Dick Allen

The Sox are 2-7 in the finale of the 9 series, 3 games or more, when they are going for the sweep this year. They swept KC and Cleve. It seems most of those games, if not all, were poorly played. Sometimes you can play decently and still lose. I know most teams have the motto "just win the series" and that's fine until you get to the last game. I wonder if they have some sort of mental block like they have in the Metrodome, a place where they lose before the game starts.

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 09:48 PM) Didn't he steal 70 bases in 2004? If 2004 and 2005 weren't good back to back seasons, I don't know what were. A .313 OBP and an OPS of .677 wasn't good. SB aren't the end all stat.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 09:38 PM) Their bullpen is terrible, their staff beyond Lackey isn't great. They just hit the s*** out of the ball against the terrible teams they play, and play decent against the good times. They are 4-2 against the Yankees and 4-2 against Boston this year. Those 2 are almost locks to be in the postseason. 3-3 vs. Det. 6-4 vs. Minnesota and 1-4 vs. Sox.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 09:36 PM) I think the Angels benefit from playing in a weak division and padding wins against the Mariners and A's. Kinda like how the Cubs pad wins against the likes of the Pirates. Oh, like the 2005 White Sox which mowed down AL Central opponents, but were .500 against the rest of the AL.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 09:30 PM) These Angels are gonna win a bunch more regular season games, but they sure as hell aren't built to win in the playoffs. ? I've never understood how someone can build a team that can win 100 games during the regular season, but somehow they aren't built to win 3 of 5 or 4 of 7 in a playoff series. Please explain.

Bobby Abreu can really hit. If he still had his power, he would be MVP worthy.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 09:11 PM) you guys can thank me for Gavin. At least when I criticized him his ERA was one of the worst in the majors, not like Thome's OPS. Where does Thome ranks amongst DH's in offensive categories? Robin Ventura's best season with the Sox he hit 34 homers and drove in 105 with a .368 OBP. Thome is on pace for 32 homers 107 RBI and a .392 OBP and every other week there are 20 posts mentioning his demise and how the Sox must get rid of him. I guess some must keep posting these ridiculous thoughts because he is pushing 40 and some day they will be right.

Should just wait. Even if he continues with the pace he's been on for the rest of the season, he won't be ridiculously expensive. See where he's at, see what other options there are, and then make a decision. Pods hasn't put 2 good seasons together back to back in the major leagues, and doing it for the first time at his age would be unusual.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 09:02 PM) Cowley: "Where is the warning for Konerko getting hit? Or did Joe West eat it"? Cowley's a douchebag. He's got something bad and stupid to say about everyone.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 08:54 PM) AJ loves his average. He would hit .300 every season if his main focus was LF.

For everyone saying if the White Sox made the playoffs, they would have no shot of winning anything, they took 3 of 4 from the Yankees and if they win tonight 4 of 5 from the Angels. I think they would have a chance, especially if Peavy can come back at full strength.

For a guy with all the homers he has, and as streaky of a hitter he is, particularly homers, Thome has never hit 3 in a game.

Thome's bat is obviously slowing down dramatically.

QUOTE (Stocking @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 08:43 PM) I really like angles broadcasts, non biased and very comlimentary As a White Sox fan, although I am sick of the b****ing about umpiring, I appreciate Hawk's homerism and he being totally biased. He's also pretty complimentary to other players when they deserve it.

TB drafted the wrong Beckham #1 last year.

Beckham is a doubles machine.

Floyd's ERA is 3.00 a game lower at home vs. on the road. Most of the Sox starters have lower ERA's at home. I think Peay will be just fine at USCF.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 08:07 PM) polanco is nails Do you know the White Sox drafted Polanco a few rounds after they drafted Carrie Schueler? He didn't sign.

Or you could use pfn as the code for tonight's game on ticketmaster and get in for half price.

I read the other day there are only 4 players 36 or older that also play the field that have enough at bats to qualify for the batting title. I think JD turns 36 fairly soon. If you were to sign him to an extension, it would almost have to be to DH.

Try priceline.com Back Bay area. You may even get the Westin. Look for winning Boston bids on biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com. Those sites should give you an idea of what to bid. You may even wind up in the Westin. I stayed in the Marriott in 2003 and that's where the Sox stayed then. Its walking distance to Fenway.

Since the beginning of 2008, when most around here figure Thome has been washed up, he has an OBP about .385 and only 4 players in the AL have more homers. Yeah, he's killing the White Sox. Bring back Josh Fields.

Bobby Jenks is 5 for 9 in save situations when he enters with a one run lead. It wouldn't be hard to replace that with someone cheaper than Jenks.

QUOTE (beck72 @ Aug 4, 2009 -> 05:26 AM) A Dye deal for 2 years, $16 mill would be worth it to have him DH. Thome's bat looks real slow these days. I don't see him retiring. But the sox should prob. move on. Get Figgins and the sox OF can be Pods in LF, Figgins in CF, and Q in RF. First off the "Thome's bat looks real slow" is tired and false. The guy is on a pace where if he had 500 AB he'd have 35 homers 115 rbi and an OBP near .400. Anyone else does that and they are godly around here. If I were the White Sox, I certainly would wait until the end of the year to decide on JD. I don't know if he would be agreeable to an extension and thus terminating his option. He may not go for it. As to Figgins, I've love this guy for a few years, but he has been hurt a lot and now during his contract year, he's come up huge. Considering his age and how his game is based on his legs, the only way I'd sign him is if you could get a deal like some who signed last year had to sign for, guys like Cabrera and Hudson and Abreu. I think paying him based on this season and giving him multiple years would be regrettable.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 3, 2009 -> 08:14 AM) They are not fantasy baseball rules. It is market-value. And since the White Sox operate under a finite budget, that absolutely applies to us. Is the goal not to try and optimize our resources? Who cares about market value? Beckham isn't being and probably never will be moved. If anything, if Beckham's stats make him only an outstanding thirdbaseman rather than the best secondbaseman first ballot HOFer in the game, it will save the Sox money, but that's clearly not the motivation. The motivation is to put the best team on the field. Getz and Beckham are better than Fields and Beckham or Betemit and Beckham. That's why those others are in Charlotte.