DBAHO

4 more outs. 4 more.

Bullpen. Most important 2 innings of the season so far here. We HAVE to hold em.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA. THE RALLY CREDE WORKS PEOPLE!!!!!

Aaron Rowand, time to show me that clutch hitting of yours.

Wonder if Bobby Howry actually heard the fans at the Cell for once.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Sep 21, 2005 -> 12:25 PM) Alright f***ers im back. Keep the faith tony, keep the faith.

BOO YAH!!!! WE ARE NOT DONE YET FOLKS!!!!!

How did that not go out of here? C'mon Paulie!!!!!

C'mon offense, let's get some much needed runs here. I still have hope.

Joe, it's your time to shine.

Time to get some more runs.

Man O Man that's a break.

Crisp is just great against lefties. Gotta hold em here Mark.

3-3 I see, Buerhle needs to hold em for some innings here.

I'm going if you're going Poppy.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 21, 2005 -> 02:35 AM) A lot of money will have to be spent to upgrade this team significantly in the offseason. The Sox are nearing a time where they have a lot of young guys on the cusp of making the big leagues. I'd really like to see a guy like Anderson get a chance to prove what he can do before he's 26 or 27 and a year away from free agency. The pieces are there for that to happen. Aaron Rowand could be moved. So could Orlando Hernandez or Jose Contreras. Damaso Marte will probably be moved. So KW will be active on the trade market this off-season no doubt. In terms of a lot of money, besides Konerko, it only really needs to be an upgrade at third, DH and another lefty reliever perhaps.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Sep 21, 2005 -> 02:27 AM) I just find it odd that if the Sox make it into playoffs by 1 game, and go 3 and out, this team IMO will look for some pieces to add, and hopfully be better for next season. If we miss the playoffs by one game, we are going to re-build? Yep, I think Jenks Heat said it perfectly. We've won over 90 games. We should be adding the final piece or two to try and win a world series, not a re-building process. We already went through that a few years ago, and believe or not, we HAVE made progress this season.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Sep 21, 2005 -> 01:58 AM) Even though the Redskins won, their offense got absolutely manhandled by the Cowboys defense. I wouldn't have expected such a devastating display of pass-rushing and run-stuffing prowess against a damn good Washington O-Line. I can't complain, as I had money on the Redskins plus the points (+6). I figured that I was going to lose for certain until the Redskins finally exploited what appears to be the Cowboys weakness on D (deep coverage). Or maybe it was just a fluke, I dunno. Aaron Gleen got burned apparently, the nickel corner. It was always going to be a close game, but I really liked the look of our D for the 1st 3 quarters. The pass rush looked very good, and DeMarcus Ware hasn't got going yet.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Sep 21, 2005 -> 02:07 AM) If we miss the playoffs, forget about FA targets. I'll be advocating total destruction. And a total rebuilding effort. Considering the way KW has built this team up, I don't think that's going to happen. To put it simply, our hitters in the minors besides Anderson aren't really ready at the moment.

Having a look at the stats (and because SnB wants a nice new different thread) , one thing that instantly strikes out at me is of course the K/BB ratio. To put it simply, for the Ozzieball mold, this needs to be improved next season. Here are some examples; Aaron Rowand - Now this season, Rowand has a 112/28 K/BB ratio compared to last season of 91/30. It's gone from just over 3 to 1, to 4 to 1 in a season. Now I know everyone loves A-Row's defence and clutch hitting, but this ratio and his power numbers MUST improve next season. Tadahito Iguchi - 3 K's last night. So he's got 109/45 now. Still next season, that will probably come down, since he'll be more used to the pitching, and possibly hitting in the 3 hole, putting himself in less sacrifice situations etc. Joe Crede - He gets a bad rap on here, but this season he has a 61/25 K/BB ratio. Granted it doesn't look good, but it's better than his last 2 seasons, and he the least K's over a season, although he's played in less games. At least it's progress. A.J Pierzynski - One of my issues with A.J this season, he has 35 more K's than last season in 15 less games. Due to the swinging for the fences mentality, this is probably why. K/BB ratio of 62/22. So I'd like to see this under 50 for next season. And what about our FA targets; Furcal - 74/57. Pretty good indeed, round about career norm. Mueller - 67/54. One of the main reasons people are for him (oh he has about a .8 higher OPS than Crede too). Durazo - Injured all season, so I won't use his numbers. But in 2003 he had a ratio of 105/100, and in 2004 where he had a great year it was worse, 104/56, yet he had a higher OBP. Giles - Amazing. 112/61. Almost 2 to 1. That's all you can say. I wish we had him.

Speaking of Vets, my cat went to them yesterday morning. He peed in his cage in my Mum's car. Needless to say, she wasn't very happy.

Did anyone else know about this?

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Sep 21, 2005 -> 12:45 AM) But we're not even beating KC anymore. And yet we still beat up on teams like Detroit etc., and have a 10-8 record this month, with 5 games lost by 2 runs or less. You'd think Kansas City was the only other team in the league.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 21, 2005 -> 12:17 AM) Casey Blake dropped a flyball, which lead to a big inning. The Indians also had massive warning track power last night, as they could have easily been up 5-0 in the 2nd inning. I bet the Indians fans are saying how great of a comeback the Sox made last night, and it still wasn't good enough to beat them. But we did as well you know, with Crede and was it Iguchi? both going to the warning track in the 1st 4 innings against Millwood. And with Jake Westbrook on the mound (AWAY - 4.89, 0-3 vs. Sox this season with 4.95 ERA), I like our chances to do something good tonight.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 21, 2005 -> 12:39 AM) Oh yeah, I agree. Anyone think the Sox might try and see if Cotts can become a starter again? I've heard rumors of it, and it might be worth a try. If he fails, then put him back in relief again. Whatever we do, we need to get a few cheaper pitchers for the next few years. Our big 3 will cost a ton. I'd say it's a possibility, I know people like YASNY think that could happen, but as for me personally, if the shoe fits, stick with it. He should be our top LH guy out of the pen next season and main setip guy with Politte. And with the likes of Haigwood, Gonzalez etc. coming up in the minors, Cotts might not ever get the chance with us, but we'll see.