Dick Allen

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ May 11, 2016 -> 08:59 AM) I can't crush Robin for that. Taxed late inning guys. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Let's get the series today! That's what I say. Keep the offense rolling. The Sox team OPS is suddenly pretty, pretty good.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 11, 2016 -> 08:32 AM) Go back to the gamethread. Fathom called it "inexplicable" if I remember correctly...that was before the count was 2-2 on Mazara I'm sure. Yes, Duke has been pretty lousy in high leverage situations against almost every lefty recently. Big Papi, Moreland and Chris Davis come to mind just from the past week alone. But you still go with statistical probability. You paid Duke $5 million per year for these specific situations, not Carroll. Everyone who has followed Sox baseball the past 30 years knows that no lead in Texas is ever safe, unless it's 7+. Duke, Putnam and Albers in no particular order were the priority relievers over Carroll once the situation started becoming a "clear and present danger." The bullpen was taxed. Just like your boy with the Rangers had to leave a guy in who gave up 5 walks in less than an inning. Why isn't that inexplicable? Then the people's choice Albers came in, and even if he let all the inherited runners score, the Sox would still have the lead, but he was bad. It happens. Next game. I do know if he would have pitched a taxed bullpen piece and he got hurt, that would have also been inexplicable. You and a few others have been waiting a long time to pounce on Robin. That's pretty obvious. But you pounced when it was obvious to most the problem wasn't the bullpen management. It was the performance of the pitchers.

QUOTE (Tex @ May 11, 2016 -> 08:25 AM) Great point. These are the best in the world. Again, does anyone have evidence how reliable and accurate pitch trax is? That is a good point. The one that was on Fox or TBS last year in the playoffs was either way off, or the umpires had the same issues every game. The problem is, we are talking inches. One or 2 inches makes all the difference in the world, and if you aren't working the edges of the plate, you wind up being an ex pitcher. Almost impossible to get them all right, but obviously some are much better and consistent than others. That's why I think if they aren't going to go robotic, they should make the best balls and strikes umpires just balls and strikes umpires.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 11, 2016 -> 08:28 AM) Well I have to admit, I was ready to write off Avi a few weeks ago. Happy I'm wrong. Not sure if he sustains it, but I will say this isn't just BABIP luck or the like. He does look different up there - different approach, different swing plane, more restraint, driving the ball better. I am wondering how different his swing really is. I think this might all be mental. Sure he starts with his hands lower, but if you notice ,they go back up to where they used to start pretty quickly.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 11, 2016 -> 08:21 AM) Mazara hits lefties at 630 and righties at 895. Duke should have been used there...once he got to Moreland, it was already a brush fire. Sample size. Still had a big lead. Albers pitched the previous night, I am sure Robin was hoping not to have to use him. If there are pitchers who should not ever be used on a roster, that isn't the manager's problem. But I'm sure Duke would have had no problem with Mazara, because hindsight is awesome. The move that wasn't made would have easily worked out 100% of the time.

Hamels is tough, but the Sox bats seem to be heating up. Hopefully Latos will bounce back after a couple of mediocre outings.

I think it should be one of 2 things, either get technology to call balls and strikes or make the best balls and strikes umpires permanent home plate umpires. Let the Laz Diazes of the world work the bases. Now with replay, balls and strikes is the biggest umpire issue. Everything else can be reviewed. If they aren't going to do anything about it, they probably should ban pitch trax. All it does is makes the umpires look bad. And these are the best in the world. It shows just how tough of a job it is.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ May 11, 2016 -> 07:23 AM) Man am I glad I went to bed. What in the actual f*** happened? Good luck against Hamels now lol Robin took Soxtalk's advice and used Matt Albers in a high leverage situation. It didn't work out, so Robin is back to being an idiot. He should have used his gassed relievers because last night was a must win. Now the playoff hopes really take a hit. With Latos going today, another nugget is it will be a miracle if he holds them to single digits. So basically the White Sox are screwed.

The other thing that killed them was Carroll struck Andrus out but the umpire didn't give him the call.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 10, 2016 -> 11:49 PM) 1-2-3. Don't think any team can recover from that kind of shock. Yep. Season is ova.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 10, 2016 -> 11:48 PM) I was calling for Duke as soon as Mazara was announced Isn't that what you got?

QUOTE (Elgin Slim @ May 10, 2016 -> 11:45 PM) Guys, Robertson and Jones were unavailable tonight. What are you going to do? Robin had no choice but to put the schmucks out there. . You have to treat every game like it is the 7th game of the WS. If it means your bullpen is blown out the second week of May so be it, these guys have been wanting to crush Robin since last season ended. That is what all this silliness is about. Notice they didn't have any alternatives until after the fact, if then.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 10, 2016 -> 11:43 PM) If the Rangers don't score 10 runs against Latos tmrw, it will be a minor miracle. Harrelson has to be super pissed now. At least 10. Maybe 15.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 10, 2016 -> 11:39 PM) Thanks Robin Yeah he should have brought in Albers sooner. He was fantastic. Where did you lose all your sense? The bullpen was taxed. Everyone's favorite came in let everyone on base score and 2 more.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ May 10, 2016 -> 10:32 PM) uh, why didn't they challenge? it's almost the 8th inning anyways. Because he was out.

I don't know if it already is on here but Melky told Laz Diaz he was a bad umpire those pitches were balls to earn his first career ejection.

QUOTE (Charlie Haeger's Knuckles @ May 10, 2016 -> 11:32 AM) Petricka was one of the best non-closer relief pitchers in the game until this season. He is hurt. He'll come back and be fine. *fingers crossed* He has had a problem with his control since Spring Training. I think his injury is made up and they are working with him to clean some things up. His k-rate is actually up this year. I'm with you, yes he isn't going to strike out the side, but he gets a lot of groundballs, has a rubber arm, and is a pretty nice piece to have in your bullpen.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ May 10, 2016 -> 01:47 PM) I'm not talking about the White Sox at all, nor even explicitly about Jimmy Rollins, I'm talking about Dick Allen forwarding the notion that a team shouldn't change anything if they are winning You took my post out of context. As I stated, there is no reason to change with what they have at this point. Maybe in the future, but the guys behind Rollins haven't shown they would be an upgrade at this point, and the team is winning. If Lindor was acquired to play SS, I wouldn't be complaining. But short of going outside the organization for another SS, as is works pretty well so far. Rollins hasn't been great, but he hasn't played his way out of the job, and no one has played their way into it.

87-88 MJ was the defensive player of the year, all star game MVP, averaged 35.0 a game, shot 55% from the floor. I think that should be unanimous. How many are the best defensive and best offensive players in the game at the same time?

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ May 10, 2016 -> 12:12 PM) What does this even mean? If there is a formula, it's coming from players other than Rollins. He's hitting .226/.291/.323 with meh defence. Now whether what's behind him is better is another discussion, but just because our pitching, defence and certain other position players have been excellent doesn't mean we've stumbled upon a magical winning formula that Jimmy Rollins is crucial to, despite not doing anything all that well. It means the game is played on the field. Not a computer print out. What is being done is working. There will be plenty of time for Saladino and Sanchez to play. In fact, I think Rollins was out of the line up 3 games in a row last week. Changing things up when things are going well is silly unless it's an obvious upgrade. Right now Saladino and Sanchez aren't upgrades over Rollins. Maybe at some point they will be. They will still get their shot. What is Saladino hitting?

I know some hate him, but Rosenbloom was hilarious this morning http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/rosen...510-column.html

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ May 10, 2016 -> 10:41 AM) How is he suppose to show he deserves more playing time without getting consistent playing time? You earn consistent playing time. He hasn't earned it.

James Shields pitching half his games in USCF, and expecting it to go reasonably well, is almost as ridiculous as thinking there would be a chance he would opt out of his contract.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 10, 2016 -> 09:48 AM) That is my favorite non-playoff White Sox memory. That was an incredible moment to watch live. One of mine too. I was actually in the hospital watching it. I had some bacteria infection that really messed me up. I would go from sweating my nut bag off to shivering constantly. My throat was so sore, I couldn't eat or drink water. I faded in and out with that game on the TV, but when Robin hit it off the Goose, I actually felt normal for about a minute. It was great.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 10, 2016 -> 09:40 AM) Which is yet another reason you won't see Tim Anderson AND Jacob May both starting on Opening Day for the 2017 Chicago White Sox...if Hahn has learned ONE thing from all his time, it's that position players need a number of years to "get it," like Joe Crede and Aaron Rowand. Except on the pitching side, where you can see more immediate impacts by the likes of Sale, Santiago, Reed, Santos, Quintana, Rodon, etc. In the end, we'll never know what would have happened with Marcus Semien had he stayed in the Sox organization, but it will be a topic that's much discussed and debated if Tim Anderson fails to make it as a big league shortstop. Needless to say, the jury's still far from out on either player. Since you like corrections, the jury's far from out on Semien and Anderson is incorrect. The jury is still out for both, although you do seem to want to put Semien in the elite status, no doubt fueled by his ex-White Sox status.