I was recently asked a question by one of my friends, and I didn't know what to tell the young fellow. He asked who the White Sox's best hitter was, and I didn't know what to say. I would say right now if I had to pick one player that I want to see up at the plate at any given point, I would take Pods. he has been nothing short of amazing this year, and I think he deserves a lot more credit for our success than he gets.

I would say Iguchi, the guy has been clutch and can spray it to all fields....

nah has to be Iguchi... even though he was hitless last night he has been our best hitter.

I agree Iguchi has been phenomenal, but how much of his success at the plate can you attribute to Pods being on first base wreckin havoc as he often does. You know pitchers aren't entirely focued on Iguchi with Scotty standing over on 1b.

I'll take Rowand in the 3 spot.

 

He struggled a bit early in the year, but he's quickly heading back to .320.

How can the answer to this not be Aaron Rowand.

Aaron Rowand has to be one of the most underrated players in baseball.

I say Iguchi....and I bet he would be even better if he didn't adjust his game to fit the 2 spot.

I agree Iguchi has been phenomenal, but how much of his success at the plate can you attribute to Pods being on first base wreckin havoc as he often does.  You know pitchers aren't entirely focued on Iguchi with Scotty standing over on 1b.

 

 

Well at the same time Iguchi has had to take a lot of pitches for strikes and everything with Pods trying to steal....He isnt a natural number 2 hitter.

id say timo because hes flat out amazing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rowand

Podz. His ability to place the ball up the middle cannot not be mimmicked.

It all depends on the situation. Including past accomplishments and what he's done so far, I'd say Gooch. He's adjusted well to the American game, and with his accomplishments in Japan, he's a solid all-around hitter. His average is very good this year, and we know he has power (due to his numbers in Japan), but he hasn't shown it consistently for the Sox yet.

 

For clutch hits there have been a few - Pauly, Dye, and ARow come to mind. Even Crede seems to play good in clutch situations. I can remember several times he's hit a GW homer or driven in the game-winning run. Heck, even Timo was clutch for us this year! SPod was crucial for us last night with his 2-run double.

If the bases were loaded and the game tied with two outs in the ninth inning, I would still want Big Frank up. He hasn't always been clutch, but his presence is enough to scare pitchers into throwing bad pitches and possibly walking him or because he is so strong he can muscle a bad pitch just over the infielders' heads for a hit to score the winning run.

JMO

Well at the same time Iguchi has had to take a lot of pitches for strikes and everything with Pods trying to steal....He isnt a natural number 2 hitter.

Just what I was going to say. A lot of times Iguchi has to sacrifice him over too, for the good of the team at the expense of his own numbers.

Crede

 

Oh sorry, I thought you wrote s***ter . . .

 

 

Today, I would take Rowand. I imagine next month it will be Frank.

Who do you guys think, if we had to choose one guy to be the face of our offense, we would pick.

Gooch is the most balanced hitter on the team. He can do more with the ball than anyone else, bunt, hit opo, pull, up the middle, IF hit, hr. He can do anything with any pitch so I would say it would be Gooch.

If he's fully healthy, I'll still stick with the big man, even at his age. He is still most likely the strongest hitter on our team, he has spent his career hitting the ball to every field, he knows when to take a pitch the other way, and he has maybe the most discerning eye in baseball over the last 15 years.

 

If he's not fully healthy though, his production seems to decline rapidly. We'll see within a few weeks whether or not that's the case.

 

Excluding Thomas, I'd say its a toss up between Iguchi and Rowand. Both of them, when they're locked in, can do everything I said about Thomas except for take the walks. They spray the ball to all fields, hit doubles, hit solid line drives, shoot the ball into gaps, and hit for power. On the other hand, both of them seem to have times when they really struggle; See Iguchi last night or Rowand to start the year.

 

Both Tad and Rowand have a shot to end this season hitting .320 or better, and I think they both will, unless Tad can't get out of this funk he's been in lately where his average has tumbled.

Frank Thomas

Id take rowand! Pods would be another great choice but id take him if you had to pick someone to run the bases.