June Catch All White Sox Thread

[greg775]

I think tru makes some decent points. People will freak if the Royals sweep us this week. And they did take 2 of 3 from a not bad St Looie team.

The Sox did a great job against the NL, but we have such a freaky organization I could see panic setting in if heaven forbid we lose all 3 in KC or even 2 of 3.

This got us right back in it. An 11 game streak will work wonders in wiping out huge deficits in the standings.

Now that we are in it, we are back playing the AL and it would be damn nice just to keep winning 2 of 3 against teams we should take 2 of 3 from.

[hogan873]

Who knew that winning 15 of 18 and having an 11 game winning streak would create such hate and discontent. Take it easy guys. Granted the Sox beat up on a bunch of NL teams, some of them bad. But before this winning streak the Sox couldn't beat a bad Indians team and couldn't string together more than two wins. The Sox need to continue winning series, that's it. Another 11 game winning streak would be great, but I'll take 2 of 3 from KC and then 2 of 3 against Texas...both series on the road. And the way the team has played, I think it's a possibility.

 

I for one think that the Sox are a much better team than they showed up until about 2 weeks ago. They may not be as good as they've looked recently, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them take over first place soon.

[NorthSideSox72]

If you really think the Royals are better than the Braves or even the Cubs, you really need to get a bit of a reality check.

 

Go look at interleague records this year, it's almost even.

Thank you.

 

[spiderman]

No we didn't and I'm sick of people saying that. We beat their bullpen, we beat the team despite him pitching well, sure those answers are fine by me... but we did not "beat him." He pitched really well and even though his offense had nothing to back him up, he still got no L in his loss column.

 

BTW I agree with Tru.... up until the Atlanta series where that was the true test for me on this club as they are the "legit" team they beat in this stretch so I'm sold. Now... if they get swept by the Royals, then I might have to rethink things with the "beck to the AL teams" argument.

 

True, we didn't beat him directly, but getting to the bullpen is sometimes the only way to a legitimate ace pitcher.

[spiderman]

Who knew that winning 15 of 18 and having an 11 game winning streak would create such hate and discontent. Take it easy guys. Granted the Sox beat up on a bunch of NL teams, some of them bad. But before this winning streak the Sox couldn't beat a bad Indians team and couldn't string together more than two wins. The Sox need to continue winning series, that's it. Another 11 game winning streak would be great, but I'll take 2 of 3 from KC and then 2 of 3 against Texas...both series on the road. And the way the team has played, I think it's a possibility.

 

I for one think that the Sox are a much better team than they showed up until about 2 weeks ago. They may not be as good as they've looked recently, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them take over first place soon.

 

I'm more optimistic than I was (obviously) a few weeks ago, but if they go back to the AL and go 4-10 in the next 2 weeks or so, a lot of the optimism is gone, and it becomes clear that the White Sox benefitted from playing bad NL teams (outside of Atlanta). Now, I don't think they will go 4-10 as long the starting pitching keeps them in games which I believe it will for the most part, outside of the occasional bad start.

[hogan873]

I'm more optimistic than I was (obviously) a few weeks ago, but if they go back to the AL and go 4-10 in the next 2 weeks or so, a lot of the optimism is gone, and it becomes clear that the White Sox benefitted from playing bad NL teams (outside of Atlanta). Now, I don't think they will go 4-10 as long the starting pitching keeps them in games which I believe it will for the most part, outside of the occasional bad start.

Yes, tanking right away coming back to playing AL teams will definitely take away the optimism. And I agree that I don't think they will do a 180 and start losing a bunch of games. NL teams (okay, weak NL teams) or not, the Sox still had an 11 game winning streak. The Sox of 3 weeks ago would not have won 11 in a row against the Toledo Mud Hens. The winning streak was characterized by outstanding starting pitching, great relief pitching, stellar defense, and some timely hitting. The hitting is what concerns me about going back to playing AL teams. The Sox will need more hits, more RBIs, and more HRs. Do we think that the Sox could have won all those game without hitting a HR against AL teams? Maybe because of the pitching, but maybe not.

[spiderman]

Yes, tanking right away coming back to playing AL teams will definitely take away the optimism. And I agree that I don't think they will do a 180 and start losing a bunch of games. NL teams (okay, weak NL teams) or not, the Sox still had an 11 game winning streak. The Sox of 3 weeks ago would not have won 11 in a row against the Toledo Mud Hens. The winning streak was characterized by outstanding starting pitching, great relief pitching, stellar defense, and some timely hitting. The hitting is what concerns me about going back to playing AL teams. The Sox will need more hits, more RBIs, and more HRs. Do we think that the Sox could have won all those game without hitting a HR against AL teams? Maybe because of the pitching, but maybe not.

 

My biggest concern is the hitting as well. I feel on most days, the White Sox are going to get a quality start from the starting pitching, and the backend of the bullpen is a major strength of this team. If they can muster 4-5 runs, they are going to win their share of games.

[witesoxfan]

really wite? find where I have said this team was done.. how about find where I said that they are still garbage despite beating up on the NL.. you cant, because I didn't f***ing say that or act that way.. why is it so f***ing off the wall to want to see them put together some streaks against the AL? you act like i just sit here and bash them or something..

 

gimme a f***ing break.. they need to start beating the teams they should beat, the clevelands and kansas citys of the world, and perform against their own league before I start throwing a party like most of you people.. you'll be the same ones cursing this team if they fall again..

 

The starting pitching, outside of one Danks blowup, has been absolutely phenomenal for 14 straight starts. Obviously they won't stay that hot all season, but they were do for some regression to the mean, which in this case, meant towards something better rather than something worse. Jake Peavy and Gavin Floyd aren't 6+ ERA pitchers. Hell, they aren't 5+ ERA pitchers. They can be 4 due to the variance of ERAs in any given season, but they are generally 3.50-4.00 ERA quality pitchers.

 

Beyond that, they've played 74 games. Of the remaining 88, 41 are against teams that are well below .500 at this point - Kansas City, Cleveland, Seattle, Oakland, and Baltimore. They also still have 14 games against Detroit and 13 against Minnesota. Going 25-16 in the first 41 and then going 15-12 against Minnesota and Detroit puts them at 12 games over .500 already from this point, which is 16 games over, which is probably an 87 win pace, assuming they go just under .500 against Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and Texas.

 

In this entire stretch, the offense has still stuck out as a deficient part of this team, but with Quentin atleast looking like he may be a quality offensive player recently, Rios and Konerko performing very well, and both Pierzynski and Ramirez starting to revert closer to their career norms, it has improved. If the Sox were to acquire an actual DH rather than continuing on with the suckfest that is Andruw Jones and Mark Kotsay, the offense will improve by leaps and bounds.

 

Of course I want to see them continue the success they've shown over the past 16 games against teams in the AL, but I can also realize when a team is flat out playing well, and sweeping the Braves and then having the ability to fight back to get the game winning run to the plate yesterday when they were down by 5 in the bottom of the 9th off of a guy who some of the best stuff in the entire majors shows more than a bit of moxie. You could say the same exact thing you are saying now if they win 10 of the next 13 against Los Angeles, Texas, and Kansas City because they aren't doing it against Minnesota, Detroit, Boston, or New York too. And then if they do it against them, you can say that they haven't done it in the playoffs yet. And then, invariably, when the Sox eventually do lose a series or go on an extended losing streak (which is almost certainly going to happen over the course of 88 games), you can be the one who said "I told you so."

 

Because of this recent string of success, the Sox only have to win 3 more or lose 2 fewer games than Minnesota and wins or lose 2 more/fewer games than Detroit from today until October 4th to win the division and make it to the playoffs. That's a hell of a lot different than it was 20 days ago, when they needed to win 11 more or lose 10 fewer games than Minnesota and win or lose 7 more or fewer games than Detroit. They've gotten back into the race, and really, that's all that matters at the moment.

[BigSqwert]

And boom goes the dynamite.

[iamshack]

 

It's like my world is crashing around me.

You really have a habit of interjecting pointless comments into debates that took place days ago.

 

Maybe you could try adding something of substance for once.

 

Edit: Or at least a bit more often. It's too easy to make me look like a fool when you take things out of context the next day.

Edited June 28, 2010 by iamshack

[T R U]

You could say the same exact thing you are saying now if they win 10 of the next 13 against Los Angeles, Texas, and Kansas City because they aren't doing it against Minnesota, Detroit, Boston, or New York too. And then if they do it against them, you can say that they haven't done it in the playoffs yet. And then, invariably, when the Sox eventually do lose a series or go on an extended losing streak (which is almost certainly going to happen over the course of 88 games), you can be the one who said "I told you so."

 

See, now I know for sure that you don't get what I am saying and are just thinking im hating on them..

 

Its not about "I Told You So", im a Sox fan im not sitting here waiting for them to lose so I can rub it in everyones face.. the only thing that I have been saying is I want to see them put together wins against AL teams.. we were almost 10 games under before we got to play the NL, and yes the team got VERY hot.. I just don't see the need to go all overboard about them right now until I see them start taking care of business where it matters..

 

I hope they do win 10 of the next 13 and I hope they do beat Minnesota, Detroit, Boston, and New York..

[ChiSox_Sonix]

See, now I know for sure that you don't get what I am saying and are just thinking im hating on them..

 

Its not about "I Told You So", im a Sox fan im not sitting here waiting for them to lose so I can rub it in everyones face.. the only thing that I have been saying is I want to see them put together wins against AL teams.. we were almost 10 games under before we got to play the NL, and yes the team got VERY hot.. I just don't see the need to go all overboard about them right now until I see them start taking care of business where it matters..

 

I hope they do win 10 of the next 13 and I hope they do beat Minnesota, Detroit, Boston, and New York..

 

I love you continue to completely ignore the fact that the Braves have been one of the hottest teams in baseball for over a month and we just swept them, but since they do not play in the AL it apparently means nothing.

[chw42]

I think tru makes some decent points. People will freak if the Royals sweep us this week. And they did take 2 of 3 from a not bad St Looie team.

The Sox did a great job against the NL, but we have such a freaky organization I could see panic setting in if heaven forbid we lose all 3 in KC or even 2 of 3.

This got us right back in it. An 11 game streak will work wonders in wiping out huge deficits in the standings.

Now that we are in it, we are back playing the AL and it would be damn nice just to keep winning 2 of 3 against teams we should take 2 of 3 from.

 

Keep it going Greg, underestimate this team, just like when you did when this last streak started.

 

It's working.

[witesoxfan]

See, now I know for sure that you don't get what I am saying and are just thinking im hating on them..

 

Its not about "I Told You So", im a Sox fan im not sitting here waiting for them to lose so I can rub it in everyones face.. the only thing that I have been saying is I want to see them put together wins against AL teams.. we were almost 10 games under before we got to play the NL, and yes the team got VERY hot.. I just don't see the need to go all overboard about them right now until I see them start taking care of business where it matters..

 

I hope they do win 10 of the next 13 and I hope they do beat Minnesota, Detroit, Boston, and New York..

 

I know you do. I just think the Sox have proved that they're fine. And they're back in the race. It would be one thing if they went on this 11 game win streak and were still 5.5 back. But they're not, so it's all good.

 

What's crazy to consider is that the Sox could very well be in first place by the ASB. Detroit and Minnesota play each other 6 times before the break still, while the Sox get KC to correspond with those games. The Sox also have LAA and Texas too, so it's obviously not an easy road for them, but it's entirely within grasp, which is pretty cool.

 

(of course, the worst case would be one of Minnesota or Detroit taking all 6 and then the Sox losing 8 of 13. They'd be back by like 6 then)

[iamshack]

51-37 to get to 90 wins...

[justBLAZE]

51-37 to get to 90 wins...

 

Doable.

 

All we have to do is win 3 game series and tie 4 game series and that would put us at around 95-67 if my math is right.

 

That won't be easy but hey, these guys can play

Edited June 28, 2010 by justBLAZE

[witesoxfan]

Doable.

 

All we have to do is win 3 game series and tie 4 game series and that would put us at around 95-77 if my math is right.

 

That won't be easy but hey, these guys can play

 

Your math is not right, because that is 172 games.

[justBLAZE]

Your math is not right, because that is 172 games.

 

Yikes, typo, 67.

[BigSqwert]

When does the "Trade Winds" thread get created?

[greg775]

I love the posts about math and what it takes to win 90, etc.

 

Last week or so somebody posted what we would have to do and what the Twins would have to do for us to catch them.

If they played .500 we'd have to have some incredible record.

Those stats are nice but don't mean s*** in baseball as our 11-game win streak proved.

Edited June 28, 2010 by greg775

[hogan873]

I love the posts about math and what it takes to win 90, etc.

 

Last week or so somebody posted what we would have to do and what the Twins would have to do for us to catch them.

If they played .500 we'd have to have some incredible record.

Those stats are nice but don't mean s*** in baseball as our 11-game win streak proved.

Actually, those stats meant something back when they were posted. Now the stats are different. If someone had said (posted) that it would take an 11-game winning streak to get within 1.5 games, we'd have all laughed and chortled and pointed fingers.

[justBLAZE]

Carlos Quentin - American League player of the week.

 

 

[Milkman delivers]

You really have a habit of interjecting pointless comments into debates that took place days ago.

 

Maybe you could try adding something of substance for once.

 

Edit: Or at least a bit more often. It's too easy to make me look like a fool when you take things out of context the next day.

 

Take a f***ing joke.

[justBLAZE]

Bobby Jenks' wife is fine and Bobby will be back in Kansas City.

[WCSox]

Bobby Jenks' wife is fine and Bobby will be back in Kansas City.

 

Well, that's good news. Any word on what was ailing her?