cgaudin

I got a good feelin' that Gooch is going to be the beneficiary of a few cookies left over the plate as a consequence of Radke's caution and preoccupation with Dye. He needs to cash-in those opportunities. I'm feeling surprisingly optimistic.

QUOTE(MSHAWKS @ Aug 24, 2006 -> 08:11 PM) Unless he throws 7 shutouts in a row to finish the season, Jon Garland has absolutely NO CHANCE at the Cy Young award. Nope. If he gives up an average of 2 runs per outing we will have 96 runs allowed over almost 230 innings. That's an ERA of 3.75 which will be considered if and only if Garland has at least two more wins than the next Pitcher. Also, if the Sox do make the playoffs it will help him a ton, since the Twins will not have made the post-season, and Toronto never got even close. Come to think of it, Garland is sounding more like an MVP than a Cy Young candidate.

I am very impressed to read your posts, people. However, none of us has the power to make the lineup, and unfortunately Thome will continue to hit 3rd. If Thome gets hot, then we're in good shape. If Thome slumps, the offense is designed around him and it will sputter big time, which will likely cost the playoffs. I truly hope JD remains in the 3 spot and Thome goes to 5th. I can't begin to tell you how HUGE a difference it will make in the ability of the offense to score with more regularity, perhaps even more production. Ozzie is a creature of habit, and he's not likely to change, unless Dye goes on a superhuman tare while in the 3 spot and the Sox continue to win. Then he won't mess with what works......I cringe to think of the White Sox going into that last series with Minnesota less than 3 games up with Santana and possibly Liriano pitching and having Pods, Gooch, and Thome at the top 3. It would be a f***ing disaster.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Aug 24, 2006 -> 08:22 PM) I'm not normally big on "must win" series, figuring there are tons of games left. But since we are the defending champs and these chumps have dominated us the last two times we met, including a sweep at the Cell, I'm thinking this really is do or die. If they sweep us again, that frankly will be pretty pathetic. We owe them a sweep. And find a way to win all 3. Even against the best pitcher in the history of baseball or whatever Santana is considered these days. If we get swept, I am not saying we're done, but it will be pretty pathetic. I guess w/out Thome, we're hosed, but we still should win 1 game, preferably all 3. You got it backwards, with Thome out we got a better chance. He can't hit lefties if his life depended on it.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 24, 2006 -> 06:07 PM) Its not necessarily him getting cold, its that the 1,2,3 hitters cant hit LHP for s***. Dye crushes both. Most excellent point! I concur

Detroit series is done. The Good news is we're coming home to play the Twins. The bad news is....we're coming home to play the Twins. They've had our number this year, and each series looms larger as the days tick off the calendar. The worse news, however, is that Detroit is likely to widen their lead over the Sox as they travel to Cleveland to face the Indians' absolute horse crap pitching, especially loser extraordinaire relief pitcher Carmona. The division is still a very real possibility, given the Sox still have 3 more games with the Tigers at the Cell in mid September. They need to hang around where they are, 5 games back, and hopefully close to a couple of games by the time we see them again. I'm of the opinion that the Sox need to put distance between them and the Twins. I don't know how I can survive that last series of the season if the Sox lead by less than 3 games.

QUOTE(UC76 @ Aug 24, 2006 -> 03:44 PM) We should start Garland everyday. I think this is just crazy enough to work. What do you think? But seriously, when will Garland's name be thrown into the Cy Young talk? 15-4, baby. I realize Santana, Halladay, etc. will have to pick up some losses and that Garland will have to lower his ERA, but I'd like to see his name at least mentioned. (Same goes for Dye in the MVP talk.) Garland's teammates can help his cause by knocking around Santana this weekend. There's no PHAWKIN' way he will be even mentioned with those pitchers until his ERA gets under 4. He would have to go 22 and 4 AND Halladay would have to end up with 2 or 3 wins fewer to have a shot at it. As far as Dye goes, he's getting the short end of the stick. Do you realize his numbers are where they are and he's been hitting 5th all year. That's unbefreakin'lievable! He's definitely not getting his due. Had he been hitting 3rd in the lineup his numbers would be in the stratosphere. I must admit, Jeter would have to have a sub-par September and Dye would have to go on a huge tare to be given equal consideration.

QUOTE(VAfan @ Aug 24, 2006 -> 04:29 PM) I know I've been harping on this since before the season began. I just hope Ozzie realizes after today's game that our lineup is going to be better with Jermaine #3, PK #4, and Thome, when he returns, #5, with Crede #6 and AJ #7. It's a better alignment against lefties and righties. We went 16-1 with JD hitting 3rd last year. We could use a little tear like that to put the Twins in our rear view mirror and put some heat back on the Tigers. I've been saying this all year. Everybody drinks the Thome kool-aid because he's got big numbers. Problem is when he gets cold, so does the rest of the lineup, and the offense sputters. Having him in the 3 spot has cost the Sox several ballgames, DESPITE Thome's big numbers. And yes I know this is the most potent offense in baseball, and Thome has a lot to do with it. But the offense is INCONSISTENT, and that inconsistency costs ballgames. Dye has been a more consistent hitter throughout the season, and although his strikeout ratio I consider to be high, it is not the astronomical 30% ratio that Thome whiffs at. Thome has, by far, the highest strikeout ratio of ANY 3 hitter in baseball. The closest one to him is Derek Lee of the beloved Cubs in the northside at 24%. I contend that the offense will be more fluid and consistent, possibly even more productive by having Thome batting cleanup against righties and moving down to 5th against lefties. And all you sabermetricians out there, save your bull**** 'cause I don't want to hear all that stupidity.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Aug 24, 2006 -> 02:47 PM) Well said, Jas. I'd love to get excited. It's hard to do that when you have no idea what you're gonna get from 4 of your 5 starters. The Twins have flat kicked our asses the last two times we've played them. If we get swept again, or even lose 2 out of 3, it might be time to concede. I hate to say that. And LMAO@Debbie the downer. Dude, after this series there are still 32 games to play. If they get swept they're only half a game back. It would be big if they got swept, but the season is not over, not by a long shot

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Aug 24, 2006 -> 02:19 PM) I don't even want to think about where this team would be without Jon Garland right now. Pure and utter dominance today. Can you believe his era is at 4.47 now? Can he get it under 4? That would be miraculous when you consider how he started the season. Jermaine Dye: You're a very good baseball player. If Garland does get his ERA under 4 then by simple interpolation you would figure he would be a candidate to win his first Cy Young, cause he would have to keep his runs per game at under 2 in his remaining starts. I figure he has 7 or 8 more starts. Say he wins 5 or 6 and loses one, that would be a 21 and 5 record. Halladay might be too far ahead, but Garland has been absolutely lights out. He's got to cool off at some point. Lets do a little math just for kicks: if Garland has 8 more starts and averages 2 runs per game his runs allowed total will be about 98 total runs for the year. Assuming he pitches 8 full innings he will have about 230 innings pitched which will bring the ERA down to 3.83 for the year. I never in a million years figured he had a shot at such numbers considering how poorly he started. Let's start a grass roots effort "Garland for Cy Young". Just to be realistic if Garland does not get the ERA under 4, there's no way in hell that he would even be considered, regardless of his record.

Dye hitting in front of Paulie was key. He gets good protection and the pitch selection is going to be choice, especially if guys get on base in front of him. I've been calling for this lineup for a few months. Now is when Ozzie sees the light, he had to be forced to do it. When Thome gets back I would like to see him bat fourth against righties and fifth against lefties. It shouldda been that way from the start. That's the best CONTACT-POWER combination lineup that Ozzie can throw out there.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 23, 2006 -> 09:00 PM) I'd love to see this lineup if Thome is out: Mackowiak LF Iguchi 2B Dye RF PK Dh Crede 3B Gload 1B AJP C Uribe SS Anderson CF Seemed to work today

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 24, 2006 -> 12:50 PM) JUANNY!!!! 3 RUN BLAST!! Wow, that balled was annihilated!! Way to prove me wrong there. So much for "small ball" for a change. Cheeses Cripes! Can we score a run WITHOUT a homerun?

QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Aug 24, 2006 -> 11:00 AM) WOW! Dye in the three-hole! This oughta be interesting! He shoudda been there from the start

QUOTE(forrestg @ Aug 24, 2006 -> 09:30 AM) We need another lefty in the line up... Gload is not the same as Thome. We don't ask THome to lay down a bunt or sacrifice himself. Gload will get the job done.. He's more of a small ball player which might be the best direction for us for a while we can't live by the home run or can we? I absolutely love the fact that this lineup has been "forced" on Ozzie. Who knows, I could be wrong and they can lose every game. I don't think so. The players realize they will need to get it done differently. A little less thump in the lineup might enable this offense to score with base hits rather than homeruns. The key obviously will be Ozuna. I think Dye is a hitter that Ozzie can trust to hit 'n run and move runners along with better success than Thome, hopefully. Thome strikes out with such regularity that the hit n run is simply not an option. You will also see Dye get some pretty good pitches with Paulie behind him. I wouldn't be surprised if he jacks one or two over the fence.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 23, 2006 -> 10:00 PM) According to SportsCenter, Thome will only miss one game and be back on Friday. That type of injury will shelve him for 7 to 10 days minimum.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Aug 24, 2006 -> 09:06 AM) Ozuna 7 Iguchi 4 Dye 9 Konerko DH Crede 5 AJP 2 Uribe 6 Gload 3 Anderson 8 This lineup looks very good. The key is Ozuna. He gets on a couple of times, our chances are very good to come out with a W.

Help us, Obi Wan Jon Garland, You're our only hope!

Bobby FOOKEN" Jenks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 23, 2006 -> 08:11 PM) Come on Bobby! If we somehow lose this game, this site might as well just shut down for the rest of the night. Be careful what you say....it might come true.

Great Job, MacDougal.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 23, 2006 -> 07:52 PM) .81, .96, 2.44, 1.54 What are these numbers? I'll bite...so what are they?

No, it's MacArthur!

This has been an ugly game by the Sox. It's clear they are flat. Nothin's going their way. How we have the lead is beyond me.....not for long though.

Even if they win, they have played total horse s**t ball. Man! They are scuffling....HUGE!