cgaudin

I've already said everything I needed to say about this team. I feel bad for us fans and KW and JR. They spent the money, and at least on paper, the moves looked solid. I think the only gamble that REALLY bit us was Anderson completely sucking the first 3 months of the season. I'm certain that lack of production at the bottom of the order has cost the Sox a couple of ballgames, at least early in the season. His at bats look absolutely awful. He has no phawking clue. Bottom line, no pitching. It was a hit or miss proposition, and we missed. Well, I will wait patiently for 2007 to try it again.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 10, 2006 -> 03:05 PM) We face a lefty this Wednesday....I would definitely like to see Fields DH, and Thome sit on the bench. Now THAT is a smart post.

I'm noticing fewer and fewer posters, as they begin to see the inevitable. Then again, the Bears started the season. Hopefully 2007 will give us more thrills. Good luck to the Tigers, and I hope the Twins phawking choke so bad, they can't breathe.

I'm pretty close to dropping his performance appellation, but not yet. "Half-game" Vasquez nees to show some consistency, at least the next 3 games.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 10, 2006 -> 03:00 PM) I know what the stats say, but I've been very disappointed with Thome over the last few months. That cat has been overrated all year. He's a phawking disaster agaist lefties. He looks like a little leaguer out there whiffing mightily in vain. Then again, no one did anything against C.C. If I were any opposing team, I would rest all my lefties just to play the Sox, 'cause those are certain victories. Gentlemen, I'm just days away from signing off 'till next year. I'm afraid the Sox will likely be out of it when they return from the west coast. The season...... se acabo!

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 10, 2006 -> 02:58 PM) Terrible loss. Our bullpen is in absolute shambles. What bullpen? We have a bullpen? Holy change-up-down-the-middle Batman, we have a bullpen! Gimme a phawking break!

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Sep 10, 2006 -> 02:53 PM) Hmmmmmmm////// Could be because he's set to fail out of the pen? Just maybe. And beleive me, I'm not a kool-aid drinker here, I'm just saying. How the hell is he set up to fail? Explain that to me, smart guy. What he needs at least a 5 run lead? Is he supposed to pitch when we're so far ahead or behind that he can't foul it up more? Please, explain. Ozzie is clearly searching for someone to step up. No one has. That ain't his fault. Or is it? These idiotic comments just baffle me. McCarthy has lost 2 ballgames and put 2 more out of reach in the last five. Oh, and let me remind you what he did in the other one, which was last night. He singlehandedly let the Indians right back in the ballgame, even though the Sox won that one. McCarthy, along with many of our pitchers, just don't have it. As much as I hate to say it, but if Cooper took the credit for last year, he is certainly more to blame than Ozzie for the pisspoor pitching we've had all year. Great job, Coop! Keep it up.

Perhaps all of you McCarthy kool-aid drinkers will sober up enough to see why Ozzie has stayed away from him. He has TOTALLY sucked the last 4 outings.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Sep 10, 2006 -> 06:39 AM) The West coast trip looms large. As long as the Sox don't piss their pants out there, they have a shot. I still cling more to the wild card. As bad as Detroit has been, they still have 6or 7 left with KC, a team they have manhandled. I hope the Sox can get on a roll here. History suggests that you don't want to have to win 2 or 3 that final series in Minnesota. These two series out there pretty much determine the season for us, and I'm not a fan of historical perspective but it doesn't look good for us. I will be impressed with a 3 and 3 record. Then our last one with Detroit. Our pitchers either turn it around now, or it ain't gonna happen for the last two weeks of the season. I wonder if we're gonna pull another 2005 Sox push like we did the last 5 games of the season, setting it up perfectly for the post-season.

Here we go. Hold on to your butts! let's go Johnie!

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 9, 2006 -> 04:50 PM) Hafner's out for the season. WTF

I guaranGoddamnphawkingtee you that there will be a bench clearing of some level. There may not be a fight, but tempers will certainly flare. Had it been anybody else hitting that homerun, nothin comes of it. But it's AJ!!!!!!

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Sep 9, 2006 -> 09:01 AM) This game favors us on paper. Let's bring another one to the column! That's why it will be on the "L" column. The Sox are 3 and 5 in September. I had hoped for a 18-10 record. Now playing .500 ball seems like a moral victory. The days are ticking off quickly. And I'm certain they won't pull off a miracle if this thing has to be decided in Minnesota. The time is RIGHT PHAWKING NOW! Let's go chumps. Get your collective heads outta your asses.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Sep 8, 2006 -> 07:47 AM) I am in the Anderson needs a second season camp. I see some parallels to Crede. Buerhle, still a fan and think his 2007 will be excellent. I'd prefer upgrades in left and short, long relief lefty, and Brandon in the starting rotation. A month and a half ago I wanted Anderson gone. I have come around to the conclusion that if BA could be a .270 hitter, he will sit just fine in center field for the Sox. The solid defense he has displayed has won me over, and he has hit at a much better clip the second half of the season. Buerhle had been one of the most consistent pitchers in the Sox rotation for 4 years. However, he has never been overpowering. What we've seen this season is what I expect to see from him henceforth. He might be happier in St. Louis anyway. Barry Zito can replace him nicely, but he's going to cost 15 million per season. Send Garcia to Haiti. He'll be happy there pulling hits off a bong and listening to some reggae. McCarthy will be much better, I feel. At least he will keep runners on first base. I know Sweeney is still green, but bringing him in now is probably a calculated risk. I believe he will do better than Podsednik has done this year. But then again......that ain't saying much! If he hits .260 with 30 stolen bases, we should be okay, and his defense will make up for Podsednik's atrocious defense. He will catch more balls cause he won't play at the edge of the warning track like Pods does. Why the hell does Pods play so deep all the time, even against weak hitters? Uribe, overall, is not that bad. But if the Sox replace Garcia with McCarthy they will save some change to sign a top-shelf shortstop. Still, I don't think they can afford Miguel Tejada, but he would look good in a Sox uniform. "Half-game" Vasquez had been horrible during a 7 week stretch, but clearly he has much better stuff than Buerhle and Garcia. Maybe Coop can work his "bru-ha-ha" on him. I say we keep him. Then again, I'll have to stock up on Pepto-Bismol whenever he's on the mound. Lastly, keep Thome out of the 3-spot. This will force the top of the offense to move around the bases a lot more than they did this year. It will likely cut down on the dreaded "shift" they put on him, as well. With these "improvements", ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, our 2007 Chicago White Sox!

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 8, 2006 -> 09:58 PM) Ozzie should buy AJ a f***ing car. What a finish, I'm willing to forget everything that happened in the top of the 9th. What a finish. Oh yeah, AJs walkoff last year vs the Dodgers was also on WGN. Unfortunately, my friend, you SHOULDN'T forget what happened at the top of the 9th. It is relatively alarming actually, that our closer was throwing "high school quality" fastballs and got not one single out. Something is definitely wrong with him, and if he ain't telling then Ozzie should beat it out of him. Hopefully Hermanson will get to proper form quickly 'cause we need a closer ASAP. Thornton threw some good cheese though.

QUOTE(GoRowand33 @ Sep 7, 2006 -> 07:31 PM) what a depressing game so far What, you expected two good games in a row? C'mon, you should know better by now.

QUOTE(cgaudin @ Sep 7, 2006 -> 05:25 PM) Over, Under on how many runs Buerhle gives up tonight....... I say 4 runs.................earned runs I hate it when I'm right. I thought he'd do it over 7 innings though.............

I like that Ozzie played Pods lower in the lineup. Hopefully, this will relax him some. Also, since the offense is designed to wait until the big bats drive in runners, perhaps Pods will be "allowed" to be more creative on the base paths. I'd rather see Sweeney, Anderson, and Dye in the outfield, but if Pods has to play, I don't want him lead-off spot anymore. And yes, I finally acknowledge that Anderson has finally arrived. I still think he's a sucky hitter, but no one can argue he's among the best defensive outfielders in the game.

Over, Under on how many runs Buerhle gives up tonight....... I say 4 runs.................earned runs

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Sep 7, 2006 -> 05:15 PM) Alright, No Hafner, and Victor is behind the dish. I say 3 SB's for Pablo... Provided he gets on base at all.........

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Sep 7, 2006 -> 01:19 PM) Buddy Ryan had more to do with the Bears winning the Super Bowl than Ditka. Buddy leaves and the rest of the Ditka reign is dissappointment. Ozzie managed a world championship team. Nobody can ever take that away from him. My problem is now you see him on ads, television specials, and popping off in the media about something almost daily. I don't know how many times I've heard him say his job is to win games. I just wish he'd put all the side stuff away, and concentrate on finding ways to help the White Sox win games. He is the same kind of huge personality Ditka is. He is loyal to "his people" just like Ditka, his tactical game decisions appear questionable, just like Ditka, and all the stuff that came with winning in a title-starved town seems to have, at least to me, made him lose his focus just like Ditka. Ozzie can get it back. He'll never be a genius in-game manager IMO. But he can get his focus back. Ditka loved the spotlight and 21 years later it still shines on him. Ozzie loves it too, but he's not going to be able to maintain his popularity with bad seasons, the one difference between him and Da Coach. I believe Ozzie, for all his unconventional approach, is a good manager. But the highlighted portion above is dead on balls right on. It seems to me that Ozzie is relying too much on what his players have done before, rather than how they are playing at the moment. Perhaps it is loyalty, maybe it's patience with the expectation that since the player has gotten it done before, he'll get it done yet again. It is that mind boggling "patience" that has cost the Sox at least 10 ballgames this season, and fair or not, Ozzie is directly responsible for the negative outcome of those games. When everyone in Palehose Country screamed and yelled at the TV for Ozzie to pull a pitcher when it was clear he was going to lose the ballgame, it was obvious to everyone but Ozzie. It is probably too late in the season, but you can clearly see that Ozzie has shown less "patience" in the last two weeks. He has "modified" his managerial approach in that sense, and I dare anyone tell me otherwise. It is plain as day that he has changed his view of his own players. I give him credit, because not many people would openly assert as such. He may have ruffled some feathers in the locker room in the last few days. I just hope his players understand that it's about wins at this point in the season, and he gave each and everyone in the roster plenty of opportunities to prove his worth this year. But like I said, he gave way too much rope for too long and the season is now on the brink. Hopefully, the Sox still pull it off. QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Sep 7, 2006 -> 02:36 PM) Yes -- he was the catalyst of an offense that ranked ninth in the AL in runs scored. Which is to say, he was the catalyst to a below average offense. I can't believe there are still people out there who think last year's offense was in any way, shape, or form, good. The best thing I could say about the offense it that we were able to 'get by with it' because of our stellar pitching. Are you implying that this year's team is good at bunting? Because, outside of Pablo Ozuna, and maybe one or two other guys, I think this team is pretty bad at bunting. And I don't put that on the shoulders of the manager -- a major league ballplayer ought to get a bunt down. And, why SHOULD Manuel have bunted more? The teams Manuel had a middle of the order of Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordonez, Paul Konerko, Carlos Lee, Jose Valentin, and Joe Crede. f*** -- I wouldn't waste outs when you have six guys who, at any moment, can launch one into the bleachers. If there was any problem whatsoever with those offenses, it was the lack of a real leadoff hitter. Other than that, they ranked in the top five year-to-year. Manuel never had an ounce of good pitching to work with... Wealz is definitely correct there, in a sense. First off, we were predicted by most publications to finish anywhere from second to fourth. Second, even when we made the playoffs, I don't recall a whole lot of people in the national media predicting a White Sox series win. Hell, I remember after we took the first two games, there were some nuts already talking about a game five matchup, saying that Boston wouldn't lose at home. Even when we made the World Series, there were some that said we'd be shut down by the dominant big three of Houston. I think your history is a little fuzzy. Once the playoffs started, vegas odds had the Sox as the slight favorite over the Cardinals. When the WS started the Sox were the overwhelming favorite. The Astros were a HUGE underdog. I remember the ESPN coverage with John Kruk and Harold Reynolds both had the Astros winning just one game.

QUOTE(JoeBatterz @ Sep 6, 2006 -> 05:15 PM) Reinsdorf sure has been right for the past 25 years about wanting to give pitchers the shortest contract that he can get away with. It doesn't allow for continuity, a la Atanta Braves, with their incredible trio of Hall of Fame pitchers, but you don't get burned either, a la Chicago Cubs.

It has only been 7 at-bats, but he looked confident and his swings were quality. He didn't appear to struggle like Anderson's awkward at-bats. The kid had a plan. I think we should keep playing him. He can't possibly do worse than Pods. Then again ..........

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Sep 7, 2006 -> 01:15 PM) Detroit is the worst city in our fine nation, but Twins fans are way worse than Tigers ones. Although it is a Metropolis Cesspool, the Detroit fans have been very good considering. I wanna shut up the Minnesota fans once and for all. They talk too much s**t for their own good. I'd like nothing more than have the Tigers sweep 'em. With Liriano back in the rotation, they're not going to go away, I'm afraid. I just hope Cleveland cools off some while we play them, 'cause the Sox could very well be swept themselves.

I get the feeling Sweeney could stay in the lineup for good. Too bad we can't have him for the post-season, if we make it that is. That's why we can't get rid of Podsednik right now. I like Sweeney's approach at the plate, and since the kids have been called up the club seems to have a little more spark. The youngsters, with all their exuberance and energetic ignorance get the veterans to remember how they felt about this game when they were young also. They play with passion and recklessness. Their love for the game is pure and innocent, for a while at least, until the reality of the BUSINESS of baseball becomes the focus.