VAfan

If we win today, and we better, then only 3 teams can get to 96 wins, and all of them would be in. No playoff would be necessary. If 3 teams make it to 96 wins, we would win the AL Central by virtue of a tiebreaker, Cleveland would be the WC winner, and either Boston or NYY would win the AL East.

QUOTE(JimH @ Sep 28, 2005 -> 03:46 PM) I have a clear grip on AAA vs. major leagues, you've yet to demonstrate that proficiency. We all understand your man love for Gload, you've only posted it, oh, 500 times already. Name me all the Sox players who hit better than Gload's .315 major league average last year that received more than 200 ABs? I don't give two craps about Ross Gload, but I do want our manager to play the better hitter whenever he has the option, whomever that person is.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Sep 28, 2005 -> 04:44 PM) You did see Aarons two double plays, and what would have been a 3rd if their were less than two outs yesterday right? And you did see the pop up he hit when he tried to bunt the day before right? Rowand is definately a bottom of the order hitter. He doesn't have the fundementals to be a #2 hitter. Yes, I did see it and I thought Ozzie should have pinch hit for him. But Rowand responded in the #2 hole with his best season last year, and I think putting him second and giving him a defined hitting role will actually focus his hitting. That having been said, I could also see Dye hitting 3rd, leaving Iguchi where he is. In fact, I think that is probably the better option. We need to compress the best hitters we have together to give us the best chance to score when they come around.

Unfortunately, our hitters haven't responded to big game pressures. And our manager appears to have had a brain cramp. The only good news I see out of this is that the "choke" portion of the season will soon be over and the "second season" will begin. At that point, just as it was when the first season started, everyone will be at square one and this White Sox team will be a decided underdog against every opponent. I'm hoping that makes us respond the same way we did coming out of the gate.

That's confusing Josh. Look at the magic number thread. 1 win = at least WC tie 2 wins = playoff berth 3 wins = division title That's the simplest way to put it.

We're right on track. Contreras, Garcia, Buehrle, Garland, McCarthy. The only thing that might change next Tuesday is to flip Buehrle and Garcia so that Buehrle pitches at home and Garcia pitches on the road. I think McCarthy will make the postseason squad, but I don't know who will get cut to make room for him. Vizcaino? We can't afford to carry 12 pitchers with the offensive woes we've had.

I think the hitters are incredibly tight. But the pitching has had to pitch in tight games all year. So they are used to pressure. What I'd like to see is a "blow out the cylinders" game (anyone see the original Flight of the Phoenix?) with an all-lefty lineup just to loosen things up. Maybe we can do it in the last game if we've clinched. Pods Harris Gload Everett Borchard Pierzynski Perez Uribe Blum Whatever comes down the road, now that I've had my little beef-with-Ozzie post, I want to keep it positive. We gotta believe that this Sox team is going to break the streak and win in the postseason.

QUOTE(JimH @ Sep 28, 2005 -> 03:03 PM) Oh my God, this post has so much drivel I don't know where to begin. If you go back and read the game thread, you'll see I wanted Pierzynski up there to pinch hit, and even if they brought in the lefthander, leave him in there. He is known to be a guy who gets a big hit, and he undoubtedly would have amped it up after failing against Walker the nite before. But, that aside, you are one of the guys who complains about all the lefty-righty matchups Guillen does, and then you want to play checkers with righty-lefty hitting match ups. Which is it? Also, please forward your crystal ball, which assures us that Gload would've been our best pinch hitter by far this year. You really need to take that Ross Gload poster off your wall, after all it was Guillen who gave Gload his big chance in the first place. Ross Gload, savior? Only in your world. Get a grip. Gload was a very good bench player for us last year, posting the best average on the team for guys with 200+ ABs. He's not a savior, but he should have been used ahead of Timo Perez and Geoff Blum this August when our offense went completely south. Can you defend the use of those players ahead of a guy who hit .315 for us last year and showed in AAA he can still hit?

Here's my list of what I applaud Ozzie for. 1. Managing his starters. Ozzie set the tone early that he was sticking with his starters for 100 pitches regardless of how they pitched early in games. Thus, Contreras and El Duque and Garcia would never see the showers even if they got dinged pretty bad early in the game. This has helped make our starting pitching second to none in terms of depth. And even though Buehrle and Garland and Garcia and El Duque have been roughed up in the second half, I think the first three guys will end up working through their issues and be very strong in the playoffs. To show confidence, you have to be willing to let a guy make mistakes. 2. Knowing his team. I love how he coined the phrase "smart ball" instead of "small ball" which everyone else wanted to call it. Up through July, we indeed played "smart ball." It was smart because it played to the strengths of the team we have. Pitching, defense, and just enough offense to win. He knew that our pitching was good enough to win low scoring games, but only if we scored consistently. So he decided to play for one run by stealing, sacrificing, and being hard on anyone who didn't give himself up to advance the runner. He made Iguchi his model citizen for this style of play. The result is until late in the year we ranked lower in the AL in batting and OBP than we did in runs scored. 3. Managing his bullpen. Ozzie hasn't done a perfect job here, but no manager does. Early in the year, he seemlessly switched to Hermanson as the closer. Cotts/Politte also emerged quickly as the best set up guys, and Ozzie used those three guys to win us a lot of close games. Ozzie also brought up and worked in Bobby Jenks when Hermanson's back began acting up. Plus, he eventually got some production out of Vizcaino. And though he's used Marte in way too many risky situations, I don't think it has actually cost us many games. 4. Keeping it loose and lively. Do they still play music after losses? They should. We need to keep loose more than ever right now. Ozzie's attitude is - as long as you give me your best, I'm not going to be hard on you that we lost the game. Give it your all, and then move on. I think that is a great attitude. It may be a lot easier to have it when you are winning at a .700 clip like we were early on, but it is important nonetheless. 5. Beating the weak teams. I'm not sure if this is due to Ozzie, but we have absolutely crushed the AL Central teams this year, as well as the other sub-.500 clubs (except Texas). Of course, this may be a great way to a division title, but may be a negative in the playoffs. I guess we'll find out. I just wanted to put this on this thread so I'm not seen as an Ozzie-basher. He deserves criticism for his mistakes, because if you can't see your mistakes, you can't correct them. But overall I agree with those who point out he took a team no one thought would contend and still has the best record in the AL with it. Moreover, once we clinch a playoff spot (which I hope is tonight), I think you will see a significant change for the better in this club. The pitching is still there. It is the offense that might actually come around. GO SOX!!!

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Sep 28, 2005 -> 01:56 PM) Gload hasn't proved much to me *AT THE MAJOR LEAGUE* level. Lights out at AAA doesn't mean crap. Again, he had the best batting average of ANY White Sox player last year who got more than 200 ABs. Granted, he can't play the OF this year because of his shoulder issues, but Carl Everett went down in August, followed by Podsednik. Gload could have started all of those games (with Everett in left after he healed). And he should have been cultivated as the #1 pinch hitter off the bench. Ozzie just wasted him.

QUOTE(JimH @ Sep 28, 2005 -> 12:55 PM) It wouldn't be a "Guillen Sucks" thread without mention of the great Ross Gload now would it? The guy hit .315 last year for us in spot duty when he was used properly. He showed in AAA he still has the stroke. Geoff Blum and Timo Perez couldn't hit .315 in AA ball, yet they got the call all of August while we lost game after game with no offense. Yes, Ozzie blew it with Ross Gload, who would have been by far our best bench hitter if used properly this year. I'd have certainly rather seen Gload up with the bases loaded last night in the 8th than Blum. And if the Tigers counter with Walker, then pinch hit Anderson. Instead Ozzie uses a guy in a critical situation who can't hit just because he's a switch hitter?? That's not good managing.

Let's face it, AJ and Rowand aren't the answer in the #3 hole. And Everett, despite two singles last night, is probably better suited hitting 5th. My suggestion is to move Iguchi to 3rd. The lineup could be: Podsednik Rowand Iguchi Konerko Everett Dye Pierzynski Crede Uribe And if Ozzie wanted to blow out the cylinders (see the original Flight of the Phoenix) for a game, he could go with this lefty dominated lineup. Podsednik LF Harris 2B Gload 1B Everett DH Borchard RF Pierzynski C Perez CF Uribe SS Blum 3B

Here's what I fault Ozzie for. 1. El Duque instead of McCarthy. El Duque went 1-8 in the second half. McCarthy won two huge games, should have beaten Santana, and could have won tonight with anything from the hitters. He certainly should have stuck with McCarthy after back to back shut outs of Texas and Boston, yet he still lost another 2 games with the Duke. That's 2 games that would put us in the playoffs as of today. 2. Ross Gload. I can't figure out why this guy didn't get ABs in August when we started scuffling. In AAA, Gload was on fire. 45 for 107, with 7 HRs, 14 doubles, 24 runs, 24 RBI. Instead, we got a month of Timo Perez, who hit absolutely nothing. And Gload isn't just a AAA ballplayer. He had the Sox' best batting average last year for guys with more than 200 ABs. 3. Forgetting what got us here. In the beginning of the year, Ozzie used the whole team. In the last month, he refuses to use fresh blood to rest tired and tight hitters. When was the last time Rowand got a night off? We have a team full of guys who go into major funks, but Ozzie just keeps writing their name in the lineup card hoping they'll pull out of it. Eventually they do, but we lose game after game waiting for them to do so. 4. Poor game management. Tonight he finally used pinch hitters and they helped load the bases with one out in a 2-run game. But then he used Blum, one of our worst hitters, to pinch hit, and he grounds meekly into a DP. Why not Gload? Or even Timo Perez? Ozzie also left Rowand to hit for himself in the 9th even though he'd meekly grounded out 4 times, and did it a 5th time in the 9th. A pinch hitter was called for. There are many, many other examples. 5. Bizarre bullpen management. Why is Damaso Marte often used in more critical situations than Neil Cotts? Marte is a walk machine. Cotts is typically lights out. Ozzie has done a decent job here, but some of his mistakes have cost us. Thank goodness our rivals all lost tonight because our team isn't playing with any urgency right now.

He does seem to be the only major league hitter in our lineup right now. Without him, it would be truly ugly.

Frankly, I'm just glad he's used someone else on the roster. How about this for tomorrow's lineup? They can't hit any worse. CF - Timo Perez LF - Brian Anderson DH - Ross Gload 1B - Paul Konerko RF - Joe Borchard 3B - Joe Crede C - AJ Pierzynski SS - Juan Uribe 2B - Willie Harris

QUOTE(longshot7 @ Sep 28, 2005 -> 01:07 AM) WHY WHY WHY???????? Why Blum instead of AJ??????? IT'S THE LAST WEEK OF SEPTEMBER!!!!!!!!!! f***!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did you see AJ hit last night?

Sox played way too casual in this game. We blew a lot of scoring opportunities. AJ hitting 3rd is a nightmare. He killed two rallies himself. Now the Tigers feel like they can get us, it will be much more difficult to win tomorrow night. We really need to win 3 in a row so we go into Cleveland having secured a playoff spot.

Ozzie should be fired for putting Marte anywhere near this game.

Get Buerhle out of the ballgame. He can't hold a lead or even a tie any more. Something is wrong with him. Too many innings? I don't know what the answer is, but letting him lose this game is definitely not the answer. Sox need to play this like game 7 of the World Series. Win this game and Cleveland is at least 2-1/2 back after tomorrow. Lose and they could be 1/2 back. If they get there, they are going to pass us this week. Okay, Buehrle lucks out and finishes the 5th. I wouldn't let him pitch another inning.

Will the Sox become the team that has blown the biggest lead after August 1st and let the Indians pass us for the AL Central division crown this year? When I think of this question, frankly, it doesn't cause me any more heartburn than I already have as a Sox fan. Why not? Because in my lifetime, and even in my father's lifetime (he died in his 80's a few years ago), the White Sox haven't won a single postseason series. So what does it matter if the Sox pulled an all-time division race fade? It really wouldn't make things any worse than they already have been for us Sox fans. Thus, I'm not losing any sleep over our recent troubles. In fact, I'm confident that our recent troubles are going to toughen the team and get us back to playing the kind of baseball that led us to having the best record in the AL. The Sox have nothing to lose. And if they play like it, I think this Sox team is still destined to do something really great - win in the postseason. Because this team plays its best baseball when no one, absolutely no one, thinks they have any chance.

After today, should we add Garland to the pile along with Buehrle?? I think Buehrle-Garland 1-2 in the postseason could be a recipe for a quick exit. Frankly, Contreras is pitching the best of any of our starters, with Brandon McCarthy second (blasphemy I know), and Garcia probably third. If I were Ozzie, I'd be pulling my hair out trying to figure this out. We really don't have any long term Aces. We have Aces of the moment, and Ozzie has to figure out the best Aces of the moment once we hit the postseason.

After Jenks, anyone for McCarthy on 3 days rest? This could be a long one. Ozzie really blew it by leaving Buerhle in an inning too long.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 10, 2005 -> 02:25 AM) Or how about he was hot over an 11 game span but has cooled off the past 2 games. Aug. 28 - Sept. 6 (11 gms): 16-41 (.390 BA) HOT Aug. 28 - Aug. 31 (5 gms): 9-20 (.450 BA) HOT Sept. 1 - Sept. 6 (6 gms): 7-21 (.333 BA) HOT Sept. 7 - Sept. 8 (2 gms): 0-8 (.000 BA) COLD His last 9 games, he's hitting below .250, his OBP is less than .300, and he's only hit 1 HR during that period, so his slugging isn't making up for his lack of hitting. He's been cool or cold in 8 of those 9 games, with the only exception being September 3rd against Detroit when he had a HR and 3B. Under no definition can you say he's been HOT.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Sep 10, 2005 -> 02:10 AM) This was brought up in the game thread... Hypothesis: Mark Buehrle beats up on the weak teams, but gets killed by good teams. I plugged his splits into a simple spreadsheet, and ran some correlations. ERA vs. Opponents wins = .297 WHIP vs. Opponents wins = .442 There is some correlation. In fact, he does allow quite a bit more baserunners to good teams. I've never fully understood these statistical correlation numbers. Any chance you could break them down in lay terms?

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 10, 2005 -> 02:05 AM) .329 batting average over 13 games when he was previously hitting .270 before that stretch. He went 6 for 12 against Texas pitching. Since then, in 9 games, he's 7 for 31, with 1 HR, 2 runs, and 4 RBI in the middle of the lineup. You still think he's "hot"?? Uribe and Konerko. They are hot. If you are going to talk baseball intelligently, don't butcher the numbers.