MiddleCoastBias

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 16, 2010 -> 01:19 AM) Man oh man! You guys have no faith, no patience, no confidence, no belief whatsoever after a few rough weeks in a 5 month season... It was only 5-6 weeks ago that that very same Minnesota Twins team could hardly buy a win and we were on fire. Now it seems to me that they have pretty much the same group of guys, and we have pretty much the same group of guys...and yet, there is no way we can beat them? We're going to get swept with Danks/Floyd/Buehrle going? I understand we all have a right to be pissed, and if you guys want to argue that this Twins team is better than us for one reason or another, I'm not going to try and change your mind too badly. But I've been watching this argument evolve since late April and I really haven't seen too much that convinces me that you guys aren't just living and dying with every game and every series... This is going down to the wire...nothing is going to be settled in this series in Minnesota. This. I'm definitely in your camp. We've been a bit rattled this past week but a good win in the first game will get the confidence back. If we can get clicking and put up a solid win, I have confidence that we can take at least 2. Granted this first game is very important in getting their stride back (as someone else pointed out). This first game of the series is the momentum-setter; win here and I believe our guys will snap out of this Minnesota fear and play like they did in July. Here's to a new streak!

Daniel Hudson is 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA with AZ.

So I recently recognized a few different parks that my various friends have visited based solely on the shade of the green of the grass behind them in the photo. Obviously the shade of wrigley's grass is much different than that of the Cell, Miller Park, et al. Does anyone know what ballpark uses which type of grass? Is it something that is regulated by the MLB (like the mud use on every MLB ball before gametime)? Just an interesting thought to see which parks use which types of sod. Thoughts?

I posed this question in the GT: what do Bobby's stats look like in 4+ out inning saves? I don't recall seeing many and I was afraid that sitting on the bench for half an inning would affect him. Does anyone know his saves/opp in those situations?

Does anyone have the stats on Bobby in 4+ out save situations? I feel like we don't see Bobby in for many multi-inning saves, just curious how he does with that half inning on the bench after tossing.

Nostalgia aside, what does this actually mean for us? What affect does he have on the system now? Is he going to have a shot to make an impact or is this just going to be a ripple in our minor league system?

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ga...ttack-yankees/1 George Steinbrenner died this morning of a heart attack.

We're winning too many games, I can't tell which is the right WHITE SOX WINNER thread!

Scott Linebrink.

I know you said 2007 you said take your pick-- I definitely say Andy Gonzalez and his .864 fielding% at 3B. 9 errors in 66 chances? *shudder*

As far as I'm concerned, yesterday was Opening Day. It's a whole new season folks, and we're 2-0!

Didn't Ozzie make a nice substitution on Sunday, sitting Viciedo for Vizquel? Vizquel comes up in the pitcher's spot and gets us an insurance run, if I recall.

They should use this pointless trophy for something useful. Say, plugging their leak.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 6, 2010 -> 12:29 AM) f***ing tell me about it. Think about all the "Ozzie should be fired" rants simply from starting Wise in CF. Now we've got one of the best all-around CFs in the game and it's time to trade him? Makes awesome sense. I totally agree. We've seen a number of posters saying we should flip the talent we have for youth lately. I thought that was the point of acquiring this proven talent- so that we can field a competitive team? And yes I know the team we field now is not competitive but why blow up the few good pieces we have? I don't agree with the mentality of "we suck now, trade the 3 good players now so we can maybe build for 4 years from now, depending on how these prospects play out". I agree we need to retool and/or rebuild but come on... we haven't had a REAL CF in years and now that we have one of the better players we need to flip him for prospects? I'm sure we can find other avenues to cut payroll and add future depth. Rios is not that option.

Kotsay! Jenks...

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ May 21, 2010 -> 11:25 PM) I've mentioned before that in 2007 if you flip the Sox 4-14 interleague record things look a whole lot different. I don't believe they were as far behind division lead at this point in 2007, so every game no matter which league Sox face is must win now, but it's neat to see that the NL outright clowning the Sox played a significant role in The Ballad of 2007. Also, Andy Gonzalez.

As a Field Organizer on Blanche Lincoln's campaign currently, it's interesting to see the take people have on this election back in Chicago. I probably should have thought to share here earlier and not AFTER the May 18th primary. Oh well, still have June 8th. As you can imagine, the campaign was a bit surprised when we only carried the popular vote by 2%, seeing that we were polling with an average of 12% lead. But the thing is that everyone down here hates Halter as much as Blanche; the third candidate (DC Morrison) received a shocking 14% of the vote but only because people are so anti-establishment right now. As we approach this 3-week runoff, I predict we'll carry it by 6 points (biased opinion, yes). The Senate Dems said that they would not pass her financial reform because it had too many holes, and that they could delay shooting it down until after the primary but they wouldn't be able to delay until after a run-off (and obviously losing that piece of legislation in the face of the Democrats would hurt us). Yesterday they passed it. Should see a big bump. And people are beginning to understand the importance of her positions in the Senate and their importance for this state. I predict victory on June 8th. That being said, I can't wait until November 2nd so I can get back to Chicago and see a building over 5 stories tall.

QUOTE (hogan873 @ May 18, 2010 -> 08:10 AM) 12:05 start. Another day of low production at work and much swearing at the computer. It's Election Day on the campaign I am working for. Something is going to have to give....

Can we bring back Contreras? /green, maybe...

QUOTE (Lemon_44 @ May 12, 2010 -> 09:43 PM) his stance used to be more open as well. NOw he's almost lined up directly at the pitcher. I don't know why he, or anyone, changes with something they have been successful with. It's like the young golfer who wins early on in their career and then decide to change their swing only to never be heard from again. Cal Ripkin, Jr. Seemed like that dude had a new stance every time he came to bat. Definitely the rarest of success stories in terms of how much he changed his swing/stance while still maintaining sustained success.

QUOTE (IamtheHBOMB @ May 11, 2010 -> 10:17 PM) He is the antithesis of the typical White Sox player (in recent memory). Elite defender. Great instincts and technique on the basepaths. Power and plate discipline. To top it off, he is apparently coachable too. I'm so glad he is patrolling center field. If he keeps up this level of play, he will be well worth his contract. And the best part is that I have no idea how he manages to hit like he does with the stance that he has. Every pitch I catch myself thinking "bring the bat up like you're ready to hit!" I don't know how he has such level swing-control with his hands starting so low, but I love it.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 4, 2010 -> 10:07 PM) I like how the dude in the comments section thinks that this is the precursor to a Gonzalez or Fielder trade and that Coats is coming in to replace Quentin. Um, how about how that same guy is making hypothetical trades including players that HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW THEIR NAME. Brent Worell? Seriously? How can he claim to know that he's a "stud in the minors" if he doesn't even know his name. I'm sorry, I don't normally call people out on a board but this is just frustrating.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 3, 2010 -> 04:25 PM) I bet he pees like a girl... Fixed.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ May 2, 2010 -> 10:52 PM) some interesting points, but i strongly disagree with you on number 5 and 10. danks had a great april, but so did 11 other pitchers, he is only 12 in the ERA list, look at guys like zito, fister, silva, livan hernandez, cj wilson, jamie garcia, do you call them cy young candidates? if he has 16 wins, and a sub 3.00 ERA in september, then it's debatable whether he is a top 5 lefty starter. i can think of guys like lester, sabathia, santana, cliff lee, and even a renewed liriano off the top of my head as better lefties than danks most of the prospects we have down in AAA/AA are not ready, even D2, flowers, viciedo, just look at their K/AB, those are josh fields numbers in the majors, and i do not want to see 3 josh fields on the team right now. our team is the worse contact team in the league, and we do not need to rush guys up who will strike out twice every game. PK, danks, and jones has been sensational thus far, but expect them to come back to earth the next month or two. the only trends i see that could continue are Santos being a dominant reliever, and Rios continues to hit. Santos has really great stuff, reminds me of a young Bobby jenks or a poor man's jonathan broxton. If he continues to do well in the 7th or 8th inning, expect the Sox to trade jenks away at the deadline to avoid arbitration next year and put him or putz at closer spot. one thing that bothers me and hasn't really receive enough attention is buehrle's struggle. he has really gone down hill since the opening day, recording one 1 QS since, and opponents are just teeing off him like it's T ball. if not for that great opening day start, his ERA would be topping 6.00 now. Going back to last season, you can see his struggles really started after the perfect game, and he struggled to finish the season, and the trend continues now. perhaps the hitters are finally figuring out how to hit his soft stuff after all these year? i mean not even the cardinals would be into him now for that money and the mighty struggles. Like most here, I love everything the Burls has done for us, a true competitor day in and day out. But it really does sound like he wants to finish soon so he can take care of his family, and he also really wants to play for the Cards. I would really hate to see him go and I know it would be a big blow in terms of how the fans view the front office, but I think we should play the cards and consider trading him to the Cardinals (if we can get a positive return). Think about it, the Cardinals would love to have him, and Buerhle himself said he may not want to play much longer... why try to keep him for big money when we can flip him for good talent now considering he might not be around in 2 years anyway? I say trade him while he's just barely past his crescendo and before he loses value. And that hurts to say, knowing how much he means to this franchise, and I don't like bailing on franchise players.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 2, 2010 -> 05:06 PM) IF you watch him at the plate, he has a godawful swing technique right now. His hips are flying open on every swing, for starters. I believe his head is flying out following it. It also looks like he's standing straight up in the box when he sees a fat pitch, as if he's coming out of his stance too early. And this high fastball fascination of his is concerning.