2012 White Sox Catch-All thread

[elrockinMT]

My guy at Sox park has heard Konrko's been playing with a fractured hand/wrist for quite some time.

 

 

Don't knowe about any fracture but many of us have speculated that his hand or wrist injury is worse than originally thought

Edited September 13, 2012 by elrockinMT

[elrockinMT]

Perhaps the biggest "duh" in the last 2 months is that Paul Konerko is OBVIOUSLY playing hurt. We've had years of watching this guy. Sure, he's had a slump or three over the years, but throughout, when going well or not so well, he's consistently been one of the top pure fastball hitters in the game.

 

THAT GUY has been M.I.A. for months now. Every so often you'll see Konerko "cheat" and turn a middle-in fastball around, but for months now he's been getting beat by the heat, just aiming the outside fastballs for flares into right, and getting little bat speed and thin wood on anything with velocity in.

 

Will anyone be surprised when a few days after the season we hear that Paulie is having surgery on his wrist?

 

Unfortunately, while it's admirable to be a tough guy and to take one for the team, a team can't survive when the guy who should be the best all around hitter and consistent power threat has been morphed into nothing more than a smart hitter with far less than average ability to drive the ball. And if you're forced to play that guy, he shouldn't be sitting in the clean-up spot.

 

I've been a huge Konerko fan for years and years, but team management should have said "screw the macho stuff, we're sitting your butt down because you aren't helping (and can't help) the team."

 

And of course we have many other problems. Konerko alone is not to blame. But Paul's "injury" is a big part of why the second half Sox are so beatable. Is he feared like Cabrera or Fielder? Not even close. Present version Konerko is feared less that Gordon/Butler!

 

Cy,

 

you sound as if this team dropped out of the race? I think we have done well regardless of PK's injury especially when the so called experts had us finishing below .500

[CyAcosta41]

Cy,

 

you sound as if this team dropped out of the race? I think we have done well regardless of PK's injury especially when the so called experts had us finishing below .500

 

Not at all. I understand that going into the game on 9/13, we're in first place, a game up on the supposedly mighty Kitties. So-called experts aside (most of whom are horrible baseball analysts and afflicted with the traditional East Coast bias), I personally thought the Sox would be a 6-12 game over .500 team. And that's what they are. It's a pleasant surprise (and just a a wee bit of luck) that this sort of winning percentage is keeping them in this year's pennant race.

 

I think it's possible to be pleasantly surprised that we're still playing meaningful baseball, but still be disappointed that injuries, player decisions, inability to play competitively with the Tiggers and THE ROYALS(!!!), and various other factors have us with a one game lead (pending tonight's Sale-Verlander showdown) instead of the 6-8 game lead that we might have had.

 

I understand that the .399 hitting Konerko, with power, was not going to be here all season long. But if we had statistical average Konerko this second half instead of "injured Konerko," then we'd have a bit more cushion than we currently have. We'd also have a bit more optimism that we're capable of the kind of winning percentage we're likely to need to win this thing in this final 20-game sprint.

 

All things considered, great that we're in first right now, but things would look a lot brighter IF we had a non-injured Konerko, a non-injured Dunn, non-exhausted #1 and #2 starters in Sale and Peavy, and a manager who recognized that the time for experimenting with AAA and AAAA players is over and you should win this thing or lose this thing with your big league roster at this point of the season.

 

Love the heart that this team plays with, but whether through injuries, roster decisions of the GM, or playing-time decisions of the field manager, we're frequently undermanned on the field right now.

[oldsox]

Not at all. I understand that going into the game on 9/13, we're in first place, a game up on the supposedly mighty Kitties. So-called experts aside (most of whom are horrible baseball analysts and afflicted with the traditional East Coast bias), I personally thought the Sox would be a 6-12 game over .500 team. And that's what they are. It's a pleasant surprise (and just a a wee bit of luck) that this sort of winning percentage is keeping them in this year's pennant race.

 

I think it's possible to be pleasantly surprised that we're still playing meaningful baseball, but still be disappointed that injuries, player decisions, inability to play competitively with the Tiggers and THE ROYALS(!!!), and various other factors have us with a one game lead (pending tonight's Sale-Verlander showdown) instead of the 6-8 game lead that we might have had.

 

I understand that the .399 hitting Konerko, with power, was not going to be here all season long. But if we had statistical average Konerko this second half instead of "injured Konerko," then we'd have a bit more cushion than we currently have. We'd also have a bit more optimism that we're capable of the kind of winning percentage we're likely to need to win this thing in this final 20-game sprint.

 

All things considered, great that we're in first right now, but things would look a lot brighter IF we had a non-injured Konerko, a non-injured Dunn, non-exhausted #1 and #2 starters in Sale and Peavy, and a manager who recognized that the time for experimenting with AAA and AAAA players is over and you should win this thing or lose this thing with your big league roster at this point of the season.

 

Love the heart that this team plays with, but whether through injuries, roster decisions of the GM, or playing-time decisions of the field manager, we're frequently undermanned on the field right now.

What, you don't like Hudson and Olmeda??

[greg775]

Not at all. I understand that going into the game on 9/13, we're in first place, a game up on the supposedly mighty Kitties. So-called experts aside (most of whom are horrible baseball analysts and afflicted with the traditional East Coast bias), I personally thought the Sox would be a 6-12 game over .500 team. And that's what they are. It's a pleasant surprise (and just a a wee bit of luck) that this sort of winning percentage is keeping them in this year's pennant race.

 

I think it's possible to be pleasantly surprised that we're still playing meaningful baseball, but still be disappointed that injuries, player decisions, inability to play competitively with the Tiggers and THE ROYALS(!!!), and various other factors have us with a one game lead (pending tonight's Sale-Verlander showdown) instead of the 6-8 game lead that we might have had.

 

I understand that the .399 hitting Konerko, with power, was not going to be here all season long. But if we had statistical average Konerko this second half instead of "injured Konerko," then we'd have a bit more cushion than we currently have. We'd also have a bit more optimism that we're capable of the kind of winning percentage we're likely to need to win this thing in this final 20-game sprint.

 

All things considered, great that we're in first right now, but things would look a lot brighter IF we had a non-injured Konerko, a non-injured Dunn, non-exhausted #1 and #2 starters in Sale and Peavy, and a manager who recognized that the time for experimenting with AAA and AAAA players is over and you should win this thing or lose this thing with your big league roster at this point of the season.

 

Love the heart that this team plays with, but whether through injuries, roster decisions of the GM, or playing-time decisions of the field manager, we're frequently undermanned on the field right now.

 

 

That's a pretty good post when you think about it.

[elrockinMT]

That's a pretty good post when you think about it.

 

 

Yes. Who can argue we would like better and have a healthy team. Basically we are down Dunn and Konerko who are counted on to be big RBI guys. But, the team continues to comepete

[Princess Dye]

Very possible he's still injured, but Paulie's history (throughout the years) does involve having absolutely terrible halves of a season, followed by masterful ones.

 

It's only in the last few years we got spoiled by nonstop consistency from him.

 

 

[farmteam]

You all probably saw me last night. We were in the first row behind the Sox dugout, and judging from the number of texts/calls I got, we got quite a bit of screen time. Makes sense, since we were in the seats that are on TV every time there is a right handed batter.

[southsider2k5]

Mark Gonzales ‏@MDGonzales

 

Sale’s victory was his 11th after a Sox loss, tying R.A. Dickey for the most wins following a team defeat in 2012

 

From Sox notes: Sale’s 17 wins in his 1st 23 decisions is the best start by a Chicago LHP since Juan Pizaro also went 17-6 in 1964 (Elias)

[2nd_city_saint787]

Mark Gonzales ‏@MDGonzales

 

Sale’s victory was his 11th after a Sox loss, tying R.A. Dickey for the most wins following a team defeat in 2012

 

From Sox notes: Sale’s 17 wins in his 1st 23 decisions is the best start by a Chicago LHP since Juan Pizaro also went 17-6 in 1964 (Elias)

 

Really hope Tampa misses the playoffs and our Sox make it...If thats the case I thing Sale should win the CY.

[kapkomet]

Really hope Tampa misses the playoffs and our Sox make it...If thats the case I thing Sale should win the CY.

 

He just might. The last two weeks will be the key as everyone will be watching. And who would have thought that going into the season?

[Quin]

Really hope Tampa misses the playoffs and our Sox make it...If thats the case I thing Sale should win the CY.

 

He should get 3 more starts right?

 

If he can hit 20 wins and the Sox win the division while the Rays don't, it could give him an edge over Price.

 

Also: Damn, Gio. I know wite broke this down in the greatest way possible, but if there was a mythical future where all moves don't create a domino effect and we could still have Gio, along with Sale, goddamn.

[caulfield12]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/features/cyyoung

 

 

Price with the lead over Sale, Rodney probably won't actually factor in 2nd, taking the Rolaids Reliever of the Year award instead.

 

RA Dickey BARELY over Gio right now in the NL, but you'd have to think with the Nationals a lock for the playoffs and the Mets not so much, Gio might take it.

 

 

[Whitewashed in '05]

So I was Googling Dayan Viciedo when I accidently clicked the first Google auto complete and found... this

 

New avatar time for me!

[2nd_city_saint787]

The sox website have Q listed to start tomorrow...thats not the case right??

[flavum]

The sox website have Q listed to start tomorrow...thats not the case right??

 

That's right. They changed it on Friday.

 

Det- Quintana

KC- Floyd, Sale, Liriano

LAA-Peavy, Quintana, Floyd

Cle- Sale, Liriano, Peavy

TB- Quintana, Floyd, Sale, Liriano

Cle- Peavy, Quintana, Floyd

 

Sale would be in line for Game 1 of the ALDS or 163 at Detroit.

[2nd_city_saint787]

Fancy, I like.

 

Q has been lights out when it's light out. 1.81 ERA in 8 games, 6 starts

Edited September 16, 2012 by 2nd_city_saint787

[Jake]

The most users ever at this website was over 700 on July 16, 2007. I can't for the life of me figure out what happened on this day that is interesting.

[The Ultimate Champion]

The most users ever at this website was over 700 on July 16, 2007. I can't for the life of me figure out what happened on this day that is interesting.

Mark Buehrle or Jermaine Dye related probably?

 

Mark made a couple starts that a lot of us thought would have been his last in a Sox uniform. JD rumors were flying around then IIRC.

 

Otherwise, possibly Bobby Jenks breaking the consective batters retired streak?

 

Actually, knowing this site, it was probably one of Andy Gonzalez's 3 error Chuckie Knoblach butterfinger days. Man, if you took Andy off that '07 team we'd have gone 155-7 that season, we were so awesome.

[kapkomet]

The most users ever at this website was over 700 on July 16, 2007. I can't for the life of me figure out what happened on this day that is interesting.

 

 

It was when we switched servers and the web spiders hit the new site all at once. Exciting enough for you?

[Kyyle23]

So I was Googling Dayan Viciedo when I accidently clicked the first Google auto complete and found... this

 

New avatar time for me!

 

Don't you dare change that avatar

[Jake]

Is it possible for me to use mlb.tv to view tomorrow's game after its finished w/o seeing the score?

[witesoxfan]

He should get 3 more starts right?

 

If he can hit 20 wins and the Sox win the division while the Rays don't, it could give him an edge over Price.

 

Also: Damn, Gio. I know wite broke this down in the greatest way possible, but if there was a mythical future where all moves don't create a domino effect and we could still have Gio, along with Sale, goddamn.

 

That's a future without the feathered serpent, and that's a future I don't want.

[witesoxfan]

Thoughts from the games: Sale was incredible, per the usual. I don't know how anybody ever hits that slider, because from our seats, you could just see how far that thing was bending. It was unreal. Most of the team actually looked pretty good at the plate except De Aza. He was in between and struggling to identify pitches all game. The best idea he had was dropping one down the line, and it went just foul.

 

Game 2 was awesome too and was total vindication for that stupid game two years ago. You sort of knew Liriano was going to lose it, you just hoped it wasn't going to be something big...atleast it wasn't too big. When Reed came out, I yelled "Get 3 Addison." He obviously thought I meant get the first 3 on, because I was experiencing total deja vu. Thankfully Thornton, who obviously sucks, came in and was incredible. It really is a cool feeling going from one side of the emotional spectrum to the other, and having 30,000 people do the exact opposite of you. The LF bleachers literally went from everybody standing up going crazy and me sitting on my ass to them sitting and me acting like a psychotic freak in a matter of 4.2 seconds.

 

At this point in time, the Sox need to go with Myers closing, because Reed simply can't handle it right now. I still view him as the closer of the future, but he needs to do something mechanically to change up his style. I also think he might be tipping his pitches too.

 

Oh, and that ball AJ hit...I knew the second I saw Revere running around out in CF that it was being caught.

Edited September 17, 2012 by witesoxfan

[caulfield12]

CLEVELAND -- The Tigers' clubhouse was dead silent Sunday evening after a sloppy, depressing, dejecting, demoralizing, painful loss to the Indians.

 

Jose Valverde put on a suit and buttoned his shirt, and tied his tie, and slipped on his vest, then faced the media.

 

Pitching for the third straight game -- he swears his arm felt great and his velocity was up -- Valverde blew a save as the Indians got a dramatic, 7-6 come-from-behind victory.

 

"I feel good," Valverde said. "Sometimes, you have to give credit to the hitter, too."

 

And that was it.

 

The Tigers packed their bags and jumped on a plane and headed for Chicago for a showdown today against the White Sox.

 

One game.

 

Winner take, well, one game.

 

But that one game is crucial for the Tigers.

 

Because they are now two games behind the White Sox in the American League Central.

 

And if they fall three back, well, that might be too much to overcome.

 

One for the books

If the Tigers fail to catch the White Sox.

 

If they fail to make the playoffs.

 

If they break the hearts of countless fans.

 

If they miss the playoffs by one game -- why does that seem inevitable at this point?

 

It might come down to Sunday in Cleveland.

 

It was the day Alex Avila collided with Prince Fielder as they tried to catch a foul ball.

 

Quick note: Never, ever run face-first into Fielder's elbow; it's just not good for your dentures. As a general rule, a face always loses to an elbow.

 

Avila suffered a sprained jaw.

 

"It looked like a knockout punch," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.

 

It was the day Leyland was ejected for arguing the second of three close calls at first base. "I thought all three guys were out, or I wouldn't have been out there," Leyland said. "They were unbelievable, bang-bang plays. ... Emotions run high this time of year."

 

It was the day Drew Smyly pitched fantastic in relief.

 

It was a day the Tigers played sloppy and botched several plays.

 

It was the day the Tigers wasted a dramatic seventh-inning home run by Miguel Cabrera. As several thousand Tigers fans chanted, "MVP! MVP!" Cabrera looked like one as he blasted a 402-foot home run to give the Tigers a 6-5 lead.

 

And everything seemed perfect, everything seemed magical, until that disastrous ninth inning.

 

"We were asking a lot of Valverde today, but he threw the ball well," Leyland said. "He had better velocity than he's had the last couple of nights. ... He's been fantastic."

 

Jackson hurting

And finally, it was the day Austin Jackson spent most of the game in the trainer's room, getting treatment on an injured ankle.

 

As his teammates packed their bags, Jackson sat at his locker, wearing an ankle brace. He didn't play Sunday after suffering an injured left ankle while crashing into the wall Saturday.

 

"It was real tight and sore," Jackson said. "We worked on it during the game, trying to get some of the swelling out. It worked pretty well with the treatment we did. Hopefully, today, we can do some more things to loosen it up before the game."

 

He looked at his ankle.

 

He plans to play today.

 

Because this is just so much fun and dramatic.

 

"Honestly, all the games matter from here on out," Jackson said. "All of the games have a lot of pressure on them, to be honest with you."

 

Must-win game?

It is almost impossible to predict what this team will do.

 

Suddenly, the Tigers are bruised and battered, heading to Chicago for a game that is as close to must-win as it gets.

 

It will be the last time the Tigers face the White Sox -- in the regular season, at least.

 

The Tigers will start Doug Fister, who has looked brilliant lately.

 

The White Sox will counter with Jose Quintana, a rookie left-hander who gave the Tigers fits in his last start, holding them to one run in 7 2/3 innings.

 

So today means everything.

 

A win and they still have a chance. A loss and they will need some serious help.

 

If ever there is a day to ... hmm ... come down with a strange debilitating illness, preventing you from going to work, and forcing you to sit in front of your television right around 2 p.m. to spend some quality time with Rod and Mario -- this is it.

 

Cough away, Detroit!

 

Today is sick day in the Motor City.

www.freep.com/sports (SIEDEL)