Ozzie's thoughts on Brian Anderson

[Balta1701]

How about bringing up Sweeney sooner and playing him in LF. At least you know you will have one of the best defensive OFs in the league when BA is out there. Sweeney BA and Dye would be one of the best in my opinion. I think Sweeney can leadoff.

See, now that makes sense. I think my big problem would be that you were just shooting down alternative options, like I presented with Mack/Gload leading off, because "They're not leadoff hitters", but at the same time, the guy we have there right now isn't a leadoff hitter either.

 

Sweeney in LF is almost certainly better than Podsednik in LF and leading off right now. But I think it wouldn't have hurt a month ago to start givign Mack/Gload starts in LF and leading off just to see if we could have improved the performance of that platoon. But if Sweeney can come up and have success, that's also a very good option.

[kapkomet]

I think you're having difficulty following the discussion. Nowhere did I state OG is a bad manager for telling BA "to go to winter ball and get better."

 

This is what I stated: "[Ozzie Guillen's] locked in to a belief that speed is a more important asset in a leadoff hitter than OBP. He greatly overvalues speed."

 

Kapkomet and I continued discussion on that topic, and then you replied to my post with the quote at the top of this post. Seems like a reasonable response.

I think SSI was replying while we were talking. It's ok.

[southsideirish]

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Sep 6, 2006 -> 05:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

See, now that makes sense. I think my big problem would be that you were just shooting down alternative options, like I presented with Mack/Gload leading off, because "They're not leadoff hitters", but at the same time, the guy we have there right now isn't a leadoff hitter either.

 

Sweeney in LF is almost certainly better than Podsednik in LF and leading off right now. But I think it wouldn't have hurt a month ago to start givign Mack/Gload starts in LF and leading off just to see if we could have improved the performance of that platoon. But if Sweeney can come up and have success, that's also a very good option.

 

I can see why you would just want to try anything at all at that point. It is very frustrating watching Peter Pan tiptoeing around out there and not getting the job done, but I just didn't see an alternative to him on this team as a leadoff hitter. The Sox kind of put all of our eggs in one basket there. It was kind of like the Bears with Grossman last year. Once he went down the only alternative was a rookie QB that was drafted in the 4th round. Not a great alternative, but the defense carried him. The pitching wasn't with the Sox this year to carry Pods and we didn't have a legit backup plan to Pods at leadoff.

[Dick Allen]

But Ozzie also mentioned that BA wasn't that fast. If there's some secret formula in Winter Ball that makes you a few steps faster, the Sox have about 12 guys on the roster who need to be on Anderson's plane.

[southsideirish]

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Sep 6, 2006 -> 05:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think SSI was replying while we were talking. It's ok.

 

I think he knew that but he was just looking to bash. It's ok. That's why I didn't respond. Rare moment for me, I know.

[hammerhead johnson]

But you are advocating playing Pods, who has none of those 3, over guys who might be able to give you 1 or 2 of those 3, with your reasoning being that Pods is a leadoff hitter. But he's not giving you any of the attributes of a leadoff hitter, which is why we're focusing on this.

 

Exactly.

[kapkomet]

But Ozzie also mentioned that BA wasn't that fast. If there's some secret formula in Winter Ball that makes you a few steps faster, the Sox have about 12 guys on the roster who need to be on Anderson's plane.

He isn't as 'smart' out there as he needs to be, either. I think a guy can use his tools effectively needs to be put in all the situations that he can to better himself. I think that's all Ozzie is saying. This got waaaaaaaaay off of that, but that's the bottom line.

[shoota]

This isn't learning on the job. This is just not knowing the game of baseball.

 

The worst thing that happened to Ozzie Guillen is the fact that we won the world series last year. Now he thinks he's God, and he can point at his ring and tell everyone else to go f*** off because "he knows what he's doing."

 

Bottom line is that your fans shouldn't be smarter than you are on a consistent basis. Everyone here FIRST guesses him, and the vast majority of the time, they are correct.

 

In my book, the job of a manager is to put his players in the best position to succeed, and by doing so, "win" more games for the team than he loses. He's lost far more...OR, not given us a fair shot at winning...than he's won for us.

 

Last year he handed the ball off to the starters in the playoffs and they carried the torch. Jerry Manuel could have done that job. He didn't have to manage anything in the playoffs, and his moves during the season were very suspect.

 

Ozzie isn't responsible for bringing a title to the city of chicago. The White Sox organization is. Until people stop correlating ozzie and a WS title at a high rate, he'll always get a free pass in this town from the media and the "new" group of fans we now have.

 

Night after night we watch him fill out questionable lineup cards and make bizarre in-game moves. Your manager shouldn't frustrate the hell out of you to this degree. But he trots out his bulls*** about how he's the smartest guy in the world because he came here when he was whatever age and was able to survive.

 

The line of "he brought us a world championship" is false. 20 years from now when i look back on the 2005 team, i won't remember ozzie being the braintrust behind a title team. I'll remember the amazing pitching and the job that Kenny did way before i recall Ozzie's actions.

 

BTW, why are you talking about what type of manager he will be when he's 60? The time to win is now. I want a manager who can win us ballgames now, not hope he's good in the future. Besides, he's shown me enough this season to make me think he'll never be a good manager.

 

 

[kapkomet]

I think he knew that but he was just looking to bash. It's ok. That's why I didn't respond. Rare moment for me, I know.

We're all looking to bash. We just need to win, damnit.

[southsideirish]

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Sep 6, 2006 -> 05:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

But Ozzie also mentioned that BA wasn't that fast. If there's some secret formula in Winter Ball that makes you a few steps faster, the Sox have about 12 guys on the roster who need to be on Anderson's plane.

 

You can get faster. Speed camp. I am not joking either. It works. You are not going to go from a 5 flat to a 4.3 40, but you can get faster. You can be taught how to run faster and not to waste movement.

[Balta1701]

But Ozzie also mentioned that BA wasn't that fast. If there's some secret formula in Winter Ball that makes you a few steps faster, the Sox have about 12 guys on the roster who need to be on Anderson's plane.

I don't think the problem is that BA is inherently not fast. He has good speed. He's stolen 15 bases in a year before in the minor leagues, with decent percentages. He's not Carl Crawford, but he should be better than 2/6 in SB's with his speed. He does have the ability to learn to steal 20 bases or so at a high percentage every year, which is an invaluable thing to have.

 

He can learn how to be faster in going from 1st base to 2nd base during a pitch. That is something you can learn.

Edited September 6, 2006 by Balta1701

[southsideirish]

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Sep 6, 2006 -> 05:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Exactly.

 

WRONG! I wasn't advocating Pods. WOuld you like to point out where I was? Thank you.

[kapkomet]

You can get faster. Speed camp. I am not joking either. It works. You are not going to go from a 5 flat to a 4.3 40, but you can get faster. You can be taught how to run faster and not to waste movement.

There's a whole theory on developing 'fast twitch' muscle to build your speed.

 

I don't think the problem is that BA is inherently not fast. He has good speed. He's stolen 15 bases in a year before in the minor leagues, with decent percentages. He's not Carl Crawford, but he should be better than 2/6 in SB's with his speed. He does have the ability to learn to steal 20 bases or so at a high percentage every year, which is an invaluable thing to have.

 

He can learn how to be faster in going from 1st base to 2nd base during a pitch. That is something you can learn.

Exactly...

[hammerhead johnson]

I am? Where? Where am I advocating playing Pods? I am saying he was the only one capable. Once he stopped producing we had no backup plan. I never once made a case for him to continue to be our leadoff man. Not once.

 

This is like a redandwhite type response. You're totally missing the point.

 

MACKOWIAK IS A BETTER OPTION OUT OF THE LEADOFF SLOT THAN PODS IS.

 

You said that Pods is the only one capable, and therefore, Ozzie should continue to play him over Mack. Maybe "advocating" was not the proper word to use there, but you know what he meant. All that you're doing is dancing around the issue.

[SoxFanForever]

Has KW or anyone else said anything about these comments?

[Dick Allen]

How come when Ozzie was playing, and he knew everything, he never learned how to slide? Maybe he could have learned that in winter ball.

[shoota]

I read this article. What did he say that was wrong? He didn't say anything bad about BA. His expectations are very high for BA and he wants him to get better. He wants him to get faster. He wants him to play winter ball to work on it. What is wrong with that? He is a young player that should go play winter ball and get better. I don't get it. Are you guys just looking for fault?

 

Ozzie is trying to get BA to retard one of his five tools so he can improve another, instead of encouraging him to improve each one.

[southsideirish]

QUOTE(shoota @ Sep 6, 2006 -> 05:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Strange dude, strange.

[Dick Allen]

Ozzie had a .610 career stealing pct. Not very good. Maybe he should have learned to be a speed guy.

[lukeman89]

first reply on this long thread (dont want to read all of it) so i'll just throw in my .02,

 

ozzie is calling out the wrong guy right now.

[southsideirish]

QUOTE(shoota @ Sep 6, 2006 -> 05:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ozzie is trying to get BA to retard one of his five tools so he can improve another, instead of encouraging him to improve each one.

 

He is? Where did he say that? Ozzie is stating that his speed will be more valuable so concentrate and work on that. He is not saying to stop hitting for power. You are looking too much into it. I don't see anywhere in that article where he tells him to stop hitting for power and stop working on hitting for power. He is just stating to concentrate on wokring on the speed game. What is wrong with that?

 

 

QUOTE(lukeman89 @ Sep 6, 2006 -> 05:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

first reply on this long thread (dont want to read all of it) so i'll just throw in my .02,

 

ozzie is calling out the wrong guy right now.

 

How did he call him out? Respond please. Thank you.

 

 

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Sep 6, 2006 -> 05:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is like a redandwhite type response. You're totally missing the point.

 

MACKOWIAK IS A BETTER OPTION OUT OF THE LEADOFF SLOT THAN PODS IS.

 

You said that Pods is the only one capable, and therefore, Ozzie should continue to play him over Mack. Maybe "advocating" was not the proper word to use there, but you know what he meant. All that you're doing is dancing around the issue.

 

Dancing? Nope, not at all. Mack is a bench player, a reserve. He is not a full time leadoff hitter. NOT is the keyword. We do not have another full-time leadoff hitter on this team. We put all of our eggs in Peter Pan's basket and lost. End of story, goodnight sweet prince.

 

 

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Sep 6, 2006 -> 05:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ozzie had a .610 career stealing pct. Not very good. Maybe he should have learned to be a speed guy.

 

Speed helps in stealing bases, but it is not the only thing. See Willie Harris and Joey Gathright. Let me know how their doing with stolen bases.

[WHarris1]

I'm pretty sure Mack could put up better numbers as a full-time leadoff man than Pods' line since the break.

[southsideirish]

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Sep 6, 2006 -> 05:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm pretty sure Mack could put up better numbers as a full-time leadoff man than Pods' line since the break.

 

You couldn't possibly know though, now could you? He never has been a leadoff hitter for a good amount of time in order to judge these skills. You would hope so, but you don't actually know.

[Jordan4life_2007]

This thread got to 27 pages?

[Balta1701]

Dancing? Nope, not at all. Mack is a bench player, a reserve. He is not a full time leadoff hitter. NOT is the keyword. We do not have another full-time leadoff hitter on this team. We put all of our eggs in Peter Pan's basket and lost. End of story, goodnight sweet prince.

Back onto this. Ok, here's a counterpoint.

 

Rob Mackowiak is not a full time leadoff hitter. Why? Because his numbers against lefties are terrible. .213 average this year.

 

However, against righties, Mack is hitting .320 with a .396 OBP. Scott Podsednik on the other hand is hitting .272 with a .347 against righties. And for some reason MLB's stats aren't working right, but I would wager it's even worse if you sort the 2nd half.

 

If Scott Podsednik is not running,w hich he is not, then there is no reason for him to be either a full time or even a part time leadoff hitter, when we have a guy on this roster who can be a part time leadoff hitter and give us much better production, even if it's just against righties.

 

The fact that Rob Mackowiak has been a backup his career does not change the numbers he has put up this season against righties, nor does the fact that he has never been a leadoff hitter change the fact that his numbers this season have been significantly better than the lefty we have been using as a leadoff hitter. In other words, based on what they both have done this season, Rob Mackowiak right now would, against righties, be a significantly better leadoff hitter than Scott Podsednik.