Dick Allen

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 7, 2008 -> 06:48 AM) Fine, but there is no denying the similarites between KWjr. and Owens. KW didn't draft his son, it was his scouts' call. I think the Yankees drafted a 102 year old ex Negro League player around the same time. The whole MLB draft is a crapshoot. Even the first round a decent percentage never make it to the major leagues and most of them don't provide much impact. There will be guys from the draft picked after KW Jr. who will be good players and chances are a 22 year old who gets pinch hit for on his college team is a big overdraft in the 6th round, but at least he will sign. People love the Jordan Danks pick, but if he doesn't sign, its a worse pick than Junior.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jun 6, 2008 -> 10:20 PM) Loaiza topped out at 88 tonight, and still had very nice movement on his pitches. The HR to Casilla was bad luck, as it was tailing way in on his hands and he did a great job of getting out in front of it. And all this was without having any real game action in 3+ weeks. You get the television gun or the one at the park? The one at the park had him either 86 or 84 with the fastball and 78 with the offspeed stuff. Unfortunately, that is what he was topping out at with the Dodgers. I like signing him, but really don't think I should expect much.

QUOTE (gosox41 @ Jun 6, 2008 -> 09:41 PM) I ws just going to ask if KW's son was a legit 5th round pick. For a team with a crappy minor league system, it doesn't sound like, especially if only a couple of teams saw him as a 10th rd pick. If he wasn't a legit pick, then this is worse then Schu picking his daughter in the 45th round (or whatever it was). I'm guessing more fifth round picks make it to the majors then 45th round (though there are exceptions like Piazza and Buehrle in the 38th). And I've heard enough the state of the Sox farm system to know not too waste any picks anymore. The White Sox actually drafted 3 or 4 guys after Carrie Schueler that year that actually played in the major leagues. I think a couple of them signed with the Sox and one or 2 didn't. One was Placido Polanco. There was more nepotism in the White Sox draft this year as Travis Otto, son of Dave Otto, former big leaguer and Cubs broadcaster , grandson of Al Otto, White Sox part-time Chicago area scout, was picked in a later round.

USCF is a goofy park. The wind is howling out of the SW yet the garbage flows on the field towards the SW corner.

QUOTE (gosox41 @ Jun 6, 2008 -> 10:36 PM) Can't lance Broadway fill Loiaza's role? Or are the Sox that down on him. Broadway isn't very good. His ERA is almost 7.00 his last 5 starts. Loaisa was topping out at 86. He probably won't help much, but if he takes Masset's role maybe he gets lucky a couple of times. Masset is an upgrade over Wasserman and the long guy is used in games that probably will be loses anyway, so its worth the shot to pay Esteban the minimum and see if he can either pick up a little arm strength or somehow get by with some cunning and guile. They can always release him and he'll cost less than Jeff Nelson a couple of years ago.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 6, 2008 -> 10:56 AM) You deserve props, as you were always saying he'd come around. I thought he could bounce back and be a decent #3 or #4 starter. Basically giving you Garland-like numbers. I'm actually shocked at his sometimes dominance this season.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 6, 2008 -> 09:08 AM) Yea, IIRC, a lot of people were wishing we had sent him to the Angels for OC instead of Garland. Wondering how they feel about that now... A lot of people were hoping the Sox would eat a lot of his salary and just give him away.

Jose Contreras is dealing like the 2005 version. I don't know if he can keep it up, but you have to give him a lot of credit. He was given up for dead by most.

I thought he was a soccer player. I actually like this pick.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 5, 2008 -> 07:20 AM) He mentioned Walker's name along with his own in a rant about the team under-performing. Walker needs to grow a pair and not go whining to the owner over it. Funny he never mentioned Don Cooper by name when the pitching was horses*** the past 2 years.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jun 4, 2008 -> 04:58 PM) If Walker was such a class act why did he go over his boss's head and over his GM's head and plead his case directly to his buddy the owner? And why was he so "hurt" just because Ozzie mentioned his name along with his own name? Why is Walker immune from any criticism or accountability for results? Walker may or may not be a "good Coach" depending on how you define and judge that. But going purely by results, his hitters have underperformed for the past two years. Ozzie never made one negative comment about Walker before and Sunday didn't really say anything about him other than mentioning his name once during a frustrated rant. Big deal. If Walker can't handle that, he shouldn't even be there. He did talk to JR on Monday. Walker was at the ballpark, working. Ozzie was with Freddy in South Beach. Which hitters have underperformed due to bad instruction? Thome? He was pretty good the past 2 seasons. OBP over .400. The 2 highest HR totals for a left handed hitter in team history. Konerko? Also has been good. Injuries have slowed him. Dye? WS MVP. Huge 2006. Hurt most of last season. People were thrilled he signed an extension. Crede? Came on strong in 2005. Was great in 2006. Hurt last year. AJP? Avg. down a bit from Minnesota days. Power numbers up. Quentin? A revelation. If AZ had any thought he could do what he's done, he wouldn't be a White Sox. Cabrera? He hasn't been as good as advertised. Considering he's playing for a contract, and admittedly selfish, do you think he pays any attention to a hitting coach? Swisher? He's been horrible. I suppose you could say its on Greg Walker, but that would be laughable. Ramirez? He's been a lot better hitter than most of baseball thought, or he would have been able to get more money? Uribe? Every Uribe post blames Uribe for everything that goes wrong with the White Sox. Just the other day he needed to be released because of a couple of tough losses. The funny thing was he didn't even play. Fields? If you read this board, you think he has a shot at the HOF. Owens? Has done far better in Chicago than he has in Charlotte. You don't call out your hitting coach and friend to the media. The Jerry Springer Show mentality needs to stop. Unfortunately, too many now think that kind of garbage is entertaining.

QUOTE (Wanne @ Jun 4, 2008 -> 05:31 PM) Quit bein' a big skirt Walker. Who the hell else does it fall on besides the players? When the pitching sucks...Coop's huevos are in the sling. Hitters...IT'S YOU! Greg Walker is a class act and old school. In his world you don't throw your teammates or coaches or managers under the proverbial bus. If there's something that needs to be said you say it to the individual, not to the press. A general rant is fine, but when specific names get thrown around, that doesn't fly with a lot of people, not just Greg Walker.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Jun 4, 2008 -> 05:28 PM) My old man just called and said Levine was just on ESPN 1000. He said part of the reason for all this was to protect Mark. Levine claims Buehrle has had a shoulder problem since ST, and he can't start on 5 days anymore, but needs a week. Now I don't know how much of this is factual(if Levine is correct, I know he said it), but I suppose we will find out pretty soon. All the White Sox denial when Buerhle was skipped in spring training when reporters started questioning his health is reminiscent of the Cubs with Wood and Prior. Bartolo Colon would have been a great signing.

I bet Cooper had some say in this signing.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jun 4, 2008 -> 11:22 AM) The game was lost. Why is she living in a delusional world and egging on her supporters? What happened to party unity? She's in it for herself and nothing else. She knows she lost. She received 18 million votes I think that's even more than Obama. She has those supporters as an asset to get something she wants. Maybe its one or a few of her causes ie her health care plan, maybe its a spot as the running mate, maybe its paying off some or all of her campaign debt, maybe its a combination of the previous, maybe its all of the previous. Obama wouldn't do it any differently and neither would any politician. Obama will give her something and she turn her "army" over to him.

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Jun 4, 2008 -> 10:19 AM) When Ozzie went on a rant about needing more offense I didnt think he meant for the other team...Maybe if we play our cards right we can lure Carl Everett or Robbie Alomar too. He's hitting .333. Maybe Joey Cora can take time off from the Preakness and teach him how to play a position.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Jun 4, 2008 -> 12:40 AM) Walk met with JR, and is upset with the Guillen comments. I would guess this would mean this is Walker's last year as hitting coach. He's really pissed at Ozzie for hanging him out to dry.

Its graduation season. It probably is something along those lines.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Jun 3, 2008 -> 06:06 PM) I'm honestly looking forward to Guillen if the offense looks terrible tonight. Not that it's unreasonable to expect that with Greinke, but it'd be especially bad since he promised lineup changes, didn't deliver, and nothing changed. What a flip-flop from him on the pregame show. Talking about not throwing Williams "under the bus?!" Does he think we're idiots? Idle threats eventually catch up to you. It will be interesting to see the team's disposition tonight. I read where the talk among the scouts is the White Sox are a team that is not having fun. That when they win they appeared more relieved than happy.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Jun 3, 2008 -> 05:42 PM) i love this guy - tough to find a first place coach thinking about packing it in. He hates losing and knows this team is better than its playing. Please. How many times do we have to hear about Ozzie thinking about quitting? 2005,2006,2007 and now 2008. He was going to quit 3 times then signed a 4 year extension. Ozzie thinking about quitting is full of more s*** than anyone who thinks the White Sox can win with this offense.Any manager thinking about quitting during the season when the team is struggling a little bit isn't all that tough of a guy. Measure a manager by how he handles the tough times. Anyone can handle it when everything is bouncing your way.

Did Ozzie at least apologize for his statements Sunday? Considering the answer to what was done was D.) None of the above, he really looks like a rambling fool right now. I suppose if the fans boo if they score 2 runs tonight he will be all over them in the post game. He has already stated if anyone thinks the Sox can win with this offense they are full of s***.

QUOTE (Controlled Chaos @ Jun 3, 2008 -> 01:44 PM) Any word on the big changes?? No trades, Walker is still the hitting coach, Ozzie is still managing. If there are changes, it will be to the line-up which isn't surprising.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 3, 2008 -> 09:03 AM) A slump doesn't last 2 years. If we were talking about just this season, I'd agree - moving the hitting coach is too rash. But we are talking about a team that, offensively, has been below expectations for a couple years now. Even in 2005, they weren't great - just good enough. The only time the team really looked good offensively was the first half of 2006. This isn't a slump. Its a consistent track record of hitters getting worse on arriving in Chicago, or being here and then getting worse with Walker arrived, or just plain hitting below expectations. The success stories of hitters improving under his tuteledge are very few, and the disappointments many. At some point, being the hitting coach, that responsibility has to land on his doorstep. IMO, now is that time. The pitching was pretty bad in 2006. The pitching was pretty bad most of 2007, yet somehow Don Cooper has regained his genius status this year. Its the players, not the hitting coach. You want a better hitting coach, acquire better hitters. Look at the young guys to see how effective Walker is. Jerry Owens was better with Walker than he was or is at anytime. Same with Fields. Ramirez is hitting better now than every other team thought he would or they would have offered him more than less than half the average salary. Dye was better than he ever was in 2006. Now he's a little older. Konerko came back after 2003 and was great, now he's a little older and hurt. Thome came back from an injury, a team was willing to pay half his salary, and he put up an OPS in 2006 for the season that is higher than Carlos Quentin's right now. In fact, Thome's 2 seasons with the White Sox are the 2 highest homer seasons for a left handed batter in White Sox history. He's older now. There have been many postitives with Walker. Its fantasy to think a new hitting coach is going to be able to turn back the clock. Earlier, there was a quote about Edmonds praising the Cubs hitting coach. Was it the hitting coach or a 25 MPH wind blowing out that helped him?

Konerko and Dye have had huge years under his care. Thome was pretty solid the past 2 seasons despite age and injury. Crede has been better this year than anyone here would have imagined. Ramirez has been getting better. Quentin, although solid in the minors hadn't done much at the major league level until now. Toby Hall is hitting over .300. The problem is not the hitting coach. Its the mix of players. Slow guys who swing for the fences slump a lot and for a long time. This needs to be offset with guys who can run a little bit. Unfortunately that has been ignored. I don't know about you, but I think its crazy to believe an offense is solid when your leadoff hitter, a veteran, has a career OBP of .320. What I don't understand is if it is Walker's fault that Swisher swings at pitches that bounce 3 feet in front of home plate and a foot outside and takes strike 3 right down the middle, how come in the game thread instead of ripping him or Konerko or Thome, isn't all the ripping on Walker. Its apparent its not the player's fault they don't hit. I wish I had a job where I made millions that when I sucked it would just be blamed on someone else.

QUOTE (shipps @ Jun 2, 2008 -> 03:34 PM) If a class of honor roll students wind up failing miserably one year when they have a history of succeeding you have to look at the teacher eventually. Unless those same students have other circumstances like age, and injury and whatever. If you think Greg Walker is why Thome, Konerko and Swisher aren't hitting, fine, fire him. Just don't be surprised if the new guy doesn't have them hitting .350.