caulfield12

QUOTE (kev211 @ Jun 29, 2009 -> 08:05 PM) haha Did they just start that? What do they shoot off to clear out the Lake Erie mosquitoes? Old Municipal Stadium, right on the lake, used to be horrible for bugs/insects.

I really can't believe earlier in the season that I was talking about putting Floyd on waivers and exposing him to any other team in baseball to claim his contract...have to give kudos to Gavin and Coop here. There couldn't have been a pitcher who was more lost earlier in the season, and now he's going to have two strong seasons to reinforce his confidence and cause him to finally believe 100% he belongs in the big leagues.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 29, 2009 -> 07:58 PM) Isn't it crazy how often Gavin gets bases loaded against him in the 6th or 7th inning? I recall about 5 showdowns in those situations already this year. Well, that was Alexei's fault 90%, even though it wasn't an error. It seems he has actually pitched much better this season (especially recently) with runners on base than last year. He had absolutely a ton of unearned runs last year...although there was one situation (maybe it was DET?) where about 3 runs scored against him and they DEFINITELY should have been unearned. 2008 was Floyd/Danks, this, so far, looks like the year of Porcello/Jackson emerging and Verlander "re-emerging." But the Sox might be able to hang in there because of their pitching, which is so much better than 2007.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jun 29, 2009 -> 07:53 PM) Why does Eric Wedge have a job? We should thank our lucky stars that they do have Wedge as manager. As an Indians' fan, it must be a shame to only have the 2007 meltdown to show for all that talent on the roster this decade under him. They don't pull the bag after the game for a guy after his first steal, do they??? Those things aren't cheap...maybe he has the option for the club to buy it for him. Not that he doesn't have the pocket change personally to afford it!!!

QUOTE (joejoedairy @ Jun 29, 2009 -> 07:54 PM) hyperbole See Denkinger, Don. 6th game, 1985 World Series, Royals versus Cardinals.

WHEW! Dammit, Alexei. You need to spend 1 hour per day working on soft liners hit at you, over your head and on one hop...that call reversal might end up being the play of the game, as Garko always seems to kill us.

Pavano at 100 pitches. Will be nice to see the Indians' bullpen tonight. They're not so good, to say the least.

That's the problem with Getz...not playing. With our 2006 offense, no problem with him as the #9 hitter AT ALL. He does a lot of things well...but not one aspect of his game is "plus/plus" or a huge asset. All things considered, would still rather have Getz playing close to everyday than Josh Fields.

Beckham 16 for his last 57=.281 Really good, considering they brought him up 2-3 months too early. I think after that kid had the GW RBI against the Cubs...he must really feel he belongs in the big leagues and is now an important part of this 09 team from here on out. Gordon already has almost the same OPS as Chris Getz, trailing 631 to 633 after that horrific start. We have the #2 starting pitching in the AL, #4 bullpen. It seems maybe the move here is to move Beckham to 2B and go out and trade for a veteran 3B whose contract is ending after the 2009 season (or has a 2010 club option/buyout). Tyler Wigginton type of player, veteran...not prohibitively expensive to acquire. Just don't see how our offense can compete without CQ, along with Getz/Fields AND Anderson/Wise in the line-up on a day-to-day basis.

This season will get really interesting if we can go 7-2 or 6-3 in our next 9 games against CLE and KC. I never thought we'd be within 1 out on Inge of getting back to within four games of first place after that terrible 4-8 homestand. It does put KW in a very interesting situation....but, as many have noted, the return on players like Contreras, Colon and Dotel might be so negligible that it would be pointless to trade them. And trading Dye without Quentin coming back and the DET lead within hailing distance seems equally White Flag-ish. That team was better, and the lead was 3 1/2, but the 09 Tigers are far removed from the late 90's Indians' offensive juggernauts.

Is Piniella happy to see the City Series end? "You know what, I've had fun here the last few days," Piniella said facetiously. One of his most memorable Cubs-Sox series? "Yeah," he replied. "You know what? We went to Detroit, in Michigan, and we lost three ballgames. But you know what? There were 42,000 people at the ballpark everyday, and it was great for the economy. It was great for the restaurants, It was great for the people who worked at the ballpark. It was great for the people who sold products there. We lost baseball games, but it was good for the economy in general. And here- look what the City Series does over here. "I saw where the Dodgers came in the other night, a good baseball team, and 22,000 people were here. The Cubs are in town for the City Series and there's 40,000 some people here. Look, let's look at it from a different standpoint than just the baseball standpoint." So the Sox need the Cubs to help them draw fans? White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was asked why attendance was so low at the Sox-Dodgers series, and said: "Because our fans are not stupid like Cubs fans. They know we're (expletive)." Guillen said Cubs fans will go watch any game at Wrigley Field because "Wrigley Field is just a bar." www.chicagotribune.com/sports Maybe Piniella has a career with Jim Cramer or Ben Bernake after he finally loses it completely?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 09:19 PM) Hopefully we have a version or two of him on the way. Shelby is looking doubtful, but Danks and Mitchell both have at least 50/50 shots. Hopefully if you add 50/50 we'll get one All-Star caliber player out of those two athletic specimens...of course, we've had our share of Brian Wests, Joe Borchard's, Jerry Owenses, Jimmy Hurst's, Anthony Webster's, Chris Young's, Brian Anderson's and Kenny Williamses (father and son) in this organization that had tons of natural athletic ability.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 06:38 PM) I guess. I had hoped for better, but w/out last year's CQ in the lineup, it's still pretty weak on most nights even with Pods doing as well as he has. There are enough flaws we do appear a bit below average team. I can't see us going on a sustained run to put us 5-10 games over .500 at any point this year, but I could be mistaken. If Ordonez can get his act together again and IF they ever had a healthy Carlos Guillen, the Tigers would definitely be a 89-93 win team with the way that starting rotation looks right now. Inge and Granderson have become offensive cornerstones...and Porcello has jumped right into the fire with seemingly no adverse affects. Imagine the balance of power in the ALCD if the White Sox, Twins or Indians had the moxie and financial wherewithal to go out and get Porcello? Well, Detroit, with all its economic problems, they deserve a renaissance season as much as any team in the country after that disaster (both baseball and unemployment-wise) in 2008. And of course Miggy Cabrera is a hitting machine. Verlander and Edwin Jackson have been absolutely nasty, and Jackson has done it all season long, I think his ERA is still below 2.50 in the AL, which is pretty incredible (and further testament to the weakness offensively of the ALCD). I'm just grateful they messed up a bit and don't have Jurrjens. The jury is still out on Maybin and A. Miller, but Miller wasn't as impressive stuff-wise as his hype.

Charley Steiner said something interesting in the game the other day. That in 2 1/2 years watching the Dodgers everyday, they never saw Juan Pierre make one mental mistake OR fail to hustle a single time. I love Ramirez and defend him as much as anyone but Cubano, and I'm not sold on Beckham playing SS everyday...but hopefully he won't fade in the second half defensively like last season. He just got really worn down in September, maybe we can attribute that to adjusting to the much longer season here in the US, the weather in late summer...his thin frame, something happened. There's been a lot of speculation about his personal/off-field problems with the lawsuit, and we shouldn't forget that...it had a huge affect on Contreras when he was going through is divorce. I'm not quite ready to cut the cord on Fields quite yet, because I think he can still factor in there at 3B if Viciedo can't cut it defensively. Trading him will get you almost nothing in return, so there's very little risk in holding onto him and seeing if he can EVENTUALLY figure things out, like the Sox have attempted to do with Brian Anderson. In the long run, Ramirez/Beckham or Beckham/Ramirez up the middle makes the most possible sense, with Getz/Nix in supporting roles (both give you something different, Nix the defense and power, Getz the speed and LH bat). Maybe KW envisioned Ramirez being right next to Viciedo on the diamond and being able to mentor him more closely...not sure. With all that said, we definitely need to end the Anderson/Wise days in CF and either wait on Danks/Mitchell or go out and sign a veteran on a 1-2 year contract, or trade for a Juan Pierre type when Man-Ram returns...although the asking price just went up a bit, they can't play Ramirez, Kemp and Ethier with Pierre, too. I guess a good problem for the Dodgers to have...they might end up being WORSE with Ramirez than without him in terms in 2009.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 05:29 PM) So you went from starting threads after every game asking how we can improve to saying "deal with it"? I like your enthusiasm when you post, but you of all people should understand different styles of posting. We can have legit conversations about baseball and strategy without name-calling or sarcasm. Well, that's simple...it's just like second half 06/first half 07, when you just come to the realization that you do have to deal with it and not get so upset with the day to day ups and downs of this team. Maybe you just become emotionally not so tied into each and every game. Obviously the attendance in the Dodgers series (there were other factors, weather, premium pricing, midweek games, repeat of 05, etc.) was indicative of the fact that fans aren't buying into this team, not the casual, walk-up fans. Perhaps the same thing has happened this year...spending more time away from baseball, not living and dying with every pitch or taking losses too hard (the one against Minnesota that Carlos Gomez destroyed us and Jenks blew the save stayed with me for 2-3 days). You just have to accept that this team without Quentin and starting every game with 2-3 (Getz/Beckham) rookies or players like Anderson, Fields and Ramirez (for most of the season) under a 700 OPS in a hitter's park, that's just not going to work very well. You're right, I shouldn't have been so sarcastic...but I think Ozzie should have a "real" team with legitimate talent again before we start putting his every move under a microscope. Ozzie's not the greatest tactical/strategic manager, but he's certainly only as good as the cards he's been dealt by KW with the 2007 and 2009 teams. Still remain bullish on the long-term prospects of the White Sox (Rogers already covered this topic in the TRIB again), but we're definitely in a big-time transition period...and it will be really interesting to see if only a couple of players are traded or we totally gut the veterans from this franchise and approach 2010 with the perspective that youth, a strong rotation and a healthy Carlos Quentin can carry the day (see Twins, 2008).

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 05:24 PM) I'd rather get a righty up to bat, as they hit .075 pts higher against Marshall than lefties do. I would have been fine with Fields hitting there...and had no problems taking out BA for Wise based on Brian's lackadaisical offensive game. For whatever reason, this team just doesn't have "it," and won't get "it" unless we could somehow manage to reverse time in order to sign Blake, Hudson and trade for Edwin Jackson and Juan Pierre. Funny, with four former or current Dodgers, surely we would be in first place in the ALCD. Maybe even Andruw Jones, if you want to make it five.

Well geez, they should have just yanked Contreras after the 6th inning and it wouldn't have been 5-2. Or we should put Jayson Nix in defensively for Paul Konerko, etc., in every late-inning defensive situation. After a loss, it's VERY easy to second guess every single move. We are just an average team and always will be this season...let's just get used to it, as it will make the next 90 games easier to deal with.

QUOTE (C_LEE45 @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 04:42 PM) ummmm Castro vs marmol who cant pitch a strike or AJ vs marshall wow sure hope we can take 1 of the next 2. Because Ramon Castro has had a five year career on the South Side, was an integral part of a World Series winning team and is not only USUALLY a clutch hitter but one of our better overall hitters? Yes, Ozzie should be fired after every loss and conversely, the team wins in spite of him when it does somehow manage to win. Gardenhire should have been fired as well after Blackburn threw ill-advisedly into LF and cost his team the game and himself a loss. Tiresome.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 04:53 PM) Yep, yep yep. Such is life of a five under .500 type team. As far as AJ's at bat, I felt good having the vet stroll up to the plate against the Cubs with the game on the line. I thought he'd loft a fly ball to at least tie it. I didn't think the vet would swing at the first pitch and hit into a DP. If Fields wouldn't have drawn the walk, people would have second guessed Oz for pinch hitting for Beckham. It's so easy to second guess the manager on any loss. I personally felt good with AJP at the plate even vs. a lefty. Ozzie was just trying to protect Beckham there with the more experienced Fields... I agree with the move, and Fields was more likely to hit a homer there as well. Beckham did have a hit and walk, but he was also 1 for his last 9. Now he has something positive to build off of for tomorrow's game instead of striking out to end the game against our biggest rival. Sure, he could have hit a game-tying homer as well, but Ozzie's trying to put his rookies (Getz, Beckham, Richard and Poreda) in the best possible positions to succeed it at all possible.

QUOTE (sayitaintso @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 04:45 PM) Fixed We win as a team and lose as a team. Would we have had ANY chance to win yesterday without his 3 run homer??? AJ's not the biggest problem with this team, it's getting 600-650 OPS numbers from Getz (well, he's a rookie) and Anderson AND dearly missing Carlos Quentin's offensive production.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 04:43 PM) Tough tough loss. Sure wish AJP would have lofted a game tying sacrifice fly. You could see it coming and wham, first pitch, we are done for the inning. After the great series against the Dodgers, disappointing to drop game one again. Detroit can beat up on HOUSTON, we'll be potentially seven games out after tonight, and we've been playing pretty well recently. We had our chances and blew it head-to-head versus DET (the Wise out call at home and the Cubs' loss when leading 5-1 will be the most remembered by many fans) and were doomed by that 4-8 homestand when we really had an opportunity to pull back into the race and get back above .500.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 04:40 PM) I don't know. But why didn't Ozzie pinch run Wise for Dye in the 8th? Wise scores on Thome's ball easily. It took Freel a year to get there and Dye still didn't score. Because if we took Konerko/Thome/Dye out of every single game in the late innings for pinch-runners, we'd have absolutely ZERO chance of scoring in a game like yesterday's in extra innings. Second, normally you would make that move for the winning or go ahead run, but it's not so obvious there.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 05:19 PM) I would had still let Castro hit there. It was obvious Lou was going to the pen anyways. AJ can get into one vs lefties, but he is very incostistant. He of the .118 average with the Sox coming into that AB? IF Castro hits into a DP, everyone will be screaming, why didn't Ozzie PH? At least AJ has been pretty clutch for us in the past and is probably our second best hitter this year after Pods (maybe tied with Paulie). Clearly, it's not our year...you had the feeling after last week the same thing COULD happen this week in reverse, but the White Sox just couldn't quite push through. Well, there's one more inning to play, and at least the Sox made a game out of it and Beckham/Ramirez had some decent AB's to put their team in a position to tie and/or take the lead.

Would you have rather used Wise there? Castro was hitting .118 with the White Sox coming into that AB, clearly he hasn't been lighting the world on fire, either. Predictable, yes...but that's the way this entire season has gone, I switched it off because I knew it was coming.

I thought I had been banned by Kapkomet in the middle of the night, lol. Actually, I haven't been posting very much here these days...so that didn't make sense, either. Here in Thailand, I'm pretty much elated if I can get Gameday Audio streams to work uninterruptedly, and when I post at soxtalk.com at the same time I am listening to the game, it kicks me out of the game broadcast because of my weak wireless connection. Not sure what the recent news is...Josh Fields should now play everyday and we should send Beckham back down? AJ relives his past glory versus Dodgers? White Sox are playing pretty well again and still losing ground to Tigers? It actually sucked to have to root for the Cubs, and there wasn't as much joy as in the past when they blew the first game against DET because that meant WE were losing more ground. And Transformers 2 pretty much sucked AND was about as long as yesterday's extra inning game!!! We are now 7-12 in one run games....which is a bit surprising, because our bullpen is the strength of the team. I would argue it's 15-20% the bullpen's fault and 75-80% the offense and lack of clutch hitting in close games. Looks like the "real" power hitting Konerko is back too, nice to see. Alexei Ramirez continue to lead the league in being an enigma...but still, at his age, with his contract, he's one of the best bargains on our team and in the top 10-12 MLB shortstops offensively, certainly since the first 6-8 weeks of the season. Nice to see Aaron Poreda come up big, too. We now know Ozzie thinks more highly of him than Jimmy Gobble, FWIW.