This guy went from savior to now being on the verge of having his job in jeporady in a matter of a year and a half. Following the 2005 season his name was one of the hottest out there as far as pitching coaches are concerned. I can even recall hearing rumors that the Yankees were trying to get him. Well, last year he deserved some slack because the team was coming off a championship but this year I think there will be very little slack and if this pitching staff continues to struggle into the month of May and June I wouldn't be surprised to see Coop let go. It is hard to fathom a pitching staff that was so solid in '05 look so mediocre last year and potentially BAD this year. What happened? And again not all the blame can be placed on the pitching coach because the players still have to perform but it's never a good sign when your players are performing worse and worse each time out and no longer progressing

Mercy!

You don't teach pitchers to walk 10 f***ing people in a game...thats flat on the back of the pitchers, not Coop...

 

 

Good lawd.

Just off the top of my head, what about what he did with Thronton?

With all the people calling for Ozzie's head, I was wonder how long it would take people to start calling for Mike North's buddy Don Cooper to be fired. Oh the humanity!

sorry just a little fired up

i mean this is just pathetic my confidence in this staff is less than that of a staff like the orioles right now

Cooper never deserved all the credit he got for the staff being great in 05', and doesn't deserve as much of the blame as some would like to place on him now, but certainly, he is nowhere near having his job in jeopardy at this point, and wouldn't even if the staff were to struggle into June.

 

This is a knee-jerk reaction.

Just off the top of my head, what about what he did with Thronton?

 

what did he do with thornton? the guy did have one good season, i will give him that. but until he strings two or three good seasons together i wouldnt call him a huge success. if he reverts to 2006 neal cotts form this season what good is he?

 

Cooper never deserved all the credit he got for the staff being great in 05', and doesn't deserve as much of the blame as some would like to place on him now, but certainly, he is nowhere near having his job in jeopardy at this point, and wouldn't even if the staff were to struggle into June.

 

This is a knee-jerk reaction.

i have to disagree, right or wrong, his job will be in jeopardy if the sox pitching staff is in the bottom 3 of the AL come june

Greg "PULL EVERYTHING" Walker should be unemployed before Cooper.

Greg "PULL EVERYTHING" Walker should be unemployed before Cooper.

 

I say they should change the slogan for this year to "Home Runs are more fun!"

its still pretty cold to be July

Coop's philosophy is throw strikes. Fill the strikezone and use your talent to get ahead. The pitchers are not throwing strikes at all. They are nibbling, throwing the ball without any thoughts to were it goes, or having poor concentration. Too many fat 1-2 and 0-2 pitches.

 

Garland is a contact pitcher that needs to pitch ahead and to get hitters to wave at his sinker. He like a lof our pitchers needs to hit his spots.

 

Contreras needs to start throwing hard again. When I see him dipping down a bunch of times, that tells me either he is lazy with his mechanics or his back is still hurting him.

 

Garland needs to man the f*** up, and throw strikes. He cannot live behind in the count.

 

Buerhle needs to pound in on righties.

 

Javy needs to throw strikes, and keep his mechanics in check past the 75 pitch mark.

 

Danks needs to throw strikes, and use his change and curve to be affective.

people are acting as if this has only been a 2 game problem.

 

guess no one remembers 2006

That's ridiculous. Not like Coop wouldn't be snatched up in all of 3.5 seconds. Can Coop hold everybody's hand for offseason routines to see if they're are in 100% shape? Can Coop get into guys heads and control their mental states? Does Coop actually make the crappy pitches? Please...get a grip.

people are acting as if this has only been a 2 game problem.

 

guess no one remembers 2006

no i mentioned that previously. thats what it is so concerning there is a trend developing and its seeming to get worse before it gets better

 

That's ridiculous. Not like Coop wouldn't be snatched up in all of 3.5 seconds. Can Coop hold everybody's hand for offseason routines to see if they're are in 100% shape? Can Coop get into guys heads and control their mental states? Does Coop actually make the crappy pitches? Please...get a grip.

i didn't say that i believe it is all his fault because i agree that a large degree of the blame falls on the players. but lets put it this way he isnt helping his own cause and coaches are judged based on the performance of their players, how else can you evaluate a coach? right or wrong, if things continue to go poorly for this staff cooper WILL take a large amount of blame which could very well result in his release

Edited April 4, 200718 yr by JUSTgottaBELIEVE

I think that if he spent less time calling the Mike North Morning show, and more time teaching our pitchers some things, we would be in better shape.

That is wrong.....................Fire Coop he would have a job in 15 seconds. Lay off Coop!

I think that if he spent less time calling the Mike North Morning show, and more time teaching our pitchers some things, we would be in better shape.

well if you have heard him on the north show the second half of last year or this year you notice a much different man than the one from 2005 and the first half of 06. you can tell he snaps much more quickly and is actually very defensive to most things north says (surprise, surprise). either way this shows me that he too has some worries in his own mind if nothing else

 

That is wrong.....................Fire Coop he would have a job in 15 seconds. Lay off Coop!

it wouldnt be the first time a good coach/manager has been fired and it won't be the last.

2 games into the season, and someone's calling for a coaches head? This isn't the NFL. He'll get at least this season to have our pitchers start living up to expectations. If this team is anywhere near the BP predictions, then we're going to have a lot of changes.

it wouldnt be the first time a good coach/manager has been fired and it won't be the last.

 

so why would you fire a good coach then?

so why would you fire a good coach then?

 

Because he lets Mike North get under his skin

2 games into the season, and someone's calling for a coaches head? This isn't the NFL. He'll get at least this season to have our pitchers start living up to expectations. If this team is anywhere near the BP predictions, then we're going to have a lot of changes.

Even if this team winds up near where BP puts us...I still think you hold onto Cooper for a couple more years. I mean, if nothing else, look at the performance of Mr. Aardsma today. Maybe I'm just grasping at straws, but I've seen as many pitchers turn their careers around for at least a season under Mr. Cooper in the last 2 years as i have under any pitching coach not named Leo. Sometimes things don't work out, and that may well be the fault of Mr. Cooper and whatever conditioning program he puts these guys on in the offseason, but in terms of teaching people how to pitch, he seems like he's had some extraordinary successes.

 

To add to that, if this team winds up near where BP puts us, and we wind up selling mid-season or just letting people walk at season's end...I want Cooper being the guy around coaching the next generation of 3-4-5 starters in our rotation, whoever they might be.

Btw, op -- please don't use thread titles like this, making it sound like it's news or some scoop. Don't dress your own personal speculation up as if it were fact.

Even if this team winds up near where BP puts us...I still think you hold onto Cooper for a couple more years. I mean, if nothing else, look at the performance of Mr. Aardsma today. Maybe I'm just grasping at straws, but I've seen as many pitchers turn their careers around for at least a season under Mr. Cooper in the last 2 years as i have under any pitching coach not named Leo. Sometimes things don't work out, and that may well be the fault of Mr. Cooper and whatever conditioning program he puts these guys on in the offseason, but in terms of teaching people how to pitch, he seems like he's had some extraordinary successes.

 

To add to that, if this team winds up near where BP puts us, and we wind up selling mid-season or just letting people walk at season's end...I want Cooper being the guy around coaching the next generation of 3-4-5 starters in our rotation, whoever they might be.

 

Agree. Aardsma could very well be one of Kenny's steals when all is said and done. Much like Thornton. Even though he gave up the dinger today...he's the guy I wanted out there.

so why would you fire a good coach then?

i dont know ask the white sox why they fired tony larussa