Dick Allen

QUOTE(bad at best @ Apr 20, 2007 -> 08:52 AM) Not to bring down everyone's buzz, but he is getting these freakish number of walks right now because opposing pitchers know that Konerko can't hurt them. He has no protection and is getting the bat taken out of his hand. This is simply not true.

QUOTE(Capn12 @ Apr 20, 2007 -> 12:34 AM) Well to me, I'm more irritated with the guy who is currently leading off, not the one that should be if not on the DL(though, he still will struggle to steal bases on his return). To be able to justify someone like grindErstad not only playing daily, but LEADING OFF is amazing. In the espn.com chat with Keith Law he said Erstad was the worst starting player in the AL. He also said the White Sox must be trying not to score runs with him leading off.

It seems to me that OG and KW need to sit down with BA and explain exactly how he fits into or out of their plans.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Apr 19, 2007 -> 10:39 AM) Kept thinking last night about those couple games against the Indians where Mark went nearly-perfect a couple years ago. Damn nice to see him get it done. Welcome back MB. We missed ya. He pitched the 1 hour 39 minute masterpiece in 2005. Ichiro was the only Mariner to get a hit. I think he had 3.

Buerhle was incredible. The last 3 innings he was even better than the first six. It was total domination. On the way home we listened to the postgame call-ins. Someone said it was the best game Buerhle pitched in a while. Gee, do you think? Its probably the best pitched game I have ever seen. The ball Blalock hit to the wall was the only one really hit all that hard, and even that was a high flyball that I think got a push from the wind. Hairston looked safe at the park, but seeing the replay when I got home, he definitely looked out. Iguchi made a real nice play, and Uribe made a nice play with Konerko making a scoop on the end of it.

QUOTE(letsgoarow @ Apr 18, 2007 -> 05:14 PM) then we might have to bring up an entire new team. Just a thought....GO SOX!!! Not a bad thought.

It would be nice if Buerhle can get out of the first unscathed for a change.

While Walker may or may not be in over his head in his current position, the way the White Sox offense is constructed is one that will have extended periods of drought. There's hardly any speed at all. The guys who do get on base the most are base cloggers. Its a team that regardless of what KW and Ozzie will ever admit, relies almost entirely on homeruns. Maybe another hitting coach could make a difference, but it would be only temporary. Many of these hitters have had some great years under Walker's supervision. Konerko, Dye, Thome had a good year last year. Uribe was pretty good in 2004. Crede had breakout year. AJP has done alright.

QUOTE(TheOcho @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 07:09 PM) Oh how I dislike Sosa greatly. I really hated him when he was on the Cubs. Now I'm pretty indifferent.

QUOTE(JohnCangelosi @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 07:03 PM) Let me invite you out to Warsaw or Kiev (Ukraine) and you'll see what real women look like. Trust me, as a guy born and raised in Chicago (living in Lakeview but a Sox fan) I used to be ALL ABOUT North side chicks. They are complete pigs compared to the ones in Warsaw or Kiev. Kiev has the hottest chicks by far (Most women look like Anna Kournikova) and they are not snooty either...you can have a field day out here ;-) All the women look like models in Copenhagen.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 01:46 PM) This is BS... the cold is used as an excuse for Conteras not being able to get loose, yet its only helping John Danks? Cold effects hitters Cold effects pitchers I never want cold to be used as an argument on this board again. lol Contreras supposedly couldn't get loose in the cold, yet gave up 1 hit to the Indians and lost. It was nice on opening day. He left that game against the same Indian team with an ERA of 63.00. Anyone who has ever played baseball will tell you cold will affect hitters or offense a lot more than pitchers. There's a reason why offense throughout baseball is down significantly and April has a good chance of being the coldest April in the US for over 100 years.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 12:50 PM) The NBA has suspended referee Joey Crawford indefinitely after his confrontation last weekend with Tim Duncan. He is at least gone for the playoffs, possibly longer. This is a great move by Stern. Crawford is a good ref, but he's as miserable as his brother Jerry, the MLB umpire. He had no reason to throw Duncan out the game, and challenging him to a fight is beyond ridiculous.

Also Danks has yet to start a game in the major leagues with a windchill above 40. His ERA would most likely be a lot higher if he had.

QUOTE(DABearSoX @ Apr 16, 2007 -> 08:43 PM) Exactly, i bet a thread along these lines was started around this time last year. Though i believe he was still up 3-4 mph at this time last year. But then again the country wasnt engulfed in a cold spell. As soon as it warms up I have no doubt he'll be back up to 95-99mph If the White Sox hope to go to the playoffs this year and win in the playoffs, they are going to need a better Bobby Jenks than the 2006 version. He was fine the first half. He wasn't very good the second half. Pretty brutal in September. Even Ozzie is concerned about his velocity, and Jenks and Cooper disagree on why its down. If its going to take him a month or 2 into the season to regain his velocity, he's going to need a new offseason program. I also think the odds are he dissappears from the spotlight about as quickly as he entered it. I really don't think he'll have a very long career. IMO he is a prime candidate for a devastating arm injury, and his lack of velocity is something that may make that more likely. If he's only capable of throwing 93 or 94 and he's out there trying to throw 100, something bad will probably happen. The good news is he seems to be the one right now least worried about it, decreasing the likelihood of that happening. If his job suddenly is on the line though..............BTW according to the Sun-Times, he will be working on his mechanics using the towel drill.

QUOTE(rafacosta @ Apr 16, 2007 -> 08:56 PM) Well, when I meant that he acted like a star was not adapting to the country and missing the american cuisine, culture, etc and not willing to interact with the local culture. I strongly feel that Ozzie is mainly upset with him because of all this Venezuela stuff. I am pretty sure that BA was saying some bad stuff about the country behind Ozzie and Ozzie got to know that. Of course BA will not criticize in front of the media otherwise he would be in bad shape. If Ozzie is upset with Anderson about Venezuelan "stuff" he should really be pissed off at KW, who has said the White Sox won't be sending anyone down there to play anymore.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Apr 16, 2007 -> 10:03 AM) Anderson wants more at-bats and doesn't want to play winter ball, per the Suntimes. It's impressive that a guy with a something like a .600 career OPS doesn't think he needs to get some at-bats in the winter to get better. And he thinks his .143 batting average deserves some more major league at-bats this season. I think it would be best for all if Anderson found his way to a new organization as soon as possible. How can you possibly use 7 scattered ab this season as a reason he shouldn't be playing? He went to winter ball and got sick. The White Sox organization is not doing BA any favors by letting him rot on the bench. I hope they see what they are doing is totally wrong. I do agree it would be in his best interest that KW found him a new home, but its not entirely BA's fault. He didn't hit last year, no doubt about it. Neither did Pods, but KW found $3 million to give him.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Apr 15, 2007 -> 07:36 PM) The pitching is exactly what we need. If you would have told me we would go 3-3 on this road trip, without scoring any runs and with sub .250 BA for the season, I would have told you that you were f***ing nuts. I dont see how we cant go on a run here, it will come. And then all the sunshine and puppy dogs on Soxtalk will be pure comedy. Are you? Im not at this point. I think the offense has been hindered by the weather. I think the pitchers have benefitted from it. I really believe Danks would have an ERA of at least 9.00 if the weather was decent in his 2 starts. The thing is not having it 9.00 could build some confidence. Contreras goes from being pounded by the Indians when its 60 degrees to giving up 1 hit when its 35.

Well I suppose KW could have talked JR into opening the checkbook to sign Soriano to play LF, but he's hitting .233 with no homers. I also suppose KW could have made a deal to get Manny Ramirez, but he's hitting .194 with no homers. Maybe they even could have brought Frank Thomas back. He's hitting .200 with 1 homer, and that homer is the only at bat so far this season he has an rbi. Relax. Its early and its been very cold. The offense will get better. Worry about the pitching. Aardsma has looked unhittable. Jenks has been very average. Danks has had the weather help him tremendously. If the Sox pitch well they will win. If they don't they will not.

QUOTE(TheHolyBovine @ Apr 15, 2007 -> 03:14 PM) Honestly, KW deserves blame for this offense. Heading into the offseason, we had MAJOR offensive holes at LF, CF, and SS. Now, 2 weeks into the season, we still have major offensive holes at LF, CF, and SS. Firing Greg Walker will do nothing to change the fact that we start 2 OFs who hit like utility IFs on a CONSISTENT basis. I love KW, but he f'ed up this winter. Shocking statement: This offense will not get better until we get better hitters. Actually Uribe has been pretty decent. Pods numbers are about the same as they were for 2005 when he supposedly was a HOFer. Dye, Konerko, Thome, AJP, Crede, Iguchi, Erstad have all done squat. We will see what happens when they play in weather that's appropriate for this sport. I'm sorry, judging the offense in the conditions most of the games have been played in is like judging a QB strickly by his numbers when he's playing in a blizzard. Or judging a kicker when there's a 50 mph wind. I have a hard time believing the offense we have seen is the offense this team will have the remainder of the season. On the other side of the coin, the pitching staff has definitely benefitted from the weather. Its pretty hard to tell what you have when they pitch in below freezing windchill conditions. Hopefully it can at least build some confidence.

The Cubs and Sox pitching staffs combined today gave up 3 hits, and they both lost. That has to be rare.

QUOTE(The Critic @ Apr 15, 2007 -> 03:17 PM) I'm seeing them on September 8th, I can't wait and I AM a huge fan! I've seen them twice before and they were great both times! I'll be there on the 8th also in Milwaukee on the 6th and may go see them in Germany in October. I've seen them so many times and have never been dissappointed. Since they went with The Evening with Rush concept with no warm- up band and 3 hours of music, its been a Rush fan's dream.

This was the type of game the Sox always won in 2005.

QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 15, 2007 -> 02:31 PM) Great job by Aardsma. He brings the most intensity to the team right now. In comes Borowski. Ozzie finally gets to use Pods. CC had a lay-up of a 9th inning set-up, or he would face some lefties. I think Wedge is making a big mistake.

QUOTE(beautox @ Apr 15, 2007 -> 02:30 PM) so i read they want to have him start apparently. i wonder what they'll have to give up, i think gomes +, i doubt their getting rocco or carl. I think Lidge would be awesome in the AL. Maybe the Astros would like some of the White Sox never will be's.

QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 15, 2007 -> 02:29 PM) Yep, who would you rather face? Molina, Anderson, etc. or Thome, AJP, etc. I think Borowski will be in though. That would be totally insane.