clujer420 Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 Today's game was enjoyable to watch. For once a team was making tons of errors, and it wasn't the Sox. I actually overslept, and when I woke up, it was 6-1, but I saw the rest of the game, and here's what I thought... - I read that Josh struggled early, and didn't really look all that great when I saw him, but the main thing is that even though he didn't have his A game (probably more like B- or C+), he hung in there and only allowed 1 ER in 6 IP. That is very encouraging. - D'Angelo is playing simply amazing right now. I would have liked to see him get a hit in his 5th AB, as it would have made him 5-5 with 5 RBI, but 4-5 with 3 RBI will do I guess. - Our defense looked very nice. PK made a very nice catch to save a run; Crede was solid as usual; and Carlos made 2 very nice plays (sliding catch to end the game and a play when he charged a single and held the runner at 3rd). 1 error, but I think I read it was made by Stewart -- so I can live with that. - Frank looked kinda crappy at the plate in his 1st 3 AB's, but he ended the game on 2 hits (one of which was a double that was completely misplayed by Milton Bradley, but Frank will take it). Hopefully he can build off of that and get his average going in the right direction. It's been long enough in the .200's Frank, let's show em what you've got left! - Lee homers for the 3rd straight game. He made a GREAT swing on it too. He kept his hands back just long enough to drive the ball and still keep it fair. More of the same would be just fine. - Glover and Wunsch looked solid. Overall, a very nice game, and the Sox will look to make it 5 in a row tomorrow. Hopefully MB can make it happen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 We played an all-around good game. In my mind....there is nothing we can criticize the Sox for in this game EXCEPT that Koch's velocity is still way down. He was hitting like 88-91....and the homer Hafner hit was on a 91 MPH fastball....91 MPH is normally a f***ing changeup for Koch. Otherwise....we were very good with the leather....I can think of 5 or 6 very good plays that we made(and that is at the very least...it could quite possibly be more than that). We hit the ball well, we ran the bases well(except when DJ got thrown out at home trying to tag up)....and other than Stewart being quite shaky....the pitching was also very good. If you play a game like this....you will win it 80% of the time. Cleveland could have played a solid defensive ballgame...and we still would have won. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggio202 Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 i like how we took advantage of opportunites and put these guys away early..thast what you should do against poor teams when they make mistakes..thats something we havent done all year... i like how josh settled down after his poor start but i still dont know if he is really ready to pitch at this level..he has pitched against the worst hitting teams in baseball..i dont think he would have made 3 innings if he was facing the yankees oe red sox..one of the better hitting teams...he doesnt throw hard and he was missing his spots today...thats a bad combo..i think when danny is ready josh will go down or maybe work out of the pen as an additional lefty..would be nice to have 3 lefties against minny.... id also like to find a way to get olivo on base more...when he is running the bases he really puts pressure on the other team's defense...he makes things happen...im really impressed with his speed , quickness and all out hustle..and his defense is as advertised..i see gold gloves in his future...he's my kind of player...he is like darrin erstad at catcher one note to bruce kimm..d'angelo doesnt carry the typical lead off man's speed...gotta be more conservative of those sac flys with him... today we played good ball..got off to a lead early..played excellent defense behind josh...graffy and crede both had potential web gems...no errors (except for josh himself)....we executed well...and for the first time this year..we won w/o jose valentin in the line up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clujer420 Posted April 19, 2003 Author Share Posted April 19, 2003 We played an all-around good game. In my mind....there is nothing we can criticize the Sox for in this game EXCEPT that Koch's velocity is still way down. He was hitting like 88-91....and the homer Hafner hit was on a 91 MPH fastball....91 MPH is normally a f***ing changeup for Koch. Otherwise....we were very good with the leather....I can think of 5 or 6 very good plays that we made(and that is at the very least...it could quite possibly be more than that). We hit the ball well, we ran the bases well(except when DJ got thrown out at home trying to tag up)....and other than Stewart being quite shaky....the pitching was also very good. If you play a game like this....you will win it 80% of the time. Cleveland could have played a solid defensive ballgame...and we still would have won. That play by D'Angelo was kinda ill-advised I'll admit, but when it happened I thought he was safe, and DJ mentioned that on the replay it appeared that he got his hand in before the tag was applied. They didn't have an over-head shot of it, though, so I can't say for sure that he was safe. And I'm not sure what's up with Koch. They showed him warming up in the bullpen in the bottom of the 8th, and he threw a pitch and he was visibly upset. Not sure if he just couldn't get a pitch to work quite right, or if he's hurting somewhere. I hope it's just a pitch not working quite right, because that can be fixed. If he's injured, that doesn't help the Sox at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggio202 Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 We played an all-around good game. In my mind....there is nothing we can criticize the Sox for in this game EXCEPT that Koch's velocity is still way down. He was hitting like 88-91....and the homer Hafner hit was on a 91 MPH fastball....91 MPH is normally a f***ing changeup for Koch. Otherwise....we were very good with the leather....I can think of 5 or 6 very good plays that we made(and that is at the very least...it could quite possibly be more than that). We hit the ball well, we ran the bases well(except when DJ got thrown out at home trying to tag up)....and other than Stewart being quite shaky....the pitching was also very good. If you play a game like this....you will win it 80% of the time. Cleveland could have played a solid defensive ballgame...and we still would have won. i think koch is hurt..this is too reminicent of '01..when every other week a pitcher's velocity was down and then they went to the DL...look for billy to go to the DL soon and im thinking jerry will probably go with gordon as his closer because he doesnt want to lose marte leftiness in the 7th and 8th....or if marte does move to closer look for stewart to go to the pen when wright comes back or have stewart go down and dave sanders come up.. but i really think billy is in trouble..you dont lose 10 mph off your fastball for no reason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 Well Myette looked to be throwing a lot harder then the gun reading, so I'm guessing the gun was off a bit. I also think Koch is working on not relying on a straight fastball. He had better movement today and left that one pitch up, but otherwise he was alright. I do agree though, him not throwing near as hard is a cause for concern. Still, I'll hold off my judgment cause I think he's gonna be damn good, but he hasn't shown me it lately. Hopefully he can get in a groove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clujer420 Posted April 19, 2003 Author Share Posted April 19, 2003 one note to bruce kimm..d'angelo doesnt carry the typical lead off man's speed...gotta be more conservative of those sac flys with him... Given the situation, I agree. Frank was on deck, and the ball wasn't hit very deep at all, so D'Angelo should have faked to draw a throw and see what happens. Worst case scenario you've got Frank up there with 2 outs and a runner on 3rd. Maybe they walk him to get to Magglio -- who knows. Either way, it's better than having an ending-inning DP and Frank leading off the next inning. With that said, I DO like the aggressive baserunning of the Sox lately. That attempted tag up play, and the bloop hustle double that Olivo hit later in the game were a good sign. Our aggressive baserunning forced that fat slob Karim Garcia to throw the ball all over the field, and I was LOL the whole time. More of the same will lead to more wins for the Sox IMO. Just think...all this, and our offense is playing at about 50% of what its capable of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clujer420 Posted April 19, 2003 Author Share Posted April 19, 2003 Well Myette looked to be throwing a lot harder then the gun reading, so I'm guessing the gun was off a bit. I also think Koch is working on not relying on a straight fastball. I think you're dead-on balls accurate (it's an industry term). Look at Colon Friday. He was throwing at around 92-94 for most of the game, and only heated it up to 97 1 time (that I saw). When Colon was with Cleveland, he was 95-98 pretty much on a regular basis. I think both Colon and Koch are trying to become better pitchers. IMO, I'd like to see that for the Sox sake. I'd much rather have a Koch throwing 92-94 with an assortment of pitches than a 98-100 fastball 90% of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesox247 Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 When we score 6 in the first, we've got a pretty good chance of winning Crede, Konerko, Lee came up with some huge 2 out RBIs and pretty much put the game away Josh Stewart another solid start, I hate to see him go after Wright returns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CubKilla Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 Josh Stewart another solid start, I hate to see him go after Wright returns If he keeps pitching like this, he is not going anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clujer420 Posted April 19, 2003 Author Share Posted April 19, 2003 When we score 6 in the first, we've got a pretty good chance of winning Crede, Konerko, Lee came up with some huge 2 out RBIs and pretty much put the game away Josh Stewart another solid start, I hate to see him go after Wright returns I wonder if we'll send him back to AA (where he was last year) or if we'll send him to AAA instead (so he can face better competition)? I would tend to think we'd get him to AAA ASAP to better hone his stuff. I think going back down to the minors will benefit Josh in the long term. He could use a little more seasoning down there, and will be a big part of the staff in '04 if Bartolo is not re-signed this off-season. All we can hope is that Danny will continue to be pain-free and that he can come back in a month or so and show us some of his greatness that he teased us with last year on a consistent basis. That would be a HUGE boost for the Sox, and bad news for the AL Central and the rest of baseball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CubKilla Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 but i really think billy is in trouble..you dont lose 10 mph off your fastball for no reason Maybe it was like the A's fans told us..... he might just suck. I was at the game today and his fastball has absolutely no break at all to it and barely reached 90 MPH once I think. Not to mention, whoever it was who hit the HR off of him didn't get a cheapie. That was a goddamn bomb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clujer420 Posted April 19, 2003 Author Share Posted April 19, 2003 but i really think billy is in trouble..you dont lose 10 mph off your fastball for no reason Maybe it was like the A's fans told us..... he might just suck. I was at the game today and his fastball has absolutely no break at all to it and barely reached 90 MPH once I think. Not to mention, whoever it was who hit the HR off of him didn't get a cheapie. That was a goddamn bomb. A's fans said he "sucked" because he got bombed in the playoffs. Sour grapes. Fact is, if you look at the numbers, he's one of the best closers in baseball. Problem is that since he's pretty much a pure power pitcher, he's suseptable to the big inning, which has happened to him 2 times in this young season. He's an extremely competitive person though, and I look for him to right the ship and get his numbers back in the territory he's familiar with. I just hope he's not injured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soxplosion Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 Oh shucks, I was gonna start my own thoughts of the day thread, but ya beat me to it. Oh well, Ill just say what I think right here. I am really starting to like DJ. 4-5 with three RBIs and a run. I liked him from the beginning. Yes, his attempt to go home on Graffys liner wasnt the best thing to do but other than that he played well. Hes hitting .355 with a .444 OBP. Hes becoming a true all around ballplayer. His power is decent for a leadoff guy and his speed is pretty good. We just have an unaggressive manager who wont send him. As for the power thing, Id prefer he just gets on base and scores run and leaves the power to the big guys. Homeruns and RBIs from DJ are a bonus. Maggs had a very nice homerun. He hit it off a good pitch and it went a long way. And one thing this thread has missed, he is now on a fifteen game hitting streak. Doesnt mean much but just thought Id bring it up. Frank, Paulie and Lee, all of whom were struggling a bit, came through today. Frank didnt look too good in his first three ABs but he had two hits at the end, both of which were hit hard. Even if Milton Bradley plays that double right, Frank still smashed that ball and thats what I like to see. And even if his average is a bit low for him, he leads the team with a .446 OBP, not to mention seventeen walks and hes now the White Sox all time walk leader. Lee is now above .200 and he is second on the team with 11 ribbies. And even though it didnt mean much, I like the effort he put into the nice catch he made to end the game. And of course the three run bomb to give us our first 10+ run game. Konerko is still below .200 but hes slowly improving. I think he will get on track soon, players like him dont hit like this continuosly. He also made a nice defensive play. Our defense looked nice. Crede, Konerko and Lee all made nice plays. Like clujer said, only one error and that was by Stewart, I too am fine with that. As for the Tribes defense which allowed us seven unearned runs, thats fine by me. They had four errors but those werent the only questionable plays. To name a few, Konerkos single in the first (Karim Garcia, for reasons unknown to myself, eased up and let it drop), the two misread doubles by Bradley (they were hit hard and I wonder if Bradley would have caught em but he still looked pretty bad) and the two misthrows by Garcia (one of which was followed up by another misthrow by Anderson). But even without the crappy defense, we still win 5-2 (one Cleveland run was unearned). And I like how we capitalized on their mistakes. Good teams make people pay for their mistakes, and that is exactly what we did. As for Koch, yeah his velocity is down but hes only thrown eight innings. Give him some time and hell get it together. This is the first run hes allowed this year against a team other than Kansas City. Just another one of my weird facts. Overall, Im very happy with the way we played today. 4 in row baby! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soxplosion Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 whoever it was who hit the HR off of him Travis Hafner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CubKilla Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 And of course the three run bomb to give us our first 10+ run game. We had a 10+ run game on 04/06 against Detroit Roman Atleast I think we did. Whatever the case, good analysis Roman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soxplosion Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 Oops my bad. But thanks for the thumbs up CK... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggio202 Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 whoever it was who hit the HR off of him Travis Hafner the same travis hafner that bartolo blew away on 3 pitches last night with 98 mph fastballs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soxplosion Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 whoever it was who hit the HR off of him Travis Hafner the same travis hafner that bartolo blew away on 3 pitches last night with 98 mph fastballs Yep, thats the chap... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 whoever it was who hit the HR off of him Travis Hafner the same travis hafner that bartolo blew away on 3 pitches last night with 98 mph fastballs Hey....Hawk and DJ like him. What's the worth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggio202 Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 whoever it was who hit the HR off of him Travis Hafner the same travis hafner that bartolo blew away on 3 pitches last night with 98 mph fastballs Hey....Hawk and DJ like him. What's the worth? hawk and DJ like everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesox247 Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 And wadda ya kno...the TWins lose 4-2 to Yanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hotsoxchick1 Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 ok my two cents worth after a game and dinner.,... stewie....... what a game...........im sorry but his confidence puts some others to shame... that kids got game...... he got shook up early on and recooped......gotta give him kudos for that........he has now earned his spot in being a part of the respect pool......... go stewie who would have thunk you to be an iron horse..................go get em baby.................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwsox Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 best parts of game for me: 1st inning was a lucky inning, errors and misplayed balls by the Tribe - what I liked is we maintained intensity and doubled the score before it was over - we never relaxed - that was the best news we could ahve for the attitude of this team Stewart didn't look like he would last (and what a scary 1st inning he had) but Cooper coached him between innings and JS listened and he appliued it - unusual to see a pitcher so coachable mid game - I was very pleased there I thought D'Lo should have been safe on that play - wasn't sure if he got a slow jump, ran slow, or was it a great throw - replay looked like he was safe but you aren;t going to be called safe ona hand tag of the base like that - I was not happy with his slide hated to see Koch give up the home run - a bit concerned about him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hotsoxchick1 Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 ok to be honest i had more fun after the game......of course the comany was the best............i met stewie and his wife for the first time in his white sox career..........and had a blast with the others at dinner tonite......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.