greg775

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 23, 2015 -> 08:12 PM) If you think Salvador Perez is the gold standard for catcher offense, I'm not sure we're watching the same sport. He's the standard for an excellent all around catcher. Who is regarded as better than him?

Kansas City will be in complete meltdown mode if Cueto has to pitch Game Seven. It's win tonight and celebrate madly for Royals fans or be sooo depressed cause they'll not know which Cueto will take the mound Saturday. The one that gave up two early runs before stifling Houston; or the one who got lit up in Toronto.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Oct 23, 2015 -> 02:53 PM) https://np.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/3...derstand_xpost/ Another cringeworthy post. The Cubs don't have the monopoly on heartbreak, especially when it's not like Chicago has exactly been starved of sports championships in the recent past. That post was bad. I mean do his older relatives like basketball at all, football or hockey? Chances are the family got to bask in some joy during the Bulls dynasty and the Bears winning it. Most Cub fans are Bears fans. True, baseball is huge and emotion comes out, but Chicago has had its share of winning and parades. Now yeah you want your granddad Cub fan to enjoy winning it all but that story was too maudlin. It's ridiculous to mourn the end of this season if you are a Cub fan cause the Mets simply kicked their ass. It was embarassing almost.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 23, 2015 -> 07:58 PM) Very few teams get much hitting out of the C and SS positions. Sox need to upgrade at least two out of 2B, 3B, DH and RF. That is true. Catchers don't hit much. Even the standard, the great Salvy Perez hit .260 (.280 OBP) with 21 homers and 70 ribbies. That's great and all but again, he's the best and only hitting .260; .280. Flowers coincidentally in a lot fewer at bats hit .239 with nine homers, 39 ribbies and .295 OPB; Soto hit .219, 9 hrs, 21 ribbies and .301 OBP. So combined the Sox catching hit 18 homers to Perez's 21 and had 60 ribbies to Perez's 70. And Flowers arguably is a decent defender, though he's no Salvy. Interesting that catcher did suck but like HH said catcher was no huge problem compared to most teams. He's right. We need to upgrade two of those spots. I'd say if we could upgrade 3B and RF (no way we can dump LaRoche on anybody) that would be a start because arguably Micah/Sanchez would be 'OK' and Trayce 'OK' in right. We can't go with Avi anymore as a regular. He's that bad.

I thought it was a good article. He's of the belief baseball is the real sport that spans generations so yes he's high on the significance of the Sox title. He's rich and he's a typical sports owner. His team is his baby, his hobby and excuse for not retiring and sitting in a rocking chair. That's all fine, but sadly his team has changed and become pretty lousy. If he's truly involved in day to day operations, it's not working. If he's only 78 and wants at least 12 more years, he could be in for a lot of seasons in which the Sox are out of it by June.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Oct 23, 2015 -> 06:33 PM) If LaRoche had finished the season with what his slash line was at the beginning of June and Samardzija hadn't gone into the toilet at the beginning of August there's a decent shot we could have won the second wildcard (and at the very least we would have been "competing"). It's not looking likely that we'll compete next year at the moment but we don't necessarily need a miracle either. You catch a couple breaks and you can easily make a 10-game jump, tons of teams do it every year. After 2007 things looked pretty grim too. That doesn't mean we should make more risky moves and bank on those breaks happening, but it's not like we just had the season the Phillies or Brewers had. All true. Good post. But ... like one poster said in a thread the smart money says next season at best will be a carbon copy of this season. Our lineup has too many bad hitters. As much as I stand up for Flowers, he's not ever going to hit. LaRoche can't hit, pure and simple. 2B looks like a hitters black hole; Lexi isn't much of a hitter anymore sad to say; Avi can't hit; Eaton is good; Melky is average but nothing of note and Abreu is fantastic. Our bench reeks hitting wise. 3B is also hopeless hitting wise. I'd say start at 9 under .500 like this year as the high water mark and if you are pessimist add another five losses to that for 14 under barring an amazing roster overhaul that doesn't touch the starting pitching staff.

I said it earlier, but here's first mention of Chelsea Clinton as future President after Hillary. "If Hillary is so intent on carrying forward the Clinton legacy, she better bows out and prepare Chelsea for the post. Junior Clinton will be better equipped -- like Justin -- to bring real change. She'll have a decade or two to polish her skills and connect with the people. Hillary is part of the old guard with no real agenda for development and seems clueless (like Obama) on managing the super power status of U.S. Simply put, not the right presidential material." Here's article at Huff Post not very high on Hillary, though it almost reads as satire http://www.huffingtonpost.com/saad-khan/ti...kusaolp00000592

QUOTE (whtsoxfan @ Oct 23, 2015 -> 12:28 AM) This guy seems salty : https://thenohustleblog.wordpress.com/2015/...white-sox-fans/ If you’re wondering, why the hell am I not writing a post about how well the Cubs did this season rather than calling out White Sox fans, don’t you worry. I wrote one weeks ago. Truth be told, the 2015 season for the Chicago Cubs was my favorite season as a fan ever. Better than 2003, 2007 or 2008 – this team was magical and the run they went on shocked me into a euphoric state of pride. Outside of the heralded Crosstown Classic, I barely noticed the Chicago White Sox or cared what they were doing. It wasn’t until the playoffs began before I noticed the South Siders – and it had nothing to do with their team, but rather, their insufferable fans. The inescapable gloating and desperation exhibited by Sox fans during the month of October was quite possibly the saddest thing I have witnessed from an overall fanbase in sports. So, here you are, Sox fans, here is your attention you vehemently demanded as your forgotten team was lost in the abyss of the offseason long before meaningful games took place. Make no mistake, I know my words mean nothing to you and the majority of South Side fans who read this or see it slide across their timeline will simply think, “Hah, you mad, bro?” and move on. I wouldn’t say angry, on the contrary, I am genuinely embarrassed for you. Obviously not all Sox fans are Cub-bashing try-hards, but unfortunately, it seemed like the majority were obsessed with the idea of the Cubs losing. The most hilarious part? Most of the fans who I saw predominately spouting off were also the ones who would think of Disney over baseball if they heard the name Minnie Minoso. The casual fans who come out of the woodwork to do nothing more than troll Cubs fans are the worst type of people – all season long they don’t post a single update or tweet about baseball (let alone actually, you know, cheering on their so-called “team”) but any time the Cubs come up, it’s time to do some bashing! It's OK to be a Sox fan and hate the Cubs. It's called an inner-city rivalry. Personally I didn't care either way. If the Cubs won it I'd be happy for my 80 year old uncle who loves them. If the Mets owned the Cubs as they did, I have to admit I got a kick out of it. I wouldn't tell my family or friends or anybody I actively wanted the Cubs to lose. Quite frankly I didn't care. But once they did lose I thought it was funny, yes I did.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 23, 2015 -> 08:27 AM) Why are we trading our second best position player who is both young AND cost-controlled? Are we honestly expecting to pick up a much better option at SS, 3B or C...for Eaton alone (operating under the assumption you only trade a CFer/leadoff hitter for someone at an even more premium position)? Then we're also basically going to have to acquire a leadoff hitter from that SS we do bring in (if Alexei doesn't have his option picked up), to replace Eaton. Why would Ben Zobrist come to the White Sox (besides his local ties) when he would be leaving a history of playing with mostly playoff teams? If David Murphy's going to get $12-13 million, I wouldn't be shocked at all if someone paid Zobrist $30 million for two years. We've talked about only having $10-20 million (depending on whether we keep Alexei) to spend this off-season. Bringing in Ben Zobrist is something teams like the Yankees, Cubs, Rangers, Red Sox, Angels, Astros, Dodgers, Twins, etc., will want to do, where he's that one extra piece to put them over the top. Same with the idea of him returning to the Royals, especially if they Gordon and Rios are both gone, you would be replacing three positions for next year (they'll have to dump Omar Infante at some point). Reading your post makes me wonder if Sox are at the point they can't compete financially any more. If we can't afford Ben Zobrist, we might as well give up. I mean Sox are not going to contend if they don't improve 4-5 spots in the lineup. That's going to cost $$$s or it's going to mean trading our pitching away and that will leave us with new holes - on the mound. Can the Sox afford to let the Cubs be the only good team in town for 5-6 years?

Baseball is full of lousy hitters nowadays but sign Zobrist and you know what you are getting -- a pretty good baseball player and grinder. I think he could do for us what Rowand did. So sign Zobrist for 12 million max. Now we need an outfielder. I'd play Trace in center and trade Eaton and Avi both. I'll let you guys tell me who we can acquire for the outfield. We have to keep Melky cause he's unmovable, so give me Zobrist and now two more outfielders. Any ideas? We also desperately need a catcher. Any free agents? Might be worth trading a Rodon or Q in a blockbuster that includes a good catcher.

I'd say by all means trade Eaton. Any way we can acquire Tulo? He'd be a difference maker. We need some stars.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 03:56 PM) If it's any consolation for us, Rios sucked even more than Melky at the plate this year. But we're stuck with 3 more years of that lol. Rios is so bad it's laughable. Melky is better than him, gulp, but I wish we could rid our team of Melky. No power makes him pretty ordinary.

QUOTE (whitesoxjr27 @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 12:31 PM) Any good stuff on the score this morning? Don't discount this hurting the Sox. The Score has a great signal. I listen to Les Grobstien every night driving home from work. The Sox will be an afterthought on there from now on. There will be very little Sox to report on there. Good luck to the Sox on their new station. The Score is well respected natoinally. No more Sox on there.

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 11:05 AM) Did you even ask for the cop for a warning or just assume one would be given? Often if you ask they will at least consider it if you have a clean record..... If you didnt even ask this whole thread was a waste of time. Also, does your town have a ticket quota for its police department, if not your end of the month theory makes 0 sense. I didn't even think to ask for a break. It just seemed he was too mean and I was hoping he'd come through for me once he saw my record on the computer. QUOTE (Y2HH @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 12:46 PM) The key here is it's a small town...cops in small towns usually have nothing better to do, and these types of tickets are common in those areas. I live in Chicago, and these types of tickets are very rare...almost no cop writes them, and they have NO ticket quotas (this is a perpetuated myth). The cops I know don't write these types of tickets because they DO these things, too...and these sorts of "gotcha" tickets are a HUGE reason why people don't like the police...and what do they care, they won't see any of that money anyway, so as long as it's nothing blatantly dangerous, such as rolling through a stop sign when school kids are milling about, they'd give a warning at most. Just pay it and move on...these violations are created to be small enough that you won't fight them with a lawyer, and odds are it was video recorded that you rolled through so you'd likely lose either way. They're a typical poor/middle class money grab...so believe me, Greg, I understand your frustration with it. It's like their cell phone laws...they ban cell phones, NOT because they're dangerous (they are, but I'll get to this point in a minute), but because a LOT of people use them and it's an easy way to write tickets/raise money. Getting back to the reasoning, note that while they ARE dangerous, it's NOT why they made it illegal...as drinking coffee, checking your makeup, or fiddling with your radio are all just as dangerous, but you can't be ticketed for any of them...cell phones were simply an easy target because they're all over the news these days. A recent study actually showed that eating while driving is MORE dangerous than using a phone, by the way...yet it's not illegal... See, if I wait long enough I get a post I respect. See, folks, this person basically agrees with my position. Thank you for the reasonable response. Yes I am frustrated by a ticket that doesn't often get written for the reasons you suggest. Thank u.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 07:11 PM) There is no time to do this anymore...and since nobody holds them accountable for being wrong 80% of the time, it doesn't matter...you might be right, and if so, you'd better be right first! Yeah, as a consumer, I'm getting sick of being lied to by the media. I don't remember this happening with this regularity before. They flat out said Biden was running. Recently in baseball, Buehrle was pitching two innings then retiring. I can see a lot of these organizations know something is about to happen, figure the odds are 70-30 of them happening or better, and they just go ahead and say "sources say." There should be firings when they get it wrong. I get the feeling editors are probably happy at the number of clicks they get even if the information is wrong. If that's the case don't call it journalism. Call it something else.

Barring some horrendous gaffe, Trump actually will win the nomination it appears. Bush's numbers remain miniscule. I can't see how Trump will screw things up, unless he's basically blocked out of the spot at the convention with Carson seen as the better of two bad choices. That will be a weird convention if Trump is the nominee cause a lot of Republicans will probably blast him. No way in hell respected Republican pundits will admit to supporting Donald Trump. How the hell is Donald Trump gonna form a consensus that's he's Da Man? There will be people at the convention going on national TV blasting their own nominee. This would be a good time for a third party to enter the scene and make some waves.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 05:38 PM) I think Biden is much more principled than Clinton is. Team Clinton has shown they worry more about polls than they do "right". Even with the gaff's and the like, I have a ton more respect for Biden than I do Clinton. To me those kind of things show a lack of the calculated nature in Biden, that I see all of the time from Clinton. It makes me feel that I know Biden, and have some level of trust for where he stands on issues, and where he will stand in the future. I don't get that from Hillary. Great post. Generally candidates try more than Hillary does to show a personable side. Biden comes across just as you say. I don't understand how the American public can vote for a person as un-warm as Hillary. At least Obama is likeable. At least Clinton was likeable. The Bushes were not very likeable IMO but even they were more appealing personality wise than Hillary. Reagan was very likeable. Hillary is brash at best; mean spirited at worst and this is her PUBLIC side.

I just thought of something. The media is really getting sloppy. There were many reports again of unnamed sources saying Biden was going to announce he was going to run. More and more with Twitter, media outlets are just guessing to say they were first. Ridiculous. They screwed that one up and continue to screw things up more and more. Media today is a joke. The guy decided to not run, which means that initial report was a flat out GUESS. f*** the media right now. Get your damn facts right before you print them.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 07:50 AM) Abruptly, Game 6 on Friday at Kauffman Stadium looms about as large for the Royals as the Blue Jays, even with Kansas City holding a 3-2 lead in the series. Think not? Then ponder the chants of Toronto fans as they left: “We want Cueto,” they yelled, referring, of course, to volatile Royals starter Johnny Cueto, the presumptive Game 7 starter should that game prove necessary. There’s no way to know if it will come to that distressing proposition for the Royals, who by now must be as wearied by as worried about their supposed rent-an-ace. His unreliable performances now have been attributed to everything from Sal Perez’s glove placement to the mound height at Rogers Centre to the possibility signs were being stolen via hotel rooms in center field. Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-colum...l#storylink=cpy They brought in Herrera pretty quickly. The problem was all that at-bats that inning were SUPER close to being outs but the strike zone tightened. Volquez was throwing 98 MPH at the beginning of the game. And had pitched great coming into that 6th inning. I think this is too much post-game nitpicking. But it's amazing that Royals' fans have already increased their expectations to the point where just getting to the World Series again is a disappointment. White Sox fans have become conditioned to expect not to even get to .500 and be satisfied enough not to complain too much. This is hilarious and only in baseball. Royals fans everywhere fear Johnny Cueto having to start Game 7 of the ALCS. Almost everybody knows he will be lucky to pitch 3 innings Saturday in Game 7 if KC loses Game Six. He's likely to give up a ton of runs before Ned rescues him in the third. Then ... shortly after the World Series is over and the bidding starts, this SAME Cueto will be one of the most sought after pitchers in modern history. He will command probably 25 million a year before all is said and done. It's comical. In conclusion ... Royals fans dreading possibility of Cueto pitching Game 7. All the GMs of rich teams can't wait to woo him and sign him for 5 or more years at 25 mill a year. WTF???? Can anybody explain this madness to me? p.s. How much you want to bet Cueto will be booed mercilesly by the so called GREAT KC fans if indeed he gets shelled in Game 7. Either that or the boos will be for Ned for not yanking him in the first inning or after he gives up his first run. LOL.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 07:36 AM) For all you know, a pedestrian or motorcyclist or a family friend of the cop could have been involved in an accident that involved a motorist not stopping 100% at a stop sign. Maybe someone almost came to a , didn't, and then it caused another driver to hesitate going through and then that car got hit from behind. You just have no way of knowing. Maybe it's his pet peeve or personal crusade, like DUI arrests/checkpoints. No offense to the other 100 posts, but this is the first one to make sense to me. I do have no way of knowing if he has a history with stop sign problems in his family.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 21, 2015 -> 11:11 PM) Also, the idea that no prior violations gives you a mulligan, that logic is flawed. And it would lead to the police feeling even more justified for harassing those who have already done something wrong when the whole premise of America is that you should be treated fairly and equally after you've paid for your crime (sex offenders/pedophiles being a rare area where atonement isn't accepted universally). Allegations of profiling would fill up every court docket in America. Yes but I'm surprised you guys really don't care about the fact this is a small town and at 1 a.m. on a side street nobody is out on the roads and there's no danger of me going slowly thru the stop sign. Also the fact it was the last day of the month and that's kinda fishy needing to raise money for the city. The old rumor that more tickets are issued at the end of the month. I bet in big cities you pull over a guy at 1 a.m. for rolling a stop sign ... I bet a lot of people smart off to the cops and get maced. I could picture some New Yawkers and Chicago South Siders smarting off to cops for actually ticketing them for such a ridiculous violation. Just my take.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 05:15 AM) I definitely see this going 7 games. Ventura and Cueto to follow. Could be interesting. Wow. Royals fans are already getting nervous. The talk shows are amazing. They want Yost fired for not having a reliever ready when Volquez allowed the first baserunner and they have turned on Ned again.

I haven't commented much about the Cubs. This did remind me of Showalter's Orioles losing in the playoffs. The genius managers get beat when their players don't produce. Case closed. Maddon couldn't do anything with the Cubs' bats dead. Cubs pretty much got buried. I'd say they were an embarrassment in fact, but I don't care enough about the Cubs to go there. Maddon's next task is to make sure the Cubs shrug this off. There's no guarantee you win it all (cough cough Detroit) during the window. I'd assume the Cubs will win one or two World Series minimum with this crew and might even have a dynasty if they keep spending money like a big market team and add some pieces. But it sure as hell wouldn't surprise me if they DO NOT win a WS with this crew.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 21, 2015 -> 08:28 PM) Patently false. I read them, and i see you talking in third person all the time telling everyone "greg has supporters they just dont post about it" and nonsense like that. There is nothing pre-conceived, it is conceived by reading what you write. I think some people on here do agree with me. I don't think I'm 100 percent on an island on my positions. QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Oct 21, 2015 -> 08:34 PM) I don't believe you are a bad person, but you intentionally put blinders on. I don't think I put blinders on. Re. the crime issue I accept your figures that crime has gone down but I can't say America is actually safe. I mean it's not just all being driven by the media. We have a lot of crime. Let me acknowledge once and for all: I do accept your stats that Chicago is safer and the world is safer. But am I allowed to say "but ....?"

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Oct 21, 2015 -> 08:32 PM) You really, truly believe this don't you? Yes. 1 a.m., the driver (me) has nothing on his record; he's polite, not drinking, just wanting to make a buck the old fashioned way. Unwritten rulebook says 'let that guy off with a warning.'