- Don’t be worried about Buehrle. As South Side Sox points out, Buehrle has struggled against good teams his entire career, so maybe yesterday’s beat down isn’t too surprising. The Indians certainly qualify as a good team, and even though I picked them to win the World Series based primarily on pitching, any lineup with Hafner, Sizemore, Garko, and the legendary Jason Michaels (who, if you believe Hawk, is basically Ted Williams against the Sox) can give a pitcher trouble, even one as good as Buehrle. I’m still thinking we’ll see Buehrle’s 2008 performance look more like 07 than 06.
- Joe Crede sucks. You cannot convinced me that, at this point, he is a better baseball player than Josh Fields. The decision to give the job to Crede not only hurts the Sox future a little, it also affects them right now. I know that eighth inning double was huge, but Crede looked lost in every other at-bat. How many high fast balls did he wiff at against Sabathia? Since this doesn’t deserve it’s own bullet point (I’m running low on ammo), Uribe- and this should surprise no one- can follow him out the door.
- I love the potential of Alexei Ramirez, but he’s a 26-year old Cuban rookie, which means he’s probably 32. Maybe his ceiling isn’t as high as some believe. Still, Ramirez is an intriguing player, no doubt. He’ll probably see a steady diet of breaking balls this year, since it’s pretty well known that he pounds heaters, and I was impressed/shocked that he even drew a walk today. The guy just swings at everything. Still, if he’s going to start on this team, it should be at second base. Quentin or Anderson should have his spot in the outfield.
- There is no way Crede was tagged out at home in the eighth. That really hurt. The Sox just aren’t good enough to overcome calls like that. The other two questionable calls- the throw to first to get AJ and O-Cab’s double play breakup- I think could have went either way. As Hawk noted in the broadcast, you don’t see the interference call all that often.
- Swisher = animal. Great trade by Kenny. Swisher is already one of the Sox three best players.
- Orlando Cabrera…yikes. I really don’t like that trade at all. For having a reputation as such a slick fielding shortstop, he kind of has a weak arm. I mean, everyone hates Uribe and all, but seeing the difference in velocity from those two is like going from JaMarcus Russell to Shane Mathews.
- What the lineup should be: 1. SS Cabrera, 2. CF Swisher, 3. DH Thome, 4. 1B Konerko, 5. RF Dye, 6. C Pierzynski, 7. 3B Fields, 8. LF Quentin, 9. 2B Ramirez
Prevailing feeling: The Sox are going to be fun to watch this year, even if they don’t win a ton of games. Coming off terrible seasons from the Bears and Bulls, this Sox campaign will be much easier to get through as a fan. I like this team already, and am genuinely excited for early season baseball, which is unusual.
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Comments
I think the Swisher trade is going to be great for the team as well. He can play and he is going to help the team chemistry as well. Everytime I saw him yesterday he was congratulating a teammate or trying to encourage the team when they were down. The team won't have the same attitude as last year with him on the team.
Alexi and Swisher are great, and I agree with you on that. But I wouldn't doubt Crede's ability just yet. He's coming off of a back injured year, and with the injury, it loses a little confidence, no matter how confident he says he feels. He says he's confident facing mediocre pitchers in the Spring. He even showed us some magic in late in the game. I think he'll turn it around like the one we saw in '06 by May, and there will be no doubt about having Crede in the Big Leagues than Fields. In my opinion, if Crede CAN in fact have a good opening, why not trade Fields for a well 1 or 2 starter.
Also, I think Juan Uribe should be shot and deported back to his country. Have Ramirez at 2nd, Swisher in Center, and Anderson in left. All I heard ALL FUCKIN SPRING long was how good Anderson has been playin, so why not give him one more shot. If he fails, never let him see a major league ball park again.
JT: Either Anderson or Quentin should start in the outfield. I hope you're right about Crede too, and maybe that's a bit of overreaction on my part. I just thought he looked lost at the plate yesterday, but he did make a few nice defensive plays. Also, if you shoot Uribe, you don't have to deport him. He'll just be dead.
And yes, Swisher is a beast (he got on 3 of 4 times yesterday) and seeing the Tigers lose is great. My Tigers venom is nothing compared to yours Beau, but it's still nice to see them lose and not stockpile early season wins.
As I am forced to watch our division rivals the Detroit Tigers (even though their talent is amazing) it is always fun to see an opening day lose to the Royals. Just watching a game again feels great. And a funny comment was made by Rod Allen during the game, and I quote....."Detroit is the best sports town in America".....I couldn't disagree more. Hockeytown? Yes, that they are but considering about 15 minutes earlier in the broadcast they interviewed a guy in the stands that called himself a "die-hard fan" because he has had season tickets since the year they went to the world series. The interviewer actually called him out on it and said he was a bandwagon fan. But that is typical of about 90% of Tigers fans....just wait until the Lions get good in 50 years