Why the White Sox anger me
I’m sad to see that the Fire Joe Morgan guys beat me to this little number in Tuesday’s Chicago Tribune.
The headline:
Hit-and-run to join White Sox’s arsenal
Guillen will stress small-ball tactics at camp
Here’s Ozzie Guillen, as quoted by Tribune writer Mark Gonzales:
You’re going to see a lot of crazy stuff in spring training, regardless of the baserunning. You’re going to see hit-and-run [plays] when it’s not a hit-and-run situation. You’re going to see people bunting when it’s not a bunting situation.
Maybe people are going to criticize me for the way we’re playing in spring training, but we have to go with a different approach. In spring training we’re going to turn the switch on right away.
OK, so let me get this straight. In order to improve the team’s likelihood of winning, Guillen is going to hit-and-run and bunt more? At times when doing so would be absolutely, positively, strategically incorrect?
I just don’t get this man.
But nothing frightens me more than the end of the article:
“We need a backup playing shortstop,” Guillen said, which could mean that Alex Cintron could be dealt or not tendered a contract by Dec. 12.
“Right now the decision between [Juan] Uribe and someone else we don’t know yet. We want Uribe to lose some weight and show up in shape.”
The Sox could give Uribe a $300,000 buyout and attempt to re-sign him if they fail to land a free agent like David Eckstein, who can bat leadoff and play shortstop, or fail to trade for a younger shortstop.
Judgment day is approaching rapidly. I’ve said it a hundred times and I’ll say it again: If David Eckstein is wearing a White Sox uniform at any time during his or my lifetime, I will disavow any loyalty I ever felt toward the White Sox.
Just, out.
October 26th, 2007 at 7:56 am
I can’t wait for some clueless fan to tell us that hitting and running and small ball tactics are smart strategies and that the White Sox World Series had anything at all to do with these tactics. Is there a Gerg in the house?
If Thome, Dye, or Konerko ever have to lay down a sacrifice bunt, Guillen should be fired on the spot. What a joke!
October 27th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
You’re too hard on Eckstein.
October 28th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Well, let’s see here…
Eckstein is a career .286/.351/.362 hitter (.713 OPS) which makes him average in terms of getting on base and well below average in terms of power. He has 30 HR in 3772 career ABs. Of his 1079 career hits, only 209 are XBH. In the last 3 years, Eckstein has stolen a total of 28 bases while being caught 15 times. That 65% success ratio is well below the 76% ratio needed to earn wins for your team. Therefore, Eckstein is an average on base guy who brings little speed and little power to a lineup.
Plus, he’s completely miscast as a SS. I’ve never seen a SS have a worse arm than Eckstein’s, and he doesn’t have great range. What does he do well? Oh, I forgot, he’s gritty.
October 29th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
I don’t think Eckstein is a great, or even good player. But how much worse is he than Uribe? And is having him on your team a good enough reason to stop being a fan of your team? I don’t think so.
October 30th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
I agree, as a Cubs fan, I think it is time for Ozzie to say “bye-bye”. Small ball is a wonderful way to run a team, but you need people to hit for average to make it work. That was the problem this year. How does a whole team not hit for average and the manager not get blame? How did Ozzie get and extension? Oh well, let me get back to cheering for a losing team!
October 31st, 2007 at 2:46 am
Thanks for your “as a Cubs fan” disclaimer — it provides a handy sign to basically ignore everything that follows in your post.
As for Eckstein, I completely understand the point. It’s less about his lifetime numbers than the fact that he’s wiener extraordinaire, DAVID ECKSTEIN. God forbid the Sox go after some truly high profilers…apparently Ozzie and Kenny read Moneyball a few too many times and failed to realize that the White Sox are, in fact, a big market team.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed for next year ladies and gentlemen.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:39 am
Actually, Mark, I think that Ozzie and Kenny didn’t EVER read Moneyball. If they did, they wouldn’t be interested in a mediocre on-base, zero power, no arm shortstop. If Ozzie and Kenny had read Moneyball, they’d be smarter. They wouldn’t hit and run. They wouldn’t bunt. They wouldn’t be driving a successful team underground.
Small ball is stupid, and it doesn’t work. The White Sox won in 2005 because they got absolutely incredible pitching the entire season from starters who haven’t reproduced their magic and from a bullpen that completely fell apart one year later. Look at the names that had career years: Dustin Hermanson, Neil Cotts, DaMaso Marte, Cliff Pollitte. Where are these guys? They suck now, but they were all awesome that one year. Small ball didn’t win. Good pitching won.
October 31st, 2007 at 10:13 am
First off dave you are an idiot for disowning your team. I truly don’t think you are a white sox fan anymore, you are just a fan of complaining now a days. but continue to whine, supposedly it sells. works for jay mariotti.
Point two it has always been stated konerko, thome, and dye would not be involved in the bunting drills. everytime guillen talks bout puttin the team through these practices he has said the big 3 are never invovled.
Eckstein I agree with, it would be hard to stomach seein him out there let alone any other ex-angel. but as for now its all pure speculation and i feel KW will do the right thing.
Small ball. whats so bad? it creates opportunities. It may not work directly everytime, but it keeps opposing teams on the edge. It makes your team less predictable, makes the other team nervous, which leads to mistakes. How many times do u see a pitcher freak out in pressure situations with a base stealing threat on first? quite often. make a bad pitch with a player trying to bunt? small ball creates these opportunities
alright dave hit me with the stats from the BP. i will throughly enjoy each and every one of them.
October 31st, 2007 at 10:46 am
Gerg, it doesn’t take stats to state why small ball is dumb. It takes common sense. What is the most precious commodity in baseball? Outs, of course. You only get 3 per inning. To score runs, you must avoid getting out. That is why on base percentage is so important. Sacrifice bunting wastes an out. Stealing bases at a success ratio of less than 76% costs your team outs (and runs). Now, this seems counterintuitive because you would think that having a guy on 2nd with 1 out gives you a much better chance to score than having a guy on 1st with one out (and you’d be right). However, the number of runs that you lose by that runner getting thrown out actually outweighs the benefit. That’s the reason for the 76% number (yes, that comes from BP).
If you have a baserunner that will be over 76% successful in stealing bases, then I’m all for stealing. It does create pressure, and it does create runs and wins.
Podsednik: 70% success in 2007, 68% success in 2006
Richar: 25% success in 2007
Owens: 80% success in 2007 (does that overcome a .312 SLG?)
Ozuna: 100% success in 2007 (3/3), 50% success in 2006
Eckstein: 65% success over past 3 seasons
Based on this information, Ozzie should state that Jerry Owens is going to try to steal every time he gets on base next year. That would be a smart move. However, Owens didn’t really show a penchant for getting on base. Maybe he’ll be better his sophomore year.
In conclusion, bunting is bad and stealing with the wrong personnel is bad. At this point, the Sox only have 1 baserunner who they should attempt to steal with every time. Other runners may depend on reading the pitcher properly or taking advantage of pitchers with slow deliveries. Anything else is silly. Small ball doesn’t work and it costs your team runs. Ozzie should read Moneyball because it is smart baseball (see Red Sox, Boston and A’s, Oakland for success stories in last 10 years).
David, I fully support your disdain for your favorite team. I have gone through phases with my own. Rest peacefully knowing that the Sox declined their option on Erstad today.
November 1st, 2007 at 1:49 pm
love this comment…
Daily News: we reported the yanks trying to trade for crede…if they get him and cabrera is their team actually better offensively and defensivly then they were last year?
SportsNation Keith Law: (1:57 PM ET ) Am I unaware of some parallel universe where Joe Crede is a good baseball player? Crede is terrible, and he’s coming off a major injury. No thank you.