The fact of the matter is we don’t really have even close to a real pitching staff to work with, so it should not be surprising to anyone if we lose in 5. However, this team can still win a game with offense and the right matchups. And it is a significant advantage tonight to be at home.

I guess I would ask the people who have shifted their expectations this - if we make the ALCS and get swept, is that really any different than losing in 5 in the ALDS? To me, not really, but I get that Championship Series appearances are few and far between for this organization.

5 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

The fact of the matter is we don’t really have even close to a real pitching staff to work with, so it should not be surprising to anyone if we lose in 5. However, this team can still win a game with offense and the right matchups. And it is a significant advantage tonight to be at home.

I guess I would ask the people who have shifted their expectations this - if we make the ALCS and get swept, is that really any different than losing in 5 in the ALDS? To me, not really, but I get that Championship Series appearances are few and far between for this organization.

It's different in two respects in my opinion.

Tampa won 98 games this year they are far superior to Cleveland.

and...

The Sox will have lost a 2-0 lead in a best of five and joined the ranks of teams like the 82 Angels, 84 Cubs, and the 86 Angels and 86 Red Sox who simply could not get that last strike, last out last series clinching win. That's a tough pill to swallow.

34 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Hagen is opening. Fedde, Hicks, & Taylor seem likely to pitch two or more each. Guessing that one of Kay or Newcomb fills in somewhere between to break up the righties. My guess is they go with Kay for an inning or two and save Sean for a potential game #5 to open for Burke.

Thank you..........Man, I hope this works. Hagen walks a lot of guys and that is how the Guardians score. We really need clean innings from Hagen and let the offense go to work.

How are we gonna score... no home runs.

11 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

The fact of the matter is we don’t really have even close to a real pitching staff to work with, so it should not be surprising to anyone if we lose in 5. However, this team can still win a game with offense and the right matchups. And it is a significant advantage tonight to be at home.

I guess I would ask the people who have shifted their expectations this - if we make the ALCS and get swept, is that really any different than losing in 5 in the ALDS? To me, not really, but I get that Championship Series appearances are few and far between for this organization.

Shallow perspective on my part here, but... winning the ALDS means at least 4 more games to look forward to, regardless of how it all turns out!

3 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

The fact of the matter is we don’t really have even close to a real pitching staff to work with, so it should not be surprising to anyone if we lose in 5. However, this team can still win a game with offense and the right matchups. And it is a significant advantage tonight to be at home.

I guess I would ask the people who have shifted their expectations this - if we make the ALCS and get swept, is that really any different than losing in 5 in the ALDS? To me, not really, but I get that Championship Series appearances are few and far between for this organization.

We beat the Guardians in the head to head series in the regular season. We have an incredibly favorable schedule that helps us overcome some of the pitching disadvantages we face. We entered game #3 with one win needed to wrap up the series with two consecutive home games. The crowd and energy level of our fanbase is insane. The pressure should be on Cleveland.

No idea why people are suddenly trying to down play expectations for the rest of this series. I am not optimistic about our chances against the Rays, but the Guardians are a team we can and should beat. There are no excuses at this point. Last night was brutal but not reflective of who this team is. The Sox need to play confident and smart tonight and get the job done. The fans need to make Cleveland press at every high leverage opportunity. I will be there tonight doing my part. I am confident so will Will’s boys.

13 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

The fact of the matter is we don’t really have even close to a real pitching staff to work with, so it should not be surprising to anyone if we lose in 5. However, this team can still win a game with offense and the right matchups. And it is a significant advantage tonight to be at home.

I guess I would ask the people who have shifted their expectations this - if we make the ALCS and get swept, is that really any different than losing in 5 in the ALDS? To me, not really, but I get that Championship Series appearances are few and far between for this organization.

Win or lose this series, this is a great experience for these young players, and if they do lose the series, I believe it will make them that much more hungrier next year. They'll be playing with a huge chip on their shoulders.

6 minutes ago, Green Line said:

How are we gonna score... no home runs.

they scored 3 last night with no home runs and honestly with how hard they hit balls with runners on base...should have scored at least 6-8. a little bit of bad bounces/spins/defensive positioning killed their rallies. They will score at least 4 tonight.

1 hour ago, DoUEvenShift said:

Sent you a DM

Thanks, just replied.

10 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

The fact of the matter is we don’t really have even close to a real pitching staff to work with, so it should not be surprising to anyone if we lose in 5. However, this team can still win a game with offense and the right matchups. And it is a significant advantage tonight to be at home.

I guess I would ask the people who have shifted their expectations this - if we make the ALCS and get swept, is that really any different than losing in 5 in the ALDS? To me, not really, but I get that Championship Series appearances are few and far between for this organization.

Yes, it's a HUGE difference.

First of all, getting swept by a better team isn't choking, while blowing a 2-0 series lead with 2 home games ahead of you is.

Second, since the ALCS began in 1969, the White Sox have only appeared in it three times. THREE TIMES IN 57 YEARS (thanks, Jerry, since you've owned this team for 45 of those years). They have to be near the bottom in MLB in LCS appearances. Which teams have had fewer appearances? Maybe the Rockies? Marlins? Not exactly impressive to only beat out those two.

So yeah, if they can make the the ALCS for the 4th time in 57 seasons and then getting swept by a 98-win team, that is immensely better than choking away the ALDS to the same team that they choked away the division title.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by 77 Hitmen

If we double choke - fire will!

3 minutes ago, Green Line said:

If we double choke - fire will!

Absolutely not - this is a highly flawed team and while it would stink if they lose, the reality is they have been max efforting everything possible but when you lack certain horses it just gets hard. With that said - lets go win this series and move onto the next round and keep on rolling!!!

Keys to the game:
- Sox hitters have to get back to being patient. I don't know what that was yesterday, but there was clearly no legitimate, offensive approach in place outside of "be aggressive", whereas games 1 and 2 there was a completely different gameplan set upon patience and taking what they give you.

- Will (FO?) cannot manage with game 5 in mind. This is game 5, or at least that's the way it should be managed. If you need Taylor for 3 innings tonight, you do it. If you need to have at least one reliever each inning getting up to keep warm in case danger strikes quickly, do it.

-Throw fucking strikes

15 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

Yes, it's a HUGE difference.

First of all, getting swept by a better team isn't choking, while blowing a 2-0 series lead with 2 home games ahead of you is.

Second, since the ALCS began in 1969, the White Sox have only appeared in it three times. THREE TIMES IN 57 YEARS (thanks, Jerry, since you've owned this team for 45 of those years). They have to be near the bottom in MLB in LCS appearances. Which teams have had fewer appearances? Maybe the Rockies? Marlins? Not exactly impressive to only beat out those two.

So yeah, if they can make the the ALCS for the 4th time in 57 seasons and then getting swept by a 98-win team, that is immensely better than choking away the ALDS to the same team that they choked away the division title.

Points well-taken.

37 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I would not pitch Fedde multiple times through the lineup in a playoff game. I think he’s a guy you cap at 2 or 3 innings depending on matchups. Stuff looked much better last time out in that short stint. I try to keep that version of him.

This team has like 1.5 starters and 2 great relievers and 3-4 guys that rotate through being great at different times. I think with just one bonafide ace his job becomes a lot easier. But I feel like he has to pull an inside straight most games. It's way easier in playoffs than regular season because he can do bullpen games a lot.

But I think today it will work!

like we also just watched cleveland aggressively hunt matchups against us successfully, and they have a better staff. It works well.

2 minutes ago, Chisoxfn said:

Absolutely not - this is a highly flawed team and while it would stink if they lose, the reality is they have been max efforting everything possible but when you lack certain horses it just gets hard. With that said - lets go win this series and move onto the next round and keep on rolling!!!

This is sort of stating the obvious, and I've been critical of Will this season for some of his "in-game philosophies" but he, and the rest of the coaching staff deserve a ton of credit for what they've done with what they've been given, specifically with the pitching.

This "every pitcher can go three innings" strategy is incredibly hard to pull off, and it wasn't really done by choice, rather maximizing what they have available. But given the up and down nature of arms, it's impossible to predict what you're going to get each day. A managers job becomes infinity easier when you have a few horses that you know are going to go out there every 5 days and give you 6 solid innings. The Sox literally have none of those guys, so every game, he's rolling the dice on 5/6 different guys and seeing what they have that day. He's gotta push all the right buttons each and every game, and opens himself up to a lot more criticisms on a daily basis.

17 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

Yes, it's a HUGE difference.

First of all, getting swept by a better team isn't choking, while blowing a 2-0 series lead with 2 home games ahead of you is.

Second, since the ALCS began in 1969, the White Sox have only appeared in it three times. THREE TIMES IN 57 YEARS (thanks, Jerry, since you've owned this team for 45 of those years). They have to be near the bottom in MLB in LCS appearances. Which teams have had fewer appearances? Maybe the Rockies? Marlins? Not exactly impressive to only beat out those two.

So yeah, if they can make the the ALCS for the 4th time in 57 seasons and then getting swept by a 98-win team, that is immensely better than choking away the ALDS to the same team that they choked away the division title.

.....i looked it up. Only the Rockies (1), Marlins (2), and Nationals (2) have had fewer LCS appearances than the Sox. The Rockies and Marlins have only been around since 1993, so the only team that has been around since 1969 with fewer appearances is the LCS than the Sox are the Nationals/Expos with two.....oh, and they've won the World Series once in that time too, just like the Sox.

Tied with the Sox at 3 appearances are the Rays (only been around since 1998) and the Rangers (who have been around since before 1969).

We doing a blackout again today? Will actually work at night unlike the joke that was yesterday.

4 minutes ago, Tony said:

This is sort of stating the obvious, and I've been critical of Will this season for some of his "in-game philosophies" but he, and the rest of the coaching staff deserve a ton of credit for what they've done with what they've been given, specifically with the pitching.

This "every pitcher can go three innings" strategy is incredibly hard to pull off, and it wasn't really done by choice, rather maximizing what they have available. But given the up and down nature of arms, it's impossible to predict what you're going to get each day. A managers job becomes infinity easier when you have a few horses that you know are going to go out there every 5 days and give you 6 solid innings. The Sox literally have none of those guys, so every game, he's rolling the dice on 5/6 different guys and seeing what they have that day. He's gotta push all the right buttons each and every game, and opens himself up to a lot more criticisms on a daily basis.

When you now flip that into Cleveland who has a couple horses - the consistency of that strategy is tough and you can see why it becomes very hard for Sox to pull off 3 wins in a series with what they have. With that said - they are going to do it. They need to get take a few deep breaths and just play baseball - enjoy the crowd but don't let the moment be too big for you.

I was today years old when I learned that anything short of two consecutive playoff sweeps -- for a team full of babies fresh off a 100-loss season -- is shocking and unacceptable for some fans, and reason enough for them to spew raw cortisol all over their keyboards.

1 minute ago, Chicago White Sox said:

We doing a blackout again today? Will actually work at night unlike the joke that was yesterday.

What does that mean. Its not actually gonna scare the guardians players... they have lights on the field

Just now, 35thstreetswarm said:

I was today years old when I learned that anything short of two consecutive playoff sweeps -- for a team full of babies fresh off a 100-loss season -- is shocking and unacceptable for some fans, and reason enough for them to spew raw cortisol all over their keyboards.

Well, now you know

2 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

We doing a blackout again today? Will actually work at night unlike the joke that was yesterday.

Yea - email says for every postseason game

The record with the blackout is not good. Its probably time to give up on that attempt at tradition