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No interest in scab baseball, owner collusion, or their other disgraceful tactics. Fuck Outed Roider Frank Menechino, alias Jerry Legler, and the other scab players. Frank "GIDP" Menechino continues to screw over the next generation of players with his shitty coaching. In terms of FO and management paid by ownership during lockouts, kudos to Sparky Anderson and others who told MLB and their owners to GFT, and kudos to then Federal District Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor who saved baseball from destruction at the hands of the owners led by Bud Selig, and his puppet master, Jerry Reinsdorf.

A. Good B. I have a feeling that when next summer rolls around, baseball will be one of the last things on most people's minds.

Hall of Fame List.

At least the fans aren’t footing the bill for higher and higher player salaries.

Cool

Great post, thanks. This is the Best of Soxtalk, to get background like this on an important issue.

They have been, even before COVID. Fan interest will continue to shrink with the current ownership and commissioner. https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2019/09/30/baseball-had-its-worst-attendance-in-16-years/ American Population: 1973 215.2M; 1983 236.0M; 1993 259.5M; 2003 289.8M; 2013 316.4M; 2020 331.0M. World Series TV Audience: 1973: 34.8M; 1983: 29.5M; 1993: 24.7M; 2003 20.1M; 2013 15.0M; 2020 9.8M. (From 16.17% of population to 2.96%, an 81.7% decline). Super Bowl TV Audience: 1973 53.3M; 1983 81.8M; 1993 91.1M; 2003 88.6M; 2013 108.7M; 2020 101.3M (From 24.77 % of population to 30.60%, a 23.6% increase). Chop on, Manfred & Owners.

No, but found it amusing he is both a Sox and Steelers fan (my choice when I followed the NFL in the 70s-90s). Don't have a twitter, facebook, google, etc.. Back to the offseason discussion, I haven't seen much discussion regarding the development plans for Vaughn and Kopech next season, but I wonder if the Sox are considering starting both in AAA (or Kopech perhaps closer by or in Arizona) to start the year. Vaughn is going to be a stud, but he was rushed last season out of necessity, and may benefit from working on hitting / pitch recognition on the outside sliders that are his kryptonite. He handled both the promotion and LF excellent, but in the second half it was clear he needed to work on at bats vs. RHP. In terms of Kopech, he can work on developing his 3 and 4 pitches, and start off his MLB SP career prepared, versus the path taken last year. The Sox have the ability this offseason to have the depth to allow them to do this (and also cover injuries the rest of the season), and give both players the best chance to succeed for the rest of 2022 and beyond. I really think they did a solid job managing Kopech's innings last year, but he needs a chance to develop his pitches and be comfortable before being thrown into the fire. They also need to limit his innings based on his 70 inning base from this season. It will be interesting to watch, but hopefully he can start in June or July with the club, and reach 120-140 including October. Just hoping the FO is making the final call with a long term perspective.

Could have been worse. The Reds had the best record in baseball and didn't make the playoffs. Assume MLB will never do this again.

Give Mack some credit, every time there’s a disaster in Houston, all the mega churches shut their doors and Mack keeps letting evacuees sleep in his stores. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/09/20/mattress-mack-refuge-houston-during-imelda/?outputType=amp

complete D collapse

That’s not all. The 1981 strike led to a split season and the Sox were not one of the 4 AL teams in the playoffs despite having the 3rd best record overall. Grrr…

His 2 million dollar bet as an “investment” allowed him to generate at least 5 million in net profit. Also, he can write the loss off and save about 600k on his taxes. Mattress Mack can’t lose. The Lastros can… today. b**** ass cheating lying fucking honkie-donk losers.

1 down… 87 to go. He’s doomed.

Seriously your presence sucks in every thread, just go whine on twitter

Astros will now enable cheat mode

Nah, he has actual, projectable NBA physical attributes.

My question is how does one get this spreadsheet?

Perhaps he's satisfied with almost getting through four innings, giving up 6 runs in October. Limping through the second half with a sore knee that can't hold up under his enormous weight. Getting ejected from games due to anger with his knee. Hopefully for Sox fans footing $38M, he comes to camp fit and able to pitch into October the next two seasons. Improve on his 12 + White Sox Playoff ERA. It's possible with the right approach and dedication to returning to health which will allow him to pitch effectively in October.

LOLZ

Big Hurt, Ventura, Lance, Raines, Julio friggin' Franco. Black Jack, Fernandez, Alvarez, Bere, Hernandez. Who Are These Guys?! And then the whole thing was flash frozen. It left me wondering why we can't have nice things; and then learned about JR's role in the whole mess. sheesh

Yeah this definitely feels like a worse team.

It took me a long time to get over the strike of 94 . i was just getting my daughter into the White Sox and then they cancelled everything and she lost interest . i actually burned all of my White Sox stuff in the backyard . been going to games since the early 60's with my dad, but if there is a walkout during the regular season, then that's it for me . **** them if they do that!!

2005 game 2 started at 51 degrees F and ended at 45. It was listed in the record books as rainy and misty. It was a fascinating game with an unexpected twist against the Astros in the 9th.

This is my "realistic" scenario with a $175M payroll. I've tried to address all needs (RF, 2B, BC, rotation, bullpen depth) while also improving the overall balance of the lineup. I think the biggest stretch is Keuchel for La Stella, but still think that could be a possibility given his huge salary increase in 2023 and the fact that 80% of the Giants' rotation is hitting free agency. Starting pitching depth is a concern, which is why I'd target Teheran (or someone similar) for a minor league deal. Also, not shown in the roster build but I'd bring back Jimmy Cordero (optioning him to AAA) and let him be the next man up in the bullpen.

What I want them to do: Replace Tony LaRussa What they will do: Not that

See you both when the Season starts in June!

Whoever is left from 1994 should do some hard thinking. The whole baseball establishment under-estimated the fan anger over the strike. They merely expected fans to come back as if nothing had happened because they thought that's how it always was. One of teams that took the biggest hit was the White Sox. There was big-time fan alienation and interest in the White Sox hit new lows. By the end of the 1990s, even when the Sox showed signs of a developing team, many were turned off and attendance plummeted. Even in 2000, when the team won the division, many could have cared less.

My guess is they would figure all that stuff out if they had to do so to avoid losing money. I don’t think a rapid bout of player movement is more complicated than figuring out how to avoid the season shutting down over Covid-19 outbreaks in 2020. In the NFL and NBA, like 75% of free agency is done in a couple of days, a week at most, it’s only MLB where owners are trying to drag salaries down, increase their revenue share, and where so many teams don’t want to compete that we have these 3 month free agent sagas. You might have to do things like arb hearings for guys already in camp, a 28 man roster to start the year again, and hire Ron Washington to run a spring training for guys who haven’t signed yet, but those are minor compared with the much bigger disagreements over how the sport is run. So basically, I still think March 1 is within a day or two of your drop-dead date for opening day.

If theres a strike that takes out a chunk of the season i think illbe done with baseball

Every time I read a discussion regarding sports team ownership, I think of the Green Bay Packers and think/wish that all pro sports teams should be set up the same way. It's such a unique and really cool way for a team to function.