southsider2k5 Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Such a strange season. Not a bad start, a great middle, and a mess of a September. The Sox are almost exactly where I expected them to be, though I figured they would start slower, and finish better. I think I am actually more optimistic right now than I was about 2013 early in 2012, because of what guys like Sale/Quintana and the rookies in the pen did this year, plus some of our prospects made great runs this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyyle23 Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 On the 2012 headstone These White Sox Started off slow, but pace got fast Offensively a Pox But for sure, this team ran out of gas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 09:03 AM) On the 2012 headstone These White Sox Started off slow, but pace got fast Offensively a Pox But for sure, this team ran out of gas Ran out of gas or got a couple of flat tires sounds about right. They wouldn't have been in position to win if they hadn't pushed their pitchers like Sale, Quintana and Peavy earlier. De Aza gets hurt, Youkilis is breaking down, Dunn pulls a muscle, Konerko needs wrist surgery a ton of rookie pitchers......for a team that was flawed to begin with its asking a lot for them to keep overcoming these things. I thought they would, but I don't think the future is nearly as dark as some think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 This should be a very interesting offseason. We potentially have some money to spend, we have some important FA pieces, and it could be argued that we're just an upgrade or two away from a well over 90 win team (there's a conversation to be had about whether we were that if healthy this year). We could also let everyone go (FA-wise) and then are a trade or two away from a rebuilding project. I have no idea why we'd try to do a full rebuild when we already have some nice pieces and aren't really having problems with payroll as is. I wouldn't be upset if we aren't really aggressive and enter the season with a team that appears to be .500. This could allow us to take chances on any prospects we want to look at throughout the season and as always we'd be just a couple strokes of luck away from being very good. Gordon Beckham turnaround, a prime year from Konerko, a prime year from Youk if he comes back, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyyle23 Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 i couldnt make flat tires rhyme Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 09:11 AM) Ran out of gas or got a couple of flat tires sounds about right. They wouldn't have been in position to win if they hadn't pushed their pitchers like Sale, Quintana and Peavy earlier. De Aza gets hurt, Youkilis is breaking down, Dunn pulls a muscle, Konerko needs wrist surgery a ton of rookie pitchers......for a team that was flawed to begin with its asking a lot for them to keep overcoming these things. I thought they would, but I don't think the future is nearly as dark as some think. The funny thing is we really handled those starting pitchers with kid gloves throughout most of the season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ultimate Champion Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Time for the eulogy. Where is soxwon/Da Reverend when you need him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swingandalongonetoleft Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 08:12 AM) i couldnt make flat tires rhyme Brett Myers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty34 Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Overall, the Sox took half-measures to address their glaring weaknesses and it cost them postseason baseball. Time to rebuild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyyle23 Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 09:22 AM) Brett Myers Feel free to write your own headstone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 A team predicted to finish around 4th, who lost their best starting pitcher (at the point of opening day) in May, had Paulie and Dunn hurting, lost their starting 3B (first to a lack of bat, then to an injury), employed 10 rookie relievers, and had 3 of 5 SP's going waaaaay past their previous inning loads... and yet, they somehow spent roughly half the season in first place, and were in it until the last series of the season. The disappointment hurts, but RV and his coaches deserve a ton of credit for putting the team in a much better position than most thought possible. And KW having his best season yet in terms of in-season moves, made all the right ones this year, to keep them in it. Rios, Dunn and Peavy all with great comebacks. All those folks deserve a lot of credit. No season is a full success without the playoffs, but as for all points below that, there are lots of shades. This team outperformed expectations in a big way. Can't give them an A with no post-season, but I'd go a solid B, maybe B+. I also really like how they set up for next year, in terms of getting a lot of young guys developed. Nice to see for a change. Should be an interesting offseason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 09:25 AM) Overall, the Sox took half-measures to address their glaring weaknesses and it cost them postseason baseball. Time to rebuild. Says the guy who wanted Juan Pierre and Big Z. LMAO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ultimate Champion Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 09:25 AM) Feel free to write your own headstone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleHurt05 Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 09:41 AM) A team predicted to finish around 4th, who lost their best starting pitcher (at the point of opening day) in May, had Paulie and Dunn hurting, lost their starting 3B (first to a lack of bat, then to an injury), employed 10 rookie relievers, and had 3 of 5 SP's going waaaaay past their previous inning loads... and yet, they somehow spent roughly half the season in first place, and were in it until the last series of the season. He went on the DL in May, but you can almost say that you didn't have Danks the entire season, he never was himself. That shoulder was obviously bothering him the whole time, as his 5.70 ERA can attest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty34 Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 09:41 AM) Says the guy who wanted Juan Pierre and Big Z. LMAO. You were the level-headed guy, admonishing anyone who was on the ledge. Turns out you could not have been more wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamshack Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Ugh...these sob's just had to win 11-0 last night to piss me off even further...massive choke job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Chappas Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 09:25 AM) Overall, the Sox took half-measures to address their glaring weaknesses and it cost them postseason baseball. Time to rebuild. No it is not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoSox05 Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Really fun year until September. It will be interesting to see where the team goes from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 09:52 AM) You were the level-headed guy, admonishing anyone who was on the ledge. Turns out you could not have been more wrong. No. The team is not the disaster some think it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 I don't see how we can blame september on pitching. Short of getting a string of shutouts, when we were in the race and trying desperately not to lose, I couldn't help but look at the offense and wonder how we had gotten to this point. I feel like we rarely had a lead in the first 5 innings on ANY of the games in september. We were constantly shut out the first 5 innings and playing catch up. Our offense was just awful in september. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flavum Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 This team is in need of a new coat of paint. Short of changing the uniforms, they are in need of a new approach, a new attitude, and some athletic players with some balls. You can't just bash homers against bad to mediocre starters and win playoff spots. You have to occasionally beat good pitchers by being athletic and scrap a few runs. I hope Rick Hahn changes some things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 (edited) QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 10:22 AM) I don't see how we can blame september on pitching. Short of getting a string of shutouts, when we were in the race and trying desperately not to lose, I couldn't help but look at the offense and wonder how we had gotten to this point. I feel like we rarely had a lead in the first 5 innings on ANY of the games in september. We were constantly shut out the first 5 innings and playing catch up. Our offense was just awful in september. De Aza, Dunn and Konerko all hurt and Youkilis beat up will do that to an offense. Its easy to say its a choke, especially after they score at will once its all over, but as was stated previously, the tank was at E. There aren't many teams that can play with their 1,2,3 and 4 hitters hurt and score consistently. The Sox were really beat up this year. Probably more beat up than any year I can remember. Edited October 2, 2012 by Dick Allen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 07:11 AM) Ran out of gas or got a couple of flat tires sounds about right. They wouldn't have been in position to win if they hadn't pushed their pitchers like Sale, Quintana and Peavy earlier. De Aza gets hurt, Youkilis is breaking down, Dunn pulls a muscle, Konerko needs wrist surgery a ton of rookie pitchers......for a team that was flawed to begin with its asking a lot for them to keep overcoming these things. I thought they would, but I don't think the future is nearly as dark as some think. Completely agree. Tough ending but it was a pretty fun year and one that has me feeling better about the franchises near term future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ultimate Champion Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 QUOTE (flavum @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 10:24 AM) This team is in need of a new coat of paint. Short of changing the uniforms, they are in need of a new approach, a new attitude, and some athletic players with some balls. You can't just bash homers against bad to mediocre starters and win playoff spots. You have to occasionally beat good pitchers by being athletic and scrap a few runs. I hope Rick Hahn changes some things. The Sox were pathetic this year with the bunt, hitting behind the runner, the hit and run, stealing without getting caught, etc. and they were absolute trash in the second half in terms of converting outs into runs when the situation allowed for it. While getting better in those areas would help, the biggest problems were the bottom of the order giving away ABs with RISP, especially with a man on third and less than 2 outs. Also Robin's insistence on Dunn as a 3 hole hitter hurt, and one of the biggest issues was Paulie's second half. Addressing those areas: First of all, the anti-Dunn stance is questionable at best given the number of key home runs he hit and key runs driven in with base hits. He's just more of a 5/6 hitter than a 3 type. Robin hit him there as a lefty but with AJs year they could have swapped spots. Personally I hope AJ gets his money (and he probably will be low-balled again here) and I hope Dunn is gone just simply because he's owed so much money. We may not have to deal with any of this next year, but even if we don't, true #3 types don't grow on trees. Kenny/Hahn need to be looking at other organizations for another CQ type buy low opportunity. As for the bottom of the lineup, hopefully Viciedo continues to improve and gives away fewer AB next year. If we go toward more of a rebuild, there's a chance Alexei is gone. No matter what, we're probably going to have issues with the bottom of our lineup giving away ABs because those issues apply to most teams out there. Then re: Paulie, there's nothing you can do there other than hope he gets healthy. If you trade him off & hope he gets a last shot at a ring then great, but chances are slim that his production is replaced if that's the case. Bottom line, this team easily had enough to win this division. We should have won this division without question. We blew it. We choked. There's no reason to overreact and change everything just because this team s*** the bed under pressure over the last month and a half. Just keep heading in the same direction if possible and continue to add talent. Forgetting about how good this team was in the first half amnd just focusing on the second could lead to some bad decisions that negatively affect the organization going forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogan873 Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 I'm upset by how it ended, but I was never comfortable with the lead the Sox had. If Detroit had played marginally better baseball (wow, does their defense stick), the Sox would have been chasing them most of the season, not the other way around. It's easy to look back at the past 10-14 days and say wow, holy crap, choke job, etc... However, I think this "collapse" had been coming for a while. Dunn gets hurt, Konerko has been hurt for a while, Youk is falling apart, and the pitching staff has been worked hard. The pitching was actually okay over the stretch where Detroit took over. The offense was almost non-existent, and I think a lot of that had to do with how beat up they are. I still think Robin did a great job with this team. There's no doubt that the new leadership had a big effect on the likes of Dunn, Peavy, and Rios. Sale and Quintana were fantastic for most of the season. The bullpen (or playpen, based on the number of rookies) was incredible. And everything was working until the very end. I'm looking forward to see what happens over the off season. I'm not sure this team will look a lot different, but you never know, especially with Hahn purportedly taking over. No way a rebuild happens. Some retooling, sure. But I expect the 2013 team to contend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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