he also already has 10 walks. that might not seem like a lot, but consider the fact that his career high for walks in a season is 25 (2008). prior to that he had seasons of 22, 23, 19, 24, 13 and 16. that accounts for all of his full seasons in the majors.

i’ve heard mention of some different contacts aj has been wearing this season; and i think he was the one that got hawk raving about the nintendo ds. could these factors really be contributing to what i’m temporarily calling the “new aj”? i don’t know if this trend of great offensive output can continue, but aj seems like a different hitter these days.

and you know what else? many of us were probably surprised to see aj in the 2-hole in the lineup, but his current output is pretty nearly ideal for that spot in the order. so kudos to ozzie for seizing what might be a great opportunity. now if we can just get him to put swish back in the leadoff spot and drop ocab towards the bottom of the lineup i could be convinced that ozzie is starting to get the knack of this filling out the lineup business. good times!

Konerko stealing night before last? Thomer driving in key runs? AJ with all-out hustle and heady play? Arethe boys waking up?

They’d better get it while they can. Summer gets hot and tiring. .500 looks pretty decent now, but our history of post-AS break play (until September, when Uribe heats up) ain’t too stellar the past few years. .500 will be hard to maintain if that’s as good as we get before then.

It is refreshing to read (haven’t seen the games – too old) about a sense of renewed professionalism from the team leaders. I wonder if the pitchers have had conversations with the position players about sharing the load.

Concerned about Crede’s defense. 8 errors is a lot already. Bring up Fields if he’s going to play a similar “D”.

1. At the 1/4 mark of the season, I’m happy with .500. They only play 9 home games this month, and the home games they played in April were basically in winter weather. I know that sounds Walkerish, but I’m pretty sure the consensus here was the Cell would add OPS points to Swish (for sure) and Cabrera (probably). Some home, warm weather cooking couldn’t hurt PK or Thome either.
Yes, the downside is that our pitchers will give up more HR’s.

2. I said I’d be happy with a 4-6 Left Coast trip, and ecstatic with any more wins than that. I guess it’s possible SF could sweep, but…

3. Pitching, pitching, pitching.

...sitting a few rows behind the WS dugout, in my Obama t-shirt, surrounded by a sea of red. Thankfully there were enuf Sox fans nearby to blunt the Orange cty. faithful and that goddamn rally monkey. One observation -Ramirez appears so weak and twiggish his one batted ball looked like a 10-year old playing w/ daddy. Very happy to see Thome with the key hit - he was all smiles after the game, waving to Sox fans, slapping high fives.

All the creativity flowing from this site and no one has used the current 20-20 record woven into a story utilizing “hindsight”?

As he approached the plate last night with 2 outs and the go ahead runner on 2nd, out loud I said, “Awwww crap!”

I now regret these words, but he had been 0-12 in the series up to that point, so I hope Mr. Thome can understand my frustration and concern at the moment. I’ll try not to let it happen again.