Balta1701

QUOTE(Sonik22 @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 07:03 PM) I like the marlins and would like for them to win the wild card, but i think 2008 will be their year. Hard to believe a team with a $14 million dollar payroll can play like this. Whitesoxfan101, no mention of the LTP? lol Don't underestimate them next year. That may well be the folly of a lot of teams, especially if their young guys stay healthy. Ramirez will probably have a better year, D-Train seems to go up and down, if guys avoid a sophomore slump, and they avoid that skid they started out the year with, they could be really dangerous.

A decent game by Javy and the bullpen tomorrow, and we're looking at what, a 6-7 game losing skid by Torotno? You know they don't want to face Jose looking at the sweep Nice comeback after the first JG, AJ, Thome, PK, Dye, Pods, great job (even if all some of you did was take walks) And the best news of all? Mack doesn't have to play CF any more this series! And hopefully his 0/4 with 3 k's will cost him a few more CF starts!

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 06:54 PM) Just seems like a lot of runs have been scoring on him recently. He's cost us 1 game since god knows when, that game against Baltimore (which, IIRC, having BA in Center might have won as well), and he was blooped to death in that game. Until he really learns his craft, occasionally people will hit him out of the park just by making contact. The nice part is, he can occasionally find a groove and have no one make contact for 2 months.

QUOTE(G&T @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 06:53 PM) Umpire gave back a few calls right there. Thank God. Probably can't see the ball out of Bobby's hand.

Bobby will get the groove back. It's 1 run. It's still solo shots. Keep running him out there, and he'll be fine. A guy throwing that hard, with that little experience, will occasionally give up 450 foot shots, just from how hard he throws it.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 06:50 PM) Anderson is our #9 hitter. Defense comes before offense there, and it's fine if he's hitting .230. And he will never hit .230 in a season again in his life. He's learned how to shorten his swing and actually hit now. This kid will be an all star within a year or two.

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 06:47 PM) You're lucky I'm not talking more about intelligence, but we'll leave that one alone. What does Baseball Prospectus say about the value of the runs LOST due to Anderson's horrible hitting as compared to the runs saved due to his good defense? Have you taken a look at Anderson's VORP (taking into account his total value (both defense and offense)? It is abysmal.

So, does anyone think the 0/4 with 3 k's by Mack today might cut into his playing time? (I hope I hope I Hope)

Runs scored by the Sox since I left: 4 Home runs by AJ since I left: 1 Increase in my BAC since I left: .06 Wars started by the Jews in the world: All of them. Nice work Offense, Garland, and BMac. I love that kid.

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 05:27 PM) I know Halladay has thrown 80 but Garland's already at 80 himself, and he's not even through the 4th. The bullpens are gonna decide this game. I'm fairly happy that ours just had an extra day off.

Oh come on Jon, you're up 0-2 on the guy, quit the damn nibbling and go after him.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 05:24 PM) Ozzie was real high on Montero,. Montero was really high on some other pills.

QUOTE(JimH @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 05:23 PM) Are you kidding? A dropping curve ball six inches outside and low? Not a good pitch to bunt on at all. This is turning into Pin The Tail On The Mackowiak. Roy Halladay has to be nasty as all hell to bunt against, especially if he's expecting it. The only run I'm pissed about is the one making it 3-2 right now.

80 pitches for Halladay through 4. We've stranded 6. 19 pitches that inning...and the big pitch guys are up next.

This game should be 2-2. Anywho...

SCOTTY Woo Woo!

Thank God we put that extra offense in our 8 and 9 slots.

QUOTE(JimH @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 05:15 PM) Balta, fair points and I am not saying Mackowiak is a good CF, he isn't. I am stating why Guillen has him in there. But it comes down to pitching doesn't it? Don't the pitchers have to pitch over mistakes? There's only so many mistakes that you can expect a pitcher to deal with IMO. He shouldn't have to put up with one of the worst Center Fielders in baseball when the best is sitting on the bench. Especially since the one on the bench has finally learned how to hit on occasion. And on top of that, most of them I wouldn't call mistakes, since a fly ball to Center Field is usually something that should be turned into an out.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 05:14 PM) Didn't see the first two innings. How did they score? Glaus 3 run bomb. Bunt hit by Pods, Stolen Base, Thome double.

I promise if we end this at bat with the game tied, I will not complain again about Mack in CF the rest of the game, regardless of how many more runs he gives up.

QUOTE(Felix @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 05:12 PM) I just got back from dinner. What's going on so far? The score doesn't look nice. Garland gave up a bomb to Glaus in the first (after Mack had a ball drop that BA would have caught). in the 2nd, Pods bunted a hit, stole 2nd, and scored on a double by Thome. Both Halladay and Garland are throwing a metric fishton of pitches.

All right AJ...good start. Mr. Crede, do your work.

64 pitches for Garland through 3, 61 pitches for Halladay. The bullpens are going to decide this game. Toronto's pen has the #9 ERA in the AL, we have the #10.

QUOTE(JimH @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 05:03 PM) The fact is, SoxTalk pessimists blame their favorite whipping boys whenever the situation presents itself. If it were Vazquez pitching with two on, it'd be "he needs to pitch over mistakes, that's his job". When it's Garland, it's "Mackowiak sucks". I don't know why I even bother to talk about this ... it's the same stuff day after day, regardless of whether I talk about it or not. Actually, I was really, really pissed at Ozzie for starting Mack the last time Vazquez was out on the mound. Having him out there instead of Anderson led directly to 2 hits and 1 run, and maybe led to Vazquez tiring out a little bit more as well. And Mack doesn't suck. He's just not a Center Fielder.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 05:01 PM) I think he's been far more consistent. Last year I can think of a lot of times where he would go into some major funks when he couldn't hit a breaking ball to save his life. He still isn't good with breaking balls, but he's gotten better and because of that he usually is capable of doing something in pretty much every game. The one interesting thing though, last year Iguchi hit .274 against lefties and .279 against righties. This year, it's .330 against righties and .223 against lefties. And since Ozzie is obsessed with the lefty-righty matchup, and subs Cintron only when we're facing a righty, it does hurt us a bit, and I can't figure out why he forgot how to hit a lefty.