And in the ninth inning Brantley was talking to whoever the other guy was and they started talking about best closers. They brought up the name Billy Koch and Brantley immediately began questioning the way Manuel handles his pen instead of questioning Koch. He said that as a closer he knew that you weren't always on and that the best thing is to let them work out of it.

 

He also implied that Manuel has that pen up in arms and no one knows their role, which is a huge reason the pen is in shambles. I'm not going to say the pen is in shambles, but I thought it was interesting hearing it from a former closer.

It's been a while since the season started but I don't remember Koch being "on". I would agree if the pattern in the beginning was

 

on, on, off, on, off, on, on

 

as I remember it was off, off, on, off, off, off

 

Plus, as far as having him work it out wouldn't it be better to work out the problem in a 10-3 game vs. a 1-0? As if we ever have a lead.

 

His problem may be adjusting to new team mates, stadium, pitching coach, etc.

Eh, he seemed to adjust fine to his teammates. I think he just had a sore arm. And his ERAs coming down now. Its around 5.27 I think...

I have a bigger problem with Brantley than I do with Koch. Like a lot of new announcers with no necks, they like to hear themselves babble. Did you guys hear Dave Justice the other night? Just as bad. Do they get paid by the word, with bonuses for poor grammar?

I have a bigger problem with Brantley than I do with Koch.  Like a lot of new announcers with no necks, they like to hear themselves babble.  Did you guys hear Dave Justice the other night?  Just as bad.  Do they get paid by the word, with bonuses for poor grammar?

Well theyve actually been there. I guess an explayer would be a better announcer given he has on field experience but I could be wrong...

Well theyve actually been there. I guess an explayer would be a better announcer given he has on field experience but I could be wrong...

Dave Justice is not good. He does not have a good TV voice, IMO, and his ideas are wrong.

 

Greg Walker's hiring was brought up, and he said something to the extent of "all hitting coaches preach basically the same thing."

 

That is just plain WRONG. There are several things you can preach on as a hitting coach....you can preach on manufacturing runs instead of trying to always kill the ball or always playing small ball....do a little of both, because manufacturing runs is a part of both. They can preach about waiting for the 3-run homer(and for some teams, that works....look at the Yankees last year....that's exactly what they did, and they won 103 games).....out-slugging you constantly. They can preach timely hitting....which is what Minnesota does. They'll never have a guy that steals 30-40 bases, they'll never have a guy that hits 40 homers, they'll never have those dominant type hitters at the plate, who just simply flat out rake. What they will have is guys that will get big hits in big situations. Hitting coaches can also preach small ball....constantly bunting, using hit-and-runs, sac bunts, while hitting well as a team.

 

I just named 4 types of offenses a team could have.....and there are probably more. Some go hand in hand(such as manufacturing runs.....that goes ties right along in with timely hitting and small ball)....and some do not(waiting for the 3-run homer and playing small ball are way different).

 

IMO....the best offense has all of the above....they can outslug their opponents, they can manufacture 2-3 runs if necessary, they get timely hits, and they play small ball. You get an offense like that, and you have a hell of an offense.....one that will rarely slump.

 

This White Sox team could have an offense that fits all of the criteria from above. They don't though...they don't steal enough, they don't bunt enough, and they don't manufacture enough runs. And I won't even mention timely hitting....if these guys knew what timely hitting was, we'd be over .500 instead of under .500.