White Sox Loser

[Dan Pasqua's Rec Specs]

Also, on the whole Thome thing, Jim has 3 HRs close and late which is equal to Konerko and 1 behind both Dye and Crede who have 4. So yeah, he's not not just hitting meaningless HRs.

 

One more thing, 4/22/06 Jim Thome single handedly won this game against the best pitcher in baseball.

 

First of all, I dont know what that first part of your post means But 3 out of 34 homers doesnt sound too convincing. Secondly, if you have to go back to April before you can remember a time where he came through for us in the clutch, there is a problem there. And hes hasd plenty of opportunities

[fathom]

I like having pitchers fear 2-6. I mean REALLY fear. But the only problem, no one fears our pitching. THey've been hit around long enough now where hitters relaxing in the box and waiting their turn. They know if they hang around for 4-5 innings, they'll get their shot more often than not.

 

Here's what I've noticed about our starters. If you're patient enough against them, they're going to have an inning where they implode and lose their focus. Our starters don't have the greatest stuff on the planet (Vaz has above average stuff, and Contreras does sometimes), and they become very wild in the strike zone. It's one of the main reasons why I think we have 3 wins this year when we score 3 runs or less. We probably had like 20 last year.

[Felix]

There was also the opening day homerun. I believe that ended up being the winning run.

[TitoMB345]

First of all, I dont know what that first part of your post means But 3 out of 34 homers doesnt sound too convincing. Secondly, if you have to go back to April before you can remember a time where he came through for us in the clutch, there is a problem there. And hes hasd plenty of opportunities

April?? What are you talking about? We've given you PLENTY of examples. The one against the Cards was in the last week of June, I want to say around June 25th, although I could be off. I just know it was June.

 

Are you not reading any of the posts in this thread?

[fathom]

Pssst...Riske was the guy who put the game out of reach. Surrendering two extra runs in the 7th.

 

Riske can be good, or he can suck. Same thing with Cotts.

 

He put the game out of reach? Are you freaking kidding me? I think I'm watching different Sox games than some people now.

[Dick Allen]

First of all, I dont know what that first part of your post means But 3 out of 34 homers doesnt sound too convincing. Secondly, if you have to go back to April before you can remember a time where he came through for us in the clutch, there is a problem there. And hes hasd plenty of opportunities

Its a higher percentage than Frank Thomas' career clutch homers vs. career homers, and his stats are still updated almost daily on this site. Thome is having a great year, and has had his share of clutch hits. He didn't get Rivera tonight. Guess what? Not a lot of people do. He's going to the Hall of Fame.

[ceffa2000]

I agree with Fathom here. However our bullpen also can be mediocre to s***. I can't understand why the people who wanted Garland out of there can't see that the bullpen also likely would have sucked. Oz can't win either way.

It's not like these bullpen guys are studs.

I would tend to disagree. Generally our bullpen has been put in bad situations lately. Other than 13-11 at Baltimore, there hasn't been a stretch when they aren't above average. I trust a mix from our bullpen more than our starting pitching. They held a tough Boston lineup in check for 12+ innings.

 

The performance of our starting pitching is exactly the reason why KW solidified our bullpen and our offense. He knew they had career years last year and there would be a dropoff. Just maybe not everyone 4+ era.

[greg775]

I think if you talked to any baseball analyst tonight and tried to blast Jim Thome for anything

you'd get laughed out of the studio. I mean talk about ingrates. The guy has had an amazing

season. The problem was falling behind 7-0 obviously. I want to know statistical analysis of how

many 7 run and up deficits teams overcome in a season. It's gotta be less than 3 times.

[Dick Allen]

Here's what I've noticed about our starters. If you're patient enough against them, they're going to have an inning where they implode and lose their focus. Our starters don't have the greatest stuff on the planet (Vaz has above average stuff, and Contreras does sometimes), and they become very wild in the strike zone. It's one of the main reasons why I think we have 3 wins this year when we score 3 runs or less. We probably had like 20 last year.

Its 5-26 scoring 3 runs or less, and now 11 loses scoring 6 runs or more.

[South Side Fireworks Man]

Paulie needs to score on a double. He needs to be looking at the right fielder and the right fielder was obviously playing it off the wall with his back to the infield...Horrendous base running once again

 

This team is too SLOW!!!

[DABearSoX]

well i thought maybe if we could have pulled that out our season would be going in a different direction....now were in 3rd. If you would have told me at the begining of the season this team would be in 3rd place at some point i would have laughed very hard. I am not gonna give up on this team, we have all been in this situation before, its just different now after last season......God do I wish we were in the NL...haha not really but come on, 66-46 record and we are in third place...this might have to go as the most frustrating year I have ever been through....

 

 

Liriano getting hurt might be our savior

[fathom]

I think any critical comments of Thome are stupid.

I can understand being upset about that particular at bat. But cmon.

It's just stupid to criticize a guy with his numbers.

And how Brian Anderson and his .220 average isn't crucified more is beyond me.

I know he's a good outfielder.

 

Sure, I would like to see Thome come up with more hits against closers. However, there has to be a line you don't cross when complaining after a game. Thome, PK, Dye, and Crede have earned the right to not receive crap after every play they do.

[Felix]

Thome, PK, Dye, and Crede have earned the right to not receive crap after every play they do.

But... they all fail 7 out of 10 times they come to the plate!

[fathom]

Its a higher percentage than Frank Thomas' career clutch homers vs. career homers, and his stats are still updated almost daily on this site. Thome is having a great year, and has had his share of clutch hits. He didn't get Rivera tonight. Guess what? Not a lot of people do. He's going to the Hall of Fame.

 

Up until his last few seasons with the Sox, I always thought Thomas was terrible in the clutch. The only memory I have of him being clutch during his glory years was a massive homer against Jeff Montgomery in a big game vs the Royals in the 1990s. That's one of the reasons his walkoff against Guardado was so special a few years ago...it was totally unexpected.

[ceffa2000]

But... they all fail 7 out of 10 times they come to the plate!

That truly is the essence of failure. Sheesh.

[Dan Pasqua's Rec Specs]

2 game winning HRs he's had and another huge clutch play were just mentioned. Also, Sammy Sosa had 11 career walkoff hits (9 HRs), Jim Thome? 9 Walkoff hits, all of them being HRs. The stats really don't back you up on this one.

[/q

 

If those numbers make Sammy Sosa a clutch hitter then i guess im wrong. Andi refuse to think of him as a clutch hitter cuz he never was. But If u watched cubs games toward the end of his career with the cubs he was absolutley brutal in the clutch. K everytime.

 

Also where are you getting these numbers..Off teh top of your head? You go too much off the numbers. must be a saber guy

[TitoMB345]

Sure, I would like to see Thome come up with more hits against closers. However, there has to be a line you don't cross when complaining after a game. Thome, PK, Dye, and Crede have earned the right to not receive crap after every play they do.

Wholeheartidly agree with that. Sure, we can get angry with an AB every now and then, but claiming these guys are not clutch enough, or are a reason for our overall stuggles is just absurd.

[Kalapse]

On 4/22 Jim Thome took Johan Santana deep in the bottom of the 6th inning with the team down 2-1, it put them up 3-2 which turned out to be the final score.

 

So yeah, Jim's had about 6 clutch HRs this year just off the top of our collective heads but he's not clutch.

[Dan Pasqua's Rec Specs]

2 game winning HRs he's had and another huge clutch play were just mentioned. Also, Sammy Sosa had 11 career walkoff hits (9 HRs), Jim Thome? 9 Walkoff hits, all of them being HRs. The stats really don't back you up on this one.

[/q

 

If those numbers make Sammy Sosa a clutch hitter then i guess im wrong. Andi refuse to think of him as a clutch hitter cuz he never was. But If u watched cubs games toward the end of his career with the cubs he was absolutley brutal in the clutch. K everytime.

 

Also where are you getting these numbers..Off teh top of your head? You go too much off the numbers. must be a saber guy

[Dick Allen]

well i thought maybe if we could have pulled that out our season would be going in a different direction....now were in 3rd. If you would have told me at the begining of the season this team would be in 3rd place at some point i would have laughed very hard. I am not gonna give up on this team, we have all been in this situation before, its just different now after last season......God do I wish we were in the NL...haha not really but come on, 66-46 record and we are in third place...this might have to go as the most frustrating year I have ever been through....

Liriano getting hurt might be our savior

The fact that the Twins and KW actually discussed Torii Hunter coming to the White Sox shows how far the Twins have come to pass the White Sox. I still think the Sox will finish ahead of them if Liriano is down for any length of time, but Radke has picked it up lately and Santana is still nails. This kid they just called up, Garza, I believe,is supposed to be something, hopefully he performs like Liriano did last season.

[fathom]

But... they all fail 7 out of 10 times they come to the plate!

 

Yep, and it's going to happen. Sure, you'd like to see better ABs and a guy like PK go out of his way to avoid the double play. However, that's baseball, and if it wasn't for those 4 guys, we'd be below .500 this year with our pitching.

[Felix]

Yep, and it's going to happen. Sure, you'd like to see better ABs and a guy like PK go out of his way to avoid the double play. However, that's baseball, and if it wasn't for those 4 guys, we'd be below .500 this year with our pitching.

I hope you know I was joking... right?

[fathom]

On 4/22 Jim Thome took Johan Santana deep in the bottom of the 6th inning with the team down 2-1, it put them up 3-2 which turned out to be the final score.

 

So yeah, Jim's had about 6 clutch HRs this year just off the top of our collective heads but he's not clutch.

 

Are you sure about that? I thought the homer made it 2-0, and we eventually won 7-1 in that game.

[TitoMB345]

On 4/22 Jim Thome took Johan Santana deep in the bottom of the 6th inning with the team down 2-1, it put them up 3-2 which turned out to be the final score.

 

So yeah, Jim's had about 6 clutch HRs this year just off the top of our collective heads but he's not clutch.

Could not agree more. Saying anything about Thome's clutchness is just absolutely ridiculous.

 

And that's coming from one of the most hated posters in the last few months, although I am trying to work passed that.

[southsideirish71]

Garland on the PFB show was talking about the humidity and the weather helping the ball carry. One question, isnt he a sinkerball pitcher. Brandon Webb can come into a game and keep the ball in the park, because he uses his turbo sinker. When you have a sinker use it. Garland gets hurt more on leaving his changeup up than any other pitch.

 

We are in Felix Diaz/Danny Wright/Jason Grilli/Arnie Munoz territory right now with our starting pitching. Our team is now ranked 9th in the AL in pitching. We are just ahead of Cleveland and Toronto.