caulfield12

At least the Rangers are rallying. Missed another run on the ground rule double, 3-2 Rangers now. The last week is starting to feel like the end of 2008 all over again...except we're a bit further back.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 24, 2010 -> 06:35 PM) They need to hire the Blue Jays hitting coach. Strange results with that team. Leading the majors largely behind Bautista, who was averaging about 15 homers per season coming into 2010. But you've had players like Wells, Rios and now Hill and Lind totally go into the tank over the last few seasons. Not consistent results...but amazing individual seasons. We don't need Luke Scott, either!!!! Kotsay will carry us through.

I think we've reached the "everything that can go wrong, will go wrong" stage that we were mired in the first two months of 2010.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Aug 24, 2010 -> 06:47 PM) DET is rolling. good thing they don't have the pitching to sustain it. Don't be so certain of that...Verlander, Galaragga, Porcello, Scherzer and Bonderman, there's no reason those guys couldn't get on a roll together. On paper, that rotation looks just as good or better than what the Twins have been throwing out there all season. Just that the results haven't been there on a consistent basis, but the talent is there.

Pretty quiet game thread. I guess Manny Ramirez will be injecting (literally and figuratively) some life into this franchise the last month, one way or the other. LOL at the fact that spending $6-7-8 million over the full season obviously would have been a better allocation of resources than $4 million over one month in absolute desperation.

I was talking about in OUR ALCD.

It seems we've let up a little bit against the Indians and the Royals the last couple of seasons...maybe we're overconfident against them, and the Royals' style of play always seems to give us fits. Historically, we play the best against DET, and most fans/announcers there consider the White Sox their biggest rival, although the Twins are the ones who knocked them out of the ALCD title at the end in 06 and 09. For whatever reason, maybe it's because of Carlos Guillen/Ordonez/Cabrera, Ozzie is more enthused about beating these guys. I think another reason might be that the Tigers feature a lot of "stuff" pitchers like Verlander who we tend to do better against, because the White Sox historically have been a fastball hitting team this decade. But yes, no division title winner has ever finished below .500 against their divisional opponents since the realignments and going to 18 games per season...at least since 2001, maybe it goes back even longer than that. In 2000, 2005, 2006 and 2008, we did a much better job taking care of our business with the other four teams.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 21, 2010 -> 01:12 PM) I can't figure out how I fit into this one. Aforementioned poster said he wanted all White Sox fans saying complimentary things towards the Twins to die in a plane crash. Close enough. I think that would qualify as a "fiery explosion."

QUOTE (since56 @ Aug 21, 2010 -> 06:34 AM) Did I touch a nerve,quitter? Not anymore, Bobby Jindal (reference to a certain poster's sig).

QUOTE (elgonzo4sox @ Aug 19, 2010 -> 11:18 PM) Great post Quinarvy! There's been far too much Twins Envy and Twins Love on this website. The Twins aren't invincible, nor are they light years ahead of the Sox. In fact, the two teams are about as evenly matched as they could possibly be, with the Twins holding a big edge in head-to-head W-L due more to good luck than anything else. Here is my proof that the Twins and Sox are just about dead even this year. The Twins 4 game edge in the standings sounds big, but it is merely 2 head-to-head wins. The Twins have beaten the Sox 10 times, but 7 of those wins are by one run. Pick your most agonizing two Sox losses to the Twins, and change one thing in those two games to make the Sox win, and the teams are tied in the standings. What if Bobby Jenks nailed down the save in the game when the Sox lead by 3 in the ninth? What if Thornton threw a letters-high fastball to Thome (who can't catch up to high heat) instead of a belt-high one, and he whiffs instead of hitting a walk-off home run? When you lose 7 one-run games, it's easy to find one thing in a couple of games that, had it gone differently, would have flipped the outcome. That is how far back the Sox are behind the Twins: two bad pitches, or two missing clutch hits, or two Twins seeing-eye singles that just eluded a Sox fielder's glove. The Twins are +4 games ahead of the Sox in the standings, but +5 games ahead during head-to-head play. That means the Sox have played the rest of MLB one game better than the Twins so far this season. If the Twins are so great, why do the Sox have a better record vs. the rest of MLB? The Sox and Twins have played 15 times so far this season. With tonight's 11-0 shellacking, the runs scored by both teams over those 15 games now stands at 71 runs for the Sox, and 72 runs for the Twins. If those 71 and 72 runs had scored at different points in time, the games won/lost would be something other than 5 games won by the Sox and 10 games won by the Twins. In fact, if the runs were basically evenly distributed, the Sox would have won 7 times and the Twins 8 times. And the teams would be tied for first. Yes, I realize that at the end of the day all that counts is wins and losses, but when you look at the evidence, the Twins and Sox are a lot more evenly matched than most people probably think. The difference right now is very small, and the Sox still have 3 more games versus the Twins at home to close the gap. So as Bluto would say: LET'S GO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O!!!!!! What's the number one sign of a great team? Their record in one and two run games. Actually, about a month ago, we were close to #1 in this category, but we had a pretty bad record in two run games. Now we're closer to the middle of the pack for record in one and two run games...and it's 75% a function of our bullpen's problems. The most important runs are usually the ones scored in the first inning and in innings 7-8-9. This has always been an issue for the White Sox...you can compare our OVERALL offensive statistics with almost any team in baseball from 2000-2004, but our runs were never evenly distributed or consistent, nor was our starting pitching, mostly because the problems at the back end of those rotations. You could also do the same thing with the 2006 offense...but we scored a disproportionate number of runs in the first four months of the season. In the end, it's great that you're TRYING to spin it in a positive way, but I am thinking how I would respond to fans of the Red Sox or Angels in 2005 who said we just got "lucky" or didn't deserve to beat them. Great teams also create their own luck...lesser teams fall victim to bad luck, injuries, "circumstances beyond their control." It's just the nature of baseball. It's also the reason we don't have an MLB "Pythagorean" champion or "Beane Count" champion.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Aug 19, 2010 -> 07:06 PM) Only Masset was a prospect when we got him. The rest were all MLB pitchers. Although Sisco really felt more like a "project/suspect" than an established veteran. He had a very good first 3-4 months in his rookie year and struggled mightily from that point on in his aborted career.

Hmmm...great early hitting, but feels like we should be up 3 or 4-0. Rios and Beckham, we can't win without you guys.

Thanks for keeping 1B awake...Hudson was actually expecting that one, Mark. Way to keep the right side of the infield on their toes. It will be interesting to see how long Ozzie goes before he inserts Andruw Jones defensively. We absolutely have to win this game...and Teahen's defense in RF is basically equal to Quentin's, with Mark having a stronger and more accurate arm.

Seems that of everything that's gone wrong the last two weeks, it has been Alex Rios no longer being a huge threat in our line-up that sticks out the most to me. Obviously, there are other factors, like our starters collapsing and the failures of Jenks/Putz and even Thornton.

Let's try to get a lead at the beginning of the game instead of playing catch-up guys.

Maybe we can find Ozzie a new career as an NFL head coach? Or at least in the NL where his managerial style is most suited, I wouldn't be surprised if he had success there at all. Unfortunately, there's no way for us to change to the NL, as close as Selig and JR are.

Cuddyer/Kubel and Young are not very good defensive outfielders, to say the least. I would bet their defensive metrics are pretty lousy, too. I know they made a couple of good plays this series, but don't be fooled. Cuddyer has the range of a garden gnome, although he does have a very strong arm, still...and Young's overall athletic ability just doesn't factor into his defensive ability for some reason. His defensive apathy was one of the main reasons the Twins had been trying to trade him the past two offseasons. The funny thing is that their best defender, Span, has been the one whose play has been most criticized this year. I would guess it's because more is expected out of him.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 19, 2010 -> 12:48 PM) It's hard for me to classify that as the Sox winning it as opposed to the Twins losing it. The Sox lost 2 of 3 against the Indians at home. All the Twins had to do to clinch the division was beat KC in 2 out of 3 in the Dome when they had all the momentum in the world. Instead, it seems as though they celebrated their division title early, and they choked. It's like the only time in the last 9 years when I can think of the Twins choking down the stretch. Game 163 was still sweet as hell. The closest is the 2001 team, and that squad was competing for the very first time and suffered through numerous second half injuries. Nobody expected them to beat the Indians, as that was their first appearance at the top of the division in almost a decade. About the only thing you can say is that it would suck even worse to be a Tigers' fan, because they were chased down twice by the Twins from behind in the last days, whereas we gave it up in 2006, 2009 and 2010 much earlier from a "fan pain" standpoint. Then they botched the World Series and went into America's worst economic slide.

A lot of times, most of our pitchers are afraid to come inside and knock the opponents (like Young) off the plate. It's like a broken record, but Farmer mentions the reluctance of our pitchers to go inside almost every single game. Maybe the Tom Emanski/Fred McGriff Baseball Fundamentals got switched with the Sean Tracey/Jon Garland one for our minor league instructional video on pitching.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Aug 19, 2010 -> 12:56 PM) The thing that seperates Sale from our other top pitching prospects that Kenny has traded away is that Sale is a pure power arm. McCarthy and Huddy weren't the flame throwers that Kenny always has had an infatuation with. Sale will be a member of the White Sox for a while. I thought Nick Masset, Mike MacDougal, Sisco and Aardsma were all "power" arms, too. (I know, I know...Coop likes this kid, his make-up, his varied repertoire of pitches, etc.)

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 19, 2010 -> 11:09 AM) AJP was 3 for 6 so far this season vs. Liriano You do realize that Jermaine Dye might have been the worst player in the majors last August/Sept. and yet Ozzie started him 45 games the last two months of the year? Ozzie will do whatever he wants to do. I think against Baker, maybe Teahen had really really good stats (could be wrong) and Kotsay was in the starting line-up despite rather pedestrian ones. Ozzie's greatest strength is also his weakness. He was loyal to JD, even after the trade for Rios, and that's one of the reasons they let him go...JD is either not playing or an everyday player, simple. Basically the same as Thome in Ozzie's mind.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 19, 2010 -> 11:09 AM) AJP was 3 for 6 so far this season vs. Liriano You do realize that Jermaine Dye might have been the worst player in the majors last August/Sept. and yet Ozzie started him 45 games the last two months of the year? Ozzie will do whatever he wants to do. I think against Baker, maybe Teahen had really really good stats (could be wrong) and Kotsay was in the starting line-up despite rather pedestrian ones. Ozzie's greatest strength is also his weakness. He was loyal to JD, even after the trade for Rios, and that's one of the reasons they let him go...JD is either not playing or an everyday player, simple. Basically the same as Thome in Ozzie's mind.

As long as he was limited to the neighborhood of 325-375 at-bats, I think he would have been fine. The rest of them would have gone to Jones, Quentin and resting some of the everyday players. It doesn't matter, we'll never know, will we. It will be argued over and over again this offseason...and you're right, Ozzie being Ozzie, he probably would have felt obligated to play Thome almost every day and would have worn him down eventually. Just saw this from Buster Olney: QUOTE "The bottom line: The White Sox made a decision last winter based on logic, based on numbers, based on the recent injury history for Carlos Quentin. And it just hasn't worked out, just as every team makes decisions that don't work out." LOL. My mouth would drop if I heard Ozzie articulate that argument instead of "Fuc- You" Sox fans! Actually, after the 2005 season, if you think of everything that had to go right...well, the White Sox took a chance with ... Dustin Hermanson, Cliff Politte, Bobby Jenks, Jermaine Dye, Tadahito Iguchi, Carl Everett, Scott Podsednik, El Duque and AJ Pierzynski ... and every move ended up working out perfectly, almost.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Aug 19, 2010 -> 10:29 AM) As noted, I do not think we make any more stupid plays than any other team. I thought last night the Twins did as many stupid things as the Sox. The #1a issue for me is the lineups. Ozzie Guillen consistently fields a lineup that gives him a lesser chance to win than he should. Putting AJ in that lineup last night was inexcusable. Do you realize he has 27 TOTAL home runs in his career vs. Left handed pitching? This year he's hitting .211 vs. left. And you put him up against one of the best left handers in the league? He has a .654 career OPS vs. left. Where is the logic? He cannot help you. Obviously we all know about Ozzie's undying love for Kotsay, which has been constantly predicated on him being left-handed and breaking up a series of rightys. If the right/left matchups are so f***ing important, Ozzie, why do you choose to ignore things like batting splits when filling out the lineup card? This has been something that has just killed us all year. The #1b issue for me is that we are almost exclusively a fastball-hitting club. Almost no one on our club hits offspeed pitches well, particularly Ramirez and Konerko. Every key out pitch recently seems like a change or slider out of the zone that badly fools one of our hitters. Ozzie doesn't know how to sit players like Kotsay and AJ, yet, remarkably...he knew how to show Dye and Thome the door. What's the main argument for not playing Castro, who obviously hits better against lefties? That AJ DESERVES a chance to play against his former team, and that you should never "bench" starters in key games? That AJ's motivation against the Twins will offset his year-long struggles with lefties? Same thing with Kotsay, how can you NOT PH Andruw Jones at that point in the game when there's the greatest chance to strike a huge, early blow against the Twins? Sure, Jones might also strike out, but the odds have to be exponentially higher of Jones hitting the ball hard and into play for at least a double than Kotsay driving the ball against a lefty.

Well, if there's anyone who can do it, it's Buehrle. Yes, he's had some absolute horrible outings in the past in the Metrodome, but everyone in that clubhouse understands the importance of this game in the bigger picture. A win means we're definitely part of the race, a loss is like a knockout blow...part of me wishes the game would just get rained out, but it would put off the inevitable, we HAVE TO go in there and take a game, maybe that will be enough to get the club to relax again after all the bullpen collapses. I really thought that Danks and Floyd were going to come through when we needed them, and their performances the last couple of times out have been one of the biggest disappointments to me this season. Putz and Thornton are tired, Gavin and Danks have less of an "out" in my opinion for their failures to man up and put the collective team on their back.