And that's a White Sox loser

[loltrain]

Then who's the worst?

How could we have improved in the least?

 

I would say the Cubs and the Pirates are both worse, and the Devil Rays are about the same.

 

The Royals have been playing pretty well since july or so, the last time Detroit played them we didn't sweep them either and they scored alot of runs against our pitching.

[Balta1701]

We've been told repeatedly that we can't complain about winning a series...even when we can't sweep a team that is quite possibly the worst in baseball in years.

With Jim Thome and Paul Konerko both out hurt. Thome played what, 1 game in the last 2 series, and Konerko played like 2-3 depending on how you count innings? And we come out of that 4-2?

[NorthSideSox72]

With Jim Thome and Paul Konerko both out hurt. Thome played what, 1 game in the last 2 series, and Konerko played like 2-3 depending on how you count innings? And we come out of that 4-2?

I think this is a good perspective. We have taken 4 of 6 on the road, missing our 3 and 4 hitters, against some pitchers we've never seen. If we take 2 of 3 from Toronto, finishing a 6-3 road trip all over the continent without our key hitters playing in many of the games... I'll feel pretty good coming home to Chicago.

[fathom]

I would say the Cubs and the Pirates are both worse, and the Devil Rays are about the same.

 

The Royals have been playing pretty well since july or so, the last time Detroit played them we didn't sweep them either and they scored alot of runs against our pitching.

 

The Cubs aren't nearly as bad as the Royals. The Cubs still have a couple of real good hitters, they have an ace, and a strong back of the bullpen. Right now, KC's offense looks a lot better than it is because Mark Teahen is becoming a star. Maybe I'm crazy, but teams might want to start throwing him offspeed pitches.

[Balta1701]

The Cubs aren't nearly as bad as the Royals. The Cubs still have a couple of real good hitters, they have an ace, and a strong back of the bullpen. Right now, KC's offense looks a lot better than it is because Mark Teahen is becoming a star. Maybe I'm crazy, but teams might want to start throwing him offspeed pitches.

Or at least, when he hits a pitch on which he flies out to the warning track, do not start the next at bat with the same *&*&*(&()^(&^(^&(*^&*(^%^*(%$^%$^% pitch.

[maggliopipe]

It wasn't the toughest loss to swallow. Despite the results, Freddy seems to be switching things up more lately in terms of throwing more changeups and using different arm angles. His changeup is quickly becoming his most effective pitch. He's looked better, in my eyes, anyway. Anytime 2 of your top 3 hitters are out of the lineup, it's going to be tough to complete a sweep of any team.

 

I liked the way that Hudson dude pitched; it looks like the KC rotation has a stable piece in their rotation going forward.

[fathom]

Or at least, when he hits a pitch on which he flies out to the warning track, do not start the next at bat with the same *&*&*(&()^(&^(^&(*^&*(^%^*(%$^%$^% pitch.

 

As we all know, baseball is a game of adjustments. It seems like this season has seen the Sox pitchers/catcher not adjust their game plan during the course of the game. It could very well be the reason why so many of our guys are imploding late in the game.

[retro1983hat]

I keep hearing that the Sox have not fired on all cylinders this year. Perhaps, this is the team we have. One that has enough talent to be in it until the end, but is not sound fundamentally. If we had lesser talent the way we are playing, we'd be 20 games out. Remember how many Thome home runs and 8 run games made up for the fact that our starters have been average to below-average this year. Now we are in the dog days and hitters always go through slumps and our pitching is still just as bad as it was at the beginning of the year. Last year we won plenty of 3-2, 2-1, 1-0, games, this year if we don't put a 6-spot on the board, we are going to lose.

[Hangar18]

They're created to discuss the game after its conclusion. Is it any different than a "White Sox Winner" thread? Or is it that only acceptable because it doesn't depress you? Can't have it both ways. Either both or none.

 

That's why WSI is what it is -- any discussions relating to positivity are heralded, whereas threads negative in nature (aside from post game threads) are disregarded.

 

 

heh heh. Your right, talking negatively about the SOX over there is severely frowned upon, and your labeled a dark cloud/not a real sox fan/troll etc etc. Open discussion isnt allowed there, and to their credit, they at least now say it Isnt a democracy over there. Negative discussion about the SOX is a big topic right now, I see that alot of people are unhappy (unfounded) about the SOX' postgame show, and it being "too positive" or "too much like wsi". All I know is, the SOX have been having problems this season, and to IGNORE this and not acknowledge this is/was Foolish.

[Gregory Pratt]

This is why were 8 1/2 games behind Detroit. How many times have we taken the first two games of a series only to lay an egg in the finale? I'm thinking atleast 8 or 9 times. Detroit usually sweeps a team after winning the first two. Our bullpen has fallen apart after pitching so well for a while. We just can't seem to get the starters and 'pen goin' at the same time.

 

I call BS.

 

We're eight and a half behind Detroit because we lost consecutive series' to Boston, New York, Texas, Detroit and Minnesota, and a couple of those were sweeps.

 

We were two and a half (three and a half?) behind until that awful stretch.

 

We'd be in such a better position if we'd won two out of three at those times, or if we'd put up a fight against the Yankees/Twins.

[winninguglyin83]

bad night for us.

 

Boston wins on a miracle rally.

 

Detroit pulls ahead in the late innings and wins.

 

we spit the bit against the worst team in the league and make Teahen look like George Brett.

 

it's early August and we have four starters with ERAs at or above 5.

 

We are who we are -- and this year we simply might not be good enough.

 

Sad, but true.

[BigSqwert]

BTW did anyone catch the caller on Rongey's post game show at about 11pm? He just went on an uninterrupted rant for 5 minutes. Was hilarious. Saying stuff like "Scott Pathetic".

Edited August 3, 2006 by BigSqwert

[Milkman delivers]

I would say the Cubs and the Pirates are both worse, and the Devil Rays are about the same.

 

The Royals have been playing pretty well since july or so, the last time Detroit played them we didn't sweep them either and they scored alot of runs against our pitching.

 

The Devil Rays are better. The Royals are easily the worst team in the AL, at least.

 

BTW did anyone catch the caller on Rongey's post game show at about 11pm? He just went on an uninterrupted rant for 5 minutes. Was hilarious. Saying stuff like "Scott Pathetic".

 

In case you're wondering, it wasn't me.

[Hangar18]

bad night for us.

 

Boston wins on a miracle rally.

 

Detroit pulls ahead in the late innings and wins.

 

we spit the bit against the worst team in the league and make Teahen look like George Brett.

 

it's early August and we have four starters with ERAs at or above 5.

 

We are who we are -- and this year we simply might not be good enough.

 

Sad, but true.

 

 

I already said it. Were done. We cant rely on the offense to bail us out game after game like earlier in the year. Our pitching is OK at best, but there are way better pitching staffs out there right now, unfortunately, the Tigers staff is one of them. We cant keep pace and give games away, which they refuse to do. We cannot win with ERAs in the 5's. Yeah, sounds "OFF THE WALL", but we wont/cant win. Whats important is that the SOX acknowledge this and make the necessary moves in the offseason to get stronger, because the Tiggers will ALSO be trying to get stronger now.

[RockRaines]

The pitching is tired. What did everyone expect? We had guys with the highest load of innings last year, and two guys in the WBC. They are extremely tired, and our offense is not very consistent. We just have to hope that we can pull of the WC and hope we get hot in the playoffs. Thats our only hope.

[winninguglyin83]

I already said it. Were done. We cant rely on the offense to bail us out game after game like earlier in the year. Our pitching is OK at best, but there are way better pitching staffs out there right now, unfortunately, the Tigers staff is one of them. We cant keep pace and give games away, which they refuse to do. We cannot win with ERAs in the 5's. Yeah, sounds "OFF THE WALL", but we wont/cant win. Whats important is that the SOX acknowledge this and make the necessary moves in the offseason to get stronger, because the Tiggers will ALSO be trying to get stronger now.

 

 

I agree.

 

Contreras is a keeper.

 

Garcia is certainly on the downside and won't draw much in a trade.

 

Buehrle's option will probably have to be picked up -- unless he pitches with a 12.00 ERA the last two months.

 

Garland probably has to be kept because we need innings and his contract is good for two more years.

 

Vaz has to go. Too inconsistent -- although I don't think you can get much for him.

 

BMac moves into the rotation.

 

And then we gotta find another starter.

 

This staff has lots of miles on the odometer and is awfully pricey.

 

Time to retool the starters because I don't think they're going to get it done this year. Haven't seen any evidence of consistency yet. We should have won all six games on this trip so far -- and needed to to push back into the race.

 

The schedule the next two weeks or so is brutal. We'll know tons by then.

[fathom]

The pitching is tired. What did everyone expect? We had guys with the highest load of innings last year, and two guys in the WBC. They are extremely tired, and our offense is not very consistent. We just have to hope that we can pull of the WC and hope we get hot in the playoffs. Thats our only hope.

 

Here's a wild and crazy idea. If your guys threw a ton of innings last year, pitched in the WBC, and can't get guys out late in the game....then pull them sooner rather than later. Ozzie has been managing this pitching staff all season like they were the 2005 White Sox starting pitching. The problem is that the guys are suffering from the load from last season, and they're continuing to throw a ton of pitches. As everyone points out, our bullpen has the fewest amount of innings in the AL this season. We're definitely not the first team in MLB history to see their starters suffer the following season after making a long postseason run the season before.

[MHizzle85]

The schedule the next two weeks or so is brutal. We'll know tons by then.

 

As much as i'd hate to admit this, if we come out of these next 2 weeks looking as spiffty as we do now...

 

It may be time to throw in the towel. I'm trying to be the optimistic homer here, but this year my feelings after losses have gone from it'll be alright to frustration to depression to allout anger...I think it's because we know ths team can do it, it just seems like they're allergic to whatever it is. I'd hate to repeat myself, but if after these two weeks we can't take at least 2 outta 3 from every series....i might start looking forward to the NFL

[Balta1701]

As much as i'd hate to admit this, if we come out of these next 2 weeks looking as spiffty as we do now...

 

It may be time to throw in the towel. I'm trying to be the optimistic homer here, but this year my feelings after losses have gone from it'll be alright to frustration to depression to allout anger...I think it's because we know ths team can do it, it just seems like they're allergic to whatever it is. I'd hate to repeat myself, but if after these two weeks we can't take at least 2 outta 3 from every series....i might start looking forward to the NFL

Throw in the towel? I'm afraid it's too late to really throw in the towel and start worrying about next season, simply because we're already past the trading deadline.

[winninguglyin83]

yep.

 

too late for towel throwing.

 

just need to hope that one (VAz) or two (Buehrle) of the starters gets hot.

 

the bullpen kicks in a little more.

 

Thome and Paulie really heat up.

 

and Pods pulls his nose out of his rectum.

 

A lot to hope for, but that's where we're at.

[southsideirish71]

The pitching is tired. What did everyone expect? We had guys with the highest load of innings last year, and two guys in the WBC. They are extremely tired, and our offense is not very consistent. We just have to hope that we can pull of the WC and hope we get hot in the playoffs. Thats our only hope.

 

Vazquez isnt tired. For the price of talent we paid, and the price that we pay him he was supposed to be a top of the rotation type pitcher. If he pitched to at least like a 3 or 4 we would be okay. But he is pitching like Danny Wright or Felix Diaz. Hopefully this new magic arm angle that coop has been working on will get him to pitch better. Who knows.

 

 

Garcia or Buerhle should of been shut down for a period of time to get a rest. Its what we did last year to keep El Duque and his 100 year old arm fresh. That was the entire reason for having bmac as an ace in the hole this year. It would of required one more bullpen move.

 

I expected them to pitch to their career norms, not have career years. If they pitched to their career norms we would be sitty pretty.

[Milkman delivers]

Mackowiak should really be starting in left.

 

It's so excruciatingly obvious that I can't get it off my mind.

[LVSoxFan]

A couple of points:

 

a) Right now KC has the worst record, but to say they're the worst and we should win every game is dreaming. Anybody can beat anybody on any given day. Remember last year how we were maligned because we had winning records against teams with... losing records and because of this, we weren't for "real"? Well... whether it's KC or NYY, a win is a win and a loss is a loss. To whom the loss is really doesn't matter to me.

 

B) It's hardly over guys. The Sun-Times today had a piece on teams that were way up on August 1st throughout history, only to blow the lead (sound familiar?). Anything can happen.

 

c) Yes, it's frustrating what happened last night but Freddy wasn't awful and we got some good hits. Cotts is worrisome but like others have said: we're all still waiting for this great-on-paper lineup to "click," which hasn't happened yet. Let's hope it does this month, before it's too late.

 

d) As far as the negative thread thing goes, I am just as passionate when I complain about the Sox as I am when I praise them. In fact, you'll notice that the traffic here spikes when there's a loss, because people want to vent/commiserate/weigh in, etc. There is nothing wrong with that, and that's a normal part of being a fan.

 

Things get hinky when you're prohibited from talking about that and instead are coerced into only saying "positive" things. That's not being a fan, that's drinking the Koolaid. No thanks.

[Milkman delivers]

A couple of points:

 

a) Right now KC has the worst record, but to say they're the worst and we should win every game is dreaming. Anybody can beat anybody on any given day. Remember last year how we were maligned because we had winning records against teams with... losing records and because of this, we weren't for "real"? Well... whether it's KC or NYY, a win is a win and a loss is a loss. To whom the loss is really doesn't matter to me.

 

B) It's hardly over guys. The Sun-Times today had a piece on teams that were way up on August 1st throughout history, only to blow the lead (sound familiar?). Anything can happen.

 

c) Yes, it's frustrating what happened last night but Freddy wasn't awful and we got some good hits. Cotts is worrisome but like others have said: we're all still waiting for this great-on-paper lineup to "click," which hasn't happened yet. Let's hope it does this month, before it's too late.

 

d) As far as the negative thread thing goes, I am just as passionate when I complain about the Sox as I am when I praise them. In fact, you'll notice that the traffic here spikes when there's a loss, because people want to vent/commiserate/weigh in, etc. There is nothing wrong with that, and that's a normal part of being a fan.

 

Things get hinky when you're prohibited from talking about that and instead are coerced into only saying "positive" things. That's not being a fan, that's drinking the Koolaid. No thanks.

 

Detroit has lost to them once. Forgive me for thinking our team with the $100 million payroll should sweep the worst team in the AL.

 

And Freddy "wasn't awful" is such a loser's perspective on his performance. He gave up 4 earned runs (5 total runs) in 6.1 IP. Sorry again, but "not being awful" isn't what I expect out of a pitching staff this highly paid and touted.

Edited August 3, 2006 by Milkman delivers

[LVSoxFan]

I see your point about Freddy and yes, that's lukewarm praise.

 

Milkman, I was there twice last year and we lost both times at KC. This is when we were #1 wire-to-wire and were supposedly invincible.

 

Sorry, but I don't "expect" us to sweep ANYBODY. It's always a bonus, but that's what it is: a bonus.

 

I DO expect us to take the series each time, especially from teams like KC. That served us well last year and would probably serve us well this year, except we haven't been doing it and with Detroit so far ahead, it's a little more urgent than that.

 

But KC has been one hot-hitting team these days--I'm sure you heard Hawk & DJ talking about that--so I'm not going to tank the season just because we didn't sweep them. This is baseball--you know that!

 

Watch, we'll end up sweeping the Yanks or something. That's how it always works out.

 

But I agree with you on Freddy; when I'm reduced to saying that our #2 starter (or whatever he is now) "wasn't awful," that ain't exactly inspiring.