iamshack

QUOTE (J.Reedfan8 @ Aug 18, 2010 -> 12:10 AM) My bad.... totally forgot he was traded to Texas. (still in Phillies Jersey thinking when that is Doc) And that he was traded to Seattle before that?

QUOTE (J.Reedfan8 @ Aug 18, 2010 -> 12:01 AM) Shame too... In a weak AL Cy Young race, he might be costing himself (for better or worse with our sox and negotiations) the chance of a Cy Young this year (especially with wins which sadly most voters look at and position of team). Might be good to be David Price right now (poor King Felix) and Cliff Lee is in the NL now. Maybe so, but John Danks is no Cy Young award winner yet.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 11:50 PM) Coming out of the ASB, winning 25 of 30, I really felt like maybe this team had put it all together and could put together a strong run during the 2nd half and outlast Tigers/Twins. So much negative has taken place since then, it really felt like to me coming into the game tonight that the Twins are the stronger team, and were in the driver's seat to win the AL Central. Yeah, tough to say. Danks just really can't seem to keep his s*** together versus the Twins in the early innings. He often settles down eventually, but how many times does he struggle mightily in the first few innings againstt them? Always puts us in a huge hole from the get-go. Should have anticipated that tonight I guess.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 11:43 PM) This is a 6 out of 10 for me on the frustration scale. The Sunday game after the ASB, where Jenks blew it, was a 10 out of 10. Well, you know me...I am a pretty big optimist....but these losses start cumulatively wearing on me...

What a killer....what an absolute killer this is...sometimes I wish I would have chosen soap operas instead of sports...

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 10:30 PM) Right now we can do anything right. We pitched pretty well in Baltimore, but couldnt hit and lost 3 games. When we hit, we cant pitch. When we scratch out a run late, we give it up right away in walk off fashion. Its a toliet bowl s*** storm. They need to right this ship quick before it gets completely away. That series in Baltimore destroyed our cushion. Agreed.

Greg is actually being pretty logical in my opinion. And I hate to say it, but I can't stop thinking about Rongey telling us that the pitching would be the thing that would ultimately sink us if we lost. Kotsay has actually been very good during these last few weeks. It has been the pitching which has done us in. We managed to win games in spite of Kotsay earlier, and maybe it's partially his fault that the staff is worn down, due to pitching in so many high-leverage innings, but since we were 1.5 games up on Minnesota to 4 games down suddenly has very little to do with our DH situation.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 10:18 PM) And of course, Minnesota had the best bullpen ERA without Joe Nathan somehow. They lose Nathan, Neshek, Mijares, Reyes, Breslow, Rincon, etc. Doesn't matter. Even Glen Perkins gets us out. No doubt that Thornton and Putz have been overworked. You simply can' trust Pena and Linebrink, and most haven't trusted Jenks all season long. We scored 6 runs tonight. We do score off their pitching. As Ginger posted, we spotted them a 4-0 lead, came back to tie it, came back again to take the lead. No one in our pen can close out a game right now. It's as simple as that. Not much else to say.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 10:16 PM) Am I the only who doesn’t remember some mass anti-Thome movement on the board during the off-season? I keep hearing this come up, and I only remember a small turn against him after it was quite clear that he wasn’t coming back, and some people tried to defend Ozzie’s stance on the matter. I remember a lot of us wanting to get younger, but not at the expense of logic and reason. I remember constantly sticking up for the guy for the final 2 or 3 months of the season last year. That's when most people were calling for his head.

QUOTE (J.Reedfan8 @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 11:12 PM) There are some posters here that will either never get that through their head, are stubborn, have a very poor memory, or are just mentally challenged. An admin/mod might literally have to pull up like 5+ threads in January/early February or a poster to bump a few old ones to have it sink in. I seem to remember quite a few posters who wanted ANYONE but Jim Thome because he was washed up. He was too old, too slow, and stuck out too much. The general sentiment was literally "anyone but Jim Thome." Well, some got what they wished for.

QUOTE (J.Reedfan8 @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 09:59 PM) I agree with you except this part which is false. Other than Badger, few of the posters were surprised that Thornton was back out there for that inning in the game thread. Not saying I didn't agree with it or did (other than Matt's low velocity I thought they still would have pitched Thome better and BTW we have poorly scouted Jim whom we should know his weaknesses that game) but just throwing that out there. I'm confused.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 09:58 PM) He was probably in too long, and you lose some command and some stuff, but the other options were just as ugly. The only real move that could have been made would have required using Putz against Young and then bringing in Sale to face Thome and Valencia (or if you want to get really crazy, Linebrink then to face Valencia).

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 10:55 PM) I don’t have a problem with Thornton being in the game. I have a problem with him throwing Thome’s kind of pitch in Thome’s wheelhouse. That’s a troubling piece of pitch sequencing. Actually, if Thornton would have had his good fastball, there is no way Thome even sniffs it. Apparently he just did not have it when he went back out there for the 10th.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 10:51 PM) Bolt, you know the DH position won't make or break the Sox. Unfortunately tonight, it did not. People are forgetting that Kotsay had a great game tonight. Not that Thome wouldn't have made a difference over the course of the season, but for tonight, Rongey is correct - it was the pitching that lost it for us.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 10:49 PM) Those top of 9th and 10th were extremely long innings though. I remarked in the game thread that the first pitch to start the 10th was only 92 mph to Young. Yeah, I saw that. I also saw most people very excited that we were running Matt out there again for the 10th. I can only imagine the reaction had we gone with someone else there and that guy would have blown it. We didn't get it done. No one can save a damn game for us right now. It's really inexplicable and I don't know what else to say about it.

Thornton was at 15 pitches there. It was perfectly ok to go with him there. Certainly we would have probably turned to Putz had he not imploded against Detroit, but Matt should have been able to get it done there. He just didn't.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 10:40 PM) It's funny, I see everyone saying how heartbreaking this game was. Sure, it sucked and the ending was quite ironic. Maybe it's because fatherhood has altered my priorities, but this one really doesn't upset me that much. I don't think we'd outlast the Twins the rest of the way even if we won tonight. Sure, a win would have been great. However, at the end of the season, the better team usually wins the division. The bottom line is we all love this team and the direction they go in oftentimes affects the way we are able to go about our days and nights every April - September. But in the end, we have to remember this is a game. I'm as big a fan as anyone, but I learned to always try and put things in perspective. Deep breaths. Tomorrow is another day, and another game.

All I can say is I wish Ozzie had someone to turn to that could get a damn out in a save situation. Nothing can be done about Thome now. But Ozzie needs to find someone who can get an out in a save situation, and fast.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 10:08 PM) Seriously, you have no complaints about the massive failure he's had in the 9th inning of 3 of the last 4 games here? I'm not looking at any numbers here....but I can tell you that just from memory, when we need a big hit, late in a game, especially in the 9th inning, Paul Konerko is not the player I want coming to the plate. My memory might be completely wrong, but that is what it is.

QUOTE (docsox24 @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 10:03 PM) Who are you, Ludicris? Oh come on! That's a Hawkeroo classic!

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 10:03 PM) You're telling me that the Putz stuff has done nothing to shake your confidence here? I always feel like this in extra inning games on the road. It's not that I don't worry....but I don't assume bad things will happen....which many here in these game threads seem to do.

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 10:02 PM) I don't see how anyone can rip on Paulie because he failed to come through in one at bat. Without him this year, we are likely out 10 games and the season is long over. He just seems to be really bad in those situations...

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 10:01 PM) I have a feeling of impending doom here. I really hope i'm wrong. You guys all do...it's kind of humorous to watch the phenomenon occur...

Mah booty is soo tight. You couldn't pull a greased nail with plyers out right now....

QUOTE (mcgrad70 @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 09:39 PM) You're going to be hearing about it for a long time, so get use to it pal. It was a terrible trade on many levels. I wouldn't call it terrible. Sure, there are $ implications that make it at least questionable. But... In his three starts for Chicago, Jackson has allowed three earned runs in 20 innings of work for a 1.35 ERA. He's also struck out 24 batters.