greg775

I am so happy. Tony LaRussa back where he belongs ... with the Chicago White Sox. Folks, our team is in the best hands to win multi WS titles. Hopefully the cards will fall right, no pun intended, and we bag 2-3 titles. Tony LaRussa!!! What an early Christmas/Halloween/Tgiving present. Great news amid a horrific Covid year! Trust me, people. You will be happy with this move. Sox will use analytics but have a pure baseball mind to not be beholden to all moves suggested to him. Celebrate people. Barring bad luck (injuries, etc) we are the champions (not saying next year, but it's coming).

I'm all for Tony. He can be a crabby, mean guy, but I see it as karma. Hawk never should have fired him. Now he wins a couple WS titles with the Sox. He's a brilliant baseball mind and he can disregard the parts of analytics that are ridiculous. Hiring the Astros scandal guy would be awful in my mind. I want the Sox to be lovable, not despised by every fan outside of chicago. Tony!! p.s. In a perfect world, Ozzie could come back but he's the mouth that roared. Ozzie has nobody to blame but himself for saying all those controversial things in his past days in baseball.

The analytics guys demand it so they get it. Moves based on analytics. It's so strange that in a game with outdated unwritten rules, analytics wins out over another unwritten rule: Never take out a dominant starter who has thrown 80 pitches. My gosh how DUMB. Mookie Betts even said the Dodgers had a "sigh of relief" after that analytical move was made. In 2005 Ozzie Guillen left all his starters in and we had the time of our lives. Oh wait ... that was 15 years ago; those were ancient times, can't compare. Hogwash. The stat lovers get what they deserve sometimes: Statistical moves that BOMB.

Everything's politics. Probably should close the thread or let us rip about politics, too. i killed the last post I made after the post from a mod about "Now back to the talk about the pandemic." Seems like DA's last post was political and could spurn a lot of political comments.

Yep, both sides are ending lifelong friendships and family relationships over politics. So sad. As Ralph said on Stern he wants nothing to do with any family member or friend who will not vote for Biden. And same on the other side. They want to bash heads of anybody who votes against Trump. Then there are the people like me who would NEVER end a friendship over politics or family relationship. I WOULD IGNORE WHAT THEY ARE SAYING and look at why I have developed a relationship with them in the first place. I would never discount an internal war over politics. It could easily be coming.

It's sad when lifelong friendships and family relationships end over a person's voting preference. Politics shouldn't cause people to want to punch former best friends. No need for another Civil War.

I was listening to the Howard Stern show and it is a microcosm of the hatred going on in America. Ralph said flat out that because Ronnie won't reveal who he is voting for Ronnie is scum. He told him that to his face. He said if you are not willing to denounce Trump you are dead to Ralph. ... Whenever I hear stuff like this and read between the lines with some posters, I realize some posters on here and people like Ralph are declaring about half of America scum. Because believe it or not, about half the country prefers Trump over Joe. Just as Hillary had more than half, but Trump got A LOT of votes. I shudder to think Americans like Ralph on the Stern show DESPISE those who will vote for Trump. Ralph said flat out they are dead to him, no matter how close they were before. "This is too important!!!" Ralph screamed. Cmon people. We don't need to have a Civil War. You know, I voted for Obama twice and some say I'm conservative. I don't despise anybody over politics for gosh sakes. But Ralph has proven many want to bash heads of people just because they vote for Trump. I say WOW.

The question is how long Americans will be ordered to stay home. It's definitely going to be a wild period in US history.

Remember this prediction. They will change the strategy on Covid once Harris/Biden take over. Things are not going to be better in January IMO so there will be a complete and unilateral nation-wide shutdown where the rules and regulations are so strict it'll make your head spin. Quarantine of the entire USA folks. What that does to the economy? Well, we're gonna find out. But if the covid numbers remain bad on inauguration day, you wait. The quarantine is comin'

Hawk, players will not try to beat the shift by hitting the other way. It's against baseball's personal unwritten rules. Players are trying to hit home runs not singles. So they will not plop a bunt down or try to slap singles to beat the shift. It's a disgrace to see a lefty hitter plop a single to the left side when there's one guy standing at the traditional SS position and three guys on the right side of the infield.

Hey Dick, I truly resisted the temptation to get political in my last post here and did not go that route. In fact I almost typed some pretty crafty political jabs but stopped in my tracks. Don't know why you had to go that route just now. You usually have some good takes on COVID. I don't like today's numbers one iota.

Very scary reports on the virus today in the USA and all over the world as some have posted as the cold weather begins. Can't be good news for college basketball and overseas basketball. Football at least is played outdoors for the most part. Damn, we can't shake this virus. If as expected Biden wins, I would look for IMMEDIATE shutdowns if Covid numbers are like this. Might be the first thing he does. I have this gut feeling I'm gonna be complaining about haircuts very soon again. I prolly should get it cut ASAP to beat the ban if it's coming.

The shift angers me beyond belief. Since it's against baseball's manly unwritten rules to bunt to beat the shift, I'd be all for banning it. If there were three guys standing on the right side of the infield and one guy standing at SS and we didn't bunt, our fricking Little League coach would kick our butts and never play us again. The all or nothing (HR or K) attitude of hitters to satisfy the stat people has been so bad for the game. Like you said, without our fervent desire to cheer for our beloved laundry baseball would be doomed. It has so many problems. Nine innings take 3.5 hours. Disgusting. If I wasn't hooked on my team, the White Sox, I'd never watch a game. I enjoy most everything about a Sox game. I DESPISE everything about any other games played.

Great post. Like I said, I haven't seen this type of info anywhere, just snide remarks about TV contracts taking care of the owners. I know most people hate Trump but I though it was funny about a line he said yesterday at a rally when I read your line about what will happen "politically" with regards to the virus over the next six months. Trump was telling a North Carolina crowd that NC must be "reopened." He said, "you wait, on Nov. 4, they'll say, 'Everything's open now (after Harris/Biden win). It's all open." It was funny. But I wish media would write something like you just wrote here. It makes sense that owners are losing top dollar because of the absence of fans.

Why are you guys so worried about age? Tony can speak Spanish which is pivotal and he's in the Hall of Fame. Nothing wrong with having a grumpy manager once in a while. I still say it's fate. He wins 2 WS with the Sox then bows out and all is right in the world. He never should have been fired by Hawk.

Regarding the scandal-ridden former Astros manager ... Think of this as the real world. Let's say a company that is not desperate to hire people got the resume of AJ Hinch right now. Sorry but it would be tossed in the circular file or at best the "let's wait 10 years and see what comes of this person" file. There are so many candidates out there it's absolutely wrong to hire this guy who is tied to a severe scandal in baseball. Sox will go from the loveable young-uns to the bad guys in the eyes of the baseball world. You know how many Astros got thrown at this year even with no fans in stands?? I don't understand how ANYBODY could support Jerry paying Hinch at this time in history. My choices, with the realization Oz has no chance cause of his mouth: Tony baby No. 1 (Hall of Famer). 2.) Bochy strong second (no brainer). 3. Steve Stone (don't laugh, though I'd miss him on MLB broadcasts). 4. Jim Leyland (if healthy). Just my takes. I don't want Alex Cora or AJP. AJP has no experience. But it would be a White Sox move. p.s. You know how bad that Astros scandal was? Fathom could slug a double if he knew what PITCH WAS COMING for gosh sakes. Maybe Caulfield as well!!

Nice post. I'm reading the wrong stuff probably but this is the first I've read anywhere that team owners are at all concerned about anything involving the ownership of their team in the future. Drives me crazy. I just assumed it's all about TV contracts and attendance/parking didn't matter.

Jose's gotten to where he is defense is average now. He's not a liability at first. I even think it's above average but I won't argue. With the way Jose likes to play every day, there's no way Vaughn plays first 40 percent of the time. Jose will play it 85 percent IMO. Almost every day with Vaughn the Sunday lineup guy at 1B. Now DH? Vaughn,

For some reason I consider Vaughn in the same realm as my love of Eloy and Robert. I consider Vaughn untradeable. He could be an amazing DH. It's Burger who I am not crazy about in terms of potential sluggers.

The Kansas chancellor who is a doctor said that he thinks we won't be close to normal until this time in 2021. So that makes you wonder ... will ballclubs have reduced attendance or no attendance again next season? I guess the TV contracts still stuff dollars in the owners' pockets, but don't the lack of parking and ticket sales hurt teams at least a bit? Sounds like it could be another season of reduced profits. The doctor/chancellor also said he doesn't think we'll ever return to what we considered normal before. Doesn't this scare sports owners a bit? At least baseball is outdoors but I would think it insane for owners to give studs contracts of say 45 million over 3 years.

I wasn't trying to blast you.

You've had some interesting posts on COVID, many I disagree with obviously. I'd like to hear your summation of what we should be doing now and what should have been done then in 10 paragraphs or less. Pls. take into consideration EVERYTHING ... the insidious disease, but also the economy (not the big corps but the little guys and gals need to eat and have shelter) and mental health. You are very opinionated and get upset at others' comments like mine a lot. I'd like to see your plan in a nutshell. What should be done now and what shoulda been done at the start all the way thru late fall into this dark winter. Thank u in advance.

They better interview this Sox fan if the Sox hire the manager who cheated.

True. And it's really WRONG to hire the guy if you are the Sox. Especially when Tony is available and others are available. The distraction would be ridiculous, hiring a guy who had to cheat to win. Cmon. The Sox don't need the distraction.

Dave Roberts won't be leaving the Dodgers after reaching the WSeries IMO. Cmon are we at this point that a manager must win it all or get fired? I say no. The guy is the NL champion and he did a nice job letting that guy pitch the last 3 innings rather than bring in somebody for the 9th.