And that's a White Sox loser

[NorthSideSox72]

Um, no.  Chalk one series loss to our lineup not being able to hit Moyer and Washburn.

^^^^^^^^^

 

How quickly people forget that Oz rested his starters a lot in 2005 too, and guess what? It worked!

 

Plus the lineup they used Monday still had 6 of the 9 regular starting lineup in there. Its not as if he played all 5 bench players and threw some pitchers in the outfield for kicks.

[RockRaines]

Seriously, I just really hate Widger. Once we gave up all the runs, the dugout finally took over the pitch calls. I really think he calls a s***ty game this year.

[Pants Rowland]

Chalk 1 series loss to an Ozzie lineup.  We ended up with 4 or 5 series losses last year due to it, wonder how many we will have this year.

 

I'll take 4-5 series losses this year as long as we win the ALDS, ALCS and WS.

 

The rest helps the regulars. It also helps the bench. Our bench stepped up in the postseason. Think about Ozuna's stolen base in the game 2 of the ALCS, Blum's home run in game 3 of the WS, and Willie's clutch hit which turned into the winning run in the clincher.

 

Dusty Baker loves sticking with his regulars and his teams have faded fast as the season progresses. He is starting to ride his bullpen horses too much again and it will likely take its toll.

 

A smart manager knows how to win a game and sometimes lose a game every now and then. It creates a team atmosphere, keeps everyone fresh, and helps build confidence. It also allows him to see if certain guys can't cut it. Guillen ran Billy Koch out for every save opportunity possible in 2004. Everyone was screaming at him for blowing quality performances by the starters. However, it helped the orgnaization realize they were going no where with Koch as the closer and he was out of Chicago in no time.

 

Every player is important on championship clubs. That is why you alway hear about the "unlikliest heros" in the postseason. Guys like Blum, Dent, Landrum (ugh!), and Mazeroski hit home runs when no one expected it. The reason is their organizations put together versatile groups of players that knew how to step up in certain situations. This was primarily because they were part of a team and not a bunch of individual superstars. Think of how the Yankees have fared since they started stocking up on superstars. They have not won a title since O'Neal, Brosius, Martinez and Williams were starters. You do not need all your stars on the field every day in order to win a championship.

[Balta1701]

Seriously, I just really hate Widger.  Once we gave up all the runs, the dugout finally took over the pitch calls.  I really think he calls a s***ty game this year.

Didn't the Widge catch Buehrle's 1:43 game last year? It sure seemed like they worked well together last year.

[WCSox]

Plus the lineup they used Monday still had 6 of the 9 regular starting lineup in there.  Its not as if he played all 5 bench players and threw some pitchers in the outfield for kicks.

 

Haven't Paulie and Thome been in the starting lineup in every single game so far? Sunday Lineups, my ass.

[RibbieRubarb]

Chalk 1 series loss to an Ozzie lineup.  We ended up with 4 or 5 series losses last year due to it, wonder how many we will have this year.

 

All I know is Ozzie didn't lose a series for us in October last year and his bench guys (who got significant playing time during the year) were a big part of that.

[Pants Rowland]

All I know is Ozzie didn't lose a series for us in October last year and his bench guys (who got significant playing time during the year) were a big part of that.

 

Bingo!

[whitesoxfan101]

How quickly people forget that Oz rested his starters a lot in 2005 too, and guess what?  It worked!

 

Yes it worked, but the fact it lost us 4 or 5 series last year and will do it again this year doesn't change, and it still pisses me off right now, even if it's for the best in the long run .

[GoSox05]

Washburn was pretty nasty last night i had a feeling we werent gonna score much.

[NorthSideSox72]

Seriously, I just really hate Widger.  Once we gave up all the runs, the dugout finally took over the pitch calls.  I really think he calls a s***ty game this year.

I'm fairly certain that Widger's game-caught ERA last year was almost identical to AJ's. I'm not concerned.

[RockRaines]

I'm fairly certain that Widger's game-caught ERA last year was almost identical to AJ's.  I'm not concerned.

I dont care about last year. This year in particular, I was at the game where he caught Javy and being a former catcher, I thought his game planning was very bland and predictable. Last night he was calling the pitches until seattle had 3 runs. Then you could see him looking over at the dugout.

[fathom]

I dont care about last year.  This year in particular, I was at the game where he caught Javy and being a former catcher, I thought his game planning was very bland and predictable.  Last night he was calling the pitches until seattle had 3 runs.  Then you could see him looking over at the dugout.

 

And what was he doing in the Vazquez game was the following.....away, away, away.

[witesoxfan]

I would say 3/5 of our starters in the rotation are fly ball pitchers.

 

Who would those be?

 

GO/AO ratios of the starting rotation

 

Buehrle - 2004 1.46; 2005 1.30; 2006 1.46; career 1.31

Garcia - 2004 1.07; 2005 1.47; 2006 0.63; career 1.24

Contreras - 2004 0.95; 2005 1.08; 2006 1.03; career 1.09

Garland - 2004 1.25; 2005 1.38; 2006 0.84; career 1.30

Vazquez - 2004 0.80; 2005 1.20; 2006 0.83; career 0.97

 

(some of those may be off...namely Contreras and Garcia in 2004 along with Vazquez's career total, because MLB doesn't list those, my checks weren't agreeing with MLB's numbers, and I'm too lazy to do the research to figure it all out...but you get the idea)

 

As far as I can tell, 4/5 of the rotation is groundball pitchers...or at the very least, 3 are groundball pitchers and 2 are relatively neutral. It's just that 3 of them have been flyball pitchers so far this year...over the next couple months, I would be very surprised if that didn't even out.

[NorthSideSox72]

I dont care about last year.  This year in particular, I was at the game where he caught Javy and being a former catcher, I thought his game planning was very bland and predictable.  Last night he was calling the pitches until seattle had 3 runs.  Then you could see him looking over at the dugout.

I'm not sure if that was for pitch calls, or that Widge was concerned about his pitcher. Either case would draw that reaction.

[RockRaines]

I'm not sure if that was for pitch calls, or that Widge was concerned about his pitcher.  Either case would draw that reaction.

well, when the catcher looks to the dugout before every pitch, and then calls the pitch, hes getting the calls from the dugout. Just an FYI.

[NorthSideSox72]

well, when the catcher looks to the dugout before every pitch, and then calls the pitch, hes getting the calls from the dugout.  Just an FYI.

Now now Rock, no need for the sarcasm.

 

I didn't see it happen that often, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, since I was only watching that game on and off.