*Official* 4-12 Swisher strikes again; CLE 1 SOX 0 Postgamer

[Soxman219]

Originally Posted by thomas35forever

Yeah, it's all his fault nobody else could deliver.

Fine, but he played a bigger part by getting caught stealing by like 5 miles and that horrible bunting attempt.

[DonnieDarko]

Originally Posted by Soxman219

Fine, but he played a bigger part by getting caught stealing by like 5 miles and that horrible bunting attempt.

In his defense, the getting caught stealing was the Indians reading the hit and run and neutralizing it. Ramirez really shouldn't be faulted for that one.

And on the bunt that should be more on Ventura than Ramirez. He should not have been bunting for a sacrifice, and Ventura should have known that.

[WhiteSox5187]

Originally Posted by Frater Perdurabo

Did the Yankees have problems with him in the clubhouse? If not, I wonder if his clubhouse issues were more a matter of not falling in line with Ozzie as clubhouse leader, combined with his abject underperformance.

Originally Posted by Viva Medias B's

His act was tolerable when he was producing and we were winning, but when things go south, he becomes a liability. I don't recall any other Sox players shedding tears when he left.

I don't think it was tolerated that much. There was a Deadspin chat with a sports writer for the NY Post and he was asked what is the one story that people aren't talking enough about and he said "how everyone in the Yankees clubhouse hates Nick Swisher."

[WhiteSox5187]

Originally Posted by Soxman219

Fine, but he played a bigger part by getting caught stealing by like 5 miles and that horrible bunting attempt.

That was a blown hit and run.

[Lip Man 1]

You can't win if you can't score.

0-4 RISP tonight.

Now 9-62 RISP so far this season.

.250, .154, .162, .212, .154, .000...the season batting averages of six of the nine Sox starters after tonight's game.

Brutal, just brutal.

--------------------------------

Regarding Ramirez and bunting, I've posted in the past being told by some who cover the Sox regularly that Alexei does not like to bunt, and his efforts to do it are half hearted at best. He simply flat out hates being asked to bunt and it shows.

Lip

[Red Barchetta]

New pants: 0-4! Bring back the tuxedo double stripe!

[blandman]

Originally Posted by Lip Man 1

You can't win if you can't score.

0-4 RISP tonight.

Now 9-62 RISP so far this season.

.250, .154, .162, .212, .154, .000...the season batting averages of six of the nine Sox starters after tonight's game.

Brutal, just brutal.

--------------------------------

Regarding Ramirez and bunting, I've posted in the past being told by some who cover the Sox regularly that Alexei does not like to bunt, and his efforts to do it are half hearted at best. He simply flat out hates being asked to bunt and it shows.

Lip

We knew the offense would be bad going in. Gotta win a lot of 1-0, 2-1 games if we're to survive.

[Lip Man 1]

On the season the Sox are hitting .145 with runners in scoring position. Don't know if that's the worst in baseball at this time but if it isn't, I'd hate to be the team who is.

Also in the postgame recap by Gonzo, Robin said (paraphrasing) 'it wasn't Ramirez's fault he couldn't get the bunt down, Masterson's pitches were moving all over the place...' Just FYI.

Blandman...unless you've got the Sox pitching staff's from the late 1950's or the mid 1960's it going to be hard to win a bunch of those type games. No disrespect to the current pitching staff but they don't remind me of those staff's. Those guys back in the day were incredibly good.

Lip

[Zakath]

On the positive side, Alex Rios's hitting streak has now reached 16 games (including the last 6 of 2012).

Shame we can't seem to put anything around him.

[Lip Man 1]

Zakath:

Great! Rios will bring more at the trade deadline if he's playing good! LOL.

Sorry...had to do it.

Lip

[PushinWeight]

On a bright note ill take the nose dive the sox appear they are headed down than the gut wretching September collapse last season.

[BainesHOF]

Something needs to be done short-term and long-term about Ramirez's bunting.

Short-term, I'd bench him for two games if possible. It's one thing to not execute the bunt. It's another to approach the two attempts like he did. Ramirez should be completely embarrassed that he doesn't know how to sacrifice bunt as a veteran shortstop.

Long-term, he needs to arrive early to practice bunting until he at least approaches bunting properly. This problem needs to be corrected at last. It reflects poorly on Guillen and Ventura that they allowed Ramirez to get away with his poor attitude toward bunting for so long.

[shingo10]

Knew Robin would have hard nights as he had never coached at any level before and he has but managing this team has to be one of the most thankless jobs there is out there right now.

The fanbase is beyond fed up, he hasn't exactly had much to work with and the injuries have piled up over the past two years. One thing I'll say is that they have shown some fight this year and that is a credit to him and the coaching staff. Because we all remember 2011.

Mercy.

[WhiteSox5187]

Originally Posted by BainesHOF

Something needs to be done short-term and long-term about Ramirez's bunting.

Short-term, I'd bench him for two games if possible. It's one thing to not execute the bunt. It's another to approach the two attempts like he did. Ramirez should be completely embarrassed that he doesn't know how to sacrifice bunt as a veteran shortstop.

Long-term, he needs to arrive early to practice bunting until he at least approaches bunting properly. This problem needs to be corrected at last. It reflects poorly on Guillen and Ventura that they allowed Ramirez to get away with his poor attitude toward bunting for so long.

There isn't much you can do. I seem to recall reading where Ozzie spent awhile trying to get him to learn how to bunt back in 2009 or so, at the end of the day if a guy doesn't want to bunt he is not going to bunt. I suppose you COULD bench him but it's not like we are talking about a 20 year old rookie here. Alexei is a veteran and knows his role on the team and I suspect he also knows that there is no one else on the roster who can play short.

[Zakath]

Originally Posted by Lip Man 1

Zakath:

Great! Rios will bring more at the trade deadline if he's playing good! LOL.

Sorry...had to do it.

Lip

Does seem to be an all-too common trend among Sox fans. As soon as someone is doing really well, a significant faction of our fanbase is trying to see what prospects we can get if we trade them away...