29andPoplar

Actually no, she passed away 20 years ago. But I am told that while she lived in Bridgeport she helped train the scoreboard operators who then trained the guys who work the speed gun who are laughing their ass off at the moment at conspiracy types like you.

Hey who killed Pres. Kennedy by the way?

Yeah I know it sounds weird but it is as ottawa said, they want to get him as many reps as possible in LF and the sky in Tucson is unlike anything he'd see in the majors, among other variables.

#496 for Thome, it is 10-9 now.

White Sox putting on a mini rally here. Two more RBI's for Fields.

You think it's a conspiracy of some sort, or they are trying to hide something? Not sure what you mean.

Yes I can try to explain it although I too believe they should have left Fields at 3B and figure out the Crede stuff when the time comes. They wanted to get Fields some left field time and reps in major league stadiums with major league lighting, crowds, and so on. Getting reps in Tucson is, shall we say, a little different. It would not give him the true experience of playing LF in the big leagues. Soounds odd, but that's the reason.

Broadway gets his debut out of the way, a come backer and his first major league strikeout. I guess that is the bright spot in this debacle.

I agree, I have seen enough of both. They need a better defensive player to fulfill that role.

The TV guys commenting on that Cintron goof up, the Sox caught another break because Punto did not take off from 3rd on contact, it was a real high chop and chances are he would have scored. No matter because Cintron throws it away. Now Morneau with a hit and it's 6-4 with Hunter into 3rd. Breaking ball left up in the zone by Logan. It's not Logan's night, Cudyher rips a single and its 7-4. Good gosh, it is really not Logan's night. 3 run jack by Rondell White, 10-4. 17 hits for Minnesota tonight. Another hanging breaking ball by Logan. Lance Broadway debuts.

Cintron did not have a play at 2nd on that high chopper, first was his only play. So he throws it poorly to 2nd and the run scores.

Wow, Mike Myers still in there for the 9th, this is his 3rd inning I think. And of course the immortal Nick Punto gets a base hit.

The Sox are behind the 8 ball now with these three pitchers they traded for, Aardsma and Floyd and Masset. With 2007 being their last option year, it was a gamble they'd establish themselves as major leaguers and that did not happen. Now they have to either hope the light has turned on for these guys, or that another team thinks they can get the lights to turn on. How much, though, are teams going to give up in trade for guys who are out of options in 2008 and havent established themselves yet. Not much. I just cannot see them carrying all three of these guys in 2008 and carrying two might be a stretch. They are a bit backed into a corner. Add Phil Rogers buddy Heath Phillips to the list also. My take is, they try to peddle one or more of these guys to teams that can carry them, maybe Pittsburgh or one of the other weaker NL teams.

Owens with a base hit, I believe that is another first, two hits in a row off of Matt Guerrier who always seems to pitch well vs. the White Sox.

4-3 bottom of 7th in favor of Minnesota. I think that might have been Mike Myers first successful outing for the White Sox. Pinch hit HR for Alex Cintron, batting for Gonzalez, ties it at 4.

We are in the bottom of the 2nd and it is 2-1 Minnesota. Thome drove in a run on a base hit between first and second base. Gardenhire did not have the Thome shift on. I wonder if TwinsTalk.com is skewering Gardenhire for that one. As I type Uribe hits his 100th career HR and it's 3-2 White Sox.

I am not sure if anyone can or is supposed to do these game threads but I did not see one so here it is.

Honestly this is pretty straightforward. They would have used him sporadically at 1B or in a unique situation when it would have been beneficial to get his right handed bat in there. Konerko could be given a day off or if he was dinged up or whatever and you have a righthanded bat in there. If something happened to Pierzynski you could have moved Hall back behind the plate. All it was, they wanted more flexibility and it was the plan to try and have Hall be more versatile so he could get more AB's and help vs. lefthanders which was and still is a weakness. There is nothing wrong with what they did. Erstad was and is the primary 1B backup but it is not unusual to need more than one and having a RH bat was a plus. Hall and everybody associated with the team blamed no one and said it was a freak thing. It is telling when someone blames Guillen for this of all things.

Yes I should have been more specific, 2007 but if I recall right they were 1-4 or 1-5 in 2006 and to me they weren't prepared to come out of the gate firing. Anyways I know their plan is to hopefully get the chemistry going early by trying to have the starters play together a lot the last week of spring. Subjective stuff I suppose but I would like to see them treat spring training a little more seriously. They put their work in no question but I do like this move of having the starting pitchers rev up early and not pitching these simulated games on the back fields just to cut them a break on a bus ride. Further I am a big big fan of bringing in non roster guys and a fair amount of them to make camp more competitive and I want to see them do even more of this. Get some guys in there who are blocked in other organizations, guys who are really hungry.

The whole point of getting Hall some time at 1B was so they could have the flexibility to get his righthanded bat in there, whether it was to give Konerko a breather, double switches, pinch hitting situations, etc. It is one thing to be angry he got hurt, I was too. It is another thing to blame Guillen for it. Their plan all along was to have their bench poplulated with guys who could play multiple positions if needed. Getting a guy a few innings in spring training at different positions happens all the time, for bench guys anyways. They execute their plan, the guy gets hurt, stuff happens. It's no ones fault.

If you go back and read my posts, you will see I have commented on several things I believe Guillen can do better. I am not sure where even an insinuation comes up that Ozzie is never ever blamed for anything. That is certainly not me. I will spell it out. He needs to stop trying to force things like all this hit and run stuff when he has players who struggle to make contact. Part of that falls on the GM too. He also needs to stop being completely reliant on his gut and consider other information. He needs to change his approach in spring training which he is going to do, they have struggled early and in my opinion part of that is Guillen insisting that all these really young prospects need to play in A games through the 25th of March. They need better continuity early. He needs to insist to Cooper and his pitchers that they work inside more. There are other things too. No one is shocked/surprised this type of stuff comes up on a message board. If I see something posted that based on my knowledge is a gross generalization, a broad brush statement posed as fact when it isn't fact, I will chime in. I will also chime in when you for example start blaming Guillen for Hall's injury when it is a freak thing and the plan was to get him some time at 1B all along and Hall had worked out at 1B before. That type of stuff is beyond nitpicking, it is simply misguided. Also I will comment on this stuff like "they are insane, why didn't they bring up Sweeney". I posted 5-6 times that Sweeney's wrist is not 100%, they are letting him get healthy and commented they might send him to winter ball. Well I was wrong, it's the Arizona Fall League. Then the very next day "they are insane, why didn't they bring up Sweeney". "Why isn't Poreda promoted to Winston-Salem, they are insane", and there's a logical explanation for that too. Sometimes I think this is more a place to vent frustrations than to actually think about what is posted before posting it, and considering other reasons or thought processes that could be at play. Edit - Hall played in two games for Tampa at 1B and one inning at 3B.

Again. He was working out at 1B on occasion in late Feb. after pitchers and catchers reported. I overheard but cannot say for sure because I did not see it with my own eyes but I heard he had done some work at 1B in Tampa's camps. I do not believe he played 1B in a major league game but I do believe he got a few games or at least innings at 3B. I will have to check. He dove to his right, actually didn't even really dive, he got down to his right on the ground to try and stop a ground ball. Adam Russell was pitching. Come on. Catchers dive for balls on occasion at all sorts of angles. What's next, they shouldn't warm up pitchers in the bullpen, they shouldn't shag flies, they shouldn't high five players, anything where they might get hurt? They did have a backup for the backup. Wiki Gonzalez but for some reason they decided on Gustavo Molina which I believe was a mistake. Now that they waived Molina it appears to be even more a mistake.

It is pretty simple actually. If you hate Guillen you will find a way to trace all sorts of mishaps back to him. From where I sit he has made mistakes and can improve on certain things but some of the things he's blamed for ... again, I hope those people never spend any time in spring training because they will go insane. White Sox or any of the other teams camps.

Neither of these are true. One, they had Wiki Gonzalez who should have broke camp in Hall's absence but they decided on Gustavo because he knew the pitchers better (mistake IMO). Not that Wiki Gonzalez would've made a substantial difference this year. Catchers dive for foul balls and bunts in the air on occasion, and it isn't always belly first.

You are correct on this. This kind of stuff happens all the time for every major league team. Many of these players as high schoolers or college or in the minors have played different positions. Managers will give them a chance to play some other positions on the diamond in spring, it is a way to give them some flexibility in case an odd situation comes up during the year. Heck Jermaine Dye was a stud SS in high school or Pony League or wherever. On the back fields it is not uncommon for these guys to tinker around at a different defensive position. To add further, both Williams and Guillen said last winter they might move Hall around to give Konerko and Thome a breather and get him some at bats. Guillen has made mistakes to be sure but to blame him for putting Hall in for an inning or two at 1B in a spring training game during which he got hurt is simply a case of people looking to blame Guillen for anything and everything. If people are going to torch a manager for that, don't ever go to spring training, any MLB team, that's for sure, because wow you will see things that will really really really get you upset. As for Hall getting the surgery and whether it will absolutely for certain make him better than this ongoing rehab process, that is the big question. He is continually doing rehab, that was not an April-only situation. Hopefully he will be stronger next year because frankly he can't be any worse. Great guy and everything but they need somebody who can contribute.