I can't take it anymore...

[jphat007]

I wish I could be like you. LOL. I'm normally pretty optimistic.

 

Who is that much better than us? The Tigers? We've beaten up on them. The Yanks? We've been alright against them. Fairly even matchup. Would be a tough series either way.

 

We are one of the best teams in the league against teams that are .500 or better. Might even be the best. How couldn't you be optimistic about that.

 

The expectations are just too much out of wack. Because we upgraded on paper, it seems like everybody thought we'd be much better record wise and performance wise. Last year was a special year. This year we haven't been quite as good, but we're only 3 games behind last year's pace. It's difficult to win 100+ games in this league.

[SleepyWhiteSox]

THE THREE REASONS WHY WE STRUGGLE THIS YEAR:

 

1. Buehrle

2. Javy

3. Freddy

[Jordan4life_2007]

Who is that much better than us? The Tigers? We've beaten up on them. The Yanks? We've been alright against them. Fairly even matchup. Would be a tough series either way.

 

We are one of the best teams in the league against teams that are .500 or better. Might even be the best. How couldn't you be optimistic about that.

 

The expectations are just too much out of wack. Because we upgraded on paper, it seems like everybody thought we'd be much better record wise and performance wise. Last year was a special year. This year we haven't been quite as good, but we're only 3 games behind last year's pace. It's difficult to win 100+ games in this league.

 

You're right. I guess I do forget sometimes that the other contenders in the AL are far from perfect. Do I expect too much? Maybe. But why not? For years I've been content with the Sox just being competitive and having a chance to get to the playoffs. Is it wrong for me to want more now? I don't think so. Like I said earlier, it just bothers me that we've been so bad in so many different aspects this year. Thank god for the offense.

[RX Bandits]

hey people...chill

 

the tigers have lost three straight, we faced santana today IN MINNESOTA!

 

We also have played .600 ball against teams .500 or better, which at last check was the best in baseball. The red sox, twins, and tigers alll have their problems. I'll take the white sox problems over the other teams any day.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Check out what Dave Dombrowski said about Neifi Perez.

 

"He's a legitimate everyday player and an outstanding utility player," Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said

 

I'm actually in a much better mood after reading this.

[Dick Allen]

Nobody could have expected the Sox starting rotation's performance to drop off as much as it has the last year, and nobody could have expected the offense to be as dynamic as it has been. The Sox have a good record, and have a good chance at the playoffs. The problem is pitching wins, and the Sox pitching has been brutal. The team ERA was the same as Cleveland's in today's paper. Runs are a little more difficult to come by in the playoffs mainly because you're playing good teams and facing their best pitchers. If Buerhle can't become the Mark Buerhle of old and Garcia countinues with the blame game instead of looks in the mirror, the Sox may make the playoffs, but won't be around long.

[jphat007]

You're right. I guess I do forget sometimes that the other contenders in the AL are far from perfect. Do I expect too much? Maybe. But why not? For years I've been content with the Sox just being competitive and having a chance to get to the playoffs. Is it wrong for me to want more now? I don't think so. Like I said earlier, it just bothers me that we've been so bad in so many different aspects this year. Thank god for the offense.

 

There is nothing wrong with expecting greatness. I hope, and imagine, that the players all expect greatness. But just because you don't get there doesn't mean you aren't, or can't be, a good team.

 

And we aren't "bad" in so many aspects this year. We are 6th in starters ERA, 9th in relievers ERA, though we know it is better than that now that a few guys are out of there. 5th in fielding pct. 3 in DER. And 1st in offense. We are an average pitching staff this year, bad by standards last year, but it's not like we are among the worst in the league. The entire AL West is in the top 5 in pitching, because they get to face terrible offenses so much.

Edited August 20, 2006 by jphat007

[Dick Allen]

Who is that much better than us? The Tigers? We've beaten up on them. The Yanks? We've been alright against them. Fairly even matchup. Would be a tough series either way.

 

We are one of the best teams in the league against teams that are .500 or better. Might even be the best. How couldn't you be optimistic about that.

 

The expectations are just too much out of wack. Because we upgraded on paper, it seems like everybody thought we'd be much better record wise and performance wise. Last year was a special year. This year we haven't been quite as good, but we're only 3 games behind last year's pace. It's difficult to win 100+ games in this league.

The problem is the Sox have 5 1/2 games to make up on Detroit, and not a lot of time to do it. They also are only 1 game ahead of Minnesota, and the Twins have been having their way against the Sox as of late. Expectations may be out of whack, but the White Sox are very close to being in 3rd place in their own divison, something not even the most pessimistic would have predicted.

[CWSOX45]

I really don't know what to say. All of this is old news to me.

 

I'm just gonna watch/listen to the rest of the games. Whatever happens....well...happens.

 

It's out of my control.

 

I really hope they can get their s*** together.

[whitesoxin']

We didn't hit our stride until the final 5 games of the season last year. Seeing as how we have 39 games left, I am not too worried yet. If we lose 3 of 4 or all 4 in Detroit then I will start to worry.

 

There's still a lot of time left and if the season ended today, we would be in the playoffs. The two teams behind us? One of them lost the best pitcher in the AL for the rest of the season. The other team has been dominated three games in a row at home to the Yankees whom we beat 2 of 3 just over a week ago. Step off the ledge..

[Dick Allen]

There is nothing wrong with expecting greatness. I hope, and imagine, that the players all expect greatness. But just because you don't get there doesn't mean you aren't, or can't be, a good team.

 

And we aren't "bad" in so many aspects this year. We are 6th in starters ERA, 9th in relievers ERA, though we know it is better than that now that a few guys are out of there. 5th in fielding pct. 3 in DER. And 1st in offense. We are an average pitching staff this year, bad by standards last year, but it's not like we are among the worst in the league. The entire AL West is in the top 5 in pitching, because they get to face terrible offenses so much.

 

The White Sox pitching has been brutal the last month or so, definitely one of the worst performances in the league. Average pitching staffs don't win world championships unfortunately.

 

 

We didn't hit our stride until the final 5 games of the season last year. Seeing as how we have 39 games left, I am not too worried yet. If we lose 3 of 4 or all 4 in Detroit then I will start to worry.

 

There's still a lot of time left and if the season ended today, we would be in the playoffs. The two teams behind us? One of them lost the best pitcher in the AL for the rest of the season. The other team has been dominated three games in a row at home to the Yankees whom we beat 2 of 3 just over a week ago. Step off the ledge..

The White Sox lost 3 in a row to the Yankees at one point this season as well.

[jphat007]

The White Sox pitching has been brutal the last month or so, definitely one of the worst performances in the league. Average pitching staffs don't win world championships unfortunately.

The White Sox lost 3 in a row to the Yankees at one point this season as well.

 

The Sox have been 7th in the AL in pitching the last 30 days. 4.62 ERA. Not great, but not brutal. And certainly not one of the worst performances in the league.

 

That seems to be another big problem of late. The perception of what is happening and the reality of what is happening is also out of wack.

Edited August 20, 2006 by jphat007

[Jordan4life_2007]

We didn't hit our stride until the final 5 games of the season last year. Seeing as how we have 39 games left, I am not too worried yet. If we lose 3 of 4 or all 4 in Detroit then I will start to worry.

 

There's still a lot of time left and if the season ended today, we would be in the playoffs. The two teams behind us? One of them lost the best pitcher in the AL for the rest of the season. The other team has been dominated three games in a row at home to the Yankees whom we beat 2 of 3 just over a week ago. Step off the ledge..

 

Problem is that we've lost ground to the Twins since they lost Liriano. I agree with you about the Red Sox. They've actually got more problems than we do.

[santo=dorf]

"This team isn't that good"

 

Kiss my ass.

 

This team still as the 4th best record in the MLB.

 

I didn't expect to win this series, but I expected us to win on Friday.

 

Detroit lost 3 in a row to Texas, and traded for Neifi Perez. I like the direction they're going, but right now I'm in a "meh" mode about ours.

 

 

Let see what happens this week.

[Jordan4life_2007]

There is nothing wrong with expecting greatness. I hope, and imagine, that the players all expect greatness. But just because you don't get there doesn't mean you aren't, or can't be, a good team.

 

And we aren't "bad" in so many aspects this year. We are 6th in starters ERA, 9th in relievers ERA, though we know it is better than that now that a few guys are out of there. 5th in fielding pct. 3 in DER. And 1st in offense. We are an average pitching staff this year, bad by standards last year, but it's not like we are among the worst in the league. The entire AL West is in the top 5 in pitching, because they get to face terrible offenses so much.

 

What about things like bunting, holding runners, hitting the cut-off man and running the bases? These are musts if you want to win in the playoffs.

[whitesoxin']

The White Sox pitching has been brutal the last month or so, definitely one of the worst performances in the league. Average pitching staffs don't win world championships unfortunately.

The White Sox lost 3 in a row to the Yankees at one point this season as well.

That happened during our worst stretch of the year, however. The Yankees were going about their business as usual when they came to Chicago. I'm not saying it's ok, but the Devil Rays could have swept us at that point in the season.

[jphat007]

That happened during our worst stretch of the year, however. The Yankees were going about their business as usual when they came to Chicago. I'm not saying it's ok, but the Devil Rays could have swept us at that point in the season.

 

And during that worst stretch, as I posted above, our ERA was still only 7th in the league over the past month.

[S720]

THE THREE REASONS WHY WE STRUGGLE THIS YEAR:

 

1. Buehrle

2. Javy

3. Freddy

 

MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT! You can blame Ozzie or the bullpen all you want, but it is because of those three starting pitchers that we are in this situation. Don't fool yourself into thinking otherwise. Put Javy aside, if Buehrle and Freddy pitch the way they did last year, we would be LEADING the division right now. I guess noone is perfect. Kenny made a mistake on Javy, but hey nothing is perfect. We still have a GREAT chance to catch the Tigers and win the division. We are only 5 1/2 games back. If we sweep them again in this coming series or even win 2 out of 3, we would be right there. In the course of the remaining games, we will surpass the Twins.

[SABR Sox]

"This team isn't that good"

 

Kiss my ass.

 

This team still as the 4th best record in the MLB.

 

I didn't expect to win this series, but I expected us to win on Friday.

 

Detroit lost 3 in a row to Texas, and traded for Neifi Perez. I like the direction they're going, but right now I'm in a "meh" mode about ours.

Let see what happens this week.

 

It's not even Detroit anymore.

 

It's the Twins who have suddenly starting scoring and have the best ERA since the break. Not to mention the best all around bullpen.

 

I agree the whole "isn't good" approach is a little too far, but I'm not convinced we are any better than the Twins or the Tigers at this point in the season. They are pitching, we are not. They're even starting to score at the same rate we are. There is plenty to worry about.

[Texsox]

In my thirty plus years as a Sox fan, there have been precious few playoff races to cheer about, we're in one and have a lead. I know it's the wildcard, but it is still post season. We were backing up last season, it seemed doomed, and last I looked we were still the WS Champions.

 

I still like this team and would not mind a series against the Yankees or A's. Either way, they are winning way more often then losing. Are considered one of the top 5 or 6 teams in MLB and most days play like it. I'm enjoying the season, as I believe most old timers are. What say you YAS, Jim, etc?

[Friend of Nordhagen]

The team ERA was the same as Cleveland's in today's paper.

 

And Cleveland's staff and ours were supposed to be 1 & 2 in the league, based on last year. Ah, baseball . . .

 

Does anyone know if Shannon Stewart is coming back for Minnesota? Because, I'll tell you, if he is, I think if you put the Sox and Twins side-by-side, I'm not so sure that their team isn't just as good as ours, top-to-bottom, pitching included. That's a damn good team. So there's no embarassment in being neck and neck with them (even though our team doesn't seem to TREAT them like they are neck and neck in the standings; just a feeling I get, and not a good one).

 

All I'd like to see is some consistent sense of energy and focus out there. I don't see that. And I do see an over-reliance on guys who are likely to kill this team before it's all said and done, like Vazquez in the rotation and Mack in center. That's just not smart. Teams who don't have other choices get murdered by these guys; we do have other choices, and the consistent reliance on these guys, in these spots, is just foolish.

 

Finally, if I hear Ozzie say one more time, that if you win 95 games and don't make it, so be it . . . I hope he's just trying to take pressure off of his team, because this is the American League, and you might have to win 1, 2 or even 5 more than 95 to get in.

 

I think we can do it. The other teams all have flaws. And the Tigers really have struggled. They were very fortunate to get out of Boston without losing that series.

[southsideirish71]

Its too late to fret on what could of happened this year. We need our pitchers to pitch better, and our O to score more runs than our pitchers give up. We have the lead in the WC. But we need to hit, pitch and play better or we are screwed. Once in the playoffs anything can happen. We just need to fight, claw and get into them.

 

I figure we have a 3 to 4 year window on a championship here due to our star players age and contract status. We need to work on the following next year to make up for some of the problems we see this year. We have the talent its just fundamentals that are killing us.

 

Here are thing we need to work on in ST next year, and should of worked on this year because they obviously have these massive issues with these small parts of the game that create big innings more than a single error, or a specific play.

 

 

Next ST someone needs to teach all of the whitesox players on how to hit the cutoff man, and also which bag is appropriate to throw to in what situation. Our throws cause more problems than the Paul Koneko error did in that inning. The safe play is to hit the cutoff man, and make sure the trailer stays at first. It keeps the double play in order, and keeps another runner out of scoring position. All year long I have seen OF make throw after throw allowing the trailer to advance. Its maddening.

 

 

In ST we need to work on better 2 strike pitches. Focus on a waste pitch. Grooving 0-2 or 1-2 pitches that get hit hard are a killer.

 

Maybe a sports psychologist to discuss with our pitchers on how not to melt down when something out of their control happens behind them. No pouting, stomping of the feet, destruction of private property when the following happens. A infielder doesnt make a play, a walk on a close pitch, a bug flies to close, someone farted, the umpire looks at you funny. All year long we have seen pitcher after pitcher throw little fits and then a big inning. What happened to pitching over it, picking your teammates up.

 

Bunting practice. We need to teach our guys how to bunt and direct the bunt.

 

Situational hitting. Too many times I see when we need someone to hit to the right side, or make contact. A Strikeout, and infield popup or a GIDP. We need to work on line drive hitting. Making solid contact.

 

And my favorite. Protecting the plate with 2 strikes and men in scoring position. Watching strike 3 go by, or better yet taking a huge cut when you have 2 strikes is non productive. Teams like the Yanks, As, Boston, the Twinks are good at fouling pitches off, being a tough K. It has 2 effects One is running the pitch count of the starting pitcher, and the other is the pitcher may make a mistake.

[gosox41]

I think this doom and gloom is a little over the top. We are on pace to win 95 games, only 4 less than last year. If we have a good (3 or 4 win ) series in Detroit, we still have a decent shot at taking the division. If we can step up our winning pace just a little, we have a reasonable chance to finish with the best record in the AL and home field through the WS again.

 

Sure this is optimistic, but it is not out of the realm of possibility. Even if we fall short of this success, in my opinion we are still over 50% to make the playoffs. Garland is looking good and if Mark and Jose are on at playoff time we CAN repeat.

 

It's gonna take some work, but this is still one of the 5 best SOX teams in the last 30 years. They can be champs again.

 

 

I agree with you. It's amazing how people are upset about a team that is on pace for 95-96 wins.

 

If before each season started a baseball god came up to be and told me the Sox would be guaranteed 96 wins a year for the next 10 years, I'd be giddy and making my plans for the playoffs.

 

Now back to reality. Every team has holes on it. This team is still a very good team. Before I hear whining about how bad the starting pitching is, I'd love to see people's reactions if the Sox decided to dump Garcia and Buerhle over this past winter. They'd be up in arms. Kenny went out and got a starting pitcher more as an insurance policy of having 6 starters in case someone got hurt. No one here expected such a big drop off from the starting pitching, but if you did then please show me the date of that post.

 

What KW did is upgraded the offense a lot. It's the reason we are where we are. So before anyone else cries about how bad this team is and how the starting pitching sucks, what would you have been saying if before the '06 season started KW decided to dump his starters?

 

 

 

Bob

 

 

The Sox have been 7th in the AL in pitching the last 30 days. 4.62 ERA. Not great, but not brutal. And certainly not one of the worst performances in the league.

 

That seems to be another big problem of late. The perception of what is happening and the reality of what is happening is also out of wack.

 

 

You can say that again. I can't believe how some fans are wilting under the heat of a pennant race. The reality is on pace or 95/96 wins. That's pretty damn good.

 

 

Bob

[Colorado Sox Fan]

We still have the Wild Card lead. We can still put a hurt on the Tigers. Minny will have their stumbles. Boston is imploding.

[rafacosta]

As most people in here know, I've been one of the more optimistic posters on this site all year long. No matter what the current situation has been at the time, I've always taken the glass is half full stance with this team. Now, with just 39 games to go, I've come to a pretty simple conclusion: this team simply isn't that good. We've waited all year for this team to hit its "rhythm," as Hawk likes to so often say. Well, with September right around the corner, this team still hasn't put it all together yet. At some point you have to realize what you are: a very good offensive team that can outslug just about anybody, yet a poorly coached team with an average at best pitching staff, shaky defense and terrible fundamentals all around -- especially when it comes to things like bunting, hitting the damn cut-off man, holding runners and baserunning.

 

This team has done one thing well all year -- hit. That's it. They've been below average to bad in every other aspect of baseball. They haven't pitched. They haven't catched. They can't bunt. They can't hit a cut-off man. They can't run the bases (A lot of this is Joey Cora. I'll get to him in a second). Everything we excelled at just one year ago, we've been brutal at this year. This team has been lackadaisical, lazy and, for the most part, has lacked focus. We all knew coming into this year that we were gonna be the hunted. Everybody was gonna be comin' for us. How have we responded? Very poorly. It's like this team thinks it's entitled to something because of what they accomplished last year. Take this last series with the Twins for example. The Twins have treated this series like it's the playoffs. All their guys were ready and focused. Our guys? Well, I heard Joe Crede say this series isn't that big a deal. Not that big a deal? Are you an idiot? Mark Buehrle is another guy who brushed this series off as if it wasn't much to get excited over. Hello!? It's not May! There should be a little more sense of urgency with just a little over a month left to go in the season -- atleast you would think. I will break down my biggest problems with this team:

 

Kenny Williams: I love the guy. He put together a World Series championship team. For that, I will forever be greatful. He without a doubt upgraded the offense and bench. However, Kenny really blew it with the Vazquez trade. I questioned it all the way back in December. You had a guy in Brandon McCarthy who was more than ready and capable to step into the rotation. Yet he trades a top 20 prospect and a decent middle reliever (I don't care about Duque) for a guy that had been known around the league as an underachieving headcase, who had already been traded twice in two years. And what really makes me mad is with Javy basically demanding to be traded, the D-Backs HAD to move him. What I'm saying is, we didn't have to give up as much as we did. Atleast that's the way I see it. The D-backs were the ones being held hostage here. Yet we overpaid. My only other legitimate beef with Kenny is the inability to find a decent backup OF. Mainly a guy that can play CF. I don't even have to get into that. We all know how bad Mack is in center.

 

Ozzie and the coaching staff: Like with Kenny, I'll forever be in debt to Ozzie. He managed our White Sox to a World Series championship. However, he hasn't done as good of job this year. If you're gonna give a guy all the credit when you win, you have to give him atleast some of the blame, not much, but some of it when you underachieve. Why is this team so bad right now as far as fundamentals go? Isn't this what Ozzie Guillen teams are supposed to be known for? Also, he hasn't handled the pitching staff well at all. I had no problem with him leaving guys in there earlier in the year when they were struggling. Ozzie has faith in his guys. I've got no problem with that. But it's August now. It's time to stop messing around with these guys. If they don't have it -- get them outta there. Joey Cora in particular has gotten on my nerves. This guy is like a kid in a candy store when it comes to waving guys home -- even when they have no chance. You have to realize who the heck is running at the time. This isn't a speed team. You have to use a little more caution when waving guys in. Don Cooper was praised up-and-down for the job he did with last year's staff. He deserved every bit of that praise. Now, he must get some of the blame for what's happened this year. Every single one of our starters is having a worse year than last year. How the hell does that happen? He's done a great job with Matt Thornton. You gotta give him that. Why has Neal Cotts been so brutal? I've just never seen so many guys off a team that won it all the year before struggle like this. Can this all be blamed on Coop? Of course not. But like I said with Ozzie: if you're gonna give a guy all the credit when things go well, you gotta take some of the blame when they don't.

 

Starting pitching: What is there to say? They've been the single biggest dissapointment on this team. Other than Burhele and to a lesser extent Garland, nobody can hold a damn runner. We can't make the big pitch. We can't pitch over defensive mistakes. We can't finish off guys with two strikes. It goes on and on.

 

Defense: Nowhere near as good as last year. We've looked lazy and lackadaisical in the field. That's unacceptable for a team that was so good defensively a year ago.

 

Fundamentals: Brutal. Pathetic. Like I said, we can't bunt, run the bases or hit a damn cut-off man.

 

Scott Podsednik: I'm one of the few Podsednik supporters around here. But he has to be called out. Is this the same guy from a year ago? I have no idea what his problem is. The only thing he's done well this year is hit with RISP. He's a liability out there if he not gonna utilize his speed.

 

Neal Cotts: Didn't we trade Damaso Marte? What the hell is he still doing here?

 

Anyway, I'm gonna stop now. I just had to let this out. I've been holding it in for a while. Sorry about the length. I just had a lot to say.

 

Oh, and it's nice to see that we're taking advantage of the Tigers' slump.

 

Even with that...we lead the WC by one game.