Dick Allen

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ May 1, 2011 -> 04:42 PM) I'm glad that people are finally getting this, but why has it taken so long? Honestly, people have been saying this same thing for years in regards to Walker. Is six years after a World Series title the exact cutoff point to be OK with firing somebody if only to make a statement? In the last 4 games the Sox would have had to have scored at least 13,11,7 and 7 to win. You can blame the hitting coach all you want, but firing Greg Walker isn't going to make the Sox record better.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 1, 2011 -> 03:48 PM) 22k today???? MERCY Disaster is upon us. I wonder last time they had that low of attendance on a weekend day with nice weather. Its about 15k more than they deserve.

QUOTE (bobryansson @ May 1, 2011 -> 03:43 PM) This is not Ozzie's fault. You're right. Losing is never Ozzie's fault. Winning is all because of Ozzie. If he gets canned he can go on tour with Charlie Sheen.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 1, 2011 -> 03:41 PM) I also love how Hawk said Rios crushed his homer last night...when it made it out by about 15 feet down the line. That was absolutely the perfect spot to use Dunn, as it's very unlikely you get another chance to tie it. Buck Showalter always makes Ozzie look like a little b**** though. Never mind it was a solo homer in the 9th in a 6-1 game. They weren't exactly trying to paint corners.

QUOTE (robinventura23 @ May 1, 2011 -> 03:38 PM) Wow, you actually want Dunn to bat? Wieters could use a fanning off I guess. Its a better option than Rios. The Sox are playing poorly as it is. Not to put your biggest guns out there when you have a shot at a tie or making the game much closer is silly. Teahen was a better option than Rios if Ozzie thinks Dunn needs a rest from playing in the field last night.

How about a pinch hitter next time Rios comes up with runners on and the Sox desperate for runs? How I wish KW got rid of him when he could.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 1, 2011 -> 02:44 PM) Is that true? Not really. Someone did a study of the ERA's from each spot and at least in 2006 the #4 spot was 5.10 but that included every game so injuries and rest and September call ups are added, so its not a #4 guy who lasts the entire season its a #4 guy that also includes starts from a #6-#15 or so guy from which the numbers are taken. If you took the regular #4 guys and just averaged out their ERA's they would be a little lower.

QUOTE (Chisoxrd5 @ May 1, 2011 -> 02:35 PM) He's just dogging it out there, he's better than that. Embarrassing. It does appear his effort is less than stellar which was the exact knock against him in Toronto. Maybe its his toe injury, or maybe its the fact that he is very graceful and those guys look like they give less effort than they do, but hopefully he didn't think he shut up his critics with his first half last year, because he's been awful ever since.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 1, 2011 -> 02:31 PM) At this point, it's pretty clear that Gavin Floyd is never going to be better than a 4th starter with occasional flashes of brilliance. Still has a lot of trade value though. For his career, his ERA in April and May is about 6.00, so this shouldn't be a surprise. He'll be Cy Young in June and most of July.

Hey look, all the runners are in. They are all in.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 1, 2011 -> 02:25 PM) Cause he fixed Humber! But Walker fixed Lillibridge. Its hard for me to fathom Ozzie not playing Dunn today.

Hawk must hate pitchtrax when it shows the umpire to be correct.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 1, 2011 -> 02:22 PM) Someone needs to get fired. My prediction is Walker on Thursday. Why not Cooper? The vaunted starting rotation had the 8th best ERA in the AL last year, and are 9th this year.

Get Rios out of the line up.

Felix Pie's career stats and Alex Rios' White Sox stats are almost identical. How much do the Sox owe Rios?

QUOTE (fathom @ May 1, 2011 -> 02:17 PM) This Orioles lineup is pretty damn good. Throwing anything straight to Reynolds is really foolish. I agree.

I will say Hawk really hasn't blamed umpires for any losses this year, at least in the games I've watched.

QUOTE (JohnCangelosi @ May 1, 2011 -> 10:25 AM) Thornton sure didn't have any luck whatsoever yesterday, but you can appreciate the boos, everyone on this teams deserves an earful, and I mean everyone. If they're not strong enough to take the boos and raise their level of intensity and competitive juices (which appears to be at about a 2 on a scale of 1-10 right now) then they all should move back in with their parents and cry to their mommies. Someone needs to pay for Gordo's slow start, his mechanics are awful. If they just let him swing like he did before Walker got in his head he'd probably be leading the league in doubles and hitting .320 right now. Greg Walker didn't teach Beckham how to hit. If it were so easy or there were guys who made .194 hitters .330 hitters, hitting coaches would be the highest paid employees on baseball teams. You are being beyond naive if you think Greg Walker is costing Gordon Beckham 130 points of batting average.

Beckham will be fine, as to the rest, its a good thing the majority of Soxtalk posters aren't GMs. You would be forced to have a payroll of about $25 million, because all all the money you would be paying players you released and other personnel you fired. As has always been said, the baseball season is a marathon. There is so much that can and will happen by the end of the year. Some you are all calling bums still will be bums, some you are calling bums you'll want KW to sign to a long extension by the end of the year. I don't find anything wrong with being upset. If you're a fan of this team, you should be upset, but realize while maybe this team isn't going to be good enough to win the WS, we don't know that yet, there is even a smaller chance they are as bad as they have shown. Matt Thornton broke 2 bats and struck a guy out yesterday and the result was 1 run in runners on 2nd and 3rd with no out. He got booed off the field. s*** happens. Unfortunately for us, its happening almost everyday to the White Sox.

QUOTE (La Marr Hoyt HOF @ Apr 30, 2011 -> 10:02 PM) All the haters have now been told for a long time that we are overreacting, that the players like playing for him (which i dont believe) or that because he's like a son to Jerry that he is not going anywhere, but I would like to hear some legitimate arguments as to why he deserves to keep his job. The negatives are obvious, what are the affirmative arguments? They are 0-2 without him. Don't peg me an Ozzie guy, but the reason they should keep him is because IMO they are either too short-sided or the timing isn't going to be right to bring in someone better. If the replacement is Cora or Bell, or Cooper, there really is no reason to change.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Apr 30, 2011 -> 10:34 PM) Joey Cora for Manager! Joey was the manager the past 2 games. He had AJP and Teahan hit against lefties down one late.

Now Rios homers down 5 in the 9th.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 30, 2011 -> 07:20 PM) Everyone has to remember that with the current revenue structure in baseball, the White Sox enjoy a significant advantage in being able to ramp up the payroll quickly when it's necessary or justified. 2005 showed you can win the World Series with a $65 million dollar payroll. It's when we spent $90-$130 million on the payroll since then that the team's lost its hunger a bit, drive, desire, whatever you want to call it. I think you're seeing the same thing happening with the Twins. You don't want a team of all "cast-offs" trying to prove themselves to the world (the Carl Everetts and AJ's and El Duque's and Pods and Hermansons), but you have to have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder...mixed with a younger core of players hitting their prime and the veteran leadership. With the broadcasting and ancillary revenues, advertising/marketing advantages in Chicago...it's not just about parking/concessions/souvenirs/ticket sales. That's just one stream these days, and over time, becoming less and less important with the Regional Sports Networks and WGN/superstations. A rebuilding effort is fine if it leads to a championship caliber team for 3+ years. What's not fine is being the Royals/Pirates/Mariners/Padres/Marlins/Nationals/Orioles (although with their two marquee draftees healthy, they could be dangerous). Cleveland and Colorado had similar fan support in the 90's and early 00's. Look how both franchises have done since then. The Rockies reinvented their organization and the fans have come back, especially with the 2007 season. The other problem is if you want to develop young players while not winning, you're not getting any free agents unless you totally outbid other teams. You'll have to give Jayson Werth-like contracts to Jayson Werth-like players, and they have some young guys chances are even if the Sox had the first pick in the draft wouldn't be able to get a comparable player. Sox fans don't have the patience to go through a 2 or 3 week stretch of bad baseball. 4 or 5 years minimum of it, and I think SS2k5 may be on to something if its full blown, and most will walk away until they can buy playoff tickets again.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 30, 2011 -> 07:56 PM) I picked 20 years on purpose. The late 80s into the early 90's were horrible years where the teams sucked and no one went to the games. Sox fans are already infamous for being bandwagon fans, and if all of the players got traded off, it isn't a big leap of faith to expect crowds to drop back into Cleveland Indians range because there is a history of it on the southside. Heck people are already swearing off going to games. Can you imagine that minus all of the star players, and a couple of ninety loss seasons later? I have history on my side. YOU have your feelings. 1990-1994 was a pretty good stretch to be a Sox fan. 1995 sucked, and the strike really hurt attendance. 1996 wasn't bad, 1997-1999 was a rebuilding, although Belle and Thomas were in the middle of the line up in 97 and 98, and they had guys like Thomas and Ordonez and Lee already in the organization. 2000 was a surprise. 2001-2004 weren't bad, but always dissappointing, 2005 magical. 2006-2010 basically the same as 2001-2004 Since JR took over, the only real horrid extended stretch was 1986-1989, which according to my source, was the last time White Sox partners were issed a cash call. I'm with you on a total rebuild. It really makes little sense.

QUOTE (docsox24 @ Apr 30, 2011 -> 08:23 PM) FWIW the sox scouts believe Flowers has made major adjustments and will get the majority of at bats at catcher in 2012. Now I understand if you don't have much faith in the scouting staff right now hitting .239 with 18 strikeouts in 46 ABs doesn't inspire confidence.