Dick Allen

The bullpen faded last year, I think they don't want it to fade this year as appearances pile up. It all may be moot if they don't start winning some games. A bad weekend this weekend and the season could be over. A good one, and they will amazingly be right there. A sweep would be devine.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jul 22, 2011 -> 07:37 AM) I can't believe the prevailing opinion on this board doesn't hold Kenny Hollywood accountable for this mess. I doubt there is anyone on this board that doesn't give KW any blame for this current mess. He should be accountable, so should Ozzie, so should JR, so should the coaches, so should the players. I don't know if you have noticed, it seems the most frustrating part of this season is how no one IS apparently taking accountablity. Nothing changes. If the Sox don't win this division and this brand of baseball continues the next 64 games, when they give you the line they gave after 2007 that no one could have seen this coming, maybe not, but certainly a lot of teams would have done SOMETHING about it by now. The problem is the GM and manager apparently don't get along and seem IMO to be trying to get the Chairman to be on their side. They are working harder at winning over JR than they are at trying to win games, and each has too big of ego and is too stubborn apparently to admit they were wrong and change it up a bit.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jul 21, 2011 -> 09:13 PM) Not Cowley or a Guillen, but too many posters think the Sox front office is above reproach. Truth is Williams (and Hahn) is most responsible for this mess. Actually in a roundabout way Ozzie is with his love of Mark Kotsay. If Ozzie agrees and the Sox sign Thome in 2010 and they use him in spots like the Twins did, they probably never talk contract with Adam Dunn, and he's probably the Tigers problem now. Also his handling of Alex Rios is deplorable. He finally benches him for loafing, something Ozzie said he's done numerous times (duh) but the benching only lasts a couple innings. Then big bad Ozzie, he the guy who says he doesn't care what anyone thinks, than goes on a rant if he's ever criticized, backs off and says Rios riding pine for a couple of innings wasn't a message to him, but rather to the team. Nice backtrack. Interesting the guy who knows all the buttons to push on Wednesday complained about his team's energy. Apparently the message didn't get through, and if he's such a genius Joe, ask Oney, how Ozzie's teams find themselves in these situations year after year after year. You would think if a guy knew it all, his team would just continue to build leads in their divison as the season went on.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jul 21, 2011 -> 09:40 PM) Do you honestly believe the White Sox can't DL Dunn? If he's not hurt. Believe me, other teams would be very curious and there would be an investigation. This isn't the NBA with an inactive list.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jul 21, 2011 -> 09:33 PM) I don't see that as an issue. Of course not Joe. Go shine Oney's shoes and always remember the Guillen family motto, if the Sox win, its because Ozzie is a brilliant manager. If they lose, its because KW is a horrible GM.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jul 21, 2011 -> 09:24 PM) Having Dunn on the bench does no good. He can't run or play defense. He needs to be DL'ed. DLing a non injured player would cost JR even more money with the gigantic fine he'd be required to pay. You're saying Ozzie is batting Dunn 3rd or 4th as an angle to get KW to hopefully put him on the DL? Wouldn't sitting him down do the trick or batting him 8th and hitting like he's hitting?

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jul 21, 2011 -> 09:01 PM) There isn't a manager in baseball who can sit a free agent signed for 4y/$56M for an extended period of time without the blessing of the GM. Batting him 4th might be an effort to get Hollywood to do something with him. I'm shocked they haven't put him on the DL yet. What exactly is "Hollywood" supposed to do with him? He can't trade him. JR isn't going to eat all that cash without seeing if he can somehow come around in the next year or so. If he must play, you still have to try to win, not try to show up your boss. If Ozzie is trying to show up KW batting Dunn 3rd or 4th he should be fired and blackballed from baseball for not trying to win.

QUOTE (Mr. Showtime @ Jul 21, 2011 -> 08:37 PM) Boers and Bernsie were talking about this on their show today. Bernsie brought up that people he talks to tell him (take it for what you will) that there is rift between the pitchers and the offense. He phrased it as similar to a defense in football knowing they can't give up a touchdown because the offense is horrible. Bernsie said he was told he pitchers feel if they give up more than 2 runs in a game that they'll lose. Peavy mentioned after his last loss that it's tough to win when you only score 2. Coop got mad in this interview when Barry Rozner mentioned Humber had 2 bad games in a row. Coop was saying he had 1 bad inning in Detroit, but if they could hit and catch the ball it wouldn't be an issue. Did Bernstein get this information from the same person who told him the Sox told the Guillen family they would be drafting Ozney, when in fact, they told them they would not draft him? Bernstein is a pompous ass who is a bright guy, except when it comes to White Sox baseball.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jul 21, 2011 -> 08:29 PM) You don't honestly think Guillen wants to play Dunn do you? Dunn is the anti-Guillen player. Bad defensively, strikes out a ton, and can't run. Dunn, Rios, and Peavy are clearly Kenny guys. Then explain to me why he bats Dunn 3rd or 4th? Whether you believe it or not, Ozzie makes the line ups. He finally sat Dunn twice, then said he had a sore knee. We know thats BS. He has no chance. Supposedly as bad as he looks during the games, he looks equally awful during BP.

I don't get too excited about 27 year olds' stats in AAA although I agree, he can't be any worse than Rios. KW did say earlier this year he was a lot better player than most people thought.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jul 21, 2011 -> 04:05 PM) It makes sense when you consider, as fathom suggested, that Cooper is the only member of the Sox management with whom they routinely speak or to whom they have access. Your last analogy sucks, too. It'd be more like asking a WSCR host a question about a well-known problem on another WSCR show. Also I'm quite certain Cooper gets paid to come on the show and has answered questions that didn't have to do with the pitching staff during earlier shows. There's no reason for him to hang up. If he doesn't want to answer the question fine. If he feels they were trolling, fine, handle it off the air.

Considering this quote Even if he talks about quitting, he cannot imagine taking the leap. “It’s not going to happen,” he says. “Zero chance. Zero. You can’t get this competition anywhere else, dude. I don’t care where you look. Nowhere else. It’s one-on-one, dude. And you can’t find that anywhere. … I'd say the answer is no. This stat is amazing can’t hit with two strikes (12 for 181 with 124 strikeouts, an .066 average

QUOTE (Real @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 10:12 PM) someone bringing up my trade idea from two weeks ago! woooo! though I think NYY would do Danks Montero + Gardner If Kenny could somehow include Teahen in there, yeah..... Danks + Flowers for Montero + Gardner? There aren't a lot of people who think Montero will be a catcher much longer.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 10:09 PM) Ozzie's going to the Marlins, and KW is going to take on the Paxson type role for the Sox. You don't see Hahn's name attached to any possible GM openings anymore (except for stupid Phil Rogers with the Cubs), and there's a reason why...he knows his time with Sox is coming soon. Rosenthal had something the other day where some White Sox guys said that the bumping KW "upstairs" move, wouldn't work for either of Hahn or KW. If you are going to change GMs, keeping KW around in a position of some authority is a mistake. Let him go scout.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 10:03 PM) Or he doesn't really care anymore because he feels like daddy favors the other brother more than him now? It almost seems like both boys want to get fired. I do hope JR launches them both.

QUOTE (Cali @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 10:02 PM) Oh, but the Mix is working Kenny. THE. MIX. IS. WORKING. He believes in the talent, and there's nobody available who is better than what they have. KW must be drunk.

I was out to dinner and when I came home to watch the end of the game my neighbor was outside and told me he can't watch the Sox anymore. He's always yelling at the TV. Good thing he missed this one.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 09:56 PM) I'd have to think about that one. That is a tough one, but its not my money so I say keep Sale. If I was JR, I'd probably say hello Mr. Gardner.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 09:44 PM) I said it earlier tonight, but not calling up Viciedo for this series with two lefties on the mound while benching Dunn is mind-boggling. Look at our freaking offensive roster right now? It's pathetic! I don't understand it either. What is KW waiting for? Its mindboggling. Hopefully this knee "issue" with Dunn lands him on the DL.

Dunn has had success vs. a lot of pitchers in the past who have made him look silly this year.

Is Dunn available to pinch strikeout for someone tonight?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 08:16 PM) But you also have to adjust for those pitching ratings being, from first glance. pedestrian. Same thing with the hitting...playing half the games at USCF. If you do the park-adjusted ratings (baseball-reference), you'll come up with a much different set of comparisons. Not really. Sox pitchers have pitched better at home than on the road.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 06:44 PM) You're naming players that had been very good prior to ever working with Walker. So those are the guys who didn't completely suck while they worked with him? Juan Uribe is your shining example? Dye, Thome, and Thomas had all been multiple-time all stars prior to ever meeting Greg Walker. Alexei, in my opinion, has been basically exactly what the scouting reports out of Cuba said he would be. Q was a first round draft pick who was injured for a great deal of his time in AZ. He was dealt because of a numbers crunch situation, not because anyone proclaimed him to be a bust. You're just going to make excuses for anyone who has had success under Walker. If you want to say Gavin Floyd is a feather in Don Cooper's cap, Carlos Quentin is a feather in Greg Walker's cap. We won't even mention Paul Konerko and how much he credits Walker. Aaron Rowand, even after playing in Philadelphia under Charlie Manuel said Walker is the best hitting coach he's ever had. It would be nice to have some success with the players from the Sox system, guys like Josh Fields, but I don't know how you could put that failure on Walker. They obviously weren't prepared well enough getting to the big leagues and no one has been able to help them since. Alexei is far and away a better hitter than what the scouts thought. If he is what they thought, he would have signed for a lot more money.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 06:17 PM) But can you name any hitters that were absolute garbage before coming here and flourished under Walker's tutelage? Jermaine Dye. Jim Thome was hurt in 2005. I'm sure he will use Frank Thomas as one of his examples. Alexei Ramirez was much better than advertised. Carlos Quentin was a bust in AZ and may have been MVP in 2008 in not for a fluke injury. Uribe was great his first season after being run out of Colorado. There are many. If Walker was half as pitiful as most say he is, there would be some players in his 8 years that went on to become much better when they got away from him.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 06:04 PM) I don't know, yo, I'm not behind closed doors. However, I'm not limiting this to just Alex f***ing Rios. There's a laundry list of players who are acquired, vastly underperform expectations, and then go on to re-achieve their former productivity elsewhere. Who? Swisher is one, but he did not work with Walker. That is a fact. Its one reason the Sox got rid of him. I hope you don't say Wilson Betemit. He batted 45 times for the White Sox. I can name a few pitchers that flourished after leaving the Sox and Don Cooper walks on water. I think Walker would be a lot more popular if he got hammered and went on talk radio.