greg775

QUOTE (daggins @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 10:48 PM) Avi looking like 2016 Avi That's cause he's batting second. Ridiculous. Good job, Ricky. Avi looks completely lost for the first time since two seasons ago. He's not a No. 2 hitter for gawd sakes. QUOTE (maxjusttyped @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 10:53 PM) Davidson's improvement in plate discipline so far this year has been remarkable. It's funny how some of the advanced stats people are giving Davidson love when eyetest man "Greg" actually sees him as blowing chunks so far this season. Save for the four nice bombs. QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 10:56 PM) They gave it their best El Rockin remains best Sox fan in history. QUOTE (Scoots @ Apr 11, 2018 -> 01:14 AM) Except, this team isn't SUPPOSED to win. Hahn and co has even hinted at it himself. We are not supposed to win for a couple more years. Ah, the joy of the tank. It's great for job security of GMs. Did you hear Benetti's podcast before the opener when he said there was out and out joy from all the fans at Soxfest this year. Everybody loves tanking/rebuilding. And it's so good for GMs of teams. They are beloved for sucking. QUOTE (WBWSF @ Apr 11, 2018 -> 02:31 AM) Right, and the thing that scares me is Hahn is the one in charge of the rebuild. I'm not a huge Kenny Williams/Hahn guy. If we get good, I will give them their due. QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Apr 11, 2018 -> 04:02 AM) After 10 games the season is ovah? They are 2.5 games back. This team has not won a fricking home game yet. This team blows IMO.

Good job Moncada. It would be nice to load the bases then hit a granny.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 08:30 PM) if Jose and Avi are just going to go 0-whatever this offense will never score. I agree. I may love those two but there's no guarantee they will rake this year. QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 08:58 PM) Reading a game thread only confirms that White Sox fans can't handle an actual rebuild. I'm not crazy about being out of the race the first 10 days of May. Good hustle there on the routine grounder by Garcia. QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 09:07 PM) This is very true. We knew and were warned that we would experience these ups and downs during the rebuild. Plus it’s still so very early in the season I'm not a fan of management. QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 09:25 PM) Not to be a hater, but how many ground balls has Avi hit this year? Doesn’t appear to be getting any more lift and that’s going to be a problem when his BABIP regresses back to the mean. Please move him to fifth in the order. Or third if we must.

OMG do we stink this year. I acknowledge my faves Avi and Davidson are sucking. But geezus, Ricky, change the lineup. Who decided Avi was a No. 2 hitter??? And Davidson is not a No. 4 hitter. And Moncada should NOT be leadoff. Considering the starting rotation, bullpen and lineup, it's not hyperbole to suggest this will wind up the losingest team in Sox history. It's definitely worst than the .389 team of 2013. This will be our sixth straight losing season and 8th in 10 years.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 9, 2018 -> 10:26 PM) Greg is going to blame his MLB Extra Innings cancellation on Soria and the Opening Day Massacre, lol... How many of the announced 10,377 were actually crazy enough to attend that game in person? Did I tell you I did get the problem corrected? I actually have the mlb package to watch this horses*** team. QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 9, 2018 -> 10:38 PM) Next year baby. This year still doesn't matter. Revenge in '19. As you all know, I hate losing in this rebuild. So I sorely hope the fans stay away in droves and the Sox have 1960s-like attendance figures. I can't imagine anybody needing to go to the Cell that badly that they'd pay to watch this team. Maybe go once or twice to see Moncada in person.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 9, 2018 -> 10:26 PM) Greg is going to blame his MLB Extra Innings cancellation on Soria and the Opening Day Massacre, lol... How many of the announced 10,377 were actually crazy enough to attend that game in person? It truly looked like just a couple hundred fans max were there.

Were there even 500 fans at today's game? Seriously. I don't want to hear how 6,000 were there. I mean, somebody in the media should have counted the fans. It would not have been difficult to do. When this team is scuffling like now, it seems pathetic in all areas, I mean historically bad. Defense, hitting, pitching, bullpen. Yikes this team is awful.

He fooled me. I figure these ballplayers today would easily throw around 40 million a year as their asking price for a 1-year deal. Foolish me. 25 million is probably the limit for somebody who is not a superstar for a 1-year deal.

The 'funny' thing is everybody thought Game One of the Tiger series was in the books. Hawk embarrassed himself in saying "Ricky's boys don't quit" a few times and he even said how special this year was going to be. I know how cold it is, but predictably the Sox got swept after blowing the first game in spectacular fashion. We Sox fans are used to that (the Robin era; the Ozzie era) being able to point to a certain game as the one that caused an immediate rash of losses and fall from contention. I know it's cold, but start the shutout meter. This team is going to get shut out a lot. Pity those 11,000 fans who attended in the cold today. Obviously both teams were going thru the motions in the cold with the five measly hits. I expect Moncada, Avi, Abreu and Anderson will hit this year. We better hope Davidson and Delmonico rake because Castillo, Leury and Yolmer will not consistently hit. We got four good hitters out of nine, folks.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 8, 2018 -> 10:16 AM) That veteran FA players (with the best training habits to keep them from breaking down) should start signing one year deals at higher values (he suggested $42 million for himself), thus taking the seemingly riskier year to year path in order to always play for contenders (also providing those acquiring teams the opportunity to deal them away for the final two months if the team underachieves?) https://sports.yahoo.com/indians-pitcher-tr...-145202220.html That's probably a good idea for the player. At 42 million a year or so, all he has to do is stay healthy to make similar money to a long term deal. Let's say he gets 42 million and sucks the one year. At that point he could sign a 2-year 60 million deal. Somebody would pay it. Or another 1 year deal for 30 mill. But he's always on a contender this way. This is not a bad idea for the player.

Sox need to suck it up and not let that horrific loss result in a 10 game losing streak. We lose 10 in a row or eight of 10 and the tank police are gonna come out again and most of the board will be rooting for losses. I personally think we are nowhere near "better than expected." This team is way worse than last years.

Hope we don't suck at the Cell this year. I hate when we can't at least go .500 at home. Not saying that's the case but Sox are already blowing chunks at home.

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.