Dick Allen

Today is Faust fest, a celebration of one of the best White Sox performers for 40 years. The NY Times has an article about her, of course, our big mouthed manager had something classless to say: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/18/sports/b...18organist.html

There is no way Carlton Fisk is going to be hired to manage the White Sox. For one thing, he's been away way too long, and second but most important, JR doesn't like the guy. Publicly, he'll say the right things about him, but if you really wanted his true opinion, it wouldn't be pretty. And for those who think that really matters very little, look at Larry Himes. He built JR a 94 win team and set them up for years with the smallest payroll in baseball every year he was a GM, only to be shown the door when his contract expired because JR thought he was a miserable person. He thinks about as highly of Fisk as he does Himes.

QUOTE (balfanman @ Sep 18, 2010 -> 07:41 AM) This is what bothers me. Someone else wondered about the teams mental makeup. Over the Guillen years, the Sox fold in big situations much more often then they overachieve. I'm not necessarily an Ozzie basher, but isn't motivation supposed to be one of his strong points as a manager? It sure seems to me that when the pressure is on, this team folds like a house of cards more often than not. Maybe handling pressure is somehow taught in the Twins organization and that is why their youngsters come up big so often when called upon. If the Sox played .500 vs. Minnesota, they would be 1 game out right now.

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Sep 18, 2010 -> 03:51 AM) The guy has been on the team TWO f***ing weeks. Are you s***ting me??? Yeah, stats DON'T tell the whole story. What tells a bigger story is how he actually looks at the plate, which has been better than anyone on the team. Your own logic goes against you here. How about the amount of opportunities his teammates have set up for him to drive in runs? Or pick HIM up? None of those are on the stats either, yet you're willing to throw all that out because you clearly want to place the blame on Manny because of what he;s getting paid, and that's ridiculous. That isn't Manny's fault. You're being biased and... well, apparently I'm not allowed to say "ignorant," so... you're being... oh, can't say "uneducated," either. Hmmm... you are being... well, let's just say you aren't looking at the whole picture. You're s***ting on the fact he can actually hit and look good doing it just to single him out for his failures, probably because you're angry he didn't single-handedly win us the division and now need to vent your frustrations and who better then to take them out on, right? And all on a guy who's been here two f***ing weeks. What a joke. When they are paying you what they are paying Manny for 4 weeks, 2 weeks of no production is extremely significant. Normally, I'd agree with you it would be ridiculous, but in this case, ridiculous is saying the 2 weeks is a joke. You only are going to pay him that kind of money for a month if you believe he's going to contribute immediately if not sooner. I don't want to pin all the losses on Manny, that wouldn't be fair or correct, but in the first game of a series the Sox needed to sweep, he came up to the plate with RISP 3 times and struck out all 3 times, and the Sox went on to get blown out. He has been and no matter what he does the rest of the season, will be, a total waste of money. All the ticket sales he was supposed to generate were a mirage. I don't see any Manny jerseys (I still see a few Griffey jerseys), not one Manny wig. He gets booed when he comes to the plate. It may be 2 weeks, but it hasn't gone according to plan.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Sep 17, 2010 -> 11:41 PM) His "shell" has put up about an .850 OPS since he got caught on birth pills or w/e it was. In case you were wondering, only Konerko has a higher OPS than that. But yeah, he sucks, retire, and taking 7 of our other starters with you into retirement I guess. What was Thome's OPS last year when he should not have been brought back under any circumstance? Claiming Manny was a waste the second the claim was awarded, and it still is now.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Sep 18, 2010 -> 12:28 AM) On Sept 4th, against Buchholz, he got a hit with Konerko on 2nd, in the 4th inning, and the Sox were down 0-1. Konerko, being Konerko, was not able to score on the single. Blame Manny for not hitting the ball softer? 2 hits in 2.5 weeks with runners in scoring position. Yeah, Manny's worth $4 million a month. He fanned 3 times with runners in scoring position in one game, why defend him?

I wouldn't mind if they changed both, but that's not going to happen. I would be shocked if KW left or was given a new title. I think he loves what he does and is staying. I think Ozzie has to decide if he wants to fight with KW another year. He's not getting canned. He does love to be wanted and has a need to hear it. It will be interesting to see if teams with openings ask to speak with Ozzie. If the Sox say sure, does that mean Ozzie will feel he isn't wanted? If it does, then he'll go I believe, and I think the Sox will let other teams speak to him.

If I'm KW, I'm dangling Alex Rios this winter. Maybe someone will bite and pay for the 2010 total numbers and his talent. .259 avg .301 OBP and an OPS under .700 the second half.

There are more and more rumors Ozzie could be leaving.

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Sep 16, 2010 -> 12:16 AM) A 7 game deficit will be tough enough to overcome....if the Twins lead in the division goes to 9 games, I fear are chances are over. Lets hope Buehrle can get the job done in the series finale. The final run must start tomorrow! :gosox1: :gosox1: :gosox1: :gosox1: Don't be so pessimistic. Even if they lose, they will only be 9 back with 16 to play, and 10 of those 16 are at home.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Sep 15, 2010 -> 11:38 PM) That lesson being....Don't try to improve the team by adding an elite hitter, even if it means breaking the bank? Or maybe next time just lay down and let the Twins have the division instead of improving the team to try and fight for the playoffs? Not sure what lesson he is going to learn here..... No, the lesson being you can't neglect a huge part of your team, the DH is a position, for 130 games under the assumption you will just pick up somebody and they will come in and mash. $4 million is way too much for Manny. He's a shell of his former self. I would also bet that the reality is KW isn't a big fan of having to bend the rules based on how many homers you have hit in your career. BTW, Manny hasn't been an elite hitter since he came back from his suspension. Maybe its just coincidence, but his slugging pct and batting average are identical for the White Sox, he's here for a month, and halfway through is still looking for an RBI. Kotsay has hit .333 his last 20 games, so the reality is Manny wasn't even an upgrade.

QUOTE (J.Reedfan8 @ Sep 15, 2010 -> 11:31 PM) I agree. It's not like this team is old anyways, just the bench. Most of the guys will still be in their prime (Rios, Peavy, Alexei will be 30 next year, Jackson and Floyd 28, Danks 26, Beckham, 24 till September) etc.. Exactly. You know what you are going to get out of those guys. There's no question, the roster is going to have to be tweaked, maybe a lot to convince people they can beat Minnesota, but to go into full rebuilding mode now, with the talent on hand and the condition of the divison is ridiculous. Its too bad they will more than likely be "stretched" for cash again, because one way to instantly upgrade your roster is the willingness to take on some money.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 15, 2010 -> 11:25 PM) Great post. I never thought of that. Yeah, he could be another guy sticking it to us next year if he is reborn as well. I really wouldn't care. I would just assume he's back juicing. The guy is a White Sox for 4 weeks total. For the first 2 he has no extra base hits and no RBI. The team virtually loses any playoff chance. I won't shed a tear when the Manny Ramirez era ends. I look forward to it, and hope KW learns a lesson from it all.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Sep 15, 2010 -> 10:46 PM) They are in job preservation mode. Get to 90 wins and call this season a success. Normally I'd agree with this statement, but White Sox fans and the public in general really has never bought in to the 2010 White Sox. They are going to have some selling to do this offseason.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Sep 15, 2010 -> 08:35 PM) Bring on the rebuilding phase (I know it won't happen). But this is sickening. What team has really successfully re built in 4 or 5 years in the past 15 years?

I just can't see Manny finishing the season actually playing everyday. There's no point putting him on the DL because of the expanded rosters, but I would bet all my real estate that he comes up with some injury before the end of the season.

Rosenbloom had a good one today said its not "Manny being Manny" now, its "Manny being Kotsay".

''Not really, that's part of the game,'' Ramirez said when asked about being disappointed with his showing. ''Sometimes they're going to put it at third base and you're not going to bring it in, and sometimes they're going to be on first base with two outs and you bring them in. That's part of the game.'' Not dissappointed with his performance? He's a bigger moron than I thought.

QUOTE (Real @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 11:07 PM) Does $$$ make enough sense for you? Because the Sox will not have a lot of it next year. You basically can't bring Konerko back unless you trim significant salary elsewhere. Lots of empty seats for the rest of this season, and definitely for next year. If no one is going to go to the games next year, I guess you are saying in a roundabout way the team is going to suck next year. Why bring back Konerko if the team is going to suck anyway and nobody is going to watch?

I really don't know how you could expect him to be the guy all juiced up in 2008 when he hit LA. I would have expected him to provide more than he has, which, despite what some will say is NOTHING, but he wasn't a difference maker. As Bobby V. said, it was a desperation move that wouldn't work. He was slammed here for that comment, but it was right. I really wonder if Manny is close to the most ABs he's had in his career without an extra base hit or RBI.

QUOTE (J.Reedfan8 @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 10:57 PM) I'd still rather at all cost keep the 25 year old lefty in Danks. Buehrle won't leave, but I'd rather move him than Danks. Thats how much I like Danks. Also I hope if/when the Twins finish us off in this series, I hope Ozzie plays the kids the rest of the way, instead of the whole "pride" crap. I agree. Trading Danks makes no sense at all to me.

Rios, Thornton, Manny all really sucked tonight. Will Manny have an RBI or extra base hit in a White Sox uniform by the time he decides to call it a season?

QUOTE (ktssox @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 12:26 PM) Wow. I know this is a Thome thread, but this is disgusting. So, not only does Kenny sign/embrace a cheating, me-first type of player, but he then tells the rest of the team that this player (who doesn't play the game the right way) gets treated differently because he is better than you? Nice way to run a team, Kenny. That'll be good for morale. Disgusting. KW has been more forgiving lately. Cowley, who I hate, really called him out on it and had quotes of his from last year concerning Manny. It was the polar opposite as to what he was saying now. Either he was so desperate and wants to keep Manny happy or there is something else. Only speculation, but supposedly he is going through a divorce. Maybe he's thinks some things about him are going to come out and he may be a guy looking for a little forgiveness that probably would need to show he's willing to give some.

QUOTE (11and1 @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 11:36 AM) I don't see why this is in any way "unfortunate" for me, since being "simply wrong" on this board is utterly irrelevant in the larger context of my life. If being "right" is meaningful to you, congratulations. I didn't realize that the conversations here were a zero sum game. I would rephrase my speculation from "fastball" to the more debatable "better pitches to hit", but I'm sure there is, as they say, "a stat for that". Please feel free to shoot holes in the specifics. The overall point, which still seems logical to me, is that the ever-more-tiresome Jim Thome, as with most hitters, performs better surrounded by a better lineup up offering more protection. Again, feel free to feel more fortunate than me when you find the stat that proves you to be simply "right". I certainly won't be losing any sleep over it. I don't know if there's a stat for it, but its pretty laughable. For most of his White Sox career, Thome was sandwiched in between some solid hitters who match up to Cuddyer and Young pretty favorably. The entire protection issue is overrated if you ask me, especially with guys who will take walks. And even if you think its a huge issue, Thome was well protected during his days with the Sox.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 04:54 AM) I didn't want Thome back at the beginning of the offseason and many of us here didn't. I remember heck of lot posts calling for Kenny to get us a DH as no one wanted to go into the season with Mark Kotsay being the team's DH, after Matsui and Vlad signed with Angels and Rangers respectively and there was no other real options left Jim Thome was still available I was praying we get him back. Jim Thome did not cost us the division, however the rotating DH fiasco with Kotsay being a regular player might have, if we had Vlad hitting for us like he is carrying the Rangers for the last month, no one would be crying for Jimmy right now. Kenny and Ozzie are at fault for not bringing providing this team with a real DH until September which hopefully wasn't too little too late. Maybe Thome isn't going to cost the White Sox the playoffs, but its hard to see how he being a White Sox right now and not a Twin wouldn't enhance the White Sox chances. Look at Vlad and Matsui's stats last year and this. Thome's were better. Vlad has an .851 OPS this year. Jim Thome had an .864 OPS with the Sox last year playing with a bad heel. Thome is playing for a fraction of what they are playing for this year Thome was truly underrated and under appreciated during his time with the Sox. Its a shame a pretty significant part of the White Sox fanbase for some reason never embraced him and enjoyed what he was able to accomplish from the batter's box. For all the defending I see of guys like Manny Ramirez, giving him credit for others getting big hits, its almost sickening. KW's quote about Manny the other day really struck me. He was asked about his hair and he said that guys with over 500 homers we will bend the team rules for a bit. I know a guy with over 500 homers that wouldn't think about doing anything outside the team rules.