caulfield12

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jun 26, 2011 -> 02:48 PM) It's truly a lose-lose situation with Dunn. You play him, he sucks. You bench him, you are benching $13 million a year. There is literally know way to win in this situation with Dunn. Unless it forces the White Sox to bring up Viciedo to replace him earlier than they would have replaced Pierre. Was Nick Swisher close to this bad in August, 2008 when he was benched?

The latest from Greg Walker. They're trying to get Dunn more balanced and out on his "right side" more, instead of loading and having all of his weight back. The phrase was "he's spinning around the ball and hooking/pulling everything" instead of taking a nice, balanced swing with proper weight distribution and transfer. Not sure how that can change his long/slow bat. We'll see.

2009, too...at one point, after Buehrle's no-no, they were tied for first that season.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 26, 2011 -> 02:40 PM) I'll have to take Paulie just being on the team then and watch him get the obligatory one at bat. Leyland and Verlander have made it pretty clear they don't care if he starts the Sunday before the ASB...meaning the AL will be without their best pitcher. Kind of sucks, but Justin seems to view the game itself as a joke because of the fan voting with all those Yankees (Jeter/Martin) and Red Sox. Ichiro will miss making it the first time, deservedly. Unless Mr. Bautista gets voted in, it will be a total shutout for the rest of the league, and Josh Hamilton.

Looked through the summary and noticed Dunn's up to his usual tricks. When is the insanity going to stop? They're going to have to look at benching him at home at some point. Of course, that will probably make the boos even louder when he does play.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/124546533.html Looks like Young JUST has a severely sprained ankle (same one he hurt earlier in his career) and won't miss more than a couple of weeks.

I like the Company Men a lot. In some ways, telling the story in that way, versus, for example, THE INSIDE JOB, was more interesting. Going to see an Indonesian horror movie called "The Empty Chair" today. Has anyone else seen The Tree of Life? Most of the critics loved it, my best friend hated it (and he's a huge Malick fan) and my personal opinion is somewhere in the middle. Looks like Green Lantern has already lost its legs at the box office, no surprise. What was more suprising is that it only made $16 million outside of the US. With a $300 million budget, it will be lucky to get to $175- 200 million worldwide. So much for that tentpole. Thor and X-Men also have had disappointing results, although many love X-Men. It will be interesting with Captain America, another "period comic" but with the added twist of fighting the Nazis. The Nazis were more of a small subplot in X-Men. I'm sure there will be some comparisons made between C.A. and Inglorious Basterds/Saving Private Ryan and the already-forgotten Sucker Punch. Bad Teacher, despite being blasted by most critics, is looking to end around $32 million and is breathing life into the new "female-dominated" comedy genre that started with Bridesmaids (although some would count Knocked Up as the first).

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,6752210.story Looks like Danks to the DL and Harrell back up. They'll make one last re-evaluation Sunday, apparently.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jun 25, 2011 -> 09:51 PM) Patience, grasshopper. I'm generally a cup-half-full kinda dude, granted, but I think Pierre is playing himself out of action quickly. Teahen's HR yesterday makes the decision more obvious for Ozzie, hopefully. A semi-power lefty as a PH and occasional rest for Q/Paulie may have some usefulness yet. A countdown aspect to this thread, not a new thread, might be appropriate. How many days is it now, exactly, till we effectively exclude an earlier year of FA for Tank? Countdown to TANK...or perhaps nothing It should be game 82 or 83, past the halfway point of the season. At least, that's the way I understood it. Correct me if I'm wrong.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 25, 2011 -> 09:49 PM) Good win. But these winner threads just aren't as enjoyable when the team is still below .500. It'd be nice to finally reach this milestone by July 1. The way this division is going, I wouldn't be completely shocked if first place at some point in the 2nd half is .500 or 1-2 games below. It's not unlike that NL West the Padres won where they were below .500 for a majority of the season and barely made it in. If Cleveland had maintained their earlier pace, we'd still be 8 1/2 game back and pretty much on the outside looking in. Fortunately, they haven't. But at least for now, the home crowds aren't buying it, either. Except for the Cubs, we've had a pretty consistent streak of 20-25,000 in attendance every game, even on weekends. That's a pretty good barometer of sentiment and frustration, and of course, the escalating cost to attend a game.

Throughout this whole bad streak for Dunn, DJ and Farmio pretty consistently have been saying that he's pressing and not relaxed. That sooner or later, he has to just junk thinking and overanalyzing and worrying...and devolve to the "see the ball, hit the ball" approach. For sure, his swing has been long all year. He's fouling off all those fastballs he used to kill, or just getting under them or being robbed when he does hit one pretty squarely. If I was the hitting coach...I'd go to some kind of basic drill with the BP pitcher firing fastballs on the outside half of the plate over and over again and forcing him to take that "short and quick" approach up the middle and to the opposite field. Make it a fun game, where you get "points" for hitting it in certain marked zones around the field. Of course, it's hard to simulate 95-100 MPH fastballs in BP, that's one problem. Even turning up the pitching machine, it's still not the same in terms of timing a major league pitcher. The new theory is that he will snap out of it when he goes on the road and gets away from the home fans. I wonder if Dunn's family have stopped coming to games at home? You feel sorry for him, but then you don't, since he's getting paid more than most of us will make in a lifetime to play a kid's game we would all play for free.

If Pierre was designated for assignment, isn't there the possibility that he would still play Lillibridge instead? Or with the Viciedo recall...Ozzie has acknowledged he has to play everyday, so there's no other option, right? Ozzie can be stubborn sometimes, but I don't think even he is that stubborn, especially with Lilly failing to execute in big situations the last two games. Granted, we won the 2nd game, but you never know with Santos these days, a 4 or 5 run lead simply feels a lot more secure than just 3. Then again, if it's not a save situation (say, 4-0), you worry about Crain or Thornton, too. Especially Matt after Friday night's game. Hopefully he'll bounce back.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 25, 2011 -> 06:35 PM) Crap, on a plane for this game. SS2K can use it as me not being a top 5 post count poster during a win. Hell of a job by Peavy and Bruney. The game started at 4 a.m. here in the Philippines. Do I get a free pass for not waking up my girlfriend by typing too loudly? The only commment I had was way off...that they should let Peavy go the 9th because of concerns about Sergio after the rough patch he's been in, and how well Peavy was pitching, the rhythm he was in. Come to think of it, seems all their disappointing games are on Friday nights and then a lot of the Sat/Sunday victories have been day games that started between 2 and 4 am in South Korea and the Philippines. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Were't the fans cheering and standing up for Dunn in his last at-bat when he walked? Was that derisive cheering of the "Bronx cheer" variety or was there the sense that booing the guy mercilessly might not be helping...so they might as well try cheering? Great effort by both Bruney and Peavy. Castro came through huge (perfect approach against a guy throwing 99-101), and Sergio looked like his "good" self again. He's 15/17 in save opportunities now, I think. Lillibridge has had his struggles these last two games with the bases loaded. Absolutely have to make contact SOMEHOW on those squeeze attempts, even on sliders down and away. Beckham, still trying to figure things out. At least Rios looks better.

I wouldn't go with Santos over Peavy with the way Jake has been pitching today. Not sure who has the most offensively-challenged line-up, with the White Sox or Indians, especially without Choo now.

Peavy's first career relief appearance.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jun 25, 2011 -> 12:21 AM) Maybe Teahen earned a start over Pierre in Ozzie's eyes tonight, but I doubt it. I would platoon Lillibridge with Teahen in LF until Viciedo is called up next month. More likely Teahen will be starting over Morel or, heaven forbid, at 2B for Beckham. The please play Quentin tomorrow if he's available...Ozzie sits guys for an extra game, but theoretically that should only be when they're coming off injuries.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jun 25, 2011 -> 12:19 AM) Partial answer: http://twitter.com/#!/ESPNStatsInfo/st...490179024388097 At least we accomplished something that only happens about once every 7 years in MLB. A lot rarer than a perfect game, triple play, hitting for the cycle or 3 run homer game.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 25, 2011 -> 12:19 AM) Sox did battle big time, which is a big plus. But Sox blew so many chances again at home. Inexcusable at bat by Lilly, followed by a fail by the prior hero, Teahan. Bases loaded one out with the home team up ... got to win it there. On a positive side, losses really don't bother me anymore, not til we get a few over .500. I just don't believe. Losses just don't wreck me any more. Really thought we'd win after AJ's homer because how many times has a team come back to tie it 3 times late in the ballgame and then gone on to lose before? That was 2 strikes, 2 outs. The baseball gods aren't supposed to shine on the Nationals after giving us so many chances.

QUOTE (kapzk @ Jun 25, 2011 -> 12:15 AM) I actually think, this game even tho they lost, will actually turn things around for the club. To see the team compete like that is quite encouraging. Frustrating to lose a game where to came back 3 different times, and had chances to win it too, but just having that compete and determination will be able to lift the team. Or it will be the straw that broke the camel's back. Could go either way. Dunn is encouraging and Rios seems to be pulling out of it a bit. But the fashion in which Thornton got beat is a mirror image of the 2nd and 3rd weeks of the season. Where have you gone, Gordon Beckham???

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 25, 2011 -> 12:13 AM) Just another golden opportunity bungled. Dunn looked a little better tonight after the first couple of Ks. If he gets hot and Rios plays like the first half last season, the Sox will win the division easily. If not, games like tonight are really going to hurt. This whole season hurts and we're not even halfway through.

When's the last time we won an extra innings game that went 14+ innings? Against Boston and Papelbon in 2006?

QUOTE (flavum @ Jun 25, 2011 -> 12:05 AM) They might have to bring up an arm for tomorrow. At least Bruney would be gone. What's the story with Pena? He still alive? Ozzie trusts Bruney a lot more than he ever trusted Pena. Doubt he's going anywhere.

Good teams aren't 4-7 in extra innings. Good teams win the 1 and 2 run games 65-75% of the time.

If I was Thornton, I think I would pop Ramirez in the mouth when I came off the field. How much can one guy take? Broken bat single where the batter was arguably out at 1B. Then Alexei's laziness ruins the entire game.