hogan873

I'm upset by how it ended, but I was never comfortable with the lead the Sox had. If Detroit had played marginally better baseball (wow, does their defense stick), the Sox would have been chasing them most of the season, not the other way around. It's easy to look back at the past 10-14 days and say wow, holy crap, choke job, etc... However, I think this "collapse" had been coming for a while. Dunn gets hurt, Konerko has been hurt for a while, Youk is falling apart, and the pitching staff has been worked hard. The pitching was actually okay over the stretch where Detroit took over. The offense was almost non-existent, and I think a lot of that had to do with how beat up they are. I still think Robin did a great job with this team. There's no doubt that the new leadership had a big effect on the likes of Dunn, Peavy, and Rios. Sale and Quintana were fantastic for most of the season. The bullpen (or playpen, based on the number of rookies) was incredible. And everything was working until the very end. I'm looking forward to see what happens over the off season. I'm not sure this team will look a lot different, but you never know, especially with Hahn purportedly taking over. No way a rebuild happens. Some retooling, sure. But I expect the 2013 team to contend.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 06:42 AM) Just from hearing what has been said by them and about them, I get the sense that Jake is open to making some kind of deal, but Youk will only be back if the Sox pick up his option. And I'd be okay with that. But the Sox must do something to fill that gap at 3rd. It could be an interesting off season.

QUOTE (chiguy79 @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 12:04 AM) We are likely losing: Peavy (unless no NL or California teams want him) Youk (unless no one wants him in a thin 3B market) AJP (unless he takes a hometown discount or no other team wants his attitude in the clubhouse) Floyd (doubt sox will pickup the option with injury concerns, lack of consistency) Myers (gone) Liriano (I expect sox to sign him cheap as insurance / innings eater) Hudson (doesn't matter) I fear how old and broken down this team will be at the end of '13 if we bring back Peavy, Youk and AJP; the young talented teams are the ones killing it down the stretch. Unless Sale repeats his '12 performance and Danks comes back and wins 15+ games I don't see this team being close to competing so the team might as well continue in rebuilding mode. I could see Peavy returning if the Sox buy him out and then work out a 2 year incentive-laden deal, maybe something like 2/$24M. Youk could also return with a multi-year deal, but I less faith in that happening. I think AJ will be back. I imagine the Sox will try to sign him for a couple years at $5M or $6M per. I'd be fine with Floyd, Myers, Liriano, and Hudson going away. Unless there's a major philosophy change with Hanh supposedly taking over, I don't see this team looking drastically different in 2013. Beyond 2013 might be a different story, especially if there are no playoffs next year.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 1, 2012 -> 03:35 PM) Why do yo say that? How he left as a player was as bad as how he left last year and he was brought back to manage the team. That's why I would not dismiss it. It's a different situation when a player vs. when a manager leaves. A manager is supposed to be a leader, coach, mentor...someone who can be counted on to guide the team. Sure, some players fill those roles as well, but it's a managers job to do those things. Ozzie did a good job for a while, and then it all fell apart. Even if you didn't take into consideration the way he left, his feud with KW will not be forgotten. Even if and when KW moves on, the next GM isn't going to be blind to that situation.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 1, 2012 -> 02:49 PM) With all due respect, I don't see all the sox love of late. It's time to give them a runnerup award I guess. Thanks for trying, White Sox. I want to not be pissed off, I really do. I understand that this team was not expected to contend, even though there were more on this board that thought they would. And I understand that some guys were hurting and tired. But, holy crap the past two weeks has been nothing but bad baseball from the Sox. Bases loaded, nobody out...can't score. runners in scoring position with less than 2 outs...can't score. The pitching was okay, but the hitting was just this side of non-existent. All that being said, if Detroit had played to expectations, we would have been chasing them most of the season. This season was exciting for us as Sox fans because we had so many players who played well, but it was also because Detroit didn't play great baseball...until they needed to.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 29, 2012 -> 02:53 AM) I can't believe there's 5,000 members. It seems only about 20 people post. It makes your head spin. Do the quiet non posters recognize Greg's posting style? Do they they think I'm an idiot or a brilliant baseball mind? Why don't 1000 of the 5000 post more? I would imagine many of the quiet non-posters don't have much to say in respect to Greg (I'll keep it third person for you). As far as I'm concerned, I don't think you're an idiot. For some reason, you seem to be more loyal to Ozzie than to the White Sox. For the most part, I think your arguments are fine. And I admire how you can take such a beating from so many people and keep posting.

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Oct 1, 2012 -> 01:07 PM) That's excessive. He earned his way out of a job here, rightfully, but some of the anger being directed at him borders on absurdity. I must have missed the part where he ran over everyone's dogs. I imagine the posts are directed more at the absurdity of the thought of Ozzie ever managing the White Sox again. I'm not sure who could this inside guy, but the original post begs the question, "Really?"...said in a very bored voice. QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 1, 2012 -> 02:00 PM) Don't worry, I'll be here to support Oz when the others bury him. Don't worry, you won't have to defend him. Unless you want to become a Marlins fan and start posting on their message board...that is if he still has a job after Wednesday.

Ozzie will not be back with the Sox in any way; broadcaster, manager, coach, bum outside of the Cell begging for a smartphone with which to post tweets, etc.

The pitching has been okay. The hitting has been downright abysmal. How many times did they have the bases loaded with less than 2 outs? How many runs did they score? It's been terrible.

This was another patchwork team put together by KW. This team almost pulled it off. I imagine we'll see a change next season, but I'm not sure it'll be huge. 2014 may look a lot different, however as more contracts are coming to an end.

I'm pissed about the way the season has ended, but I was never comfortable with the lead the Sox had. I'm not surprised that they choked or collapsed or fell apart or however you want to describe it. There was about 5 minutes when they won that make-up game against the Tigers that I almost believed and then another 2 minutes when Dunn cranked two HRs to win the game against the Royals. But for the most part I've been fearing (and expecting) what has happened. What's most frustrating is that it seems like they gave up. I know they didn't, and I know a lot of the guys are hurting and tired. But watching this team the past two weeks has been depressing. There has been so much excitement throughout the year with Dunn, Rios, and Peavy recovering; and Quintana coming out of nowhere; and Sale being the starter we thought he could be. Then it all came crashing down. The Sox have been hanging in there partially due to the fact that the Tigers have been playing bad baseball off and on all season. And when it mattered, the Sox couldn't do it and the Tigers could. Tired and hurt or not, the Sox should have had a better showing at the end. There's no fight left, and now the season will end as most people predicted with the Tigers at the top. The Sox will finish with a better record than most analysts predicted, but to me that isn't enough. If they had been chasing the Tigers all season and failed to catch them at the end it would be easier to swallow. This just stinks.

This brings up the old argument of ticket prices being so high (along with parking and concession costs). I realize that the Sox are a business and they have to make money. And I know that there's no money to be made if tickets are $10. But there has to be a happy medium. There is no question that lower ticket prices would result in more fans coming out. And as Greg pointed out, lower parking costs would help, too. Obviously ticket prices cannot be dropped dramatically, or there would be no money to pay for a quality product on the field. I live 40 minutes from the Cell, and I've been to one game in the past three years. Not because I'm not a fan. But because of the cost. The average person nowadays cannot afford to take their family to a Sox game very often. And even if I wanted to go by myself (my kids would be quite pissed), I'd still be paying $50 for a ticket and parking and then another $20 or so for concessions. I just can't afford to do that very often. And frankly, if I can't go to a game with my family or at least some friends I'm going to grab a 6-pack of Hoegaarden and flop down in my recliner. That's only going to cost me about $9. I would love to go to 5-10 games a year, but it's not going to happen. However, if ticket and parking prices are lowered, I might be able to come 1-2 times a year.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Sep 27, 2012 -> 07:14 AM) Yeah i've been pretty positive all year, even prior to the season, but this is leaving an extremely sour taste in my mouth. I have zero faith in them winning more than 2 more games this year. We're not going to the playoffs, which sucks. When we beat Detroit to go 3 games up a week ago I was pretty confident we would be in the playoffs but now I would bet a ton of money against it. I hope I'm wrong but I just can not see it. This is a choke, plain and simple. Our record against horses*** pitchers the past month has been putrid, our inability to hit with RISP has been abysmal and the amount of walks issued over the same time period has been frustratingly unacceptable. The past few weeks has taken the entire enjoyment out of this season for me. I turned the game off in the 6th yesterday because it was getting late and I just knew what was coming. It's sad - I had really high hopes and the past few weeks have turned me completely apathetic towards the team. I agree. I guess what's really telling is that it seems so many of us are not so much angry as we are just disappointed. I went from very excited last week to basically not caring now. I will honestly probably not watch the entire game tonight, and if they lose and Detroit wins again, I may not watch at all Friday. However, if they get back into a tie after tonight my excitement will increase, but I'm still going to be wary. This team does not look like they can come back. They just look dead.

I agree that 2012 has been a great year. Especially when just about every baseball "authority" predicted a losing season by the Sox. But it's going to be a hard pill to swallow if the Tigers hold on to the division after the Sox had to basically play as well as the Tigers just to win the division. 2012 - a great year with a terrible finish (provided the Sox don't come back).

The Sox are slumping right now. They've had a few other slumps throughout the year. All teams have slumps. But this is the absolute worst time to have a slump. It will most likely cost them the division. I don't feel good about this team at all now. I know it can still happen, but Detroit has all of the momentum. The Sox have 4 against Tampa, and they need at least 3 of 4 if not a sweep now. Had they won 2 of 3 or swept Cleveland, the Tampa series would be slightly less imperative. I think it's probably too late for the Sox, but if they get their heads out of their asses starting tonight they have a chance if Detroit stumbles a bit. I still think the season comes down to Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday next week. My gut feeling is that the Sox go into that series at least 2 games back. But, I've been wrong before.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 26, 2012 -> 02:53 PM) I am betting is the same injury. That was my assumption. Adam Dunn seems like a genuinely likeable guy. It's nice to see him have a good year. That 3-run bomb he hit the other night was one of the coolest moments in a Sox game in the past year or so. Let's just hope the big guy gets to play in the post season this year.

Sox will win, Tigers will lose. Back to a 1 game lead, magic number will be 7. SoxTalk will do another 180 and be optimistic tomorrow. And that will probably be followed by a Sox loss and Tigers win on Thursday. I'm afraid this season comes down to the last series. Almost too much stress to even enjoy watching the games.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Sep 26, 2012 -> 09:59 AM) Haven't watched an episode yet, but it seems like the same old thing. Characters do what progresses the plot, not what the character would actually do. If you're talking about SOA, what Opie did is what the character would do.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Sep 25, 2012 -> 08:27 AM) Use Amazon Marketplace...it's much better. I use that, too. The problem is that items don't sell nearly as fast. I had about 10 books up for sale, and one sold in two months.

Yeah, I almost don't want to watch the games. Too much stress. This team has looked pretty flat for over a week now. If Detroit had played even marginally better baseball, they'd be in first by 2 or 3 games. One of these teams will need to step it up starting today. The Sox need to win convincingly tonight and then continue the momentum into the Rays series.

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Sep 25, 2012 -> 10:04 PM) SoA Shocked and pissed off. I really thought something was going to happen at the last second to prevent that. However, so far this might be the best season so far. I know it's only been three episodes, but more has happened in those three than in the majority of a couple earlier seasons. Gemma is a scheming b****, and I'm growing tired of her. And now Tara is acting just like her. I think what happened in prison is going to change Jax. He's going to war, and I assume there will be more casualties.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 25, 2012 -> 10:41 AM) A Hawk call of the end of the WS would have been epic. I hate that the local TV stations don't get to do the playoff games. I'd kill to listen to it. I think if Hawk had been broadcasting the WS, he would have had a stroke on that last play. Either that, or he would have just started yelling, "f***, yes!" and "Holy s***!" The radio broadcast was good. John Rooney's voice cracked as he yelled, "Out! Out! A White Sox winner and a world championship!"

Hawk may be an extreme example of a homer, and he does get to be annoying at times, but I wouldn't want to listen to a boring, called down the middle broadcast. Hawk will acknowledge good plays by other teams, and he often talks about the players he likes from other teams (Fielder, Cabrera, etc.). Stone is much less a homer. He often stays quiet during Hawk's rants, and he doesn't jump on board with Hawk's homerun calls. I thnk they are a decent balance, although Hawk definitely dominates, especially when things are going bad or very good.

Win early and root for the pesky Royals. Never thought we'd be rooting for a team that has been a huge pain in the ass for us all season. Now it's time for them to be a pain in the ass for the Tigers.

QUOTE (flippedoutpunk @ Sep 25, 2012 -> 01:47 AM) My back is all fudged up from my time in the Army and memory foam mattresses do wonders for it honestly. I have a king sized foam mattress with a nice pillow top and it feels like I'm sleeping on the Stay Puft Marshmallow man's penis. Also, amazon has great deals on mattresses. Ive seen king sized memory foam mattresses on sale for $390 with free shipping. Um, why his penis?