caulfield12

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 12, 2011 -> 08:58 PM) 2.) Fair enough. Good post. 1.) I think it's a tough call for Jerry on Ozzie. I think unless there's something known behind the scenes (like Ozzie doesn't work hard; comes to work late; is rude to people; stuff like that) I would keep Ozzie and reassign Kenny. It's obvious the two can't work together and because of their dual stubborness, either both have to go or one has to go. They did it to themselves and they are grown men, not dummies, and even they certainly realize both have committed fireable offenses with their inability to put the team first. Now if Ozzie does work hard, does care, is a good employee in those regards (which we are not privy to that information), then I would keep him as manager because of my stated reasons. He is young and frankly probably going to be a better candidate than anybody the Sox bring in. There is a danger in bringing Ozzie back, however. And this is what JR must think about. He could come back and we could have the exact same scenario next season. Get off to a rotten start, play horribly at home, be an instant buzzkill team again. That will mean NO FANS. If Ozzie is gone in favor of another manager and hitting coach, in theory there will be hope that Dunn, Rios and Beckham can rebound. The stories in the winter and ST will be about how these hitters like the new hitting coach, etc., and expect a full turnaround. The Sox will be in the news a lot and a FRESH START might translate to optimism and ticket sales. Tough call. I'd prefer keeping Ozzie cause he's still young and learning. But I can see why they'd want a fresh start. Greg's call, which you asked for: Keep Ozzie. You really don't think Ozzie is rude to people, especially/including White Sox fans and season ticket holders? I know your defense of him...he's refreshing, "telling it like it is," not cliched or boring, he's taking the pressure off the players by drawing so much attention to himself, etc. But don't you think Ozzie himself believes he is BIGGER than the White Sox, that he's the public face of the team, that he represents (to the outside world) their image of Chicago baseball? Is that really a good thing? Does Ozzie's presence (at this point in his regime) help draw fans to the ballpark? Or does it actually keep a significant number of frustrated fans away? And what about all of the unprofessional allegations/distractions caused by Oney's official and now underground tweeting and social networking?

I think all-time low (for the last decade) was probably that 11-22 mark in early MAY. The 2007 team was actually fairly decent in the first half. This one hit us with a 2 X 4 right off the bat. Coming off an offseason with nearly sky-high expectations...certainly the highest since 2005-06, and greater than coming into 09. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_leagu...urn=mlb-wp19271 Meanwhile, Manny Being Manny has been arrested again for DV. Nice signing there, KW.

Thanks for increasing your offseason trade value, Mr. Danks. Even fathom is bored with our current stretch of play against DET at this point...don't see him here. Maybe watching football or babysitting instead.

Greg, with that response, you should be a speechwriter for Romney. If you were JR, at the end of this season, whether we're in 2nd or 3rd place, do you fire Ozzie Guillen? Or do you look to trade his rights to the Marlins for talent...and, failing that, bring him back to finish his contract without providing an extension beyond the 2012 season (making him a lame duck)?

LOL. We can't keep all of our valuable "resources," and yet everyone's saying how Danks isn't worth much. So therefore, no matter what we do, we're screwed. We're not going to get the HUGE return for a one-year rental that some were expecting, and overpaying a 2nd/3rd starter like a quasi-ace doesn't get you very far with the upcoming predicted payroll deductions of around 20-25%. Who was it that said Porcello wouldn't be in our rotation? Granted, the Tigers' current line-up is 5-10X more dangerous than the Sox...especially when Dunn/Rios/Beckham are all in there together.

Rios really has 40 RBI's? And we have Morel in the 30 RBI club, too. Yay! Seems like the last couple of games, all of our runs have scored on fielder's choice outs. At least we're consistent in not executing well with RISP.

Finishing with a mini-run (although an illusion and typical of Sox "non-competitive" teams this decade after tanking in Aug/early September) would be more beneficial (albeit limited!) for selling season ticket packages in 2012 compared to the nominal value of a slightly #11-18 1st round draft pick.

This Braves vs. White Sox prediction for 2012 has to be one of the most... Well, let's just let things play out. Nobody predicted the White Sox would be very good in 2005 or 2008, either.

The story was always that KW wanted Gaston originally and finally was "won over" by Ozzie's interview/s and JR's backing of Guillen.

But Crede usually averaged 16-24 homers and around 65-80 RBI's. Respectable, Uribe-esque numbers. His walk totals kept his OBP down, and OPS down, but he was at least dangerous up there. And he quickly gained a reputation for being "clutch," something many of our young players have yet to establish.

QUOTE (Tex @ Sep 12, 2011 -> 04:54 AM) I think it's time to break up the KW / Oz tandem, they are not working together I think Oz is the one to go I do not believe another manager would have this team in first I think KW had the right mix this season, but no one could reliably predicted Dunn's season, Peavy Problems, etc The solution to big contracts is never sign a quality veteran. I think you mean hyper-expensive, non White Sox retention "quality" veteran. Because Jermaine Dye, AJ Pierzynski, Tadahito Iguchi, El Duque, Freddy Garcia, Paul Konerko and Mark Buehrle, etc., would all disagree with you. Rios and Peavy weren't signed by the Sox. Before Dunn, the last really big busts were David Wells (one year deal), Alberte Belle (not statistically bad at all, many "junk" numbers when the team was out of contention, but still not a good move overall for the team chemistry) and Jaime Navarro.

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ Sep 11, 2011 -> 06:09 PM) How did anyone think Bucky Larson was going to make money, they advertised the hell out of it too. As a native Iowan, it's annoying the idiotic stereotype of the local yokel with the protruding overbite and bowl cut. Seems with this genre of movie, you have to push the envelope as far as possible now...or not make the movie at all. Another example would be Piranha 3D versus Shark Night. I get they want to have a PG rating to attract more teenagers, and most of the teenagers would probably buy a ticket for another movie and then sneak in anyway, but you would think SOMEONE would pull the plug before these movies made it to a theatre. Piranha was always meant to be tongue-in-cheek and they promoted the over-the-top T&A element, so it was relatively successful with that marketing approach at least. Maybe their egos are simply too big...like Adam Sandler's. I tried to watch CREATURE online and the worst part about it is that it truly is so bad....it's not even amusing to watch because the horribleness makes it funny or amusing.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/09/11/box-...port-contagion/ Ooops, CREATURE averaged 2 people per show, per theatre....Bucky Larson, 8.333 Two of the worst wide releases in history in one weekend, to challenge good 'ol DELGO

I really liked Midnight in Paris and the previous one Allen did, simply because I have a crush on Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire/Planet of the Apes). http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bucky_lars...n_to_be_a_star/ Bucky Larson currently fighting it out with Delgo to be the worst wide-release movie ever....hope Nick Swardson didn't buy a $3+ million house in the Kenny "The Genius" Williams Hills just yet, after this one and Your Highness.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/10/m...o_n_956409.html http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/09/10/jona...ogM-2H-LN-Jonah Hill on 'Moneyball' and being an underdog: 'I was at the bottom of a list of other actors you'd expect to see in this part.' Jonah Hill on snagging the 2nd lead (behind Pitt) in a dramatic role

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 10, 2011 -> 11:24 AM) It he were a hitter, Greg Walker would be the issue. How come no issue with Cooper? He clearly didn't perform very well for the White Sox last year. Then you have to give the White Sox/Cooper credit for (the opposite of Hudson) being patient with Humber....whereas the Mets, Twins and Royals clearly were not, as I think he only had 3-4 starts combined amongst those three teams before we pilfered him from the A's roster.

QUOTE (VictoryMC98 @ Sep 10, 2011 -> 09:18 PM) But didn't Twins limit his ABs for 1/2 the season, if memory serves me correct? It was closer to 2 months...before Morneau went down for the year, and they also had to juggle playing time with Young, Span, Kubel and Cuddyer in the DH slot.

Good idea. They can have Rios/Dunn/Peavy (2008) and Beckham rookie cards (2010) arrayed with their more glowing statistics highlighted. At this point, fans probably believe more in Brent Morel being a 725-775 OPS 3B than Gordon Beckham ever managing the same at 2B.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 10, 2011 -> 07:45 PM) No, Moneyball was about Michael Lewis giving Billy Beane and the Oakland front office a complete hand job. Sabermetrics existed long before Billy Beane and heavy steroid use. Research about Markov models of baseball lineups existed in the late 80s and there were numerous books written on similar research. People just think Moneyball made sabermetrics because it was the first time they heard about it. Who would go to a movie starring Paul Giamatti or Dan Fogler as Bill James?

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Sep 10, 2011 -> 07:39 PM) So thats a no, they were not enough to make up 9.5 games. Clearly we'll never know because Ozzie was unwilling to try a different approach, period. He's more stubborn than almost any manager in baseball that can be named.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Sep 10, 2011 -> 07:33 PM) You seem partial to SABRmetrics, do De Aza and Viciedo make up 9.5 games from June on? There was one Saturday when DET lost and we'd yet to play and could have pulled within 2 games. They only needed to play well enough to make up 3-4 games at that time. 9 wasn't the issue until recently...when DET decided to play like the most dangerous team in the playoffs.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Sep 10, 2011 -> 07:29 PM) How about... White Sox Baseball: It's a New Era Not only is that a real answer, but it implies some coaching changes. OR they have a new revenue stream from NEW ERA ball caps?? If it was Robin Ventura playing a more prominent role, or even Frank Thomas...but my hopes are minimal at best. The only thing that gives me hope is the continued booing of Dunn and Rios...knowing that JR has to be taking note of that, even with earplugs in. White Sox Baseball: You Can't Easily Change Your Favorite Team, So You Just Have To Deal With It

Moneyball has zero or nothing to do with OBP. Those teams won because of Hudson/Mulder/Zito and then enough offense with guys like Giambi, Chavez and Tejada sprinkled in there. They filled out their last 25% of the roster with those Dan Johnson/Hatteberg/Swisher types (high OBP at 1B/LF/RF/DH)....but the whole idea of it as being an area where they exploited this concept to build some kind of replicable dynasty is a complete joke. Moneyball should have been about the Twins....but Ryan over there was never interesting or compelling or egomaniacal enough to write about.

Nope, Marty. Ozzie didn't have that "power" until well after 2005. You remember, KW brought in the likes of Javy, Cabrera, Swisher and Thome? None of those were "Ozzie moves," with the exception of Freddy Garcia. Ozzie has seemingly had almost unlimited roster control since before the 2010 season...especially in regards to Viciedo, not dumping Pierre, not bringing back Thome (rotating DH with Jones/Kotsay/positional players resting once every week or 2).

QUOTE (Elgin Slim @ Sep 10, 2011 -> 07:10 PM) Rios hit .245/.250/.654 in August. Not the greatest, but an improvement over the rest of the season. Surprisingly, his best month was June, where he hit .266. He has had 4 HR over the last 6 weeks. Basically the same numbers that banished Brian Anderson from baseball. Except he actually played a much better CF than Rios has this entire season. And for a much cheaper salary.