JUGGERNAUT

Before this week Uribe had the highest zone rating amongst SS (.909). Meaning he was getting to less than 10% of the balls w/in the max limits of the SS zone. This week he's had some problems & it's dropped down to .847. But considering the Sox are just 2 DP's shy of leading the majors & Uribe's name is assoc with nearly all of them he's getting the job done much better than Valentin had. It's not just about racking them up. It's about getting the ones that matter most. Yesterday's game is a prime example when Hermanson had 2 on & nobody out. It's Uribe's arm that is making the difference. It's far superior in accuracy & speed than Valentin's was. You're entitled to your opinion as much as the next person but if you are suggesting the Sox are still 12-4 with Valentin playing SS instead of Uribe I strongly disagree. The game logs tell the story there.

Are you seriously suggesting that Crede-Valentin-Uribe-Konerko was more talented defensively than Crede-Uribe-Iguchi-Konerko? If so I strongly disagree. Uribe playing SS is a BIG reason why the White Sox are 12-4. That's more talent than attitude. He's struggling offensively, but defensively he's been a MAJOR upgrade over Valentin.

It's more than just attitude. It's talent. That's the point of looking at the stats. The Sox wouldn't be among the leaders in run-saving, jam-ending DP's if they didn't have the talent.

The best defensive team in the ALC vs the worst defensive team in the ALC. It should be a LOT of fun for White Sox fans

Yeah. :banghead - I saw it right away but there's no option to edit the topic title for us non-mods.

That seems simple but it's not. We are dealing with people here & getting up to tell an usher is likened to ratting someone out. They might not be as friendly to you when you return. That's why I just confront the fan directly. Then again I'm a big guy so I can see where that might not be as effective for smaller people. That's why I think it's better if the ushers are pro-active in curbing this. It's not that hard to see cigar smoke coming from seats in the LD.

I doubt very much that there is any open-air stadium banning smoking. Though I would say it should be curbed around children. Especially the stoggies. That's the only problem I've had in the past. I find it's best to just ask the person to put it out when they light up & the smoke bothers any one in my party. I do think it would be a good idea though for the ushers to say something when people are lighting up around children. It would save the need for a fan on fan confrontation. As for walking the aisles the White Sox are among the leaders in MLB in both concessions & concourses in general. Curbing the aisle traffic is not going to happen. People don't just go to the game at the Cell. They want to walk around & take everything in. We do this every game. When we are with children we skip the bullpen bar but we still walk the entire concourse. It's fun to do & we like the food. I can't think of any place that ranks better than the Sox in terms of food. I'm sure there are several that rank close or equal. I don't think the answer is curbing the flow but rather widening the aisles. They should do this throughout the stadium & I hope JR & company consider it. But they need much greater attendance before they think about spending any money in doing so. If they widen the aisles I really think it's one of the better parks in the majors to watch a game. I would also say increase the interactive stuff. The kids love it. The races on the jumbo-tron, baseball trivia, all of it. It doesn't seem like a big deal but it is. Every inning they should have something interactive. It wouldn't hurt to have a guest star (kid's cartoon figure) show up at the park either. I'm surprised the White Sox don't do this. They could partner with Great America. Have Bugs & the rest of the Looney Tunes promote the White Sox & have the White Sox promote GA. It seems like a perfect match.

@ DET W4-3 DP - 2 (M Buehrle-J Uribe-P Konerko, W Harris-J Uribe-P Konerko). @ DET W9-1 DP - 2 (P Konerko-J Uribe-P Konerko, T Iguchi-J Uribe-R Gload). v MIN W3-1 DP - 3 (J Uribe-P Konerko, J Uribe-T Iguchi-P Konerko 2). v MIN W5-4 DP - 3 (J Crede-T Iguchi-P Konerko, J Uribe-T Iguchi-P Konerko, T Iguchi-J Uribe-P Konerko). v SEA L5-4 DP - 1 (J Crede-T Iguchi-P Konerko). v SEA W2-1 v SEA W6-4 DP - 1 (J Crede-T Iguchi-P Konerko). @ CLE L8-6 DP - 1 (O Hernandez-W Harris-R Gload). @ CLE W5-4 10 IN @ CLE W2-1 OFA S Podsednik (R Belliard at 3rd base). DP - 1 (P Ozuna-P Konerko). @ MIN L5-2 DP - 1 (J Uribe-T Iguchi-P Konerko). @ MIN W8-6 DP - 2 (J Uribe, J Crede-T Iguchi-P Konerko). @ MIN W5-1 DP - 1 (J Uribe-W Harris-P Konerko). v CLE L11-5 E - J Crede (2, throw); J Uribe (1, ground ball). v CLE W4-3 v CLE W1-0 DP: 2 (J Crede-T Iguchi-P Konerko 2). 4th in DP's, 3rd in Assists, 15th in E (Best in ALC: KC 1st, CLE 3rd, DET 7th, MIN 12th) http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/stats/teamso...SIC?&_1:col_1=7 Intangibles: 5th in SB, 1st in SF, 5th in SH http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/stats/teamso...EXT?&_1:col_1=3 We're not as far behind in TB either. http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/stats/teamso...IC?&_1:col_1=11 Is it a stretch to say the 2005 White Sox are one of the best defensive teams in the majors? A fun team to watch!

Seeing that is just so beautiful. I'm just so happy! The stats that matter most: ALC Starters WSX: 15GS 8W 3L 101.1IP 1.16whip 2.84era MIN: 15GS 7W 5L 95IP 1.09whip 4.36era CLE: 15GS 2W 6L 88.1IP 1.29whip 4.58era DET: 15GS 6W 6L 83.2IP 1.43whip 4.95era KAN: 15GS 3W 7L 92.0IP 1.44whip 5.38era The most shocking stat for the 2005 WSX: DP's WSX 49, MIN 37, CLE 32, DET 30, KAN 28 This team not only can play but plays better than the rest!

Awesome DP! Mark gets out of a serious jam. SOX 1, DET 2 T4th

This should strike fear in the rest of the ALC. This team has only begun to fight! RISP ALC: MIN: .224OBPA .377SLGA .221BAA 15RA (unbelievable!) WSX: .327OBPA .319SLGA .222BAA 32RA (distorted by two gms) DET: .362OBPA .487SLGA .286BAA 33RA (much improved) CLE: .363OBPA .451SLGA .294BAA 31RA (unexpectantly poor) KAN: .378OBPA .471SLGA .304BAA 52RA (really bad) MIN: .309BA .400OBP .547SLG 61R (very good w RISP) DET: .333BA .373OBP .500SLG 71R (surprisingly good) CLE: .226BA .336OBP .304SLG 41R (surprisingly weak) KAN: .233BA .271OBP .353SLG 39R (expectantly weak) WSX: .202BA .234OBP .292SLG 39R (shockingly worst in the ALC) And yet we lead MIN by 2gms, & DET, CLE by 5 gms. Does anybody really think the WSX will remain dead last w RISP in the ALC this year? I sure don't. Especially when Thomas returns. For the naysayers, it's inevitable the offense will start firing on all cylinders. But there's no reason to think the defense will tail off. We are living on the DP right now & a team only gets better with practice & more experience in that dept. Not worse. I'm not shy in saying that we may have the best IF in all of the AL right now. That greatly helps any pitching staff. We have KW to thank for that. He got us Uribe, & Guch. Two guys none of us thought or even dreamed of being White Sos before KW brought them here. SOX 1, DET 1 RON 1,2 1 out, B3rd

Thanks to Jon Garland & a 9-1 lead that allowed Cotts to finish the game, the rest of the pen got a well earned day off. That gives us a decisive edge tonight to get the sweep. The WSox are getting it done with pitching & defense(DPs). So are the Dodgers but they are hitting at a pace that is unreal. That can't possibly last. LAD: .288A .363O .492S, WSX: .259A .285O .425S LAD: 5S 3.30ERA 1.20WHIP .231BAA 31DP .977F%, WSX: 7S 3.38ERA 1.23WHIP .236BAA 44DP .983F% Unfortunately no one can seem to beat the Twinkees but us. That's going to make for a very tight season. What I find the most interesting is just the perception of the two organizations fans. We fret over all the 1 run ball games this year. Thinking it means were going to crack at some time & those might quickly become losses. Yet the Twins look at 1 run ball games as nothing special. It's been the norm for them for the better part of 3 yrs. Probably more so this year than previous. I think we've been spoiled with HR's. I don't think that will change much when Thomas returns.

Far be it for me to interrupt the sparring but I don't think this thread ever took on the form of whinning about attendance. I think it was more geared toward what it looks like on TV when those seats behind home plate our empty. I might be wrong but the avg attendance might be up this year. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/attendance 19 Minnesota H:7G 26,860, R:8G 24,826, Over: 25,775 24 Detroit H:7G 22,958, R:8G, Over: 20,533 26 Chicago Sox H:8G 21,349 R:7G 29,230, Over: 25,027 27 Cleveland H:6G 20,403 R:9G 22,231, Over: 21,500 29 Kansas City H:8G 19,135 R:7G 30,678 Over: 24,522 It's not pretty. We should be beating Detroit.

I don't think the seats are over-priced for premium games (NYY, BOS,CHC) & weekends but definitely over-priced for weekday games. The problem I'm seeing early on this year is that it's giving the perception that the Sox are playing before an empty house. That's definitely NOT what you want in TV land. I think the WSox should come up with a plan where WSox employees can fill those seats if they haven't been sold.

I like being able to use Hermy for 2 in in CL&LATE sits. That sit seems more & more to be the norm. When Shingo is throwing his junk for strikes he's near unhittable. I think he can still get back to doing that. What's most important for Ozzie is to ALWAYS have either Marte or Hermy as a backup to Shingo in the 9th. Never leave that to Viz, Politte, or Cotts. That means he can only use 1 of Marte, Hermy to get to Shingo. Not both. That's not what I would call closer by committee or situation. It's more like closer redundancy. Somebody kick Cotts in the arse & tell him to throw strikes. It's next to useless.

Summary of KW moves dating back to last year: Garcia : plus Contreras : plus Everett : big plus Lee trade (Keeping Crede, Koney, adding Viz, Pods) : plus Hernandez: big plus Hermy: big plus AJ: big plus Guch: big plus Cotts: minus Widger: plus Davis: minus Perez: plus Dye vs Maggs: minus Harris: plus Ozuna: plus Gload: plus Dye is still expected to turn it around but Cotts & big Ben are next to useless & costing the team 1.4M. I agree that Cotts won't be up here much longer if he can't get people out. Is Davis doing anything trade worthy in AAA right now?

Ideally you want a short man to emerge as the closer so then you can maximize your long men. When a short man like Cotts is next to useless it really taxes the other 5 guys. You never want to use a pen guy more than 4 in w/out a day of rest. The Sox have 8 gms (avg of 24 pen IP) before the next off day. For every inning Cotts fails someone else has to pick him up. It likes burning two gallons of gas to go the same distance then. What's left in the tank? Hermy: 2 in Viz: 1 in Marte: 3 in Cotts: 4 in Politte: 4 in Shingo: 3 in Mark Buerhle has been a pen saver so far. It's one of those intangibles that don't show up on the stats much. It gets called a work horse but the true benefit of those innings never gets talked about. Mark has allowed us to minimize our weakest links in the pen. When was the last time Wood did that? Were going to need Mark to do it again. If not then Cotts & Politte are going to have to start pulling their weight on this team.

Am I the only one who believes Pods when he says he touched the plate between Mauer's legs? It's obvious that Pods beat him as far as getting to the plate because the ump waited for Mauer to tag him to call him out. If you guys want to believe Mauer beat him go ahead but in my mind the Sox were robbed of a run. I do not agree with the closer by comm or by situation approach. During the course of the year someone needs to emerge as the dominant closer or you are going to pay down the stretch. In 2004 Shingo was the best 15 pitch man in the bigs & he deserves a chance to get back to that stature. I don't agree with the belief that hitters are seeing him better. It's simply a matter of Shingo not being able to throw the junk for strikes. That allows the hitters to ignore it & wait on the fastball. He needs to fix whatsever wrong so he can throw the junk for strikes again. When you have a struggling closer like this you need a fallback plan. Right now that is Marte & Hermy. It's a fallback plan because these are the long men right now in the pen. The two guys expected to pitch 2 innings a night if need be. Politte would be the 3rd long man & then Viz, Shingo, & Cotts the short men.

Based on NPERA rankings over the years: 69 Buehrle, Mark - Top of the list in Chicago 69 Garcia, Freddy - Not far behind 65 Wood, Kerry - A few notches below 26 Prior, Mark - a promising puppy It's a point system based on NPERA rankings the last 4 yrs. A #1 ranking earns 30 pts in a given year. #30 ranking earns 1 pt Anything else earns 0 pts.

More on El Duque. Ozzie is proving to be a good manager. He took a lot of flack over his Thomas quotes & deservingly so. But what was lost by most reporters is the message he sent to the team in general. It's his team. He calls the shots. When I look over the NYY's usage of El Duque & count the number of 120+ pitch outings he had for them I can't help thinking Torre wasn't tough enough. El Duque never wants to come out. Because he usually gets better as the game wears on it's hard to take him out. But Ozzie knows the importance in doing so. He's on a strict 100 pitch count limit & it's really starting to get me excited about this team. Maybe it's still too early but I'm dreaming about 30 starts from El Duque now. Hawk loves to talk about the 42. That's goofy. It's all about 15-16 wins per month. You do that you will make the ALDS. That's 90-96 wins. The Sox are on a 96 win pace. The Tiggers & Roys both have to battle the Squaws, Twinkees, & WSox before April ends. The Sox have an opportunity of really opening up their lead in this month. Outside the division they battle Oak while Cle & Min battle the Angels. It's shaping up as an April to remember.

You throw the book out on El Duque. I don't think there's a finer mental pitcher alive. I'd even give him the nod over Maddux. It doesn't matter if he gets behind hitters because he can pretty much throw a strike when he wants to. How many pitchers are there in this league that can scatter 10H over 6IP on 96 pitchers w/out giving up a run? Not many. While watching El Duque get out of jam after jam I couldn't help thinking of Jon Garland watching this game. Maybe El Duque will finally teach Jon mental toughness. Stand Up: Everett 333A, Guch 326A, Crede 277A, Koney 260A Applaud: El Duque 2.50ERA, Hermanson 0.00ERA, Marte 1.93ERA Cheer: We are 2 up on Twinkees, & 4 up on both the Squaws & Tiggers.

I've seen enough to admit I'm ready to eat crow now. To get Pods & Vizcaino it would have cost either Crede, Lee, or Koney. Koney & Crede are factoring big time in the scoring right now. Crede is playing like an All Star with Uribe & Iguchi. If he continues this pace he's got all star team written all over him. Sometimes the gut & the intangibles mean more than the numbers. Crede's off-season commitment is paying off. The scales are tipping towards the Sox once again on the trade. I've got no complaints tonight. In my eyes Oz did everything right. Once again lady luck was on the Twins side. This time costing the Sox a run. Pods touched the plate before Mauer applied the tag. The ump gave the benefit of the doubt to Mauer because of his position. I think the 2B ump did the same thing against Rowand. But the Sox battled through it. That's what I love about this team. Nothing rattles them. Bullpen wise Ozzie did it right. Viz 1 ip Herm 1 ip Shingo starts 9th Marte finishes 9th Some of you will argue against Shingo but I won't. The best 15 pitch pitcher in the majors in 2004 deserves the benefit of the doubt. He's a savvy, crafty veteran pitcher who can still figure it out to be dominant again. Ozzie short leash is a good thing to see. The added benefit of a 3-header closer (Shingo, Marte, & Herm) is that they will all gain confidence along the way. If either of them should become dominant all the better for the Sox. It will be easier for the other two to transition to setup men.

How great was the Babe? Total Bases (career high, career avg): 01-Gehrig 447 high, 379 avg 02-Babe 457 high, 357 avg 03-Foxx 438 high, 347 avg 04-Williams 368, 345 avg 05-Aaron 400 high, 337 avg 06-Griffey 393 high, 335 avg 07-Sosa 425 high, 331 avg 08-Bonds 411 high, 331 avg 09-Musial 429 high, 328 avg 10-Mays 382 high, 328 avg 11-Thomas 364 high, 327 avg 12-Bagwell 363 high, 320 avg McGuire 380 high, 315 avg Canseco 347 high, 312 avg Palmeiro 356 high, 311 avg Robinson 383 high, 310 avg Mantle 376 high, 304 avg Banks 379 high, 302 avg Ott 346 high, 299 avg Schmidt 342 high, 297 avg Matthews 363 high, 295 avg Dawson 353 high, 295 avg McGriff 306 high, 294 avg Murray 322 high, 289 avg Stargell 337 high, 288 avg Winfield 333 high, 284 avg Jackson 334 high, 278 avg Killebrew 328 high, 276 avg Yaz 360 high, 271 avg Kingman 326 high, 266 avg McCovey 322 high, 264 avg Thomas currently ranks 31st on all-time HR list. Amongst the list of 31 he ranks 11th in career avg TB. He should move up to 27th on the all-time HR list this year. Sneaking up on the HOFer Dave Winfield. Winfield is the barometer for both Frank & Bagwell. career avg: Thomas .308A .429O .567S (15 seasons) Bagwell .297A .408O .542S (14 seasons) Winfield .283A .353O .475S (22 seasons) career high: Bagwell .368A .454O .750S Thomas .353A .487O .729S Winfield .340A .398O .560S Because Winfield is HOFer it's going to be very difficult for them to keep either Bagwell or Thomas out & not take a big hit in the HOF's credibility. They both have good odds to finish in the top 20 HR all-time list.

You need to change the thread topic. Mon's attend was over 27K.

For those who don't think Pods presence on the base pads can disrupt a pitcher, Contreras: "The play with the balk got me out of focus. I was a little lost after that." The little things that happen in a game can make a BIG difference. I felt the balk was a bad call. He may have slipped off the rubber but he still continued his delivery. It was a nit-picky call that gave the Twinkees a run. A team that doesn't need charity runs. What shouldn't be overlooked last night is the Sox new middle IF (Guch + Uribe) & how it helped to bail out a struggling Contreras. Contreras: ''I couldn't dominate my zone, and my splitter was not working at all today. The slider wasn't hitting the spots, and I couldn't find my fastball. I couldn't find the zone.'' Yet if the balk is not called he was still in line for a quality start. It's a very good sign for the months to come when Contreras basically battles through a start in which he has nothing. In the past that would be chalked up as a poor start but because of new defense he was able to labor through it. That defense is built upon Crede-Uribe-Guch-Koney. Now maybe Koney can be replaced by Gload to save some bucks in the years to come. But Crede is proving more important. Last night he made a good play to save runs that was near 3B. That increased his ZR. He's usually weak along the bag but possibly the strongest 3B in the league for anything hit in front of the bag. But please don't tell Boras any of this.