Jump to content

IT'S WALKER!


Winning Ugly

Recommended Posts

The top 2 priorities for Greg Walker have to be Joe Crede and Paul Konerko. Not to say that the rest of the players haven't lived up to expectations but those two have especially been slumping. We simply can't keep having these guys hit .220 and provide little in the way of run production. Crede credited Walker with his '02 performance so hopefully he can straighten Joe out. Willie Harris also sang his praise. Anyone who can get Willie Harris to hit .400 at ANY level is deserving of an MLB shot in my book. :D Konerko is in the midst of the worst slump in his career. Perhaps a new set of eyes can pick out what Paulie is doing wrong. While he is at it, perhaps he can figure out why Maggs had trouble catching up with a fastball this weekend?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I liked Walker when he played for the Sox. He had a sweet swing. I agree that Crede, Harris and Konerko need some help. Crede especially becasue I couldn't belieev some of the weak and flat out dumb swings he has been taking lately. You see him reaching out flatfooted and with his rump stuck out a lot and looking lost. He has made up for it with his defense though, which is more than can be said about others. I picked Crede to click tonight, which might be too early but we'll see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

what follows is the official WS press release

 

CHICAGO - The Chicago White Sox have named former first baseman Greg Walker to replace Gary Ward as the team’s hitting coach.

 

Walker, 43, spent the past two seasons as hitting coach for the White Sox Class AAA affiliate in Charlotte. Under his guidance, the Knights batted .262 (1,608-6,133) with 173 home runs and 704 RBI in 185 games. The Knights currently lead the International League in home runs (42) and rank second in average (.285) and hits (388). Two of his players currently rank among the IL Top 10 in average.

 

Walker spent his nine-year major-league career with the White Sox

(1982-90) and Baltimore (1990), batting .260 (746-2,864) with 113 home runs and 444 RBI. He ranks fifth on the White Sox all-time list in slugging percentage (.453) and 10th in home runs.

 

Walker hit 20-plus home runs in a season three times with the White Sox and twice drove in more than 90 runs. He appeared in 118 games as a rookie in 1983, batting .270 with 10 home runs and 55 RBI for the American League West division champions. Walker hit a career-high .294 with 24 home runs and 75 RBI in 1984 and followed with 24 homers and 92 RBI in 1985. He established career highs of 27 home runs and 94 RBI in 1987.

 

Originally signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1977, Walker was left unprotected and later signed by the White Sox in the December 1979 minor league draft. He led the White Sox Class AA Glen Falls affiliate to the Eastern League championship in 1981, while leading the league in hits (163), runs (117), total bases (266) and doubles (33).

 

Ward, 49, served two seasons as White Sox hitting coach (2001-03).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.suntimes.com/output/mariotti/cs...-spt-jay19.html

 

I'm always worried when I think like Mariotti but I loved his column today. Puts Ward and Walker in perspective.

 

Has there been any response from the players?

Mariotti has be known to be a Sox basher, and Sox fans have criticized him for his bias towards the Cubs/Sosa and taking pot shots at the Sox. But I believe that he sees the same thing as the fans when it come to the Sox. The Sox are a missed opportunity that the management of this team has ignorantly squandered by alienating fans through their pompous and moronic management of this ballclub. The problems on the field are bigger than Gary Ward. Yes, the offense is anemic. But firing Ward will not cure that. The problem with this team goes straight to how it has been constructed. The front office has no strategy for supplying the talent to win baseball games. They just figure they'll out slug everyone and we waltz to a division title. Wrong. They put all thier eggs in the offensive basket, and its killing us now, beacuse we don't have a team that can win tight ball games. The Sox are a fundamentaly bad baseball team and the management knew it in Spring Training. They we're hoping to win on the cheap in a weak division with a bunch of sluggers. Does anyone really believe this team could win a tightly contested division series the way they play? With poor defense, not running the bases well, unable to maximize and capitalize on scoring opportunities? No way. This was all smoke and mirrors - and I bought into it and now I'm pissed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Walker worked with Crede in AAA recently then right? This can't be a bad thing for these guys. In 2000 we won because our guys were agressive at the plate. I think this team might be trying too hard to work deep counts sometimes and they don't swing at the fat pitches they get early in the count because they don't have the confidence to do so. This is the opposite of what the Cubs have done with guys like Grudzielanek, Gonzalez, and Patterson. These guys have been swinging at first and second pitches alot this year. I'm not saying using this strategy when you are trying to advance runners but our guys have been making far too many outs with the bases empty. This is the formula for corpseball: too many 1-2-3 innings.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kick ass.  :headbang

 

Hope he can get Daubach going.

Daubach just needs playing time. Watching him lately his swing has been looking real sharp. I want him to become the starter somewhere, the problem is we aren't moving Konerko nor are we moving Thomas or Lee.

 

I really believe this team has to make a few changes to become way more fundementally sound and in turn win it all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...