VAfan

Aaron was probably looking at the ball more than at Burke. They didn't do a split screen, but if they had, I bet that it was precisely when Rowand was retreating to tag that Burke looked helpless out there. Looked like a completely bonehead play, however, until they had the mike on Aaron and he explained why he did what he did to Ozzie. In a 1-0 game, getting into scoring position on a fly ball out to left field could be a huge play. And, as he said, because the ball was hit so high, he thought it would either be caught or be a HR.

QUOTE(frahungski @ Oct 20, 2005 -> 03:41 PM) is this a bar? it would be neat to join you guys, but i'm not 21. Yes, I just checked.

Don't the Stro's fail to score for Roger? I'd love a 1-0 Sox win in the opener, just like we started the season, and just like we started the second half.

No Soxtalk Sox fans in DC?? So far we've lined up between 15-20 Sox fans for Buffalo Billiards on Saturday night. Reply to this if you can come, and say how many are coming. Thanks.

QUOTE(BlackBetsy @ Oct 19, 2005 -> 05:58 PM) I'd rather face Houston-- Runs Allowed: Houston 609, St. Louis 639 Runs Scored: Houston 693, St. Louis 805 Houston just isn't the offensive team that St. Louis is, and the Cardinals' pitching isn't that much worse. Even more importantly: Carpenter vs. CHW - 7-1, 1.97 ERA (and that's when he was just OK with Toronto) Mulder vs. CHW - 5-1, 2.47 ERA Clemens vs. CHW - 17-8, 3.35 ERA (higher than his career ERA), 3.94 ERA at the Cell Pettite vs. CHW - 10-7, 4.30 ERA (higher than his career ERA), 3-6 with 6.33 ERA at the Cell. GO ASTROS When I see Barbara and George Bush behind home plate at Minute Maid, I want the Astros to lose big time. But when you look at postseason ERA, Carpenter, Mulder, and Morris are better than Oswalt, Clemens, and Pettitte. And I think Clemens and Pettitte are seriously overrated as postseason pitchers. Pettitte's career postseason ERA is 4.05, with 250+ baserunners in under 190 innings. Clemens career postseason ERA of 3.54 is half a run worse than his career as a whole. And both of them have ERA's in the mid-4's this postseason. I also agree with the point about Yadier Molina. We're probably better off against a team we can run on. And Lidge is useless if the Astros don't have a late lead. We're a front running team, and I see no reason why we couldn't continue that in the World Series. So, on paper, the Astros are pretty clearly the weaker opponent, but the beauty of it is that they are perceived as the stronger opponent. And wouldn't it be nice to kick some Republican Texas booty!!

If you are a Washington DC area Sox fan, we are planning to meet up on Saturday night for Game 1 at Buffalo Billiards near DuPont Circle. http://www.buffalobilliards.com/dc/bbdclocation.html If you are planning to come, just reply to this post. GO WHITE SOX!!

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I'm all for new White Sox fans coming aboard. They aren't going to water down my elation a bit when the White Sox reach the World Series and win it. Now I don't live in Chicago anymore, and don't have to fight for ALCS tickets (though I did buy some unused ones on line back in 2000), so I don't have to put up with any inconveniences that bandwagon fans might cause. But I think it would be tremendous if the whole City of Chicago came out in support of the White Sox. GO SOX!!!

Any chance we'll pound Boston pitching so hard that closing will be a moot point this series? Wouldn't that be nice. If Hermanson were healthier and had shown his stuff with some recent appearances, he'd be the obvious choice over Jenks, who may be nervous since the BoSox got to him twice this year. (They got to Hermy too.) But I think Jenks's confidence has taken a turn for the better since he closed out the clinching game in Detroit despite the tying run getting on with no outs on a Crede error. Since then he's been snapping off all his pitches for strikes, and AJ is sure to have him use the offspeed stuff on Ortiz and Ramirez to keep them guessing. However, if for some reason Jenks and Hermanson both seemed ill suited to close late in this series, I wouldn't hesitate to use El Duque to finish off the BoSox. GO WHITE SOX!!

Game 1 is critical for us. If we win, it will be our first playoff home victory since 1959. Let's make this a year of many firsts since .... 1917. GO SOX!

Looking a little deeper into this, yes the slate is wiped clean, but you should learn from what went before. The major concern I would have if I were Ozzie would be closing out the games. Jenks twice got tagged for big innings, and even Hermanson gave up 2 runs closing one of our wins. Vizcaino gave up a game winning homer to Ramirez after Crede dropped a foul pop. And Marte wasn't the answer for Big Papi late. Our best bullpen guys were Cotts and Politte. With Boston's pitching, I expect us to get the lead, possibly in every game. The key is going to be holding that lead.

1. 7/21. Sox lose 6-5 at home. Buehrle can't hold lead v. Clement, but Vizcaino gets loss. http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...=.jsp&team=home 2. 7/22. Sox win 8-4. 6 run 6th off Wakefield backs strong outing by Garland. http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...=.jsp&team=home 3. 7/23. Sox lose 3-0. El Duque pitches well, but do nothing with Wade Miller (is he even around anymore?). http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...=.jsp&team=home 4. 7/24. Sox win 6-4. Contreras bests Arroyo. Bullpen, except Marte, is great. http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...=.jsp&team=home Note: Marte gives up runs in 2 of 4 games. 5. 8/12. Sox lose 9-8 at Fenway. Wells bests Buehrle. Jenks gets tagged for 3 run homer by Ortiz. Sox 9th inning rally falls a run short. http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...=.jsp&team=away 6. 8/13. Sox lose 7-4. Garland beaten soundly by Wakefield. Second time around was worse for us and better for them. http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...=.jsp&team=away 7. 9/3 makeup. Sox win 5-3. McCarthy pitches 7 innings of 3-hit shutout ball. Jenks again gives up 3 ninth inning runs, but this time none are earned. Schilling is the loser. http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...=.jsp&team=away *********************** Some observations. 1. We need to score at least 4 runs to win. We held them to 3 runs twice, but otherwise they scored 6, 4, 4, 9, and 7. 2. Jenks may be nervous because they hit him; Marte also consistently got hit. I hope Ozzie looks at these box scores and used Cotts, Politte, Hermanson, and El Duque out of the pen, and McCarthy if he makes the team. 3. Buehrle didn't fool them either time. We need Contreras and Garcia to come through.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Oct 2, 2005 -> 08:17 PM) You can switch guys as long as they are post-season eligible. This answers a question I put up on another post. Sorry, I hadn't seen this. As I think about it, I think BMac is worth keeping in the ALDS because he could help win a game if one of the Fenway games goes long. I don't want Vizcaino to appear in anything but a laugher or for mop up if we get torched. I think he gets way too nervous and then he gets wild. Today, Cleveland hitters helped him out on a couple of occasions.

Win the first home game.

Can the White Sox switch players between the ALDS and ALCS? If so, then I won't be as upset if they don't take McCarthy because he won't be available to pitch in the first two games in Chicago anyway. I would still leave Vizcaino home because McCarthy shut down the Red Sox in Fenway recently, and I'd love to have him available if any of those games went extra innings. But who knows the answer to my question?

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Oct 2, 2005 -> 02:13 PM) You are way OVERESTIMATING what Vizcaino has done down the stretch. It's a LOT easier to pitch good in a low pressure situation than a high one. He's done very little all year round when the game has been on the line. That's why he only has 8H in 68 appearances & has racked up 5L. There is nothing in his numbers that suggest keeping him over El Duque for a final RH spot in the pen. The pen should be: Jenks, Hermy, Politte, Marte, Cotts, El Duque, & BMac. No other post-season team has that kind of talent in their pen. This is absolutely the correct move. The key here is that if you keep El Duque and McCarthy, you have two guys who can stretch the pen well beyond what any opponent can put out there. On the early side, you have El Duque. If our starter has trouble, El Duque could cover 1-3 innings. Indeed, he would be my first choice of a guy that could get us to the 8th inning. On the back side, you have McCarthy if we are in extra frames. That leaves Cotts, Politte, Hermanson, Jenks, and (gulp) Marte to solve the 8th and 9th.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Oct 1, 2005 -> 09:43 PM) Allow me to make the case for El Duque: RISP, 2 outs: 59AB .186BAA, .619OPS. CL&L 18AB .222BAA, .652OPS. RISP, all: 126AB, .230BAA, .701OPS RON, 2: 44AB, .205BAA, .635OPS RON, 3: 22AB, .273BAA, .711OPS RON 1,2: 29AB, .207BAA, .599OPS RON 1,2,3: 13AB, .077BAA, .225OPS Vizc can't touch those numbers. This is a HUGE decision & I can only hope that Ozzie chooses the crafty vet over a sporadic RH RP. I don't even care what the numbers say, and I've always cared what the numbers say. Who do you want if we win the ALDS and get the Yankees in the ALCS?? I would take El Duque over most of the pitchers on our roster (Contreras excluded) if I needed to get that Yankee lineup out. Especially for a critical inning. I'm not saying I'd make El Duque our closer, but I think using him in the 7th or even 8th inning would give us a decided edge. Face it, we're likely to be looking at several 1-run games. I don't want to see Marte or Vizcaino in any 1-run game at any time. But I'd trust El Duque completely in that situation.

QUOTE(JimH @ Oct 1, 2005 -> 01:22 PM) You'd guarantee Gload would get a multi hit game? Again, please share that crystal ball with the rest of us. By the way all you "Ozzie hates Gload" spinmeisters ... if Ozzie really did hate Gload so much, wouldn't he have pinch hit for him in the 13th? Do you hunt down every Ross Gload mention I make? You never answer my question. Do you think Geoff Blum is a better hitter? Do you think Timo Perez is a better hitter? Let me know that before you say anything else about Gload. I don't really give two craps about Gload. I just want the Sox to win, and I know Gload hit .321 last year in just over 200 ABs, and torched AAA this year when we needed hitting in the worst way. Plus he's better defensively at 1B than anyone else we have, so he's not a liability in the field. And he's a lefty. We need offense. We need good lefties. He's been a better hitter than any other option we have. What's so hard to figure out about that. (By the way, Gload was 1 for 3 with a walk. Not multihit, but a .500 OBP.)

We may see some 13-inning games in the postseason, and we need the pitching staff that can deal with that eventuality. The keys to being able to go long are El Duque and Brandon McCarthy. If one of them (I'd use El Duque just like yesterday) is used in the 7th, the other will be able to come in after the game goes extra frames and hold on for several innings. No other team is going to be able to match us in that way, which should give us an edge if the game goes long. If you keep Vizcaino instead, you may only get a batter or two instead of an inning. And if you only keep El Duque and not McCarthy, if you use El Duque like Ozzie used him yesterday, then we're exposed with no long man if we go into extra innings. Cotts, Politte, Hermanson, Jenks, Marte are 8th and 9th inning guys. Maybe the 7th too. But you can easily use them up in a tight game if you start playing matchups. On either end of these guys you need a long man. El Duque and McCarthy should both make it. Give Vizcaino a full playoff share to root for us on the side.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Oct 1, 2005 -> 04:42 PM) Unless Gload goes about 10 for his next 10 its going to be Blum. I'd prefer Gload, but it ain't going to happen. I'm sure its going to be Blum too, but I don't know why. As I posted elsewhere, if you kept Gload, Blum would be 3rd or 4th choice at every position he plays. And since he can't pinch hit, he doesn't have any real value. We got him when we were worried about Crede's back. That didn't turn into an issue. Unfortunately, Ozzie didn't really play Gload enough to let him repeat his .321 average from last year. He was tearing up AAA, but he never got a chance up here.

QUOTE(black jack @ Oct 1, 2005 -> 04:06 AM) They showed Ozzie in the dugout cursing when Paulie was walked. He was pissed it happened. Yes, I saw that. Which makes me think Ozzie isn't that savvy as a game manager. He had to know they would walk Konerko to face a guy that struck out 3 times and was hitting under .200. Konerko is probably the only hitter in our lineup that any opposing manager fears at all. I hope Gload gets another chance tomorrow, at DH if necessary. If I were Ozzie, I would play all the guys who are on the roster bubble the next two days, and think about taking the ones that perform. To me, the last spot comes down to Gload v. Blum, and I would take Gload.

Does anyone think Ozzie intentionally used Konerko in the 13th knowing he'd likely be intentionally walked so that he could get Ross Gload up that inning with two men on? If he did, he's a sly dog. But it makes me wonder. If Ozzie had confidence in Gload in that situation after Gload looked pretty bad earlier in the evening on some ABs, why hasn't he shown Gload any confidence in other situations where he could have used him? The whole situation was rather puzzling, but I'm glad it worked!

QUOTE(White Sox Josh @ Oct 1, 2005 -> 03:55 AM) I was going back and forth with that one. I really think you could take either. I just think that Gload has a little more pop from the left side though. He also is smooth in the field which would make him a great defensive replacment. Remember opening day. The guy to leave behind is Blum. Everyone says he's versatile, but he's the 3rd or 4th guy at every position he plays. 1B - Konerko, Gload, Blum SS - Uribe, Ozuna, Blum 3B - Crede, Ozuna, Blum LF - Podsednik, Everett, Perez, Blum RF - Dye, Everett, Perez, Blum Gload is Konerko's designated pinch runner and defensive replacement late in close games. And if Ozzie had given him a few more ABs this year, he'd have likely done a lot more of what he did in the 13th, and a lot less striking out like he did earlier in the game.

QUOTE(bulokis @ Oct 1, 2005 -> 03:42 AM) Gload continued his superb hitting for the knights getting that big hit. By the way, Gload is the only one that I got his signature during soxfest. YAY! I count 3 Ross Gload rooters on this post. Where have you been while I've been getting beat up relentlessly in numerous other posts for suggesting that Ozzie actually use Gload?? I know this. Neither Geoff Blum nor Timo Perez could have driven that ball to the wall in the 13th. I hope Gload gets to play again Sunday. Tomorrow I expect Ozzie will have most of his regulars back.

White Sox Josh. You wouldn't take Willie Harris? He may turn out to be the most valuable bench player we have. I'm glad the last two posters agree that Marte should be left behind. I think I wouldn't mind seeing him go just so I didn't have to see him come into a ballgame. Though it is really too bad with him. The guy has electric stuff. He just can't control it.

There is a longer post on this topic already.