Dick Allen

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 12, 2009 -> 02:47 PM) Time for my Poreda comment from every appearance: if you can get good value for him, I have no problem trading him. I have no idea who was working the radar guns for him, but his velocity has become an urban legend. The funny thing is Poreda is known around here for his gas, and a lot of people want him to replace Richard, yet, ironically, Richard throws harder than him.

Hey Aaron, anytime you want to feature this 97 mph gas we have heard so much about, we wouldn't mind seeing it.

What's interesting to me about Poreda, is he's basically a starter but pitches exclusively from the stretch since he's been up.

I don't know how much longer I can ride my guys Contreras and Thome, but at least a couple more months.

Poreda is warming up, that means the Twins 8 are all they will get today.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 12, 2009 -> 02:23 PM) I know DAllen will share a laugh with me about Hawk saying you never have to worry about a Sox player dogging it to first on a ground ball. It was only a few years ago, 2004 I believe when espn quoted a scout saying they couldn't get times for any White Sox going down to first base, because they, as a team, rarely ran it out. Konerko, Thome and Beckham run everything out, athough Thome sort of pulls up occassionally with his heel problem. Everyone else, I've seen them all dog it to first.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jul 12, 2009 -> 11:37 AM) He's tremendously talented and has unbelieveable bat speed. But, he is raw and needs refinement. I've said many times that he doesn't pull the ball much. He usually goes the other way, which is something that is the opposite with young hitters. When he starts pulling the ball more, he will be deadly. Frank Thomas used to hit a lot to RC when he first came up, of course he was far more patient than Viciedo, and far more patient than most who have ever played the game.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 12, 2009 -> 02:09 PM) Carlos Gomez absolutely owns us. Just pull Buehrle and save him a few meaningless innings. His change-up is the worst I've ever seen from him today. I say let him throw 115 pitches so they don't even think about using him at the AS game.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 11, 2009 -> 08:58 PM) At $30 million, yes, at $50-75 million, it's looking a lot more dubious...especially with the recent remarks about the attendance and budgeting issues. Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, Angels, Dodgers, Cardinals, Giants...the usual suspects. Considering the White Sox have not signed another team's major league free agent for more than $20 million since December 1996, if any of the reports on what it would take to sign this guy are accurate, I would say the Sox have about zero chance to sign this guy.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jul 12, 2009 -> 11:15 AM) His attitude is fine, he just doesn't like to fail. When I first looked at Viciedo and I saw Carlos Lee. CLee when he was 20, was at Hickory and hit 8 homers in 480 AB. He played at Birmingham when he was 22 and hit .300 with 21 homers. I think if Viciedo was in Birmingham in 2011, he could match those numbers. Hopefully, he'll be a lot farther along by then. I think expectations were probably way too high for him, at least initial expectations. Maybe he repeats Birmingham next year, or maybe he puts it all together in the second half.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jul 12, 2009 -> 11:08 AM) Ryan Sweeney was 20 when he played for the Barons. He was way overmatched that season. Its really hard to judge a guy who is 20 on some AA at bats especially considering his situation. I just think most thought Viciedo would be hitting a lot better right now. He's going to have to make adjustments. How's his attitude? That was supposedly at least some concern when he was playing in Cuba?

His OPS in AA is about 100 points lower than Crede's major league career OPS and Viciedo has made 20 errors, and we know that most around here think Crede sucks. Viciedo is only 20, so there is no need to panic, but I think most expected more from him at this point. There were a number of people on this board who didn't even think he would play in the minors, now its maybe 2 or 3 years in the minors.....The Sox still have his 6 year rights, so I don't think the clock is ticking on him yet as a player, but certainly his contract is ticking a bit. Ever year in the minors is one less the Sox have exclusive rights to in the majors. The guy has had a lot to adjust to, but I would consider dissappointment to be fairly accurate. Its a lot different and better than bust. What was interesting about the Goldstein interview was that he was really high on several guys but has the Sox still middle of the pack industry-wide. It just goes to show how bad the system was previously.

This would be a huge win going into the AS break. If Detroit could also lose, 1.5 GB after the 1st half when 16 players played for Charlotte and the White Sox, isn't really that bad. Hopefully, the bats will continue after the break. The Sox offense is moving up the statistical lists pretty quickly. The Greg Walker gets an extension thread is going to be an interesting read. I'm sure I'll have several posts.

Crede might not have had the greatest average in the world, he might not have had the greatest OBP, he certainly couldn't run, but he definitely was a better player than his stats indicated. When the Twins signed him, Gardenhire talked about him almost God-like. His teammates have always appreciated him, the pitchers loved him, and that means a lot. He didn't collect all his homer and rbi totals in routes. He didn't boot many balls in pressure situations(Although I do remember him dropping a Manny Ramirez pop up and the next pitch becoming a souvenier for someone in the bleachers). The guy came up big at the perfect time a lot more than most do with his same numbers. Not everyone who hits .250 with 20 homers and 75 rbi is equal. Rotisserie baseball isn't played on the field.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 10:26 PM) Awesome, Ozzie's also making comments about the attendance now. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,2199682.story At least he says it bad because the team was bad. I still think JR should make it policy for White Sox employees not to ever talk about the attendance, unless its totally positive.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 11, 2009 -> 08:14 AM) To be fair, Mauer was only 4-18 before that against Thornton. But he's hitting almost .400 this year, and even if you pitch to him, when it got to 2-0, grooving one right down the middle is a very odd attempt to get him out. That was one of those AB that if it was Jerry Manuel managing and the Sox let him go, Hawk would be talking about once in a while for years to come, mocking him. One of Hawk's pet phrases was definitely true last night, Minnesota didn't beat the White Sox, the White Sox beat themselves. I just looked it up, Mauer is hitting .356 against LHP this year, but Morneau isn't bad either at .336. I wouldn't have pitched to Mauer in that situation and if Morneau hit the ball 9 miles I would just live with it. Obviously against Thornton and against LHP this year they are pretty similar, so if you're not going to walk Mauer at the beginning of the AB, if he gets into the "catbird" seat, you can't give him something he can hit hard. You have to put him on and take your chances with Morneau. If you fall way behind him, I don't think too many would be upset if you put him on as well, but letting a guy hitting .388 beat you in that situation with first base open usually doesn't happen.

QUOTE (Cubano @ Jul 11, 2009 -> 06:29 AM) How many questionable stories have come out of the NY Times? How many questionable age claims have come out of Cuba and Latin America? Gammons was even speculating the guy could be 26. He wrote about his trip to Cuba and how he was given some baseball cards and how different the birthdays on those cards were than the birthdays on some of the same players cards when the came to the US. Ironically, El Duque's was alledgedly the same. He didn't mention Contreras, and I supposed its possible Contreras is 37. There are plenty of guys, guys like Sam Cassell and Tyrone Hill and Terry Porter, who look a lot older than they are. It just seems unlikely. According to Gammons, there is a pretty big fake birth certificate ring going on in the DR. He thinks it will lead to as many as 100 players eventually being deported.

I don't think there are many good losses. If moral victories meant anything, wouldn't last night's result been different considering the "moral victory" of making a 9-2 game, 9-8 the day before? Both losses were pretty much the same, get behind big, come back, Friday at least they tied it, but the bottom line is they ultimately lose. I prefer real over moral. I think a moral victory out of last night's game is a reach anyway. Walk the first four batters of the game, they all score. Then tie it up only to pitch to a guy flirting with .400 with a 2-0 count and first base open with a guy hitting .167 lifetime against the guy on the mound on deck, and have him drive in the go ahead and eventual winning run, then give up an insurance run on a bunt everyone in the world knew was coming after giving the baserunner 3rd base as a gift.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 09:49 PM) Anyone try the Tagalong blizzard yet? It looks like something I would enjoy.

QUOTE (beckham15 @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 09:48 PM) the ump must be looking at the DQ deals on the sign behind him I've been looking at them all night

If you want to get dangerously drunk, watch the postgame show and drink a shot every time Melton says "White Sox". You may have to be hospitalized in 10 minutes.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 09:36 PM) Except you, I, Ozzie, and everyone else in the world know that Jenks is not good in non-save situations. I can understand him not doing well in blowouts, but 1 run games he should be fine, and if he's not, he shouldn't be getting big money.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 09:34 PM) That's hilarious. You have to try to get an 11 on that test. Most people with half a brain can get at least a 17 or an 18. When I was in HS, an equipment manager got his results back and asked me if I could look at it because he couldn't figure out his score. It was an 8. I had to tell him he fired an 8.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 09:32 PM) I think I might have walked Mauer even with the favorable LHP/LHP match-up and with an MVP coming up after him in Morneau... And even if you pitch to him, if it gets to 2-0, throwing him a pitch right down the middle is about as dumb as it gets. Your only hope is if he hits it right at someone.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 09:30 PM) Us versus the Twins in the "Sox-get-Swept Dome" and Cleve at Det is not a good weekend combination. Its really amazing how bad Cleveland is. It doesn't appear they will be much better for a while.