TaylorStSox

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 27, 2012 -> 03:34 PM) Translation: I can't be wrong, you all are just stupid. wtf? You really have a hard on for me, eh?

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 27, 2012 -> 09:52 AM) Don't understand the Guillen hatred here. He was very good at his job in 2005, but has lost his way since. Same as Kenny Williams. There are no emoticons to express the LOL.

QUOTE (onedog#1 @ Oct 27, 2012 -> 09:12 AM) Beckham has driven me crazy too, he gets knocked for his on obp which i can agree with. I feel their is hope i saw more from beckham this year 11 and 10. I am going to give him he benefit of the doubt for this upcoming season he made improvements this will be his make or break year without question if he does not perform, ventura will give him every chance to succeed. I do feel the criticism is little too much though on him as bad as he was at the plate his defense did win us games this year, he is underrated for the defense he has, atleast top 5 2b in al defensively great range and strong arm makes tough plays. We can not blame him for losing this division, a lot of that can be because of so many damn walks our sox pitching issued later in the season and horrific with runners in scoring position from our key guys dunn, konerko,youk and so on. I was at the game saturday when they played the rays and sale got knocked early that was the nail in the coffin with detroit winning that day. You really think he has great range? I wouldn't call him a great defender because he doesn't have much range. He does suck up everything hit to him and he's awesome at turning the DP, but with his limited range, he's only a "good" defender. The only thing Beckham is really good at is having apologists. Sox fans are usually pretty harsh and unapologetic. It boggles my mind that Beckham has so many fans. Meanwhile, his DP partner is unappreciated to the point that it's comical.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 26, 2012 -> 11:19 AM) Funny you post this in the middle of the PC when Kenny is saying exactly that... It was a joke. I'm pretty sure he got it.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 26, 2012 -> 09:14 AM) Big things will always be done in committee, sure. But little to medium things, Rick will own, and big things, he will own the idea-generation and getting things served up, for discussion in said committee. That is the job of a GM. I love that you're talking in absolutes with no evidence to back it up.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 24, 2012 -> 05:38 PM) A is an assumption you are making with no data to back it up. How do you know he isn't missing more change ups? Breaking pitches? Slower fastballs? The guy said himself he was out ahead too often at one point, and you could see that if you watched him hit. Everything after A is a possible scenario, if A is true, which there is no data to say is the case. Ok, you don't get it. I'll move on.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 24, 2012 -> 05:05 PM) My explanation for the fact that his OPS went up 200 points over last year? That he had one of the biggest comebacks of the year? I don't have one, I think its complicated. My explanation for why he dropped off late in the season? The injury is certainly part of it. June and July? Hard to say, but there is exactly zero evidence that it was him not catching up to fastballs. If you can find some, let me know. That's has nothing to do with my argument. All these things are related. A. Adam Dunn has lost bat speed. B. Adam Dunn compensates by starting his swing early. C. Adam Dunn can't adjust when he starts early. D. Adam Dunn doesn't get many cheap hits and can't fight pitches off. E. Adam Dunn has seen his BA drop. 060 from his career norms over the last 1100+ plate appearances. Players with similar drop offs after losing bat speed, Alex Rodriguez, Andruw Jones, Frank Thomas.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 24, 2012 -> 04:46 PM) I think you don't understand what correlation means. So he suddenly lost bat speed after May? Why? I don't think you know what it takes to hit a fastball. I'm not going to repeat myself. If you can think of a plausible reason for Dunn hitting. 181 in over 1100 plate appearances I'm all ears. Don't bring up an injury from the end of the year. Maybe 1100+ plate appearances is too small a sample size.

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Oct 24, 2012 -> 04:03 PM) http://www.baseballanalytics.org/baseball-...-fastballs.html END DISCUSSION That's from May. As I said before, for Dunn, hitting fastballs has more to do with getting started early than bat speed.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 24, 2012 -> 03:50 PM) Correlation would indicate two strings of data. You have one - batting average. Show me how he does on fastballs at various velocities, then you can call it a correlation. Catching up with fastballs was just not his issue. I actually came up with 2. His swings and misses are a result of starting early to compensate for his lack of bat speed.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 24, 2012 -> 02:02 PM) I can't speak for him, but I am saying that prior to the injury, he had no trouble catching up to fastballs. After that, it was hit and miss (figuratively and literally), based on the injury. There's simply a direct correlation between bat speed and BA. Dunn's hitting. 181 over his last 1100+ at bats. It's not some coincidence and the problem was apparent well before his oblique tear. Catching up to fastballs has more to do with guessing right than bat speed. Bat speed allows a hitter to make adjustments when he's fooled and still generate hits. It happens to everyone. It's happening to Dunn earlier than most. It's cause for concern. Well, obviously there's concern when a guy is hitting. 181 over 1145 at bats. God, that's awful. I forgot to add that it's also why he misses balls by a foot. He has to get started early. When he's fooled, it's ugly.

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Oct 24, 2012 -> 01:42 PM) What happened there? You try tearing your oblique and swing a bat with the same torque and speed as before, it's not gonna happen. Quote fail. He knew what I was asking.

b****esname='southsider2k5' date='Oct 24, 2012 -> 07:56 AM' post='2718711'] He tore his oblique and lost bat speed, imagine that. So now you're saying he did lose bat soeed? Which is it?

QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 08:24 PM) Dunn's run/RBI production last year made his contract fair. If all he does is have similar seasons, I'm honestly okay with that. In the end, my philosophy is that your typical metrics like BA, OPS, K's are just things we used to project someone's potential to contribute runs to the team (either by scoring them or driving them in). Those metrics are cause for concern, but if he wants to hit 40+ HR and 95+ RBI along with being 2nd on the team in runs scored (I think) then I'm okay with his contract, especially considering that it isn't real long term at this point. As for his bat speed, not the issue. He isn't behind fastballs, he just misses them often. It's arguably a more fixable problem. O RLY? Exactly. To say "dump player X because I like player Y on our own roster better" is an easily executable move. To say "Freddy Garcia the All-Star and ace pitcher is worth trading for, go get him" is super easy to say. Hey Kenny, dream big! Get Mike Trout! See, I have great trade ideas too. KW still gets a good share of the credit for Freddy because he negotiated the trade, managed to give away nothing, then robbed the Phillies blind when we dealt Freddy away. Over Dunn's last 1145 PA's he's hitting .181. Think about that for a second. He still has power, but a drop in BA like that is a huge sign a guy's losing bat speed. He can still get the bat through the zone occasionally, but not consistently.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 12:22 PM) Dunn is in the opposite of sharp decline - the guy just won comeback player of the year. Also, if you watched Dunn this year, it wasn't that he was behind on fastballs. He's still got plenty of bat speed. For him, that is clearly not the issue. The guy hit .159 and .204 in the last 2 years. The year before that, he hit .260. From '10 to this year, his OPS dropped almost 100 points. Come on. When was the oblique injury? He was awful after May, absolutely dreadful. If you don't think that's a sharp decline, I don't know what the hell one is. I'm not a Dunn hater by any means, but let's get back to reality. If you don't think he's lost bat speed, then you're in complete denial. That Comeback Player of the Year award's an absolute joke. Rios had such a better year than Dunn it's laughable to even compare.

QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 20, 2012 -> 01:28 PM) These players have nothing in common All 3 have always had real long swings and a 1 handed follow through.

Rodriguez, Jones and Dunn all have something in common that everyone should be weary of... Long swing + Age + Loss of bat speed = sharp decline. Those guys who made up for their swing with bat speed usually have a sharp decline.

Whoever grabs ARod might actually get a steal for the first couple years. A pissed off, rededicated ARod might be a force. Staying healthy is another story.

Trade for Arod. Get him to go back out with Madonna. Have her play 10 shows at the Cell. Boom! Attendance issue solved. Merge threads.

Obviously Tuna knows far more about the subject than me. I've lived in some rough areas and had many friends and some family involved in gangs. My take... One aspect you have to consider is that most gangbangers, especially in Hispanic gangs, really believe in their "nation." There is a real sense of nationalism among their members. They identify with the nation more so than America. As a result, they view themselves as soldiers. Few question an actual soldier when they commit acts of violence. They did it for God and Country. Gang members are also trying to protect their family, their neighborhood and their source of income.es. In my experience, a lot of the black gangs are involved more for the money aspect. Selling drugs is the easiest way to earn money. You can't sell drugs unless you're a member of the gang. So naturally, you join the gang. The structure of the black gangs has completely deteriorated over the last 20 years due to the leadership being imprisoned. For example, Larry Hoover can't control the GD's because he's in Supermax and can no longer communicate. As a result, the structure has broken down. It's every man for himself, or every crew for themselves. This explains a lot of centralized problems in Englewood. Jeff Fort can't control the Vice Lords due to the same issue and they also suffer from infighting. A lot of black on black gang violence is committed by members of the same gangs, or related gangs. GD vs. GD or GD vs. BD etc. I'm not sure if there's a solution. You're dealing with subcultures where this lifestyle is engrained. A lot of the members truly believe in the gang. Really, it's not a whole lot different than what you see in the Middle East. The area around the UC has improved since the Horner Homes and Rockwell Gardens have been torn down, but it's not the type of place you want to walk around at night.

His K numbers are still good too. He does tend to give up some big hits though.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Oct 9, 2012 -> 10:54 AM) Showed up? What do you mean? Threw a temper tantrum because he didn't like a play. The best was with Dunn. Dunn didn't advance on a medium fly ball hit to Frenchy, of all people, so AJ walked slowly back to the dugout and stared Dunn down. It was awkward to say the least. People don't notice it because Hawk refuses to criticize his boy toy. I'm pretty sure Stone mentioned it. Him and Peavy would stall games because they couldn't agree on a pitch. It was pretty much all ego from both of them. 99% of players handle that s*** in the dugout or clubhouse, but not AJ.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Oct 8, 2012 -> 06:22 PM) There is no "character risk" with AJ. Anyway, he'll probably gladly re-sign with the Sox if they make him a decent offer for multiple years - and they should. This year alone he showed up Peavy, Rios, De Aza and Dunn. That's only the times I remember. That s*** isn't going to fly on any team that has an ounce of leadership.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 8, 2012 -> 06:55 PM) A: Rios, Pierzysnki, Sale, Peavy, Jones, Veal, Crain B: Konerko, De Aza, Youkilis, Wise, Quintana, Santiago, Crain, Thornton, Myers C+: Dunn, Flowers, Floyd, Reed C-: Beckham, Liriano D: Ramirez, Viciedo, Humber F: Hudson, Morel Crain was busy to get graded twice. Ramirez and Viciedo as D's is insane.

Did Jesse Crain spend his evenings running over your guy's dogs or something? IP: 48 ERA: 2.44 WHIP: 1.08 Hits: 28 K: 60 Tough crowd.