2-3-4-5-6-7

[hammerhead johnson]

2. Iguchi .325

3. Thome .321

4. Konerko .331

5. Dye .325

6. Pierzynski .323

7. Crede .330

 

I'd imagine that this makes for some friendly competition in the clubhouse. Considering that not one Sox hitter finished at or above .300 on the 2005 squad, this is truly remarkable.

 

Bow the f*** down already.

[witesoxfan]

My one question is why?

 

How does a team go from .250s-.280s to everyone in the middle of the order hitting in the .320s? Is it self-confidence? Is it expectations? Is Jim Thome THAT good?

[bmags]

My one question is why?

 

How does a team go from .250s-.280s to everyone in the middle of the order hitting in the .320s? Is it self-confidence? Is it expectations? Is Jim Thome THAT good?

 

i was pretty convinced that last year our lineup underachieved greatly...

 

however...suspect prolly 3-4 .300 avgs or better...

[hammerhead johnson]

I posted this nugget not too long ago:

 

Jim Thome is a .280 hitter on the 2006 Sox if he's lucky.

 

[SoxAce]

I posted this nugget not too long ago:

 

You know you could still be right though..

[Sox Machine]

Through April 16, the Sox actually had zero hitters batting between .200 and .299. That's counting the reserves, too. No other MLB team was even close to matching that feat.

 

Pods, Widger and Cintron have since screwed it up.

[bmags]

Through April 16, the Sox actually had zero hitters batting between .200 and .299. That's counting the reserves, too. No other MLB team was even close to matching that feat.

 

Pods, Widger and Cintron have since screwed it up.

 

White Sox - The perfect mixture of amazing and complete suckery

[Sox Machine]

White Sox - The perfect mixture of amazing and complete suckery

 

I prefer to call it "One hell of an undercurrent."

[effectivelywild]

My one question is why?

 

How does a team go from .250s-.280s to everyone in the middle of the order hitting in the .320s? Is it self-confidence? Is it expectations? Is Jim Thome THAT good?

 

 

I'd say equal parts the team underachieving last year, equal parts the team overachieving this year (so far), with a dash of Jim Thome thrown in. That being said, the Sox are a much better offensive team this year, they have a real nice extended batting lineup.

 

That being said, how bout a little love for Pods, huh? Yeah yeah, only one hit tonight, but he also drew 4 f&*^ing walks. That's the real measure of a leadoff man.

[whitesoxfan101]

I posted this nugget not too long ago:

 

Welp the key is that you had the balls to admit it right now, but you could also be right about him hitting .280. Good news is that even if he does, he will finish with 40/100 and a .430 OBP.

[bmags]

man, jim thome is f***ing good. I think he likes da DH

[Texsox]

That tells me we are in for a market correction as players come back to their historic averages. Let's hope they stagger the slumps. 40% of the time a player is streaking up, 40% of the time they are streaking down, and 20% of the time they are just holding around their potential. Better player "hold longer".

 

But being a fan, I'm guessing this is a slump and those averages will all be around .400 at the all-sar break

[SoxFanInDallas]

My one question is why?

 

How does a team go from .250s-.280s to everyone in the middle of the order hitting in the .320s? Is it self-confidence? Is it expectations? Is Jim Thome THAT good?

 

 

STEROIDS.......Just Kidding! I was just noticing the batting averages today myself. I think it is that the team is just 'loose'. While they may have some pressure as the defending WS Champs, they have already won once. The pressure of the City is off them. The team has always talked that they loved a full house. They have that these days. I think they are just going out to the park and having alot of fun. When you are having fun, playing loose without pressure, you tend to do better.

[Kalapse]

man, jim thome is f***ing good. I think he likes da DH

I figure this is why he's having such a great year, it's the first time in his career tha he's been a full time DH. Perhaps he is really taking to the DH role and only having to participate in in-game action 3-5 times a game is keeping him ridiculously fresh hence the ricockulous numbers he's putting up right now. Jim Thome is actually better at the age of 35 than he was at the age of 28.

[whitesoxfan101]

The interesting thing is that, although still a very big dude, Thome looks about 10 pounds lighter than he did even during his prime IMO. That workout regime he does is obviously working and keeping him in shape, and the DH thing is obviously keeping him fresh. I read an article about his workout regime recently and it's pretty intense, so I'd say Herm deserves some credit as well.

[LosMediasBlancas]

Of that list, who will be above .300 in late Sept. ??

[whitesoxfan101]

Of that list, who will be above .300 in late Sept. ??

 

Good question. Not sure who exactly will hit .300, but they all are capable of doing it, a few will, and they will all hit at least .280 IMO.

[Damen]

Of that list, who will be above .300 in late Sept. ??

 

Iguchi and Crede.

[aboz56]

One thing I noticed personally about Thome is how hard the guy is working.

 

During the Angels series, I had a chance to get a look at Thome working out in the cage below the stadium between at-bats. (Thanks to the dugout suites Jas got us which were badass by the way, thanks to Jas again.)

 

Anyhow, in the hallway outside of the suite, you could see into the visitors batting cage below the stadium. Thome was down there stretching out between at-bats and hitting in the cage. Some of the stretching he was doing was unbelievable. For a man his size, he has amazing flexibility. Between at-bats he was busting ass, breaking a sweat and getting in plenty of cuts. The guy looked like a monster and he's definitely playing like one.

[RockRaines]

My one question is why?

 

How does a team go from .250s-.280s to everyone in the middle of the order hitting in the .320s? Is it self-confidence? Is it expectations? Is Jim Thome THAT good?

I think Thome will finish under .300, just based on his career numbers. However his OBP will be over .400 which is what his true value is.

 

He really does make this lineup more dangerous though. Just not relying on Konerko for all the power is making the lineup more loose and comfortable. Thome is also used to shouldering the entire offensive load for a team, so he really takes alot of the pressure off. Also alot of the player have been interviewed, and they claim that one of the things Thome does best is come to the clubhouse with the same attitude everyday. He is never upset about K-ing 4 times, he is the same guy. I think that blind confidence has rubbed off alot on crede, AJP, and Dye.

 

Jermaine Dye's performance this year has been a bit overshadowed, but he is really important to our lineup. Last year he started out the season in a huge slump, and still ended up with a great season. This year he has a ton of protection in front and behind him, which is causing him to relax and swing the way he is capable of. Our 3,4,5 hitters have to be one of the best heart's in the game.

 

Iguchi is benefitting from having murderers row behind him.

 

One thing I noticed personally about Thome is how hard the guy is working.

 

During the Angels series, I had a chance to get a look at Thome working out in the cage below the stadium between at-bats. (Thanks to the dugout suites Jas got us which were badass by the way, thanks to Jas again.)

 

Anyhow, in the hallway outside of the suite, you could see into the visitors batting cage below the stadium. Thome was down there stretching out between at-bats and hitting in the cage. Some of the stretching he was doing was unbelievable. For a man his size, he has amazing flexibility. Between at-bats he was busting ass, breaking a sweat and getting in plenty of cuts. The guy looked like a monster and he's definitely playing like one.

Thanks for this story Boz, that sounds awesome. Can you expand on these dugout suites. I have always wondered about them.

[aboz56]

Thanks for this story Boz, that sounds awesome. Can you expand on these dugout suites. I have always wondered about them.

Pretty much Jason was able to get the seats, they were actually in a suite that is partly owned by Scott Boras. In Anaheim the suites are real nice because they are on level playing ground with the dugouts. So basically we sat right next to the Sox dugout, there was nothing separating us but glass. When the Sox were on deck, we were maybe 5 feet away. Even AJ was talking to us. The suite itself had catered food, couches, a TV and all the drinks you could want. Desert was even served. When you walk out from the suite you go right into the seating area. Then in the hallway outside of the suite was the glass between us and Thome where you could watch him hit.

 

I'm going to go ahead and get my pictures uploaded today on webshots and I'll post a link here.

[GoSox05]

Not one guy batting over .400. What a joke. This team is going nowhere.

 

 

Ted Williams hit .400, ask Hawk i'm sure he'd tell you about it.

[Balta1701]

I think Thome will finish under .300, just based on his career numbers. However his OBP will be over .400 which is what his true value is.

 

He really does make this lineup more dangerous though. Just not relying on Konerko for all the power is making the lineup more loose and comfortable. Thome is also used to shouldering the entire offensive load for a team, so he really takes alot of the pressure off. Also alot of the player have been interviewed, and they claim that one of the things Thome does best is come to the clubhouse with the same attitude everyday. He is never upset about K-ing 4 times, he is the same guy. I think that blind confidence has rubbed off alot on crede, AJP, and Dye.

 

Jermaine Dye's performance this year has been a bit overshadowed, but he is really important to our lineup. Last year he started out the season in a huge slump, and still ended up with a great season. This year he has a ton of protection in front and behind him, which is causing him to relax and swing the way he is capable of. Our 3,4,5 hitters have to be one of the best heart's in the game.

 

Iguchi is benefitting from having murderers row behind him.

I think there's some more influences you're underestimating. With Iguchi, for example, he's not sitting there and waiting for Podsednik to steal or sacrificing himself as a productive out nearly as often, because with Thome behind him, there's no great reason to open up a base, so he's just putting his best swings out there.

 

Konerko, I think, has finally gotten that piece of "Pull hitter granite" out of his skull, and now he's decided to be a good hitter who pulls the ball most of the time. In fact, a lot of our guys are using the opposite field more than they did last season, Konerko and AJ and Crede most notably.

 

It's also worth noting that now we actually have a reason in our lineup to have managers screw around with their pitching staff...i.e. you bring in a lefty to pitch to Podsednik and Thome, and it winds up draining your bullpen depth sooner.

 

There's a lot of things going on there. I think I like just about all of them.

[LosMediasBlancas]

Not one guy batting over .400. What a joke. This team is going nowhere.

Ted Williams hit .400, ask Hawk i'm sure he'd tell you about it.

 

 

He'll also tell you that Jose Valentin is the best base runner he's ever seen.

[beautox]

Iguchi is benefitting from having murderers row behind him.

 

I've begun to seriously question if the white sox could become murderers row 2k6. Scott Podsednik is now batting .268, last year he finished with .290, and i would'nt be supprised if in a week or two hes batting .300 or just under. Iguchi in '04 Batted .333 and this is now his second time around the AL hes currently batting .325. Jim Thome is a career .282 hitter, but looks to be in the best shape of his life at 35 and is currently batting .321 even with that crazy shift on him. Paul Konerko is a traditonaly a slow starter and a career .281 hitter, but as of now hes batting .331. Jermaine Dye has always seemed to be bitten by the injury bug and never truly given the chance to excel for one reason or another, in '99 he batted .294 and in '00 he batted .321 both in Kansas City, Dye is a career .273 hitter, and this season hes batting .325. AJP is currently batting .323 but has a career .288 avg and isn't being asked to hit for power. Joe Crede has never lived up to his potential at the plate but since he came back from the DL last season hes been on fire and i too truly believe he has turned the corner he is currently batting .330.

 

I think there are a few reasons as to why they will continue this torrid pace IMO.

 

1.) The batting order goes L-R-L-R-R-L-R

 

2.) Each one of them affords the other a level protection that is unprecedented. Once Pods is on base, hes in the pitchers head even if he doesn't steal, Iguchi gets a steady diet of fastballs because they need to get it to the plate so podsednik can't steal and they can't afford to use to many breaking pitches for fear of a wild pitch, plus thome is right behind him. this occurs all through out the line up 1-7.

 

3.) The preasure is off, they're already world champions, the cell is rocking, and the "chemistry" is there.