caulfield12

QUOTE (Baron @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 08:33 PM) I guess someone had to start the talk about blowing it up 7 games into the season while being tied for lead in the division. As last season proved, division leads don't mean anything until the last two weeks of the season.

The point of the thread wasn't about the "Sox fan as 2nd class citizen." It was about why there's a disconnect between the marketing strategy and what most Sox fans hoped for in terms of renewed interest on the part of "dormant" fans (particularly families) in 2013. It's the job of the marketing department to deal with this issue...2005 changed the culture, but it wasn't sustained. You'd almost have to argue that because of the thrills and experiences of 2005...that nobody could have predicted would happen in their lifetimes, everything else becomes dull and dim in comparison. There's not that sense of angst and apprehension in the fanbase...they're mostly contented to watch games from home and support the team when the weather is good or there's a marquee opponent or when they believe the team has the ability to go deep into the post-season. But it's a very conditional fandom. If you can't give me that same high and elation as 2005...then I'm not going to participate. Personally, because of the rivalry with the Twins, I almost enjoyed 2008 just as much...but a lot of fans don't see it that way, and felt we'd get knocked out right away by TB and that without Quentin and on the turf, we were toast. And that turned out to be true. DETROIT has a reputation as one of the worst cities in America....and yet fans of their team no longer feel second class. It's because they have three superstars on that team, and the possibility of another in Scherzer if he continues to progress. We've got Sale. But the fans don't seem to respond to watching him pitch like they used to with Randy Johnson in Seattle or Roy Halladay in TOR or even Zach Greinke when he was with the Royals.

QUOTE (Baron @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 08:26 PM) Oh for christ sake This team is in HUGE trouble if Viciedo, Flowers and Beckham all founder. That's not news. The only way for us to win is with dominant starting pitching and a better save conversion ratio than 2012. Everything went right last year and we still ended up short in the end. I don't think one game against the Nationals in April will tell the whole story....obviously....but they've really got to start playing much better defense, strike early in the game with RISP and get someone to step up in the bullpen. So far, it has been Addison Reed. Giving up those 7th and 8th runs really stung the comeback effort. And the real John Danks has to show up this season, at some point.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 08:23 PM) They fought back -- gotta like that, especially those of you who think the Nats are the best team right now Same old story. Late rally, too little, too late. More encouraging than just lying down, but Matt Thornton's always going to be Matt Thornton. He's just not going to get any better at his age....and is much more likely to continue regressing in his peripherals.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 08:20 PM) Rios is just awesome He automatically becomes our best trade bait if this team does an April/May 2010 and 2011 disappearing act. Hopefully it won't come down to that and they start playing better. The bloom is already off the Donnie Veal rose. That was doomed to be another version of Politte/Cotts in 2005.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 08:18 PM) They didn't want to have to give Jackson 4 years In hindsight, wish we'd kept Jackson and let Danks/Floyd go. Oh, well. Another KW gamble that didn't exactly backfire 100%...but it didn't pay off in the end, and it cost us Hudson and then Zach Stewart did about as well as Josh Stewart a decade before him.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 08:17 PM) IIRC, the Sox tried like crazy to trade him and he had no value. I'm not so sure about that. He still had his A fastball. He went into that offseason as the leading contender for the closing position, and his new contract rewarded him as a pseudo-closer. It's always a matter of whether he can get that offspeed pitch over. Without it, he's now Billy Koch from the LH side.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 08:14 PM) They're incredible, and could have been even better if they didn't waste money on a washed-up Haren. Lannan was their OD starter in 2011, right? They've made some curious pitching decisions. Edwin Jackson's a much better choice than Dan Haren at this point in their respective careers.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 07:51 PM) BTW, coming into tonight, the Sox had 10 less walks than any other AL team and 29th overall. That renewed emphasis on OBP is really paying off. Other than Keppinger, Konerko and Dunn, we're in HUGE trouble in this area...and it's going to be a season-long issue. Maybe Flowers will pick up some walks, but his expected low BA will mitigate his walk totals. And this just in...Matt Thornton should have been traded after the 2011 season, when he still had value.

Ventura continuing to struggle with his bullpen management. You have a ton of young arms down there, use them. Perfect situation for Santiago...while it was only 4-2.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 07:10 PM) I've always felt like Gavin's stuff would be great in the NL If Kyle Lohse or Kippie Wells can do it, so can Gavin.

QUOTE (Baron @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 07:09 PM) Gavin Floyd tomorrow....I guess Ill start drinking early. And Axelrod always has one of those 5-6-7 ER games just lurking around the corner. I'd be happy with 4-6 on this trip. Just don't have one of those April/May collapses like 2010 or 2011.

Well, one thing about last year's team...they didn't lie down and die in these situations. We'll see how they respond.

Jayson Werth looks like Tom Hanks in Castaway with that beard (at least his yahoo sport picture). What's with the recent beard trend? Not going to take off. Just when I say something nice about Peavy, the non-clutch, not-Big Game version returns. SIGH.

Gio still 0-4 lifetime against the Sox. At least we have that...or KW does. 60-40 career.

Rey Olmedo, your time to shine. Trying to reverse hex him, as I don't expect a hit but I would be happy to get jumped on just so we can get the lead.

Are we really going to start trade Viciedo and bench/dump Tyler Flowers complaints every game? Both of those guys are going to be crucial to our success this season. We're going to have to live with their ups and downs.

QUOTE (Jake @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 06:51 PM) 24 at bats in for Keppinger. Teahen alert! FWIW, it's 4 million dollars. Even if he sucks, that is not a big deal. That is a laughably small portion of our payroll. Anyway, I don't think he's going to be unplayable and the Sox even said they believed it was possible (I think they were hoping for this) that he would be a super-sub before it was all said and done anyway. That's what we said about Teahen....but, in the end, we ended up having to dump his salary, and in order to do that, we absolutely got NOTHING back for Edwin Jackson when he went to the Blue Jays.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 06:49 PM) Hurting your wrist on a swing isn't exactly the type of injury that is going to go away overnight, so I expect we see a lot of Keppinger at 2nd and Gillaspie at 3rd the next week. Hopefully it's not a tendon issue like what DeRosa or Weeks had Is Angel Sanchez going to be more Rey Olmedo at the plate...and will/would a sustained Beckham injury start the Carlos Sanchez Bandwagon from Phil Rogers? Haven't a clue since I haven't seen him hit..statistically, he seems more like a defense-first guy.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 06:47 PM) The Sox could win 7 or 8 out of 10 on this road trip and it wouldn't matter with regards to attendance this earlier in the season. More important than record is the weather, IMO. For those that don't live in Chicago, I don't think you have any idea how horribly windy it was on Saturday. I was in the Philippines on Saturday and it was a balmy 35C. More spring-like here in Shanghai. Yeah, those winds will kill you in the upper deck, even with the roof/overhang.

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 06:46 PM) Maybe, but we all know this team doesn't just quit, so I think you're a bit early on the ballgame call. It's not like Gio Gonzalez is 0-4 career against us. Game has to be over. Of course, like the last six weeks of the season in 2012...we can all look back and point at the missed opportunities early. Seems to be a broken record now.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 06:44 PM) Sox did and paid him as such. See Teahen, Mark. Rinse and repeat. They probably made the classic mistake of buying high on a player coming off a career year. Not typical White Sox GM'ing style from KW at all. It doesn't work with mutual funds, it doesn't usually work out with players with relatively pedestrian career stats at this stage of their careers to expect a repeat.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 06:42 PM) Us. Little attendance=no energy/effort Well, one thing's for certain. We really need to come home at .500 if we want the fans to BEGIN to invest in this team again. Detroit's start has been decent this year. And their bullpen hasn't blown 2-3 games in the first week.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 06:40 PM) Kepp has been horrid in the 2 spot. He is not doing any of the little things he was signed for. Not so TORRID 2/24 start...a crisp .083.

So what do we attribute the poor overall quality of play (despite the record)? It used to be we could blame Ozzie and his coaching staff, but what's the excuse this time for our suddenly porous defense and brain cramps across the spectrum? Normally, the White Sox were pretty well prepared to play last season, with the exception of Tigers/Royals games.