The Official Sammy! Update Thread ©

[SouthSideRyan]

Sammy lovers - 1, 2, 3 attack!

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=keri/070430&sportCat=mlb

 

By coming out of retirement to chase the 600-homer mark, Sammy Sosa is helping no one but himself.

 

 

Sosa's seven homers have him tied for third in the AL with Vlad and Big Papi, behind only teammate Ian Kinsler and A-Rod. Three of those bombs came Thursday and Friday night, and Sosa rolled up eight RBIs in a five-game stretch last week. The homers and RBIs are swell. But Sosa's going to be an offensive liability this season even if he blows by the 600-homer mark and hits 25-30 bombs. That's because even at his current scorching pace, he's hitting only .232, with a woeful .300 on-base percentage. Against right-handed pitchers, it's even uglier -- a .253 OBP. Put another way, when Sosa faces a right-handed pitcher, he hurts his team three times out of four.

 

 

The Rangers have plenty of other problems. Their starting pitching is still shaky; Hank Blalock hasn't turned out to be the player they expected; and a bunch of regulars are off to slow starts. But Ron Washington's recent proclamation that Sosa is an everyday player will only make things worse. Watch a few Rangers games, and you'll see that he's swinging for the fences every time, aiming only for homers to pad his career total and not concerning himself with trifles such as singles and doubles.

 

 

Josh Towers, a journeyman pitcher for the Blue Jays, said it best. After giving up a homer to Sosa Friday night, Towers didn't speak in reverent tones about the No. 5 home run hitter of all time. He hung his head in shame instead. "It's embarrassing," Towers lamented. "I know how many homers he's hit, but he's got so many holes [in his swing]."

 

Only jerks think about themselves. What a selfish jerk.

 

I think this is when Sammy Sosa says, "Who's Josh Towers?"

 

How dare anyone criticize the mighty Sammy.

 

How dare Josh Towers say anything. About anyone.

[J.R.]

I'm sick over this.

[Chris]

:(

[Flames24Rulz]

Sammy lovers - 1, 2, 3 attack!

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=keri/070430&sportCat=mlb

 

By coming out of retirement to chase the 600-homer mark, Sammy Sosa is helping no one but himself.

 

 

Sosa's seven homers have him tied for third in the AL with Vlad and Big Papi, behind only teammate Ian Kinsler and A-Rod. Three of those bombs came Thursday and Friday night, and Sosa rolled up eight RBIs in a five-game stretch last week. The homers and RBIs are swell. But Sosa's going to be an offensive liability this season even if he blows by the 600-homer mark and hits 25-30 bombs. That's because even at his current scorching pace, he's hitting only .232, with a woeful .300 on-base percentage. Against right-handed pitchers, it's even uglier -- a .253 OBP. Put another way, when Sosa faces a right-handed pitcher, he hurts his team three times out of four.

 

 

The Rangers have plenty of other problems. Their starting pitching is still shaky; Hank Blalock hasn't turned out to be the player they expected; and a bunch of regulars are off to slow starts. But Ron Washington's recent proclamation that Sosa is an everyday player will only make things worse. Watch a few Rangers games, and you'll see that he's swinging for the fences every time, aiming only for homers to pad his career total and not concerning himself with trifles such as singles and doubles.

 

 

Josh Towers, a journeyman pitcher for the Blue Jays, said it best. After giving up a homer to Sosa Friday night, Towers didn't speak in reverent tones about the No. 5 home run hitter of all time. He hung his head in shame instead. "It's embarrassing," Towers lamented. "I know how many homers he's hit, but he's got so many holes [in his swing]."

 

Only jerks think about themselves. What a selfish jerk.

 

I think this is when Sammy Sosa says, "Who's Josh Towers?"

 

I've noticed a lot of pitchers/managers have been saying this about Sammy this year.

 

Tip your cap to the guy and move on. The guy is 38 and he's still hitting HR's at a pretty good rate. He's one of the best HR hitters to ever play the game. There's nothing embarassing about it.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Ugh, I hope Sammy is ok.

[snoodmonger]

Sammy lovers - 1, 2, 3 attack!

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=keri/070430&sportCat=mlb

 

By coming out of retirement to chase the 600-homer mark, Sammy Sosa is helping no one but himself.

 

 

Sosa's seven homers have him tied for third in the AL with Vlad and Big Papi, behind only teammate Ian Kinsler and A-Rod. Three of those bombs came Thursday and Friday night, and Sosa rolled up eight RBIs in a five-game stretch last week. The homers and RBIs are swell. But Sosa's going to be an offensive liability this season even if he blows by the 600-homer mark and hits 25-30 bombs. That's because even at his current scorching pace, he's hitting only .232, with a woeful .300 on-base percentage. Against right-handed pitchers, it's even uglier -- a .253 OBP. Put another way, when Sosa faces a right-handed pitcher, he hurts his team three times out of four.

 

 

The Rangers have plenty of other problems. Their starting pitching is still shaky; Hank Blalock hasn't turned out to be the player they expected; and a bunch of regulars are off to slow starts. But Ron Washington's recent proclamation that Sosa is an everyday player will only make things worse. Watch a few Rangers games, and you'll see that he's swinging for the fences every time, aiming only for homers to pad his career total and not concerning himself with trifles such as singles and doubles.

 

 

Josh Towers, a journeyman pitcher for the Blue Jays, said it best. After giving up a homer to Sosa Friday night, Towers didn't speak in reverent tones about the No. 5 home run hitter of all time. He hung his head in shame instead. "It's embarrassing," Towers lamented. "I know how many homers he's hit, but he's got so many holes [in his swing]."

 

Only jerks think about themselves. What a selfish jerk.

 

I think this is when Sammy Sosa says, "Who's Josh Towers?"

 

I've noticed a lot of pitchers/managers have been saying this about Sammy this year.

 

Tip your cap to the guy and move on. The guy is 38 and he's still hitting HR's at a pretty good rate. He's one of the best HR hitters to ever play the game. There's nothing embarassing about it.

 

seriously. Josh Towers and his 5+ ERA and .300 BAA hasn't exactly been mystifying the opposition. Don't know why it's so embarrassing to get smacked around by one of the game's all time greats.

[soccer10k]

I hope Sammy isn't seriously hurt.

[soccer10k]

Sammy lovers - 1, 2, 3 attack!

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=keri/070430&sportCat=mlb

 

By coming out of retirement to chase the 600-homer mark, Sammy Sosa is helping no one but himself.

 

 

Sosa's seven homers have him tied for third in the AL with Vlad and Big Papi, behind only teammate Ian Kinsler and A-Rod. Three of those bombs came Thursday and Friday night, and Sosa rolled up eight RBIs in a five-game stretch last week. The homers and RBIs are swell. But Sosa's going to be an offensive liability this season even if he blows by the 600-homer mark and hits 25-30 bombs. That's because even at his current scorching pace, he's hitting only .232, with a woeful .300 on-base percentage. Against right-handed pitchers, it's even uglier -- a .253 OBP. Put another way, when Sosa faces a right-handed pitcher, he hurts his team three times out of four.

 

 

The Rangers have plenty of other problems. Their starting pitching is still shaky; Hank Blalock hasn't turned out to be the player they expected; and a bunch of regulars are off to slow starts. But Ron Washington's recent proclamation that Sosa is an everyday player will only make things worse. Watch a few Rangers games, and you'll see that he's swinging for the fences every time, aiming only for homers to pad his career total and not concerning himself with trifles such as singles and doubles.

 

 

Josh Towers, a journeyman pitcher for the Blue Jays, said it best. After giving up a homer to Sosa Friday night, Towers didn't speak in reverent tones about the No. 5 home run hitter of all time. He hung his head in shame instead. "It's embarrassing," Towers lamented. "I know how many homers he's hit, but he's got so many holes [in his swing]."

 

Only jerks think about themselves. What a selfish jerk.

 

I think this is when Sammy Sosa says, "Who's Josh Towers?"

 

How dare anyone criticize the mighty Sammy.

 

For some reason (well, a few of them) I don't really think it's right for Josh Towers to talk down about Sammy. You know that Josh Towers right? The guy who has a career ERA of 4.90 (ERA+ of 92) and a .300 BAA.

 

I'm not sure why a crappy pitcher is taking shots and somebody who he incorrectly perceives to be crappy.

[muntjack]

Whether or not Towers is bad (he is) really doesn't take away from the fact that he's basically just telling the truth. Sosa is in the majors because he can hit mistakes for homeruns. That's it. He has looked absolutely terrible at the plate. Remember the summer of 2004, when Sosa was flailing at almost everything? He's worse than that now.

[seanimal]

Whether or not Towers is bad (he is) really doesn't take away from the fact that he's basically just telling the truth. Sosa is in the majors because he can hit mistakes for homeruns. That's it. He has looked absolutely terrible at the plate. Remember the summer of 2004, when Sosa was flailing at almost everything? He's worse than that now.

 

Hitting mistakes for homeruns? Jesus, seriously? Is there anybody in the league other than Albert Pujols or Barry Bonds who can hit pitches placed where they were intended for home runs? Get real.

 

Homeruns are by and large, a product of strong hitters being able to take advantage of poorly placed pitches.

[Mizzou]

Whether or not Towers is bad (he is) really doesn't take away from the fact that he's basically just telling the truth. Sosa is in the majors because he can hit mistakes for homeruns. That's it. He has looked absolutely terrible at the plate. Remember the summer of 2004, when Sosa was flailing at almost everything? He's worse than that now.

You haven't actually watched a Rangers game this year, have you?

[jersey cubs fan]

Whether or not Towers is bad (he is) really doesn't take away from the fact that he's basically just telling the truth. Sosa is in the majors because he can hit mistakes for homeruns. That's it. He has looked absolutely terrible at the plate. Remember the summer of 2004, when Sosa was flailing at almost everything? He's worse than that now.

 

Wow this was an incredibly stupid post. If what Sammy is doing is looking bad, I'd love to see some Cubs outfielders do that.

[FergieJ31]

Not a pleasant sight:

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/photo;_ylt=ApbmRDuqiRZE.YjUnB0deLaFCLcF?slug=72cb66b97b784095922433a6f73b73f8.aptopix_yankees_rangers_baseball_arl202&prov=ap

 

Side note: Sammy was replaced by our old friend Victor Diaz - Clemente High School star, Sammy worshipper and Cub killer.

[jersey cubs fan]

Yankees followers have been clamoring for their pitching staff to start hitting guys, don't think for a second this was an accident.

[Soul]

Ahh, the Yankees take a page from the Pirates' playbook.

 

Nice to know the Holy Yankees resort to injuring players when they start to stink. Way to go! :roll:

[Pushfrog98]

I suffered through 2+ hours of ESPN broadcasting last night in hopes of seeing the plunking.

 

I didn't see it. It's possible that they played it when I got up to vomit or something, but part of me thinks that if they showed that, it would tarnish the Yankees, and we know we can't have that!

[UBlink]

Whether or not Towers is bad (he is) really doesn't take away from the fact that he's basically just telling the truth. Sosa is in the majors because he can hit mistakes for homeruns. That's it. He has looked absolutely terrible at the plate. Remember the summer of 2004, when Sosa was flailing at almost everything? He's worse than that now.

 

Wow this was an incredibly stupid post. If what Sammy is doing is looking bad, I'd love to see some Cubs outfielders do that.

 

Agreed. Watching the Rangers this year seeing Sammy come up is always a delight. Just went to MLB.com and looked at some of Sammy's highlights including opposite field doubles as well as HRs. If that's looking terrible...

[jersey cubs fan]

Whether or not Towers is bad (he is) really doesn't take away from the fact that he's basically just telling the truth. Sosa is in the majors because he can hit mistakes for homeruns. That's it. He has looked absolutely terrible at the plate. Remember the summer of 2004, when Sosa was flailing at almost everything? He's worse than that now.

 

Wow this was an incredibly stupid post. If what Sammy is doing is looking bad, I'd love to see some Cubs outfielders do that.

 

Agreed. Watching the Rangers this year seeing Sammy come up is always a delight. Just went to MLB.com and looked at some of Sammy's highlights including opposite field doubles as well as HRs. If that's looking terrible...

 

He did indeed start out looking terrible. But he's been very hot for quite a while now and his overall numbers are more than acceptable.

[Soul]

Whether or not Towers is bad (he is) really doesn't take away from the fact that he's basically just telling the truth. Sosa is in the majors because he can hit mistakes for homeruns. That's it. He has looked absolutely terrible at the plate. Remember the summer of 2004, when Sosa was flailing at almost everything? He's worse than that now.

 

Wow this was an incredibly stupid post. If what Sammy is doing is looking bad, I'd love to see some Cubs outfielders do that.

 

Agreed. Watching the Rangers this year seeing Sammy come up is always a delight. Just went to MLB.com and looked at some of Sammy's highlights including opposite field doubles as well as HRs. If that's looking terrible...

 

He did indeed start out looking terrible. But he's been very hot for quite a while now and his overall numbers are more than acceptable.

 

He's posting an OPS+ of 137, 7 HR/21 RBI.

 

Jacque's pulling an OPS+ of 89, 1 HR/8 RBI.

 

I guess some people just can't handle that Sosa can still play. They see whatever they want to see. The actual numbers say he's doing quite well given his expectations.

[jersey cubs fan]

I guess some people just can't handle that Sosa can still play. They see whatever they want to see. The actual numbers say he's doing quite well given his expectations.

 

My guess is most people remember seeing he had a 600 OPS earlier in the year, and they figure he's just hitting the occasional HR and nothing else, and haven't seen the numbers recently.

[Soul]

I guess some people just can't handle that Sosa can still play. They see whatever they want to see. The actual numbers say he's doing quite well given his expectations.

 

My guess is most people remember seeing he had a 600 OPS earlier in the year, and they figure he's just hitting the occasional HR and nothing else, and haven't seen the numbers recently.

 

Well, the criticism was based on an article that trashes Sosa, while failing to mention his OPS figures (or simply glossing over it by saying he's gotten power off only a few games, a weak argument by any measure).

 

The holes in Sammy's swing have always been there, but have never stopped him from hitting a colossal amount of HRs and being a tremedously productive offensive force.

 

The only thing Josh Towers should be embarrassed about is his own lack of competence, and the fact that he will likely be watching baseball as a fan like the rest of us in a few short seasons.

[VVMattVV]

Not to mention Sosa's been the best hitter in the Rangers lineup with the exception of Kinsler so far this year.

[UBlink]

 

He's posting an OPS+ of 137, 7 HR/21 RBI.

 

Jacque's pulling an OPS+ of 89, 1 HR/8 RBI.

 

I guess some people just can't handle that Sosa can still play. They see whatever they want to see. The actual numbers say he's doing quite well given his expectations.

 

I'd say the actual numbers say he's doing quite well, period. Especially with a 2007 Salary: $500,000.

[brinoch]

He's posting an .897 OPS. That's better than anyone we have in our outfield, and Sosa's more than .100 ahead of any Cub outfielder other than Soriano.

 

As compared to Soriano's .853, Floyd's .747, Jones's .721 and Murton's .688.

 

Why is Jones on this team, again? Sammy might be old, his defense may have regressed, and there may have been hard feelings, but he can still hit the ball.

[Soul]

He's posting an .897 OPS. That's better than anyone we have in our outfield, and Sosa's more than .100 ahead of any Cub outfielder other than Soriano.

 

As compared to Soriano's .853, Floyd's .747, Jones's .721 and Murton's .688.

 

Why is Jones on this team, again? Sammy might be old, his defense may have regressed, and there may have been hard feelings, but he can still hit the ball.

 

It would have been a great gesture to bring him back to finish out his career here. The bad blood that existed has largely left the organization. Most of those people are now sitting on the sidelines watching baseball, while Sammy still plays.