hogan873

I'm sure it was mentioned in other threads, but what should the QO to him be?

QUOTE (harkness @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 11:43 PM) I really don't get why people think Abreu is bad at 1st base... This.. to me is where rankings and advanced stats and Bill James crap start to mess with people. Abreu has turned so many double plays.. More than I can remember Konerko every doing (but maybe I just don't remember). LaRoche is supposed to be a gold glove 1b and when he has been in there he has been no better or worse than Abreu. I'm not saying Abreu is a gold glover... but I really fail to see how people think he is bad.. I know his numbers are low but I just can't remember thinking hardly any times where his defense has been a liability or cost us games. I agree for the most part. I think Abreu is as good as Konerko was, except Konerko had an uncanny ability to dig out bad throws. But Abreu has better range. However, I think LaRoche is better. He makes a lot of tough plays looks pretty easy. It's a shame that he can't hit this year, otherwise we probably would see more of him there. But to say Abreu is terrible at first sounds to me like just trying to find something to complain about him. Gold glover? No. Serviceable? Yes.

I'll resurrect this thread. I watched the first hour (I'm old and I have to get up at 5:00) of the 2-hour pilot of The Bastard Executioner. I like it so far. They are introducing a lot of characters, and it's a bit confusing as to who is who. Hopefully that will smooth out as it goes. From what I've seen so far, the show is extremely violent, and they don't shy away from much On a side note, I started watching Mr. Robot on demand. I've only seen the first episode, but I'm sold.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 3, 2015 -> 09:40 AM) i am not taking sides but let me add this. how many minor league players actually make the majors..... i really wonder if there is such a stat for that. furthermore, how many players from a draft makes the big team??? I don't know, but the short answer is not many. And you could look deeper and say how many make the majors and stay there? There are plenty of guys who get called up in September or for a brief stint to cover for an injury but never spend an entire season at the MLB level.

QUOTE (Brian @ Aug 30, 2015 -> 08:55 PM) Wes Craven, 76. I'm sad I didn't realize he was sick. Very sad indeed.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Aug 7, 2015 -> 07:05 AM) I'd love to see Abreu get plunked. Who wouldn't? If Abreu gets plunked, there will be benched clearing brawls.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jul 31, 2015 -> 01:46 PM) Lawrence KS is a White Sox hotbed. Ozzie Guillen once smiled at a customer in an Applebees down there.

QUOTE (Frank_Thomas35 @ Jul 31, 2015 -> 11:10 AM) Would anyone have interest in Braun. They were talking about him on MLBN Depends on what would it would take. Is Milwaukee looking to move him?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 31, 2015 -> 10:32 AM) He'll never be more than a big cocktease. You're right. He sucks. DFA him today.

QUOTE (shipps @ Jul 31, 2015 -> 10:11 AM) Lol you really dislike Avi. There have been plenty of young players with exceptional physical tools to struggle the first couple years of their careers and still wind up reaching their potential. It happens. I believe Avi will come along in due time. Yeah, I don't get the Avi hate on this board by some. He's already showing improvement from last year, and he's young. Superstar? Most likely not. But he could be a .280 hitter than homers 20+ times a year. I'm not sure he'll ever be a great (or even good) fielder, though.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Jul 31, 2015 -> 09:39 AM) Pure speculation. Only thing we've heard is teams are asking for Anderson and we balked. Are the Sox most likely going to plug Anderson in at SS next year? I know that Alexei is likely gone, but is Anderson the guy?

QUOTE (Special K @ Jul 30, 2015 -> 04:11 PM) Avi not starting tonight... Seems suspect, but could mean nothing, too. Garcia is on a 5-game hitting streak.

Great catch, but the showboating cost the Red Sox two runs. No reason to jump up on top of the wall.

Regardless of the caliber of teams the Sox have played recently, they have been much more fun to watch. The sweep of Cleveland was great. It featured outstanding pitching and good offense. Last night's game featured something we haven't seen much from the Sox this year: Battling back. A few weeks ago, the Sox lose that game after giving up a four run lead. It's frustrating to realize that if the Sox had only played marginally better baseball during April, May, and June, they would be right in the thick of things. It may be too little too late now, but to sell might be a mistake. I suppose I could see one pitcher being traded and one bat being added. If the Sox keep winning until Friday, I see them either standing pat or making a relatively minor move to add a bat.

This has crossed my mind lately, especially with the sweep of the Indians. I think we can all agree that sweeping the Indians was nice, but they are a bad team, and the Sox should have easily won that series. A four game sweep against any team, however, is impressive. What concerns me is that even after that sweep, the Sox are still 4 games below .500. They need to beat up on Boston this week. With only four days left before the deadline, the Sox are truly right on the fence between buying and selling. They could play very well this week only to tank next week...or vice versa. Based on the history of this team this season though, I don't expect them to be true buyers. I could definitely see them trading Samardjiza and picking up a bat in the same trade or a separate one. Or I suppose Danks could be moved, swapped with another "bad" contract. Regardless, I think Friday will be an interesting day. I just hope the Sox don't stand pat...that could be the worst outcome.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jul 24, 2015 -> 06:46 AM) Q is headed South IMO. Just look at his record. He is a mediocre big league starter, which is why he won't get much in a trade. Rodon still walks too many, too often behind in the count....... Quintana has gotten no run support this season. His ERA is a good 3.83. You can't look at his 4-9 record and say he's no good.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 11:55 PM) The shootout at episode 4 was amazing, one of things that made it better than the long shot from the first season was that I didn't know who was going to survive, we all knew that Rust was going to make it out alive, we just didn't know how. In the shootout, I really feared for all the characters. Why I really like it? The shootout was a perfect mix of grit and glamour, while being very grotesque. Not because of the gore that was in the scene (Dixon gets his head blown off and a civilian is shot in the head at point blank range) But because of how realistic it was. This want just mindless action either as there was tons of character in this scene, this is especially true for Paul, who stalks the scene. Throughout the previous three episodes we have been hearing about his military past and that payed off here in a big way as he single handedly wins the gunfight. Remember the rain of gunfire that the cops encountered when they came onto the scene, Paul gets them out of it. Remember the scene where Paul is in Ray's car and he is talking about not knowing who he is and not knowing where he belongs, in the shootout he was right in his element. Another thing that made it very realistic was the added presence of the civilian protesters and the pimp at the end. Imagine a shooutout breaking out in the middle of the Baltimore Protest? Imagine all the innocent people being shot by misfire and stay bullets. You see that in True Detective. I also like how the pimp at the end realized his impending doom and was like f*** IT, so he kills the hostage prompting Ray and Paul to kill him. It was really week shot as it was easy to follow while going back and forth between the three characters' perspectives, while making you feel like you were right in the middle of the action. The way it was edited allowed for natural intensity and it didn't rely on a filmmaking trick (long shot) to create tension. The best shootout since Heat. I agree. I thought that the shootout was one of the most intense 15 minutes on TV I can remember. It felt real because there wasn't some of the silly dialogue you sometimes hear in scenes like that. The perspective switched between the three characters, and each of them looked truly scared and amped up. And their reactions when it was over (along with the wide shot of the bodies all over the place) were realistic, too. No high-fiving, smiles, etc. Just them gasping for breath, looking around stunned. Excellent stuff.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jul 16, 2015 -> 01:14 PM) I think that Frank Thomas is getting better and better at doing TV work. I wouldn't be against him as a color guy for the TV broadcasts. That's racist! I imagine Hawk will be done within the next few years, whether he retires or kicks off in the booth calling a Beckham walk-off. As much as he annoys me at times, I would miss hearing him call the games. I like Steve Stone, but when he's done some play by play, he's not so good. He's much better as the color guy, and he often has some interesting things to say about the game...not just about obscure players he knew back in the day. I don't listen to the radio much, but when I do I find Farmer and DJ to be entertaining. They seem to have a pretty good chemistry. I would be surprised if any changes were made for next year. About all I could possibly expect is Hawk to cut back on some away games starting next year.

I haven't watched last night's True Detective yet, but I'm enjoying the season so far. It's quite different than the first season, but I still like the story so far. Season premiere of Ray Donovan was pretty damn good.

Sale is the only one that deserves to be there. There's an outside (way outside) chance that Abreu or Robertson could get there, but I doubt it. I think it's a shame what's happening this year with the Royals' fans are abusing the system. But, maybe something like this had to happen to make MLB realize that the game is a joke. If this is how the players are being selected, the game can't mean anything. Even if a decision is made to drop the meaning (home field advantage) of the game, there should be a discussion about how to keep a player like Omar Infante out of the all star conversation.

I think something needs to happen...now. The team has no life. The pitching is good only when a few of the guys are out there, and it's not like they don't have the talent. The offense is horrendous. The hitting is non-existent, and the baserunning is atrocious. I'm not sure it would do anything, but firing Ventura should send a message. I've never been the type to say, "Fire the manager!", but something needs to change. There's no accountability for being bad at their jobs right now. We're beyond "a slump". The inability to play decent baseball has spread throughout the whole team. It's embarrassing right now. And until an example is made of someone (multiple someones), the embarrassment will continue.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 16, 2015 -> 12:49 PM) You could have Derek Jeter leading this team with the greatest manager of all time (Bobby Heenan), and they still would suck. When probably 80-90% of your roster is underachieving, you're not going to win a lot of games. You'd have to have Jimmy "The Mouth of the South" Hart as your bench coach, Paul Bearer as first base coach, Lou Albano at third, and Jim Cornette as the hitting coach.

You can always tell when the season is not going well when every thread devolves into arguing. This one is no exception. But I think we can all agree that something is broken. There does not seem to be any fire in this team. Eaton reportedly getting into it with Parent is not the fire the team needs. The team as a whole needs a wake-up call. Someone mentioned earlier that the Royals play each game lilke it's the World Series, and I agree. You see the fire and the passion. I found myself hating the Royals this year because of their attitude, but now I'm starting to realize that maybe attitude is what the Sox need. Right now they have no attitude except that they roll over. Something has to change...and soon.

QUOTE (farmteam @ May 15, 2015 -> 07:59 PM) I just mixed up a couple six packs. I'm in a wheat-y mood (which is my favorite anyway). I grabbed: 4 Fin du Monde 1 White Rascal (Avery Brewing) 1 Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat 1 Alaskan White 1 Bell's Oberon 1 Bell's Oarsman Ale 1 Hell or High Watermelon (21st Amendment) 1 Clemmentine White Ale (Clown Shoes) 1 Trappistes Rochefort It'll be a fun Friday. Let me know what you thought of this. I was at McBrides on 52 a couple weeks back and they had this on tap. When I ordered it, the waitress suggested I try a sample first because she thought it was a lot like a plain light beer. I tried a sample and agreed that it didn't have much watermelon flavor at all and was rather bland. I haven't tried it elsewhere yet.

All the talk of pale ales reminded me of a couple of my favorites. Two American Pale Ales from Three Floyds top my list: Alpha King and the seasonal Zombie Dust. Speaking of Three Floyds, Gumballhead is one of my all time favorites. Going back to the Blue Moon conversation, I remember drinking it in the mid-90s, and not many people had tried it. It, along with berrs such as Sam Adams and Pete's Wicked Ale really got the microbrew trend going. I'm still a Blue Moon fan, especially on tap, but there are better Belgian whites out there.