Lineup Switcheroo that looks to be permanent:

[CSF]

According to Bruce Levine, in a move initiated by Frank Thomas to improve the lineup, he offered to flip-flop with Mags in the lineup to Ozzie today. Mags batted 2-4 in the 3rd hole, Frank 1-3 in the cleanup slot. That could be a great thing. With Mags, you get more speed in the lineup, and Frank should see much better pitches at bat. And Frank suggested it. Clubhouse cancer, my ass!

[southsider2k5]

I guess out of his own idea, Frank walked into Ozzies office today and said for the good of the team he would move out of the #3 spot and into the clean up hole, to allow Maggs to hit three.

 

As one of Frank's biggest critics all I have to say is

[witesoxfan]

Sweet. I have wanted this move for quite some time now. Gives Maggs more RBI opportunities and really does not effect Thomas at the plate at all.

[witesoxfan]

These threads can be merged, but...

 

Sweet. I have wanted this move for quite some time now. Gives Maggs more RBI opportunities and really does not effect Thomas at the plate at all.

[DBAHO]

Let's do the Time Warp Again!

[whitesox61382]

According to Bruce Levine, in a move initiated by Frank Thomas to improve the lineup, he offered to flip-flop with Mags in the lineup to Ozzie today.  Mags batted 2-4 in the 3rd hole, Frank 1-3 in the cleanup slot.  That could be a great thing.  With Mags,  you get more speed in the lineup, and Frank should see much better pitches at bat.  And Frank suggested it.  Clubhouse cancer, my ass!

The one reason why I like this move is because I think the Sox might hit into fewer DP's. Thomas will probably draw around 100 walks again this season, which means he will be on 1B quite a bit. One of Maggs few flaws is that he hits a lot of hard ground balls, which leads to a lot of DP's. Since Maggs doesn't draw as many walks and Thomas is more of a flyball hitter, I think that it will result in a lot fewer DP's, which killed this team last year. We will see if it is a permanent move.

[Molto]

I'm all for this move since Lee will be batting behind Thomas (you don't want Thomas and Konerko batting back to back), but the big thing I'd like to see is Lee bat in the two-hole.

 

With Harris and Uribe leading off, there is no guarantee we are going to have success at the top of the order so having a guy like Lee, someone who has some speed and power, will make things a lot easier in my opinion for whoever is leading off. plus, it allows us to balance the back of the order with Valentin as a lefty.

 

Harris, Lee, Thomas, Ordonez, Konerko, Valentin, Crede, Rowand and Olivo is much more balanced in my opinion.

[Harry Chappas]

Frank knows that by moving behind Maggs there will be someone ahead of him with an OBP greater than .300, as well as a way to stay healthy from trying to break up double plays.

 

This is a great move.

[mac9001]

I don't know....having your #3 spot hitter ground into 20+ double plays is asking for trouble. Maybe with Frank backing him up Mags will get some better pitches to hit and he'll avoid those double plays.

[Wise Master Buehrle]

Frank Thomas is the man!!!

 

This guy is ready for an MVP year, I can only hope he will be rewarded with all this kindness.

[witesoxfan]

I don't know....having your #3 spot hitter ground into 20+ double plays is asking for trouble. Maybe with Frank backing him up Mags will get some better pitches to hit and he'll avoid those double plays.

Probably the main reason Maggs grounded into 20+ DPs was because Thomas would draw a walk with 1 out or no outs, and Maggs would hit a hard ground ball.

[Bridgeport_Joe]

Frank's "team first" approach is to be commended, but I'm not sure I agree with him hitting behind Magglio. While both have nearly identical OBPs, Frank's is primarily due to high walk numbers, whereas Maggs's is due to his high BA. Given two guys that get on base 38% of the time, with one batting .265 and the other batting .320, I want the high average hitter behind the high walk hitter. A walk will only advance runners one base (if that)--a single will, on average, advance runners 1.5 bases or so.

[SoxFanForever]

[Texsox]

Even if the experiment fails; this really gets me excited for the season. You know that Ozzie must be behind this at least a little bit. I've mentioned this before, I think Frank, with his "speed", is better in the 4 spot.

 

I think this shows a major team first attitude from Frank.

[witesoxfan]

Frank's "team first" approach is to be commended, but I'm not sure I agree with him hitting behind Magglio.  While both have nearly identical OBPs, Frank's is primarily due to high walk numbers, whereas Maggs's is due to his high BA.  Given two guys that get on base 38% of the time, with one batting .265 and the other batting .320, I want the high average hitter behind the high walk hitter.  A walk will only advance runners one base (if that)--a single will, on average, advance runners 1.5 bases or so.

But that's why he did it in the first place. With Thomas drawing more walks, he is less likely to hit the ball then Maggs. With him being a fly-ball hitter, he is less likely to ground into a DP. Maggs is a line-drive hitter who hits the ball hard...sometimes the ball ends up on the ground, and when it does that with a runner on 1st, it is usually a DP.

[greasywheels121]

Has Thomas done anything wrong this winter/spring?

 

Great job Frank!

[SnB]

Wow Frank continues to impress.

[Chisoxfn]

This is incredibly classy.

[Reddy]

WOW

 

I am so freaking looking foreward to this year now. Frank is finally having FUN, and i think it's gonna rub off. I'm gonna once again make my reference to the movie Little Big League. We're gonna have fun this year and i think we're gonna rock! i dunno, franks always been my favorite and now he is even more. He's making himself a good case to stay here on the southside the rest of his career.

[Reddy]

merge the threads but this is hella good news!

 

FRANK ROCKS!

[Chisoxfn]

Marged

[SoxAce]

A hell of a move I'd say. If the sox get this chemistry going on and off the field.... I think we'll have fun this year.

[DBAHO]

Marged

I didn't know Marge had entered da building.

[DBAHO]

Speakin of Frank, here's a pic of him sliding,

[greasywheels121]

Here's an article about the whole thing.....Big Hurt's big move

 

Big Hurt's big move

Sox's Thomas tells Guillen he'll bat in cleanup spot

By Bob Foltman

Tribune staff reporter

March 23, 2004

 

TUCSON, Ariz. -- If there were any doubts there is a new Frank Thomas this season, he took another step toward dispelling them Tuesday.

 

Thomas went into manager Ozzie Guillen's office and said he thought it would be best for the White Sox if he hit cleanup this season, with Magglio Ordonez moving into the third spot.

 

It's a major concession for Thomas, who hasn't hit fourth since the 1999 season, when he had just 13 at-bats and three hits in that spot. Former manager Jerry Manuel had suggested the move , but Thomas had stood adamantly against it.

 

Guillen said he had thought about going to Thomas to discuss the switch, but Thomas came to him first.

 

"This kid comes to us and wants to be batting fourth because he thinks it will be better for the team, and so do I," Guillen said.

 

The move will mean more at-bats for Ordonez. It also puts a faster base runner near the top of the order. If Thomas gets on base with two outs while batting third in the first inning, it normally would take two hits to score him.

 

"Not because [Thomas] doesn't want to score, he just can't," Guillen said. "Having Magglio hit in front of him, Magglio gets a base hit and Frank hits a ball in the gap, he's going to score."

 

Thomas, for example, was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first base Tuesday on a Carlos Lee double off the center-field wall in the first inning.

 

Tuesday was the first day of the new order and it caught everyone by surprise. In the printed lineups distributed by the Sox's media relations office, Thomas was listed third and Ordonez fourth.

 

For all the angst over the winter about potential bad feelings toward one another, it has been a honeymoon for Guillen and Thomas since the start of spring training.

 

After batting practice Tuesday, Thomas and Guillen rode together in a golf cart back to the clubhouse.

 

"Frank Thomas is the best guy we've had in spring training," Guillen said. "He has done everything we've asked him to do, all the drills, have fun, stay with the guys, talk to the young kids."

 

Thomas' numbers hitting fourth pale compared to those in the three-spot so it will be interesting to see what happens if Thomas gets off to a slow start or begins to slump.

 

"I told him, 'Don't go 0-for-4, 0-for-8 and then all of a sudden you're going to mope and complain about it,'" Guillen said. "You're the one who made the decision."

 

As a third-place hitter, Thomas has hit .315 in his career with 377 of his 418 home runs and 1,231 RBIs. While batting cleanup sporadically, Thomas is a .273 lifetime hitter with 22 home runs and 97 RBIs.

 

For Guillen, the fact Thomas suggested the move may be more important than the actual impact it will have on the offense.

 

"This is what I want to show that this clubhouse is going to be like while I'm here," Guillen said. "I think Frank Thomas is not a selfish man, at least this year with me. I think it's going to be better for the team."