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If you refuse to swing, you WILL lead the league in K calls out of the zone. At some point, you need to acknowledge that umpires are expanding their zones with two strikes and not be so stubborn. You need to adjust to the way the game is being called.

It was a completely different game then. In terms of modern football (post merger?) Cutler is the best. And yes that's sad. Trubisky is scared of throwing deep now.

Sox fans who worry about the Cub play into the second-class narrative that describes them. The team that has kept the Sox from steady success are the Sox.

Dam, if you're interested, this is a podcast I'm a guest on where we talk about the liberal vs. progressive rift, and how arguments on the internet exacerbate the problem. It's pretty cool. Jabari is a friend who ran for NY City Council as a Green candidate as an open socialist. I'm, well, not that. We had lots of internet arguments in '15 and '16 that led to unfriending, and Dylan Marron got us together to talk in person instead of online. If you're interested in understanding me better, give it a listen. If not, that's ok, too.

The Sox future is not riding on whether they get the 4th pick or, at worst, the 6th pick in next year's draft.

If you are a REAL die hard fan, you value the Sox future over the Cubs failure.

i'll assume you mean that Tech never produced NFL QB talent. Mahomes is a different cat from those other rag arm guys. He has the strongest arm in the NFL. And don't kid yourself about the "Air-Raid" offense. It's going to be the norm in the NFL. There's a reason 26 teams sent coaches to OU the past two years to learn from Lincoln Riley. Trubisky was raw because he never played/couldn't beat out a scrub and Mahomes dominated in an offense that the NFL is now adopting. Mitch might turn out fine, but he's miles behind Mahomes at this point.

Well, unfortunately sexual assault is a crime very much requiring the participation of the victim that is often a very painful and not healing experience, and coming forward has shown to be difficult for many. Had Kavanaugh run her over with a car it would be more likely she charged him right away. To flatten everything as “crime”, is too simplistic imo.

The why is this happening podcast (chris hayes) with Sean McElwee was very good. I listened to it on sunday and can't stop thinking about it. some main thoughts: 1) It is hard having lived through it to communicate how much more default conservative culture/media/politics was through the Bush era but 2) It is equally hard to know whether that experience is at all relevant as guidance moving forward. McElwee's thoughts on comparing the left to the tea party were really interesting and probably more accurate than cw on it. The tea party surge of 10-12 is one of those things where I'm not sure we get an accurate account of it for years until a talented historian can find the thread.

Draft 4th

You know, it CAN be both. It CAN be that he doesn't mind being average, AND it can be that he pads his stats in "garbage time." Looking at his numbers, Moncada did the EXACT same thing in 2017 in a meaningless September as he's doing now: He's padding his stats against sub-standard opposition. So I ask you: Was Yoan Moncada's September of 2017 an indication of "improvement," or were they merely "garbage time" heroics? (Feel free to reference his 2018 numbers, with the YAWNING K rates to answer.) Hell, Adam Fucking Engel has looked cromulent in September. Trayce Thompson looked like a golden god in September a few years ago. When will people stop buying the fools gold that are Garbage Time Heroes? So no, there's no "hypocrisy," unless you're the type that actually believes that "Garbage Time" is a true reflection of a player's ability.

Sox fans of a "certain age" couldn't get enough Horlen and Berry and Peters and Aparacio. The pitching on the '66 - '68 teams was insane. If only those teams had any hitting at all -- for one thing, '67 might have been a WHITE Sox/Cardinals Series instead of Bosox/Cardinals. My personal favorites from that era were pitchers Horlen, Peters, Bruce Howard, and Tommy John, plus Little Looey and Ken Berry. As far as Gentleman Joe (Joel) Horlen was concerned, one of my most memorable White Sox fan moments was sitting in a booth for 4 and spending 3-4 hours talking baseball, eating pizza, and drinking beer (Lou's on Wells) in October 2012 with Joe and Mike Epstein (Senators/Rangers/Oak; also baseball hitting coach known as Ted Williams's hand-picked hitting coach disciple). Joe was on the decline already, but still one of the nicest and most genuine human beings I've ever had the privilege to meet. Soft-spoken; humble; genuinely modest about his career, including posting some crazy amazing stats in his hey-day. For the 'utes among us, it wouldn't be entirely inaccurate to think of Joe as a Greg Maddux type. As a 9 year old, I had the privilege of being there for his no-hitter against the Tigers. I remembered a fair amount about that game, but, of course, knowing that I was going to have dinner with Joe, I studied up on the highlights too. He had clearly forgotten a lot of it, but he couldn't get enough about my own memories, plus the deep-dive that I had done not only about that game, but his career -- who he was good against (and who hit him hard), plus who he had a little success against as a hitter (Joe was not a particularly good hitter; Gary Peters -- who some thought could have made it as a hitter and actually pinch-hit a bit for these hitless wonder Sox teams -- was the hitting pitcher on the team). And while some of the details of his career had clearly become a little foggy, he had quite a few colorful recollections about interactions with some of the superstars of the day -- including some stories about his winter playing with Roberto Clemente in Puerto Rico in the early 60s -- Joel thought Clemente was the best player he had ever seen. And Mike Epstein -- simply a great guy as well. He had traveled with Joel and was very protective of his little buddy (Joel was a regular sized 5'11 or so guy and Mike Epstein was a 6'4 moose). They had been teammates on the 1972 Oakland A's -- Joel's last year in baseball, the only year he had NOT pitched for the Sox, and that A's team won the World Series of course against the Big Red Machine! During our night at Lou's, Joel made sure to tell the waitstaff that this quiet Texan had thrown a no-hitter and for a 5-6 year run was one of the best pitchers in the game -- the fine folks at Lou's did their part and supplied some free beer for the hero of the evening. So sorry to hear that time and a truly harsh disease has had its way with one of the real good guys (baseball or anywhere). Be well, Joel Horlen!

Post-game article in the sun times with some important stuff. More discussion in there of his mistake during the game today and committing to learn English in the offseason also.

His 3 K's today put Moncada over the 200 mark for the year.

Look, we're all pleased by his recent up-turn in results, but remember that this is "garbage time," and he's facing quite a bit of opposition that are just playing out the string, just the same as we are. I heavily discount garbage time results when considering a player's overall track record. That said, I'm NOT saying he isn't an MLB-caliber player. I'm just doubting that he'll become a star. I surely hope I'm wrong.

Another “Three Year Plan”.

For everyone implying this will be an easy win, for teams that have lost as many games the past few years as the Bears, there is no such thing as an easy win. Monday night against a Seahawks team that still has some legacy Super Bowl egos plus the superior starting QB (Wilson). I hope the Bears win but don’t downplay Seattle or the fact that until Bears prove otherwise they still have a ways from being a playoff team or a team who you can expect wins from. Hopefully they win and we see continued development and growth all season

Easy, Icarus. Don't fly too high with your vision of Moncada. I think you're seeing things that are not in evidence in a ~30% K rate guy. I'm afraid he will never be a "high OBP leadoff hitter." I mean, he's been a freakin' strikeout machine at each and every stop above High A. At some point, a player is what his numbers say he is; while his past 20 games might be promising to some here, I completely discount a player's garbage time heroics. That said, this isn't to mean that he will NEVER be a viable MLB hitter. He just will never cut his Ks down enough to actually deserve to hit high in the order, but since this stupid org seems to hate OBP, he'll probably be square-pegged into a role that is ill-suited for what he is as a hitter.