Dick Allen

Wedge wouldn't be stupid enough to use his closer would he? The Sox have guys with much better chances at getting runs sitting on the bench than are in the line-up right now.

Thats a shame. Must hold them.

Maybe Sabathia will get the gout before Mack has to hit.

I hope Borowski pitches the 9th. He's due to implode and the Sox have seen him a couple of times.

QUOTE(DrunkBomber @ Apr 15, 2007 -> 02:20 PM) Isnt this tub of lard tired yet He's very warm.

Everything Erstad does gets so much more praise than anyone else. Wow, he laid one down. That's something everyone in the 2 hole can do.

QUOTE(DrunkBomber @ Apr 15, 2007 -> 02:12 PM) Instead of having to listen to Ozzie post game can we just play some soundbites from Pineillas press conference last week about how its hard to hit in the cold. It is hard to hit in the cold. The Indians have a great offense. They aren't exactly hammering the ball. If the Sox could play defense early on, they could be winning this game.

There is no excuse for not using a PH here.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 11:24 PM) incorrect. It just means he left the job wide open. Had BA played well last season he would've locked up the position this season. I don't feel sorry for him either. Hell, they handed it to him once already. And in my opinion he didn't win it back in spring like he was told he needed to do. And that was made harder going up against a guy who's proven himself at this level and won multiple gold gloves, not to mention his ability to handle the bat better than Brian. First let me say I have no problem with Erstad being on the team. I liked the signing. But...........There's a reason why the replacement for Anderson was available for a 1 year $1 million guarantee. He hasn't done much recently. In fact, his 2006 was worse than Anderson's. Ozzie said at the beginning of last year that he did not care what Anderson hit. That turned out to be total BS. Obviously Anderson has to hit better than he did last season, but the guy was a rookie. Robin Ventura sucked when he was a rookie, why didn't they just replace him? Anderson was decent is spring training this year. I really don't think Erstad was much better. If its all about spring training performance, what is Boone Logan doing in Charlotte? There has to be something personal, and that's too bad. KW should send him to Charlotte or trade him away, but I'm sure he knows he'll never get fair value for him right now. Maybe the plan is to let him rot so he'll take even longer to develop and maybe not develop at all, then trade him away for nothing so the organization won't look as bad.

QUOTE(Dam8610 @ Apr 15, 2007 -> 02:17 AM) That makes more sense. Can Minnesota afford that though? Carl Pohlad is perhaps the richest owner in baseball. He has been cheap beyond definition. The Twins payroll used to be lower than their revenue sharing check from MLB. With a new stadium supposedly close now to being in place, if he signed Santana to that contract, I'm certain the checks wouldn't bounce. While Santana is going to get something like that if he doesn't get injured before he's a free agent, I still don't think Pohlad is going to be the one to change his stripes and give it to him.

The other crazy thing that Ozzie said at the beginning of last year was he didn't care what Anderson hit. Now he's basically ruining his career. A guy who is hitting worse than he did last year gets all the playing time.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 04:31 PM) Here is the breakdown. The Indians are hitting .318 against us this year, while we are hitting .240 against them maybe its the thermal underwear. Oakland one of the worst hitting teams this year, hit .174 against us, while we hit a robust .221. It was not cold in Oakland. And only one of their pitchers was good. Minny hit .148 against us, and we hit .200 against them. One good pitcher faced us, and one not so good. Toss out opening day and Cleveland is hitting .267 against the Sox. I'm not cherry picking either, opening day was in the 60s. I could cherry pick and toss out the first 2 games against Cleveland and they are hitting .245 against the Sox. The weather is playing a big part in the lack of offense. For the Sox and their opponents. It was pretty chilly in Oakland. Not like its been here, but not exactly balmy. It was in the upper 40s for the second game against Oakland, and they faced Harden in another. After tomorrow, they will have faced an ace every series and played at least 1 game other than the one against the ace in every series in temperatures below 50 degrees. That will keep the average low.

QUOTE(Capn12 @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 03:48 PM) Opponents were hitting .241 against us coming into todays game, which it surely went up in. Make Contreras' opening day start look like CC Sabathia's and its probably .225 or lower. Its really hard to hit when the game is being played in the conditions the majority of the games have been played in.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 03:38 PM) We are hitting .225 as a team for 29th in baseball. So unless you think that we are the only team with cold weather, or a black cloud that follows us it doesnt explain why other teams can hit in the cold and we s*** the bed. What's the batting average against the White Sox? Probably not much higher than .225. Most of the games with the exception of opening day and a couple in Oakland have been played in conditions that baseball was not meant to be played in.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 03:25 PM) How does the weather affect people striking out and popping the ball straight up. The weather will affect maybe the carry of the ball. But then again, the Indians changed their approach mid game and started to drive the ball to right. We kept taking huge cuts trying to hit home runs on the low and away pitch. It was hot as hell late last year, and our offense went into the dumper in the 2nd half. It will affect it a lot. Its harder to concentrate. You swing at pitches you normally would not swing at. You hold the bat a lot tighter so you don't get the bees, and it really slows it down. QUOTE(WhiteSoxfan1986 @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 03:27 PM) I'll take Sweeney Ozzie loves Sweeney

The weather hasn't exactly been ideal for a lot of offense so far this year. I wouldn't get too pissed at the lack of offense or too excited about good pitching performances yet.

Byrd is the only pitcher who beat the White Sox in the 2005 playoffs.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 01:02 PM) Jason Bere-my pick He and Willie Alvarez were close to unbeatable the last few months of 1993. I remember there was a little controversy having Black Jack open the playoffs because those 2 and Alex Fernandez were throwing better than him at the time.

QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 12:57 PM) I'll take McCarthy from 2005 as the best 5th starter. And I think that Vazquez as a 5th starter last year put up better numbers than anyone we can have for the entire year. Actually, in April of 2003 the Sox 5th starter was Loaisa. He was pretty good that year.

Danks is fortunate its not a nice 70-80 degree day when the ball is really carrying. His key to survival will be how he does after there's solid reports on him and hitters have seen him a few times. I hope he becomes unhittable, but I really think he'll be a Knight in the next month or so.

QUOTE(Capn12 @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 12:45 PM) HAHA, good call fathom. grindErstad 1 for his last 18, 5 K's and down to a paultry .194 BA But its a grinder-like .194. I don't mind Erstad, there paying him next to nothing baseball money-wise. I do think Anderson could hit .194 though.

QUOTE(shoota @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 12:43 PM) Wager? I'd bet anything you'd like. He could be good some day, but he is being rushed now because he got a few guys out in spring training.

QUOTE(SoxAce @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 12:41 PM) The thing is alot of people here liked BMac. I think you mean Ozzie will say he'll never ammount to anything. There are a lot of people that say he allows too many homers, obviously feeling that it is something he will never be able to improve upon.

QUOTE(SoxAce @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 12:40 PM) I'll take a bet that Danks will be second on our team for the most K's. He has givin up some homers but he has also K'ing an impressive rate. I'll take your bet. Danks is going to be in Charlotte most of the summer.

QUOTE(SoxAce @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 12:38 PM) Danks still isn't pitching bad though. If Brandon McCarthy was doing the same thing for the Rangers, we would have a ton of people saying how he is never going to be anything. Danks has now allowed 3 long balls.