SoxHawk1980

Will the Sox end the season with a starting pitcher having an ERA under 4.30 this year?

Since the Sox have to pay Buehrle his salary for this season regardless, I thank they should use him strictly as a batting practice pitcher. He's good at that.

There's a lot of that going on, both in the broadcast booth and among Sox fans.

Yeah, he was unprovoked except for all of the b****ing Ozzie was continuing to do.

Thank you, Hawk Harrelson.

Umpires are supposed to walk away from arguments. And the ump's "chirping" was in response to the comments Ozzie made as he was walking off the first time.

Thankfully Ozzie is doing his part to help the team by getting tossed. At least Ozzie won't be around to let Buehrle go too long or make any other mistakes.

Most fans just react emotionally whenver a close call doesn't go for their team. That's pretty much what is happening here. The ump has a small strike zone for both pitchers. The problem is that Buehrle can't do well when there is a small strike zone, no matter how consistent it is.

Wow, the Buehrle 2006 meltdown continues.

Unfortunately, he's right. What happend to Buehrle's pinpoint control.

It didn't take us long to start taking it in the tailpipe.

There aren't many players in the majors who would have been doubled up there. Konerko is astoundingly slow. No.

To all of those who are so in love with Ryan Sweeney as a "great prospect" and who think he is major league ready, what is it about his performance this year that impresses you? .349 OBP .449 SLG .798 OPS That isn't at all impressive. If you think he's a great prospect, then how do you explain his underachievement this season? And if he isn't excelling at AAA, what makes you think he's ready to excel in the majors? I would prefer that he shows that he can do very well in AAA before making him a regular in the majors. Long story short, he needs to spend some significant time in AAA next season before getting serious consideration for the major league team.

This team doesn't need to "suddenly collapse" to not make the playoffs. Basically, we are in a two-game WC race with the Twins. The Tigers are too far ahead for THIS White Sox team to catch them. If the Sox continue this inconsistent, lackluster play and continue to win at the rate they've been on since the ASB, then the Twins will very shortly overtake us and accelerate far away from us. They've been playing very well for quite a while. To get to the playoffs, you have to play well and play better than the other contenders. We've been outplayed by the Twins for nearly two months. THAT is why this doesn't look like it's going to be a playoff team.

If anyone had made that point or anything close to it, your sarcasm would be appropriate. However, it is not. Not even close. Blind homer, that is. Now that sounds productive! I accept your apology Another painful loss for the Soxtalk community.

But hey, we won the WS last year. This is the time you should be savoring Buehrle, Contreras and Garcia. I guess you can savor Vazquez because we traded Hernandez for him. A real fan would pretend that we're rolling towards another postseason. You didn't mention anything about the rotations of every other AL contender. Why do you hate the Sox so much?

Nope, I understood it all too well. I wish they would create a new forum called "Cheerleader Talk". That way, all of the everything-is-fine-all-the-time crowd can get together and compare cheers and discuss how wonderful the team is.

People shouldn't be talking about problems with the rotation? People shouldn't be talking about the lack of contribution from guys like Podsednik and Uribe? People shouldn't be talking about Ozzie's bad managing? What is this board for? What should we be posting about? Different ways to cheer for the Sox? More predictions about how we'll sweep upcoming series and win the division? Sure there are bad, repetitive, substanceless posts about problems with the Sox. There are also bad, repetitive, substanceless posts which are about everything being ok. How many times have you read someone say, "hey, we've still got a good record, everything's fine," or "We won the WS last year, you should have more faith in this team." What good is another rant about everything being fine and offering the same alibis day after day?

Unfortunately many of the cheerleaders in this thread will say, "Hey, we're still X games over .500 and only Y games back in the WC race. This team showed last year that it can win when it counts. I'm sure they'll win enough down the stretch to make it to the playoffs." They will do this when we fall behind in the WC race and they'll do it when we're 5 games out. They'll do it until we're mathematically eliminated. What's worse, they think that kind of blind homersim is being a true fan. Actually, that is being a blind fan. We all WANT the sox to make it to the playoffs and win the world series. But an intelligent, mature fan opens his eyes and recognizes the situation for what it is.

So, in order to make a negative comment about this team, one must also point out negative things about every other AL contender? Do you recognize how ridiculous that is? I know every other AL contender has problems. The reason I am not optimistic about this team making the playoffs is that this team shows no fire, no passion. They are rolling over out there. They get up for a series here or there, and then they lay down for a few series. They can't maintain any intensity. The only other AL contender for whom that might be true is Boston. That certainly isn't true for MN, DET or NY. Pitching problems, etc. are a problem. But what is killing this team is that they have consistently shown no fire in the belly. Without that hunger, they won't make it back to the playoffs.

Personally, I think analysis which boils down to: "We've got a good record and really anything could happen" isn't worth much. Pointing out what is wrong with the rotation, some regulars in the lineup and our manager is of considerably more value. At least it actually involves analysis with some depth and meaning. That beats "I'm sure everything is going to be all right. Last year was fun, wasn't it."

Very well said.

I'd like to know what those who are complaining about fans who recognize that this team has problems mean by "support your team". Is mindless cheerleading "support"? Is that what good fans do? I think good fans look at the team honestly, recognize its strengths and weaknesses and discuss them freely.

Plain and simple, Ozzie is on the short list for worst in-game manager in the majors. He doesn't know when to pull a starting pitcher. He doesn't know how to handle a bullpen. He doesn't know who to walk and who to pitch to. He doesn't know when to play regulars and when to give them a rest. That has been pretty consistent throughout his tenure with the Sox. And this season he hasn't been able to motivate to play with fire and intensity. So here's my question: if a manager is horrible during a game, and can't motivate his players, what good is he?

I just wanted to chime in and say that this was clearly the worst White Sox game of the season. 1. Contreras got hammered by the worst team in baseball. 2. The Sox couldn't hit the worst team in baseball, including getting dominated by a failed AAA starting pitcher. 3. The Sox played stupid and lazy all game long. 4. After getting down 6 early, the Sox flat out gave up. They quit, and Ozzie let them quit.