kitekrazy

No one should be surprised since baseball practices the same failed economics by governments. You had two commissioners who let the players' union get too powerful. Unions have failed to realize the money has to come from somewhere. Baseball owners don't appear to be the brightest bunch of people. They are content with the current worst commissioner in the entire sports galaxy even after the federal government gave them a good spanking. So now you are stuck with a sport where fans can no longer trust the validity of any accomplishments. There isn't a Lebron James or Peyton Manning in baseball without the question of them being tainted. Who knows if that stink will ever be forgotten. I don't think the average person considers a MLB game a wise choice in their entertainment dollars. There's so much entertainment to compete with that didn't exist over 30 years ago. The prices are getting on par with the NBA and NFL. Most people would prefer to spend money on the latter or on concert tickets and video games. If they want to start improving their economic model they need to start with telling the players' union to piss off.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jun 10, 2011 -> 11:34 PM) Blame our offense who couldn't do jacks*** with RISP. Don't blame the guy who gave you 6 innings of 2 run ball. How many runs do they have to score to compensate for a potential bullpen loss and JP's defense? I'm going to go with 8.

The pen has lost too many game this year. The stink has gotten to Santos.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 8, 2011 -> 11:44 PM) I already said I want Dayan to play left. He can't butcher it much worse than Juan, but I suspect he will be just a tad worse than Juan out there. Has anyone seen Dayan play the outfield yet? Maybe he still needs work. I get the impression the organization has a fear of bringing him up too soon.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Jun 8, 2011 -> 09:41 PM) I missed the game. I assume JP had another brain fart? I'd like to know as well. I'm going to assume this happened in the 10th inning.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stor...rumblings110607 As the Blue Jays' dump-his-contract-on-the-waiver-wire ploy proved a couple of years ago, Rios at his worst can be an exasperating fellow to have around. And Rios at his worst is pretty much what the White Sox have gotten this year. In fact, he's been the least productive middle-of-the-order hitter in the entire American League so far, if you measure production via Lee Sinins' Runs Created Above Average rankings. The funny thing is, Rios is making more contact than in any season of his career -- but his average on balls in play (.205) is down 101 points from last year. Which tells you he's likely to come out of this one of these months, once he stops blaming the local Gatorade coolers. "A lot of this is mechanical," said one scout. "He starts his hands real low, and he never gets in position to hit. By the time he does, the ball gets too deep on him and he can't do anything with it. But it's tough to watch. His body language is terrible. I hate watching him. He's a kid with so much ability, but he doesn't get the most out of it." Take it for what it's worth. I do hate his batting stance, tho.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 7, 2011 -> 11:12 PM) Yeah it is, Morel was fast tracked to the bigs because of his defense. They understand that half of the game is catching the ball, and finding and developing someone who can do it really well would be a great thing. It's obviously not. Two years in a row they had to replace the opening day 3rd basemen. If it wasn't for Morel, they would still be working on Viciedo playing 3rd. Being weak in defense and fundamentals are a trademark of the Kenny Williams regime.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 7, 2011 -> 08:42 AM) I will say, regardless of my actual feelings for the pick, that he better develop defensively. It never a priority in this organization.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Jun 5, 2011 -> 10:30 PM) Cuz when he's on the bench we lose. That should not mean he should get more playing time.

Is it that difficult for a NL hitter to transition to the AL?

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Jun 5, 2011 -> 10:37 PM) Yeah, he has so much common sense he doesn't call to walk Miguel Cabrera (or Justin Morneau if we wanna go back far enough) in the 9th inning with the game on the line with 2 outs and 2 bases open. How about that Linebrink clusterf*** against the Cubs a couple of years ago? But nevermind, I could fill an entire book with the idiotic decisions Ozzie makes on a regular basis. A little cherry picking there. Sounds like the players should be accountable in those situations.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jun 5, 2011 -> 01:48 PM) There is no General Manager in baseball that's dumb enough to do that Someone probably said that about a GM getting Manny Ramirez.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 3, 2011 -> 07:44 PM) Griffeys was better. Sandberg's sucked.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 31, 2011 -> 09:25 AM) Not to mention the fact that Lester has been pretty terrible against the White Sox in his career. It's impossible to believe that they were expecting only 1 or 2 more runs would win the game. I GET the idea that acquiring a lead or being the first to score out of the gate sets the momentum for the team and builds confidence, but we're not talking the 2005, 2006 or even 2008 White Sox here. The interesting thing is that the more you read about KW and Hahn, the less you get the idea that philosophically they're in agreement with this "NL/small ball/Ozzie ball" label. And as much as we've been a team of sluggers since USCF opened, it has always been the pitching that delineated the eventual success of various seasons. One way or the other, you'd just like to see the front office, minor leagues and MLB coaching staff all on the same page. If we are to be a team of bunters/sacrificers/hit to the opposite field types, why isn't this being inculcated into our minor leaguers? When you think back to the likes of Borchard, Rowand, Crede, Josh Fields, Brian Anderson...none of them profile as those type of players. Why aren't they forced to learn those skills as soon as they're drafted, at the minor league level? In the old days, if you couldn't hit 20-30 homers per season, you simply HAD to do the other things well to stay in the big leagues. Omar Vizquel is a perfect example of this, he was a "plus plus" fielder, could steal a base, make contact, he did the "complementary" things we earlier saw with Iguchi in 2005/06. And yet we've had very few of these prospects in our system. Chris Getz comes to mind. Morel, to an extent. Maybe Sweeney. Jerry Owens, although he wasn't "raised" in our system for very long. And yet for each of them, their lack of power/OPS/SLG was often cited as the reason why they weren't good fits for our major league team...being "grindy" is only good for veteran players like Erstad and Kotsay, apparently. Then you look at the minor leaguers like Mitchell, Thompson, Viciedo, Danks, Flowers, etc. They're all "hit or strike out" types, with the possible exception of Viciedo and Mitchell as they mature. It's just very frustrating to watch players like Rios who SHOULD be able to contribute something offensively even if they're struggling and yet they've never learned how...some of the blame lies with the Blue Jays for spoiling/coddling both him and Wells, but it's been so ugly for Rios for much of his time here (yes, minus the first half of 2010...even Beckham has been pretty good 1/2 of the time, not 1/3rd.) Great post. I often wonder that the Sox philosophy on drafting is that all deficiencies can be erased or improved upon. Some things like catching a baseball, holding runners on, ect. probably aren't going to get better if they didn't happen before entering the professional level of baseball.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 29, 2011 -> 06:15 PM) And I'm not sure why anyone is suprised when we're 6-22 going back to whenever in TOR, which is basically a victory less than 1 win in 4 games every trip/series up there. I was surprised they actually scored more than 2 runs avg. per game.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ May 29, 2011 -> 09:22 PM) Joe Torre. Why?

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 29, 2011 -> 09:19 PM) a.) Joe Torre. Beg him to take over for 2 years. b.) A similarly old guy who knows baseball. Maybe even Piniella. After Ozzie we'll need the mean old guy who hates the media and all that. c.) Ryne Sandberg. Why not? He's very very dull in interviews, very different from Oz. I actually would be OK with canning Kenny and keeping Ozzie. Kenny's made too many personnel mistakes to continue on. OK, step away from the crack. Pinella? He did a horrible job in Chicago. There is some criticism in his first year he thought the talent was good enough so he didn't have to manage. Surprise! Surprise! This might as well be an "anybody but Ozzie statement".

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 28, 2011 -> 05:32 PM) I rarely chime in on threads like this because most of the time they strike me as reactionary. However, I have to admit, this coaching staff, with the possible exception of Don Cooper, seems incapable of maximizing the resources Kenny provides them with in a race against other competitors much shorter on those same resources. Ozzie, I love ya man, but you're not getting it done anymore. Promote Cooper to interim manager. Why should Cooper get a free pass? You could probably make a case there has been just as much regression under him. How many games have the pen blown this year? Outside of Crain who came from another organization and Santos, who has gotten better? That one pitch pitcher named Thornton who they believed could close cost them a few games. Cooper's the first guy on the team that starts blaming fans. I think the changes need to also start deeper in the organization. Scouting, development doesn't seem to be getting it done. Change for change sake is what you will get for now. The problems will remain under different names.

QUOTE (T R U @ May 29, 2011 -> 06:13 PM) Ozzie has avg 86 wins a season at the helm, as I already said in the other thread.. And a lot of those times, its been without the same level of talent as the other contending teams.. Is it really Ozzies fault that Rios cant hit water if he fell out of a boat? It must be because of Ozzie that Adam Dunn suddenly forgot how to be worth a damn.. Where is the line here of who is to blame? The coach who seemingly HAS been able to get the most out of what hes been giving, or the dude who gave him these mediocre players in the first place? Weve already gone over a million times how KW hasn't really made any good moves in years.. well what if someone was GM that WAS making good moves.. do you think this team would still be under performing with Ozzie as manager? I don't. The farm system's a joke and that falls on Kenny as well.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ May 29, 2011 -> 03:40 PM) I posted this in another thread. Its time for him to go. The minute you start ripping on the fans in some fit of rage because the seat gets a bit hot. You have overstayed your welcome. " Cooper should have been the first one out the door then.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ May 29, 2011 -> 03:28 PM) When Ozzie can take the field and hit, run, catch and pitch and fails to do those things then I will support him being fired How dare you bring any logic into this discussion after an emotional loss.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ May 28, 2011 -> 03:30 PM) I don't b**** about Ozzie as much as most people here, but this loss is 100% on him for that awful, no-balls move of using Quentin to pinch hit for McPherson instead of Dunn.... Agree to a point, but what about the pen (Thornton and Crain) not doing the job again.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ May 22, 2011 -> 09:46 AM) Well I already know what they will see from Fields: a lot of swing and misses with the occasional glimpse of power. Still can't catch a baseball either.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ May 26, 2011 -> 12:29 AM) All true. But those stats don't paint the whole picture...and the whole picture sucks. Allow me to throw the other paint on our masterpiece: All the 0-fer nights All the ground balls Basically anything that wasn't a HR or a laserbeam double was an out 3 hits to knock in his glorious, stat-padding walks All those f***ing Ks Useless against lefties A great stat-padding night once a week to make you forget all the previous failure. Any parallels to this year's DH? I mean we all knew Dunn was gonna be the same all or nothing hitter that Thome was, but now it seems everybody but Paulie suffers from Thomeitis, pullitis, longswingitis, uselessitis...whatever you wanna call it. It only wins ball games some of the time, but in no way is it a model for grinding down pitchers each night. Been goin on for way too long now so I'm all in favor of moving the fences back at least 100 ft in every direction til we pull our heads outa our asses and rid ourselves of this awful ghost. That's an interesting post. I never believed Thome was the difference for not winning the division last year. Sure he was better than Kotsay. I read an article last year that his plate appearances was also limited to the weather because of his back. The real ghost is laying down to the Twins after the break and losing to the Kansas City's of the world. This has been going on since the turn of the century. It's the same choking in the clutch under 2 managers and different rosters. Teahan was suppose to help the line up last season as well. Howz that workin? I'm all for the DH to be removed from baseball.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 25, 2011 -> 01:19 PM) Me too. It's nuts to say only advancing in the playoffs matters. You've got to get there first. The hitting is too inconsistent to advance in the post season.