kitekrazy

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 27, 2012 -> 08:43 AM) Jon Morosi ‏@jonmorosi Both #Tigers and #WhiteSox have sore-armed pitching staffs. Jim Leyland’s experience needs to be difference-maker if Detroit is to win. Their starting depth is better. It's their pen that is becoming more shaky. Even after Fister's performace, the pen gave up all of the runs. Good for them the Royals decided to do a Tiger's defense impersonation.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Sep 28, 2012 -> 10:09 PM) I'm with J4L. No hitters are becoming less and less impressive. They are too me. As for perfect games, I hope another Sox pitcher never throws one again. It's a jinx. I could see them becoming more common in the NL since the best hitters are coming over to the AL.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 29, 2012 -> 12:58 PM) “I don’t think any of them are out there saying I wish there were more people in the ballpark. But, without question, they do notice when there are people in the ballpark and giving them that lift and willing them to win,” Boyer said. “When the crowd is behind you, it gives you that little extra push. It makes a difference.” WHAT? He has to spin, it's his job. If you haven't, listen to the sound clip. The article isn't a transcript. I've also been following that thread on WSI.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Sep 29, 2012 -> 12:33 PM) 2008 was really likable. And it showed on Soxtalk. We were all pretty content with the losses in the playoffs. I'd feel the same way about 2012.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Sep 26, 2012 -> 09:51 PM) Oh and BTW Loria is an awful owner, but Ozzie created that situation for himself. If he hadn't gone all short bus in Chicago he might still be here where he never realized how good he had it. His time was over. If he kept his mouth shut things might be different.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Sep 26, 2012 -> 08:05 PM) I'm gonna keep posting this. After reading that, I would think someone hijacked Greg's account.

Weak fan support darkens Sox success http://www.wbez.org/news/economy/weak-fan-...-success-102759

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 28, 2012 -> 09:40 AM) Chicken and egg. Maybe they were hitting .150 because they never played. Look at Tyler Flowers, who by the way was a pretty good 2nd catcher... he started hitting near the end of the season, when he finally saw a little more playing time. And Escobar was never thought to be much of a hitter anyway, but again, they guys need to play to keep the rust off. Bench players are bench players for a reason. And I think KW did an OK job with it. Flowers was pretty good, Escobar was good defensively. The Wise pickup was a good one. Danks works out fine as a backup OF. Great point. Waiver wire also gets more expensive in Sept. for teams who are desperate. Remember the Sox were paying about $100K per at bat to Manny Ramirez? If you invest a lot of money in the DH, it's hard to have a good bench unless you have one that can play multiple positions. Those don't grow on trees. I'm not buying the excuse of hurt and tired. Every baseball team deals with that.

They still farted around and lost to teams they shouldn't have. That's WS baseball in a nutshell after ASB. Some would say this season resembles 2003 and not 2008. Sure in hell is not even close to 2005. They were the best team in baseball. Their division wasn't dependent on another team failing expectations. That Cleveland hot streak was surreal.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 29, 2012 -> 08:42 AM) Gee. Also not the time to develop..... 1) Reed and Nathan Jones as critical bullpen guys 2) Gordon Beckham for his fourth straight year 3) Brent Morel for key stretches of the first month and a half 4) Numerous rookie relievers 5) Tyler Flowers with inconsistent at-bats 6) Quintana and Santiago 7) Jordan Danks But we did all of those things and more this season. We STILL should have been leading the division with ALL of those things happening (above and beyond Viciedo's development), and we're still ONLY 1 game back with five to play. It was a rebuild gone all wrong. They were suppose to totally suck and season over by June. Don't ya hate it when things don't work out that way?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 29, 2012 -> 01:53 AM) I can't believe there's 5,000 members. It seems only about 20 people post. It makes your head spin. Do the quiet non posters recognize Greg's posting style? Do they they think I'm an idiot or a brilliant baseball mind? Why don't 1000 of the 5000 post more? The other site has far more members but they have a small % of posting. It like the Sox attendance. Probably a lot of casual fans or kids who grew up in the every one gets a trophy era who say "I don't post here because of the negativity". Grow a pair or find a Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood for the Sox website where everyone is special. This site is not as negative compared to others.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Sep 29, 2012 -> 02:17 AM) Broadcast tonight was awful. There's clearly something going on in the booth. I think it's more related to what is going on in the field. These games are painful to watch even when they are winning. There's been a few times I thought Hawk would reject homerism and tell it like it is. In that SCORE interview, I've never heard Stone this cynical and critical concerning the Sox. Hawk is very emotional with Sox baseball and it may be getting the best of him. Who knows with his criticism of umpires, his absences may be coming from JR. There's always a lot of speculation and the Sox have become the new Cubs with these kind of stories.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Sep 28, 2012 -> 07:04 PM) It's not just that we have low OBP guys. In some cases, such as Gordon's, it's more of a "this guy doesn't hit for average" problem, not just a "this guy has no patience" problem. We have a lot of swing-for-the-fences type of guys, and I am not sure whether that is partially due to the bandbox we play in, which often times rewards this type of approach, or if it is an organizational coaching/drafting/acquisition deficiency, but it is certainly an area of concern. The biggest return on OBP is not even necessarily the immediate and obvious result of more men reaching base, but just the amount of pitches it forces another team to throw to your hitters. Teams like Oakland and New York and Boston are an absolute bear to pitch to. They frustrate pitching, defense, starters, bullpens, managers, etc. I think that's it. This thread doesn't exist if it were June. The approach at the plate was much better and player have lost focus. We like to start picking on the lower end of the order when the money guys aren't doing their job. No one cared how Juan Uribe hit in 2005. The biggest problem right now is the 3rd,4th spots are the weakest. You can't have a .200 hitter in the 3rd spot who Ks more than his average. Not in the AL. If a playoff hunt your 3,4 hitters have to be reliable and some help from the 5th spot. The 5th spot can't do much if they others aren't producing.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 28, 2012 -> 01:38 PM) Anytime you are talking about a guy with back problems, that is a worry. The Sox seem to be cursed in that area when it comes to 3rd base.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 28, 2012 -> 06:25 PM) Good post. If you look at Viciedo's numbers from late April through May in Charlotte in 2011, he's shown the capability to take a lot more walks. Part of it has to do with where he's hitting in the batting order. As long as Williams is nominally in charge, there's no way he trades Dayan at this point in his career. I'm not saying he's going to go David Ortiz-post Twins, but I've always been a big believer in his hitting talent, and his defense (especially considering his arm and how many opposing runners would take advantage of Pods and Pierre) this year has been a net plus for a LFer, compared to a negative. Like the rest of the outfield, he's had a few key defensive miscues in the last 4-6 months, but, overall, he's been just fine defensively. And yeah, you'd be looking at someone like Colby Rasmus, who can play CF and allow DeAza to slide over to LF where he's obviously more comfortable. And Rasmus, as we know, has his share of detractors. In fact, their OPS numbers are pretty similar. The main advantage you get out of that is improving the defense in two places, possibly. He's a victim of over hype by Sox fans who thought he should have been on the team last year. He doesn't have a high trade value except in the minds of Sox fans. He's still a project in the making. It was a smart thing to keep him in the minors another year. I thought he would be a disaster in LF but has has done quite well. I have no complaints at all with Viciedo. He's a rookie and not every player in their 1st year is a Mike Trout.

The mistakes in pitching are over magnified when the hitting is anemic. It seems there is a lot more micromanaging this late than in May. I think Cooper is ineffective later in the season. That is something the organization needs to look at.

QUOTE (ROC Sox Fan @ Sep 28, 2012 -> 11:43 PM) I can see us being tied for 163. Game 163 has become somewhat of a AL Central tradition, afterall. Just be at least 1 back going into Monday. I feel a lot better tonight than I did last night. I hope not.

Maybe the Sox put him in the office in scouting. When you listen to other broadcasts, it increases your baseball IQ. Hawk, not so much. Maybe I got tired of having a cheerleader in the booth.

I tuned into the game late. Why did Floyd only go 5? Numbers look good in the box score.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 28, 2012 -> 09:01 PM) I'd love to see Rios inflate his numbers this last week so his trade value goes up a little higher. I really like Alex as a player when he's having a good year. But good god, I don't ever want a repeat of 2011. His contract is no longer a huge burden (only two years left I believe) and this has been one of his best years in his career. Hell, he's been one of the better RFers in baseball this year. He should be able to get us some good prospects. He's been the most consistent hitter on the team. I'd deal Konerko and Dunn before Rios. Why trade him if his contract is no longer a burden? He's been a good RF. Plus Manto has done wonders for this guy.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Sep 28, 2012 -> 08:47 AM) Wasn't that last year? Nope. Under Ozzie Sox had.600 win % percentage against the NL. Sox are also down at the lower half of losing leads after the 7th. Season starts in April, little things add up.

QUOTE (tonyho7476 @ Sep 28, 2012 -> 07:49 AM) I have free tickets for tonight's game. I think I'll stay home and do something else. I don't like funerals. Did you get those from members of the other Sox site? There was a few thread were people who had tickets are not going.

There's a lot of them. Thornton as closer .400 against the NL

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 27, 2012 -> 11:59 PM) That hard single up the middle by Lexi with two outs in the seventh inning I believe it was, made me laugh. We've needed a hard single like that with runners in scoring position for weeks now. He lashes one with two outs and nobody on. Hilarious. I don't get the Alexi hate. He and Rios have been very good all year. Stink spreads on this team, they were sure to follow. People like to pick on the guys who bat at the bottom of the order while making excuses for PK by saying he's hurt. The turning point in the game was AJ's K with the bases loaded. Right now you would probably get out the same production batting ALexi and Gordon 3rd, 4th as you would Dunn and PK.

To me the strike season was the worst collapse. We still would like to know how that would have panned out.