The Beast

So, did anyone go to the game this evening? I wondered if people had any feedback from getting to the ballpark, parking and inside the park. I heard Brooks Boyer on 670 on Friday and he said to get there early, follow the parking rules (lots north of the park prepaid, south of the park paying the day of), consider parking at the overflow lot at IIT and that some of the kinks of getting into the stadium and food service have been fixed. Overall, the game was a positive experience. The outcome was bad as the pitching couldn’t have a scoreless frame after the first few innings until Kimbrel came in, so the way they lost sucked after being up 6-1. I was able to get food relatively quickly and got to the bathroom and back to my seats quickly as well. However, they need the city to commit more people to direct traffic. I don’t know if it was Lollapalooza or what, but we left Woodridge at 3:30, got off the Ryan at 4:10 and stalled on 31st street trying to pass the first intersection and make our way past the housing (where cars are parked on game days) while we waited for two lights to let a bus in, cross traffic go through, people push through lanes and cut others off and see nobody directing traffic. When we finally turned to go to lot A, we couldn’t make a hard left and went to lot B, but it was closed and had to go to lot C to park, only to realize we couldn’t tailgate (I did remember hearing about that but by the time we got there my mind was fried and I just wanted to get out of the car). We unfortunately got out of the car around 5:20 and got to our seats by 5:48 pm. After the game it did take a long time to get through the neighborhoods as opposed to pushing people towards the highways. I suppose we could have gotten off on Damen but I have not been very impressed with the amount of time it takes to get to and from the park lately. But I doubt they can do anything and the city needs to be the one to supply the people directing traffic.

That’s sort of where I’m at too. Over the years they have had so many second basemen, Durham, Graffanino, Iguchi, Harris, etc. it seems like such an easy position to replace. My concern is mostly the team control they gave up and that he becomes a star with the Cubs, but in the small sample size I’ve seen, I don’t see that yet. I’m also not a fan of Kimbrel’s age, but it’s no cause for concern. Hopefully he pitches well and doesn’t get lit up in the first outing like Tepera (or as Guillen says Tempura).

Exactly. More overreaction.

Abreu got hit in the head on the helmet.

Konerko got it worse but I hope Abreu is ok.

Exactly. Too much bitching on this board thinking they can give up AAA pitchers for Kimbrel.

Hahaha yes! Totally fine with this move because they didn’t give up Crochet, Madrigal won’t be a super star (I hope) and Heuer has been underwhelming this year. Let’s fucking go! Stop whining Soxtalk! Don’t worry, I’m sure someone else would be glad to do so.

No, but if the deadline passes without another deal I won’t be very disappointed. The Sox don’t usually make many deadline splashes. Instead, I want them to play better and beat teams like the Royals and beat the good ones too. I haven’t been satisfied with the team’s performance as of late.

For all of the Cubs fans tomorrow on the Score.

I would just stick with buying parking at the lots if you don’t mind using credit cards. It should cost less than if you used a parking app since you avoid the service charge.

I predict they add a reliever or two but for they find that the cost for a good second baseman is going to be steep and they roll with Mendick or Garcia.

Does anyone know where I can find the record against .500+ teams?

I wonder what was said that pissed him off that bad. It couldn’t have just been the calls that set him off.

I can think of two candidates who he might be…

I am vaccinated and so is my wife. We had our son last year on Election Day. He can’t be vaccinated yet and probably won’t until next year. For the moment and until at least 2022 when I am able to change jobs and switch our insurance back to hers, I work from home. She is going back to teach after nine months and he is going to daycare. While I am okay working from home, I am concerned about what could happen at my wife’s school since the debate right now is either an honor system where if you aren’t vaccinated you have to wear a mask and if you are you do not have to or they will start the year with masks and assess how things are going before removing the mask mandate. Without wearing masks and knowing how many kids have gotten vaccinated, we remain concerned that it is possible that she could potentially bring the virus home and it could impact our son. We are also concerned that Covid could break out at daycare because of unvaccinated parents but we don’t have much control over that, we have to work. More nationally, I remain concerned that the unvaccinated and vaccine hesitant won’t get the vaccine and variants will emerge that will get through vaccines and eventually we will have lockdowns, economic impacts, overwhelming deaths and hospitalizations and not be able to have a normal life like we couldn’t for much of last year. I am also concerned that many people can’t be convinced to get the vaccine and instead believe in misinformation. Getting the vaccine makes more sense than getting a virus that may have long term impacts. People’s stupidity and stubbornness really makes me angry, especially if it is because of a political motive (2022 and 2024), individual rights or if it is because of believing conspiracy theories.

Something I wish the vaccine hesitant would read and consider: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/07/delta-missouri-pandemic-surge/619456/?fbclid=IwAR1zkbjTa5ugPgGM5tzpdD3rzAJt5wRYZLWrlJ_Q8Hrytxfkr7JQfgoFwxI

It’s probably not a reasonable thought, but I have wondered if some people who won’t get the vaccine aren’t getting it as a political move, so things don’t improve and gains could happen in 2022 and 2024. I also have no problem with the private sector getting tough on people because it’s not a government mandate, my understanding is they can set their rules. And if it means the unvaccinated can’t do things (as hard as it would be to enforce), so be it.

The quote conservatives frequently cite from Kamala Harris that happened before the election had to be a political move rather than not taking it because Trump started operation warp speed. It’s a load of crap, she would have taken the vaccine just like Biden would have. I think some individual rights and freedom people take their arguments a little too far and think about people infringing on their rights too much. One sacrifice and they cry socialism or weaponize with the first amendment. The reasons and excuses people are using not to get vaccinated are laughable. The Delta variant and the stats associated that that, the hospitalizations and deaths of the unvaccinated are still not enough for some folks. I listened to Hugh Hewitt’s “The Rundown” today and his callers kept ducking behind the emergency FDA approval and saying that is why they won’t get the vaccine, believing there were limited trials done. What Hewitt didn’t do is ask them if they would get the vaccine after the full FDA approval or what would make these folks get the vaccine. He even had a Trump supporting nurse from Indiana call in because he had callers who called in and were either misinformed, hesitated by the lack of a full approval wouldn’t get the vaccine because of their pre-existing conditions (one person was immunocompromised and her doctor said not to, which I understood) or because they had Covid already. Even with a plea from a health professional on the front lines, I’m not sure she got through to people. I would love the vaccine hesitant to join the conversation instead of running the clock out on being vaccinated or worse, not sacrificing something to get better and not worse as a country. Sad to say, but I think Covid cases close to people who won’t get vaccinated is the only way to change their minds.

Good, especially since they shouldn’t have lost the first game.

I still want to understand the rationale behind not getting the second dose from people who only got the first dose. P.S. What do people make of the Dow drop today as it relates to the Delta variant? Will it continue?

That’s the tough part, too many people don’t take time to understand the context of things and just read the headlines or the opening paragraphs and fail to understand the context. For example, the other day Fauci said that booster shots aren’t needed and that was the headline. What was left out of that headline is that he said they aren’t needed at this time with the data they have and that could change. I probably overconsume the news with reading Politico, The Bulwark, CNN, the Chicago Tribune, sampling what is up at Fox News and even Breitbart, as well as listen to “Hacks on Tap,” “The Daily,” “Punchbowl News,” “The Rundown with Hugh Hewitt,” “Politico: Dispatch” and “The Axe Files.” But I find that varying what I read can help me understand people better especially when I am reading Facebook conversations with conservative folks. I still can’t fully understand people who don’t do vaccines because they don’t want anything in their body, the people who are anti-vaccine or the vaccine hesitant, but I am fairly interested in their excuses and arguments against getting them. I think you’re right in what will happen next with their reasons, they may shift the arguments and continue to not get vaccinated. My wife and I were discussing how it is that schools know if kids are vaccinated or not for the required vaccines to attend schools. Is it documentation and a physical from a physician? She said that there’s a flagging for kids who haven’t gotten the vaccine at the high school but I’m not sure administratively and also in terms of privacy how information is managed to determine who is admitted or not. I would think the states would determine what vaccines are required to attend schools and that they would make the call on the Covid vaccine too. What is interesting is even though many Trump supporters know he got the vaccine, they aren’t going to get it and fall into their excuses. I know people think independently of him but if they drink the koolaid on other things, it’s surprising they won’t follow his lead with getting the vaccine. Yep, this is why more moderate candidates win in elections. They represent more people than progressives or the far right. Greg, why are you so vague with what you say on the board? Without having to Google what company and leader you are talking about, why not just say it? Do you think the government isn’t already doing something with reviewing posts? Big brother is probably watching whether you like it or not. I don’t see the government commenting on people’s posts as much as I think medical staff is assisting with flagging to show why things are misinformation instead of Facebook’s staff just making the call on these kinds of posts. When I think of posts that get flagged I am thinking of the memes people share rather than their posts. Memes come from a source or individual with followers and misinformation is spread. The average person posting the statement you said probably isn’t who they are looking at. I doubt people who are hesitant or anti vaccine are wanting to listen to athletes or politicians. They need to hear from medical personnel and more specifically their own doctor, rather than be swayed by media, social media or famous people. The door to door idea isn’t for all areas, it’s a targeted approach that focuses on underserved regions. It’s probably better that people be given information spoken to them at their door rather than funneled through whatever media or social media they consume, especially if they only review one source. But I don’t think much outreach will get people to get the vaccine. Lastly, and this is for everyone here, I really wish I understood why a good percentage of the people with one dose just stopped there and didn’t get the second dose. What happened?

Politico is my new favorite just because of the data they present and the reporting they get on things that people comment on. They have long articles but they have the most depth out of what I read. So it would take more leaders to respect science, disregard misinformation and make things less political when it comes to battling the pandemic. I would think things would be different with people like Boehner, Ryan, Pelosi under Bush and some of the other politicians of the past since bipartisanship didn’t seem to be as difficult then. Not having social media in the 90s and early 00s would definitely have helped too. It’s an accelerant that contributes to misinformation.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around this - what if the FDA gives full approval for the vaccines and states start mandating vaccines to go to school? How are the other illnesses and diseases children get vaccinated for different from COVID? Is the argument just that there’s many more years and lots of research with the mandated vaccines than the vaccines we currently have? Edit: Did people complain about individual rights this much when the Patriot Act was in play? Not equal by comparison at all, just wondering.

If COVID had been around pre-Obama and pre-Trump, I wonder how we would have fared in the Bush and Clinton years.

I’m not sure there are middle of the road sources. I try to read a mix of everything to see what common facts there are in different stories. It’s not perfect and I don’t agree with a lot of what I read, but it’s important to read as much as possible from both persuasions. There are even sites like the Bulwark that also serve as news aggregators with links to click on. I got a different perspective from the Hill from Joe Manchin than I did at CNN on the reconciliation bill, for instance.