Well i was the second to vote for widger, who was the first? Reveal yourself.

Statistically Duque, Gooch, and Hermey have been the best acquisitions but Scott and AJ have done a lot of things that don't show up in the statistically.

Edited May 7, 200520 yr by Rowand44

I voted for El Duque. He's been great so far. He's givin us 5 capable starters for the first time in years. That's HUGE in my book.

Edited May 7, 200520 yr by Jordan4life_2004

In addition to all the other reasons mentioned, AJ's attitude is paramount to the early success of the team.  He brought a cockiness, a brashness, a chip on his shoulder that seems to be contagious to the rest of the team.  The lack of that has always been our downfall in the past. AJ!

 

Agreed. Also, AJ being a "goofball". On Tv last night, they showed AJ, laughing putting away Konerko's ball breaking his O-for streak, like they would for a rookie getting his first hit. Buehrle and other guys were laughing along. A few minutes later, AJ comes through in the clutch.

 

The Sox in recent years have had guys who take themselves too seriously, or are too hard on themselves when they screw up [PK, Crede, Garland come to mind]. Whether it's AJ's influence or not [he's a big part of it no doubt], the atmosphere around the sox is very loose.

 

Aj's game seems to be "laugh at yourself, have fun, play the game right".

Agreed. Also, AJ being a "goofball". On Tv last night, they showed AJ, laughing putting away Konerko's ball breaking his O-for streak, like they would for a rookie getting his first hit. Buehrle and other guys were laughing along. A few minutes later, AJ comes through in the clutch.

 

The Sox in recent years have had guys who take themselves too seriously, or are too hard on themselves when they screw up [PK, Crede, Garland come to mind]. Whether it's AJ's influence or not [he's a big part of it no doubt], the atmosphere around the sox is very loose. 

 

Aj's game seems to be "laugh at yourself, have fun, play the game right".

 

Speaking of, did you see him laughing at himself when he did the splits trying to get out of the way of that inside pitch? Classic!

I wish there would have been a Pierzynski/Widger option. I truly feel that the reason our pitching staff is so much better this season is because we have two solid defensive minded catchers calling the game for our pitchers.

 

So my vote goes for the catching platoon.

 

CWSOX45

Podsednik is the firestarter for this lineup. Ozzie said how he needed a leadoff hitter last season. He has one this season, and a great one. He can steal whenever he is on base and screws with pitchers' heads. He leads all of baseball in stolen bases and his on base percentage is at .381.

 

Iguchi has been stud, and we now have a solid 1-2 in the order, but Podsednik does more for this team. Right behind those 2 is Hermanson, who held up this bullpen early in the year and is still yet to give up a run.

I voted Hermanson because he has saved our butts alot. Losing a ballgame late is the most demoralizing thing to happen to a ballclub. Without Hermanson, we would have had big time problems closing out a bunch of games that we have won.

I think it's great that you can make a case for all these guys outside of probably Dye. And in a month or two we might be Arguing him as the most "valuable" addition.

I had to go with Pods. Mostly because he represents what has been missing from this club for so long. Maybe forever. And that is of course - speed. Fantastic speed. Speed so good, you can pitch out and still not get him. Or pick him off first and he is still standing on second. As much as I hated Rickie Henderson, because he was such an egotistical jerk, he used to control a game with his legs. AJP would be a very close second because his type of attitude has also been greatly lacking.

I agree it's Iguchi.

Boy, it's nice to have that guy out there instead of Willie.

Right now I have to tip the cap to Kenny Williams, who I thought was an incompetent boob in the past.

I'm glad he's hit the Japan trail for Shingo and Iguchi.

Both guys are studs.

I just love the way Iguchi knows how to play the game, shifting his body to hit to rf, etc. It's beautiful.

And Shingo is a stud.

All the moves look good now. If this keeps up, KW will be our GM a long long time.

I voted for Podsednik, but after thinking about it, I'd say it's a tie between EVERYONE on this list (with the exception of Dye). They have all made major contributions to the team at this point and all of them deserve the vote in all honesty.

It's really amazing. All of these guys have contributed something to this team. Dye's gotton off to a slow start, but he is a player and he'll be fine. Pods has been the sparkplug. Iguchi has been very solid at 2B and been the consumate pro in the number 2 spot in the order. Hermanson has been a rock. Vizcaino took one for the team, but he's a solid bullpen guy. AJ has been great in all ways. What a pickup he has been. Widger has stepped in for AJ and we haven't felt like we were a weaker team with him in the lineup. He's done great with the pitching staff also. El Duque has done a good job as well, and I believe he's been a part of the equation with Contreras' success. A damn amazing job by KW when you consider how all the pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place so far.

I agree. A.J. has brought our pitching staff to a new level. You can see that simply by the way the ton eof our games has gone. Also I think instead of earlier reports of him being a problem in the clubhouse he has instead brought some fun and knowledge of the game.

 

Edited May 8, 200520 yr by southsidefan

Who would have thought Chris Widger would get 4 votes in something like this at the start of spring training.