Dick Allen

Happy birthday to Carlos May. The only guy to wear his birthday on the back of his uniform.

QUOTE (Disco72 @ May 17, 2009 -> 09:30 AM) What players have the Sox had that either prior to coming to the Sox or in the minor leagues had that high contact skill set? Walker can't completely remake players into something they weren't before. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ He hasn't been given these kinds of guys to work with. Its like asking a chef to go into McDonald's kitchen and making something gourmet. It was very interesting to hear Hawk and Stone talk about Cito Gaston and Gene Tenace yesterday. Cito has always been known as a hitting guru. They mentioned that they are very rare because they mention to their hitters actually trying to hit a home run. The White Sox have pretty much had power offense for a while now. I don't know why a lot of people think the home run is bad. I think the lowest homer totals they have had in the last 10 years or so was 2007, they lost 90 games, and this year they are a little behind in the HR dept. and look at their record. If they can't acquire high obp guys who can run, they have to hit homers to score. It was absolutely ridiculous to think this was going to be a good offensive team if guys like Dewayne Wise and Brent Lillibridge were leading off. Blaming Walker is ludicrous. It would be like firing Don Cooper if Mike MacDougal was the closer and he blew another game.

QUOTE (Texsox @ May 17, 2009 -> 08:16 AM) To be fair, if only we had a hitting coach that was successful with multiple approaches to hitting. Dick has posted several times that Walker has produced results. As long as we populate the roster with Thome and Konerko type hitters, Walker is probably da man. I just do not see him coaching a guy to a high average. Perhaps its the type of hitters that are on the roster is the problem. Orlando Cabrera is hitting .223 with Oakland. Maybe Walker wasn't so bad with him. Swisher is down to .239. The White Sox pretty much have had a line-up with sluggers during Walker's reign. There hasn't been real high on base, high contact guys on the roster. The Walker bashing has gone overboard, but it would reach heights that cannot be equalled if there are more than one or two posts blaming him for Josh Fields striking out. Although I am starting to see the light. Instead of being angry Linebrink gave up a couple of runs yesterday, one on a golf shot and another on a broken bat single, I just b****ed out Cooper. If the player doesn't get the job done, its definitely on the coach. Just like corporate America, it would be crazy to hold the guys making all the money accountable. I guess what I find so funny is the same guys who say Thome is done, his bat has slowed, Konerko needs to be released, Dye is done....then say if these players whose skills they have determined aren't major league quality anymore cannot put up huge numbers like they did when they were in the primes of their careers, its proof postive that Greg Walker sucks.

In the "who would have thunk it" category, Nick Swisher is down to .239 and falling fast.

When it rains, it pours. It looks like he's out the rest of this series and maybe longer. The Lillicurse. At least Bart only had an upset stomach. Must of ate some Taco Bell or something. http://blogs.suntimes.com/whitesox/2009/05...se_for_sox.html

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 16, 2009 -> 02:40 PM) Forget Lillibridge and Pods and anyone else who is getting guff on this team. I am getting sick of the guys who actually should be good not doing anything. That is the part of this team that has been really bothering me. Guys like John Danks, Gavin Floyd, Alexei Ramirez, Josh Fields, and Carlos Quentin aren't doing their jobs, and that renders the production of guys like Broadway and Lillibridge as pointless. You're right, we should focus more not on the guys who are supposed to do poorly doing just that, but rather on the guys who are supposed to be productive not getting the job done. I pick on Lillibridge and probably shouldn't, but I think my frustration with him is more frustration with management having him on the roster. Danks looked like a Cy Young favorite for 3 starts and now doesn't look like he can get anyone out. Quentin started slow, got real hot,and is injured and mediocre again. At least we know they are capable of being excellent players this year as they have been excellent players this year for a short while. Ramirez, Fields and Floyd have mostly just been bad. Its still early, but how long do you go before its not just a slump but what you can expect from these players? I don't think we are there yet, but it is getting close. Losses when your starter gives up nothing are hard to take.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 16, 2009 -> 02:39 PM) what was the point of having lisa stone in the booth? she said "yes" to liking taco bell and never said another word. When Hawk's wife is there, she sits up in the booth as well. I don't think its a big deal.

QUOTE (lostfan @ May 16, 2009 -> 02:52 PM) You took a leap to assume he, or anyone besides the person who wrote the article and chose to word it that way, was talking about his strikeouts or some permanent fix. How do you know he wasn't just talking about being held out of the lineup? Probably because of this line in the article. I'm assuming the beat writer is going to be somewhat accurate: Fields was out of the White Sox lineup Friday night because of manager Ozzie Guillen's frustration with the frequent strikeout rate of his offense.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 16, 2009 -> 07:46 AM) One session? Where does this illusion come from that if a hitter recognizes they have an issue, they can just instantly adjust anything in their approach/swing/stance and move on? When you hit one way for years, it takes some time to make a major adjustment. No one, not even that article, has said that this one session was the entire thing, like he went from broken to fixed. It just may have been a nice light bulb moment. This article shows us something we should all be happy about. The only insult to anyone's attention is to think that because we see some flaw in a hitter, that means they should be able to adjust instantly and fix it. Ever wonder why that doesn't happen? Read the article. The whole premise was he had an early BP session with Walker so he should be fine now. I'm happy he's working on it, I just know he will still be a strikeout machine. That is what insults my intelligence and apparently you agree with me. Here's the entire snippet: After being tied for second place in the American League with 39 strikeouts, third baseman Josh Fields is receiving the same disciplinary action Alexei Ramirez received earlier this month. Fields was out of the White Sox lineup Friday night because of manager Ozzie Guillen's frustration with the frequent strikeout rate of his offense. "My point is, I need better at-bats from everyone, and I have [Jayson] Nix," Guillen said. "Nix is swinging the bat pretty well and I need to get him some at-bats. [Fields] is not in the doghouse. This isn't punishment, but that's why [Nix] is playing." Fields believes he might have resolved his problems after an early hitting session with hitting coach Greg Walker. "Hopefully that will be it," Fields said. "They're giving me a day to regroup and think about what's going on." He's been given a couple days off recently. It hasn't helped.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 16, 2009 -> 07:26 AM) Instead of being Eeyore about this, maybe you should take it for what it is - Fields is struggling, needs a day off to get his head straight, works with the hitting coach to adjust, and will now try that adjustment. This is what we should all WANT to happen, and I'm happy to see it. Hopefully it gets him on the right track. Because it insults my intelligence. If all Josh Fields needed was one session to correct his problems, why did he wait until May 14th for that session? I'm Greg Walker's biggest booster on this site, but even I know the guy can't "fix" a career long problem in a half an hour. He's had a couple days during his struggles to get his head straight.

Fields is fixed, per the Tribune: Fields believes he might have resolved his problems after an early hitting session with hitting coach Greg Walker. "Hopefully that will be it," Fields said. "They're giving me a day to regroup and think about what's going on." I really don't understand how the White Sox could be benching Fields for of all things, strikeouts. A 4 year old could have told them he would be striking out at an alarming rate. He always has. But I am glad Josh got fixed after an early hitting session. I'm sure he'll be next to impossible to fan now.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ May 15, 2009 -> 07:28 PM) The Toronto game Floyd pitched sticks out as something that he can not shake. After Ramirez botched DP to end tte first he has sucked ever since. The Blue Jays were literally stealing on him before he even started going to the plate. He seems lost since then. Someone had a stat on here that in his last 20 starts, Floyd has an ERA near 6.00.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 15, 2009 -> 07:22 PM) Yep and I think thats a really bad thing. Than again, I was one of the only people that still liked Cabrera by seasons end. Well I don't mind Cabrera and Swisher are gone but the goofyness or feistiness they brought or at least we were told they brought to the table, wasn't replaced. The Sox are 2 games out. I just hope KW doesn't let this get away from him and tries to fix this asap. 83 or 84 wins and a hot October, KW can pat himself on the back again.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ May 15, 2009 -> 07:19 PM) I would say it is the hitting approach. You pointed out the other day and I agree that the cubs draw a lot of walks. Well I think that is a philosophy. Fight off pitches and take pitcher's strikes when you are ahead in the count. The Sox do neither and that is why they get embarrassed on a regular basis by a pitcher that can hit his spots. If Ramirez and Fields are what they are looking for, that philsophy will not change any time soon as neither has any command of the strike zone. The thing is KW stresses he wants high on base guys who can run who can hit and run and bunt, and play defense. The players he has on the roster do very little of that.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 15, 2009 -> 07:18 PM) I just wonder why Ozzie hasn't snapped. But I think it might be because he realizes how laughable his everyday lineup has been most of the year. Either way, something has to happen and fast, imo, to get this s*** back together. Didn't they make a big deal out of the attitude and general personality change when the got Swisher and Cabrera? They really were back to the quiet almost take your beating like a man mentality the disaster of 2007 was.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ May 15, 2009 -> 07:14 PM) Pitching is not the problem. Teams are able to pin back their ears offensively and pitchers if they execute their game plan are unhittable. The White Sox have given up 8+ runs just as many times as they have been shutout this year. They may do both tonight.The bullpen has been stellar, but outside of Buerhle, the starters have been shaky. Danks was awesome his first 3 starts but horrid in 3 of his last 4. Floyd has been terrible as has Contreras, Colon has had his moments but has been not surprisingly, inconsistent.

There are traditions and there are White Sox traditions.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 15, 2009 -> 07:12 PM) Broadway hasn't really pitched all that bad. Yeah, but its all garbage time.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ May 15, 2009 -> 07:08 PM) Just a hunch but I'm thinking this is where Ozzie threatens to quit. Either that, or we will hear in a few months how close he was to quitting but how lucky we are that he be managing longer than players are playing because he has a lot of friends. I wouldn't mind if Ozzie quit the only problem is its pretty much a lock Joey Cora would take over and I don't think that's an upgrade.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 15, 2009 -> 07:08 PM) Fire someone! This is ridiculous...way too much deja vu in our games this year. Carrasco's going to log more innings than most of our starters. I was just screwing around. I do know the Greg Walker headhunters will probably be out tonight, but the pitching was terrible.

Fire Don Cooper

Nix 3b Getz 2b Quentin lf Dye rf Thome DH Konerko 1b AJ c Ramirez ss Pods cf

Supposedly Jaramillo changed Josh Hamilton's stroke this year. The results haven't been encouraging.

Once the helmet hit the umpire even though it wasn't his intention, Dye was screwed. There were he's getting suspended posts immediately on the game thread.

QUOTE (Texsox @ May 15, 2009 -> 12:44 PM) I was thinking about a stat like ERA, RBI, etc that could be easily calculated. There are too many variables, but I'd love to see someone print standings based on cost per win. That would be interesting and perhaps a partial way to evaluate a GM. It wouldn't be too hard to determine cost per home run, rbi etc. What would be harder to determine is how much that player has affected things such as attendance, souvenier sales, etc. For example when the Sox signed Carlton Fisk, how many 72 jerseys were sold, how many season ticket sales did that produce? How many casual fans decided, hey the Sox got a real ballplayer, maybe I'll go check them out, and wound up become huge fans who spend a lot of money on the White Sox win or lose? Maybe he was worth a lot more than his numbers. On the other hand, when the Sox signed Albert Belle, how many long-time fans were disgusted they gave a guy generally considered to be a jerk all that money and vowed never to spend another dime on the Sox again? Maybe his actual worth was less than his production.