kitekrazy

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.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Sep 27, 2012 -> 11:27 PM) Good post. I've been wondering where the media outrage has been as well. Sox are going to get let off easy. I'm tired of the posts saying that this was a great season because we exceeded expectations. We didn't, first off, if the other thread is any indication. Second, when you're three up with fourteen to play, the expectation is to win. That's a much greater and important expectation and it's looking like we blew it. I like the emergence of Sale and De Aza, and you hope some of the other young guys you can depend on, but it doesn't look like that will be a trade off with our veterans getting older/moving on Actually no. It's the typical mental midget breakdown after ASB. That's actually meeting expectations.

QUOTE (Doc Edwards Shot @ Sep 27, 2012 -> 11:26 PM) Even though it's technically not a collapse because of what happened in the end, I think the biggest collapse for the Sox franchise was in 2005 when they had the 15 game lead and the Indians closed in a matter of weeks to within 1.5 games. Good thing they held on to win the division and then the whole banana! But this season will be memorable for sure. This is about as bad as it gets down the stretch for a team in contention. In fact, I'll bet they lose out or only win one of these remaining 6 games to finish 82-80 or 83-79. Ironically, that's close to the absolute best preseason predictions for this team. How sad that after everything that has happened this season they're ultimately only going to finish around the .500 mark. All too often this team only finishes between .480 and .520 - enough to not be bad, but not good enough to do anything meaningful. Besides 2005, the franchise just can't seem to put enough together in a given year. They really need a full rebuild and to stop with Kenny's band-aids year after year, but it's not going to happen with so many untradeable guys under contract. That's were the attendance problem is. You pay a lot for mediocre baseball. The organization needs to drop the market strategy of blaming the fans.

QUOTE (Jake @ Sep 27, 2012 -> 10:36 PM) Several amazing individual offensive performances on that club. We still won 90 games, too. Loaded AL Central That was an oddity for the AL Central.

Did anyone read all of that. I go with Hell No.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 27, 2012 -> 10:08 PM) Exactly. Like a good manager, like a manager of the year candidate, he seemed to stay out of the way as the pitchers worked deep into games and the players played. Coinciding with our pitchers struggling to go five innings, he became a mad mixer and matcher, a diabolical scientist of a manager and that sucked. I hope next year he goes back to getting out of the way, cause he made way too many moves and many sucked. Only Gaving Floyd has pitched a full season in the past. Sale and Q have never pitch this much. I still worry about the future of Sale.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 27, 2012 -> 10:08 PM) Way too early to predict what the rest of the team would look like. Who knows, maybe the go into more of a rebuild mode and don't even bother signing a major free agent. I'm not going to lose sleep over that right now. No more NL guys and stop spending too much money on the DH spot. It's hard to invest on bench players.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 27, 2012 -> 09:54 PM) Reasons I think Sox are in better position now than a year ago: - Dunn proved that he didn't forget how to play the game of baseball, meaning his contract wasn't an absolute waste going forward - Manto was able to make Rios into a good player again - Chris Sale proved he can be a very good starter in the majors - Good experience for Reed and Jones (Jones was never even expected to be in the big leagues this year) - Quintana came out of nowhere and gives you hope he can be a 5th starter. Santiago started the year as closer, failed, and then showed some promise as a possible starter - ADA proved he can be a very solid player, and gives us the best all-around leadoff hitter the Sox have had in a long time - Ventura proved he knows how to motivate the players and create a good environment in the clubhouse. The biggest setback was Morel looking like he's not MLB caliber, causing the Sox to have to scramble to find a 3B this year and in the future. He's the first guy I try to move in the off season. I've been impressed with the last 2/3 of Quintana's starts. He got better as the game went along.

QUOTE (daggins @ Sep 27, 2012 -> 09:52 PM) They'll pick up Gavin's option and get some unexciting RHP option, this team always pulls pitching out of its behind. They reaaaally need a 3B and a catcher, assuming AJ leaves for greener (richer) pastures. His market value has to have dropped 30%. He looks like a player who is intentionally trying to lose games since August. He's suppose to be one of the more fundametally sound players on the time and it's a major 180.

QUOTE (daggins @ Sep 27, 2012 -> 09:52 PM) They'll pick up Gavin's option and get some unexciting RHP option, this team always pulls pitching out of its behind. They reaaaally need a 3B and a catcher, assuming AJ leaves for greener (richer) pastures. His market value has to have dropped 30%. He looks like a player who is intentionally trying to lose games since August. He's suppose to be one of the more fundametally sound players on the time and it's a major 180.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 27, 2012 -> 09:45 PM) Phenomenal post. It's disappointing that team has collapsed down the stretch, but there's no doubt I'll have positive memories about this season in the years to come. The Sox are in a much better position going forward into the future now as opposed to a year ago. The "they weren't suppose to be there" is a nice mental band-aid, but the 2nd half choke job is something were are quite tired of.