TLAK

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! A thousand times NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! He doesn't make any sense on his own show, how the hell is he going to keep track of a baseball game for the listeners? We'll need to turn on WGN for updates to find out what the hell happened! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Much gloom and doom about the White Sox being so cold late in the year, and how it bodes for the playoffs. In history, World Series winning teams have a .625 winning percentage in regular season games played in September/October. This is no big surprise, WS winners have an average .622 Pct overall, they are the best teams, afterall. But it is not necessary to be hot in September to win in October. Here are 10 teams that were .500 or lower late, yet won the World Series. There have only been a little over a hundred series played so about a tenth of the winners limped in. Year__ Name________________ Wins Loss Pctg 2000__ New York Yankees____ 13__ 18__ .419 1944__ St. Louis Cardinals_ 14__ 19__ .424 1997__ Florida Marlins_____ 12__ 15__ .444 1938__ New York Yankees____ 14__ 17__ .452 1935__ Detroit Tigers______ 12__ 14__ .462 1981__ Los Angeles Dodgers_ 15__ 17__ .469 1974__ Oakland Athletics___ 14__ 15__ .483 1958__ New York Yankees____ 12__ 12__ .500 1966__ Baltimore Orioles___ 14__ 14__ .500 1990__ Cincinnati Reds_____ 16__ 16__ .500 By this I conclude that it doesn't matter if you strut into playoffs or sneak in through the side door. All that matters is getting there, then a whole new crapshoot starts. BTW, it doesn't feel like it, but the Sox are 7-4 in September.

Frank went to Auburn? Cringe goes the English department.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Sep 10, 2005 -> 10:47 PM) I've been trying very hard to stay positive lately but I can't help but to feel that this team will inevitably let me down. Aside from a few small stretches where we beat up on some mediocre teams, the Sox have looked very beatable since the A's series right before the All Star Break. As much as I try to forget about the uninspiring last couple of months in 2000 this just seems like deja vu. I hope they prove me wrong but I don't have a ton of confidence in this team right now. I'm not trying to be mr negative. Just sharing my feelings. I still love this team. Cheer up Bunky! The Sox are 30-28 since the date you cited, actually picking up 2 games on the league. Historically, once you get to 27 over, you will make the playoffs going .500 the rest of the way. The Sox have done better than that and, after today, play in the division the rest of the way. This chart shows just what a remarkable year it has been. The team has accomplished so much for so long that you can't get wrought up over a couple games.

He seems to find a way to have something go wrong at the critical moment, call him Jerry Dy-blum-zinski. When Crede gets back I hope we don't see much of either Blum, Perez or Ozuna come playoff time. Oz should take a page from Jack McKeon's Marlins run when his regulars took about 95% of the at bats -if you are going to beat me you have to beat my best.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Sep 9, 2005 -> 10:20 AM) I noticed something interesting, well to me at a least, while scanning the stat page. With Crede on the DL there is only a .30 difference between the lowest BA for a starter (Uribe .254) and the highest BA for a starter (Podsednik .284), does anything other team have that little of a spread? Even if Crede is factored in, the difference is only .52. Check out the mighty 1967 (89-73) White Sox: Player………………………… AB- H-- BA *J.C. Martin……… 252 59 .234 *Tommy McCraw…… 453 107 .236 *Wayne Causey…… 292 66 .226 #Don Buford………… 535 129 .241 Ron Hansen…………… 498 116 .233 Tommie Agee………… 529 124 .234 Ken Berry……………… 485 117 .241 *Pete Ward…………… 467 109 .233 diff = .015 Amazing

The 1964 pitchers rule, one of the best pitching staffs of all time. Putting Bfirebird, Balta, WilliamTell and everyone else’s comments together, I’m showing the Sox ERA and WHIP versus the league ERA and WHIP year by year. To adjust for the relatively smaller differences in dead ball era I’m taking the Sox result as a percent of the league result. Because there is continuing argument over whether ERA or WHIP is a better measure I just combined them used the product to rank the teams. And since Bfirebird started the thread talking about the rotation but many replies covered the overall staff I’m showing them separately. SoxPitching I also looked to see how they stacked up all time using this formula. The 64 Sox (2.72 ERA 1.10 WHIP against the AL 3.63 and 1.29) rank 6th. The all-time best was the dastardly cub team of 1906 with 1.75 and 1.05 against 2.62 and 1.21. No team has been better since the 64 Sox. The 1939 Yankees (3.31 and 1.31 V 4.62 and 1.52) are the only post 1920 team ahead of them. In Sox history, this year's team ranks in the mid teens. It will probably land in the top 10% all time. It reinforces what we have seen all season: there is no one thing that makes this team tick. Above average pitching plus above average defense plus just enough runs is hard to beat. Team ball.

QUOTE(Bias @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 01:53 PM) Unless we both fabricated the exact same memory I believe the chart is incorrect. I remember Wimpy getting his head shaved and on the air he said he'd do it if they won either 10 or 12 in a row. Don't remember exactly, but I know they shaved his head on the field. Don't remember what year either. You can double check at BaseBall Reference. Once in, just change the year in the url to save time.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 11:36 AM) Didn't we win 10 in a row in 2003? Topped out at 8 (July 18 to July 25) Year Streak 1990 ….8 1991 ….8 1992 ….6 1993 ….6 1994 ….7 1995 ….8 1996 ….8 1997 ….7 1998 ….5 1999 ….6 2000 ….8 2001 ….5 2002 ….7 2003 ….8 2004 ….5 2005 ….8

QUOTE(ceffa2000 @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 10:23 AM) What is a streak considered? +4 games? I used 7 because it is relatively infrequent, streaks in Sox history: Streak # 1 3920 2 1860 3 968 4 550 5 250 6 139 7 76 8 38 9 20 10 11 11 4 12 2 13 2 14 1 19 1

2005 has already been the streakiest year in franchise history. Here are Sox teams with 3 or more streaks of 7 or more games. Net W/L is the total from these long streaks that year. What makes a team streaky? I would think it's a measure of depth (or shallowness) of the pitching staff mixed in with a good amount of chance. This years' Sox gave up an average of 6 runs per game during August losing streak, and 2-1/2 during the winning streaks --same guys, go figure. The 4 long winning streaks demonstrate just how deep this year's rotation really is. While this team doesn't have Schilling or Pedro, you can expect a well-thrown game every night. The star gazing pundits will probably dis the Sox pitching in the playoffs but as long as everyone doesn't go cold like in August, the relentless above average pitching will be hard for anybody to beat up on enough to take a series. Year # of Streaks Net W/L Long L Long W 1910 3 -9 -11 9 1914 4 -2 -8 7 1915 3 25 None 9 1916 3 23 None 9 1917 4 33 None 9 1920 4 14 -7 7 1931 3 -24 -10 None 1936 3 7 -8 8 1937 3 10 -7 10 1942 3 9 -7 9 1954 3 23 None 8 1961 3 12 -7 12 1976 3 -9 -10 10 1982 3 9 -7 9 1986 3 -8 -8 7 1991 4 13 -9 8 1996 3 7 -8 8 2005 5 24 -7 8

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Sep 7, 2005 -> 11:52 PM) He's got 12 wins, the team has I believe 23 games left...that should give him 4 starts the rest of the year...maybe they could push him up to 5 if they really try and they have off days to shuffle people around. It looks possible...I'm not sure about probable given the team he's pitching for, but it's certainly not yet impossible. I too hope he gets to 15 --if he loses all 4 he will be 12-15.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Sep 7, 2005 -> 09:53 PM) We've had 100 once before in team history if I'm not mistaken. You and Buehrle>Wood are correct. The 1917 team won 100.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 7, 2005 -> 01:03 PM) Actually, Contreras was pretty ineffective out of the pen for the Yankees in the playoffs. Just looked it up. He was good 3 out of 4 times both against the Red Sox and Marlins. So 6 outings with no runs, 1 with 3 Vs Boston and 1 with 4 Vs Florida. He's inconsistant, its not any different than he does as a starter. On a good night he's lights out, on a bad --get him out of there!

With Hermanson’s back situation and having 6 starters for 4 playoff slots I think we better find out how good Brandon McCarthy is as a reliever. Nobody’s going to start ahead of Buehrle, Garland or Garcia. We know Oz is in love with El Duke in big games. We also know that Contreras can pitch effectively in relief, as he has done it before. But we don’t know about McCarthy. He’s certainly not afraid of anyone and, since his return, he has been very effective against two good hitting teams. The White Sox will see nothing but good hitting teams in the playoffs, and the more options not named Vizcaino the better. He’ll be rested up from his Monday start this weekend, I’d like to see Ozzie spot him a few batters or an inning a couple times against the Angels just to see how he does. Does he warm fast enough? Is he as effective without mulling scouting reports for a week before his appearance? How well does he bounce back from a short outing –is he available next day or day after? If he’s as good in short stints as he looked in his starts against Texas and Boston, Brandon could be the stake driven into the evil heart of the other team at crunch time. I’d like to find out.

GO GO GO GO White Sox!

Does anyone have the audio from yesterday's game where Hawk called a writer, and also Mariotti a Hinnie Bird? I heard it replayed on MJH, it basically went: A Hinnie bird flies around and around in perfectly concetric circles until it eventually flies up its own rear end and dissappears. Instant classic!

Rooney said Sunday that Jose Valentin dropped in on Frank in Vegas and he seems to be leaning toward retirement.

Interesting quote from Rudy Jaramillo, the Rangers' hitting coach, "He can think whatever he wants. We had a plan, saw a flaw in his delivery and we went with it." So was Mark tipping? Watch him real close next game.

Wow, thats 6 RBI for Dye

From Baseball Reference Blake was a FA Sizemore: Traded by the Montreal Expos with Cliff Lee, Brandon Phillips, and Lee Stevens to the Cleveland Indians for Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew Hafner: Traded by the Texas Rangers with Aaron Myette to the Cleveland Indians for Einar Diaz and Ryan Drese Brousard: Traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Cleveland Indians for Russ Branyan Boone was FA

I can't think of another player who still tapes his bat except Everett.

no mo no no

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Aug 29, 2005 -> 09:35 PM) Well, that shuts me up. He pitched tonite and pitched well. Another thing Heads, I've gotten a vibe from the radio interviews that Ozzie is not real high on Baj but the organization guys like Wilder and KW are. I don't have any inside info, just the way they talk. This move might have been to get Oz to take another look and maybe change his mind. Probably Baj down and BMac up after the game, but Jeff looked OK tonight.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Aug 28, 2005 -> 09:47 PM) He'd be more valuable than Adkins as a late inning defensive replacemet or pinch runner. Adkins more than likely will not be used in the playoffs. I understand your point but we don't know how Ozzie will manage in the playoffs, he's never been there before. He was on the staff of the 03 Marlins and Jack McKeon was unafraid to blow through his entire bullpen night after night. If Oz uses his main guys as 'situationals' he could easily get down to one or two arms, even counting Contreras in the pen. Atkins on the roster would be one more move Ozzie could make -might not put him in the game but to use up someone else knowing Jon is available in case the game goes long. You can debate whether the last man should be Atkins or another arm but I would lean to carrying an extra pitcher instead of an extra position player.