caulfield12

Greg is rebuilding about 2 months too soon. While we're at it, why not make Santos a starter, too? He has at least three "plus" pitches that he can throw for strikes. It would be a lot easier to find a set-up guy in our minor league system or via trade (or the dreaded Royce Ring draft) if we're not going to use Sergio as the closer.

I can't stand to listen anymore. I'll just go walk around and hope the lead isn't any more than 2 runs.

How do you walk a guy who has two at-bats the whole month to face the top of the order? Sheesh. No wonder Jackson has been traded 4 times and counting.

Beckham's REALLY fortunate that ball didn't make it up the middle for a tailor-made double play. The Yankees have basically made two big mistakes already and Sabathia pitched over both of them (or we just suck, or a combination of both).

Well, this team is going to have to prove itself soon. If it's not against the Twins next week, the dreaded West Coast swing will do it. Especially playing at Oakland and Anaheim.

Lillibridge cost us a run, but he saved one game so hard to complain. The probable way to win this game would have been to jump out on top with a 2 or more run lead, and we just blew it. Don't get many chances like that. 90% of the time, you leave bases loaded or 2nd/3rd and no outs and don't score, you lose those games. It's just the way baseball works, especially on the road against Sabathia.

Some others I've read about in researching this topic.... Ray Durham over the shoulders catch in Detroit in 2000, running away from the infield Alexei Ramirez glove flip http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=3403176 This play by Orlando Cabrera is pretty amazing...but don't remember it from 2008 A couple of others I remember (although the parameters were 2000 onward) were Carlton Fisk tagging out two Yankees at home plate in 1985 and Ivan Calderon climbing the fence and robbing a home run back in the 80's, also at old Tiger Stadium

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 27, 2011 -> 05:57 PM) Lineup positioning simply does not get people more fastballs. It did in 2005 when Pods and Iguchi were working together.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 27, 2011 -> 05:52 PM) Yeah, cause Pierre has been amazing in LF. Well, if that's the plan, just stick Viciedo in LF and let Vizquel lead off, playing either 3B for Morel or 2B for Beckham. It doesn't matter. Or stick Ramirez at the top of the line-up to get him more fastballs. I would say Rios but not with how he's going now. Having watched Teahen try to play 2B and RF in KC, I'd rather have Lillibridge in the line-up (as an outfielder) than Teahen.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 27, 2011 -> 05:48 PM) He's struggling cause he's diving so far out over the plate, his head is moving an insane amount and he's losing the ball at about 55 feet. It's why when he does make contact, he's hitting a lot of lazy pop ups to left field. Which is what hitters do when advanced scouting reports say they're having trouble catching up with the fastball. He's overcompensating? Just a guess, I haven't been able to watch him at the plate since after the appendectomy.

QUOTE (Knackattack @ Apr 27, 2011 -> 05:48 PM) Meant left field for Teahen and I'd let Omar prove that he would wear down because Juan is killing this team. Still, with our pitch-to-contact staff, having Teahen (aka Kevin Reimer/Josh Fields) in LF and Quentin in RF, he'd let just as many runs in as he'd create offensively.

QUOTE (Knackattack @ Apr 27, 2011 -> 05:44 PM) Although I do have to say I would absolutely adore Teahen starting in right and Omar starting at 3rd and leading off. 1-2 hitters right there. Vizquel would wear down if you played him that extensively and Teahen's probably worse than Quentin in RF. No thanks. The only good thing about this is PERHAPS Teahen wouldn't be trying to steal and getting thrown out as often as Pierre. Maybe things are turning around with Dunn. Yankees' announcers have the idea he's struggling because he hasn't adjusted to DHing after playing in the NL for so long.

QUOTE (JohnCangelosi @ Apr 27, 2011 -> 05:42 PM) I don't know what to say about Gordo anymore but I really had high hopes for him this year after his second half before the hand injury etc. He is just absolutely horrible right now. I wonder what he was doing back in 2009 that he's not doing now. Maybe he was just reacting back then but now he seems to be thinking SO MUCH up there that it's painful to watch. They all seem stunned that Colon's not throwing any off-speed pitches. Waiting on it, but not getting it. Outguessing themselves. He's just throwing two-seam fastballs one after another at 93-95 and not mixing in any offspeed stuff.

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ Apr 27, 2011 -> 05:40 PM) Pierre might be the most scrutanized .260 hitter and rightfully so. This guys has been terrible in clutch situations so far. He was even worse with RISP the first two months last season. I think he had one hit in those situations out of maybe his first 20 opportunities...something like two RBI's total.

So much for having the momentum in this series if we don't score a run here. Ugh. Colon throwing 93-95 MPH with the Yankees after throwing 88-92 MPH with us. Yay, rebuilding with Gordon Beckham. Sounds like the Royals. Except they have 4-5 hitters all potentially better than Beckham.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Apr 27, 2011 -> 12:49 PM) Reading posts about other great plays just reminds you how many there were. Wise for sure, Taguchi, Buerhle, etc. ANd how far back do you want to go? So Taguchi? Or that was Tadahito's nickname here?

Swisher.... 1) Was closer the true athletic prime of his career....younger than Dunn 2) Moving from one of the worst hitters' parks in baseball to one of the best 3) Moving to an easier division for pitching (or comparable) rather than changing NL to AL NICK SWISHER OPS 2006 .865 2007 .836 2008 .742 2009 .869 2010 .870 Isn't there a pretty big statistical anomaly there? We gave up a huge package of players to get Swisher, arguably more than we were willing to give up last summer for Dunn (Jackson + Viciedo).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 27, 2011 -> 06:48 AM) If Adam Dunn doesn't come out of it, then the White Sox are simply the unluckiest team in baseball. No other way to say it. I'm not so sure you can say they were unlucky with the Peavy and Rios moves. Those were huge gambles 95% of other GM's wouldn't have taken. Same thing with signing Teahen to the long-term deal when it wasn't even necessary (perhaps the ending hasn't been written to that move). If Dunn doesn't produce this year, it will be blamed on his adjusting to a new league, better competition, pitchers with different tendencies of attacking hitters vis a vis the NL, health problems, etc. So far, they've been pounding him with fastballs ever since the microsurgery, but the odds of that HAVE to turn around at some point, don't they? Of all the gambles which went against us, the one with a similar probability of working out (but didn't) had to be Nick Swisher's 2008 offensive flop and resulting alienation from the entire organization, from Guillen on down.

The funny thing is that Phil Rogers a day or so ago specifically pinpointed the trade of Vazquez after 2008 as one of the main reasons for the deterioration of the pitching staff since 2008. Lillibridge says, "Take that!" I don't think in Javy's entire 3 year career with the White Sox there's one moment I'll actually remember with any amount of fondness. More like exasperation. Sure, Flowers, Gilmore and Rodriguez might never do a thing for the major league roster, but just that one moment, KW and the scouting staff must have felt a brief moment of jubilation and vindication. Perhaps Lillibridge has reinvented himself after playing CF for Washington State and making his mark so dramatically again last night. Then again, even D. Wise had his moments in the ALDS against the Rays, a walkoff homer and "The Catch."

Unfortunately, I didn't see either of Lillibridge's catches live, but the pounding of the turf, Santos' reactions as well as Jeter (he had to be saying something like "you've got to be s***--- me" or words to that effect) and A-Rod too, simply priceless. I agree the ball hit by Orlando Palmeiro might have been the most memorable...but I still think the play into the stands before that was equally important.

I didn't want to include the Juan Uribe catch down the 3B line into the stands because that would end up getting 90%+ of the votes. Hopefully I haven't left out any, just going off the top of my head. I'm sure there's a play or two from Alexei Ramirez or Juan Uribe during the regular season that would rank up there. AJ Pierzynski's play against Josh Paul on the ball in the dirt would rank up there as well, certainly the smartest/headiest play.

I saw a figure quoted that the White Sox would have to average 33,000 per game (maybe it was SouthSideSox.com?) in order to "break even" with the current payroll? Where did that come from? Williams? JR? Does anyone actually believe it?

QUOTE (joeynach @ Apr 25, 2011 -> 09:32 PM) This I believe to be true. And I believe guys like Juan Gonzalez and Gary Sheffield got away with this and had great careers is becuase they had amazing upper body strength (steriods) and/or god given talent in generating bat speed (hand eye coordination). Don't forget Julio Franco. He used one of the heaviest bats in baseball too, well into his 40's.

What I don't understand is why we acquired Juan Pierre in the first place if he was beyond the point he could actually steal a base or two from the 7th inning onward without being bunted over? Isn't the point of Pierre that he would actually be able to steal with a 75-85% success ratio, THEN you have three legitimate shots to drive him instead of just one or two? As for the Twins changing their style of play, of course. They've gone from having a tepid offense and great fundamentals/team speed/defense over the last decade to one that mirrors the White Sox in many ways. And Gardenhire has really struggled managing "non-Twins system" players like Delmon Young, numerous times trying to trade him since he was acquired for a plethora of different reasons. The identity of the Twins was always having less talent but not beating themselves and having one of the best bullpens in the game on a consistent basis, as well as pitchers like Santana, Liriano and Radke who MADE you beat them. That Piranha identity's been lost and they've having a difficult time adjusting both to their ballpark but also their increased payroll and expectations. And perhaps all those playoff failures are weighing on them for the first time. If you look up and down that roster, the only player who fits in the "old Twins" mode is Denard Span, and he strikes out way too much. Remember when they had Koskie, Guzman, Rivas, Mientkiewicz, Stewart, Hunter, Jacque Jones and AJ? Those teams flat out scared you to death with their gloves, speed, execution, fundamentals and you could never, ever beat Hawkins/Guardado/Romero/Rincon/Nathan/Crain (until 2007-2009) down the stretch. You had to bludgeon them to death offensively and hold on for dear life to get a win, usually at USCF. Managers like Scioscia and Maddon manage their teams in the way that's most effective for the players they have...I just think Ozzie is too stubborn sometimes to adapt because he experienced too much success too soon in his managerial career. If you look at someone like Torre or Bobby Cox, the beginning of their managerial careers, their teams were below average to average at best and they got better and better as time went on and they learned on the job. You could say the same thing about LaRussa. It usually takes being fired one or twice before a manager figures it out. Or Francona, look at his career trajectory. He was managing Michael Jordan not so long ago and taking the long bus rides. I really don't see how Tony Pena (the former catcher), Sandy Alomar or even Omar Vizquel could be worse as managers at this point. Yes, we've faced a stretch of very good pitchers, yes Dunn's coming back from an appendectomy, yes the offense was alive for 9 games, etc. But none of that's changing the fundamental nature of momentum of this season, and that's the fear that perhaps this team has forgotten how to win and is scared to watch the bullpen blow another lead in a close game. Hopefully Santos has the cojones to get the job done.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 25, 2011 -> 02:29 PM) That's not a bad post when you read it closely. The problem is that Teahen, Pierre and Dunn (or Rios, or Beckham) have absolutely no value at the moment. I'm assuming the other pitcher(s) you're dumping is someone like Pena, Ohman or Thornton. It's like trying to sell shares of Titanic or Cunard Lines when everyone knows the ship's already sinking. Not the best of business practices. The devil is in the details. Over the last two or three seasons, every GM in baseball wanted to get their hands on Quentin (2008 and again in 2010), Alexei, Beckham, Thornton, Danks, Floyd, Buehrle (playoff contenders), Dunn (before his appendectomy), Konerko, Rios (first half of 2010), Santos or Sale. Think of it like the mortgage holders who are underwater. Do you just leave your keys in the mailbox and walk away or assume your investment will never turn around and instead of selling for 60-75 cents on the dollar, you end up selling for 20-30-40? As we all know from 2007, if the White Sox had dumped Buehrle/Dye/Konerko/Thome at that time, 2008's rebound wouldn't have been possible. For those desiring a team of DeAza, Viciedo, Mitchell, Lillibridge, Milledge, Morel, Flowers, Beckham (trade the bum!), Sale, Santos, etc., the effort might be there (not sure about Milledge ever coming around), but the patience of the fanbase at this point after a decade of "contending" or "above average" teams?