SoxHawk1980

Blind faith must be fun. I kind of wish I could have blind faith in Ozzie and the White Sox. The problem is that I've seen them play this season, and I've seen Ozzie's managing.

First, unless you have some inside information I don't know about, you have no idea if Contreras is injured at all, much less that he has a back problem. Personally I think he has some minor injury which is causing him pain when he pitches but that's all. What I do know is that the odds are that he is 40+ years of age. How many pitchers bounce back and improve after age 40. This is why it was never a good idea to sign Contreras to a long-term deal. So, your prediction of Contreras magically snapping back to top form with a fastball in the mid 90's next spring amounts to wishful thinking. It is possible, but unlikely. Also, I hope your speculation about a back injury isn't true. Back injuries tend to nag, linger and recur, particularly at Count's age. I'd much rather it was some muscular soreness or a minor fraying of the labrum. A nagging back problem is the kind of thing that could make count a 5+ ERA pitcher for the rest of his career.

Yes, and maybe Logan will eventually be better than Cotts, but I'd be surprised if he's better than Cotts this season. But given how bad Cotts has been recently, Logan deserves the chance to show if he can pitch better than Cotts.

I think he should get the opportunity to prove that in the next couple of weeks, but I certainly don't know that what you posted is true quite yet. Remember how bad Logan was when he was in the majors earlier this season? Brutal. Worse than Cotts by a lot.

I wish Boone would get a serious look and some opportunities to come into close games. But I think Ozzie is going to stick with his #1 lefty set up man. He's said as much. Cotts helped them in the championship season and I think that's about all Ozzie thinks about.

Sometimes we are. Too often. Way too frequently for a stretch run. We aren't playing like we really want to get into the playoffs. Haven't been playing like that for many months.

Nice pull-and-lift attempt there by AJ who looks more like he wants to pad his stats than to actually get his team back into the game.

I think it is I-435.

Neither you nor any of us know if Count is hurt. You can't say, however, that if he were hurt, he wouldn't be pitching. By this point in the season, most pitchers, especially veterans are hurting. A season's worth of strain on a throwing arm gives some degree of pain. He almost certainly doesn't have a serious injury, but I bet he's in some pain and that pain is affecting his pitching. Therefore it would make sense to DL him and pitch McCarthy.

I don't think you should put 6 runs on the defense. There were a couple bad defensive plays early in the inning and Count responded by giving up hit after hit after hit. It's not like he pitched well (or even ok) and the defense just let him down.

Count's arm will eventually fall off. Then Ozzie will pull him. Or maybe he'll make him pitch lefty so he can stay in long enough to get the W.

But he won us the WS last year. Therefore everything he does must be right!

I'm sure glad Count is out there to keep eating up innings in this game where he is getting hit like it is batting practice. I'm sure his sore 40-year-old arm late in the season doesn't need a rest at all. I sure hope he pitches 8+.

Nope, this season it motivates them to give up. I think most of them are thinking about coming back to win tomorrow. I hope they aren't thinking about which BBQ restaurant they're going to eat at after the game.

But you have to give him a chance to get the win!

I think mostly it is the pitching + lack of hunger since they won it last year + Ozzie's bad managing.

I didn't like the fact that we signed Contreras to a long-term contract back when he signed it. He's at least 40 years old right now. His best years are behind him. Now he's showing himself to be an old pitcher with a hell of a lot of innings and pitches under his belt. I don't see any reason to expect him to be better next season or the one after that as he gets further and further away from 40.

At least you're focusing on the important stuff.

Count deals with the poor defense behind him by completely s***ting the bed. Now that's poise.

In 2005, Guillen and this team were carried by great starting pitching and a great bullpen. The Sox won last year despite Ozzie's poor managing which nearly sunk this team in the stretch run. Now, the pitching isn't carrying the team anymore and Ozzie's HORRIBLE managing is exposed. He doesn't know how to fill out a lineup card. He doesn't know when to play regulars and when to sit them. He doesn't know when to pull a starting pitcher and he doesn't know how to handle a bullpen. Even worse, he doesn't know how to motivate a team and wake them the hell up. He sits there and yawns while the team sleepwalks its way to loss after loss. Ozzie has done a horrible job this year. He is a bad manager. Fire Ozzie.

Ryan Sweeney: .348 OBP, .448 SLG, .796 OPS And that is in an extreme hitter's park. If he can't even manage to be an above average hitter in AAA in a hitter's park, what makes you think he is ready to do anything but fail in the majors? Sure, call him up, but don't play him unless it is mop-up time. Podsednik is beyond awful. Mack, Gload and Ozuna are all better in LF. And each would be better than the not-ready-for-the-majors Ryan Sweeney.

Their rotation is better than ours has been (for months), even without Radke. Obviously that is a problem for them, but they have been playing better than the Sox in every way for the past two months. I don't know why that should suddenly change.

Uh oh, message board threat!!! He knows the owner and admins! lol, just kidding

I thought they looked flat after the Twins came back and tied it. THAT is when you really have to sack up, show your fire and do what it takes to win. Instead, they rolled over. They've been rolling over a lot since the ASB. The Sox got beaten by a team that simply wants it more, and plays like it.

Has Ozzie FINALLY figured out that his team is sleep walking and playing with no intensity and no fire? How could it have taken him this long? Is he going to do anything about it? I think if he knew how to motivate them, he would have done so by now. He's pathetic.