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gosox41

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Last year the Sox started out with the same exact record. It was right around this time that the bullpen fell apart (the offense was already bad.) Who would have guessed the Sox would have won only 48 more games from right before Memorial Day until the end the season.

 

Also, last year the Sox high water mark was 4 games over .500. Same with this years team.

 

Hopefully they'll break that tonight and extend this winning streak.

 

 

 

 

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QUOTE (gosox41 @ May 21, 2008 -> 07:50 AM)
Last year the Sox started out with the same exact record. It was right around this time that the bullpen fell apart (the offense was already bad.) Who would have guessed the Sox would have won only 48 more games from right before Memorial Day until the end the season.

 

Also, last year the Sox high water mark was 4 games over .500. Same with this years team.

 

Hopefully they'll break that tonight and extend this winning streak.

 

And last years bullpen featured the veteran presence of Bobby Jenks. Not to say anything negative about Jenks...but when he is your "veteran", maybe you need to get a few non-teenagers on the team that have some long term experience. ;)

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QUOTE (WSoxMatt @ May 21, 2008 -> 09:11 AM)
Wasnt it the 1st Cubs series that really started the slide last year??

 

Marcus Thames 9th inning HR off of AAAArdsma (?) to thwart a sweep sticks in my mind. The year before it was a loss to the Cubs with Mackowiak in CF that knocked the Sox out of 1st for good.

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After the first Cubs series we still had a positive record.

After 44 games we were 24-20 (just like today) and it was the last time above .500

 

We ended up loosing to TB Rays and dropping another few to Twinkies never seen .500 after that.

 

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QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 21, 2008 -> 10:46 AM)
This team may indeed tank, who knows. But its nothing like the 2007 squad. The starting offense is different in 5 of the 9 positions, the starting pitching is different in 1.5 of 5, the bullpen is vastly different. Its just not the same club.

This team is also in first place and 1.5 games up as opposed to 3rd place and 4 games back.

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QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 21, 2008 -> 11:46 AM)
This team may indeed tank, who knows. But its nothing like the 2007 squad. The starting offense is different in 5 of the 9 positions, the starting pitching is different in 1.5 of 5, the bullpen is vastly different. Its just not the same club.

 

but yet the offensive woes are the same. what is the one constant? i'm not gonna beat a dead horse but we all know it.

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Things fell apart last year when MacDougal/Aardsma forgot how to throw strikes. I recall the Sox/Cubs game at Wrigley where Buerhle held the Cubs to one run, came out and MacDougal gave up >4 runs...after that things went downhill fast.

 

That being said last year was last year and a much different team...lets keep winning and get up on this division by 5+ games.

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QUOTE (Reddy @ May 21, 2008 -> 11:11 AM)
but yet the offensive woes are the same. what is the one constant? i'm not gonna beat a dead horse but we all know it.

No, the offensive woes are not the same. The batting average is similar - that's true. That .247 average is good for 26th in baseball this year, but the OBP is .332, which is 12th in MLB. In 2007, the average was .246 (very similar), but the OBP was .318, LAST in baseball. Also, this year's team is scoring 4.6 runs per game (14th in MLB), whereas in 2007, they only scored 4.27 runs per game (again, LAST in baseball).

 

And my fave... The 2007 team hit .243 w/RISP, dead last in baseball. This year's team is hitting .284, good for 6th in MLB.

 

This offense is already significantly better than last year, and that's despite the fact that Swisher, Konerko, Thome and O-Cab are all playing far below their career averages. They won't all stay that low.

 

Nothing like the same offense.

 

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OMG somebody said "Darin Erstad." Gulp. :o

 

Just that name brings back 2007 all over again. Yeesh. I still think this team is 2007 waiting to happen, but I will say: I don't recall any six game winning streaks last year; at least not early. Am I right? We were lucky to sweep a series.

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QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 21, 2008 -> 01:09 PM)
No, the offensive woes are not the same. The batting average is similar - that's true. That .247 average is good for 26th in baseball this year, but the OBP is .332, which is 12th in MLB. In 2007, the average was .246 (very similar), but the OBP was .318, LAST in baseball. Also, this year's team is scoring 4.6 runs per game (14th in MLB), whereas in 2007, they only scored 4.27 runs per game (again, LAST in baseball).

 

And my fave... The 2007 team hit .243 w/RISP, dead last in baseball. This year's team is hitting .284, good for 6th in MLB.

 

This offense is already significantly better than last year, and that's despite the fact that Swisher, Konerko, Thome and O-Cab are all playing far below their career averages. They won't all stay that low.

 

Nothing like the same offense.

Wow. Great research. CQ has a LOT to do with those improvements.

 

We have said it on this board before but in order for them to stay competitive, eventually PK and Thome have to figure it out. Hopefully it was a start of good things for them yesterday: PK with a solid hit up the middle and a walk (minus the K with the bags juiced) and Thome with a dinger to the opposite field. I know it is blasphemy to say, but CQ is eventually going to slump a little and someone is going to have to pick up the slack.

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QUOTE (LVSoxFan @ May 21, 2008 -> 01:19 PM)
OMG somebody said "Darin Erstad." Gulp. :o

 

Just that name brings back 2007 all over again. Yeesh. I still think this team is 2007 waiting to happen, but I will say: I don't recall any six game winning streaks last year; at least not early. Am I right? We were lucky to sweep a series.

Why? I mean, the team is playing entirely different baseball, as far as I can tell. What is your reasoning for thinking this?

 

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QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 21, 2008 -> 12:09 PM)
No, the offensive woes are not the same. The batting average is similar - that's true. That .247 average is good for 26th in baseball this year, but the OBP is .332, which is 12th in MLB. In 2007, the average was .246 (very similar), but the OBP was .318, LAST in baseball. Also, this year's team is scoring 4.6 runs per game (14th in MLB), whereas in 2007, they only scored 4.27 runs per game (again, LAST in baseball).

 

And my fave... The 2007 team hit .243 w/RISP, dead last in baseball. This year's team is hitting .284, good for 6th in MLB.

 

This offense is already significantly better than last year, and that's despite the fact that Swisher, Konerko, Thome and O-Cab are all playing far below their career averages. They won't all stay that low.

 

Nothing like the same offense.

 

why wont they stay that low? we constantly keep hearing "when this offense starts clicking" "when they come around" blah blah blah. It didnt happen at all last year and we're hearing the same things this year. AJ will level off, CQ will definitely level off. And when they do, if those 4 you mentioned haven't turned it on we're gonna be in trouble. and with Kong's hand and Thome's age... i dont see that happening with all 4. Swish may come around and Cab i think will, but... i dont know, i'm not that sure about our offense turning it on.

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QUOTE (Reddy @ May 21, 2008 -> 02:34 PM)
why wont they stay that low? we constantly keep hearing "when this offense starts clicking" "when they come around" blah blah blah. It didnt happen at all last year and we're hearing the same things this year. AJ will level off, CQ will definitely level off. And when they do, if those 4 you mentioned haven't turned it on we're gonna be in trouble. and with Kong's hand and Thome's age... i dont see that happening with all 4. Swish may come around and Cab i think will, but... i dont know, i'm not that sure about our offense turning it on.

Note what I actually said. I said nothing of the offense "clicking" as a whole, or that AJ or CQ won't come back to earth. What I pointed out was that this offense is already far better than last year's. And further, look at the lineup, and see how many players are above, at, or below their career norms. There are far more below than above. Only 1 is really above - AJ - and he has hit almost that well at times in his career, when he's used this hitting approach. And yet, you've got Thome, Konerko, O-Cab, Uribe, and Swisher all below. Plus Ramirez as a rookie doing badly so far, will likely adjust. So to me, on balance, there is more postive room than negative room there.

 

That's why I think the idea that this team is like 2007 waiting to happen doesn't really make any sense.

 

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QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 21, 2008 -> 01:53 PM)
Why? I mean, the team is playing entirely different baseball, as far as I can tell. What is your reasoning for thinking this?

 

It is? Up until six games ago:

 

-Feast-or-famine offense

-No base stealing threats/speed

-No opposite field hitting/bunting

-No leadoff hitter

-Total lack of run production resulting in gem starter performances being wasted

-Aging, slugger performers in the middle of the lineup not getting anything going

-No decent backup catcher

 

Sound familiar? Granted, things are going better now and cheers to Ozzie for messing with the lineup, which seems to have done the trick.

 

But let's talk in a month. Not trying to be negative; just taking a wait-and-see attitude.

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