TLAK

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Sep 19, 2006 -> 08:22 PM) I don't know if I'd go that far. Minnesota has been pretty hot record-wise, and their bullpen is a major asset in the playoffs. However, you would think that the rest of that rotation would be a major detriment, especially considering the Yankees have a much better lineup than pretty much any team in the league. All you need to do is win one of the games that Johan starts and they're just about done (though that can be difficult). I'd much rather face them than Detroit, they have several dangerous pitchers. Zoomer, I think the only thing that will stop the Yankees is day after day after day good starting pitching. If I were the Jank's the only teams I would worry about are the White Sox and Athletics.

Freddie! And look at Jenks v Clevelen

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Sep 19, 2006 -> 01:50 PM) Unless Johan can pitch every game they're going to be in the same place in a few weeks. Seriously, how far do you think you're going to go with Boof Bonser, Carlos Silva, and Scott Baker making starts in the playoffs? I'll bet the Yankees are praying Minnesota takes the wild card and the get them in the first round.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Sep 19, 2006 -> 02:58 AM) How can someone who has post ASB splits of .285/.327/.439 have terrible at bat's after terrible at bat's? Aaron Rowand for comparison's sake last season put up a .270/.329/.407 line last season. So that means in the 2nd half of this season, Brian Anderson has hit better than Aaron Rowand did last season. And yet I didn't hear Ozzie complain about Aaron Rowand's AB's. What about Juan Uribe? Wouldn't you say he has terrible AB's after terrible AB's? Brian Anderson has a .189 batting average with runners in scoring position and 2 out (37 AB 8 RBI). In 2005 Aaron Rowand hit .354 in the same situation (65 AB 27 RBI). In my view, situations like this is what Ozzie is talking about when he says quality at bats. A good player has to rise to the occasion, regardless to his overall stats, when the game is on the line.

No Paulie, no Tadahito: Chicago WSox Scott Podsednik LF .259 Ross Gload 1B .323 Jermaine Dye RF .320 Jim Thome DH .287 Joe Crede 3B .297 AJ Pierzynski C .293 Brian Anderson CF .234 Alex Cintron 2B .280 Juan Uribe SS .235 Jose Contreras P (13-7, 3.97) Oakland Jason Kendall C .295 Mark Kotsay CF .272 Milton Bradley RF .276 Frank Thomas DH .281 Eric Chavez 3B .241 Jay Payton LF .299 Nick Swisher 1B .254 Marco Scutaro SS .253 Mark Ellis 2B .247 Joe Blanton P (15-11, 4.78)

As to standing pat, remember the White Sox would have had last year’s team PLUS 5 more months of Frank Thomas. As to bringing in Thome to compensate for a perceived weakness vs right handed starters the numbers from MLB Press Pass are: 2005 V RHS 76-43 = .637 V LHS 23-20 = .535 2006 V RHS 54-34 = .614 V LHS 30-29 = .508 I don’t see much improvement, they are 20 some points down from both sides. What’s done is done. I had my say in the Evil Kenny Williams thread in the spring. In KW’s defense, nobody knew Big Frank would stay healthy and play so good, nobody knew Podsednik and Anderson would struggle, that Politte and Hermanson would get hurt. Rowand could have broken his ankle playing for the Sox too. The bottom line is there are 14 games to go, and the White Sox are within 3 games of the playoffs. Another championship is within reach.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Sep 17, 2006 -> 06:38 AM) I'm surprised no one has jumped on you about drinking the sox kool aid . I'm of the mind that whatever happens, happens. Hopefully the sox pull it out. If not, there will be months to dissect what went wrong and how to improve the 2007 sox. No use kicking your dog/ cat/ ferret or yelling at your girlfriend/ wife/ kids, getting all Jerry Springer like over something you have no control over. I think every post you made in this thread has been spot on. The team is playing as hard as it can, I'd add that Ozzie is trying everything he can try but the wins just haven't been coming. Yesterday's line up and relief rotation was exactly what some of the more vocal critics on this board have been calling for, but it didn't work either. We are in for two more gut wrenching weeks, we all need to keep our perspective and remember that it's just baseball. Baseball is a funny game, things can change fast.

Chicago WSox Paulo Ozuna LF .324 Tadahito Iguchi 2B .287 Jermaine Dye RF .321 Jim Thome DH .289 Paul Konerko 1B .312 Joe Crede 3B .298 Juan Uribe SS .235 Brian Anderson CF .231 Sandy Alomar C .194 Javier Vazquez P (11-9, 4.71) Oakland Jason Kendall C .295 Mark Ellis 2B .245 Milton Bradley RF .275 Frank Thomas DH .280 Eric Chavez 3B .242 Jay Payton CF .299 Nick Swisher LF .254 Dan Johnson 1B .235 Marco Scutaro SS .256 Barry Zito P (15-9, 3.86) Umpires: HP: Greg Gibson. 1B: Rob Drake. 2B: Paul Nauert. 3B: Larry Vanover.

I heard Hawk on the radio too, I've long felt Anderson's defense out weighed Mackowiak's offense, just based on watching them play. But when I agree with anything Harrelson says, it's time to take a second look. So let’s go over the numbers and try to understand Ooze’s choice. Here are ESPN's splits. I put Ozuna/Podsednik in too as long as I was doing it. On offense OPS * 4.3 roughly translates to bases per game. On defense FP% * Range Factor roughly translates to outs per game. So in Center Ozzie is picking up about half a base a game while giving up 6/10s of an out. The disparity on offense is probably greater in reality because Mack gets all the tough right handers. What would BA's numbers look like facing Loaiza, Santana and Lackey last week? Mack was 3 for 8 plus a RBI SAC. In left, the disparity in offense vastly out weighs Pablo's adventures on defense, there are just not that many balls hit to left. We can never know what would happen if he left Anderson in there everyday. The manager has decided he stands a better chance with the platoon, and as he has pointed out he is the f***ing manager. I think I'd still rather see BA out there, but I can see good baseball reasons behind his playing Mack.

QUOTE(vandy125 @ Sep 14, 2006 -> 10:46 AM) If you are going to go that far in the comparison, do not forget to add Konerko to the equation since Thome was a reason that he signed. Who would the first baseman have been without Thome coming and Konerko signing as a result of that? Gload? 5 years $60 million guaranteed may also have been a factor in Konerko signing. Never believe ball players, its about the money. These guys have a short period of time to set up their families for generations to come. The LA offer was supposedly equal, the Baltimore one supposedly a little above but what doesn't make the newpapers is the terms of the deals and how they impact the real value of an offer to the player. I can't believe a player is going to turn down a superior offer just because he likes the guys. I call BS on that argument.

What a fine day! The White Sox win convincingly. Minnesota gets shut out. Detroit gives up the cycle (Buck then pinch hit for Matthews in the 9th!) and loses. And the Cub are down 6-0.

As someone who watched Frank’s entire career I have back Steff up, the only instance of a run in with another player I recall was David Wells saying he didn’t want to play hurt. Turned out Frank had a torn muscle and Wells had egg on his face. Jerry Manuel, in his wisdom, sent him home from Texas once because he thought Frank didn’t want to play, they found a bone spur the size of chicken wing in his ankle. Paulie called him out but later admitted he was the one in the wrong. The media has been all over him, I think because he is such a good player they want him to be Johnny All-American. He is not politically correct, when he sat out a day ST and ranted about his performance clause and money compared to what comparable players were making, they skewered him, but Frank was telling the truth. He and KW had words this spring but if you’ve watched this thing, you’ve seen Williams trying to run him out of town since he took over. Everybody wants Thomas to be something he isn’t. Frank is not is not a rah rah or, IMO, a clubhouse leader but he certainly doesn’t seem to be a cancer. He is just a great hitter. Accept him for what he is. As to the comparisons between Thomas and Thome, you really should be comparing Thomas + Rowand to Thome + Anderson. Compare those numbers; compare that leadership when you decide who you would rather have.

QUOTE(MHizzle85 @ Sep 12, 2006 -> 07:40 PM) ohhhhh, that playing the percentages thing i've heard so much about...no wonder why ozzie led us to a world series championship. Record by starting Center fielder (game notes): Brian Anderson: 53-40 Pct .570 Rob Mackowiak: 28-21 Pct .571 Ryan Sweeney: 2-0 Pct 1.00

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Sep 12, 2006 -> 12:55 AM) One difference, Jenks has been one of the 4 best closers in baseball THIS YEAR. I realize his ERA isn't jaw dropping amazing, but he's converting saves and you know what in the end thats what matters. As far as his stuff, I thought he looked good and he was throwing strikes. When Bobby throws strikes he's pretty tough to hit. You can see some rust and he still has to work on improving his consistency with the breaking ball, but bottom line he did the job and stuff wise looked good (even though he did give up 2 hits). 10 pitches, 10 strikes.

QUOTE(SinkingShip06 @ Sep 12, 2006 -> 02:18 AM) you know what's worse? the second to last game of the season IS NOT GOING TO f***ING BE ON TV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Looks like that is changing too. Undisclosed network, rather secretive, no?

Chicago WSox Scott Podsednik LF .261 Tadahito Iguchi 2B .289 Jermaine Dye RF .328 Jim Thome DH .293 Paul Konerko 1B .312 AJ Pierzynski C .293 Joe Crede 3B .298 Rob Mackowiak CF .294 Juan Uribe SS .235 Jose Contreras P (12-7, 4.09) LA Angels Maicer Izturis 3B .299 Orlando Cabrera SS .286 Vladimir Guerrero RF .328 Garret Anderson DH .279 Juan Rivera LF .301 Howie Kendrick 1B .286 Adam Kennedy 2B .268 Mike Napoli C .228 Chone Figgins CF .256 John Lackey P (11-9, 3.54) Umpires: HP: Brian Runge. 1B: Paul Emmel. 2B: Mike Winters. 3B: Bruce Froemming. Edit: Oops, wrong umps, we get our old freind Bruce Froemming this series. More good news.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Sep 10, 2006 -> 01:55 AM) On paper, right now, this is still the top rotation in the league in 2007, even if the key guys only do their career average numbers, and no one has a career year in 2007I was going to argue but the numbers support you, this projects their individual life time winning percentages to a full season. Obviously nobody gets a decision every start but this shows where the team would end up 'on average'. This is something for guys who want to dismantle this group to think about, as usual, past performance is no guarantee of future results, but this is a fine group of starters. They need a tweak, not a rebuild. Career . W L Wpct Starts Pro W Proj L Buerhle . 97 65 .599 33 19.76 13.24 Contreras 47 25 .653 33 21.54 11.46 Garcia . 112 71 .612 32 19.58 12.42 Garland . 81 65 .555 32 17.75 14.25 Vazquez . 100 102 .495 32 15.84 16.16 Team . .571 162 94.48 67.52

How about a huge brawl and a double forfeit?

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Sep 8, 2006 -> 11:18 AM) I dont know honestly. He warmed up a long time. You could just tell that he was trying to repeat his mechanics very hard. Its kinda hard to explain without acting it. But you could tell he was trying to stay in the same arm slot actively. I think its just not comfortable yet for him. He looked a little over amped. Its one thing to stay under control infront of 12,000 in KC or Charlotte, but it's got to take a lot of nerve to throw 75 mph to famous guys like Casey Blake and Aaron Boone in front of 40,000 people. Throw the knuckler too hard and it don't knuckle. This guy just needs innings.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Sep 8, 2006 -> 07:28 PM) I don't know where Hawk will be, but tomorrow will be the best broadcast of the year.Hawk will be in Cooperstown. Hell of an honor.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Sep 6, 2006 -> 11:12 PM) Somebody should tell Ozzie that BA has never gone 0-6. But somehow Sweeney "reminds me of Ozzie Guillen" So we know why Sweeney will stay in there, not that it makes much sense.... I think Ozzie is looking for a 'gamer', 'grinder', 'ball player' and saw a flash of it the other night. Sweeney seems to play the outfield with reckless abandon and he ran the bases real hard. Call it heart, competitiveness or just playing hard all game, it's a style of baseball that Guillen has had a hard time getting out his team this year. If Pods, Iguchi, Uribe and BA see that competing against the other team is the road to playing time it could help. There are a lot of ways a player can help his team beyond his strat-o-matic stats, and I think that is what Ozzie is looking for.

I think this is a very classy act by Tim Wakefield. From Scott Merkin on MLB.Com:

God Bless the White Sox! and god bless Kyle Snider.

Everything Ozzie said about BA is true. Brian has played this season like it was an instructional league. I can't remember him getting 'inside' a game and playing to situations. Every at bat is the same to him, regardless of inning, outs or runners. He needs more experience and at bats, and his play this year didn't earn them. He needs enough confidence to adapt to what needs to be done instead of concentrating on his own fundamentals, he's got the talent but just needs to mature as a ball player. If Oz doesn't cherry pick his starts you would have seen even more 0 fors and that could wreck a young player. I love his glove but must say that Ozzie has been spot on handling him.

He reminds me of Frank Thomas when he was young. I know he hits from the other side, but you stop what ever you are doing when he comes to the plate and watch.