The Ghost of Jim Thome is Killing Us

[Jerksticks]

Anybody on this team that also played on a Sox team with Thome should be traded immediately. I'm so sick of watching all these guys do the Thome: You know, close your eyes and swing hard as f*** at everything.

 

We've been all or nothing for so long I can't even remember what team baseball looks like. Thanks Jim. Your poison still remains, potent as ever...sucking the soul out of once line-drive hitters. Even poor young Beckham has a BS pull swing now.

 

It's too bad Ozzie is gonna take the blame for all the long swings.

[Chicago White Sox]

It's too bad Ozzie is gonna take the blame for all the long swings.

If we could only be so fortunate.

Edited May 26, 2011 by Chicago White Sox

[Jordan4life_2007]

The ghost of Jim Thome? That's a new one. lol. All Jim Thome did was sport a wOBA of .393 and provide 11 WAR in his time in Chicago. Which is pretty good considering he obviously didn't play the field. This offense doesn't suck because a HOF was great at what he was supposed to do. Probably cost us a playoff appearance last year in not having him.

Edited May 26, 2011 by Jordan4life

[chetkincaid]

The ghost of Jim Thome? That's a new one. lol. All Jim Thome did was sport a wOBA of .393 and provide 11 WAR in his time in Chicago. Which is pretty good considering he obviously didn't play the field. This offense doesn't suck because a HOF was great at what he was supposed to do. Probably cost us a playoff appearance last year in not having him.

 

Plus that moonshot he hit against Thornton last year gave the Twins a shot in the arm.

[Balta1701]

 

I think it's the lack of blue ox blood for sustenance.

[Paint it Black]

The obvious solution is to call of Dyan Viciedo.

[StrangeSox]

Anybody on this team that also played on a Sox team with Thome should be traded immediately. I'm so sick of watching all these guys do the Thome: You know, close your eyes and swing hard as f*** at everything.

 

We've been all or nothing for so long I can't even remember what team baseball looks like. Thanks Jim. Your poison still remains, potent as ever...sucking the soul out of once line-drive hitters. Even poor young Beckham has a BS pull swing now.

 

It's too bad Ozzie is gonna take the blame for all the long swings.

 

...you're joking, right?

 

 

[greg775]

Thome does swing hard. I did like the big lug, though.

[Jerksticks]

The ghost of Jim Thome? That's a new one. lol. All Jim Thome did was sport a wOBA of .393 and provide 11 WAR in his time in Chicago. Which is pretty good considering he obviously didn't play the field. This offense doesn't suck because a HOF was great at what he was supposed to do. Probably cost us a playoff appearance last year in not having him.

 

All true. But those stats don't paint the whole picture...and the whole picture sucks. Allow me to throw the other paint on our masterpiece:

 

All the 0-fer nights

All the ground balls

Basically anything that wasn't a HR or a laserbeam double was an out

3 hits to knock in his glorious, stat-padding walks

All those f***ing Ks

Useless against lefties

A great stat-padding night once a week to make you forget all the previous failure.

 

Any parallels to this year's DH? I mean we all knew Dunn was gonna be the same all or nothing hitter that Thome was, but now it seems everybody but Paulie suffers from Thomeitis, pullitis, longswingitis, uselessitis...whatever you wanna call it.

 

It only wins ball games some of the time, but in no way is it a model for grinding down pitchers each night. Been goin on for way too long now so I'm all in favor of moving the fences back at least 100 ft in every direction til we pull our heads outa our asses and rid ourselves of this awful ghost.

 

 

 

 

[kitekrazy]

All true. But those stats don't paint the whole picture...and the whole picture sucks. Allow me to throw the other paint on our masterpiece:

 

All the 0-fer nights

All the ground balls

Basically anything that wasn't a HR or a laserbeam double was an out

3 hits to knock in his glorious, stat-padding walks

All those f***ing Ks

Useless against lefties

A great stat-padding night once a week to make you forget all the previous failure.

 

Any parallels to this year's DH? I mean we all knew Dunn was gonna be the same all or nothing hitter that Thome was, but now it seems everybody but Paulie suffers from Thomeitis, pullitis, longswingitis, uselessitis...whatever you wanna call it.

 

It only wins ball games some of the time, but in no way is it a model for grinding down pitchers each night. Been goin on for way too long now so I'm all in favor of moving the fences back at least 100 ft in every direction til we pull our heads outa our asses and rid ourselves of this awful ghost.

 

That's an interesting post. I never believed Thome was the difference for not winning the division last year. Sure he was better than Kotsay. I read an article last year that his plate appearances was also limited to the weather because of his back. The real ghost is laying down to the Twins after the break and losing to the Kansas City's of the world. This has been going on since the turn of the century. It's the same choking in the clutch under 2 managers and different rosters. Teahan was suppose to help the line up last season as well. Howz that workin? I'm all for the DH to be removed from baseball.

[caulfield12]

Harold Baines and Edgar Martinez say

[soxfan-kwman]

Jim Thome has 6 hits in 18 at bats against lefty's. Dunn 0 for 32 after yesterday's pinch hit K.

 

[chw42]

Oh how quickly people forget about game 163 when they're still riding the coat tails of 2005.

 

[Steve9347]

Anybody on this team that also played on a Sox team with Thome should be traded immediately. I'm so sick of watching all these guys do the Thome: You know, close your eyes and swing hard as f*** at everything.

 

We've been all or nothing for so long I can't even remember what team baseball looks like. Thanks Jim. Your poison still remains, potent as ever...sucking the soul out of once line-drive hitters. Even poor young Beckham has a BS pull swing now.

 

It's too bad Ozzie is gonna take the blame for all the long swings.

Yes. Let's blame Jim Thome and not our hitting coach.

[Jerksticks]

Oh how quickly people forget about game 163 when they're still riding the coat tails of 2005.

 

Na, just another reason people grasp to turn a blind-eye to his overall uselessness. I don't care if it was one of the greatest hits this team has ever seen. It's still bad baseball, and in this newly formed pitcher's era, it ain't gonna fly.

[bigruss]

Na, just another reason people grasp to turn a blind-eye to his overall uselessness. I don't care if it was one of the greatest hits this team has ever seen. It's still bad baseball, and in this newly formed pitcher's era, it ain't gonna fly.

Hitting home runs isn't good baseball? Tell me how that works again?

[southsider2k5]

Na, just another reason people grasp to turn a blind-eye to his overall uselessness. I don't care if it was one of the greatest hits this team has ever seen. It's still bad baseball, and in this newly formed pitcher's era, it ain't gonna fly.

 

529 G .265 BA 134 HR 369 RBI .391 OBP .542 SLG .933 OPS 138 OPS+ in 4 seasons.

 

If that is useless, I want a whole team of useless. If this really is a new "pitcher's era" hitting becomes more important, not less, because it is harder to replace.

[bigruss]

529 G .265 BA 134 HR 369 RBI .391 OBP .542 SLG .933 OPS 138 OPS+ in 4 seasons.

 

If that is useless, I want a whole team of useless. If this really is a new "pitcher's era" hitting becomes more important, not less, because it is harder to replace.

That's too much production, it's useless.

[bmags]

suckin all the way to the BANK amirite?

[Steve9347]

529 G .265 BA 134 HR 369 RBI .391 OBP .542 SLG .933 OPS 138 OPS+ in 4 seasons.

 

If that is useless, I want a whole team of useless. If this really is a new "pitcher's era" hitting becomes more important, not less, because it is harder to replace.

Jim Thome clogs up the basepaths.

[chw42]

All true. But those stats don't paint the whole picture...and the whole picture sucks. Allow me to throw the other paint on our masterpiece:

 

All the 0-fer nights

All the ground balls

Basically anything that wasn't a HR or a laserbeam double was an out

3 hits to knock in his glorious, stat-padding walks

All those f***ing Ks

Useless against lefties

A great stat-padding night once a week to make you forget all the previous failure.

 

Any parallels to this year's DH? I mean we all knew Dunn was gonna be the same all or nothing hitter that Thome was, but now it seems everybody but Paulie suffers from Thomeitis, pullitis, longswingitis, uselessitis...whatever you wanna call it.

 

It only wins ball games some of the time, but in no way is it a model for grinding down pitchers each night. Been goin on for way too long now so I'm all in favor of moving the fences back at least 100 ft in every direction til we pull our heads outa our asses and rid ourselves of this awful ghost.

 

Do you have a counter for all of these things? Because it's obvious you forgot to do some fact checking.

 

Thome hit as many grounders as he hit fly balls in his career and the trend was generally the same his time here in Chicago. You made it sound like grounds into more double plays than Konerko, but he had seasons of 4, 10, 18, and 8 GIDPs from 2006 to 2009. Konerko during that time? 25, 21, 17, and 15.

 

Singles accounted for 52% of Thome's hits while he was here in Chicago. So basically, he hit more singles than home runs and doubles combined.

 

Thome didn't pull the ball all the time. In fact, he had more hits to center and left field (291) than he had to right field (183) during his stint with the Sox.

 

Thome's numbers with RISP:

2006: .339

2007: .313

2008: .306

2009: .253

 

He's not the reason the Sox pitchers faltered in 06 during the second half of the season. He's not the reason why the bullpen blew up in 07. He was part of the reason why the White Sox won the 2008 division title. He was not the reason the White Sox choked in 09. You can think whatever you like, but there's nothing wrong with having a hitter who can only hit for power and draw walks. Jim Thome is a Hall of Famer who produced very well for the Sox, you can't blame him for his teammates' failures.

Edited May 26, 2011 by chw42

[chw42]

Na, just another reason people grasp to turn a blind-eye to his overall uselessness. I don't care if it was one of the greatest hits this team has ever seen. It's still bad baseball, and in this newly formed pitcher's era, it ain't gonna fly.

 

So let me get this straight, you want less offense in a more pitcher oriented league?

[chw42]

Hitting home runs isn't good baseball? Tell me how that works again?

 

It kills rallies and it pads stats.

 

If this thread is trying to draw a parallel between Dunn and Thome, then it's the wrong topic to go at.

 

Thome has never been as bad as Dunn has been this year. The problem with Dunn isn't that he's an all-or-nothing hitter this year, it's because he's terrible and in a huge slump that pretty much nobody saw coming. A guy who puts up consistent 35+ HR seasons hitting like Mark Kotsay all of a sudden is unprecedented to say the least.

Edited May 26, 2011 by chw42

[Milkman delivers]

Na, just another reason people grasp to turn a blind-eye to his overall uselessness. I don't care if it was one of the greatest hits this team has ever seen. It's still bad baseball, and in this newly formed pitcher's era, it ain't gonna fly.

 

I don't want to get into a personal argument, but if you think the guy with the eighth most home runs in the entire history of the sport is useless, then you're not worth arguing with.

[StrangeSox]

Do you have a counter for all of these things? Because it's obvious you forgot to do some fact checking.

 

Thome hit as many grounders as he hit fly balls in his career and the trend was generally the same his time here in Chicago. You made it sound like grounds into more double plays than Konerko, but he had seasons of 4, 10, 18, and 8 GIDPs from 2006 to 2009. Konerko during that time? 25, 21, 17, and 15.

 

Singles accounted for 52% of Thome's hits while he was here in Chicago. So basically, he hit more singles than home runs and doubles combined.

 

Thome didn't pull the ball all the time. In fact, he had more hits to center and left field (291) than he had to right field (183) during his stint with the Sox.

 

Thome's numbers with RISP:

2006: .339

2007: .313

2008: .306

2009: .253

 

He's not the reason the Sox pitchers faltered in 06 during the second half of the season. He's not the reason why the bullpen blew up in 07. He was part of the reason why the White Sox won the 2008 division title. He was not the reason the White Sox choked in 09. You can think whatever you like, but there's nothing wrong with having a hitter who can only hit for power and draw walks. Jim Thome is a Hall of Famer who produced very well for the Sox, you can't blame him for his teammates' failures.

 

Demolished.