Dick Allen

Thome's bat speed is gone. He is done. He is the worst hitter in baseball.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jul 12, 2008 -> 08:18 AM) What? I think Aramis Ramirez looks really SLIM this year if anything When I typed in think I meant to type in thinner. Its exactly what I meant.

I really enjoyed the piece. One thing I would have loved to hear his response to when he talked about guys being babied,pitch counts. etc. would have been he wasn't exactly a poster boy as to why you shouldn't do those things. He was essentially done when he was 30. Maybe he would have had a second half to his career if he was monitored more closely. He probably wouldn't have cared. Guys that are as competitve as him like to finish what they start and get out of their own messes. Black Jack had as great of an attitude on the field as anyone who ever played.

QUOTE (yoyozuna @ Jul 12, 2008 -> 07:40 AM) I know they helped us win a WS and I personally have no problem with Uribe. My problem lies with PK. The one thing nobody has mentioned is that its quite interesting that PKs avg and run production have been seriously diminished over the last 2 years and he looks significantly smaller. If it was the juice that gave him his power well then no matter how many games he is in there its not coming back. This really really sucks because this also prevents us from trading him away. Why Paulie why?? Now I challenge anyone out there to say Paulie wasn't using roids! Besides Kerry Wood on the northside Paulie is the only other Chicago player with a significant deflation. He looks like he has lost 30lbs and his neck and arms are much much smaller. Paulie never was all that big. Any weight he may have lost was fat. One guy I noticed who has become a lot thinner but it hasn't affected his numbers is Aramis Ramirez.

He hit it pretty hard. Hope he can build on it.

I believe if he avoids the DL, Thome will lead the White Sox in homers this season.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 09:30 PM) If there's one idea which has been cemented in my mind from years of Sociology courses, it's winning the lottery will ruin your life unless you go to great lengths to hide your identity. Money changes everything -- particularly the relationship among family and friends. This isn't the place to discuss the topic, but all I can recommend for anyone who wins the lottery is to pay a substantial amount of money to secure your assets, hire a special FX company to disguise your identity at the press conference, and NEVER reveal your name. Ask the Whitetaker character whom won one of the largest lottery totals in US history how fame has changed his life. His grand daughter was killed because of the extravagant allowances he gave to her, which she -- in part -- spent on drugs. I walk home from the loop a couple of miles everyday. I just look like a regular dope with dress pants and a dress shirt. Its amazing how many people everyday ask me for money. Winning the lottery and not hiding your identity would be a pain in the ass. I wouldn't mind a shot at trying to break the curse though.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 09:18 PM) So much a curse they won it all in 2005, eh? Did not know he won the lottery. Thanks, never knew that. Was it the big-time one for like 40 million or a mini one for like 3 million? Not a curse for the White Sox but for him personally It was a huge one. I guess he bought his kids houses and they became drug addicts. Everyone asks him for money. He and his wife started this White Sox charity before all the problems started, it was their way of giving back, and he'll do it until he dies, but supposedly he is running out of money. I guess he had to cut his kids off because of excess spending, drugs etc. and his wife died. He owned a bunch of houses but was going to go back to just 1.

Nice job Pratt. Did you throw him a splitter?

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 09:13 PM) Alex Senelius must have f***ing money trees. He won the lottery several years ago. I read an article, and he says the victory has been a curse.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 09:09 PM) The FBI was called in because they thought the duffle bags were full of cash from drug dealings. However, that's not where the money was coming from. He had duffle bags? He is a bigger idiot than I thought.

espn.com has an article up now that Jim Bowden and Jose Rijo are being investigated in that Dominican Republic/Dave Wilder probe. In the article it said Wilder was stopped going through customs returning from the Domincan with $40k in cash on him. What a dope.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 04:27 PM) Not really. You only like Uribe because he bought you dinner once. BS. Uribe never bought me dinner. A couple of cocktails, but no dinner, and I liked him before that. In fact, just about everyone did. I just remain loyal, just like I'm sure you are with Fields, Richar, Owens and Broadway.

QUOTE (almagest @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 04:02 PM) I didn't say that. If you read my other post, you'll notice I talked about giving Konerko time to get back to form. I think all this player bashing is silly...except for Juan Uribe. He stinks. That's my guy too. I'm the Father Flanagan of this board. I take all the guys no one else wants and the players everyone likes I have my doubts about.

QUOTE (almagest @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 02:47 PM) No, I did. Swisher's most recent full month was extremely good, and represents an upward trend over the previous months. They've also played, what, 8 or 9 games in July? It's a little early to declare him as suck for this month, and it's a little ridiculous to say he's terrible again. Yet 3 games after a DL stint, after playing the season with a hand injury is enough to say Konerko is done? If he goes 1-4 tonight, wouldn't that technically be an uptrend for Paulie? I'm not Paulie's biggest fan, I just think this is an unfair thread.

QUOTE (shipps @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 03:24 PM) Dick Allen knows that he just cant help but defend his boy. If Paul Konerko is the biggest problem with this team, it will cruise to another world title.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 02:22 PM) His defense cost us the sweep. That's what touched off this entire tirade by everyone. Might have cost the sweep. The offense could only muster 1 run.

Yet the Sox have won 2 of the 3 games since Konerko has been back from the DL. His lack of speed has cost nothing.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 02:00 PM) ok You know full well he had a great June. He's sucked for like a week right now. You're ignoring that, but I don't know why. Cognitive dissonance. Do what you want, though. I'm not "defending" Swisher, and I don't really care if somebody doesn't like him. I'm personally content with him on the team. In fact, I don't even know what we're talking about anymore? What I'm saying is the same people who blast many of the White Sox seem to give Swisher a free pass. Except for June he's been beyond horrible.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 01:53 PM) Ok no offense but that analogy is completely ridiculous. You can't compare a guy seeing his first MLB at-bats to someone who's been in MLB almost 10 years and who has an established track record. OK, how about Cabrera in April? How about Swisher every month except June? Konerko has not been healthy all year. He supposedly is right now. It will take a little bit to get into the swing of things. The team is in first place. This thread is sad.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 02:54 PM) He's about an average CF, but that's not his strongest position. He's expected to hit AT ABOUT .250 with a decent slugging % and have a OBP above .350, when he doesn't do those things for an extended period of time, then you can blast him. What's his OBP? What's his average? How many games are we into the season? I guess its blasting time.

QUOTE (VAfan @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 02:46 PM) Yes, yes, I completely agree with this. And a big part of the problem is that Ozzie seems to reward certain players with playing time, rather than rewarding those who make the right plays. Here's a little comparison for the Konerko defenders: 2008 65 239 27 51 9 1 8 31 35 47 1 0 .213 .319 .360 .679 2008 74 252 27 55 8 0 11 30 37 76 1 0 .218 .315 .381 .696 Guess which one is Konerko's line and which one is the just-released line of Richie Sexson? HINT: The released guy has the better stats! Konerko has played hurt almost the entire season. Look at Ramirez's stats in April. Maybe they should have sent him down or cut him. Why not see where Konerko is at when healthy before judging what he's capable of doing?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 02:31 PM) Is he expected to play a good center field and hit above .250? When he was acquired I know I made an issue of his defense in CF as did a couple of others, but the overwhelming majority of this board said he was at least better than average out there and he would hit 35-40 homers playing half his games at USCF. They talk about Konerko supposedly aging, look at Swisher's declining slugging pct. now declining for a second consecutive year. The guy had a great June, but has been horrible the other parts of the year.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 02:09 PM) Swisher has never hit for a high average, not even in the minors except for a couple of bursts. He is a different type of hitter, his offensive production will be different, so his expectations are different. Swisher isn't expected to drive in runs. But walks for Paulie supposedly mean nothing, but they are great for Swisher. I don't understand. Earlier a post said Swisher can steal you a base. I guess that's accurated because he does have a steal this year. Plus, everyone wants him at first base. Teams that don't expect their firstbaseman to drive in runs usually have trouble scoring runs, but I guess that would go back to Greg Walker. Outside of a couple of grand slams, Swisher really hasn't been a guy you want batting with runners on base this year. He seems to whiff a lot.

If Konerko sucks and is done as a ton of posts in this thread indicate, why would any team trade for him and assume the $30 million or so left on his contract?