caulfield12

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 21, 2013 -> 01:05 PM) I am stunned by how awful the Sox lineup is today. Dunn has no business being in there, and the current bench shows a lack of preparation by the front office. The last two years of bench players have to be the worst that I can remember since becoming a White Sox fan. It was one of the biggest reasons the team wore down during the stretch last year...as much as we chided Ozzie for his Sunday line-ups, but we obviously didn't have credible replacements for Youk, DeAza, Ramirez (Olmedo still haunts my nightmares) and the nagging injuries just caught up with them, as well as the overuse of Sale/Quintana/Peavy. This is what results when you have all these players like Thornton who are paid like pseudo-closers and not set-up guys. And bench players disguised as starters in Keppinger. Obviously we have Dunn and Danks now soaking up payroll with the big contracts that look bad, but it's always those guys like Linebrink or Teahen that end up creating payroll problems in the final analysis.

DeAza with another misread....broke back initially on contact, and then it was too late to readjust. Sigh.

This is making 2007/09/11 look like OktoberFest compared to this....whatever it is.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Apr 21, 2013 -> 12:51 PM) Seaver was not on 83 team. Carlton Fisk...obviously. Baines was close.

Mike Squires in the booth. Would take him over Dunn, and he wasn't even a good hitter, lol. Heck, since it's 1983 all over again with the uniforms, I'd much prefer to watch Rudy Law or Ron LeFlore than any outfielder not named Rios. Squires saying how LaRussa made a concerted effort to take that team out to eat together (he paid back in those days)...and that the 83 team was always together, always going to parties. That kind of thing just doesn't happen anymore.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 21, 2013 -> 12:41 PM) Or as Hawk likes to say, 14-26. The 83 team went 50-16 the final 66 games. This team has no chance of doing that. Harrelson's already turning to that stat to try to inspire himself to invest in this season? I would have thought he'd wait until at least May for that "tried and true" nugget of wisdom which only is applicable about once every 30 years.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 21, 2013 -> 12:41 PM) Or as Hawk likes to say, 14-26. The 83 team went 50-16 the final 66 games. This team has no chance of doing that. Especially when all of our games against the Tigers are back-loaded on the schedule this season. If Sox fans were going to look for a reason to believe, it would have to be heading into July with a 4-5-6 game lead in the division and at least the hope to somehow weather the Tigers' offensive and starting pitching onslaught in the head-to-head match-ups.

Starting to think the reverse side of Ventura's "calm/poised" demeanor being a positive is that it's almost a sort of malaise that can affect the entire organization. Obviously, baseball isn't football or soccer where you need a more motivational, fiery type of leader...you can't get away with that in a 162 game season. BUT, it's like there is a stupor that has set in. We blamed Ozzie for leaving Dunn in there game after game after game, but the same thing's happening with Ventura, too. And it's not like Hahn has given him multiple options as a replacement. It's almost like having the likes of Wise/Tekotte/Danks all on the roster at the same time takes the pressure off Ventura for NOT benching him a game or two. When there was the idea of Lillibridge or Viciedo coming up in 2011, at least there were legitimate/credible options to debate. Now it's just...hard to get worked up or even care.

White Sox 2013: OBLIVION Hawkins now with 32 K's in 49 AB's...another one in his first AB today. And we thought 2007 was bad.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Apr 21, 2013 -> 12:23 PM) We look like we are on quaaludes on offense. Trying to pull together the enthusiasm to boo Adam Dunn but half-hearted at best.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Apr 20, 2013 -> 09:25 PM) Player gets injured. Sign Lillian's pet. Two players injured. I thought Conor Jackson retired?

Hopefully the Tigers dump Porcello, insert Smyly into the starting rotation and Cooper fixes Porcello, lol. Doubt he would get to us in a waiver claim, though, and they're going to send him to AAA/AA before they make that move. But I would trade him and Gavin Floyd in a heartbeat. Porcello's still young (think Jon Garland at the same stage in his development) and was rushed to the majors, but he still can turn things around.

Courtney Hawkins 0/2 with a K already, down to .156 avg.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 20, 2013 -> 05:04 PM) Interesting to see Ron Gardenhire running Aaron Hicks out there as a leadoff man hitting .040 Because the Twins usually show faith in their top prospects and don't give up on them so easily...or toss them aside like detritus. Ben Revere struggled when he first came up and they stuck with him and they were at least able to get some value back for him...as they saw Hicks possessing the most potential to be a dynamic, game-changing force in the outfield and Revere as "Span-Lite."

At least he didn't have the opportunity to end the game with his 4th K of the day. He was spared that indignity. Craig Grebeck/Shawn "Lil" Abner for DH 2013 Campaign.

Are there ANY areas we can point at and say Ventura's shown marked improvement in comparing the first 3-4 months of 2012 with where he's at today? Most would argue that he's actually "regressing" as a manager, if that's even possible for someone with so little managerial experience...

What's next, Minnie Minoso or Harold Baines at DH? Bo Jackson?

Can Adam Dunn go 0 for 5, K 4 times (the last one to end the game) and send his averaging plummeting below .098 for more comedy?

Of course, the Wild Thing version of Nathan Jones shows up at an inopportune time. And walks an .043 hitter. Typical. To face the 300+ guy.

Now what?

According to ESPN Gamecast, the Twins have a 42.5% chance of scoring here. With our luck, probably the .043 "future star" Hicks will break out of his slump, haha. Can't believe Florimon's over .300 either.

The Gods gave us Veal last year, but took him away in 2013. Knew it was too good to last...like Politte and Cotts in 2005.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Apr 20, 2013 -> 03:27 PM) This is an 07 ish lineup we are rocking these days. At least Josh Fields had his homer binge late in the season and Owens had a 5/5 game against the Twins. With our line-up now, is there anyone even remotely interesting to watch? Mostly Dunn/Flowers, to see how many K's they record or if Tyler will actually get a hold of one and do something amazing and follow it up with 7-10 games of nothingness. With Dayan out, the only other hitter I'm interested in following is Gillaspie at the moment. And Rios...while he's hot.

Jason Dellaero's another one.

Then you have Flowers/Dunn. Individually, Tyler is 1/12 with RISP alone. Both he and Viciedo have had some HUGE hits for the Sox this season, but they haven't been consistent at all. Attendance announced yet today?