Dick Allen

Other than the perfect game, his ERA has to be around 7.00. I think if he threw a 2 hitter that day, he would be in Charlotte or another organization or out of baseball right now.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Aug 3, 2012 -> 08:11 PM) how in the f*** did this guy throw the best pitched game ive ever seen He gives you a few teasers, and of course the ultimate teaser, but then he goes back to being Phil Humber. That doesn't help the Sox win.

His ERA is around 6.00 for the last year. Its just about time Humber finds a new line of work.

What ever happened to that thing he had going where if you paid him $200 or so, you could spend the day with him? I'd have had him wash my car.

QUOTE (Caesar @ Aug 3, 2012 -> 08:05 PM) Yes he is. Even 1-2-3 innings feel like he dodged a bullet.

Humber is scary.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Aug 3, 2012 -> 07:51 PM) It's hard to say that the throw wasn't partially caused by being outside the lane, as his window to the base to actually hit Pujols is very small at that point. When in doubt, you're taught to call the interference, unless the throw is way, way off. I don't agree with getting rid of the lane - you can't have guys running wherever they want inside the line. Imagine bunts and choppers. You'd never be able to call a runner out for interference. It's really not a crazy of a route as it only kicks in on the last half, and only if it's a play from behind the runner. Ripken was showing the route. The bottom line is since the ball didn't hit him and he wasn't in Pujols way, its a judgement call, that right or wrong, went the Sox way. Ripken thinks they should get rid of the lane and every team have the grass go to 15 inches away from the foul line, and just make guys run on the dirt. The foul line is the left border of the lane and the right border with where you are running. If your right foot is the one landing when you are getting to first base, how is that going to work out?

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Aug 3, 2012 -> 07:34 PM) Yeah, he was well outside the running line (so think inside the line). The throw went from C to 1B. On a play like that, the rule is you have to have both feet in the running lane. It does not matter if the ball hits you or not. Angels officially protesting the game. HP umpire messed this up bad, it was such an easy call. It's not like one foot was barely outside and they may have missed it. Since the ball didn't hit him, its the umpire's discretion whether or not his being outside the lane caused the bad throw. If the umpire just thinks the catcher made a bad throw, then interference isn't called. If the ball hit him or he interfered with the first baseman catching the ball or the umpire believes his position was the cause of the bad throw, then interference is called. I can see where you could make an argument the throw was bad because of where Paulie was, you can also see the catcher just making a bad throw. Billy Ripken was actually going over this rule a couple of nights ago and he thinks they should get rid of the lane. If you're running in the lane, especially from the right side of the batter's box its a crazy route, and really you can't run a straight line unless you hit first base with you left foot. The protest will be denied.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 3, 2012 -> 04:17 PM) I've honestly not followed anything in the NL this year. Is Lee's issue poor run support this year? He has an over .900 OPS against when pitching from the stretch. He hasn't been very good. I hope it is Detroit. It can't be the White Sox. If they don"t think Buehrle is worth $58 million, no way they gamble $95 million on Cliff Lee.

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Aug 3, 2012 -> 03:51 PM) Cliff Lee Claimed On Waivers By Ben Nicholson-Smith [August 3 at 3:46pm CST] Phillies left-hander Cliff Lee has been claimed on waivers, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter). The Phillies can now pull Lee back off of waivers, assign his contract to the team that won the claim, or work a trade out with the claiming team. Lee can block trades and claims to 21 teams, which could limit the Phillies' flexibility, depending on the identity of the claiming team. How does it work if its a team he has no trade protection against if they just want him to be claimed? If I'm Philadelphia, I'd see if I could get something first and if not, I'd free myself up from the now $95 million in future committments to a 34 year old who seems to be going the wrong way and let him go.

Enough with the everyone gets a trophy mentality. Rings are earned by teams, not individuals. I like both guys, but they have plenty of accolades. If they want a WS ring for a WS they never won, they have plenty of money to buy one.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 1, 2012 -> 04:44 PM) Ozzie will not quit. But he will mention from time to time how close he's come to quitting several times, just so everyone can reflect upon how lucky they are he decided against it.

Dempster only gave up 8 last night.

MLB Network had someone on who was saying Cliff Lee has a .900+ OPS against when he's in the stretch this year. As good as he's been, he's not a guy you want to owe $80 million or so the next 3 years.

I think the people who were really upset about Ventura where just putting way too much into it. It's not like he's trying to split an atom or perform delicate brain surgery. He's been around baseball his entire life. It pretty much was his life for many years. Running a game shouldn't be difficult. He had Cooper around to help him know the pitching personnel if he hadn't already. Players were sick of either the Ozzie/KW dynamic or Ozzie himself, and if you're sick of Ozzie, Robin is the perfect replacement. The only other major thing is getting respect in the clubhouse. He was a good player with a terrific reputation. He has an even keel personality. It wasn't hard to figure he was going to command respect in the clubhouse. Someday, however, just like everyone else, the Sox will lose a lot more than they win, and he will become an idiot.

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 04:36 PM) BMAC was such a fan favorite, it was understandable. I was really happy for him this year. I hated that trade myself. It didn't make sense to me. I did become a big Danks fan and hope he fully recovers. I still think he's a lot better than some think.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 02:33 PM) I feel like everyone is giving Robin too much of the benefit of the doubt already in this thread. His team responded to him and done well so far, but in no way am I ready to call him a great manager. He still makes plenty of WTF decisions. This team went through a carnival the last two years, so just have a quiet calming presence in the dugout would lead to a turnaround in performance. This team also hasn't faced major adversity yet, so he hasn't had to deal with that. I'm not trying to hate on Robin, and I think he could be a good one over time. But I don't think that four months proves that everyone's original opinion was 100% wrong. If that was automatic, there would have been zero negative posts.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 02:59 PM) With Houston paying all of his contract. Does that money go with, or does Florida keep it? The Marlins keep it.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 02:55 PM) His contract ends this year and his OPS is 105 points better than James Loney, for a single example. Same reason the Marlins traded for him in the first place. One big difference, the Astros are paying the Marlins. If you claim Lee, you have to pay him his entire contract. The Marlins were trying to trade him and wanted teams to eat $2.5 million even though they essentially are paying him the minimum.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 12:41 PM) There's few people that were spot on, including fathom. 'Real' should disable his account yesterday. Was Real the one who said with all due respect, anyone who likes this hire doesn't know s*** about baseball? That was my favorite post. We all have zero experience coaching and managing in the major leagues, yet we all always point out the correct way to manage and coach. It seems crazy to think if a run of the mill message board poster knows all that needs to be known about managing, a guy with 2000 games played wouldn't know the first thing about it. I could see if he had a personality that clashed, things like that, but experience was the reason the hire was panned. He had plenty of baseball experience.

I might get in trouble for bumping this thread, but a few people owe Robin an apology.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Aug 1, 2012 -> 04:14 PM) Abreu would be a nice LH bat off the bench. He's not a fit since he can't play defense.

Reed gets a 4 out save.

QUOTE (nhsamtmcspnut @ Aug 1, 2012 -> 02:50 PM) why would they put john danks in left field? He can't pitch, so they want him to earn his $65 million somehow.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 1, 2012 -> 02:39 PM) Exactly. 2B defense can be filled with whomever the utility infielder is. In a pinch (due to injury) you can always stick Morel there and morel is a nice upgrade at 3rd late in games (since youk isn't a gold glover). The big thing is pinch running for Paulie, moves Youkilis to first (where he was a GG), Morel to 3rd.