gave up the hit to give up the go ahead run and another insurance run in the 9th. I'm pretty sure if Meyers had Thornton's outing and Thornton came on to relief Myers and did exactly what Meyers did last night, you and a good portion of Soxtalk would have blamed the game on Thornton as well. Its good the Sox are getting him some help. Pitching in what seems every game is going to wear on every pitcher.

The legend of Jordan Danks fascinates me. He did hit it, but there are a lot of left handed hitters that would have hit the pitch he took deep very hard, probably even Dwayne Wise. This makes sense, The Sox need another lefty in the bullpen and Wise can do what Danks does. Danks gets some ABs and comes back in 20 days.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Aug 11, 2012 -> 01:24 PM) So do we think Wise stays with the team and they go with Hudson as the only backup IF when Paul returns? I agree with not bringing up Johnson. He is out of options and definitely would be claimed on waivers. He probably wouldn't be claimed on waivers. The guy has totally sucked in the major leagues for 4 or 5 years. I think Danks probably goes back when Paulie comes back and they bring him back on Sept 1. This move makes sense as Wise can play all the OF spots, and pinch run. In the week (hopefully) that Paulie is gone, that will have a better chance of impact than the occassional Dan Johnson AB. Offensively, the Sox weren't going to get a savior from Charlotte. This is the next best thing.

Morel didn't play, but he's only hitting .200 so while it seems like he may be the choice, it would be odd. Johnson and Jackson have been playing so if either was the choice, you would think they would have been pulled. I think its Wise. They had him at DH so the injury risk was minimal and KW did say he needed ABs. Maybe they were squeezing 4 more. At this point, though, nothing would really be a surprise.. Any of these 4, or someone from somewhere else. Whoever the choice is probably isn't going to play very much, and hopefully Paulie's injury doesn't linger.

QUOTE (staxx @ Aug 11, 2012 -> 12:03 AM) I disagree. He has a good approach at the plate and he has the talent, he is improving with each and every year. Did he change your opinion at all after tonight? Thanks for the walk-off! jordo! He is at least replacement level, and for a bench player that is great. I argue he may have the talent to start in a couple years. I was happy with the walkoff, congratulate him on his first career homer, and the unreal timing of it, but he's still a subpar bat. He's actually about a month older than Gordon Beckham.

According to gameday, Jackson and Johnson are both in the field. Maybe Wise will be on his way. But probably Morel.

QUOTE (RZZZA @ Aug 10, 2012 -> 06:07 PM) I've never seen someone get a concussion before without having been knocked out. I was in a head on car crash once (not my fault) and was diagnosed with a concussion. I never lost conscuiousness and to tell you the truth, it never really hurt much. I was just so tired and out of it for a couple of days.

Konerko's 7 day DL stint cannot be retroactive.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Aug 10, 2012 -> 05:52 PM) You don't know if the owners care? They spent $100 million on Reyes, close to $30M on Bell, close to $60M on Buehrle, and made Ozzie a high paid manager. They're also paying Josh Johnson a lot of money. What more do you want them to do? I think they were dedicated to winning this year so they could really cash out. The players signed have backloaded contracts. Its going to be hard for Loria to get a premium price when he has 17k a night next season and the payroll only going higher with the talent level only going lower.

QUOTE (staxx @ Aug 10, 2012 -> 05:48 PM) I highly disagree with your take on Danks. He has an par bat with plus speed and defense... Wise is AWFUL with the bat and shaky in the outfield minus a couple spectacular plays. Danks is not going anywhere, sorry. Danks' bat is subpar or he'd be a starting OF in the major leagues.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 10, 2012 -> 12:27 PM) The whole risk with Flowers at DH thing is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overblown. First of all, the issue only comes up if Flowers is in the game at DH and AJ gets hurt mid-game or is ejected (neither of which have happened more than a few times his entire career with the Sox). And even if it does happen, Flowers can still catch, but we lose the DH slot for the remainder of the game... and late in the game it would be pinch hitters anyway. It is really not a huge risk, at all, especially for a few days. Plus, how the bench guys have hit, pitchers hitting isn't much of a downgrade. If the bases are empty have them take 2 and then swing as hard as they can. With runners on, bunt.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 9, 2012 -> 02:43 PM) About 3 weeks until Pierre and Danks can be on the roster at the same time If the Sox do have to DL Konerko, I really hope they don't bring up Morel. I'm sure it would be Jackson or Johnson.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 9, 2012 -> 02:25 PM) So the 2005 bench basically had 4 players with a higher OPS than anyone on the Sox bench (not counting Olmedo's 1-3)? I don't think anyone is asking for the Sox to go out and acquire superstars for the bench, but it sure seems like guys like Fontenot and Pierre would be significant upgrades over the players they'd be replacing on the bench. The way the team is set up, the back up OF is going to have to be able to play all 3 positions. Juan Pierre in LF is bad enough, in CF or RF, oh my. And I'm still not seeing Fontenot as an upgrade. He doesn't hit with authority, has never played in the AL. His projected production has Orlando Hudson-level written all over it.

There's a reason bench players are bench players. Yes, the Sox bench hasn't hit at all, but chances are anyone acquired to be a bench player isn't going to be a huge upgrade.

Angels are 0-3 in Zach Greinke starts.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Aug 8, 2012 -> 03:22 PM) If he gets to 40 bombs, which he will, he is comeback Player of the Year. Dunn has always been one of my favorite players. When the Sox got him I was ecstatic. I honestly think that I'd almost rather him not be on the team though sometimes. He helps the team win games but I can't deal with the amounts of stupid that a player like Dunn brings upon White Sox fans. I just don't know if I can read about Dunn being bad at baseball for the next two years. Man, I love how the internet lets the stupid be stupid with no consequence. Rios is comeback player of the year. God were people stupid when he hit .159 last year and sat out at the end so he wouldn't qualify for the worst average of all time, and they thought he was bad at baseball.

I think this Danks' news is pretty close to best-case scenerio.

QUOTE (Wagz @ Aug 6, 2012 -> 03:19 PM) Ya but that may have happened in the past for a guy who was amazing and pitched in the pen in the playoffs I mean has there ever been such a fall off like this one? Gallaraga in essence pitched a perfect game as the umpire blew the call on the final out. He fell apart quickly.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Aug 6, 2012 -> 11:39 AM) That game protest was bush-league. You could protest a play like that in every single game. When I was a kid I was at a game in Sept. 1978, the Sox vs. Twins with a whole bunch of September call ups. Larry Doby was the Sox manager and he protested the game because one of the Twins, who had probably just been called up that day, didn't have his name of the back of his uniform. They announced the protest and reason on the PA. The crowd laughed.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 6, 2012 -> 06:14 PM) Fontenot is clearly better than Hudson O Dog blows, but I wonder if Fontenot is really an upgrade. I think KW can do better than that.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Aug 6, 2012 -> 05:26 PM) Just tuned in to the MLB Network. Mitch Williams still thinks the Tigers will win the central by eight games. EIGHT. Mitch Williams can go f*** himself and watch replays of Joe Carter walking his sorry ass off to win the WS. He is perfectly still when he doesn't talk, but do you notice when Mitch Williams speaks his head bounces like a bobblehead?