Leaderboard

Tony also is 2nd in losses.

You want the first crack at the GM job?

14 outs given away and that’s not including the failed attempts. I don’t know why the TLR thread was closed, but can we discuss here how stupid it is to sac bunt in the 6th inning against a pitcher who couldn’t get anyone out?

Reasons for optimism today: Skubal is really bad against RH hitters (.363 wOBA, 6.50 FIP, 5.24 xFIP) The Sox are the best team in baseball against LHP (.361 wOBA, 134 wRC+) The Tigers suck against Giolito (.593 OPS over 111 plate appearances) Lucas is coming off his best three game stretch (12 K/9, 0.81 WHIP, 2.56 FIP) Lucas’ velocity is also improving (94.7 mph over last 3 starts, 93.5 before that) Reasons for pessimism today:

Sorry for the pettiness in bumping this, but this thread was always ridiculous and it's nice to see Grandal finally getting his due from some of the naysayers: Grandal: .400 OBP, .833 OPS, 143 wRC+, 1.4 fWAR McCann: .291 OBP, .658 OPS, 88 wRC+, 0.1 fWAR

Idiotic. This is what happens when you have a manger from the 90’s that has pickled his brain in alcohol

Obviously he was wearing a “Chicago white Sox” tshirt so he was easy to identify

Holland on the ropes and you fucking bunt?!?! That's all I've got to say about that.

I didn't like him in 1986 and don't like him in 2021 and don't care what he did in between so I guess we are even.

I take it you’ve never actually played team sports? Emotion is overrated? Are you implying that clubhouse leaders, in any sport, are best if they’re stoic and quiet? There’s nothing positive coming from a guy pumping up his teammates? Nothing good about players holding one another accountable (see Rizzo and Contreras the other day)? MJ—-stoic? Tom Brady—-stoic? Tatis Jr, Acuna, Trout —-stoic? No one is looking for drama. A player like Yoan coming out of his shell to celebrate with his team, clap his hands hard after a big hit, or just joking around with the guys, speaks volumes about his maturation process as a leader in the dugout and the emotional investments he’s chosen to make in this team.

Bunting against a Derek Holland who looked like he had nothing left, just awful managing. That seemed to kill all the momentum for the rest of the game too.

Can’t be a much worse framer than Collins.

Love seeing Jason calling out the stupidity of giving away outs in the fucking 6th.

I made the trek home from Nashville and will be in attendance tomorrow with the family. Anyone from Soxtalk who randomly sits behind me gets a free beer or two on me. Just please don’t pull a @Jack Parkman and turn down the offer. There is nothing more sinful than saying no to free beer.

So, uh, this happened:

I quietly suspected they were on good terms as during Yermin’s slump: - La Russa recently talked about how Yermin had one of the best BP’s he’d ever seen - La Russa in postgame the other night credited something Hamilton did on the bases to “Yermy being such a great two strike hitter” - La Russa still kept Mercedes 5th through a one month slump while many called for him to move down I agree Tony botched the original situation, but he’s done a good job rectifying that mistake and rebuilding that relationship, and credit Yermin for being open to that too. Happy for them!

One hell of an achievement. Tied with McGraw. Congrats to TLR!

Giving away an out against Derek Holland is much worse than not knowing a rule. He decreased the sox chance of winning today by nearly 12%. That's just fucking comical. He was talking about tying the game as if that was the goal. Guy is such a jack Wagon.

Awful rally killer. We are better off if TLR stays out of in game management and let his bench and pitching coaches manage the game. He can take a nap whilethisisgoing on.

It’s either too cold or too hot for Jose!!!! He needs 75 degrees weather to flourish

White Sox sac bunts this year: 14 White Sox sac bunts last year: 1 Tony is a clown ?

Tony no. Plz. Someone is going to make this an avatar aren't they?

I'm sure that plays a big factor, but don't forget about Alexei Ramirez and Jose Contreras' successes here. I'm sure those didn't hurt either. Maybe you could even make a case for Viciedo and El Duque, although that may be a bit tougher. I'm sure a portion of it has to do with the comfortability factor as well. Jose, Yoan, Luis, and Yaz are all on the major league club and signed lucrative deals with the club. Young players coming out of Cuba have seen how the Sox have handled them and I'm sure it's at least intriguing to them.

Accolades for past accomplishment can’t and don’t change that he is a shitty manager in 2021. But I sure hope they keep his stans warm at night.

Did he see you surfing Soxtalk on your phone or something?

The McStans always had an irrational hate for Grandal and it’s good to see them in the wrong

I have nothing against Crochet, but he's no Liam Hendriks. I also hated the matchups for Crochet against the hitters the Tigers had coming up. Schoop hits lefties better than righties, especially after the damage he did tonight off Keuchel. Candelario has a 183 wRC+ off lefties this year. Haase has a 173 wRC+ off lefties this year, as he's basically only hit them until his HR off Marshall tonight. Cabrera also isn't as useless against lefties as he is against righties. Tony knows what platoons splits are. He should have seen those and said there's no way in hell I'm throwing a lefty reliever against those guys if I have one of the best relievers in baseball in my bullpen.

I love that suggestion. Iglesias will be a free agent, at the end of the season. What do you think it would take to acquire him, at the trade deadline?

The pen is fine for the most part, they just need to pitch like it. There are some electric arms out there. They just need to get through whatever is going on. The worst thing they can go is overreact to SSS and trade real talent for relievers.

93 today. Perfect for all black uniforms.

This has to be played once in a while.

Holy Crap, I saw him at the game and didn't know it...would've bought him a dog and a beer.

The ghost runner in the 10th rule is what causes Tony and other Managers to try to keep their Closer fresh to pitch the 10th - a high pressure situation - man on second, nobody out in a tie game. There is almost no room for error. So what if your Closer gets 3 outs in the 9th but has to throw 15-20 pitches. Is he still the best option to pitch another inning? The 10th inning ghost runner is a stupid rule that needs to go after this season.

I think the shift + Grandal's bum knee not allowing him to elevate the ball is what was causing his BABIP to be that atrocious. I'm pretty sure he was unable to do anything except hit grounders to the right side from the left side of the plate. He went opposite field maybe a handful of times all year before today. So while his BABIP is unsustainably low and he probably was unlucky, it wasn't a complete coincidence. When the other team knows exactly where you'll hit every time and they can play a rover outfielder, it doesn't matter how hard you hit the ball if you don't elevate it.

This debate has always been dumb. It’s almost like Grandal has a track record of being good and continues being good. I also don’t like how it puts people like me who have always preferred Grandal into the position of bashing McCann. McCann is a good guy, has always been a pro‘s pro and is a decent player, I hope he continues to improve. btw. If Grandal had a normal BABIP and not this historically low one of .123, he would be included in AL MVP discussions, that’s how crazy good he has been despite the BABIP gods hating him.

At this point it looks like McCann should thank Grandal for helping him secure a fat payday by letting him get the most favorable matchups possible.

Yaz fucks. 143 wRC+. Shame the pitcher hate him and we need to trade him, tho.

Depends on the situation mostly. If I'm a manager, you get six good innings out of Dallas. You got a 5 run lead. You know you need to get some of those bullpen arms some work. Surely...I mean surely, you are not going to allow a 6 spot in the 7th right? In terms of percentages, a six spot with a five run lead is rather low. So it was a good opportunity to get Heuer and Marshall out there. They just did not show up and pitched like garbage. Heuer could not locate. Was opening up his hip way too early and the ball went everywhere. Lastly, we got a long way to go. You get 6 innings out of a 30+ year old starter and a 5 run lead, sit him. I'd make that call 9 times out of the 10 unless the guy is just absolutely being lights out or a top tier pitcher like Bieber.

Loved how classy he was in the postgame making it about the team’s victory when asked. Congratulations Tony!! Couldn’t imagine a better way to dedicate my 100th post!

CONGRATS Tony! Its not everyday a team has a Hall of Fame manger on their roster. We’re living in a Golden Era of White Sox baseball, appreciate it.

Agreed. I think it's @ChiSox59 who has said it a few times, but I really can't think of a better fit for this lineup in all of baseball than Grandal. He complements the Abreu/Anderson types perfectly, and Vaughn will surely evolve into that too (just wish he was a lefty, but he'll mash regardless)

I think my favorite part about him is that while he's obviously streaky, even his "bad" streaks are pretty good. Much like Moncada, you can always count on him to at least get on base. When (historically) Abreu or (this season) Mercedes are in their own funks, they're pretty much useless until they snap out of it

This is a thread to congratulate our manager for being the 2nd most winning manager in the history of the game. It's a hell of an achievement.

There you go. I know it's fashionable to blame LaRussa for everything but with a 5 run lead how can anyone blame Larussa when Keuchel's been breaking down pretty regularly in the 5th and 6th innings.

I refuse to blame a mgr for taking a vet starter like keuchel out early only to be let down by pathetic performance from his players. Period. Players got to play and Heuer was AWFUL.

Liam holds em....Mercedes breaks his 0-fer with a walk off hit....let's do this thing

Abreu's numbers in high-leverage situations the last three seasons: 2019: .291/.348/.527/.876 (119 wRC+) 2020: .300/.400/.450/.850 (126 wRC+) 2021: .231/.450/.462/.912 (162 wRC+) He's actually improving every year. I know this is your schtick so whatever but at least make sure the numbers even somewhat agree with you before committing to the bit.

This is hack-level misuse of this statistic, comparing a career counting stat total with the "awful" assessment in a single season. That would be like saying a player with 100 career RBI is elite because 100 RBI is a lot for one season. On top of that, even a cursory glance at his numbers would show you that a whopping -1.67 of that -2.11 came in 2016 alone, and that every other season he's been within -0.5 to +0.5. This is just a comically bad take and/or fabricated narrative; it's like how you'd expect cable political news to use data. Also, suggesting that we should be concerned about playoff performance because of leverage index is, at best, a complete misunderstanding of leverage index. And it's not a great statistic, anyway. It's really a different expression of WPA, which is useful in a descriptive way that same way RBI or runs scored is -- meaning it can be a really compelling part of say, and MVP conversation, but an incredibly bad number to use to make any sort of projection or assessment of talent. The reason this stat is rarely talked about is because it's been shown to have practically no predictive value, meaning it would be a bad idea to make decisions based on it, or similarly, to be "worried about him in the playoffs."