Dick Allen

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 8, 2011 -> 10:16 PM) Mike Schmidt should have been benches and replaced in his 2nd year. How could you possibly count on a guy like that? I'm sold. Mike Schmidt started slow, so Morel is obviously going to have a better career than he did. The Sox are set.

QUOTE (sunofgold @ Sep 8, 2011 -> 10:15 PM) Yes, we are beating the Injuns. Remember their hot start to the season. They have totally gone down since then. I don't know what they are going to be like next year. Probably not that great to average. We are going to have a chance in 2012. Just hope that everybody picks the Tiggs to win the division and that will put less pressure on us. The Indians really suck and have a ton of injuries. It didn't take a baseball genius to come to the conclusion they would fall back to earth. The Sox should be dominating the AL Central. Hopefully Illich will spend some Tiger money on a couple of Adam Dunn types this coming offseason.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 8, 2011 -> 10:09 PM) In Mike Schmidt 1st year as a full time 3rd baseman He had 443 plate appearances 62 walks 18 HR , 17 errors .196 BA . 56 RBI , 136 K's. Maybe Morel could have hit 18 HR if all he did was swing for the fences. So Morel should be a more disciplined Mike Schmidt. Awesome.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 8, 2011 -> 09:55 PM) Our hr have declined because the cf spot and the dh spot have produced a lot less. How many did Kotsay hit last year? Ozzie and Soxtalk began hating home runs for some reason. The decline in homers probably is the reason the home record is so horrendous.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 8, 2011 -> 09:53 PM) Flowers never was as good as he looked when he was hitting everything and he won't be as bad as he looks now. With a rookie... He needs legit qt bats to learn what pitchers are doing to adapt to him. His swing looks long because that's one of those mistakes you make when pitchers realize they can get you off balance at the plate. His swing looks long because it is long. It will be a problem for him forever. He reminds me of Josh Fields offensively. Although he could probably hit a 90 mph fastball right down the middle, where Josh is swinging when the catcher is throwing it back to the pitcher.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 8, 2011 -> 09:49 PM) Well, I do appreciate it, and it is very nice to see Morel letting loose at the plate. If he can give the Sox 15 homers next year, that would be a huge plus. Rongey actually had a great segment tonight around 6:10pm when he mentioned the huge decline in home runs for the squad this year. Ozzieball. Home runs are bad.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 8, 2011 -> 09:50 PM) In all fairness rookies never need time to learn anything and their first 30 at bats define their career. He hit a few homers last September and it didn't mean crap for this year. I'll hold off judgement on his September homers this year.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Sep 8, 2011 -> 09:47 PM) I always thought Flowers wasn't going to be anything special at the plate. I guess he Ks a lot. He might as well learn to bunt. He can hit it a mile and does draw walks. If he can make enough contact, something I wonder about, he could hit .220-.235 with a .325 OBP and hit 20+ homers with 150 ks. It really wouldn't be too bad. On the other side, if he can't make as much contact as that, its going to be hard to put him in the line up every day.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 8, 2011 -> 09:46 PM) In all fairness he is far from the only one. And in fairness, Morel hasn't done much until the games became meaningless.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 8, 2011 -> 09:43 PM) I'd rather Ozzie learn Flowers can't bunt now when it doesn't matter than to have him try to bunt next year when it might matter. Its too bad he doesn't know what we already know, and couldn't figure it out after the first attempt.

QUOTE (MAX @ Sep 8, 2011 -> 09:41 PM) I agree with you about his future, but you can't deny that he has some power. He is perhaps the perfect guy I wouldn't never have bunt. There was zero reason to have him bunt. If Ozzie really needed a bunt there he could have pinch hit Vizquel. He has 2 other catchers available. Flowers needs all the strikes he can get. Taking away 2 is murder.

QUOTE (MAX @ Sep 8, 2011 -> 09:34 PM) Perfect time to take the bat out of flowers hands. Flowers looks like a guy who has never bunted in his life. Its nice that Hawk pointed that out, as Ozzie is setting up for failure again. I don't know how its taking the bat out of his hands though. All those craving more Tyler Flowers in 2012 better be careful what they wish for. It looks like the league may have caught up to him.

QUOTE (God Loves The Infantry @ Sep 8, 2011 -> 07:18 PM) I hate Thome so much. Did you know Jim Thome has a higher career OBP than Tony Gwynn and Rod Carew?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 7, 2011 -> 11:55 PM) I've been talking to a lot of baseball fans outside of Chicago and ask them what their perception is of Ozzie Guillen. They all say that he is a good manager. I ask them all if they can understand why a message board I frequent wants him fired and believes he will be fired. They say, 'No.' If we finish .500, folks, Ozzie being fired will be perceived as unfair nationally. JR should consult with those people on all his moves. Do you really value opinions of those that see him 4 or 5 times a year vs. people who see him every single day? You yourself have called for his head. Wasn't national opinion that Doug Collins getting whacked was unfair? That didn't work out too badly. And why would anyone car what someone else thought? You do what's best for your team.

Garbage time started early this season.

If the Sox are going to lose this one, its really going to be tough to make the playoffs. Oh well, a family of 4 can get to Soxfest for only $616 except they can't eat anything or park their car.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 7, 2011 -> 07:50 PM) Just think how good things will be when Viciedo hits well enough that he can move in front of Rios. He's not a veteran and can't handle the pressure of hitting in those spots. Rios and Dunn handle it quite well. Wait......................

Rios hit into a DP. That has to be Greg Walker's fault.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 6, 2011 -> 07:40 PM) And base whether or not the out should have been made based on positioning, speed, and distance. In a few years there will be computer data on player positioning at the start of plays and batted ball velocity that will make this easy. (Field F/X). It will be interesting to see how that effects the results. I believe in some metrics, I also beleive in the eye test. Alexei could win the GG every year, but he makes too many plays like the 2 he made tonight. Its going to happen once in a while, but he is so afraid of baserunners its almost pathetic.

QUOTE (VictoryMC98 @ Sep 6, 2011 -> 07:36 PM) I will state this briefly about Gordon, he should be in AAA at the start of the season this year. IMO they rushed him up here. Which is why I was glad they never called up DV, until later on this year. Rios IMO should have never been on this club, hated this move.. even last year. But, with that said to answer your question.. They were given enough time, but who replaces them.. Is Brett L an everyday player? At the time is Mark T, a better choice? I didn't see anyone on the 25-man roster that was a better choice.. and that's not Ozzie's fault. Is it? The point the objectors to Ozzie are making is even if he had to play Rios and Dunn to "get them out of their slumps", he didn't need to be putting them in the spots usually reserved for run producers.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 6, 2011 -> 07:37 PM) I believe that one is outs produced divided by chances. That one is 5 years out of date anyway. For things like UZR they actually review plays like the ones you're talking about to see if a play could have been made. So they look at them with their eyes?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 6, 2011 -> 07:34 PM) 75% of overturned death penalty convictions involve overturning eewitness testimony. Metrics are a lot more reliable than your eyes. How is range factor determined?

Hawk sucking the Twins balls. Look at the standings, this team is awful.

De Aza has been as impressive as any call up.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 6, 2011 -> 07:27 PM) No he hasn't. Pick your metric. They all disagree. Metrics don't measure the 2 plays he just blew. He was afraid of the baserunner so no DP. He dropped an out, SB no error. He often sets up for a throw to second way in front of 2B. He's a wuss. A very talented wuss who could be awesome if he wasn't so afraid of possible contact.