BearSox

6, perfect number for a middle infielder (along with 5). Plus, he's had that number since college.

One misconception, IMO, is that having a hitch is bad. Look at Babe Ruth. He had quite actually a big hitch. However, his hitch wasn't really wasted movement like Fields' is, and was used as a timing mechanism and something to help him get his bat cocked and ready. I know it's a bad example because it is Babe Ruth, and his style could never be duplicated, but there have been other great hitters with hitches. Lou Gehrig had one I believe, and Jimmie Foxx had a huge hitch. In fact, most hitters likely have a hitch. It's just a matter of how big and if it is detrimental or not.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jun 2, 2009 -> 11:55 AM) Yeah he did. Him and Stone spent about 15-20 minutes talking about it last night, showing the loading motion in slow motion and breaking it down I missed that part. I usually just speed up the DVR inbetween pitches, so I miss a lot of what they are talking about. When did they talk about his load during his swing? Was it after his last AB?

I already miss Joel.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 2, 2009 -> 07:56 AM) Way to steal what Hawk was saying last night... All Hawk talks about is how he drops his back shoulder and swings with 1 hand. He never talked about Fields' load before the swing.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 10:59 PM) most people who advocate the release of the top hand say that it keeps the bat on the same plane longer so that the hitter can make more efficient contact. This way the top hand doesn't "pull" the bat up because the top hand is no longer in contact. I don't really buy it because the pronation of the top hand should nullfy it but who knows maybe for some people with decreased flexibility it might make a difference. The Lau/Hriniak philosophy of hitting somewaht revolves around this concept. It's whatever works for you, and gets the bat through the zone the fastest. I believe Willie Mays was a one handed hitter. However, I've always believed in a two handed swing and really focusing on trying to get that top hand through the zone and flipping those wrists.

What's with Linebrink in the 9th inning? I know we had a 4 run lead, but Jenks didn't even get up after Thome's homer. Are we showcasing Linebrink in some save situations (or close to it) as trade bait for teams looking for a closer? Or are we possibly thinking about trading Jenks? I'm probably looking to much into this, but whatever. Nice win tonight! Gotta love late inning wins.

All of Josh's mechanics are messed up. What I noticed tonight was that his load and step are completely out of whack. The basic way of hitting and generating some of the power in your swing is to have a nice balanced swing where your hands go back and you turn your hips while you step forward. While Josh is stepping forward, he is only doing that hitch thing. His hands don't move back and he doesn't turn his hips while his foot is in the air, all he's doing is that hitch where he brings his hands up. By the time he steps down and his foot is on the ground, he then brings his hands back and turns his hips. So, at the time he is suppossed to be coming forward, he's just starting his load, with his foot already being on the ground. All of his mechanics are f***ed up. It's a pity too, cause there's no doubt he's got the tools. I also don't care about him finishing up with 1 hand. I've never believed that really affected your swing. Think about, when you make contact with the ball, it doesn't matter what your swing looks like at the end. You gotta focus on getting that bat through the zone with some velocity and putting a charge in the ball. Whether you finish up with 1 hand or 2 hands on the bat, all that matters is what your swing looks like when you make contact with the ball. EDIT: After re-watching Josh's swing several times in slow-mo, I've changed my original paragraph.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 01:51 PM) Except he hasn't been on bases very often, he's pretty much been Juan Pierre lite with a good batting average, bad OBP, little power and a ton of aggressive ABs leading to a low pit/pa. He's the liteversion because he's been terrible on the basepaths, no threat to steal at all, he's actually been picked off first more times than he's stolen a base. Getting caught off base over and over after a single isn't helping either. I'm liking the current setup, I can't think of a better lineup with the current personnel but I think it's lazy as hell to just dump a ton of credit on a guy who hasn't been all that great. Hawk's doing it 5 times a game now and hell on a commercial on ESPN 1000 a few minutes ago I heard "this has been an entirely different team since Podsednik showed up". That's just silliness. I mean, the guy's OBP in the leadoff spot is under .340 and that includes a completely ridiculous game in Anaheim where he got on base 6 times, he hasn't been getting on consistently. If he were tearing it up similar to what Getz was doing earlier this year then I'd probably get on board but I'm just not seeing it. The thing is, it's been a long ass time since we've had anything resembling a leadoff hitter. Getz for about a week, and that's it. Having Pods show some flashes is refreshing, while it lasts. There's no denying he's made some good adjustments at bat. I was actually surprised by how soon he scrapped the run and swing thing after pitchers were starting to adjust to it.

I'm destined to get scout seats one day.

The stadium looks really nice, can't wait to visit it someday. They won't be done fully renovating it until next year, right?

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 12:12 PM) Im sorry, is calling someone stupid some sort of statistical analysis now? Is this some sort of Bearsox PECOTA that I never noticed before? Is that a great way to make your point now? Just a blanket "(person) is stupid, and thats why Josh Fields is getting hits now" and that works for your theories? Fine, it's opinion. Isn't mostly everything in here opinion anyway? Josh Fields is good, Josh Fields is bad, it's all f***ing opinion. And that's not true at all. If you've noticed, I've said for a long ass time that the breaking ball low is a pitch Fields could always handle. And it's because of pitchers stupidity to keep throwing it that allows him to get more hits. You shouldn't be throwing Fields anything but fastball up and in until he proves he can turn on one. Is that an opinion, yes. But is it wrong? You tell me. QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 12:12 PM) I did notice you have been calling pitchers/players stupid for a while now, if you would read MY post, you would see that I said "You ALWAYS call people stupid...." No, you said I always call people stupid if it doesn't match what my POV is. And that is complete f***ing bulls***. I call people stupid when I see stupidity. QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 12:12 PM) Its an opinion, something that you decided, not a fact that pitchers are stupid. Therefore, in your opinion, pitchers are stupid, which is something you made up. Yeah, it's an opinion, but it's not something I made up out of thin air one day. You might have a different opinion, good for you, but I would hope you made your opinion based on what you've seen and not what you want it to be. QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 12:12 PM) So, yeah, BS. Pitchers ARENT stupid IN MY OPINION and most of them could probably run laps around you in the baseball knowledge department. I would sure as hell hope so, because guess what, they are major league baseball players. EDIT: ALso, I'm sorry if all of this doesn't make sense, but I'm in a rush right now.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 04:42 AM) Holy s***!! That made my day. If you're gonna call me out, please provide examples of when I've been wrong so many times.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 12:01 PM) You always call players stupid when what is happening doesnt mesh with what you say. How do you back up your argument on Josh Fields inability to hit a fastball(which you call fear)? By calling the pitchers stupid, hmmm, thats not making anything up, thats just calling it how you see it, huh? I've been calling pitchers stupid for a long time now. I just didn't start. I've been saying this for however long I've been here, and the board I was on previous to this one. All the time we see completely idiotic pitch selection when the count is 0-2, 1-2, 2-2. We see it a lot with Pierzynski and our pitchers some times. And if you read my post, there were two different points. 1.) Pitchers (or Catchers) are stupid, and instead of throwing breaking balls to Fields in breaking ball counts, they should be throwing fastballs in and above the belt. However, I have no problem if they keep throwing low breaking balls to fields in breaking ball counts because that's always been the pitch Fields can drive. 2.) The reason why Fields struggles with fastballs in fastball counts is because he doesn't pull the trigger fast enough. If you watch him, there is a slight hesitation in him, and that leads to a lot of 2-0, 2-1, 3-1 fastballs being fouled off instead of being driven. I really don't see what you don't get about my points. Disagree, fine. But don't start BS and saying I make up s*** just to make my points look better. That's f***ing BS.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 11:57 AM) What. Pitchers are stupid. Actually, pitchers don't have much control over the game anymore. It actually be more like the catcher/bench coach are stupid.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 11:49 AM) Where did you find that? Not something I am happy to see. It's on his wiki page. Not something anyone likes to see, but hopefully that's in the past. He's been incident free (at least I think) since then, and that was 5 years ago.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 09:19 AM) Normal hitters see a lot of breaking balls. Guys that can't hit a fastball, get a fastball. Fields gets lots of fastballs in breaking ball counts. The guy has a breaking ball pace swing. I know you don't like the guy and all, so fear makes your point of view look better, but with as long as of a swing as he has, its obvious why he can't catch up to a major league fastball right now. Fields is still getting breaking balls in breaking ball counts. There's no denying that. He's been getting more fastballs as the season progresses, but pitchers now a days are stupid. Look at the replays of all his hits from the past week. They've either been on low breaking balls or either a slow fastball that was below 90. He did however have that one hit to RF on a fastball away and another broken bat single on a fastball that jammed. Also, it doesn't matter if you have the slowest swing in the world, if you know fastball is coming, and you are gearing up fastball, and you see that fastball coming out of the pitchers hand, you can hit if you don't hesitate. Fields has just a very tense stance, and when he sees that fastball coming, he's just a bit hesitant and that's the difference between driving it and fouling it away. Also, don't start that BS with me, saying I'm gonna make stuff up to prove my point. I like Josh Fields, I've rooted for him since 05. However, I don't see a good ball player when I see him play. I call it how I see it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 11:20 AM) http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...rtnerId=rss_cws I'm hoping we can see a straight up platoon between Castro and Pierzynski, as well as Castro getting some starts here and there to rest AJ (day game after a night game is the most likely scenario in which AJ will be rested).

Gotta go with PK on offense, he was the only bright spot when the team was struggling bad. Richard has just been a huge surprise, so he gets my vote.

If some national league doesn't swoop in and grab Dellucci, I'd love to get him for Charlotte. I've always liked Dellucci, and he'd be a good option to have down in Charlotte in case of more injuries. However, I'd be very surprised if he doesn't catch on with another MLB roster. It's not like he was doing bad this year. 11 hits in 40 some AB's.

QUOTE (lostfan @ May 31, 2009 -> 09:29 PM) It wasn't really tagging though, we're not talking about a sac fly. It was apparent pretty early that the ball wasn't going to be caught, so BA should've been waved around and would've scored easily considering the thing went all the way to the warning track. Holding him up is what caused the out (although in fairness to Cox, I'm not sure where exactly Anderson and AJ were standing when the ball went over Guillen's head). Guillen took got a poor read on it and it was a catchable ball. Not saying he would have caught it, but it was catchable. So, if your BA and Fields, you gotta go half way on that, and Pierzynski needs to tag. Also, on the play with Pods, shouldn't Cox have been yelling tag to Pods? Either this team has no respect for Cox, or we need a different 3rd base coach. I like Cox though, seems like a great guy to have in the dugout. EDIT: Holy s***, he's only 53 years old. He looks like he is close to 70.

Since Pods owned the best pitcher in baseball (as of now), does that make Pods the best hitter in baseball? Anyone know Pods career stats vs. Greinke?

ah, saving the best for last!

QUOTE (OilCan @ May 31, 2009 -> 07:11 PM) Make it 3-3 for SLAYER!!! Hopefully half of Birmingham will be called up to join him very soon at AAA. I just can't wait until Charlotte gets a new stadium (they're getting a new stadium, right?). I just don't want to see the hitters getting into bad habits in the band box they play half their games in.

QUOTE (Cali @ May 31, 2009 -> 08:45 PM) My only concern: Pods is doing fantastic right now with the bat, but sucks as a center fielder, and is fine in left. BA is a stellar CF'er, and is doing pretty good with the bat. What happens when CQ gets back? You gotta go with Pods as he provides you with a leadoff hitter. Best case scenario would be whenever the Sox are leading past the 7th, BA comes in as a defensive replacement.