Paint it Black

QUOTE (b-Rye @ May 4, 2011 -> 04:16 PM) Hmmm Dodgers benched this guy in 2009, we trade 2 pitching prospects for him and have him starting and leading off for us. We then let Scotty Pods go (who sucked at defense, but who could atleast hit and steal bases.) You are the man Kenny Williams. Pods would been at 1/3 the cost and we'd have 2 more pitchers in AAA. Juan Pierre is better than Scott Podsednik. There's not question in my mind. Both players are not really good at stealing bases per say, they're just fast. Pierre plays a much better LF and isn't injured 2 to 3 times a year. With that being said, I'm really surprised it's taking the Soxtalk community to realize what Pierre is. Slappy little fast guys are fun to watch, but when they make TONS of outs, put the ball in the air, and when their average is pretty much tied to their OBP, they have to rely basically on luck year after year that hits are going to fall in and in turn, raise their OBP. The obsession with the stolen base with this team NEEDS TO STOP. They're giving away too many outs when they're not hitting, and really, this team is built to slug, not play NL baseball.

I was dreading the feeling of being no-hit. It happened, I cleaned my room, and I now I couldn't care less. I'm about to read and I feel oddly great. And let it be known I was watching the Twins broadcast on the Internet. How did Hawk take it?

If you don't attend a baseball game because you don't like the hitting coach then you're a tard.

4 runs?!?! What is this I don't even

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ May 2, 2011 -> 08:34 PM) I'm leaning towards the Tigers at the moment. The Sox can win this division, but only because it's become the Comedy Central again. I know "anything can happen once you get to the playoffs", but this team would get embarrassed worse than they did in 2008. The AL has been really weird so far. I thought the Red Sox were the best team (still do). But I don't think it's crazy to think the White Sox could beat the Yankees or Rangers in a 5 or 7 game series. Not the Red Sox though, That pitching is just too good.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ May 2, 2011 -> 08:31 PM) What do you mean? What I'm saying is that Hawk doesn't even seem interested. Even on those homers, he sounds like "meh" Not watching on TV....I'm listening on the radio. I just assumed there was some umpires or weather event that were conspiring against the sox.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ May 2, 2011 -> 08:19 PM) Hawk does not seem to give a s*** anymore. Who is out to get the sox today?

PAULIE

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ May 2, 2011 -> 08:06 PM) Sporting a nice WHIP of 2.0 today. He really is an NL pitcher as is John Danks. I completely disagree on Danks being an NL pitcher. He was good stuff and if he had a solid D behind him and ever had any run support would win 20 games. Gavin Floyd...now that's another story.

QUOTE (Andrew @ May 2, 2011 -> 07:59 PM) Meh, not missing much, bud. O's in scoring position every inning; Buehrle getting away with his soft tossing magic so far. I'm listening to the game on the radio, drinking, and surfing the web. ugghhh

I'm jealous of everyone who gets to watch on TV. Roommate is watching the Bulls. The radio is no fun.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ May 2, 2011 -> 07:01 PM) Well yes, they eventually come out of it. But the story is usually the same in the end, they wind up losing the division. The extended slumps are a major factor. And I understand that you don't believe firing the hitting coach would make a difference, but some of us actually think it could help to light a fire under the individual players. You may disagree with that (I know you do), but it's a theory that many hold. Who do you think is going to win the division? I'm not trying to trap you or argue with you, I'm just interested in what other people think. Personally, I still think it comes down to the Sox and Twins. Am I drunk?

QUOTE (gatnom @ May 2, 2011 -> 06:52 PM) So then I ask you what is dumber, firing your hitting coach to hopefully get this team started or paying somebody to do absolutely nothing? By your argument, Walker has no effect on our hitters. Why do we pay him then? I guess? My argument is more to the point of it's useless to make 17 threads about why he sucks and waste bandwidth over the situation when if it REALLLYYY doesn't matter in the scheme of things, why bother b****ing about it? Further, Greg freakin Walker isn't the reason why this team is losing games. I guess I'm tired of every slump it's the same rehashed arguments, like people never learned anything the first six times around. They come out of the slump and hit. Then when the team starts hitting the loudest fire Greg Walker people are the LAST people to give him credit. If you want to rip him when they don't hit, praise him for when they are.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ May 2, 2011 -> 05:53 PM) Is it stupider than using the word "stupider"? I was always taught that that wasn't a word, but now it has been accepted into the English language. Off topic, yes. I thought I might get dinged for that word. I tend to agree with ya anyways. Bah it's Monday and I need a drink.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ May 1, 2011 -> 05:43 PM) It's flawless I never got all of the defending he gets from a lot of posters. It seems that most agree that a hitting coach does basically nothing. So what would it hurt to fire any of them? At best, it can light a fire under a team that is underachieving. Because firing someone to "fire people up" is the second stupidest thing behind "fire the hitting coach." Point being, if it worked they guys would get fired all the time and managers would get fired as much as NHL coaches. They don't. Have you ever worked somewhere where your boss was fired? It sure as s*** didn't make me work harder because I analyze statements and because well I was already doing my best before. It makes for a more tense situation at work and made me dread going to work for a time. But I liked my boss so there's that.

From my friends facebook: "Since the US military is on a roll with finding long-lost targets, maybe they can find the White Sox offense next?" i lol'd hard

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ May 1, 2011 -> 05:16 PM) How many wins do you think it will take? Like I just said, another few losses and we'll find ourselves having to win at a .600 clip just to get to 85 wins. I think around 85, actually. A statistical correction will be coming in their favor. I don't really think it's out of the realm of possibility for them to play .600 baseball for a month stretch.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 1, 2011 -> 05:08 PM) Indians have some decent starting pitching depth though, with White coming up and Huff pitching in the minors. The most obnoxious part of the Indians surge is that OC is their "leader". Yeah, I can't stand that piece of crap. I know White is pobably the real deal, but I have never been a Masterson fan. I do kind of like the Tribe's pen. Then again I'm a huge sucker for big tall dudes that throw really damn hard.

So you want them coached out of slumps, but to not get in the way of existing talent. Got it.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ May 1, 2011 -> 05:01 PM) OK, first of all, you're dismissing the Tigers. You didn't even mention them. I made a post about this earlier today. People keep writing them right off. Secondly, how much patience are we supposed to have? The Sox now have to play .600 baseball for the rest of the season to reach 90 wins. Do you seriously think they have that in them? I don't. A week or two of more bad play, and they'll have to play .600 ball just to reach 85 wins. There is no time for patience at all. The Tigers are a personal thing for me, as I didn't think they were that good to start the season and I still don't. Nor did I think it would take 90 wins to win this division...and I still don't. The Indians just cannot keep this up. I mean I know I can't really prove why they won't, but their pitching isn't that good and there is no way the guys who are always injured (Sizemore, Hafner) will stay healthy all year. The Indians have now won 13 straight at home. That correction will be very, very fun. Hopefully we catch them when it's happening.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 1, 2011 -> 04:52 PM) Let's not forget all of the situational stuff. Greg Walker became the hitting coach in 2003. Below is the team rank in average w/ RISP since he joined the Sox. Only 2 of 8 full seasons did they not finish in the top 13 in the league. One season was a disaster, but the other season they also happened to be the best team in baseball. They actually have been way above average in hitting with runners in scoring position since Walker became the hitting coach. 2003: 6th 2004: 2nd 2005: 22nd 2006: 1st 2007: 30th 2008: 8th 2009: 13th 2010: 3rd 2011: 9th Bad stats are bad. Using batting average for a team that almost never has a player who hits .300 in a season isn't really a good way to measure "clutch." Further, doesn't this kind of prove my point how hitting coaches don't do s*** for situational hitting? They won 99 games in 2005 with having the 22nd ranked ba RISP. In 2006 they were first and didn't make the playoffs.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ May 1, 2011 -> 04:48 PM) You've got me there in the literal sense, but only one of those years are they near the top. With the "above average" ones, they are still right in the middle of the pack at 12/13. I suppose that makes sense, because that's how they usually finish as a team. Slightly better than .500. If you go back to say 2007 the numbers fall off, well because team was complete s***.

QUOTE (JohnCangelosi @ May 1, 2011 -> 04:47 PM) If you think they're playing hard then you're watching a different game than I've been for the past 2 weeks, they are playing like they want Ozzie fired. A perfect example of this is Teahen who couldn't grab the hard hit ball down the line last night (not an easy play) and pouted for a bit, quit on the play, and then wasn't ready for Alexei's peg that would have easily gotten the guy out at 3rd. Sure Thornton had tough luck last night and this year for that matter, but in case you didn't notice, he's also sucked. I have no problem booing him off the field, he should be able to handle it, consider it a cumulative boo for all the times he's blown games and didn't get booed. And regarding Beckham, it's the hitting coaches job to get players with talent to shorten those slumps from 3 weeks down to one by offering swing thoughts that can get them back into place. Of course it's up to the player at the end of the day, but no way should MLB talents like Beckham and Rios be hitting in the .100's before game action on May 1. That's on Walker son....on any other team I hardly doubt you see so many people struggle at the plate at once. But I'm sure your affection for your team and Greg Walker won't allow you to see it that way, sometimes ignorance is bliss. Players should be booed when their play warrants it. Sorry, Thornton made his pitches and got unlucky and anyone who booed him is a baseball retard. And with regards to Beckham, who even knows how coachable he is! I know that sounds like a cop-out, but we as fans just don't know. Walker could be giving Beckham tips to hit 60+ homers a year and Beckham could be like "nope screw you." (for the record I'm not saying that's what is happening, my point rather is that as fans we don't know what really happens behind the scenes) With Rios, I think his toe is still bothering him. Sorry I don't look for scape goats in coaches. If firing the hitting coach actually worked, teams would do it when every slump happened. They don't. But I'm sure someone is making me list of the best hitting coaches ever. Yep, any day now.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ May 1, 2011 -> 04:38 PM) Let me sum up every post you've made for the last month: Anybody who is worried about this team is wrong. Open your eyes, man. A month is a long time. Look, yeah they're playing bad. But I just don't think this team will be bad all year. Further, I don't think the Indians are for real at all. Do you think the Twins are going to finish in last? Of course not. Do you really think Kansas City is a second place team? A correction is coming. I'm able to wait patiently because I know it's a damn baseball season. I WANT them to play better, yeah. But it's a bad stretch. The series with the Twins coming up will be interesting for sure.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ May 1, 2011 -> 04:35 PM) Forget all of the situational stuff. As long as they hit a buttload of homers, he must be doing a great job. You only remember the situational stuff when they fail. Their numbers are pretty much in line with league averages. 2010: Above league averages (http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/year/2010) 2009: Slightly below (http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/year/2009) 2008: Above (http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/year/2008) 2010 With Runners on: Above Average (http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/year/2010/split/38) 2009: Below (http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/year/2009/split/38) 2008: Above (http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/year/2008/split/38) And besides, their a team built around the homerun.