Do you guys really think .900 OPS from your number three guy is a bad thing?????

Youkilis batted 3rd today. I'll take that but not Dunn.

The problem with that was the bases were clogged all game. I think Youkilis, Dunn, and Konerko should be moved down to 7, 8, and 9 to avoid having the bases clogged as much as possible.

You are hilarious grandpa!

The three hitter should always be you best hitter. Is Dunn the Sox best hitter?

Did God put that on a tablet and hand it to Moses? Your three hitter shall be your best hitter.

You call me grandpa but you're the one with the archaic ideas. Your best hitter should bat first so he can ... yeah, that's right, get the most plate appearances.

Dunn is the second best hitter on the Sox.

Name another hitter in history that batted 3rd batting .220 (today its .214). And on pace for 200 plus strikeouts. MAybe Thome his last year here? Does anyone actually think the Sox would be worse with Paulie third? They'd be four or five games better in my opinion. Think of the pitches Paulie would see. And he'd actually make contact. Konerko would have 20 Hrs batting 3rd at this point. His slugging and on base pct are better than Dunns and he has half the walks. He has struck out 80 fewer times and has 25 more hits. How is this even a discussion? Dunn is a four hitter. I'd bat him 5th versus lefties.

Name another hitter in history that batted 3rd batting .220 (today its .214). And on pace for 200 plus strikeouts. MAybe Thome his last year here? Does anyone actually think the Sox would be worse with Paulie third? They'd be four or five games better in my opinion. Think of the pitches Paulie would see. And he'd actually make contact. Konerko would have 20 Hrs batting 3rd at this point. His slugging and on base pct are better than Dunns and he has half the walks. He has struck out 80 fewer times and has 25 more hits. How is this even a discussion? Dunn is a four hitter. I'd bat him 5th versus lefties.

I'm not opposed to the idea of switching them, but don't really get your argument here. You have a problem with a slow-ass guy striking out as opposed to hitting into inning ending double plays? I don't necessarily want a guy to make contact... a strike out is much better than an infield out with men on base. One point you are overlooking is the walk rate. Dunn leads the league with 58 walks. Now a walk isn't sexy by any means, but it also results in zero baserunners out, and it gets him on base for Konerko to tag on an extra RBI for each HR. Konerko's OBP is better. I don't know why you think Paulie would have that many HRs out of the 3rd hole. Is this because Dunn would be there to protect him in the batting order? That seems opposed to your entire argument -- wouldn't teams pitch aggressively to Konerko because Dunn poses no threat with the bat? Aggressively in the strike zone. Paulie hits bad pitches pretty good. He destroys strikes.

I would agree that moving Konerko to three makes sense because overall he is a better hitter than Dunn, but it's not like the 3 hole has had 100 more PAs than the 4. If you wanted to be really out there, why not move Konerko up to the #2 and have Dunn at #3?

(* - lefty)
1. DeAza*
2. Konerko
3. Dunn*
4. Rios
5. Viciedo
6. Pierzynski*
7. Beckham
8. Youkilis
9. Ramirez

THis is nothing new here. Konerko would see better pitches because a HR threat is behind him. Dont want to walk a guy and then give up a two run homer. ANother reason to bat third is moving runners. Can you ever hit and run with Dunn? KOnerko uses the whole field. Dunn uses half of the field. Konerko doesnt really have a spot where he cant do something with a pitch. Sometimes you need a guy to just hit a groundball to short to get a run in. Sometimes you need a guy to hit a sac fly. SOmetimes a Hit and run would be in play. You guys love Billy Bean way too much. Quit watching Moneyball.

What batting avg would be too low for you guys? .159 last year. .214 now. He's on pace for 130 strike outs by the all star game. He's never had 200. He's a 16" Softball player. If he drops under .200 do you still have him hit 3rd?

I don't care if he never gets a hit as long as he's getting on base 36% of the time. I'll ask you the same question I asked spanky. If there were a theoretical player that had 6000 career plate appearances with a .000 BA who walked 3500 times would you think he was horseshit or a great player?

You keep bringing up these specious concepts like "havoc" and "base-clogging" that have been proven false by cold hard numbers. The entire idea of batting order "protection" is questionable at best and insignificant at most.

Why do you hate Ferris Fain?

I've never used that phrase. You are an expert I see. These players you see playing are humans. You know they are not robots. When a faster aggressive runner is on, it changes a lot of things. A pitchers stretch may be quicker creating a slower more hittable pitch for a batter. A faster runner can get to third from first setting up a ground out rbi or sac fly. Lots of different situations are created by fast runners. Moneyball has fucked you up. Its a good concept but its not a computer game.

So your guy with 6000 at bats and 3500 walks is your 3 hitter? Over a Frank Thomas? Your logic has .000 avg guy hitting 3rd before Frank Thomas. right? Thats insane.