The Hawk

This is not any kind of cut and dry situation. He was hurting supposedly. How much was he hurting? What kind of pain was it? Was it a sharp pain, an ache type of thing? Was it a different kind of pain? You also have to take into consideration that this is a very young kid who is extremely amped up to be in the big leagues in the first place let alone in a play-off game. A lot of times, adrenaline masks pain sometimes and maybe he just thought that it was his nerves that were causing the pain or irritation. Frankly, I am surprised that the coach and manager caught the decrease in velocity like they did. Kudos to the two of them for their vigilance.

That's absolutely the truth of things. It's absolutely human nature and the way people look differently at things depending on their own belief systems and standards. I just come from a business perspective on this and to my mind, Reinny has been a bad business guy for a long time with the White Sox. He absolutely hires bad managers and his publicity department and public relations folks are awful. He lucked out in my mind in hiring Hahn who did yeoman work on this rebuilding job with the aid of being able to really dominate the influx of great Latin players. But hiring Tony while knowing he had a second DUI was nuts unless he thought he could slide this through without the press finding out about it. IF Reinny doesn't take legitimate counsel from smart business people, his business is going to suffer greatly from this hire. The team might win but his business will not be nearly as profitable as it could have been. Fans may still support the players and the team but still hate the owner and his organization. Those two things can be mutually exclusive.

I think that the fact the guy was also on meds after his hip replacement surgery may influence the judge and jury to have some leniency in the case. Like I said earlier, his alcohol read-out wasn't very high(yeah it was over the limit) but a defense lawyer could say that it was not in character for him to drink and drive but the combination of pain pills and some wine at dinner made him woozy. This combined by a penitent TLR could result in public service and other leniency.

Wonder who made that decision? Had to be Hahn, right? He must have been in touch with Giolitto's coach even to the point of okaying Giolitto going back to the guy and working on his delivery, right? I think that hiring this guy is a bold decision considering how many other pitching coaches there are in the world with more experience that this Katz has. It also may be making it clear how much of a team leader that Giolitto is on this and his influence with Hahn.

I guess that I am just a logical person and as one, I see no possible way that Tony LaRussa is the manager of the 2021 White Sox based on what is going on right now. If Reinny doesn't arrange a way out of this farce, the Sox are going to suffer big time. One thing that the Sox did have going extremely well under Renteria was the clubhouse. This is a very motivated and fun loving young team with a few interspersed older role models for leadership. Why in the world would they risk this with LaRussa who will have this hanging over him and them the entire season. Reinny needs to wake up and arrange a way out for them to remove Tony from the manager spot and hire someone else.

Jose seems to me to be one of the best role model great baseball players of all time. Its doubtful that he gets into the HOF because of the fact he got into the majors at such a late date. He'd have to probably have five big years of production to get voted in and that is doubtful. He's kind of going to face the numbers game that Paulie faced at the end of his great career.

Nope. Especially for one year.

YOu can't fine the team for anything of the kind. He wasn't an employee of the Sox when he did this and this is a legal matter outside of their sphere of influence.

I doubt that he would win the case no matter how much money he spends. It looks cut and dry to me. The smart thing to do would be for him to agree to alcohol rehab and public service stints about the evils of drunk driving. He needs to show humbleness and admit he screwed up. He won't and this is why he will be found guilty.

I don't trade any top prospects for a guy who is only going to pitch one season. I he wants to sign a new contract with the Sox, then that is different.

Everyone makes mistakes in life and some deserve to be forgiven for them. However, with forgiveness should also come an obligation for the offending person to change the behavior that caused their harmful action to others. LaRussa obviously has an alcohol problem and coupled with taking pain medications amplifies the danger that he presents when he gets behind the wheels of a car. That is completely on him. He should quit drinking or at least hire a driver and turn in his driver's license. But the arrogance that I see in this guy along with his huge ego probably doesn't lend itself to taking these remedial actions and someone in baseball needs to lay the law down on him.

Really? Its like a cattle call in California. What in the world can they do to delay proceeding that long? You have the test that is done and the results of the test. The state has to prove that the equipment was functioning properly. I guess if the cops didn't have probable cause an attorney can argue that angle or if they roughed the accused up, then a jury could turn on the cops and let the guy off but a year?

That's a terrific assessment. Good job.

I'd bet a lot of nickels right now that Kopech has less chance of being a starting pitcher than Cease does. personally, I think that his future is as a reliever if that. Kopech's problem is what is between his ears and that scared me ever since I looked into this guy after they signed him. As for Dunning, there is no guarantee that he will settle into the starting rotation either. He still is unproven as the others are. The choice of a good pitching coach, to me, is equally as important these days as that of a manager. This is another reson why I lean toward hiring Bochey or Alomar as their manager and have him bring in whoever they trust to develop the great young arms that they have.

How? DUI are about as straight forward a case that exists. 3 days max.

Straight up for German? How many years are on his contract? They do have some other promising hitters coming up that can be penciled in at 1B/DH as in Burger and Sheets or they also can think about moving Eloy over to first base/DH also. But I'd want more than a short term future for the guy I traded Vaughn for.

That's a ways down the road. He is really in his prime right now and probably has three prime quality seasons ahead of him. I really love to watch Jose hit.

I have no problem with bringing that kid up and putting him out there. Why not? As for pulling that starter in game three, that was about s dumb a move as it gets on Rickey's part. I also disagree a bit that Reinny doesn't want to win. I think he does but his managerial moves have been really dumb throughout his years as the Sox owner. I hate the SOB but I do think that he wants to win. HE just doesn't know how.

I agree and when you think about it, Hahn really is in a no lose situation. He just got named Executive of the Year. The sports world knows that it wasn't his decision for hiring TLR, anything but. He just needs to play the good soldier and hope the Sox win next season and Tony gets fired. Then start accepting calls from other organizations. I think that the Angels are a big possibility. Maybe the Rockies. Diamond Backs? Who knows?

I agree.

Why? Who do you see in the starting rotation next year. Other than Giolitto and Dallas, I say that right now its a cat fight for the other three spots. It is teh major reason why I feel that they need to go hard after a top of the rotation type starting pitcher along with a end of the rotation veteran also.

That punishment by major league baseball was way too weak considering that the team that won it all should not have in all likelihood. Think also about the possible betting that conceivably could have taken place by individuals who knew what kind of advantages the cheating team had over their opposition. I bet major league baseball never even looked at that happening.

Nah. Not in a DUI case. This will be over in a couple of days once the case comes to court.

Anyone know if he is or isn't the kind of space head that his brother is?

This is what I brought up yesterday. If Reinny doesn't step up and make this go away, I think that the commissioner of baseball has every right to step in and take action which would further embarrass the White Sox organization. This entire thing should never have happened.