Dick Allen

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 11:38 PM) I'd say a good portion of this message board is. Ozzie's using the stupid ass argument of, "hey, I have this job, you don't, I'm better than you." Is it any wonder why his punk son Oney is such a tool? You can blame Ozzie all you want for the roster, but it is only 4 games, and remember KW is the guy in charge. If he didn't think Ozzie's wishes were good enough to win, its his responsibility to tell him to f*** off and hand him a roster he feels can win. The one curious thing I have about this offense is the Sox cut down on power, but also loaded up on fairly low on base guys. Defensively, Teahen isn't very good, Alexei seems like he's still the same, spectacular one minute, horrible with little effort the next. Quentin is already wearing out a patch in RF. He plays everyone in about the same spot. So defensively, while they may be improved, its not very significant IMO. They are going to have to score more runs. Last year I posted they only won 6 or 8 games the whole year when scoring less than 4 runs. If the homers aren't going to come as often, they need to string together more hits. They need another hitter. The beautiful thing about baseball is a week from now, all the complaining could very easily be compliments. The roster is flawed, but so is the division. They are still OK.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 12:37 PM) No offense, but I just don't think Thome really had much of a lasting effect on this team. In fact, I think he hindered the team more than he helped it. He only spent 4 seasons here, and all he really did was hit a home run in game 163 in 2008. It's not like he was a home-grown talent like Buehrle, Crede, Rowand, or even Frank Thomas. And it's not like he was a 2005 post-season MVP like Jermaine Dye. In fact, I think Jermaine Dye deserves a more thunderous applause from the fans than Thome if Dye ever returns with another team. Also, to the casual fans, I don't really think Thome had much of a lasting effect. I remember seeing nothing but Thome t-shirts at stores because people didn't really want a Thome shirt. I think Thome's influence with the Sox is a little more exagerated by die-hard fans than it really was with the casual fans as a whole. Jim Thome is the one of the most under-appreciated White Sox of all time. He hindered the team? Look at the numbers. He has the top 2 homer totals for a lefty in team history. He was a good player for the Sox. It wouldn't upset me if he didn't get a standing ovation, but it would be silly if he was booed. I never understood the Thome bashing.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 05:46 PM) Well, it's also definitely not going to be Putz with him throwing those 92-93 MPH Billy Koch-esque fastballs...not unless he can get back up into the 94-97 MPH range again. Which may or may not ever happen. I think Putz should gain a couple MPHs as the season wears one. He said he was a little less than 90% near the end of spring training, and when its cold like last night, he might have lost a mile or 2 /per hour off his velocity. Its hard to be loose.

Its wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too early to think this guy is the future closer. Maybe he will be one day, but I would think the odds are against it. I'd still bet anyone if they both get at least 40 innings this year, Linebrink has the lower ERA.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 05:21 PM) Reason? Probably just a day off. Late game last night, early game tomorrow, have him hacking against Garcia instead of Danks.

Lucy was never considered by anyone around here as anything but a potential back up. He isn't very good, but considering the back up catchers the Sox have trotted out there in recent years, he's at least close to their equal. Hall, Stewart, 100 year old Alomar Jr., Molina, Miller. None of those guys is signifcantly better than Lucy. I think Castro is, and Flowers is, but I see the rationale for leaving Flowers in Charlotte right now. Putting things into perspective, Brian Anderson in his rookie year of 2006, had a higher OPS than any White Sox back up catcher since 2005. As long as Lucy is solid defensively, he's as tall as the rest of the midgets.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 11:28 PM) Something tells me that Grady Sizmore is swinging away in the same situation. I don't think Greg is understanding the point. Bunting if it were Teahen or someone of his ilk, would be just fine. Not Beckham.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 11:25 PM) I still say it's a different ballgame in the bottom of the ninth, with nobody out and a man on first. Bunt 'em over and win the damn game. Good teams get it done. Cleveland even went to the bunt in the exact same situation. You need one run; you don't need a rally. Bottom of the ninth; bunt him over and win the damn game. Beckham is a doubles machine. Let him swing the bat. There may be no need for anyone else to hit. Why have a worse hitter trying to get the job done? You are still going to need a hit.

QUOTE (PeavyTime @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 11:21 PM) What is Pierre's #1 asset? Base stealing. What is Beckham's #1 asset? Hitting. So why the f*** is Beckham bunting Pierre to 2nd?! f*** YOU OZZIE!!!!! Exactly. If Pierre isn't going to steal you bases, he should be batting ninth. Get a guy who gets on base more than him if you're going to be bunting him over anyway. And if your 2 hitter is going to be bunting, don't waste Beckham there.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 11:12 PM) Well, on the pregame show tonight, they had a very strange segment about how bad the attendance was last year. They went on to say the club is really hoping to get off to a good start and that the weather is good to make up for how bad the attendance was last season. Really? Forbes came out with their numbers for last year. The Sox had the 5th highest profit according to them. $26 million. Didn't they try to sign Damon? Now they are already crying about attendance? The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Since this is Ozzie's roster, KW is going to have a much shorter leash with the struggling before he does something about it

IIRC Pierre is extremely streaky.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 11:03 PM) And bunting isn't going to help your offense. That's two outs we shouldn't have given up. Its not only two outs, its perhaps you best hitter giving up at bats.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 11:00 PM) Pierre is visibly slower than he used to be. Beckham only has decent speed. Jones/Kostay? You serious? Rios and Ramirez I'll give you. But at the same time, you have to get on base. And really? You counter with Hafner and Redmond? I never said anything, but Pierre does appear to be a little slower IMO. Of course, he's still pretty quick but I think the Marlins, even the Cubs version of him beats this version down the line by a step.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 11:01 PM) Quentin does not look to be anything all that much better than Dye in right That's because he's not much better. He was average to below in LF. He'll be worse in RF.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 10:59 PM) Must be nice to have players that can drive in runs with base hits. we have ZERO on the year. Only runs on HR, sacflies and groundouts Ozzieball

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 10:57 PM) It would be great if we used our speed and played good defense. That's why we're going to lose this game. I think Hafner does not score if Rios was playing RF on that double.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 10:55 PM) To me, it was the exact same situation. Gordon Beckham isn't Mickey Mantle (yet) and Juan Pierre isn't Rickey Henderson. If Beckham is going to have to bunt twice in a game, he should immediately be moved out of the 2 hole. Its pretty much universally felt, the White Sox are offensively challenged, considering the league they play in. Having maybe your best hitter sac. twice in the same game is silly. What happened to stolen bases? I thought that was one thing Pierre brings to the table.

Putz is looking pretty good.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 10:51 PM) I know he sucks but TEA-HEN ...sigh... When he starts playing like a major leaguer, I give him the proper respect and spell his name correctly. I'm sure he doesn't mind, as Ozzie once said, as long as its spelled correctly on the paycheck who really cares?

I wonder how Teahen is going to handle the crap he's going to get when he's stinking up the place. He's not in KC anymore. People will actually notice.

Teahan is not a very good player. A waste of $15 million.

He looked out.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 10:46 PM) Rios just doesn't know where this strike zone goes. Neither does anyone else playing today. Neither does the PBP guy. I really hate when Hawk gets on umpires. For all the crap this guy behind the plate has received tonight, he's been pretty solid. He probably missed a couple here and there, but Teahan was struck out and he gave him a walk. I don't think the umpire can be blamed for anything tonight.

What was wrong with that pitch? It was clearly a strike. If they didn't give it to a Sox pitcher Hawk would be barking about it.