caulfield12

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Mar 9, 2009 -> 06:10 PM) I was at the game today. I'm in a hurry so I'll just give you a few highlights (and lowlights)/ 1) Aaron Poreda, he had a shaky first inning, but his fabled slider really worked for him starting in the second. If he can throw that pitch consistently for a strike he could be nigh unhittable. Definitely the highlight of the game 2) Wilson Betemit cannot field AT ALL. He either has no range or is extremely lazy. Make of that what you will. 3) Getz has some serious wheels, and a nice level swing. 4) Vicideo will chase after any slider, no matter where it is. This really needs to be addressed. 5) Owens is awful. (Barring one great defensive play) moving on. 6) Michael Restovich finds it awkward that I knew his name. Deal with it, Restovich. I know everyone 7) Lillibridge, Getz, Walker were nice enough to sign autographs. Got a good picture with Lillibridge, and told him, "Keep hitting, man and you'll make this team". He smiled, good for him. 8) Kenny Williams looks awesome in his skybox. That's an intimidating figure. 9) Harold Baines looks oblivious when you call him out. Hilariously so 10) Jeff Cox is awesome. Actually, Viciedo laid off a couple of breaking pitches that he was swinging at earlier in the spring. He did have to defend the plate, because he got down 2 strikes in his 2nd and 3rd at-bats and had to swing at pretty much anything close, which is natural. On the plus side, all of those offspeed and breaking pitches, he fouled almost all of them off and kept his plate appearance alive, especially the 2nd time up. Where they will try to get him out is with slightly above letter high fastballs or busting him inside and trying to tie up his hands...and then down-and-away. The old stereotype, young Latin players will swing at anything that's remotely close to the plate. The FB he struck out Reyes with was a perfect pitch almost. Dotted the black. Viciedo needs to cut down on his swing a little with two strikes, it seems like he's taking the same approach and the only way he could have hit that ball was to the opposite field, but he's flying out with the front of his body a little too much with that violent hack he takes. He's not getting cheated up there, one bit. It's why we have seen 2 400+ foot balls off his bat already. The ball that Chulk struck him up out with was another tailing fastball, this one high and inside and a ball for sure. One he chased because he got too anxious. Should have took a walk in this appearance, his day would have seemed better in comparison in the end... If there's anyone I am worried about right now, it's Lillibridge, Owens and Anderson. Viciedo will get things figured out quickly in Birmingham. Viciedo looked TERRIBLE today at the plate. Out in front of everything and completely off balanced. Give him time, he's going to have to adjust to a steady diet of breaking balls because that's the standard first rite of passage for all young hitters who have some success against the FB. He's at least making contact with those offspeed pitches and fouling them off, and he and Brandon Allen actually run pretty well for such big guys...not in the AJ/Crede/Konerko/Dye/Thome slow guys' camp.

Ramirez is going to have a post a .850-.900 OPS and win the Gold Glove at SS to be clearly better all-around than Quentin. I just don't see how he can improve his OPS much from last year unless his walk rate climbs, which usually doesn't happen with swing first, walk later Latin players (born and raised playing baseball outside of the US). He does run better, but that hasn't translated into stolen bases as of yet. Quentin is kind of a work in progress in LF, but he has been getting better playing out of his natural position. He might be our "flashiest" or "most dynamic" player, although Beckham might give him a run for his money there too, along with Viciedo eventually.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 9, 2009 -> 04:32 PM) OUR version of Darin Erstad was king of the 4-3 groundout. I think Thome has definitely taken over that title, at least unofficially.

"and stuff like that" C'mon Melton, are you serious? To say that twice in the span of 2 minutes???

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 9, 2009 -> 04:20 PM) Apparently Erstad never left. At least Erstad was respected throughout baseball, and everyone admired how he gutted it out playing through numerous injuries. I don't think Owens will ever have a season of 200+ hits. What did Erstad have that one season? Something crazy...the season he was actually healthy for a full year. PROWESS TO BE WILD BILL? Prowess tends to be a POSITIVE word, with a good connotation, you don't have a prowess to be wild. Maybe proclivity/tendency.

Grim works for the White Sox, senior director of broadcasting.... Highlights of this game, Getz and Poreda, that's basically it. Bad game. No Bill, with two strikes, you DON'T want to put the ball in play....Flowers, Viciedo, Beckham, Ramirez....all showing the rest of the pull-hookers (that's you Jerry Owens) how to go to the opposite field in ST. Lillibridge does it, but it's because his approach has been so horrible this spring.

Bob Grim, Director of Broadcasting and Ranger Rongey's supervisor. Melton is truly about as bad as Bill Walton or Magic Johnson. It's hard not to listen...it's like The Love Guru, only the baseball version. ViceeADO or EYDO? Get it straight. Thank god he's not paired with Santo. Viciedo chased that one of the zone. That's the ball all righthanders think they can get to. The first strikeout, perfect pitch location for Reyes. This one by Chulk was just impatience on the part of Dayan.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 9, 2009 -> 03:46 PM) 9-12 since 2002. That's not a bad record against another team's ace. We didn't beat him head-to-head more than once or twice though, like Johan Santana. Their bullpen has just been that bad the last 2-3 years, with the exception of 2007. At least Konerko tried to go the opposite way instead of the pull-hook with the head down in exasperation look. I think everyone will have a new feeling about the Sox when we finally break up Dye/Thome/Konerko and replace them. Not that I won't miss them. But tired of watching them. Nice story Melton, great insight!!! Gee, Marte and Josh Barfield have been disappointing. There's some news. Melton forgets ROSS GLOAD. who he already used as a comparison earlier. Jesus Flowers, catch the damn ball. Geez. Kroeger is a valuable "TOOL"??? What? Is he a John Deere farm implement?

Melton was right about one thing. We couldnt't beat Sabathia. And the fact that he can now pronounce Viciedo's first name. That's marked improvement there. It's official KW. We have no CFer. Just in case you hadn't noticed. Take that back...Wise 2/4 with a homer and extra base hit in the B game against the Dodgers in the morning. He's officially the first option right now in Guillen's mind at least. Bad jump by Owens but he finally gets there. Some of his sliders have been flat...the one to the third hitter was much more effective. Not quite as good as Marte's slurve from the side when he could locate it, but it could be at least serviceable. Still don't think he's close to starting at the big league level yet, though.

Poreda would be better served refining his offspeed stuff in the minors. No news there. He has almost the same exact approach and look as Thornton without quite the same velocity, just a tick slower. The Sox would be better off with the much different look/repertoire of Richard as the 2nd lefty at this point. Reyes looks like he might have a rebound year this season with the Indians.

Viciedo hung in there pretty well against the curveball...that FB to finish him off was perfectly located on the outside corner. Viciedo at .250 now.

Getting old. I guess this must be Mickey Brantley's son.

Viciedo 5/19 on the spring, nice approach taking the ball up the middle. Getz atones for his error...and Betemit. Lillibridge dumps a ball into RCF. Whatever Ramirez, Viciedo and Beckham have in terms of the ball jumping off the bat...Owens has the exact opposite.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 9, 2009 -> 02:31 PM) Melton do your homework, Westbrook is out for quite awhile. Out until at least the ASB. The spots are for Pavano, Laffey, Sowers, Reyes, Jackson or S. Lewis. 3 of those 6.

Jesus, the infield defense this inning has been atrocious. I think I would rather see Viciedo at 3B than Betemit. I guess the only place we can play him is 1B.

How did Australia beat Mexico by 10 runs? That's a big surprise...not quite like the Netherlands over DR, but close. Don't know much about Randy Williams...I think he's pitched twice this spring and hasn't given up a run yet, lefty, non-roster invitee, will undoubtedly end up in Charlotte as roster filler.

Danks had 22 outings last year when he gave up 0-1-2 runs....tied for Cliff Lee for first. That's impressive. Looked like Lillibridge had that until the last hop...can't believe he didn't at least knock it down and keep the runner at 2nd.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...sp&c_id=mlb Bauman knows the White Sox very well and usually comes up with some pretty longer decent articles.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Mar 8, 2009 -> 10:28 PM) um, the name is pronounced the way we americans decide it's pronounced. Weren't you in Gran Torino?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 9, 2009 -> 07:23 AM) Fields has totally out preformed Viciedo this point of spring training. Not only has he had a huge edge in the field, but he is out hitting him as well. Viciedo has the two impressive long balls, but not really much else. I know its a small sample size and all, but this really isn't a competition, in my mind, to this point. Actually, Viciedo has been playing very well defensively since the first 2-3 games out there. It is Flowers that has really been atrocious. Josh has hit well, but he has been pulling everything. Yes, it seems he's quicker to the ball (with the exception of some wild strikeouts in his last game)...but everything he's hit has been to 3B/SS/LF. I would much prefer to see him sometimes take the ball to the opposite field, like Beckham and Ramirez are really good at. He seems to be pull hooking everything. If he can't go to the opposite field, they'll start throwing everything down and away and pepper him with offspeed junk like BA. He has hit two of the most impressive homers of the spring, and he's got a cannon for an arm. In fact, his first step quickness at 3B is a little bit better than Josh already, just from what I've observed. All that said, Fields has certainly done nothing to LOSE the job, but I wouldn't say he's totally dominated Viciedo, either. Viciedo's not like Konerko or Carlos Lee down there, that's for sure. From Scott Merkin/chisox.com Asked for the early surprise of camp, Walker paused momentarily but then selected Josh Fields' consistency at the plate as his choice. It's not so much about Fields picking up hits here and there but more a focus on the steadiness of his philosophy with the bat. According to Fields, it's his approach with two strikes that has changed and left him more comfortable. Fields fanned over 100 times in each of his four full seasons in the White Sox organization, including 185 strikeouts over 578 at-bats between stops at Triple-A Charlotte and with the White Sox in 2007. This new game plan has Fields shortening his stroke with two strikes and just trying to make contact. He struck out for the first two times this spring on Sunday against the Dodgers. "I'm getting down in my stance, squatting more, and seeing the ball a lot better," Fields said. "And when I'm down there, I can't have a long swing. "A lot of it is throwing the bat out there and making contact. I used to take big shots with two strikes, trying to hit it too far, but it makes a big difference getting the bat out there and giving yourself a chance. "Put the ball in play and good things happen," Fields said. "A guy trips going for the ball or can't get to the ball. It ends up working out for you." Better mechanics also have buoyed Fields' cause, according to Walker. "Josh Fields has probably made the most improvement and solidified his mechanics and been as consistent as any player we have in camp," Walker said. "I think he's gotten more consistent with his lower body. He's in a better position to hit. "In the past, he's done some things with his lower half that affected his swing plane. The talent has been there but his swing plane and lower half has been more consistent. So far he has been really good with it. He's a big strong kid and doesn't need a lot of extra, so we've been trying to calm that down and eliminate some of it. So far, he's looked as consistent as I've seen him."

V for Vendetta was okay (maybe because I can watch anything Natalie Portman's in), but League of Extraordinary Gentleman was borderline horrible and certainly a disappointment both critically and with the box office as well. Unrealistically, Watchmen was hyped as a contender to 300's records and beyond in the media. 300 was the previous picture from Watchmen's director Zack Snyder and was prominently cited in Watchmen's advertising. However, just because a picture has a massive marketing campaign or a fervent fan base doesn't mean it's going to be a blockbuster. 300 set the March opening benchmark at $70.9 million on around 4,800 screens at 3,103 sites (which included $3.6 million at 62 IMAX venues). While technically 300 was a comic book adaptation like Watchmen, that's where the similarities ended, because 300 was first and foremost promoted as a harrowing, clearly-wrought tale based in history with a then-striking visual style. As visually punchy as Watchmen's marketing tried to be, the movie's story was left obscure to the uninitiated. Considering that style and mystery took precedence over clarity and relatability, Watchmen's opening was swell. Eventually, ads vaguely revealed that someone was killing off superheroes and that the Watchmen had to figure out why. However, the superheroes in question were not previously well known to the general public, making it an uphill battle to earn audience investment, especially given the picture's ensemble nature. Typically, the biggest superhero movies are the ones where the superheroes are already ingrained in the culture, like The Dark Knight, Spider-Man, Superman and X-Men. Watchmen's source material had a following but never reached a high level of cultural saturation. What's more, the advertising presented no heroes to root for and no villains to root against (a potent combination that worked like gangbusters with The Dark Knight); instead raising the question "will they save us or destroy us?" www.boxofficemojo.com

Lillibridge is supposed to be back and starting at SS after returning from the ubiquitous "flu-like" symptoms. Beckham , not sure if he will be the B game in the morning against the Dodgers or the afternoon game. Nix will be back Tuesday or Wednesday from the quad strain. "I feel fine," Beckham said of playing second base. "I still have to work on the feeds a little bit. I still have to work on getting my feet underneath me and making sure I'm throwing a strike over to first. If I can do that, I think I'll be all right." www.suntimes.com/sports

I think the case can be made by the Twins that they gave him ample opportunity early in the season...and he proved he wasn't ready. Therefore, in their minds, they were justified in being "conservative" with him because they wanted to make sure he was 100% before the recall. Actually, while he mowed down quite a few subpar offenses (he did beat the Rays once), he wasn't nearly as dominating as one would think and he lost a crucial game to the Royals (I think it was Friday night of the final weekend) that was one of many "lost" games for the Sox and Twins down the stretch that turned out to be crucial. Livan Hernandez was horrible statistically, but he kept winning games the first three months. They had Slowey, Baker, Perkins and Blackburn...along with Bonser...so they didn't have to bring him back. In retrospect, you substitute the last 6 weeks of Hernandez for Liriano and the Twins probably win the division, but there were tons of "what ifs" surrounding the White Sox, too (Quentin's injury being one of many).

Cubano, obviously I read your response as taking a shot at the White Sox for being hypocrites about Viciedo. Well, they've invested MORE money into Viciedo for LESS years, so why wouldn't they start him if he was truly ready? You don't think Ozzie and KW want to win badly enough, or that they'd prefer to go through another 2007 again, especially when that will have real consequences for the season ticket base of renewals in 2010? Not on your life, they're going to make the correct decision after assessing all the factors with both Viciedo and Beckham. Viciedo, according to most (not just Peter Bjarkman) actually regressed or went backwards over the last couple of years in Cuba...he was overweight by 20-30 pounds at his DR workout...he missed the mandatory weight training session last Monday, he just has some more maturing to do. He's just turning 20 this month. Beckham, on the other hand, has been climbing since the day he was drafted...probably moreso than any player from last year's draft. He played well after he signed, then even better in the Arizona Fall League. Viciedo was being left off the national team, Olympic team, WBC team, etc. Of course, the Cubans knew about his potential ability TOO, moreso than anyone in the US, but they also are in the business of winning now, not next season. All that said, I don't think that Beckham will make this team, although he's certainly shown the ability to hit well and confidently (so far) out of the leadoff spot, albeit in ST, but it's certainly a positive sign. He has flinched or wilted under the pressure. And Jerry Owens has shown no ability to steal bases, so there has to be some consideration to giving Beckham that spot because our biggest need right now is at leadoff. I can't wait until they move Ramirez to CF for Beckham, that will be when it really starts to fly around here!!!! I know you are waiting for that moment Cubano, but I don't think it will come if Ramirez is close to as good as advertised defensively. Just think if you were Josh Fields coming off his 2007 rookie year and you were told you're going to the minors? Don't you think he had more of a reason to be bitter than Viciedo would, since Viciedo hasn't proved anything at all in regular season big league play? I know all players EXPECT and play like they expect to make the team, but I'm sure Jaime Torres has already alerted him to the reality. If Josh Fields wasn't healthy, was having huge fielding problems and looking like Brian Anderson at the plate and Viciedo was sent down, then I would agree with you. But Fields, Nix and Kroeger have been the three best hitters, at least until Beckham's performance yesterday. The other reason, as noted, was that they 1) wanted to get him more at-bats, they said they might do that from 3B as well, which, of course, would aggravate you if it got in the way of Viciedo's PT, and 2) Lillibridge and Nix are both out for now, and Eider Torres needs to give Ramirez a rest in ST.

Usually the movies to me, in this category...are movies that make $100 million, like Hancock or Seven Pounds...except they are disasters. No matter what, Watchmen was going to make $100 milllion domestically...just because of its production budget and advertising budget alone. I won't even use profitability versus losing money, because some might use that standard to say The Reader or Frost/Nixon were utter failures. Part of it is based on expectations...for instance, Valkryie and Marley & Me were successes because they did better than expected. I'm sure Valkryie even had a pretty similar budget (to Watchmen), but I was expecting it to tank and it did reasonably well and stood up decently for an extended run. Paul Blart and Taken did much better, OTOH. I would put this Watchmen movie in the Jonas Brothers category...not a disaster, not a major success, but one that would them think twice about making a second movie, if there was a thought to do that. So I'll leave that as one measure...just like The Golden Compass, the second CS Lewis movie (Prince Caspian)...where there's a reasonable doubt as to a second movie generating a profit. Obviously, that threshold was met by 300 or Transformers. Second, did it do anything but positively affect the careers of the director and the cast? If it is a minor success, then no damage has been done to either...but their careers haven't been significantly advanced, either. I'll use the example of The Village here...it made a lot of money, it was a "success" in many measures, but didn't live up to the Sixth Sense and caused many to start doubting the director's ability to deliver. So even though that movie made a lot of money, it was probably LESS successful than Watchmen will turn out to be. I might even argue that I liked The Fountain more than Watchmen, but it was surely a bomb both critically and at the box office.