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If you could pick...


johndyce

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I was recently asked a question by one of my friends, and I didn't know what to tell the young fellow. He asked who the White Sox's best hitter was, and I didn't know what to say. I would say right now if I had to pick one player that I want to see up at the plate at any given point, I would take Pods. he has been nothing short of amazing this year, and I think he deserves a lot more credit for our success than he gets.

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I agree Iguchi has been phenomenal, but how much of his success at the plate can you attribute to Pods being on first base wreckin havoc as he often does. You know pitchers aren't entirely focued on Iguchi with Scotty standing over on 1b.

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QUOTE(johndyce @ Jun 7, 2005 -> 03:39 PM)
I agree Iguchi has been phenomenal, but how much of his success at the plate can you attribute to Pods being on first base wreckin havoc as he often does.  You know pitchers aren't entirely focued on Iguchi with Scotty standing over on 1b.

 

 

Well at the same time Iguchi has had to take a lot of pitches for strikes and everything with Pods trying to steal....He isnt a natural number 2 hitter.

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It all depends on the situation. Including past accomplishments and what he's done so far, I'd say Gooch. He's adjusted well to the American game, and with his accomplishments in Japan, he's a solid all-around hitter. His average is very good this year, and we know he has power (due to his numbers in Japan), but he hasn't shown it consistently for the Sox yet.

 

For clutch hits there have been a few - Pauly, Dye, and ARow come to mind. Even Crede seems to play good in clutch situations. I can remember several times he's hit a GW homer or driven in the game-winning run. Heck, even Timo was clutch for us this year! SPod was crucial for us last night with his 2-run double.

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If the bases were loaded and the game tied with two outs in the ninth inning, I would still want Big Frank up. He hasn't always been clutch, but his presence is enough to scare pitchers into throwing bad pitches and possibly walking him or because he is so strong he can muscle a bad pitch just over the infielders' heads for a hit to score the winning run.

JMO

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QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jun 7, 2005 -> 10:00 AM)
Well at the same time Iguchi has had to take a lot of pitches for strikes and everything with Pods trying to steal....He isnt a natural number 2 hitter.

Just what I was going to say. A lot of times Iguchi has to sacrifice him over too, for the good of the team at the expense of his own numbers.

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If he's fully healthy, I'll still stick with the big man, even at his age. He is still most likely the strongest hitter on our team, he has spent his career hitting the ball to every field, he knows when to take a pitch the other way, and he has maybe the most discerning eye in baseball over the last 15 years.

 

If he's not fully healthy though, his production seems to decline rapidly. We'll see within a few weeks whether or not that's the case.

 

Excluding Thomas, I'd say its a toss up between Iguchi and Rowand. Both of them, when they're locked in, can do everything I said about Thomas except for take the walks. They spray the ball to all fields, hit doubles, hit solid line drives, shoot the ball into gaps, and hit for power. On the other hand, both of them seem to have times when they really struggle; See Iguchi last night or Rowand to start the year.

 

Both Tad and Rowand have a shot to end this season hitting .320 or better, and I think they both will, unless Tad can't get out of this funk he's been in lately where his average has tumbled.

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