fathom

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 10:21 PM) He got his fastball back in 2004 though. He was consistently hitting 94-97 on the gun, he just had absolutely no control of it at all and was very ineffective. He went from the high 90s to 93 consistently. That shouldn't be happening to someone his age.

QUOTE(shoota @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 09:57 PM) Billy Koch. He lost his fastball in less than half a year. He had it in October with the A's and didn't have it the next March with the Sox. I wonder how that happened?

QUOTE(Jake @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 08:32 PM) I think it's at least in part personal choice. He's spoken to the media about the decision, and in clutch situations I've seen him in the low to mid 90's. I believe someone with Garcia's winning past would be wise enough to quit the BS if he really thought that. He's hurting himself and his team with his velocity this season.

QUOTE(champ @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 07:42 PM) We have young, and CHEAP corner outfielders waiting...why not? Why not? Both Fields and Sweeney have some question marks about how much offense they'll produce in the majors.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 07:48 PM) Apparently the Abreu and Lidle signings did not spark the Yankees. We should skip past them easily in the Wild Card standings. [/sarcasm] I believe we'll face Lidle next week. He's dominated us in the past.

QUOTE(wsox08 @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 06:50 PM) I definitely noticed that w/ Cotts in Balt and Thornton in KC Neither pitcher feels comfortable pitching up and in on a lefty. Thornton's slider is coming around, but it's still not reliable. Cotts, on the other hand, seems to have completely lost his offspeed pitch, and that's why he's getting smacked around.

There was a game this year where Garcia tried to throw inside fastballs. It was against the Yankees, and after 4 batters, he abandoned that approach after 800 feet worth of homers by Jeter and ARod. Garcia doesn't have good enough control to consistently throw his 88 mph fastball in on the hands.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 04:19 PM) The pitching is tired. What did everyone expect? We had guys with the highest load of innings last year, and two guys in the WBC. They are extremely tired, and our offense is not very consistent. We just have to hope that we can pull of the WC and hope we get hot in the playoffs. Thats our only hope. Here's a wild and crazy idea. If your guys threw a ton of innings last year, pitched in the WBC, and can't get guys out late in the game....then pull them sooner rather than later. Ozzie has been managing this pitching staff all season like they were the 2005 White Sox starting pitching. The problem is that the guys are suffering from the load from last season, and they're continuing to throw a ton of pitches. As everyone points out, our bullpen has the fewest amount of innings in the AL this season. We're definitely not the first team in MLB history to see their starters suffer the following season after making a long postseason run the season before.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 03:53 PM) Or at least, when he hits a pitch on which he flies out to the warning track, do not start the next at bat with the same *&*&*(&()^(&^(^&(*^&*(^%^*(%$^%$^% pitch. As we all know, baseball is a game of adjustments. It seems like this season has seen the Sox pitchers/catcher not adjust their game plan during the course of the game. It could very well be the reason why so many of our guys are imploding late in the game.

QUOTE(loltrain @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 03:39 PM) I would say the Cubs and the Pirates are both worse, and the Devil Rays are about the same. The Royals have been playing pretty well since july or so, the last time Detroit played them we didn't sweep them either and they scored alot of runs against our pitching. The Cubs aren't nearly as bad as the Royals. The Cubs still have a couple of real good hitters, they have an ace, and a strong back of the bullpen. Right now, KC's offense looks a lot better than it is because Mark Teahen is becoming a star. Maybe I'm crazy, but teams might want to start throwing him offspeed pitches.

QUOTE(dasox24 @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 06:29 AM) Poor Great Falls. They have some players with very good indivual #'s, but they can't seem to win. Anybody ever wonder why Redding never gets a shot at being called up. I mean, he was pretty decent as a major leaguer, so with our recent troubles, he could at least get a shot. However, that was only gonna happen if we traded a starter, which could've meant moving BMac to starter and Redding to Bmac's role. Looks like he'll be in AAA the rest of the year. Redding's awful. The hitting in the International League is brutal this season, and that's why you see so many low ERAs around the league.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 02:27 PM) When I read that Wood was done this season, and he wants to come out of the bullpen next season, it sparked my interest. I think a team will throw more money that they probably should, but if he is cheap enough, I would have NO problem with loading up a deal with incentives, and having Wood come out of the pen. My prediction = Rangers

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 02:41 PM) I really question Uribe's intelligence after last night's game. Think about this. You are playing your first game since being benched for lack of intensity and focus on defense. And in this first game, you take a one-handed swipe at a foul pop-up, and you drop it. If he didn't know to use two hands THE FIRST DAY BACK FROM BEING BENCHED, then he's an idiot. And Uribe is one of my favorite Sox players. Our guys never, ever use two hands. I think it's funny that happened to Uribe. As I said in another post, he's been amazing ever since he's been with the Sox at catching anything in the air that touches his glove. We've given everyone else a chance to work over their problems this year....Uribe deserves the chance to work out of his recent slump.

QUOTE(Controlled Chaos @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 01:26 PM) In light of this, I wanted to make a comment on Freddy and didn't want to start a whole new thread. I hate this comment from the times this morning...''I made my pitches,'' Garcia said. ''I never really pitch good here, but I threw well. We didn't hit. What can I say?'' First off 4 earned runs in 6 innings isn't pitching well. Better? Yes....but not well. Second, don't blame the hitters. I know they didn't hit..they know they didn't hit, but you lost collectively. This is the big difference between Freddy and someone like Buehrle. Mark would never say something like "I did my job, but they didn't hit" He would say "my team gave me the lead and I blew it." Freddy needs to be taught the meaning of TEAM again. When he gives up 5, 6 or 8 runs, Do the hitters say...hey Freddy blew it. I can't believe Freddy made these comments. What an absolute terrible attitude. I wonder what Ozzie will have to say about this. I can only hope that this type of comment only adds to the possibility that Garcia is traded this offseason.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 05:08 AM) You sure about this total? Is there a 300ft porch in whichever field Charlotte played? EDIT: You're right. I browsed gameday through the boxscore -- Durham's LF wall is 305ft. Yep, it's very short there. Durham's field is fantastic though...great place to watch a game.

QUOTE(PA32R @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 05:07 AM) I wish. I see no evidence that any of the five starters with the POSSIBLE exception of Contreras have a dominating game in their arm. I can't even remember the last dominating game. Garland a couple of times.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 05:02 AM) 1 more HR and Sweeney matches his career total entering the season. and it was his 2nd HR on the road!!! From what I was told, Sweeney's homer was an impressive shot to right center. Fields' two homers went a combined 620 feet, FWIW.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 04:54 AM) Ok, so his numbers have gone up a little bit since I last looked at his player card. Make it a D+. Here's my thinking on Uribe....he's playing a hell of a lot better now than he was earlier in the year. His defense has slumped for the last week or so....it happens. As soon as he gets his release point back on his throws, he'll be someone who actually isn't a "problem". We have a lot more holes to worry about than Uribe. Our infield is excellent overall.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 04:53 AM) What was wrong with his performance? I think he battled pretty good. On a night where your two big sluggers are out, it would be nice if the starting pitcher can put the team on his back and pitch a masterpiece. I'm sick of our pitchers "battling". How about they go out there and step up and dominate?

QUOTE(greg775 @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 04:51 AM) Yes but was Vaz a 5 inning pitcher when Oz wanted us to get him? Is this his history? All I am saying is if he is a five inning guy then KW should demand we switch roles and make McCarthy the starter. A manager has to expect more than 5 innings from a starter especially one who is as highly paid as Vaz. He was known as a pitcher that could give you a lot of innings....but with each inning comes the chance of another implosion by him. For the last few years, he's definitely been "Judy" Vazquez (I hate the whole Judy thing, but it fits well here).

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 04:50 AM) D. His defense has to be better than this if he's going to hit .220. Correct me if I'm wrong, but 79-319 is .248?

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...-home-headlines Interesting comments by Ozzie at the bottom of this article. If he's being honest, maybe Mackowiak will start to get more playing time in LF.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 04:44 AM) I don't want to hear one fishing person suggest Garcia's outting was good except for "the wind blown HR." It doesn't matter whether or not mother nature assisted the pitch. I'm tired of the excuses to justify poor performances. If I don't have to hear it I'll be a happy person. One of these days, our starter is going to win the game for the whole team. You know, like an 8 inning, 1 run performance or something like that. Our starting rotation is underachieving so much. QUOTE(greg775 @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 04:44 AM) Let's face it. We ain't good enough this year. The magic ain't there. Our pen is spotty. Our D is spotty. Even when are healthy our lineup is all convaluted (sp). It ain't our year. Can we eke out a wild card bid? There's definitely no way to "eke" out a WC bid this year. Whoever wins the AL WC is going to have to play superb ball the rest of the way.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 04:43 AM) Hopefully 25 and 14 will be back to stare him in the face. PK sounds optimistic that he should be fine for this wknd. I will be ECSTATIC if we win 2 of 3 this wknd.

We can now add Cotts to pitchers that we can't rely on. Or should I say, he continues to be a pitcher we can't rely on.