Dick Allen

So Hawk blasts Cleve for having a punch and judy guy bunt, yet doesn't say anything when Ozzie has Beckham bunt twice. He also blasts the Angels for not playing day games on getaway days, then mentions Cleve. plays tomorrow afternoon, and the White Sox have only 1 getaway day game home game this season.

QUOTE (icroca @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 07:58 PM) They take every f***ing first pitch which seems to the only one to hit in the whole at bat. f*** Greg Walker. Not another guy who thinks Walker tells them to take good pitches and only swing at the bad ones.

The good news is the Twins have a late game against the Angels tonight. Hopefully they will be dragging tomorrow night and then on Saturday with the very early start.

QUOTE (bobryansson @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 07:52 PM) I know it's been beaten to death in other threads, but Ramirez played better at 2nd as a rookie. Beckham is a SS. Yet... Rios is a better RF than Quentin, If Jones must play CF why isn't Quentin in LF and Rios in RF? There's a lot of legit questions that could be asked>

I don't know how anyone can be surprised the White Sox offense is a trouble spot. They had problems last year when Dye hit almost .300 with 25 homers in the first half and Thome hitting fairly well. Its time Alexei starts hitting or if not, its getting to be time he rides pine until its warm out.

QUOTE (bobryansson @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 07:45 PM) I feel lie something bad's gong to happen. (Started typing before ball went to seats.) I'd be surprised if Floyd gave up more than 3 runs tonight.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 07:43 PM) my observations from today: Bruce Dreckman sucks Greg Walker needs to tell our players that patience is a virtue. Really? 7 pitches or so for Masterson in that first inning? Pathetic. Teahen sucks balls. I don't know about the conspiracy against the White Sox Hawk seems to think many umpires have. The pitches in question were certainly close, but looked like they went around the plate. Its amazing Hawk criticizes other teams for bunting, but if the Sox did it, Ozzie is the smartest manager in baseball.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 07:06 PM) Man, the stadium is pretty empty. You aren't going to draw well when its in the mid 30s against a team that almost lost 100 games last year.

Its 2 games. Obviously Ozzie is about the only human being alive that thinks Mark Kotsay is perfect as a DH hitting fifth, but it is only 2 games. He's 0-5. There isn't anyone who has played MLB that hasn't been 0-5 at some point. If KW really despised this idea as much as he wants you to believe, he's not going to stand around and do nothing for a couple of months if they aren't getting production. I'm not that worried about it yet, although I have always wondered what Mark Kotsay brings offensively that is better than what Jim Thome brings.

All I know is his success rate when entering with a 1 run lead last year was 50%. He had a bunch of lay up saves. Bobby had a bad year last year.

I don't know why you give a 56 year old coach looking for his first tournament win $15 million to try to turn around a program that has fallen off the face of the earth. This is truly one of the worst hires of all time. Granted, anyone with a decent job probably wasn't interested, but wouldn't a top programs' assistant love this job, or even a guy like Theus would make a much bigger splash. This is the exact same boring thinking that has them in their current spot. Its the "safe" pick, but when its all said and done, it really isn't, its the stupid pick. The Demons basketball fortunes aren't going to change until the get an AD and administration that thinks big and is willing to take chances.

QUOTE (JorgeFabregas @ Apr 5, 2010 -> 11:24 AM) Ozzie's opinion of himself as a player always amuses me. I did not see him when he was young (saw him from '93 on), but it seems to me that he would be a bench player if he played today (despite the ROY, GG, and All Star appearances). I'm not an Ozzie is a baseball genius guy or anything like that, but when he played, Ozzie was a pretty fun guy to watch especially before he hurt his knee. He was great defensively and although he didn't hit with a particularly high average or get on base all that much, or have any power at all, he always seemed to get a hit at a big time. He'd be playing everyday today IMO . When he got hurt, it really sucked the life out of the team.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Apr 5, 2010 -> 10:56 PM) He means booed heavily at Nationals Park, not inside USCF when they showed it on the screen. No. I mean booed heavily at USCF. They don't have audio on the highlights at USCF. I thought it was pretty sad because it was a pretty violent boo.

They showed him with Sox hat on the board at USCF in the 8th inning and he was booed heavily.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Apr 5, 2010 -> 10:34 AM) Can anybody answer this question for me: If I set my AT&T UVerse to DVR a ballgame and the game goes past the scheduled 3 hours, will the recording go through the end of the game or stop at the scheduled time? I don't know about UVerse. Directtv you need to manually add, but Buerhle is pitching today, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Jerry Crumbs Krause is back with the White Sox. The Slueth as he's known played a big role in bringing Ozzie Guillen and KW and Scott Pippen, Kornell David and Dalibor Bagaric to Chicago is going to be a scouting consultant, keeping his eye on the Dominican. I actually was on an elevator with Jerry a couple of years ago and the way he was weazing, I was very concerned. Hope all is well with him.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 5, 2010 -> 08:32 AM) Yeah, I think the A's would pay all but the pro-rated minimum. He's not being released. He's being sent down to the minor leagues. If the Sox claim him, they pay him. If Oakland released him, then they would only have to pay minimum, but that is not what's happening here.

Jack Cust is a poor man's Jim Thome. One problem with that though, he actually gets paid more than Jim Thome. If you pass on Thome, you aren't going to want Cust.

Frank did analysis for TBS a couple of years ago in the playoffs. It may have been because he was new to it, but he was pretty bad. If the Sox struggle offensively and he starts giving advice on the air, I think it will get pretty uncomfortable. And as long as KW is the GM, for those who wonder if Frank will be a coach or something like that, remember this KW doozy, "The man is an idiot." It appears he wants something to bide his time while he watches his son. I don't think he would want a full time coaches gig anyway. The money they make is nothing to him.

If your cable or sattelite systems carry MLB Extra Innings, there's a free preview the first week of the season.

Why is it Linebrink gets crap for his struggles, but guys like Garcia get away with being worse? I think Linebrink will shock this board and be decent this year.

QUOTE (sf_soxfan @ Apr 3, 2010 -> 01:16 PM) Vizquel 3-for-3 with stolen base - not bad KW was waiting for him to get the proper amount of seasoning before signing him.

Lucy was my guy in Spring Training 2006 but really hasn't done much and had a huge injury since. Maybe they could squeeze something out of him for a game or two a la Corky Miller, who did hit 6th in a game last year.

So Ozzie has the team he wants, yet says anyone who picks the White Sox to win the WS is crazy? Does that make sense?

Its amazing how much more solid a baseball writer becomes when they count the White Sox as one of the best. I've read for years on this board that Rosenthal was an idiot. I like Rosenthal's columns, but am concerned about his prediction. It appears his pre-season picks haven't been on the money.