fathom

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 11:00 PM) Face it, this team is incapable of playing any better than what we've seen in the second half. We do not have a lead off hitter and our pitching - starting and relief - is terribly inconsistent. If they get into the playoffs it will be with help from the Twins and/or Tigers, not because they're going to go on some epic tear. I'm not saying we're going to back in to the playoffs, but get in by the hair of our chinny-chin-chins (if at all). We're basically a 6 or 7 man team right now. If Crede, Dye, Garland, MacDougal, or Thornton don't play a big part in the game, we haven't been very good. Guys like PK, Anderson, Thome, and Thornton have had their moments, but they've either been too inconsistent or failed in clutch situations.

What a shocker....Tony and Rowand come into an optimistic thread and try to make it negative.

I'm excited to add some speed to our bench. It will give us more versatility late in the games, and the 3rd catcher will help us be a little more proactive also.

It's the end of August.....and we're 1/2 game up in the Wild Card. If I were to take a step back, I would realize how fortunate we are to be in this position. This has been a very frustrating season so far....but we're still in a much better position than we've been in any of the last five years besides for 2005. We control our own destiny, and that's a lot better than having to hope that teams can beat the Twins like we've had to hope for in previous seasons. By no means is this team clicking on all cylinders right now, but they still find ways to win games. Just as last year where a 2 run lead in the 3rd inning seemed like a guaranteed victory, the games this leads this year don't feel safe even after Jenks retires the 26th out of the game. It's time for some solid September play...and it would be nice to see us get off to a good start by not making Runelvys Hernandez look like Cy Young/McCarthy.

QUOTE(loltrain @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 10:29 PM) San Diego for Kottaras is the rumor I have heard, which would be quite a good deal for Boston in my opinion. The Padres would be nuts for giving him up for a month of Wells.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 10:10 PM) How could the team name not be out yet? Anyone think it might be the Twins?

What's the latest on Lester? Sounds scary...hope it's not Hodgkins.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 09:44 PM) I say play Pods every day and upgrade this offseason. We can't win a pennant with the other options out there. We're still in the race with a month to go. Those other guys are all scrubs. You've got to play Pods. The other guys are not MLB starters. Pods is absolutely not a MLB caliber starter. At least Gload and/or Mackowiak have certain skills that aren't mediocre. Maybe Ozzie will try to loosen up this team, and he'll give Sweeney a shot.

QUOTE(PlunketChris @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 09:43 PM) We're playing the Royals.. the worst team in Baseball (though, I think most of you would pin that on the White Sox..) And our two main worries are playing the Yankees and the Angels, both good teams. Yes, I've watched this team all year, and when we go into games against teams like the Royals, I usually feel like we've got a good chance of winning. And when I see our competition playing teams like the Yankees or Angels, I feel like they've got a better chance to lose. I still feel that these next 3 days will make or break what happens the rest of the year because we're going to need a buffer on atleast the Twins to be able to make it into the playoffs. The problem is that we have 3 games left with KC...and then we have a killer schedule the rest of the way. The Twins and Tigers have a much easier schedule than we do the rest of this season. If we go on the west coast and play the way we're doing now, we won't win a game against the Angels or A's. QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 09:44 PM) Since the allstar break Lets take 2 players. Pods is batting .230 with a .289 OBP. He only gets substituted against tough lefties. He should be benched, but gets trotted out there, like this is 2005. Anderson his hitting .297 with a .347 OBP. He gets pinch hit for, and is in a platoon. Ozzie needs his Marlin like guy or he cant function. AJ is hitting .250 since the ASB, including .216 for the month of August. Since he went into power mode. What can I say....no one knows this team better than Ozzie.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 09:31 PM) We can lose with the best of them. 8-9-1 currently is about the most pathetic stretch I can recall in Sox uniforms. I did say as long as we win 7/8 series, we'd get in, and we won this series, but it feels like we gave one away. #2 has been just as bad, outside of last night's homer.

Everyone keeps throwing out the standings right now as proof of one thing or another. It's real simple...we have a very tough schedule starting on Labor Day, and if this team doesn't improve in nearly every aspect, they're not going to make the playoffs. We're not going to be able to back into the playoffs. Either these guys start playing with intensity and intelligence....or they're going home.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 09:29 PM) Josh Mora really getting on Cora... That was actually the proper decision too....finally.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 09:27 PM) Gee I wonder why that is. Because we tried to make this like last year, and didn't upgrade at the trade deadline. Meanwhile, we have the worst LF situation in all of baseball. QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 09:27 PM) There's no way this game is on Ozzie. Our guys play with so little intensity in these games that it's sickening. Jerry Manuel was fired for the lack of intensity. FWIW, I'm not blaming Ozzie for today's loss. He made his typical dumb decisions, but you have got to score more than 3 runs against the caliber of pitchers we faced today.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 09:21 PM) And one of those runs shouldn't even have scored. This team makes my head hurt. PK said in the paper he doesn't like to DH, as he gets fatigued from swinging so much in between innings. Since he's a vastly superior defensive player to Gload, we need to keep him on the field.

QUOTE(Friend of Nordhagen @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 09:19 PM) Yeah. And the fact that he's pitched so badly lately leads us to take him out after the 6th, go to Thornton in the 7th (not the 8th). Whatever. Just aggravating as hell. That Tampa lineup was pathetic today....it shows how much our pitching sucks when they get more than 10 hits and 3 of our 4 pitchers allow a run to them.

QUOTE(Cerbaho-WG @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 09:18 PM) Gotta love the pitch calling by AJ/whoever in the 10th. Man on 2nd, no outs, 1-2 count and you throw a changeup to a left handed hitter? Idiotic. He's the most overrated player on our team now...which sucks because he was easily the most underrated guy on the team last year.

QUOTE(G&T @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 09:16 PM) I wonder if they realize that they can win the division if they actually tried. Why does this game matter...they consistently state that every game isn't the end of the world right now. If Tampa played any defense this series, we would have been swept. I'm so glad we hit Delmon to start the series...we really showed him.

How much more does Pods have to suck before he gets removed from the starting lineup?

The swings these players are taking in walkoff situations is absolutely embarrassing.

QUOTE(kwolf68 @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 09:12 PM) this is one of the most embarassing performances of offensive baseball ive seen in some time....These pitchers are all terrible, their stats are not worthy of major league yet they will have shut us out over the last 4.1 on 1 hit and 6 Ks????? This team doesn't deserve this damn division. Our offense has really been quite average it seems in the 2nd half of the year. Only Dye and Crede seem to consistently contribute.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 09:10 PM) Anderson gets the PH, but not for Pods....hmmmmm.... At least we're not seeing the same mistakes we've seen during the entire 2nd half of the season.

This team has had absolutely no killer instinct to sweep teams this season. The disturbing this is that we've led in a ton of games where we could have gotten the sweep, but the bullpen collapsed.

QUOTE(AbeFroman @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 08:25 PM) Having to use your closer in three consecutive games against the devil rays... sigh... Um..not really

QUOTE(CYGarland @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 08:25 PM) That was bad. you cant just lay it in there ona 3-1 count in a 1 run game. Thornton's been burned a few times this season in that exact same situation.

Far homer by Navarro?