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Some how Red Sox games will be 4 hours long still. Cant tell you how happy I’ll be during a week night game in attendance when I’ll look up in the fourth inning and it says 8:15 not 9:30

If you factor this extension into the original offer I'm sure the Sox still somehow believe that their offer was better.

Wow. I know it's only 2 games, but this team really knows how to crush fan interest and optimism. They currently have the same number of runs that they have dropped pop ups. It's earl, but I stopped listening to this game in the second inning and it appears I missed nothing.

Grifol: "they're gonna blame me for this s%*#"

February 25, 1946 - The White Sox created what is regarded as the first media guide, handed out to beat writers. Now, clearly there were programs and even media guides published before 1946, even by the White Sox themselves. However, those were often (always?) Spring Training and/or player rosters-only. The guide, written by Marsh Samuel and running 17 pages, actually just triggered a deeper, more interesting story ... that the White Sox were once forerunners of the metrics revolution! According to researcher Alan Kornspan at Cleveland State, beginning in 1946 and following in the footsteps of some other innovative figures (Branch Rickey, for one), Samuel began tracking advanced statistics, likely of his own creation but resembling some of what we see in the metrics world today. Cleveland owner Bill Veeck got wind of what Samuel was doing — and hired him away! At that point, Sox successor Ward Stevens took the reins and continued the work, which was still merely siloed in the P.R. department — not player evaluation. However, once Frank Lane was hired as G.M. he added Earl Flora as both publicity director but also statistician. Lane’s pet stat, tracked as a child rooting for the Cincinnati Reds, was RBI with RISP. Under Lane’s direction, Flora started tracking reach percentage (i.e. on-base percentage), base runs (both bases advanced by runners, as well as bases a batter’s hit moved runners) and GWRBI. In fact, Lane felt so strongly that RBIs were an overblown stat that he created his own offshoot: OBR (Opportunities to Bat in Runs), the percentage of time batters drove in RISP. Without extending this too long, Flora returned to sports editing, to be replaced by future White Sox G.M. Ed Short, a tireless worker who drove statistical analysis on the South Side to new heights.

You've probably heard or seen some of the trailers for this over the past year or so. Now the release dates have been announced for the three part documentary "Last Comiskey" profiling the "Doin' the Little Things" team that won 94 games shocking the baseball world and the final year of Comiskey Park in 1990. Parts will be released on You Tube starting on March 2, with the other parts to follow on March 9 and 16. Many of the players and front office agreed to be interviewed for the documentary as well as fans, media members and Nancy Faust (who provided the music!) Matt Flesch and his people worked for over two years on this which started as a project during COVID isolation. I provided a lot of the highlight video from out of my library. Fans also provided still photos and home movies. Looking forward to watching this...from what little I've seen Matt and his people did a very professional job.

How difficult is it to catch a pop up? Double A, Triple A or on the 40 man roster for the big club we're talking about simple fundamental pop up's here. Why do the Sox seem to have issues with something basically any high school or college player does easily? The Sox have been brutal for decades, not just the past few years at fundamentals, it has cost them a lot of games. Fans have seen enough of it so they are sensitive to this area of the game. I use the term "baseball stupid" when talking about the Sox players in general...I mean who else has ever run themselves in an 8-5 triple play before? Compounding things is we've heard for years the same pap nonsense from the organization on 'how defense is important,' 'we're working on stuff in spring training' et al. Yet nothing ever seems to change. Pedro has already talked a lot about how it has to improve. OK...we'll see if it in fact does. So far it looks like more of the same.

Move him to CF. Whenever the organization has an issue, they just push the issue somewhere and hope it goes away. The Sox will never get massive defensive improvements with Boston on the coaching staff.

Outstanding all around team effort. Everyone contributed!

This was so amazing. This and no shift are great. Truly great.

Lambert throwing BP out there

3 more runs for the Angels . Banks pulled 1.2 innings. 4-0.

So far I smell a pennant.

ANgels up 1 -0 Shotani 3b and Rendon single with 2 outs against Tanner Banks

And let’s be honest, the 162 game path to get there is a lot more exciting when in contention

This is silly. While we’d all prefer to see a deep run, I would absolutely love to see the Sox in the playoffs, and perhaps even win a series in the scenario you laid out. We’ve seen playoff baseball 3x since the World Series in 05. Im not gonna sit here and turn my nose up to a playoff appearance 8 months in advance.

I am guessing the cold weather / rainy forecast had both out. Didn’t look like many of the regulars out here based upon who I saw walk in the dugout. Thome is in the building though.

I don’t understand how Machado wants to stay there without Jon Jay or Alonso?

A great improvement. Let's see if there are any unintentional consequences with injuries. Hopefully it leads to better pitching and less continual max effort throwing.

Terrible move. Padres will regret this in 2033.

Must be nice to throw half a billion dollars around in an offseason as a mid market team

It feels a little rushed to me, but it’s definitely an improvement. I wouldn’t be surprised if they agree to add a little more time. I’m also not crazy about a player getting an automatic strike if he takes a little while to collect himself in the 9th inning of a big game. We’ll see how that plays out. Overall - big improvement. Stone and Benetti are going to have to squeeze the Nationwide jingle in at 45RPM.

Same here, although I was still in Middle School when Beverley was a freshman at Waubonsie.

For me the biggest highlight from yesterday was the fact that some of the WS players actually looked fit and slimmed down for this season, that must help with injuries. The lowlight (if that word exists) was seeing Yas try and run the bases!

“base runs (both bases advanced by runners, as well as bases a batter’s hit moved runners)” I always thought this was overlooked in the realm of baseball statistics

I reserve judgment on his baseball talent but not on what I saw out there in terms of his body type. He looks like a big kid, that's all I am saying. There are plenty of players who carry a lot of weight/muscle mass that have been great. I just need to see more games to see how he runs and swings the bat.

I hope you are right. I’m optimistic as well.

Some thoughts: - Mieses is friggen huge - Every regular looked at a much better weight - Cronins control isn’t amazing but has swing and miss stuff. Andrew Perez is so close to putting it together but still makes so many mistakes. Not sure it will ever happen with him. But man he looks the part.

Colas looks intimidating at the plate. All I got so far.

Paging Ron Washington to work with Burger everyday at 3B.

Grifol already failing to challenge Romy's legit stolen base. Smh. /s

You've been Caulfield'ed.

Didn't foresee Ron DeSantis coming up in the first game thread of 2023 lol

The Taipei Water Moccasins.

Who's caulfield rooting for here?

6'9" pitchers are fun to watch.

I wouldn't mind it in the the 12th or something. Not the 10th

I'm good with most of the changes but I'll die on the hill that the automatic runner on 2nd in extras is a terrible rule

Unfortunately these rule changes now make Manfred greatest commissioner of all time.

Watching Yaz try to run is brutal

Pitch clock may just save baseball although Fox will just add more commercials to keep at 3.5 hours.

Healthy Yo going 1st to 3rd on a single...?

Lack of shift is startling

Chicks dig the opposite field single.

I'm taking the opposite approach. I don't see any reason to expect them to win more than 82 games (the roster is worse than last year, managerial change or not) -- so if they somehow win 92 and take the division I'll be pleasantly surprised. If they don't, well, I never expected anything anyways. Can't get fooled again.

They’ve pretty much already said it’ll be Kopech.

Future mods?

So wait, you mean all the concern about the back end of Machado's deal causing payroll issues were for naught as he was always going to opt out after 4-5-6 years anyway, assuming he didn't completely tank? Huh. No one could've possibly predicted that!

Some notes from recent Burger/Burke interviews: Colson Montgomery and Sean Burke lived together during the offseason. They trained with Jake Burger in Nashville regularly. Burke says Colas may be the most talented baseball player he’s taken the field with, citing his bat-to-ball skills plus “swagger and confidence” at the plate. He also noted that Colson is far more “mature and focused” than he was at the same age. Burke describes his arsenal as four seam, curveball, slider, changeup. He says he takes inspiration from Verlander, and the coaches have also had him watch tape on Cease to try to emulate a similar slider. Burke mentioned Duke Ellis as an underrated guy in the system, complimenting his speed, baseball IQ, contact skills, defense, and hustle. Burger says Colas’ power is legit, based on hitting behind him in CLT and watching his cage work. He says Seager comps are accurate for Colson, and Burke is one of the hardest workers in the org. Burke watched Buerhle’s highlight reel backhand play live. It was the first time he’d seen Buerhle pitch.

To each his own but to me that's shortsighted. Making the playoffs 95% of the time means you had a hell of a season. This franchise isn't the Yankees, Dodgers, Cardinals or Braves who seemingly make the playoffs every year. The Sox make the post season about as often as Republicans gets elected Mayor of Chicago. When it happens you need to enjoy the hell out of it.