greg775

I wonder if Ricky hates Saladino's game. My guess is he won't be entering many games.

QUOTE (Richie @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 07:44 AM) I have a funny (and somewhat long) story about meeting Ed Farmer. When I was in college for broadcasting in Chicago. I got a chance to shadow him and DJ for a game (really only the first half of a game and then they sent myself and the other student down into some seats). My main take away from the experience was that Farmer is kind of a weird dude... lol. I didn't expect much interaction outside of MAYBE a handshake/hello with either person. Which is what I got from DJ. Standard, quick interaction... nice dude. Then, Farmer sits me down all seriously. Then, almost reluctantly, he goes - "Well, son... here's your chance. I'll let you have 3 questions. GO"... As if I prepared my whole life to sit down with Ed Farmer and ask him about calling baseball games. lol. I honestly didn't even know if we'd get a meet/greet. I was super taken off-guard and didn't know what to say. However, I recognized that it was a cool opportunity. I managed to pull three questions out of my backside that weren't overly stupid... he went on about how you should prepare your "voice" for the baseball season. To get that "good low/echoing sound". I don't remember much else... just that the whole booth kind of stopped what they were doing in the middle of prepping and it was quite awkward. So, I get through that. He kind of just dismisses me. Now I'm sitting in the back with the other kid shadowing (fellow broadcasting student that I hung with a bit) who had gotten up there a little after I did. Broadcast is now well underway and Ed signs off for an inning. Now - He stands up and looks back at no one in particular. Says out loud - "well... anyone want to call this next inning?". Everyone in the booth just laughs. I think DJ even tagged a joke on. It was (again) awkward when he appeared to remain adamant. The mood quickly turned to confusion for a split-second. I looked at the other dude I'm with, both of us going "WTF?"... There was this random fan who won some contest that was also getting shown around. He had only poked his head in for a minute. He jokingly blurts out "Hell ya, Ed!"... I can't even tell what Ed is thinking (he's such a dry guy) - but he tells him to come on down. Everyone is in disbelief. The dude was (of course) an utter trainwreck for a half inning. They introduced him as (first name, hometown) like he's a radio caller. DJ has no idea what to do with him. Producers are going bananas. He's copying "Hawk-isms". It's a CATASTROPHE. Farmer's ass just shoots a look at me in the middle of it. As if to say "I just gave you an opportunity to call an inning of Major League baseball!"... I am so f'ing confused at this point. Clearly, like everyone... I thought he was joking. A little later - my classmate and I are about to go down to our seats. We've both been pretty silent since that all went down. The person guiding us around (worked with the broadcast in some capacity, don't remember his exact title) - I can just tell he's thinking "Wow, that got off the rails"... lol. I ask "So, he actually wanted to let me call an inning?"... He basically told me that it was one of the odder occurrences he's ever seen working in baseball broadcasting, but that yes... it would appear he was making the offer in hoping that I would be the one to say yes. Because of our talk earlier? I guess? Right when we got to our seats and the guide bid us farewell... we started laughing in utter confusion for a good 10 minutes. Wondering what that was all about. I honestly never could figure it out and to this day - I still am so, SOOO confused by the incident when I think about it. Of course, I regret not saying yes. However, you had to be there to understand how odd it was. lol. It was so utterly ridiculous man. That story still seems like a bad dream. That was supposed to be such an fun, easy going evening of watching a White Sox broadcast in person. Instead, it just left me feeling like a complete idiot. Years later - Still wondering "what in god's name was that all about?" I guess he saw a young, aspiring broadcaster and wanted to make his (meaning my) day? The way he went about it was sure odd... I'll feel like a dumbass for that until the day I die. With all the advanced stats in baseball, somebody should keep track of actually how many jokes Jason and Stone cut in a give game and also what is the score of the game when they are joking? My guess is they don't crack THAT many jokes. I watched the last game with the 3 in the booth and they were pretty into talking baseball. You can't just focus on the damn game and the upcoming homestand trying to sell tickets. I think we are exaggerating the jokes. I want stats.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 03:23 PM) Of course, we should extend Avi and Jose. Considering all the bone headed mistakes this franchise has made, so what if we overpay slightly. Good post. If we are going to win an ALCS we are going to need Avi and Abreu. You can't do it with all new guys. I would expect Hahn knows all this and those 2 will be part of the title team(s).

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 10:36 PM) They already moved Anderson up and Delmonico down in the lineup. I did not know that.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 09:24 PM) Too quick...have to give more than a week there. Why is Ricky running the same lineup out there every day? Managers change the orders of lineups a lot, at least past Sox managers have done that. It's no crime to drop Moncada from one to six.

Anderson- Gonna have a great season. He's a budding star. Passes the eye test. Maybe someday will draw a lotta walks; if not his on base will be no better than Ozzie's was as a free swinging hacker. He will produce however and be an all star. Yolmer - I do like him a lot. Good to have a glove at third and he can hit. Leury - I actually like him too. Jack Soria - I don't want to call a human being worthless so I won't. As a baseball pitcher he is "close to worthless" however. He'll fail more than he succeeds. That's not good.

Hawk had the worst line of the day BTW. He was talking about opening days and said this one was very special cause the Sox had IT is I think he worded it. The Sox don't have IT yet. It was a low moment by Hawk. Also he was a bit too giddy about Yolmer, a bit too giddy about this season. That's OK though. Opening day is magical especially for veterans like Hawk.

Personally I don't think anybody but maybe one guy is worried about Moncada on here. Just an emotional game thread, folks. Big deal. He looks fine. I wouldn't have him lead off, but that's just me. He's not a problem. The pen is disgracefully bad. That's why I insist we are still tanking. Had plenty of time in offseason to address it. Sox didn't want to. Took a flier on Soria. Big deal. Soria is who he is. He'll be OK some nights; and get torched others. Will be very unreliable. Big deal. We are still in tank mode. One more season.

QUOTE (FT35 @ Apr 5, 2018 -> 08:45 PM) Sup Greg! I can't speak for the Royals' broadcasts--I am not familiar. Totally agree about Steve. He is brilliant but Jason dumbs him down a lot. I remember the days where Steve sat with Harry Carry and was the only resemblance of cohesivness you would hear. Harry was tanked by the 3rd inning and Steve salvaged air-time value with his knowledge. I'm glad he's here--he's great...but Jason brings him out of genius land and into candy land by baiting him into mindless banter and it's a waste of a great talent. It forces Steve to dumb things down because he's trying to explain himself to the guy who asked the question...it's why his explanations seem like he's treating us as first-time baseball fans. I don't think the problem is Steve Stone. I think it's Jason. The guy sounds likeable, everyone speaks highly of him and his work and I think that's great! I personally don't like the light he places our team in. We aren't trendy, we aren't twitter, we aren't selfie stick--and if we're those things off the field, so what...on the field, we're the White Sox--we win ugly, we are grinders, we will compete and lay it on the line every night. You know that's closer to the message our guys are hearing from Ricky before they take the field--so embrace it--let that show up everywhere. All things associated with the White Sox brand need to be consistent with who we really are. I'm not calling for Benetti's head...I'm calling for his involvement! Lose the cute, limit the silly, focus on the things the team does that makes them the White Sox--that will draw in the viewer--give us a DOSE of the White Sox baseball we all know and love--that's coming back after a 10-year wait! Great post FT. I like what you say here.

I don't like Moncada leading off and Avi batting second but my argument could be crushed in a debate cause the Sox run production hasn't been a problem in this 3-3 start.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 12:25 AM) Yeah, it's especially funny to me that right when it started to unravel, 3-4 known trolls came out of the woodwork I wouldn't overreact. People aren't acting that pissed or that out of line. It was a lousy loss. The reax on here hasn't been that brutal.

Let's tie this baby up.

QUOTE (Richie @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 01:08 AM) I blame myself. I made my first post on this forum precisely at the moment Leury doubled in Davidson to make it 7-3. It was all downhill from there. Don't.Blame.Yourself. You are on a great message board. QUOTE (Scoots @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 01:09 AM) This game is going to be a big test for this team. How are they going to come back from a debilitating and embarrassing loss such as this one. You may be right. It is pretty cold out, though. Easy to say it was the elements. Poor Leury though. He's the goat. QUOTE (Baron @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 01:10 AM) So....what was the point of this pen that Rick assembled? Demoralizing the team as much as possible? I think it was to keep the tank alive one more year. The common thought in sports is if you can't win, might as well lose as many as possible. It's been a popular thing the past couple years obviously. Cubs, Astros, Sixers, etc.

QUOTE (soxforlife05 @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 12:02 AM) I love how they try playing matchups with our bullpen stiffs like it will make any difference. Just trot any random guy out there, let them give up their 1-2 runs, then move on to the next. Good post.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 12:01 AM) No way to frame it, this is a bad loss. Real bad I dunno about that. With the White Sox bullpen what this is, is a reality check more than a bad loss IMO. I agree it's a 'bad loss' cause of Leury's mental blunder on that ball that skipped by him but in my world all losses are expected for this final season of lousiness.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 12:53 AM) If Anderson, Yolmer and Davidson are all legit...we’ll be fine. Just have to weather the Soria rants until he’s gone. No reason to rant. Just assume he blows and if he has a good game give it the nod of approval or slow clap. QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 12:56 AM) Dude, we are more in the mode of trading pen guys if they get good than acquiring them at this point. We arent there yet I meant in the offseason, grab a couple good relievers since the payroll is so low. We're not arguing. Sounds like you agree with me this is another year of losing to grab the best possible draft pick again.

QUOTE (Scoots @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 12:50 AM) Semantics. This is more of a "development" year than a "tank" year. I can buy that. I was calling for signing some good relievers in the offseason BTW. I don't like another "development year" or tank year but it is what it is. Very high draft pick this year and another in May of 2019 seems to be in the cards.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 12:47 AM) Sadly... no he's serious. BlackSox you think Sox are trying to win this year? I don't see that in the roster at all.

QUOTE (Scoots @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 12:44 AM) Sarcasm? Not really, only because before the site went down, we were getting in a lot of arguments about when the team would be competitive and the thought was this was another tank year. One of the reasons is the team made no attempt to improve the bullpen in the offseason. Soria doesn't count. Find the thread where I wrote about how all the fans in KC were rejoicing at Soria leaving town. He is horrific and fits into the one more season of tank theory. I mean I love fans rooting for us to win in the game threads but it hasn't been that way last season at least. Rooting for losses was huge. I just assume we have one more year of tanking in our team.

QUOTE (soxforlife05 @ Apr 5, 2018 -> 11:41 PM) Clean house with this bullpen it’s utter trash. Nate Jones should be the only one still here by year end. Some bad decisions made by staff with assembling the bullpen. Don't forget we're still trying to tank. I picture Hahn nodding in privacy saying, "Just how we planned this." Lot of highlights but let the bullpen blow it.

QUOTE (Capn12 @ Apr 5, 2018 -> 11:40 PM) Bullpen has surrendered 18 runs in 19 IP....pretty amazing. Yikes. I'd rather we win it with a double and single. HRS ... it's pretty cold out.

Somebody gets to be a hero. Hope the leadoff man gets on base, though.

I'd prefer after today we trot some younguns out there as closer(s). Not sure who the candidates would be. The experts can give me a list of 3-4 guys I hope.

Leury messed up mentally. It happens when it's 20 degrees out. Thanks, MLB for letting us play today.

In the past I'd be freaking out. Not this year. I'm trained to think we will stink and anything that happens on the positive side is gravy. Although I do not like Soria obviously. What will be will be.