almagest

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 04:21 PM) Obviously you prefer a guy that hits .300 with 35 hr's as opposed to a guy who hits .300 with 10 Hr's. So what about a guy who hits .260 with 35 hrs as opposed to a guy who hits .300 with 10 hrs?

There sure are lots of italics being tossed around in this thread. Be careful with those, guys. Someone might get hurt. Oh, and Gavin Floyd is a 25 year old pitcher who's having a pretty good season in the middle of a pennant race in the AL in his first full season in the majors. That's pretty impressive to me, but I guess if you're looking for 12 Ks a game or a shutout every other start you'll be disappointed.

Let's bring him up against the Twins so he can hit bouncers over their third baseman's head, then steal second and piss them off like they do to other teams all the time.

Lowe has an ERA north of 5 on the road this year. No thanks.

I'll be there tonight. Section 530, Row 13.

Southwest service Metra is one way. I take it to Union Station (Canal and Adams) sometimes, then walk to Jackson & State to catch the Red Line south to Sox Park. I'll either take Red Line to Metra back home, or take the Red Line back to Roosevelt, Orange Line to Midway, and bus or car home.

On topic, I'm not really worried about Crede, except for if he can reach type B or A free agent status to bring us back some prospects when he leaves.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 17, 2008 -> 05:12 PM) I have never understood booing your teams' players unless they are showing a lack of effort. How do you possibly justify booing Konerko when he's been playing injured almost the entire season? If I had any clue how to imbed youtube.com videos I would imped Konerko's grand slam during the WS listening to the guy shooting it going crazy. Konerko haters would be owned. Considering he followed up that season with a.313 35 homer 113 rbi campaign, and last year hit .259 with 31 and 90, booing him would show a lack of intelligence and while I don't know if it would be the low point for White Sox "fans", it certainly would be down there quite a bit. Watching the WS grand slam "owns" no one, since it happened 3 years ago. Past seasons don't have any effect on this season, other than to show that Konerko is capable of pulling out of his slump. It's not bad to expect Konerko to perform, and to be upset that he's not. It's bad to demand crazy trades for him, or to release him, because he's struggled for 2/5 of a season. It's also silly to dislike him because he pops up or GIDP or hangs his head when he makes an out.

Almagest

QUOTE (earthshiner @ Jul 17, 2008 -> 12:24 AM) just reread the entire thread and other than the '05 playoffs and some decent years from 00-02 not much else was there. I have said that I liked for a time in october of 05 and that he needed to go about 6 years ago. I stand by my comments and look forward to many more LOBs from Pauly the Rally Killer in the second half. From 1999 to 2007, Paul Konerko had exactly one season where he performed below expectations for an MLB 1st baseman. Every other year, he was well above average. If we let him go after 2002, we would've missed out on the two best years of his career (2005 and 2006), and probably a World Series trophy as well. That wouldn't have been too smart. Your other response in this thread about hating his "pop-ups" (how do you feel about Crede, then?) leads me to believe you're not basing your opinion about Konerko solely on opinion, not fact. Paulie stinks this year so far, but he deserves a chance to work through it, because of the numbers he is capable of putting up. As I've said before, if he struggles through July, you bench/platoon him.

QUOTE (ChiCard @ Jul 16, 2008 -> 08:55 PM) There's no such thing as "yesterday" or "tomorrow" in pro sports any more. The only thing that matters is "today". "Today" Konerko is not producing and even costing us games with his glove. You're fickle. QUOTE (ChiCard @ Jul 16, 2008 -> 08:55 PM) A change of scenery might do him good and bring the Sox a swift everyday outfielder with some pop in his bat. Then we'll be in a position to meet the Cubs in the WS, beat their ass, and silence their fans forever!. No, that's not going to happen. We're not getting the next Sizemore or even Chris Young back for a first baseman hitting .220. We probably wouldn't even get Reed Johnson.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 13, 2008 -> 07:06 AM) he [uribe] took me out for some 7 course meal and we held hands on a romantic walk by the lake. Fixed that quote up for ya.

Five words... three hundred million lotto tickets.

I didn't even know this was in here. Thanks guys!

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 06:08 PM) BS. Uribe never bought me dinner. A couple of cocktails, but no dinner, and I liked him before that. In fact, just about everyone did. I just remain loyal, just like I'm sure you are with Fields, Richar, Owens and Broadway. He didn't slip any roofies in those drinks, did he?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 03:51 PM) Yet 3 games after a DL stint, after playing the season with a hand injury is enough to say Konerko is done? If he goes 1-4 tonight, wouldn't that technically be an uptrend for Paulie? I'm not Paulie's biggest fan, I just think this is an unfair thread. I didn't say that. If you read my other post, you'll notice I talked about giving Konerko time to get back to form. I think all this player bashing is silly...except for Juan Uribe. He stinks.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 03:00 PM) Almaguest you didn't respond to Dick's post. He pointed out Swish had ONE GOOD MONTH. He also pointed out some major flaws. No, I did. Swisher's most recent full month was extremely good, and represents an upward trend over the previous months. They've also played, what, 8 or 9 games in July? It's a little early to declare him as suck for this month, and it's a little ridiculous to say he's terrible again.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 02:48 PM) That's what I don't understand as well. Paulie has sucked with his meager 8 homers in a year he's been hurt some. Swisher has also been average at best and I don't think he's a great centerfielder. I want Swish lovers to respond to Dick's two posts! You got it. Swisher's June: .315/.402/.630/1.032 Don't really need to say anything else. Also, Konerko needs to be given a chance to play out of it. His career numbers suggest an OPS around .850 is a reasonable expectation for the rest of the year, which is just fine with me. If he continues to struggle through July, bench/platoon him. I really don't get all the whining going on around here, especially since we're in first place and the team has looked very good lately.

QUOTE (Pants Rowland @ Jul 10, 2008 -> 02:08 PM) So it's official, we want the Twins and Tigers to both lose all four and then spontaneously combust. Sounds good to me. Maybe the Metrodome could also somehow implode, or maybe turn into a non-crappy stadium?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jul 7, 2008 -> 12:15 PM) What does that tell you besides giving up outs via sacrifice bunts and getting caught stealing to "manufacture" runs isn't really the best way to score? Good OBP + doubles/ HR's = great offense. There is a ton of research showing that bunting is only really useful in close and late situations, and that basestealers need to steal at >75% success rate to contribute positively to runs scored, yet people continually assert that what the Sox are "missing" is this nebulous concept of run manufacturing. I really don't understand it, especially since the Sox hit over 200 home runs in 2005, and slugged their way through all but 2 or 3 games in the playoffs. Our problem this year has been a couple of black holes throughout the lineup (Swisher, Cabrera, Konerko, Thome, Uribe) that only now are starting to produce, or are on the bench/injured. We weren't struggling offensively because we weren't bunting with a runner on first or second in the 5th inning. Anyway, back on topic. The Twins are unbelievably annoying. But they won't continue to be this good. I really think that 90 wins is the benchmark for winning the division, and all the Sox need to do is focus on winning at least that many games. The rest will take care of itself.

QUOTE (ChiSox35 @ Jul 5, 2008 -> 09:56 AM) " I understand Dye or Quentin have done enough good to get a free pass from time to time, but failing in a clutch situation is just that. " I wasn't comparing Uribe to Queye. If it's 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth and two outs in the World Series and Jesus Quentin dribbles it to the pitcher. Do you want to hide behind your stats then? Baseball is a game of hit or miss. One day the team MVP will win a game, another day the mascot or bench coach will. It's obvious that there are people who believe that Uribe could end up winning a game here or there for the team. If there weren't, he'd be talking to his bats and bickering playfully with Ed Farmer in Colombia instead of the bench. But you know what? I kind of like a lot of your guys approach. Let's DFA STFU LULZ him and bat with 8 guys instead of 9, and lets just put one of those bp ball screens at short on defesnse. Okay, odd ramblings aside, Quentin gets breaks in situations where he doesn't succeed because he is good. Juan Uribe doesn't, because he is bad. It's pretty simple. I don't remember suggesting to DFA Uribe, either.

Juan Uribe 2008 OPS+: 57 Carlos Quentin 2008 OPS+: 136 Jermaine Dye 2008 OPS+: 139 Yep, certainly a valid comparison there! Juan Uribe = Carlos Quentin = Jermaine Dye. Uribe for the 2008 All-Star Game! Sometimes I wonder about some of you...

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Jul 4, 2008 -> 09:50 PM) Also in attendance at the game tonight. Just seemed like a bad game plan tonight against Blanton. No one had a clue. Oh, and what the hell was the IBB to Ellis about???? Not sure either. That and the bunt in the 5th inning made me think Ozzie didn't have much of a game plan, either. Still amazed Oakland only managed 7 runs on like 17 hits. I think they wore the middle of the field out tonight.

I was at the game tonight. Blanton was throwing consistent first pitch strikes, and actually didn't look too bad. He was sitting around 89 with his fastball, and 82-83 with the change, which he threw A LOT. On a positive note, I got a Quentin jersey today at the game.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 4, 2008 -> 09:03 PM) Ramirez is 3 for his last 18. His OBP is a whopping .309. Someone explain how he would have made up the 6 run difference? Yeah, and Uribe's OBP is a whopping .264. And it's not like we went out there knowing we'd lose 7-1 either. That's a silly rationalization.