Balta1701

Tampa Bay pitching has the 2nd most walks in the AL next to the Royals. Especially without Kazmir, we ought to spend this whole series taking as many pitches as we can. We started out darn well today.

26 pitches thus far this inning. We have swung the bat 6 times. That is some fine work Greg Walker.

Thus far this inning we have swung at 3 pitches. All of them were foul balls.

QUOTE(G&T @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 05:47 PM) I think it's just that he's a rookie who thinks he's better than everyone. He's made comments about being in the minors while the D-Ray aren't good, etc. I think he's just a jag. Besides, Freddy Garcia threw the pitch, so it couldn't have hurt that much.

A 123 inning here would just be dynamite...

QUOTE(G&T @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 05:28 PM) PK has been getting pitches to kill lately and he can't do anything with it right now. He's hitting .357 in August with a .930 OPS. His HR numbers are just a little bit down.

39 and counting....#23 is just putting this team on his back right now.

14 pitches, 4 strikes to start the game. Seriously, if anyone swings at the first pitch until Fossum gets into a rhythm...they should have their head beaten in with a bat.

Wow, our team actually can steal bases too! Has Podsednik even stolen 3rd at all this season? He was so great at doing so before he was hurt.

Baldelli, CF Upton, 3B Crawford, LF Norton, DH Navarro, C Cantu, 2b Witt, 1b Young, RF Zobrist, SS Fossum, P Nawton is actually hitting Cleanup for the D-Rays.

No Thome eh? Wonder if he'll be available to Pinch Hit yet. With the Lefty on the mound I guess I can understand giving him 1 more day off. Hopefully this doesn't mean he had a setback today. And thank Jesus, Allah, Buddha, Shiva, and about any other Deity you can think of that we don't have another game of Mack in CF today.

I think they'll get the game in. Still 1.5 hours for this line to head through before scheduled 1st pitch. Might be a bit of a delay at the start.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 03:17 PM) This is one of those I agree with the analysis, but my gut tells me Detroit stays ahead of either the Sox or the Twins. I can see one or the other passing them by. I can't see them not making the playoffs at this time. In fact, having this slump may help them, like it did the Sox way back in 2005 when they won the division. A lot of it depends on how they react right now. Like I said, they have a much tougher next 3 days than either the White Sox or Twins. It's entirely possible that their lead could be down to 2 games or less by the time the Angels roll into Detroit this weekend if Detroit doesn't step up right now. The White Sox found it in them to step it up right when things looked their darkest, that day when some sort of human-animal hybrid caused Ken Harrelson's head to explode. Detroit is going to be looking at having that day this week or next. They don't have Polonco, I don't think the pitching matchups favor them in these next 6 days, and they don't have momentum right now. My gut tells me they're in real trouble, but my head tells me that I'll know a lot more next Sunday when they've finished with the Angels.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 02:56 PM) I should say it is more probable Detroit will have a worse record than either Minny or the Sox in this last stretch. I don't believe they will collapse enough for both teams to pass them. The whole reason I'm looking at Detroit right now is that I'm looking at recent history, where both the White Sox and Twinkies have played better than Detroit recently, Detroit is missing at least 1 key piece, Detroit is giving playing time to Neifi Perez, and Detroit has to face the 2 teams chasing them on the road, along with the Yankees on the road right now. We'll really know a lot about what Detroit has left in the tank after the LA Angels go to Detroit next weekend I think. If they don't pull out of their slide and play darn well against the Yankees and Halos, then they'll have a 3 game with Seattle before a big 4 game series at the Twinkie dome. Meanwhile, the White Sox are playing the D-Rays and Royals, and the Twins get 3 games at home against the Royals before going to New York for 3. Both teams have a real opportunity to make up a lot of ground very quickly here if Detroit doesn't play well. Detroit could literally be several games out of the Wild Card by the end of that 4 game set in Minnesota if they don't turn around quick.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 02:50 PM) Also if dye only had two hits in his twenty at-bats with one lonely double this swap idea i keep seeing/hearing would never have been brought up. I have just come to accept that people love sample sizes and have short term memories. The performance of Dye, Iguchi, and Thome against lefties and righties is, at this point, no longer a sample size issue, but a fact of this season. Having Iguchi, Thome, and Podsednik all together weakens us tremendously against left handers, which is the biggest reason by far why I would like Dye in the 3 hole...it prevents a team from being able to bring in a guy like a Jamie Walker or a Dennys Reyes to pitch to 3 guys who are hitting .219, .233, and .247 against Lefties.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 02:51 PM) Less probably. Talk to me again next Sunday after Detroit is done with NYY and the Halos. If it's still 4-5 games or more a lead, then I'll agree. But they're 6-13 in their last 19 games. And they still have to go to both Minny and Chicago.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 02:43 PM) What it tells me is either Minny or the Sox will stumble. Which is probably accurate. Or Detroit.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 02:23 PM) Didn't Thome bat 4th or 5th for all of those great Indians teams? Career AB's Batting: 3rd: 1038 4th: 1853 5th: 1490 6th: 720 7th: 513 8th: 333 9th: 35

QUOTE(WCSox @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 02:07 PM) This team doesn't have the starters to go anywhere near 31-1, especially considering the talent they're facing next month. I could see 24-8 if they got really lucky. But agreed that when healthy, Thome should be moved into the 5-hole and JD up to the 3-spot. You know, I think Thome would work best in the 4 hole personally. That way you keep his OBP in front of Konerko and Crede so that there's more likely to be a person on base when they destroy a ball. You could also have the nice looking, balanced lineup of "LRRLRRLRR" (on the 2 days per month when we actually play our opening day lineup) which would make it even more difficult for teams to use LOOGY's effectively to knock out anyone except Thome. QUOTE(Hangar18 @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 02:08 PM) I brought this up to a group of people I know, and I was Lambasted. Perception was that Thome was somehow being looked down on. Hey, im not the biggest Thome fan out there, but I like a contact guy like Dye much better there. If Thome had been playing in those games, we wouldve been SWEPT. You can book that. Out of sheer luck (Thome injury), we were able to pull one out Wait a second, how would Thome playing on Sunday have made us get swept? The one game where it was most key that Dye was in the 3 hole was Saturday against Santana, and we lost that game in heartbreaking fashion anyway. Sunday we took care of business against Carlos Silva, and the whole lineup did it's job, including the bottom of the order.

QUOTE(beautox @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 01:48 PM) In 1943 during WWII The Stealers and Eagles merged and became known as the Steagles. Pittsburgh's football team spells its name the "Steelers". They are not thieves, but in fact, play in a city nicknamed the "Steel City" due to the amount of steel it produces.

QUOTE(cgaudin @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 01:51 PM) If Thome is coming back to hit in the 3 hole, I'd rather take my chances with him on the DL and keeping Dye hitting 3rd. Thome coming back to the 3 spot will seal our fate. Don't get me wrong, I want him in the lineup, just not hitting 3rd. If...and this is a big If...Jim Thome could find his swing and health enough to hit one of those classic Jim Thome hot streaks where he's destroying everything in sight, I could take him in the 3 hole. Think April. When Big Jim is on fire, the more times he comes to the plate, the better, because no one can beat him. Aside from that, yeah JD should be in the 3 hole.

QUOTE(valponick @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 01:51 PM) Please, do you have any idea where we would be without Garland in the second half? Do you have any idea where we'd be without Jenks? Yes, Garland has been very good in the 2nd half, but if we're talking about a "Team Cy Young" award, or best pitcher on a team, or most key guy, you have to give it to Jenks because he's been rock solid the whole year.

Dye and Jenks. And it's not really close. Pitching staff runner up would probably have to be Thornton IMO, he's about the only other one who's been reliable for most of the season.

QUOTE(VAfan @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 01:35 PM) I like the fact that we still haven't played up to our potential. I understand what you're saying with this, in that there's still room for this team to go 31-1 and play like it should for the last month of the season, but I'm afraid I don't "like" that fact, solely because we haven't played up to our potential to this point, so there's now very little time left for us to actually do it. Then again, one of my preseason predictions (man did I miss the pitching staff) was that Jim Thome would go down the stretch and be on fire, as a man-on-a-mission to finally get himself a ring. It'd sure be nice if that was the case.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 01:27 PM) So, what happens if they are even in H2H? And what happens in a 3-way tie? IIRC, in a 3 way tie, there are 2 play in games, with the site of the game decided by a coin flip. With it looking like any 3 way tie would be 3 teams for 2 spots (and not 3 teams for 1 spot with the wild card in another division) the teams that win the 2 games would wind up in the playoffs...the team that loses the first game would play the 2nd team the next day.