The House of Cards Dilemma

[Cerbaho-WG]

This is a blog piece written by me of all people, and is not placed "In the search of Sox blogs category" because of my hyperoffensive stuff that is below my post.

 

Read up, it's the first posting, and of course comments are welcome.

 

http://cerb.unked.net

[YASNY]

Wow. That's a very negative outlook. You're entitled to your opinion though.

[Sox It To Em]

Why so pessimistic?

Edited April 25, 2005 by whitesoxfan13

[tonyho7476]

Jesus Christ, you'd think we were 0-19 and it was already time to pack the season up. We have had good pitching, clutch hitting, and good defense. If the offense gets on track, I think we can maintain this type of winning play.

[YASNY]

Jesus Christ, you'd think we were 0-19 and it was already time to pack the season up.  We have had good pitching, clutch hitting, and good defense.  If the offense gets on track, I think we can maintain this type of winning play.

 

Well, we certainly aren't going to maintain a .750 pace.

[kapkomet]

This is a blog piece written by me of all people, and is not placed "In the search of Sox blogs category" because of my hyperoffensive stuff that is below my post.

 

Read up, it's the first posting, and of course comments are welcome.

 

http://cerb.unked.net

 

I hate to say it, but I'm worried about the same things. There's no way the pace can be kept up - we're going to have to find some other ways to win.

 

I'm not as pessimistic as this, but I do think we're over-achieving right now - look at the schedule. Everyone we have played is - to be candid - terrible, save Minnesota.

 

Now as we start to play some real teams, we'll see if this holds up. The west coast trip should hold some better answers.

[tonyho7476]

I hate to say it, but I'm worried about the same things.  There's no way the pace can be kept up - we're going to have to find some other ways to win.

 

I'm not as pessimistic as this, but I do think we're over-achieving right now - look at the schedule.  Everyone we have played is - to be candid - terrible, save Minnesota.

 

Now as we start to play some real teams, we'll see if this holds up.  The west coast trip should hold some better answers.

 

I thought the only terrible team we played was the Royals...the other teams are expected to contend for their division...

[YASNY]

I hate to say it, but I'm worried about the same things.  There's no way the pace can be kept up - we're going to have to find some other ways to win.

 

I'm not as pessimistic as this, but I do think we're over-achieving right now - look at the schedule.  Everyone we have played is - to be candid - terrible, save Minnesota.

 

Now as we start to play some real teams, we'll see if this holds up.  The west coast trip should hold some better answers.

 

Of course we aren't going to keep up this pace. I don't think we'll finish the season with 120 wins. But, we can keep up a good pace.

[tonyho7476]

Well, we certainly aren't going to maintain a .750 pace.

 

Ok, not quite that...I meant we can win enough to win this division.

[KevHead0881]

I'd say your a "glass is half empty" kind of guy.

 

Of course, you're entitled to your opinion, and you may eventually be right. But it appears that you tried pretty hard to put a negative spin on this. Why so gloomy?

[YASNY]

I thought the only terrible team we played was the Royals...the other teams are expected to contend for their division...

 

Detroit, Cleveland and Minnesota were all picked to finish above us.

[kapkomet]

I thought the only terrible team we played was the Royals...the other teams are expected to contend for their division...

 

So say the so-called experts.

 

What I have seen is some pretty s***ty teams except for Minnesota and perhaps Seattle. Thats 1/2 our games against "ok" competition and 1/2 we should win.

 

I guess upon that reflection, we're "a'rite".

 

August - y'all looked at the schedule that month? Holy hard s***, batman.

 

If we play .500 that month, I'll be happy as hell.

[Cali]

This is a blog piece written by me of all people, and is not placed "In the search of Sox blogs category" because of my hyperoffensive stuff that is below my post.

 

Read up, it's the first posting, and of course comments are welcome.

 

http://cerb.unked.net

 

Lip is that you?

 

I'm just enjoying this while it's happening. I'm not really into looking into the future positively or negatively. I'm just basking in the now. I swear to god, I spend at least 7-10 minutes just staring at the standings sometimes, it's almost unbelieveably what I'm seeing.

[hammerhead johnson]

Detroit, Cleveland and Minnesota were all picked to finish above us.

 

And Seattle is a pretty good f***ing team.

 

And besides, the sign of a good baseball team is their record vs. opponents that they should be beating.

 

Detroit and Cleveland are obviously on the rise, Minnesota is Minnesota, and Seattle is deep. We haven't necessarily had it easy.

[Guest JimH]

Suppose they play .500 ball the rest of the season, they'd finish at 87-75. Probably not enough to take the Central division but certainly in the hunt.

 

Let's say of the remaining 143 games they play at a .525 pace, going 75-68. That puts them on track to win 90 games, possibly enough to win the division.

 

A .525 pace certainly isn't out of the question. Sure, they could play worse but they can definitely play better too. I'd say there is ample reason for optimism.

[YASNY]

Suppose they play .500 ball the rest of the season, they'd finish at 87-75.  Probably not enough to take the Central division but certainly in the hunt.

 

Let's say of the remaining 143 games they play at a .525 pace, going 75-68.  That puts them on track to win 90 games, possibly enough to win the division.

 

A .525 pace certainly isn't out of the question.  Sure, they could play worse but they can definitely play better too.  I'd say there is ample reason for optimism.

 

As they say, these games in April mean just as much as the games in September.

[Controlled Chaos]

I hate to say it, but I'm worried about the same things.  There's no way the pace can be kept up - we're going to have to find some other ways to win.

 

I'm not as pessimistic as this, but I do think we're over-achieving right now - look at the schedule.  Everyone we have played is - to be candid - terrible, save Minnesota.

 

Now as we start to play some real teams, we'll see if this holds up.  The west coast trip should hold some better answers.

 

See I believe we have found the "other ways" to win. What we lost was the common way to win. Which is to bang the s*** out of the ball. I don't see this as a down side. The hits will eventually come...no doubt about that...but it's the little things we are doing now that will keep us in it down the road. We have found all the "other" ways to score runs and win. When the good old fashioned spanking the ball comes around...we will be in good shape.

 

If there's anything to worry about, it's that our pitchers keep up the same intensity when we start scoring more runs. Right now they know there is 0 margin of error and I hope they can keep that in their heads regardless of the score.

Edited April 25, 2005 by Controlled Chaos

[kapkomet]

I'd like to add to my comments about the schedule - we pretty much close the season against the same teams we opened it with. That bodes well for us heading for the pennant races and hopefully into October. August is the gut check month, IMO, though.

Edited April 25, 2005 by kapkomet

[AddisonStSox]

I hate blogs.

 

Eveyone's an expert.

[Flash Tizzle]

It's easy to express a pessimistic attitude following a 15-4 start. We're bound to tail off eventually.

 

Of course the pitching will not continue posting ~3.00ERA.

 

Of course the offensive production we've been lacking will surely come around.

 

Would it have been better if this team started 10-9? No one would have suggested we're playing over or heads with that record. Instead, talk would have centered around our failed "smallball" philosophy and other references to another dismal season.

 

I understand the overall concern of Cerb and feel his position is justifiable. However, suggesting we're due to finish the season in a .400 clip is premature.

Edited April 25, 2005 by Flash Tizzle

[KevHead0881]

If you ask me, schedule-wise, May, June, July and September don't look much harder than the month we're in now. If we are talking about strength of competition, I'd only consider New York, Boston and Anaheim in a class clearly above us, and Minnesota about even.

 

With the exception of August, I don't see the schedule getting significantly harder. Possibly July, because we play Boston and Oakland, but we also get a whole bunch of games against Tampa Bay, Cleveland, and KC. And September might be the easiest of all.

 

Now, I'm sure we won't be winning at the rate we are right now. I just don't buy the "easy schedule" arguement as the reason for our great start, mostly because I see most teams as being fairly equal.

[southsider2k5]

I'd like to add to my comments about the schedule - we pretty much close the season against the same teams we opened it with.  That bodes well for us heading for the pennant races and hopefully into October.  August is the gut check month, IMO, though.

 

To elaborate on our August schedule

3 vs Sea

3 @ NYY

3 @ Bos

3 vs Mn

3 vs NYY

3 @ Mn

3 @ Sea

 

That is a tough schedule

 

 

And I don't care what the experts said, Cleveland and Detroit are not good teams.

[upnorthsox]

Not sure I'd be too quick to rate Detroit and Cleveland as weak, Besides the Sox, KC, and maybe the O's there isn't a 3-game series(good or bad) difference between the rest. In fact the NL is the same way. Parity is pretty much reigning everywhere but the southside.

[sircaffey]

I will go out on a limb and say we will be a better team come August. Why? Kenny Williams. He isn't going to sit on his ass, that's for damn sure. We will have more talent on this team come August than we have now. Frank will be back to steady the offense and perhaps we add a Walker/Delgado like last year's deals. August will be tough, but I think by that time our team will be much better equipped to handle that schedule.

 

Side note, hopefully the old farts in the Yanks rotation get injured by that point...

[KevHead0881]

Really, what I think this season is going to come down to is how we play Minnesota (as it usually does every year). We play them 13 times in August and September. If we don't at least break even, I don't like our chances.