G. Walker: Does he now get credit?

[soxrwhite]

It seemed Walker was being blamed when the Sox were not hitting. Does he now get praised because they have improved?

[justBLAZE]

But of course, thank you Greg Walker for doing your job.

[LittleHurt05]

No. Just like he didn't deserve the blame when they weren't hitting. Hitting coaches are for the most part worthless and have little to do with a team's success.

[Springfield Soxfan]

Not sure about the whole team, but he definitely gets praise for helping out Rios and the whole placement of his hands issue. Alexi might be more Omar, but yes Walker deserves some credit.

[hawkjt]

No. Just like he didn't deserve the blame when they weren't hitting. Hitting coaches are for the most part worthless and have little to do with a team's success.

 

If there was any justice, the same fans who rip on him,should now compliment him. They were out in force in April and May,and now they go quiet. Walker is a proud guy who hears the ripping,and it clearly bothers him,but I suppose he is just fine with the silence from critics,but still does not balance out.

[BigSqwert]

It's difficult for me to give Walker credit. We see Coop take on pitchers that have failed elsewhere and succeed here. We don't really see that with our hitters. And at the end of the day our offense is around middle of the pack.

[maggsmaggs]

I give credit to Jobu. (Major League reference).

[Balta1701]

It's difficult for me to give Walker credit. We see Coop take on pitchers that have failed elsewhere and succeed here. We don't really see that with our hitters. And at the end of the day our offense is around middle of the pack.

And with Mark Kotsay as the DH and Juan Pierre as the leadoff hitter, this team wasn't going to be better than 5th even if everything had gone well.

 

Walker seems to deserve credit for: Rios's season, even if he's had some iffy months, Konerko's season, Alexei's last couple months, perhaps some of Vizquel, perhaps some of Viciedo, Beckham's turnaround, Jones being effective against LHP, etc.

 

OTOH, he can get some criticism for; how long beckham struggled, how long Quentin struggled (although I'll bet there was some injury in there), the slow starts from Pierre and Ramirez, and Pierzynski's godawful season.

 

Like any hitting coach it's a mixed bag. Overall I think they've come in better than I'd have expected if you told me how Quentin was going to struggle.

[Milkman delivers]

Good work on Rios and Lillibridge.

[whitesoxfan101]

I would actually say that all things considered, yes he does deserve some credit. So well done, Greg.

[elrockinMT]

Let him get Kotsay on track and then he will be like Walt Hriniak

[caulfield12]

Combined with Charlie Lau, George Brett and Ted Williams.

[Buehrle>Wood]

He has half (and yes, only a half) season of Rios to his credit and perhaps Brent Lillibridge. Good job Walk!!!!

[Jerksticks]

If there was any justice, the same fans who rip on him,should now compliment him. They were out in force in April and May,and now they go quiet. Walker is a proud guy who hears the ripping,and it clearly bothers him,but I suppose he is just fine with the silence from critics,but still does not balance out.

 

 

Yes, he's like Batman; whatever Gotham needs him to be.

[ScottyDo]

I think he deserves some credit for the change in approach we've seen from the team is a hole. Anyone who still says Walk is a "lift and pull" coach hasn't watched this season at all. That said, he probably didn't have much to do with our struggles or are successes, which is why I was never on the Fire Walk bandwagon. At the very least, good for him for getting the fans off his back.

[whitesoxfan101]

I think he deserves some credit for the change in approach we've seen from the team is a hole. Anyone who still says Walk is a "lift and pull" coach hasn't watched this season at all. That said, he probably didn't have much to do with our struggles or are successes, which is why I was never on the Fire Walk bandwagon. At the very least, good for him for getting the fans off his back.

 

Couldn't agree more on the bolded, that's probably the biggest general change I've seen this year. The bottom line at the moment to me though is we're 7th in the AL in runs at the moment, and I was thinking we'd be more in the 10th to 12th range.

[greg775]

I think he deserves some credit for the change in approach we've seen from the team is a hole. Anyone who still says Walk is a "lift and pull" coach hasn't watched this season at all. That said, he probably didn't have much to do with our struggles or are successes, which is why I was never on the Fire Walk bandwagon. At the very least, good for him for getting the fans off his back.

 

Great post. When the team starts hitting it shuts everybody up and takes away one cliche: "Blame the hitting coach." Oz and KW have said publicly how hard the guy works in good times and bad.

[Balta1701]

Anyone who still says Walk is a "lift and pull" coach hasn't watched this season at all.

Are you kidding? did you see the 2 balls quentin and Konerko hit yesterday? They lifted and pulled those. Like 850 feet between them.

[Dick Allen]

It's difficult for me to give Walker credit. We see Coop take on pitchers that have failed elsewhere and succeed here. We don't really see that with our hitters. And at the end of the day our offense is around middle of the pack.

Really?

How was Konerko under Gary Ward?

How was Thome's injury plagued 2005?

How was Dye in Oakland?

How was Quentin in Arizona?

How was Pods in Milwaukee?

Ask Aaron Rowand about Gary Ward vs. Greg Walker.

[Jordan4life_2007]

I'll say this much...I give more credit to Greg Walker for this shocking turnaround than Ozzie f***ing Guillen.

[soxrwhite]

I think a hitting coach goes over opposing ptchers and preps hitters as to what to expect from them. Makes sure they know the dimensions and ground rules in all ballparks. Advises them as the team approach& how to respond to hitting in situations that call for placement of ball. I'm sure they do some tutoring on a guy's swing but who would make it all the way to the bigs with their swing and then change it? I don't think he deserved much blame early or a whole lot of credit now. I'll bet he is doing nothing different than he has always done.

[Balta1701]

I think a hitting coach goes over opposing ptchers and preps hitters as to what to expect from them. Makes sure they know the dimensions and ground rules in all ballparks. Advises them as the team approach& how to respond to hitting in situations that call for placement of ball. I'm sure they do some tutoring on a guy's swing but who would make it all the way to the bigs with their swing and then change it? I don't think he deserved much blame early or a whole lot of credit now. I'll bet he is doing nothing different than he has always done.

You know, I feel like the number of "bad approach/obvious weakness on low and away offspeed pitches" games that we've seen recently has declined dramatically.

[Chisoxfn]

Walker has done a nice job with some of our guys and deserves some credit.

[caulfield12]

It's also notable we are something like 17-20 in games where we don't homer.

 

Even the Detroit radio guys noticed that difference...along with the fact that Carlos Quentin was much more aggressive about trying to go from 1st to 3rd on a single...even though he ended up deciding not to go for 3rd and pulling up, his attitude was different in their estimation.

 

And while the stolen base percentage overall is pretty awful, that team-wide mentality of challenging the other team, forcing them to make mistakes, taking the game to them...it has really paid off (in distracting the pitchers and getting them to make bad pitches, resulting in additional runs, I know that's difficult for me to measure or bring up specific situations where this happened since I can't watch the games). Maybe even some of our hitters are hustling a bit more to first base than in years past, but perhaps that's just my imagination.

 

It's what made those early Twins teams (2002-2004/06) so good, and what has become a hallmark of the Rays and Angels this decade. Nice to see we've added a bit of that component...will be even more exciting if Mitchell can be anything closely resembling Carl Crawford and Jordan Danks can miraculously morph into a better hitter than Brian Anderson.

Edited August 6, 2010 by caulfield12

[Ranger]

I think he deserves some credit for the change in approach we've seen from the team is a hole. Anyone who still says Walk is a "lift and pull" coach hasn't watched this season at all. That said, he probably didn't have much to do with our struggles or are successes, which is why I was never on the Fire Walk bandwagon. At the very least, good for him for getting the fans off his back.

 

I never understood where that came from. This has never been his overall hitting philosophy and he's never told all of his players he wants them to do that. There are some individuals that try too often to hit the other way, and he's told them to not be afraid to pull the ball sometimes (Beckham is a recent example). However, that's pretty rare and it certainly isn't all he ever tells his hitters.

 

If you're seeing a lot of guys doing that, it's because they have a lot of guys that do it naturally. It's not his hitting philosophy and it never has been.