Something To Hope For The Next 2 Months

[Rooftop Shots]

Not sure if any or all of this has been mentioned in past threads, but even if it has been, it's still good to have it as a reminder among the "hit" that all of Sox fans have taken during this latest skid.

It's obvious that we are all very concerned about Detroit, Minny, as well as ourselves.

Not too many teams have gone wire to wire without some sort of decline during the season. The last one was Seattle when they won 116 games.

With Kenny Rogers lately seldom having a full successful season and prone to injury issues, and Verlander never having gone over 130 innings before, chances are they won't go wire to wire without a skid of some sort. August will really test their staff and their durability and may even be an emotional drainage wear-down time for them as they face a boatload of sluggers. 6 Cleveland, 7 Sox, 4 Tex, 3 NYY, 3 Bos, 3 Twins 3 TB. Add that with the most humid month of the year and it's not a great combo for them.

Just remember, everyone thought that we were invincible last year and had no chance at being caught......and then September came! After a grueling August for Detroit, could this years September be for them what last years was for us? Also, concerning Minny......There is no way that they are going to make another 31 and 6 run.(Or whatever the heck it was). It's not going to happen. You only have 2 dynamic pitchers (Santana and Liriano...... and occasionally Radke). THAT TEAM WILL LOSE SOME GAMES!!!!

I know that we have struggled immensely, but not only does our team have exceptional talent, but they have a lot of character, and there are no egotistical "hotdogs" on our club. WE WILL GO ON A NICE RUN! With the quality players and character that we have, it's pretty impossible that a BIG RUN won't happen. Plus.....we are due. I still say "The Steam Engines will be on all cylinders kicking a ton of behind once we get past this stretch, and once we start kicking, IT"S NOT GOING TO STOP!

I'm as down and rather depressed about what is happenenig now, just as much as most of you, but what keeps me going, is I know what this club is made of, and who we have that is running the show! GO SOX!!!!

[Gregory Pratt]

Uh, they won't be going wire to wire even if they hold onto the lead. They only took the lead in late May. haven't let go, but they still didn't go "wire to wire."

 

I get your point. I think we can take the division, but at this point, the team itself should worry about winning its games and little else.

[spiderman]

Being 8.5 games out of 1st, I'm more focused on the wild card at this point.

 

Saying that, the division race is not over yet - With 10 games vs the Tigers, obviously the White Sox have to play well to close that gap. Being very optimistic, let's say the White Sox can somehow win 7 of the remaining 10 games, that cuts the lead in 1/2 - the rest will have to made up with their other opponents.

 

Back to the wildcard though - we have two teams, Minny and NYY, right with us - let's get into good playoff position, and then worry about the division.

[Rooftop Shots]

Uh, they won't be going wire to wire even if they hold onto the lead. They only took the lead in late May. haven't let go, but they still didn't go "wire to wire."

 

The part that I meant wire to wire wasn't about the lead, it was about never going in any sort of a declining period from start to finish. Not too many teams have done that, and because of reasons previously stated, I don't think Detroit will either.

 

 

The other thing that came to mind is.....How many championships have the Yankees won when they looked about as ugly as it gets and were way out it at this time of the year? Maybe we're not the Yankees, but I belive that our talent and character outweighs them by far. Regardless what the standings say.........(For starters)....I Still Want This Friggin' Division Title, and by far......I'm not ruling that out until mathematically it says so. We have a Great ball club and 60+ games left. ANYTHING can happen. Let's win this thing!!!!!!!!!!!

[BigSqwert]

I'm not sure why everyone is worried. We still have the 5th best record in baseball.

[S720]

I'm not sure why everyone is worried. We still have the 5th best record in baseball.

 

In all honesty, I am not worried about our Sox's record and standing right now. The season is still pretty long for them to perhaps retake the divisional lead or the wild card. What I am really worried and baffled about is the all-at-the-same-time decline of our starting pitchers, except for Contreras and Garland! I truly don't understand the reason why all of the sudden, our starting pitchers, especially the pin-point-control Buerhle, get so terrible. My gosh, look at the following ERAs in the month of July:

 

Buerhle: 11.48

Garcia: 5.76

Vazquez: 6.48

 

Now let's see what Garland's and Contreras' July stats:

 

Contreras: 3.48

Garland: 1.17

 

Should Buerhle, Garcia and Vazquez get back on the right track, we will make the playoff. If not, have a nice vacation!

[LVSoxFan]

Is it too simplistic to state at this point: AS BUEHRLE GOES, THE SOX WILL GO?

 

That's how I'm lookin' at it.

[Zoogz]

Eric Kuselias was addressing this issue as I was commuting to work this morning (between 6:30-7:00AM CDT) on Mike & Mike on ESPN 1000... that the Twins were 34-8 and the Tigers were 31-11, which are absolutely ridiculous stretches for two teams in one division (especially with an unbalanced schedule) to be in.

 

I do feel that the Sox will not only be fine, but that they will be mashing again. The Sox are a team that can legitimately win either way; the Twins' and Tigers' pitching is what is sustaining their winning, not their offences. Just look at what happened when the Tigers gave up runs to the Indians. And while it is amazing that both pitching and hitting has been slumping slightly for the Sox, I really can't see that happening long-term.

 

And also, just remember that it was not even a while back that the Sox were winning 21 out of 30 games and staying even with the best record in baseball. With the way that the Sox team is made up, a 34-8 run is definitely not out of the realm of possibility.