Dick Allen

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:31 PM) Garland on the PFB show was talking about the humidity and the weather helping the ball carry. One question, isnt he a sinkerball pitcher. Brandon Webb can come into a game and keep the ball in the park, because he uses his turbo sinker. When you have a sinker use it. Garland gets hurt more on leaving his changeup up than any other pitch. We are in Felix Diaz/Danny Wright/Jason Grilli/Arnie Munoz territory right now with our starting pitching. Our team is now ranked 9th in the AL in pitching. We are just ahead of Cleveland and Toronto. Weather, QuesTec and umpires, doesn't the opposing pitcher have to overcome these "obstacles" as well? Its time for the excuses to stop, and the performances improve.

QUOTE(DABearSoX @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:26 PM) well i thought maybe if we could have pulled that out our season would be going in a different direction....now were in 3rd. If you would have told me at the begining of the season this team would be in 3rd place at some point i would have laughed very hard. I am not gonna give up on this team, we have all been in this situation before, its just different now after last season......God do I wish we were in the NL...haha not really but come on, 66-46 record and we are in third place...this might have to go as the most frustrating year I have ever been through.... Liriano getting hurt might be our savior The fact that the Twins and KW actually discussed Torii Hunter coming to the White Sox shows how far the Twins have come to pass the White Sox. I still think the Sox will finish ahead of them if Liriano is down for any length of time, but Radke has picked it up lately and Santana is still nails. This kid they just called up, Garza, I believe,is supposed to be something, hopefully he performs like Liriano did last season.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:23 PM) Here's what I've noticed about our starters. If you're patient enough against them, they're going to have an inning where they implode and lose their focus. Our starters don't have the greatest stuff on the planet (Vaz has above average stuff, and Contreras does sometimes), and they become very wild in the strike zone. It's one of the main reasons why I think we have 3 wins this year when we score 3 runs or less. We probably had like 20 last year. Its 5-26 scoring 3 runs or less, and now 11 loses scoring 6 runs or more.

QUOTE(Dan Pasqua @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:23 PM) First of all, I dont know what that first part of your post means But 3 out of 34 homers doesnt sound too convincing. Secondly, if you have to go back to April before you can remember a time where he came through for us in the clutch, there is a problem there. And hes hasd plenty of opportunities Its a higher percentage than Frank Thomas' career clutch homers vs. career homers, and his stats are still updated almost daily on this site. Thome is having a great year, and has had his share of clutch hits. He didn't get Rivera tonight. Guess what? Not a lot of people do. He's going to the Hall of Fame.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:16 PM) Good call Tito, that's 2 game winning HRs (non walkoffs) right there that he's had this year, both of which were in huge clutch situations and agianst good teams (Twins, Cards). Didn't Thome also have big pinch hit homers against the Cubs on that Saturday game when AJ went deep in the 9th to win it, and against the Reds?

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:09 PM) Well, the PFB told me that it's not a problem that Buehrle allowed 3 homers, since they were all solo. Its unbelievable to me how poorly you can pitch wearing a White Sox uniform and still be praised these days.

QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 11:06 PM) Thats what I don't get. We list McCarthy as untouchable, and there is no way we trade him, but we use him out of position all year, when he could be easily hold his own in the rotation. It just makes zero sense. And next year when he's in the rotation, he'll probably be gassed by August because of his limited use this season.

If the starter has given up 3 homers, and you are going to take him out if he gives up a hit, and its the 7th inning, why bother waiting for the runner to reach? The thing is Ozzie most likely had given up on the game by that point.

QUOTE(ceffa2000 @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 10:58 PM) Would you say that he was playing for the playoffs last night, using Jenks for 2-2/3 innings? I think he does think about it. It just comes down to our starters not performing. We can't expect to score 6-9 runs a game every game. That's the problem. The starters are not performing, but our manager insists on extending them game after game after game, and it almost always results in more runs scored for the opposition.

QUOTE(Felix @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 10:54 PM) Ozzie kept him in to save his bullpen, which has already been used a lot on streak of 24 consecutive games in 24 days. He wanted to get more out of him to save the pen some work, but it didn't work out. I can't blame Ozzie for that. The White Sox bullpen has been used less than ANY bullpen in baseball. Leaving Garland in to give up another hit, and then yanking him saves the bullpen exactly NOTHING. They still have to get the same amount of outs. Its time Ozzie stops thinking about saving his underused bullpen, and start thinking about saving the White Sox playoff chances. If the bullpen needs help, get another reliever and either tell Gload or Pablo or whoever see you later.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 10:45 PM) He has no business getting thrown out there for the start of the 7th with over 100 pitches already. Then Ozzie decides to pitch to Ghey-Rod with 1st base open. Ozzie is really grinding my gears. Why pitch to ARod with the infield in? He had the infield back for Abreu. He could have walked ARod and set up for a DP with a great DP candidate in Posada. Unfortunately Ozzie's strategy is questionable, unless you drank too much of the Kool Aid last season and think he does no wrong.

Garland is going to have his share of starts where he s***s the bed. Unfortunately it happened tonight. He was close to weaseling out of some runs but the homers killed him.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 10:36 PM) Not according to Bill Melton on the post game show. Melton's nuts and gets a White Sox paycheck. That ball was clearly not going to be caught, in fact it looked like a homer from the club level.

Well, one thing is sure for me. No matter how obvious it is the Sox need a different LF, we aren't going to see anyone new until Sept. call-ups or 2007. I also don't understand bringing Garland back for a batter in the 7th. That cost another run. Evidently Ozzie has a rule that the last batter the starter faces must reach base.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 10:35 PM) Well, there is one reasonable option out there... Jose Cruz Jr. Of course, that'd mean that one of Gload or Ozuna would have to go. BTW -- the culprit of that 7th inning rally, which was killed, was AJ. 2-1 pitch, Villone had just thrown six of seven balls, and that pitch was several inches inside. AJ has been great this year, but man... he doesn't see a whole lot of pitches that he doesn't like. Its Paulie getting 1 base on a double clearly over the RF's head. It wasn't close.

But who would lead off? We need someone to strikeout at the alarming clip Pods is whiffing at now.l

I think this is the 11th game this season that the Sox scored at least 6 runs and lost. Even if you expected the pitching to fall back a little bit, that's too high of a number.

Who cares about close. Bases loaded and nobody out, and not plating any really haunts the Sox. Who would have thunk it.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 10:51 AM) Nope. I don't care if Mark is struggling, he's earned the right to work out the issues. That last start would have been fine if it weren't for a bad call. Let him work it out. I have no problem having Buerhle work out his issues, but it shouldn't be at the expense of the team. When he gets in trouble late, get him out of there. I don't understand having your bullpen ready when the score is 3-2, and not using them until the score is 6-2. Maybe Ozzie is sick of all the McCarthy talk, but I bet you BMac has at least as much trade value as 4 of our starters, and maybe all 5.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 09:45 AM) I must say, throughout this season, I have claimed that Jim Thome, not Jermaine Dye, was our team's MVP, because of the effect his presence has had on the entire lineup. However, from World Series MVP to now, I must change my vote to Jermaine Dye. Though I understand that Thome may have had an effect at the beginning of the season, Jermaine Dye has risen to the top of baseball's outfielders. He has absolutely killed the ball this season, and always seems to come up with the big hit. Am I the only person who thinks that at the end of the season, rather than activating Dye's option for another year, the White Sox should offer him a new, 3-year deal, at around 10-12 mill per season? I think it is the right thing to do, at this point. He has more than earned that money, and should be locked up for a few more years, at least until the end of his prime. I don't care who we have in AAA (hell left field should be open!) Dye has had a great season, and was an excellent pick-up for what appears to be a bargain rate. I would hold off extending him however until next year. His stock right now is at an all time high, hardly the time you want to lock him in. If he continues his tear into next season, his price would probably be near what it would be right now. If he tails off a little, his price will go down. Patience I say.

QUOTE(SnB @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 09:18 AM) There is no need to wear sox gear at a regular cubs game. None at all, unless you really really need attention. Believe me, I don't need attention and I don't ever try and start trouble at any game I'm at. I just would be sickened if I was ever confused for a Cubs fan.

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 08:44 AM) Of course there were plenty of annoying yankee fans at the game. But I saw a guy wearing full Twins gear...hat and jersey. Why do these morons grace our park? What is the point of this thread? I don't know. I was just annoyed by that. Not to mention the moron I saw in full Cubs gear. But that is always going to happen. I occassionally go to the Urinal with my Cubs fan friends. I always make sure I'm sporting something with White Sox on it, even if the Sox aren't playing, just so the people in the stands know I'm smarter than them.

That was a huge win. Garcia came back from being terrible and shut them down. The Sox were able to overcome Mack in CF and some questionable baserunning to win the game. Big homer off Riviera by Paulie.Hopefully this will propel the Sox into a hot streak. QUOTE(WhiteSoxfan1986 @ Aug 8, 2006 -> 11:49 PM) Anyone else suprised at how deep Damon was playing? He didn't have a chance, especially with Tad running. Have to question Torre on that one. With a guy on second and one out, you have to play the batter honest. You don't assume he's going to get a base hit. If Damon is playing in and Dye hits a deep drive that isn't caught, Torre will be questioned about that. He did the right thing, but got beat anyway. Good job by JD.

Unfortunately QuesTec will be at the park and Freddy probably needs the corners tonight. It doesn't look good for the White Sox.

Negativity? White Sox fans? All you have to do is watch the broadcast of White Sox games to know the real reason the Sox are losing, and have a team ERA over 5.50 since the All Star break. Its the umpires.