caulfield12

QUOTE(StrangeSox @ Apr 18, 2007 -> 09:24 AM) He doesn't strike out, he flys out on pitch 1 or 2. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=3948 His pitches per plate appearance numbers have actually improved over his time with Minnesota and SF, especially in 2005. He's been trending backwards the last 7 months. His career average is 3.29 3.56 in 2005, 3.36 in 2006 and down to 3.29 so far this year. He just SEEMED more pesky (along with Mientkiewicz, Koskie, Hocking, LeCroy, Guzman, Rivas) because of when he got the hits to give them one or two run victories over us.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Apr 18, 2007 -> 09:11 AM) Which AJ have you been watching? I saw somewhere that he led the league in fewest pitches seen per at bat. EDIT: It was a stat they showed on TV during a game late last year. Seems no different this year. Maybe the at-bat against Mariano Rivera last year and the fact that he's one of the hardest hitters in the AL to strike out caused me to think this.

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Apr 18, 2007 -> 08:54 AM) Dice K's OBP is .355 when he pitches out of the stretch and .235 when he is in the wind up. Pitchers are now pulled after throwing 100 pitches on a regular basis and most bullpens blow. These are the reasons you make pitchers work as the more pitches they throw the sooner they are out of a game. This is what both the Red Sox and Yankees do and Oakland used to, very well. The things that the Sox have never done is foul off good pitches to extend the count. Take good strikes early in the count. Recognize ball four is coming. They are all in the 16" softball mode which is not going to win. The theory of Greg Walker and the White Sox is this. The stroke used by a player is what worked to get them to majors so they do not change it, they only work to keep it consistent. This bothers me in that the pitchers that these hitters faced in AA and AAA were not MLB pitchers so how can the same swing be applied across the board. The fire sale may not be far off for Dye and Crede (Angels could use both). Also the Darin Erstad pulled hamstring can not be far off. When you think about it, Uribe/Cintron/Crede/Anderson/Mackowiak/Thome/Iguchi all look the same up there, pretty much. Mackowiak to a lesser extent (he was close to .300 all last year), but they're not hitters, they're swingers. AJ, Konerko, Erstad (when he was healthy!) and Dye are/were probably the best "pure" hitters in terms of spraying the ball all around and using the entire field. Thome is a hitter period, but he's in a different classification. The Tigers can get away with it because of their starters and bullpen. The Twins have Bartlett, Punto, Tyner and Castillo who can be counted on to make contact...and Mauer's a pretty good contact hitter as well. We don't have enough of those guys who work the counts, foul off pitches (Pods is probably the best, AJ is good at this too), work the pitchers and take any hit they can get. Maybe Erstad too, but certainly not this season. We're impatient, and we're swinging for the fences no matter the situation. Even guys like Cintron and Mack that aren't by any stretch of the imagination "power hitters" are copying the middle of the line-up in this "all or nothing," make or break type of offensive strategy. We might be the slowest team in baseball, without Pods. We're going to end up with fewer SB's than Oakland, Toronto and Boston at this rate. Look at the Yankees....Abreu, Jeter, A-Rod, Cano, Cabrera, they have a lot of talented athletes that can run a little, unlike the Sox.

I'm going to be moving to China for at least one year to teach. I was just curious what ideas you guys had for promoting baseball, and, specifically, the White Sox? When I lived in Colombia last year, I met with Renteria's brother and his agent, but it seems that only a few teams have a presence on the Caribbean coast, and I taught in Armenia, which is in the Andes Mountains between Cali and Medellin, where soccer (futbol) is King. Has anyone here been to China? Obviously, baseball's future vision is for more exhibition games and even a franchise (or division) in Japan/Korea/Taiwan/China. Although I'm a teacher, I also spent two years working for the Augusta GreenJackets and have an MS in Sports Administration (I also worked for an NFL football player as director of his non-profit organization), so I understand the basics of sports marketing and promotions (of course, we had one of Bill Veeck's books in my sports marketing class and I met his son while he was running the St. Paul Saints). Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated. The biggest cities in China are Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong. I will be living in Wuhan, which is about 9 million people and known as the "Chicago of China." Except no White Sox there, :-(

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Apr 18, 2007 -> 02:09 AM) They want bad trades, how about Esteban Loaiza for Jose Contreras? Or Nick Johnson, Juan Rivera, and Randy Choate for a near 5.00 ERA version of Javier Vazquez? Or how about Jeff Weaver, Yhency Brazoban, and a minor leaguer (who never made it to the majors) for Kevin Brown? Or Javier Vazquez, Brad Halsey, and Dioner Navarro for Randy Johnson? Or maybe I should start talking about Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano, Tony Womack, and Rondell White? Or do those not count because they can sign every player that hits the market and not feel the ramifications? It'd be bad for the Yankees, no doubt, but they'd be able to replace Cano's production, and Garland would give them, at the very least, a stable pitcher in their rotation until the day they let him go. It's not like they're trading a horse that was a huge reason a team won a World Series for a long reliever. ''Mentally, I didn't stay on,'' Garland said of the two homers. ''I gave up, and it showed.'' Someone called into the Royals' pre-game show yesterday and was going on and on about Charlie Lau and how George Brett never hit .300 in the minors and that the Royals should fire their hitting coach and hire Charlie Lau, Jr. and players like Tony Pena, Jr., Sweeney, Ryan Shealy, Buck, LaRue, etc., would be magically transformed in a similar fashion. The radio host made the comment that you don't teach great players how to be "gamers" or "winners," that it's either inside you or its not. The White Sox had that fire in 2005, and they're struggling to find that missing "it" that is so easy to lose, that mysterious chemistry, "grinderism," "small ball," "Ozzie Ball," well, whatever it was, they better relocate it soon, because the train's leaving the station and the Fat Lady is warming up behind Logan in the pen.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Apr 18, 2007 -> 12:38 AM) I love it. Homers are the most effecient method of producing runs. The Yankees have scored 800 runs every year this decade, and they've hit 200 homers every year this decade. It's not a coincidence. BUT the only year they didn't score 870+ runs was also the only year their team OBP wasn't above .350. In fact, it was .334. Is that coincidental dude? No, not in the least. This year's White Sox team will be no different in the home run department. However, seeing as how they have the second worst OPS in the AL (to Oakland), and the fact that they have been caught stealing more times than most teams and have one of the worst stolen base percentages of teams in the league already makes it perfectly clear as to why this team can't do s*** offensively. Homers are not the problem. The goal to hit a 5-run homer with no one on base is the problem, and it has been since July of last season. that should have been your first option I said it in a chat one day Irish, that's the guy I wanted the Sox to throw like a $750K at come the offseason. It's overpaying, and I don't give a s***. He's amazing at what he does. The Sox take good hitters and make them s***ty. Why do I not think that will work? Wouldn't it be be better to spend $2-3 million and lure the Twins' Director of Scouting away from them....which would be better, having Pods/Cintron/Mackowiak, or an investment that keeps paying you back over time, one that's not depreciating? "There were a whole lot of 'what ifs' in the game," Garland said. "Mentally, I didn't stay on it. I gave up, and it showed." Nice quote Garland...I hope it was taken out of context, because it doesn't sound very encouraging on the surface of it.

QUOTE(BobDylan @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 11:35 AM) Agree on a lot of points. But I don't think the writing is on the wall for this team, nor do I think they've been passed pitching staff-wise by the Tigers. Aside from the first two games of the year, the Sox pitching staff has been pretty darn good. Jenks blew a save, but that's going to happen. Aardsma and Masset have been as good as advertised and MacDougal/Thornton both have the ability to step in if Jenks can't get the job done. There's nothing wrong, IMO, having MacDougal close and sliding Jenks down an inning or two. I don't think there's much of a drop off there. The question that needs to be answered is whether these guys will be as good when the weather warms up with the bats. The future does look problematic, but KW stockpiled pitching last year for a reason. It's no secret that he's banking on a younger team come perhaps even next year. For 5-6, I'm very excited about this team. All the starters look pretty good, the bullpen looks absolutely fantastic. The bats just need to get going. Every night, the arguments against "staying the course" grow stronger and stronger, especially with Pods looking to be on the shelf for quite some time....

QUOTE(shawnhillegas @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 09:00 PM) I used to like Hawk, but I wont be able to handle him this season. White Sox seemingly an insurmountable 3 games behind in the race already. This might be the ugliest three game stretch since August/September 2005...or maybe it was our series at Boston late last year where Jenks blew one game and we lost to Kason Gabbard, I think Vazquez only gave up one run. Royals fall to 3-11. That franchise is snakebitten...only good start was 03, 7 games up over the Sox at the break and they got passed by both the Twins and the Sox down the homestretch.

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 08:44 PM) Who, outside of Thome, is old in our lineup? Iguchi and Dye will both be 34 to start next season. AJ is younger, but, as a catcher, he might as well be the same age with all the wear and tear on your body. Konerko is still in his prime, but every year from here on out should see diminished returns. Pods and Erstad are both on the downside of their careers. Uribe and Crede are it, and Crede's horrible right now.

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 08:43 PM) paging josh fields I don't know if we could get Dallas McPherson or Casey Kotchmann, let alone Santana or Figgins for Crede...

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 08:39 PM) seems like they walk into the box 0-2 Okay JOE, please don't waste AJ's best at-bat of the season... Has Crede hit a fastball over 90 all season?

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 08:33 PM) Uh, do you want to raped? That sounds like the VA TECH campus shooter's 10 page essay called "Mr. Browstone" NOTE TO KONERKO: Please stop shaking your head after every lazy flyout you get under.

QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 08:30 PM) This might be the best I've ever seen Garland pitch. I think Arnie Munoz or Mike Porzio might have a 3 hitter going right now. Perhaps even Danny Wright or Josh Stewart in these conditions. If it was a little colder, Parque, Diaz and Adkins.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 08:24 PM) JUAN URIBE CAN NOT HIT RIGHT HANDERS. GET THAT THROUGH YOUR HEAD!!!! The last three years, Uribe is hitting .256 with 39 homers against righties. .260, with 21 homers against lefties. Not exactly a huge differential.

QUOTE(SoxGovernment @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 08:23 PM) OMG CINTRON STRUCK OUT....I KNEW HE WOULD.....THIS TEAM SUCKS...UMMM....YA TOLD YA SO!!! I love how we rally back when the other team scores a run. Last time out against TB, he gave up 10 hits and 6 runs. Oh, for the D-Rays line-up in Chicago, with our pitching.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 08:21 PM) Solid grammar. Has Cintron ever walked?

QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 08:18 PM) Maybe it's me, but Iguchi should have turned that DP. Rangers' announcers had it right. Crede with a very bad throw...Josh Lewin said if the ball was waist high, it would have been a fairly straightforward DP. Two earned runs to Garland...he (Crede) had a terrible throw and couldn't stop another DP ball the other day against the Indians.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 07:56 PM) I love games on WCIU, I have no interest in seeing the first pitch or two of each inning anyway. KC came back from 5-2 down to now lead 6-5, but i'm sure their bullpen will blow it to either I-Roid or Craig Monroe somehow.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 07:05 PM) Freddy just walked on 4 pitches. What the f*** Glavine? 4 2/3rd's IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K's

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 06:38 PM) When FG got here he was throwing 94 and up Jose (porn stache) Valentin hits a damn triple Didn't they rule that a double and an error? Valentin's also sporting the goggles! Dirk Diggler rules! Rowand's 9th in the NL at .342 entering the game. Flyball to CF for ARow.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 01:59 PM) They have s***ty weed in philly. 89-91 MPH with the fastball. Ironic that he's throwing almost as hard as Jenks after throwing 83-86 in ST. He actually picked Reyes off 2B AFTER he'd easily stolen. Walked the next hitter, but got a double play ball to get out of the inning. 2nd INNING: Moises Alou two run homer smashed against the wind and out to LCF.

QUOTE(DrunkBomber @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 10:31 AM) Dont they sell pills for premature evaluation? That that was ED, lol. In the Phillipines, the street vendors sell Viagra and Cialis...I've heard that a few men in their 50's and 60's have actually had heart attacks due to the use of "street Viagra." Luckily, I'm 37 and haven't had to go that route.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 10:11 AM) I think the women were put off by BA's BA. :lol Or BA's BO?

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 10:20 AM) No doubt. Just like its early to evaluate Danks...but he has thrown two quality starts so far. I hope this is a sign for the future. Another case of premature evaluation. Half the White Sox team would have been traded at this point by some posters. Those gloating about McCarthy, Chris Young...I can't wait until Garcia gets rocked by the Mets, if they actually play a game.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Apr 17, 2007 -> 08:15 AM) Other major leaguers seem to be able to handle it, especially with guys who put up over 40 homers hitting behind them. Well if that is the way people treated him down there, I can imagine why he wouldn't want to go back. At the sametime, its stuff like that, which seems very consistant with the stories leaking out of the clubhouse about Brian Anderson. He really is sounding more and more like another DAngelo Jimenez with all of the potential in the world, an ego to match, and a questionable work ethic. It is hard to reward guys like that. I lived in Colombia and taught there all last year, it's a lot more dangerous than Venezuela. I also didn't get sick once, which always happens to me in Mexico with the water, even drinking carbonated soft drinks down there that are bottled in Mexico. There's nothing worse than being in a foreign country and being sick, but ballplayers are worshipped down there...unless they're not contributing to having a winning team on the field, which is THE most important thing in all of the Winter Leagues, not development. Remember when Borchard was released from the Mexican team? I think KW should step back and realize that these owners are going to put winning and NOT developing future White Sox players at the forefront. I don't see why the White Sox simply cannot buy a team in Venezuelan League and run it however they wish. Heck, let Cora, Contreras or Ozzie's kids manage it, as long as White Sox administration and training staff are personally involved. We keep speculating about getting a player like Cabrera to come to Chicago as a Free Agent, but Ozzie hasn't helped us (that we know) directly in that area as of yet. I also think the political climate (anti-gringo, anti-Bush, ant-American, look what happened to that ex-pat accused of murder in Nicaragua without any evidence) has something to do with it. A lot of the South American countries are becoming socialistic, mixed with "market economy" reforms, like Chile, Bolivia (run by a former cocaine farmer), Venezuela...then you have Cuba, etc. Plus, there have been many threats about "nationalizing" US corporations (especially oil companies and banks), so it doesn't make as much sense to invest there at the present time, except for the fact that Ozzie is "hot" and a national hero right now. In Colombia, you have to be in Cartagena, Barranquilla or Santa Marta...Renteria and Orlando Cabrera are both from this region. The coast is the only place to be for baseball. And it's HOT down there...imagine Augusta, Georgia with 95% humidity in the middle of August. They have the ocean breeze and still, most people don't work between 10 am and 3 pm. I would think Anderson would love Latin America, except for being sick. Beautiful women, the culture is all about dancing, festivals, parties, soccer...you make friends wherever you go. You can never be late, time doesn't exist...Americans can pretty much have any woman they want, especially those like BA that are tall with blond hair and blue eyes, lol.