Hey! What's all this lying around?

[Quin]

"Season is over. Ozzie dropped the big one."

 

Over? Did you say over? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when Billy Koch blew it against Luis Vizcaino in Game 2 of the World Series?

 

 

HELL NO!

 

(Billy Koch? Forget it, he's rolling)

 

And it ain't over now, cause when the going gets tough...

 

The tough get going!

 

Who's with me? LETS GO!

 

 

...what the f*** happened to the SoxTalk I used to know? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts, huh? This could be the greatest season of our lives (other than 2005) but we're gonna let it be the worst! 'Oooh, we're afraid to go with you Quin, we might get our hearts broken." Well kiss my ass from now on. I'm not gonna take this!

 

Mauer?

 

He's a dead man!

 

Pavano?

A rejected Mario brother. And a dead man!

 

Liriano?

Dead!

 

LET'S DO IT!

Edited August 15, 2010 by Quinarvy

[Balta1701]

Ok, I have a real problem with the Morneau taunting here.

[Quin]

Ok, I have a real problem with the Morneau taunting here.

 

I thought about it while posting it, and was blinded by the fact that I really hate Morneau. Changed it to Liriano.

[caulfield12]

Especially since knowledgeable Twins fans would always respond with, "Jamie Burke, run over and trampled to death."

 

It was bad enough when we were taunting the Orioles' starters and counting automatic victories there.

 

However, I don't think ANYONE is going to be overconfident coming into this one...

 

 

 

And the problem is that Liriano ISN'T DEAD. Were he close to dead, like 2007 and 2008 and 2009, he wouldn't have ripped the hearts out of our season by getting out of those bases loaded situations with that nasty slider.

Edited August 15, 2010 by caulfield12

[South Side Fireworks Man]

Screw Morneau, Mauer, Liriano, and the horses they rode in on!

[Balta1701]

I thought about it while posting it, and was blinded by the fact that I really hate Morneau. Changed it to Liriano.

Appreciated. Thank you.

[Quin]

Especially since knowledgeable Twins fans would always respond with, "Jamie Burke, run over and trampled to death."

 

It was bad enough when we were taunting the Orioles' starters and counting automatic victories there.

 

However, I don't think ANYONE is going to be overconfident coming into this one...

 

 

 

And the problem is that Liriano ISN'T DEAD. Were he close to dead, like 2007 and 2008 and 2009, he wouldn't have ripped the hearts out of our season by getting out of those bases loaded situations with that nasty slider.

 

I'll see your Torii Hunter steam roller and raise you Game 163 Griffey-Danks-Anderson-Thome.

[caulfield12]

Yay!

 

We have Game 163 and the World Series.

 

Other than that, a record of complete and utter failure against the Twins, lol.

 

Rick Hahn's kid is the reason half of the White Sox fanbase isn't pulling their remaining hairs out, because that coinflip goes the other way...before they changed the rules...and it's even more depressing if the Twins have 7 ALCD titles to our 1 since 2002.

 

 

[chw42]

Yay!

 

We have Game 163 and the World Series.

 

Other than that, a record of complete and utter failure against the Twins, lol.

 

Rick Hahn's kid is the reason half of the White Sox fanbase isn't pulling their remaining hairs out, because that coinflip goes the other way...before they changed the rules...and it's even more depressing if the Twins have 7 ALCD titles to our 1 since 2002.

 

They don't have 7 of them, they have 5. 02, 03, 04, 06, 09.

[chisoxt]

Yay!

 

We have Game 163 and the World Series.

 

Other than that, a record of complete and utter failure against the Twins, lol.

 

Rick Hahn's kid is the reason half of the White Sox fanbase isn't pulling their remaining hairs out, because that coinflip goes the other way...before they changed the rules...and it's even more depressing if the Twins have 7 ALCD titles to our 1 since 2002.

There is a part of me that wishes we had lost that coin flip. This second half collapse thing is like a scene from Groundhog Day. I wish that we could become an organization that develops players.

[Dick Allen]

The Sox have to win at least one of these. 4 games back is far better than 6. Of course, being tied at 10 pm on Thursday would be optimal.

[chetkincaid]

Screw Morneau, Mauer, Liriano, and the horses they rode in on!

 

I'm telling you we need a good ole fashioned bench clearing brawl with these f***ers.

 

EDIT: HA!!! Juan Nieves agrees with me. He wants a brawl too! On the Score this morning he said we have no fear and he wants Thornton to go out and smoke Mauer once and see what happens.

Edited August 16, 2010 by Chet Kincaid

[elrockinMT]

Love the enthusiasm. I am all tingly right now waiitng for Tuesday. Now let's bash ESPN and MLB Network cause they aren't carrying any oif the Sox-Twinkies games this week

[shago]

Love the enthusiasm. I am all tingly right now waiitng for Tuesday. Now let's bash ESPN and MLB Network cause they aren't carrying any oif the Sox-Twinkies games this week

Eastcoast Sports Network? What a shock....

[MiddleCoastBias]

Love the enthusiasm. I am all tingly right now waiitng for Tuesday. Now let's bash ESPN and MLB Network cause they aren't carrying any oif the Sox-Twinkies games this week

MLBN isn't? Every commercial break they are touting their coverage of the division races with the main highlights being of the Sox and Twins. I automatically assumed that meant they were carrying at least one of these games.

[Steve9347]

I like it.

[clyons]

"Ooooh, we're afraid to go with you, Quinarvy, we might get in trouble."

[LittleHurt05]

I'm in! The sweep starts today!!

[Milkman delivers]

I'm telling you we need a good ole fashioned bench clearing brawl with these f***ers.

 

EDIT: HA!!! Juan Nieves agrees with me. He wants a brawl too! On the Score this morning he said we have no fear and he wants Thornton to go out and smoke Mauer once and see what happens.

 

I would LOVE to see this.

[Quin]

I'm telling you we need a good ole fashioned bench clearing brawl with these f***ers.

 

EDIT: HA!!! Juan Nieves agrees with me. He wants a brawl too! On the Score this morning he said we have no fear and he wants Thornton to go out and smoke Mauer once and see what happens.

 

I love Juan Nieves and I'd love to see this happen.

 

f*** the Twins.

[Quin]

Pavano?

A dead man!

 

[elgonzo4sox]

Great post Quinarvy!

 

There's been far too much Twins Envy and Twins Love on this website. The Twins aren't invincible, nor are they light years ahead of the Sox. In fact, the two teams are about as evenly matched as they could possibly be, with the Twins holding a big edge in head-to-head W-L due more to good luck than anything else.

 

Here is my proof that the Twins and Sox are just about dead even this year.

 

The Twins 4 game edge in the standings sounds big, but it is merely 2 head-to-head wins. The Twins have beaten the Sox 10 times, but 7 of those wins are by one run. Pick your most agonizing two Sox losses to the Twins, and change one thing in those two games to make the Sox win, and the teams are tied in the standings. What if Bobby Jenks nailed down the save in the game when the Sox lead by 3 in the ninth? What if Thornton threw a letters-high fastball to Thome (who can't catch up to high heat) instead of a belt-high one, and he whiffs instead of hitting a walk-off home run? When you lose 7 one-run games, it's easy to find one thing in a couple of games that, had it gone differently, would have flipped the outcome. That is how far back the Sox are behind the Twins: two bad pitches, or two missing clutch hits, or two Twins seeing-eye singles that just eluded a Sox fielder's glove.

 

The Twins are +4 games ahead of the Sox in the standings, but +5 games ahead during head-to-head play. That means the Sox have played the rest of MLB one game better than the Twins so far this season. If the Twins are so great, why do the Sox have a better record vs. the rest of MLB?

 

The Sox and Twins have played 15 times so far this season. With tonight's 11-0 shellacking, the runs scored by both teams over those 15 games now stands at 71 runs for the Sox, and 72 runs for the Twins. If those 71 and 72 runs had scored at different points in time, the games won/lost would be something other than 5 games won by the Sox and 10 games won by the Twins. In fact, if the runs were basically evenly distributed, the Sox would have won 7 times and the Twins 8 times. And the teams would be tied for first.

 

Yes, I realize that at the end of the day all that counts is wins and losses, but when you look at the evidence, the Twins and Sox are a lot more evenly matched than most people probably think. The difference right now is very small, and the Sox still have 3 more games versus the Twins at home to close the gap.

 

 

So as Bluto would say: LET'S GO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O!!!!!!

 

 

 

[bobryansson]

Thanks.

[Milkman delivers]

Great post Quinarvy!

 

There's been far too much Twins Envy and Twins Love on this website. The Twins aren't invincible, nor are they light years ahead of the Sox. In fact, the two teams are about as evenly matched as they could possibly be, with the Twins holding a big edge in head-to-head W-L due more to good luck than anything else.

 

Here is my proof that the Twins and Sox are just about dead even this year.

 

The Twins 4 game edge in the standings sounds big, but it is merely 2 head-to-head wins. The Twins have beaten the Sox 10 times, but 7 of those wins are by one run. Pick your most agonizing two Sox losses to the Twins, and change one thing in those two games to make the Sox win, and the teams are tied in the standings. What if Bobby Jenks nailed down the save in the game when the Sox lead by 3 in the ninth? What if Thornton threw a letters-high fastball to Thome (who can't catch up to high heat) instead of a belt-high one, and he whiffs instead of hitting a walk-off home run? When you lose 7 one-run games, it's easy to find one thing in a couple of games that, had it gone differently, would have flipped the outcome. That is how far back the Sox are behind the Twins: two bad pitches, or two missing clutch hits, or two Twins seeing-eye singles that just eluded a Sox fielder's glove.

 

The Twins are +4 games ahead of the Sox in the standings, but +5 games ahead during head-to-head play. That means the Sox have played the rest of MLB one game better than the Twins so far this season. If the Twins are so great, why do the Sox have a better record vs. the rest of MLB?

 

The Sox and Twins have played 15 times so far this season. With tonight's 11-0 shellacking, the runs scored by both teams over those 15 games now stands at 71 runs for the Sox, and 72 runs for the Twins. If those 71 and 72 runs had scored at different points in time, the games won/lost would be something other than 5 games won by the Sox and 10 games won by the Twins. In fact, if the runs were basically evenly distributed, the Sox would have won 7 times and the Twins 8 times. And the teams would be tied for first.

 

Yes, I realize that at the end of the day all that counts is wins and losses, but when you look at the evidence, the Twins and Sox are a lot more evenly matched than most people probably think. The difference right now is very small, and the Sox still have 3 more games versus the Twins at home to close the gap.

 

 

So as Bluto would say: LET'S GO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O!!!!!!

 

Talk about skewing stats to favor your opinion, yikes.

[caulfield12]

Great post Quinarvy!

 

There's been far too much Twins Envy and Twins Love on this website. The Twins aren't invincible, nor are they light years ahead of the Sox. In fact, the two teams are about as evenly matched as they could possibly be, with the Twins holding a big edge in head-to-head W-L due more to good luck than anything else.

 

Here is my proof that the Twins and Sox are just about dead even this year.

 

The Twins 4 game edge in the standings sounds big, but it is merely 2 head-to-head wins. The Twins have beaten the Sox 10 times, but 7 of those wins are by one run. Pick your most agonizing two Sox losses to the Twins, and change one thing in those two games to make the Sox win, and the teams are tied in the standings. What if Bobby Jenks nailed down the save in the game when the Sox lead by 3 in the ninth? What if Thornton threw a letters-high fastball to Thome (who can't catch up to high heat) instead of a belt-high one, and he whiffs instead of hitting a walk-off home run? When you lose 7 one-run games, it's easy to find one thing in a couple of games that, had it gone differently, would have flipped the outcome. That is how far back the Sox are behind the Twins: two bad pitches, or two missing clutch hits, or two Twins seeing-eye singles that just eluded a Sox fielder's glove.

 

The Twins are +4 games ahead of the Sox in the standings, but +5 games ahead during head-to-head play. That means the Sox have played the rest of MLB one game better than the Twins so far this season. If the Twins are so great, why do the Sox have a better record vs. the rest of MLB?

 

The Sox and Twins have played 15 times so far this season. With tonight's 11-0 shellacking, the runs scored by both teams over those 15 games now stands at 71 runs for the Sox, and 72 runs for the Twins. If those 71 and 72 runs had scored at different points in time, the games won/lost would be something other than 5 games won by the Sox and 10 games won by the Twins. In fact, if the runs were basically evenly distributed, the Sox would have won 7 times and the Twins 8 times. And the teams would be tied for first.

 

Yes, I realize that at the end of the day all that counts is wins and losses, but when you look at the evidence, the Twins and Sox are a lot more evenly matched than most people probably think. The difference right now is very small, and the Sox still have 3 more games versus the Twins at home to close the gap.

 

 

So as Bluto would say: LET'S GO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O!!!!!!

 

 

What's the number one sign of a great team?

 

Their record in one and two run games.

 

Actually, about a month ago, we were close to #1 in this category, but we had a pretty bad record in two run games. Now we're closer to the middle of the pack for record in one and two run games...and it's 75% a function of our bullpen's problems.

 

The most important runs are usually the ones scored in the first inning and in innings 7-8-9.

 

This has always been an issue for the White Sox...you can compare our OVERALL offensive statistics with almost any team in baseball from 2000-2004, but our runs were never evenly distributed or consistent, nor was our starting pitching, mostly because the problems at the back end of those rotations.

 

You could also do the same thing with the 2006 offense...but we scored a disproportionate number of runs in the first four months of the season.

 

In the end, it's great that you're TRYING to spin it in a positive way, but I am thinking how I would respond to fans of the Red Sox or Angels in 2005 who said we just got "lucky" or didn't deserve to beat them. Great teams also create their own luck...lesser teams fall victim to bad luck, injuries, "circumstances beyond their control." It's just the nature of baseball.

 

It's also the reason we don't have an MLB "Pythagorean" champion or "Beane Count" champion.

 

 

Edited August 20, 2010 by caulfield12