chw42

QUOTE (daa84 @ Aug 9, 2010 -> 11:10 PM) http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_...ame_pk%3D265482 if you watch teh second replay, you can clearly see the first base umpire call the runner safe (in other words konerko DIDN'T STEP on 1b)....the home plate ump probably never even realized this, and didn't realize it should have been a force play at home (its debatable whether AJ had the plate or not...1st replay looked like it, second was iffy) the runner (wieters) was or at least should have been called out for abandoning his effort on the basepaths.....the question is whether this call comes before or after the play at the plate, and whether or not the home plate umpire knew this was the call.... weird weird and interesting play So Scott should have been out at home I guess... Hmmm

So Carlos Quentin hits a bad stretch and he gets dropped to 7th. Kotsay's sucked all year and he still bats 6th regularly. I think it's fair to say that Kotsay must be letting Ozzie do naughty things with his wife.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Aug 10, 2010 -> 01:45 PM) My friend the O's fan has this take on the series: Haha, if he really thinks the Orioles are just as good as the White Sox, he really is delusional.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 10, 2010 -> 01:14 PM) That is a decent difference. Baseball is won or lost by 1 run and that 2.5% difference could impact many calculations. I also want to point out that in 2010, the average runs scored (as of this point in time) is 4.42 runs. The change between 2003 and the current year production is ~50 runs. That is a huge difference. Or a 6.55% percentage change. It wouldn't surprise me if that figure went up. Maybe this year is just one of those down years for hitting. I think it might be accurate to say that in the current post steroid era, the average runs per game should be around 4.55 to 4.6. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statisti....php?cid=139594 Looking at the RE figures of this season, it is lower than what it had been and this is a progressive thing. However, there is one thing in common with almost all of those matrices. The RE of a runner on first with nobody out and the RE of a runner on second with one out is always around a .2 run difference. The numbers may look different, but some of the conventional methods of sabermetrics still do apply.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Aug 10, 2010 -> 12:12 PM) Dammit I want a freaking demoralizing blowout. I wanna put up about 20 runs on these bastards and shut them down. I mean like in May 2009 when they beat us 20-1. I wanna put that kind of ass whuppin on them. Oh and a bench clearing brawl would be nice too. I remember when we embarrassed the Twins at home in 2008. That was oh so satisfying.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 10, 2010 -> 11:51 AM) What a p****. At least she now knows that when the going gets tough, he'll just run away...

Come on Freddy, be the stopper you were when we sucked.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Aug 9, 2010 -> 05:45 PM) http://chicago-bears-fan-zone.info/744/bea...cago-bears.html Read this and the comments too. Facepalm. Jay Cutler must have died in those people's yes. And did none of those guys realize that McNabb already got traded? lmao

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Aug 9, 2010 -> 10:01 PM) In my road to the show, the Twins added Carl Crawford, Johnathon Broxton, and K-Rod. I'm sure that's what Mike Rizzo asked for in return for Adam Dunn.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Aug 10, 2010 -> 10:27 AM) The only positive that I take away from this series is that by losing 3 of 4, there's no danger in the team being unfocused and overconfident and lacadaisical going into this series with the Twins. I think we'll see the best from everybody. Let's hope it's enough. The hitters seem to become more relaxed at home. They came away from that Oakland series hitting like crap too. Then they went on a nice run at home, albeit that was against the Mariners.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 10, 2010 -> 10:10 AM) And 0% lineup calculators. These lineup calculators are pretty accurate. The usual Ozzie lineup averages 4.57 runs in that calculator. This team averages 4.57 runs... You don't say...

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 10, 2010 -> 10:04 AM) I hate this argument. There are WS winning teams that arent "optimized". Of course there are, but haven't you heard that baseball is 60% skill and 40% luck?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 10, 2010 -> 09:57 AM) Just to point something out, a lot of sabermetric studies are relatively obsolete due to the steroid era coming to an end. A lot of the factors/components that came into play regarding the impacts of getting thrown out, etc, change when in general scoring and offensive output are down. It is why teams are starting to realize how undervalued strong defensive players can be as well as the importance of running. Quite frankly, stats are important, but I have little problems with teams that are aggressive on the basepaths because I firmly believe you can create opportunities, etc. There is a time and a place for everything though but fundamentally I've been very happy with this White Sox team. I don't think the difference is that drastic that a lot of things are getting thrown out the window. I don't have all the numbers, but the average MLB team scored 4.73 runs in 2003. In 2009, it's 4.61. That's around a 18 run difference.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 10, 2010 -> 09:49 AM) So why dont you just put yours out there. It's one thing to continue to keep saying something is wrong, its another to try and put something out there that you think is right. Based on your critique of Ozzie, it most likely would be better than what he puts out there and the moves he makes in the game. i'll edit this so you dont once again think im being "pissy" and attacking you. One of your main points was that Ozzie makes terrible lineups. How about you start with that? Just post the lineup you think you would want that day, and everyone else can put theirs as well. It's pretty low risk for criticism since you cant really prove what would have been better. It's not that hard to run the lineup experiment. You put the current lineup into a lineup optimizer, see how many runs it averages. You put the lineup you want into a lineup optimizer, see how many runs it averages. I've done this before, the lineup I put in there scored around .2 runs more than Ozzie's lineups. That's mostly because he likes hitting Kotsay 6th. Over a whole season, that lineup that averages .2 runs more scores 32 more runs. That's a big difference.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 10, 2010 -> 09:43 AM) Still two of our best hitters, especially with runners in scoring position. It couldnt be a more ideal situation. It'd be more ideal if Pierre was on second with nobody out.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 10, 2010 -> 08:50 AM) We're 30-29 on the road on the season. 8 of those wins were against the Cubs, Pirates, and Nationals. We're 22-28 against the AL on the road. This team's been completely different at home though.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 10, 2010 -> 09:40 AM) Who's defending Bobby in that post? The collective Soxtalk attitude after a tough loss is either DFA someone, fire Ozzie, or talk about how much KW sucks for not putting a good team on the field. Its par for the course. And I usually hate bunting for that reason above, but with the ridiculous mud pit that took shape at first base and the confidence that I have that Rios and Konerko could get a hit with a man in scoring position, I wasnt very upset with bunting with Alexei there. Honestly I would have rather put on the hit and run if I had Omar up at bat. You were defending Jenks or trying to make a point of all the "negativity" or something like that. And you wouldn't be depending on Konerko and Rios, you'd be depending on Quentin and Rios. Nobody in their right mind would pitch to Konerko with a base open.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 10, 2010 -> 09:32 AM) Really? I'm not going to go and research all of the great bunts in WS history, because its a waste of time. You know its the correct move to get a player into scoring position at any cost in that situation. And the Red Sox are gay anyway. The correct move is to move him into scoring position. But the best one is to get him there without giving up any outs.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 10, 2010 -> 09:10 AM) Because if Pierre gets caught stealing you would come on here and say how stupid he is for running into outs. Getting your fastest player into scoring position at 2nd base in a tie game with the middle of the order coming up with TWO chances to get a hit and score the guy is frankly an ideal situation. Of course since we didnt win the game, its becomes alot easier to try and find something to criticize. Where are all of the posts about how Putz should be DFA'd? Pierre will only fail 25% of the time. That's like saying the guy hitting .750 is a bad hitter and shouldn't be allowed to hit in big situations. Sure, it's contextual and you don't always do one thing or the other, but it seems like Ozzie is always bunting Pierre over. And can we please stop trying to defend Jenks? Putz has been a hell of a lot better than Bobby this year. People have more patience with him.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Aug 9, 2010 -> 11:37 PM) And who would have thought 4 days ago that today we'd be tied for first after losing 3 of 4 to the Orioles? Look, the turn around from this team has been nothing short of remarkable since June, that being said, we're in a pennant race now and just because we were terrible in April and May doesn't make series like this any less disappointing. Well said. Your mind shouldn't be stuck in May and April thinking how great it would be if this team is at its current position. You should be thinking about the team in its current situation - and that's tied in a pennant race after a horrid series. Now if we were to look back on the season at the end of it and we came up short, it might be nice to think how great this team had to play to get back into it. But to think of it like that now, that's almost a defeatist attitude.

QUOTE (RudyLawRules @ Aug 9, 2010 -> 11:03 PM) If the pitching is there in September...so will we. That depends how much the offense is interested in scoring. The pitching did its job on this road trip with the exception of one game, maybe two if you're picky. Yet, we only went 4-4.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Aug 9, 2010 -> 10:57 PM) Here is the tale of the two groups and their take on the series. The pitching.... ''We should [beat them],'' Buehrle said. ''We are playing one of the worst teams in baseball. [Pitcher John] Danks said that coming into the game, you look at their lineup and wonder how that team is that bad. We should come in here and beat these guys. If we want to get to where we want to be, we got to beat teams like this.'' The offense ''You never think it's going to be easy. I don't,'' Konerko said. ''If anybody says it's going to be or is arrogant and thinks you can just walk out there and beat anybody, it's not going to happen. In the big leagues, that's the way it is. We still have a game [tonight], so we've got to salvage something before we walk out of here." Now we know why one group is good while the other is barely average.

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Aug 9, 2010 -> 10:38 PM) Love these types of posts. Dont worry it will be 2012 soon and it will all be over. If only that 2012 hoax was real though...

QUOTE (daa84 @ Aug 9, 2010 -> 10:49 PM) whaaa?? I had the same reaction. I really didn't get it. He clearly jogged towards the bag and tried to tag it.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Aug 9, 2010 -> 10:30 PM) Pitching is what you need to do well in the playoffs, and we have that. I'm not worried about this team. The only problem is that you gotta get there first.