Chisoxfn

Great opening series...about as good as I can remember. Love it. Don't stop now boys!!!

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 7, 2016 -> 03:37 PM) I think the 9th showed some pretty clutch hits. BUt yes. This is why I wanted to prioritize power over OBP. We weren't going to be great at OBP anyway, may as well make it easier to score through more doubles/HRs. Because we had like 8 hits in the ninth to score 4 runs. Well I think you need a bit of both. A team full of Adam Dunn's is going to be pretty s***ty (and that team would have power and OBP). Bottom line, when power isn't there, you still have to be able to score and execute but you can't have 126 home run power either (unless you are elite everywhere else). It isn't as if the Royals / Giants in recent years were power laden teams so it isn't a pre-requisite. I have always said when it comes to offensive stats, I prefer average and OBP to almost everything else (to the dismay of staty's) but hits generate runs more than anything. It is nice to have the fall back option of big homers but you need well rounded teams that can do both. Last years team had no power, no obp, and no average. It was the pits. Oh and s***ty defense to boot. This years isn't extremely better but it is improved in all categories (with potential exception to pitching...we'll see longer term there, but as long as pitching is close to last years, if we get improvements elsewhere, it could be enough and put us in position where a nice June / July move can help put this team over the top a bit). Just keep winning and playing well!!!

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Apr 7, 2016 -> 03:36 PM) agree, even when they aren't getting hits they are at least putting together good at bats. Last year, I felt like there were so many wasted / half-assed at bats. It seems cliche, but you look at the better hitters in the league and it is amazing what they can grind out of an at bat and I feel to some extent that is contagious. You see other people keep that edge and fight and you want to do it too. Especially in this modern era where you in general have more people willing to k and give up at bats / not adjust approach to try and battle out (thus lower potential percentages of effectiveness, imo).

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Apr 7, 2016 -> 03:28 PM) Bob Melvin is just letting Hendricks die We haven't gotten the clutch hits yet, but this team seems to be doing a much better job at working counts and getting into teams bullpens. Still, extremely small sample size. Having power helps too as one swing of the bat can make the difference any given day.

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Apr 7, 2016 -> 02:22 PM) Wow impressive start by Latos.. I thought for sure this would be a giveaway game Still might be. Lots of baseball left, but Latos definitely did his job. Now lets get a few more runs and hold this lead!!!

QUOTE (scs787 @ Mar 29, 2016 -> 09:56 PM) I've never really understood the Hawk hate. I absolutely prefer a guy who is a "Homer" and is cheering along with me. I'Il get yelled at for this, but give me Hawk all day over Vin Scully who everyone loves. Maybe I just don't hear Scully enough, but whenever I do get the chance, it's always so bland and zzzzzzz. Also, Mike, are you the dude on Pride and Passion who always "Feels drunk?" I Like Hawk (in doses, especially when this club is bad) but he is no Vin Scully. Scully is amazing to listen to.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Mar 29, 2016 -> 11:39 AM) Exactly. He's an embarrassment and is actively hurting the marketing and branding of White Sox baseball. In his prime he was an asset to the org as a distinct voice but now he's just an old, easily confused, often wrong voice. And a loud one at that. The only person hurting the marketing and branding of White Sox baseball is the 25 man roster with its poor play over the past few years (and those involved with putting it together). The marketing and branding of the club (outside of criminal type acts) is pretty much entirely driven by the won / loss of the organization and to a lesser extent the fact that the ownership and players don't do absurd things / get into serious legal trouble, make John Rocker type comments, etc. Hawk isn't actively hurting the brand of White Sox baseball.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 7, 2016 -> 01:48 PM) I figure 5 to 7 years is plenty for the tech to mature quite a bit. But even before then, ComEd allows Net Billing. So you can push surplus during the day and get a rate back (which is a little below the pull rate) on what you push, and then pull as needed at night. That will all be part of my math, when I get to it. I don't know that net metering (billing) will exist 7 years from now. Nevada got rid of it recently and California is tetering on removing it as well (it looked like it was going to go and than got a slight extension with some revisions and as they look to accomplish a more long-term answer (right now the benefit is heavily weighted to the solar consumer and hurts the non-solar consumer and power companies (who push it back to the non-solar consumer). Edit: Or what Strange said above.

QUOTE (Tony @ Apr 7, 2016 -> 12:37 PM) David Kaplan told a story today on the air that the Sox were set to trade Jessie Crain to the O's for Arrieta but Crain failed his medicals. I looked and it was reported on in 2013, but I don't remember it at all. That was such a brutal year with Floyd (who we were going to move) and Crain going down with injuries. Crain was dominating at that point in time. Crazy to think about and who knows whether he becomes that same pitcher with us or not.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 7, 2016 -> 11:35 AM) At the very least, the reason I highlighted it is that "The Bulls have consistently lost the most time to injury since Thibs took over and their numbers right now are higher than any numbers for the previous decade" is a trend clear enough that there must be a cause. Maybe it's "adding extra injuries on top of normal injuries" that is making that trend happen, maybe it's something else in the conditioning, maybe it's systematically choosing players likely to break down, but this is a major, franchise damaging trend at this poitn. I mean the whole Butler hurts knee than plays asbsurd amount of minutes and than hurts knee again and now continues to play absurd amount of minutes is just one of the long list of examples. It was a great piece and I scratch my head for how poorly it is run. I personally don't think it was necessarily Thibs issue and I don't know if it is 100% the trainers issues or what, but they certainly don't seem to be a progressive team leading innovation from a training perspective, that is for sure. It could be a combination of poor training and drafting / going with more injury prone guys as well. Past injuries tend to be a predictor / indicator of future injuries. Please, have some turnover in the front office.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 7, 2016 -> 11:27 AM) So you're saying it's generally a bad idea to trade for people who are pitching in Oakland? (calmly walks away) Yes, because he hadn't put up a 2.83 ERA in 17 starts that same season pitching for the Cubs. Reality is he was never as good as that split season with the A's / Cubs, nor was he as bad as he was for the Sox last year (I don't think). He's more likely going to be a ~4ERA 200+ inning guy and I think given that production, he's relatively fairly paid.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Apr 7, 2016 -> 10:16 AM) I agree. His lower half is very, very strong. If everything clicks, I think he has a higher ceiling than Sale. Yeah, I don't think that is the case. I can't ever give a guy a higher ceiling than Sale until they actually end up being that way. Sale is arguably the 2nd best pitcher in baseball.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 7, 2016 -> 10:29 AM) This is also how I remember it. I am just pointing out that we thought highly of Aiken. We might not have gotten him but no one knew for sure. Houston for a long time leading up was considered a Kolek lean. No one knows exactly what is going to happen until it happens. All I'm saying is Aiken was supposedly higher on there list than Nola (so we too could have had a tommy john person if it was Aiken who was on the board instead).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 7, 2016 -> 09:47 AM) I seem to remember that no one thought Aiken would be there. No one knew for sure (it became a bit clearer but Houston hasn't always done what people think they will). But I think it was Cooper who publicly had some nice comments about Aiken.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 7, 2016 -> 10:28 AM) I'm excited how quickly the cost of solar tech for homes, and the cost of commercial production of wind and solar energy, are going down. Becomes more practical every day. In about 5 to 7 years, which is when I'll need to start thinking about replacing roof shingles on the house, I'll be sitting down to do the math on Solar Shingles and see what the differential cost, energy production, savings and payback period look like. It will be really nice when the actual storage mechanisms get cheaper. Tesla / Solar City's current product, why better than what existed previously, is still not that good, but once you get to the point you can store the power, you can technically be off the grid and energy sufficient (by and large) and that is a pretty nice concept.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 6, 2016 -> 08:10 PM) The rumor was always Aaron Nola if Carlos Rodon was gone. Sox were high on Aiken as well (not near as high on Kolek though). Agree they were also interested in Nola but I think they liked Aiken more and presumed the top 2 were going to go Aiken / Rodon and than they'd have grabbed Nolan (based upon reports, who knows what is true though).

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Apr 7, 2016 -> 08:02 AM) I'd like to see Melky get a stab at some bad pitching to get him rolling. He's had some hard hit balls as well (not just all weak grounders), just has little to show of it. That at bat and single in the ninth were good. I'd let him play. He's gonna have himself a game today Plus, sample size people...sample size.

I always forget how strong Rodon's lower body is. He really started cruising as the game went on.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 7, 2016 -> 09:24 AM) Interesting to hear your point of view as a resident of California, Jason. I will say, getting the resources in the ground, while it doesn't seem to make the most sense today, will begin paying off much more shortly. For the technologies to improve, someone has to actually put it into practice, and recognize some of the practical realities of them. No one ever said this stuff was going to be easy, and everyone is going to have to take their growing pains - which California has thus far borne the brunt of a lot of - but as is written in the article, for a lot of these things, the most critical thing is they have showed that it can be done. Now it is time for others to step up and put these things into practice, and take some of the economic pressure off of California. This is a total tangent, but I think of the NY Subway system or even the L train in Chicago. Two mass transit systems that by my accounts are massive successes in terms of infrastructure and value they have added to there respective cities over the years (I don't actually know what the actual economic cost / benefit is) and than I think about how if we built something like today, how impossible it would be to successfully do it or how absurd the costs would be and it makes me wonder, how can we be more efficient or was stuff like the subway's really that absurdly expensive even way back when but looking a generation later, it is something that ultimately would be extremely valuable (this goes back to the long). Or even something like Hoover Damn. Oh well...enough of that tangent, back on subject, I do agree with you, you can either keep pointing the finger saying well, why should we do it if the rest of the world or other states won't, but the reality is, if something is wrong or doesn't make sense, you shouldn't just keep doing it because others do. I'd like my kids kids, etc, to be able to breath air that is hopefully cleaner than air today (and certainly not significantly worse). I want a better life for my kids (just like anyone does) and that includes leaving them a better planet, etc.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 6, 2016 -> 09:10 PM) Bassitt isn't that good. He'll go the way of David Holmberg, Dan Hudson, Clayton Richards, Fautino De Los Santos, Aaron Poreda, and all of the "mistakes" we have made trading away pitchers. And all you need to do is look at the of our rotation to know that we need a pitcher back there. Samardjiza flopping just showed how important that spot was. Dan Hudson was a good pitcher who got hurt. Clayton Richards, while not great, is a serviceable arm, and has won 50 games in his career with a career ERA of 4.30, including two seasons where he pitched over 200 innings with an ERA under 4 (albeit in San Diego). Poreda wasn't a top prospect when we dealt him and Holmberg & Santos (injury) were young and still quite a ways from the majors so you figure busts will happen. Gio Gonzalez should probably be included on this list (from the 2nd time he was traded) as he was the best pitcher we ever gave up and we were completely robbed when we gave him up for Nick Swisher. Holmberg and other should not get lumped in with Bassitt, who in 25 major league starts has a career ERA of 3.79. This included 18 games (13 starts last year) where he gave up less hits than innings pitched and had a very respectable WHIP of 1.25 while striking out just over 6 guys per nine innings. He has good velocity (getting into the mid 90's) and has a pretty dominant curve ball and is a better pitcher today than two pitchers in the White Sox rotation (John Danks & Matt Latos). Bassit will not be an ace, but he will be a solid cost-controlled middle of the rotation starter and that is a very valuable commodity. All this said, Sox have done a good job developing this cost-controlled middle to back of the rotation guys.

I was going to give a brief update on my hybrid Sonata I bought a few months ago and just say that I absolutely love it. Very quiet, drives smooth, love the tech inside (wish I would have gotten the full tech package which would have included the full radar system vs. just the side mirror...damn them for making me buy navy plus other stuff I didn't want to get it) and just as importantly now feel spoiled. Have only filled up 3 times (today being the 3rd time) since getting in mid January and have just under 2100 miles on the car....averaging in the mid 40's in MPG and getting roughly 700 miles per 15 gallon tank.

I'm a big believer in getting us to live more carbon neutral lives, although, I still point out that we as American's can only do so much, but I still believe we have a responsibility. Jesus, I think I'm turning into a liberal hippy. I thought when you made more money and aged the opposite was supposed to happen. That said, it can't be pie in the sky and it has to grade in over time, but it is important. No, we are not the only reason the earth is getting hotter, but I find it apalling that people don't think that humans play some form / factor. Common sense tells me spewing more chemicals and Co2 into the air can't possibly be a good thing. I like Jerry Brown though. California has plenty of issues still, but there have been a few decisions made where the government took the long (vs. the short) and I like that train of thought. That said, while it is nice that CA is doing all these things around solar / wind, the whole thing has been relatively botched and there is a lot of negative press regarding useage, etc. New technology related to storage, etc, has to come around to truly make these systems more effective and actually beneficial. Recently all the gov has done around this stuff is bailed out big investors / conglomerates (including Google) in some of these projects.

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ Apr 6, 2016 -> 05:13 PM) What shocks me about this is how few players in the majors are actually drafted. Well you have to remember all of the foreign players are signed. I think the actual amount of undrafted american born players is pretty small (or I would imagine that is the case).

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 6, 2016 -> 04:11 PM) The man is on fire of late, has won six of seven primaries and gets no press. It's cause the media doesn't want New York to get any ideas and vote for him. I just don't understand why the media prefers one candidate so much, especially somebody as blah (at best, IMO) as Hillary Clinton. Our country can do so much better. At least be fair and give Bernie his props for kicking her ass of late in the primaries/caucuses. Asked about Bernie, Geraldo Rivera laughed and said, "He'll find out in New York what people think of him." It's just B.S. If somehow he wins New York, than everyone will talk about him. I don't think it will happen though.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 6, 2016 -> 04:13 PM) Chisoxfn can you explain the country's dis-interest in Kasich. The Republicans IMO should be rallying around this guy. Why can't a guy as impressive as Kasich get any steam??? Its a primary. You are only comparing yourself to other republics and only other members of the party (largely) are voting and given Cruz' religious background, he's going to appeal to certain groups no matter what (just like Santorum and Huckabee of recent years) and ultimately you end up nominating a person who is far more to the right vs. someone who more of the general public gets. There are a lot of people who clearly agree with the far right principals and hence have gotten behind Cruz and than the Trump movement is just something else. There doesn't seem to be a ton of moderate republicans, especially in this new era where so many people are pissed off so they are either going ultra extreme in the form of Cruz (who is an extreme moderate) or total wildcard in Trump. I will say, Kasich isn't super charismatic either, which from a perception doesn't help. I personally like his "aw schucks" approach and appreciate his track record, more moderate positions, etc. I think to make America great we need to work with the various parties. I think the whole concept of freezing out a vote is absurd and this entire political inactivity is disgusting and awful for our country.