jamesdiego

I’ve seen this argued before that the Dems and Republicans both voted for it and are equally responsible. That to me is a complete whitewash of history and a load of bullshit. Cheney was making trips everyday to pressure the CIA to link Iraq/ Saddam to Al Qaeda. And to make up more and note outrageous claims about WMD’s. Uranium from Africa nonsense. The entirety of Colon Powell’s speech at the UN was bullshit and lies. The Bush administration lied to Congress as well as to the American people about WMD’s. Many Democrats certainly could have had a stronger backbone and stood up to the administration more and questioned the claims. But they were also getting fed lies as well about the hyped up threat level. Bush mentioned a mushroom cloud at his state of the union speech. There was all kinds of propaganda pushed by the neocons. The authorization passed by Congress was according to the Bush administration only necessary to pressure Saddam to let inspectors in/ give up the supposed weapons. We could have used some more Bernie’s in there standing up against it for sure. But to try and claim both sides are responsible for that war is nonsense. I was overseas in the military during the run up. My buddy in the Air Force told me a full year before the war started that it was a certain we were invading and there will be war, before much of the UN discussions with trying to get inspectors in Iraq to prevent war according to the Bush administration. And far before the authorization from Congress. We were moving so much supplies, tanks, humvees, weapons through Europe toward the Middle East that they made up their minds long before to invade They didn’t just stumble or listen to the evidence from the CIA. They themselves forged and shaped that evidence to suit their agenda. They knew there was no threat from Saddam against us, he was contained. There was no real evidence of WMD’s, no Al Qaeda link with Saddam. We still don’t even know Why the fuck they even invaded, never had an official investigation into it. Which I blame the Dems for not holding them accountable when they came into power. What is it an estimated 300k Iraqis were killed, 4 thousand of our boys. Many more of ours forever wounded mentally and physically. Some 22 veterans killing themselves every single day, which of course many are Iraq Vets. Not to get pissed at you, more frustrated with this line of thinking and giving the Bush administration a free pass. You did say they use the time in office to obtain wealth but then look at the no bid contracts to Cheney’s old company Halliburton. In my opinion the Bush people are war criminals and belong in prison. Trump and his cronies are disgusting for many other reasons. But both administrations are vile to the core.

Suddenly I’m all for LaRussa if that’s what it takes for Jerry to open up the wallet. Would prefer many other younger candidates but it is what it is, at least it’s anybody but Ricky. I’m not too worried about Tony being against players kneeling. At the end of the day it’s Jerry’s organization and he along with Kenny/ Hahn are not all of a sudden going to say Timmy/ Jose are not allowed to kneel and to keep quit. I imagine that might’ve already been discussed and hashed out with Tony.

I would think TLR would get a talking to that banning people from kneeling would be a no no in this organization. I can’t see any way possible that that view would fly with Kenny. And I would think Hahn and Jerry would back him up on that. There’s just no going back on that because it will really create some tension with TA and many on the team who support him. Didn’t Timmy only kneel on opening day anyways? Seems like something that could hopefully prevent any TLR hire in the first, if he’s not able to evolve his views.

What were the other bad decisions that Hahn was responsible for down the stretch? Did he instruct Ricky to put in Rodon at the end of the game against the Indians? Did he do the same for Ruiz? And was it also Hahn’s call to have Rodon pitch in game 3? I wasn’t in favor of Bummer being inserted so early in game 3 when he’s used to being a late inning guy, was that a Hahn move as well? I also didn’t agree with Bummer getting pulled when he did, and I didn’t agree with Heuer getting pulled when he did. It looked like fire chief Ricky running around in a panic trying to put the fire out. I did not like Foster coming in with the bases loaded of course But I would understand if the order of pitchers in game 3 was a collective decision. Though doesn’t make too much sense to me that it would be Hahn’s call alone. Did Hahn make the lineup’s? A Suntimes article had their source say Ricky and Cooper were pushed back a bit against the metrics in their decisions. That was telling me that Ricky was pushing to let his gut be make decisions. I want to know who’s idea it really was to put Edwin in the 5 hole all season and game 2.

How did Hahn fuck up down the stretch? By not making a trade for a starting pitcher?

I’d take a droid manager over Ricky. LaRussa here didn’t really say he’d the the analytics into account. Just gave a blanket statement that there’s too much analytics and not enough quantifying the analytics of what’s in a guys noggin, his heart, and most importantly in his guts. Had a little “only I have the secret and power to win the correct way” feeling to his words. And that he can win more games with any team doing it his correct way. Ease back on the ego trip a little bit there Tony. Seems like the game has passed him by. I wouldn’t mind him managing another team and eating my popcorn watching how that shit goes.

That sounds like an amazing story with the veterinarian. Was the vet doc already involved in baseball and working for LaRussa for awhile before running his analytics department? “I gotta guy who used to work with stocks and good with those numbers, lemme give him a call”

Thanks for the info. With Jirschele not an option for that double Manager tandem then the duo manager idea doesn’t make sense to me at all. Love AJ, but can’t make him a manager. He needs to run a minor league team for at least a couple years and see how that goes. See if his players do actually like playing for AJ or if they instead do a mutiny against him. Could go either way.

TLR is definitely not my first choice, but him in tandem with Jirschele is intriguing. Jirschele is far too young for this team. But having TLR around for a couple years seems like not a terrible idea. I still prefer Hinch

You’re preaching to the choir about Jerrys record, which I’ve never been afraid to criticize. Though I’m happy and respect the job they did on the rebuild, and relieved/ very happy they have moved on from Renteria/ Cooper, so have no interest to complain about Jerry’s past failures (yes, there are many). I wasn’t around for the LaRussa days so I don’t know details or info from newspapers or radio back then. But I’m fairly confident Jerry didn’t just make Hawk the GM to grab headlines. He must’ve just been buying the bullshit Hawk was slinging about ideas on what he would do to run the franchise and make it better. You know, great ideas like Fisk in the outfield. Lol If LaRussa did resist Hawk brilliant ideas for change, the proper reasoning is not to then let Hawk fire him, but the correct reasoning looking back was to fire Hawk to prevent losing LaRussa. The Sox might’ve looked a little moronic like you said firing Hawk before LaRussa. But the Sox looked far more moronic in letting their announcer/ faux GM to fire their manager to satisfy his ego, to just fire said faux GM months later. Both Jerry and Hawk seem to be in agreement that he had no business being in the front office and it was a mistake. And Hawk regrets firing the hall of fame manager. So in my eyes there’s no point in defending Hawks moronic dislike for LaRussa in the late 80’s if Hawk himself has even evolved to fully realizing he was the idiot It is interesting wondering just how the Sox would have done with LaRussa at the helm long term. Maybe they are able to push past the Jays in 93? To bad we didn’t get a chance to see.

I think some of the players themselves were probably dumbfounded by some of Ricky’s decisions. That is a guess, but I believe some have to feel that way. They care about winning and see zero problems on the horizon from whoever the Sox would choose. Having resentments or anger does nothing fur the team, and these guys are roundly team players and will be all in.

Hasn’t Hawks decision to fire LaRussa back in the day been largely panned as a terrible mistake by just about everyone? Even by Hawk who I remember while announcing talking very fondly about LaRussa and speaking of his huge regret in firing him. At least that is what I believe I remember him saying, I could be off some. But it sounded like Hawk was calling himself an idiot over the decision. Its also Jerry’s biggest regret in allowing it to happen, according to him. And did that decision help decides Hawks own firing? I could care less what caused Hawk to fire him back then, Hawk himself seems to agree. Though I agree with your overall assessment that LaRussa is not the right man for the job now.

Yea, that’s the one. I can’t even read that again. Fuck those three guys in my book. And fuck that New York reporter to wrote a smear article about the victim, which seemed to push her over the edge to commit suicide. That was disgusting. The Sox should have separated and washed hands of him before the season started. I was thinking about making a thread on it but didn’t want to take away any good vibes happening this season. Personally, for an organization to profess so much about caring about social justice issues, they sure didn’t care too much about this woman. It’s disappointing. The whole thing puts Hinch and cheating in perspective for me. There are far worse things that baseball professionals have done. And have gotten away with right here in our organization.

Ozzie didn’t just quit on the team the last two days. That guy was creating drama in the media most of that year. It was an absolute shit show of a managerial job that year with his out of control ego running rampant needing to create drama all the time. I think all teams (besides the Marlins) looked at that season and said “no thanks” for us. Albert Belle had his cork bat incident against us of all teams. And then we signed him to a big contract. Did any of the old timers who have a problem with Hinch also had a problem with Belle with his corked bat? When the Astros cheating happened at the time I would definitely have said F those guys and would have never wanted any of them to be with the organization But when Springers name had popped up for free agent possibilities I didn’t bat an eye I definitely would want him Do people who don’t want Hinch at all costs also absolutely don’t want Springer? As others said in a perfect world we would hire a guy with an unblemished record But there’s many imperfect people in this world. And many have done far worse offenses. I have a far bigger issue with the Sox having Daryl Boston as a coach after reading that long article last year giving details on a rape he was accused of in the 90’s. There was no trial but hearing her story had me pretty convinced, and was gut wrenching learning her end.

This is fantastic news! I guess I was right that they were at least debating Ricky’s performance and status as our manager. Thank you Jerry, Kenny and Hahn for maki the correct and wise decision for the organization and fans. It makes sense to move on. They have a possible champion here and Ricky proved he was in over his head. He was given his shot fair and square and failed. I wonder and think it’s probable that if Ricky completely followed the analytics in his lineups and bullpen moves, he would still be the manager. He wanted it his way and now his way is showing him out the door. He might not be given another manager job again. The front office put too much effort into building this team to entrust it in the hands of someone like Ricky. Especially at Jerrys age, who knows when he’ll pass and ownership will change and more than likely front office change over as well. Might as well go for it all. And it’s nice they rejected Ozzie so those rumors can be put to bed forever.

I’d rather not trade Cease or Dunning. Never wise to trade pitchers with upside, they both have a chance to be pretty good. We need more starting pitching, not less.

I am not retreating from my original statements. This is what I originally said that got you worked up. “I hope Hahn is thinking long and hard how long he wants to hitch his wagon to such an inept manager. I know from your other posts that you think Ricky had the Midas touch and made all the right moves in the last game. But I think you might be alone in that regard, and I think Hahn and Kenny had their own “WTF?” reactions to some of Ricky’s moves. I think they waited far too long for a contender and are debating Ricky’s future this week. At least I am guessing (hoping) so” Maybe you have other definitions of the words hope or guess, but I never claimed Sox are for sure firing Ricky. I only said I hope they would. Though I absolutely believe Ricky’s status as manager was certainly discussed after they got the boot from the playoffs. Which weirdly you claim that Ricky’s job is so untouchable that the front office won’t even debate on. Not even a simple conversation on whether he is the guy going forward or not. If they already decided last year Ricky was the guy no matter what his performance was this year, then why didn’t they extend him before the season? I offered my logical opinions on why the Sox would at least be debating if he’s the guy or not. I don’t think the debate is only how many years to resign Ricky and for what amount. That sounds ridiculous to me after Ricky’s all time poor performance at the end of the season. We’ll see what happens shortly I imagine. Either they will fire him or re-up his contract, if he is going to be heading into his final year. I don’t even know contract, if it’s for two years then they could certainly wait another year. I’d like someone said this is his final year coming up then something is likely to happen. If it’s in the bag like you say, then a new contract will be announced any day now I imagine.

Train wreck is my description of his last week. And is that really crazy to say? Big Frank himself had his own strong words about how the last week was handled. Negligence would be an organization not constantly evaluating a manager, especially one with zero history of being a winning manager before. And Ricky isn’t solely responsible for the winning record this year. Ricky gets high marks for his relations with players and keeping the clubhouse running smooth. And that has been the only evaluation you can really make on him coming into this season. Coming into the season we heard that the evaluation will turn to his Ricky handles a winning team with expectations, which is completely new to him. And you have the good with the bad (and some atrocious decisions). The good what we all know as stated above. The bad is terrible lineups much of the time, not putting his players in the best position to succeed, and some ridiculously bad bullpen managing when the games mattered most. The Sox certainly had to have been debating the ol’ Rickster ya least a little, nothing guaranteed that he’s staying or has a lifetime job like Hahn or Kenny.

In my eyes you’re the one who must think the Sox are dumb believing wholeheartedly that they are in lala land with their unabashed love for Ricky. You really think that after the Sox front office just witnessed the train wreck of a managerial job Ricky did in the last week that they wouldn’t have ANY evaluation on his job? Like there wasn’t even a possibility of a conversation after Ricky made move after move that blew up on his face? You must think very low of the Sox front office that after watching the last game they just shrugged their shoulders at Ricky’s decisions and were only disappointed at the players not performing/ lack of another starter. Which I’m sure they were disappointed in the later two of course, but it’s 100% out of the realm of possibility that they were not disappointed in Ricky? I’m just giving an assumption of what a professional front office is going probably to discuss. Is it 100% that Ricky is getting fired? Hell naw, I now full well loyalty that runs deep here. And some guys keep jobs when there are more qualified people more deserving of the job. But I’m not going to speak in absolutes that there is zero possibility that Ricky gets the can. I know full well that Kenny is a passionate dude who cares a lot about winning. And him and Hahn have had to sit through year after year of losing seasons waiting for their chance to be back on top. And now they finally built this ridiculously impressive team they are not going to give a second thought on who’s running the ship? That after all the disastrous moves in the past week they will 100% trust their baby in the hands of Ricky Renteria? I believe the doubt had to have crept in their minds. But it’s a delicate situation for sure, the players loved Ricky. We know they did, we can assume they still love him. But what did the players think about his moves at the end? These guys are all smart baseball men probably managing right along with every move being made on the field. “Hmm, Is this the right?”, “oh fuck, not Rodon again!” I could definitely see Hahn and Kenny discussing Ricky with Jose and Tim to gauge the players thoughts before any move is made. And I don’t think just because a move hasn’t been made, that means Ricky is in the clear. The Sox are not going to make a decision that fast and impulsive, they would be methodical about it. Ricky has one more year correct? The Sox usually don’t have lamb duck managers. If they like you they extend you before the season. There is a possibility the Sox let this last year play out and not extend him, just to give him one more chance. Or I could be wrong and they foolishly extend the guy a few more years. But there is a possibility he gets the boot though. It’s weird to me to 100% assume that there isn’t a possibility.

I see others who try to claim that it was Hahn who forced Ricky’s hand. Or that it’s the analytics department who sets the lineups. But this is the White Sox, they are not exactly an organization known to be ahead of the times, or even a part of current times. I’m sure they have an analytics department and give the the lineups the numbers favor, but I don’t think that automatically means Ricky needs to follow them. He could very well be getting power to only take it as advice and has free reign to do what he mostly wishes. Wasn’t there a question posed to Ricky last offseason or spring training about analytics and he got almost pissed or offended at it even being brought up? It sounded like he scoffed and brushed it off, which tells me that he doesn’t give much a damn about what the numbers say and thinks his gut and baseball instincts reign supreme. Unless I hear from a confirmed insider like James Fox or from Hahn himself that the front office / analytics department had the most say in lineups I will lean towards Ricky having the most say. Also, would the analytics department recommend Edwin hitting #5 all season? Doesn’t pass the smell test to me. I have a little hunch that analytics and Hahn also probably had nothing to do with Delmonico hitting second. Why would analytics slot Robert so low in the lineup when he was killing the league in the beginning/ middle of the season? Smells to me like Ricky’s “trusted” gut making these decisions. Hahn would have never DFA’d Edwin during the season as it would just piss off teammates who hold him in high respect. That’s not worth the distraction in the locker room, so wasn’t even an option. And I’m not sure why you’re contemplating whether Hahn will get fired. He has the GM job for as long as Jerry is alive, just like Kenny has his job for as long as Jerry lives. I could see Hahn losing his job when Jerry passes and they sell to a new owner. Jerry is over 90 from what I understand so that can possibly come any year now. So who really knows how long this front office has until uncertainty comes with new ownership. I hope Hahn is thinking long and hard how long he wants to hitch his wagon to such an inept manager. I know from your other posts that you think Ricky had the Midas touch and made all the right moves in the last game. But I think you might be alone in that regard, and I think Hahn and Kenny had their own “WTF?” reactions to some of Ricky’s moves. I think they waited far too long for a contender and are debating Ricky’s future this week. At least I am guessing (hoping) so

Yea, nothing Ricky could have done about those big holes in the lineup. The Quija board that he consulted daily told him that he must put Edwin and Mazara in the lineup, particularly adamant that Edwin’s weak bat be in the 5 hole. Completely out of Ricky’s hands, what can you do?

A lot of people looking for some high priced free agents to be signed, but I’m worried Jerry might cheap out. What did he say before, that the organization lost 100 million dollars this year? Probably going over the numbers and debating it all out. I can very well see him cry poor and reveal his empty pockets. We desperately need at least one very good starting pitcher, I would highly prefer someone better than Q. If Q is our best starting pitcher we bring in, that doesn’t really instill a whole lot of confidence for our hopeful window years for championship. I’m just hopeful for at least one good starting pitcher, no chance I see two. And I believe we have to see what we have with our young starters anyways to bring in two starters. Maybe a swing long relief arm, but for god sakes do some pro scouting and find someone who at least still has a major league arm(Gonzales? Wtf?) I personally think it would be a mistake to let Colome go and we will regret it trying to do a spring training competition with our young guys or a closer by committee. We need to add a veteran arm in the bullpen, not take one away. McCann would be nice, but I’m not expecting that. A nice shiny new expensive RF would also be nice, but I’m expecting Mazara to get most of the at bats. One thing they can do to improve and not have to break the bank is a new manager, but with our outdated mom and pop front office I’m not expecting them to make the obvious move to improve there. Loyalty might win out again. Hoping I’m wrong and there are some major free agents and we have a competent manager that doesn’t use his gut for decisions.

Very sad for that girl dying. Charlie, not so much. For her to put a restraining order he probably put her through some shit. And then to get murdered. Feel for both of their families, but especially hers.

Yes, you are absolutely right that Ricky is 100% not the guy to lead this team to the promised land. And yes, Ozzie was brilliant in 2005, best season for a manager had in Sox history. He made all the right moves that season and if a clown like Renteria was the manager then I firmly believe we don’t win the Series, let alone make it there. But Ozzie also had the worst manager season in Sox history in his final season. He not only quit he flew off the handle stirring bullshit pure drama because Kenny asked Oney, an employee of the Sox, not to talk shit on his employer on Twitter. His ego got out of control and thought he was the most important piece of the organization. There is a reason why no team given him a chance for over a decade, why would they trust a guy who backstabbed a team in the middle of a season? Ozzie is in his proper place on the post game. It would be entertaining to see him manage a baseball, but let someone else experiment with that.

Yea, I’m more with you. I don’t see them bringing in two starters in free agency. We have too many young pitchers and they need to be thrown into the fire to see what they really are and see if there’s any improvement. I’ll have a competition for two spots with Dunning, Cease and Kopech. Lopez is on the outside looking in. I’d like a to see a new pitching coach with fresh ideas to see if they could improve Cease before trading him.