hogan873

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Aug 21, 2012 -> 06:25 AM) Definitely the ladder. This is what concerns me the most about Floyd. He has his moments when he looks like a very good pitcher, but then he has games like last night when he can't pitch worth a damn. He seems pretty useless in high pressure situations, and last night was one. The Sox needed a win after getting swept in KC, and they were facing the Yankees. Floyd went out there and crapped down his leg. The first inning could have been much worse if it wasn't for Beckham's awesome play.

I wasn't following the game thread, and I was only able to sit down and watch the game after Gavin was pulled. Was there any talk that he was hurting? Or was it a Gavin Floyd couldn't man-up moment? From what I saw he looked terrible.

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Aug 20, 2012 -> 10:06 AM) Anyone watching The Newsroom? While it's overly idealistic and heavy-handed with a touch of too much romance between characters we don't REALLY care about, the writing is incredible and the actors timing is impeccable. It's worth a watch if you haven't already. I'm hooked on it, too. The writing is top notch. It's a very dialogue-heavy show, much like Aaron Sorkin's other efforts. You're right about the timing. I particularly like the scenes with Jeff Daniels and Sam Waterson. Oh, and there's nothing wrong with Olivia Munn on screen.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 20, 2012 -> 08:21 AM) Damn it. I forgot they were f***ing up this season. So how do people think it is going to end? -Skyler turns in Walt? -Hank/DEA figures it out? -Mike or Jesse kills Walt? -Walt finally gets caught doing something stupid? -Cartel kills Walt? -Cancer comes back and Walt dies? The first scene of the first episode teases that something is f***ed up for Walt. Seems like the cartel might be involved. My guess is that Mike and/or Jesse are killed, Hank figures it out but Walt finds out and tries to kill him, and Walt eventually has a show down with the cartel.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 17, 2012 -> 01:35 PM) Make the drive solo and meet up with greg at the game? Oh to be a fly in the popcorn for that.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Aug 17, 2012 -> 11:49 AM) KC is great. The BBQ at Jack Stack is unbelievable, and Boulevard brews some very respected beers. Plus Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. The Boulevard Wheat is oustanding. I spent about four days in KC last year. The Power and Light District downtown is pretty cool. I got totally plastered at the Flying Saucer. I remember seeing that they had $3 microbrew pints...then I don't remember much. However, KC sucks and the Sox win tonight. Adam Dunn hits #400. AJ starts another hitting streak. Youk dives into the stands, not after a ball but a beer.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Aug 15, 2012 -> 11:57 AM) There have been 674 managers in MLB history. At the end of this year Dusty Baker will become the 23rd manager to have managed 20 or more years. Only 10 have managed 25 or more. Only 5 have manged the same team for 20 or more. Only 3 have managed the same team for 25 or more. Of the currently active managers the one with the most years as a manager is Jim Leyland with 19. Of the currently active managers the one with the most years with the same team is Mike Scioscia with 12. Simply put, history is not on your side. Seems like he's been around forever. I remember when he was in Pittsburgh it seemed like he would have been there for 20+ years.

So John Locke is now running the new US capitol on Falling Skies. Is Terry O'Quinn going to forever be John Locke?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 14, 2012 -> 10:40 PM) Tell me why Robin won't be manager the next 25 years. I said HE MAY TIRE of it, but if he wants the job, he'll have it. You think the White Sox are going to fire a legend like Ventura w/out him pulling an Ozzie? He'll never pull an Ozzie. He'll never say stupid things that get him in hot water with management or the league commish. The man can manage; case closed IMO. Now regarding your statement. No way I'm out of touch and I'll prove it with these following assertions about sports today. -- The top dollar teams still win. You might catch lightning in a bottle a while with teams like the Twins a few years ago, but you have to spend tons of money and be major players in free agency yearly to field WS contending teams. -- Teams should not sign pitchers to deals of more than 3 years unless they have money to burn cause pitchers nowadays are totally brittle. Even Sabathia is finally hurt. -- College sports are a joke. The Penn State scandal could happen at ANY huge program where the first thing in a crisis situation that is discussed is, "Is this something we can make go away?" -- Money rules EVERYTHING in life and sports. -- Fans that holler for the second string quarterback to play over the current starter are morons. You think the head coach doesn't have a feel for whom his best quarterback is?? I love when the second stringer finally gets his chance and fails and there's a murmur about giving the third-team quarterback a chance. Nowadays the third teamer is such a scrub that even the dumbest of fans doesn't go there. -- Prices at NFL games and MLB games have forced the casual fan to simply watch on HD TV. Chiefs parking is 40 bucks a game. My god. What idiot would pay that? Now how out of touch am I? Ask me any question and I assure you my answer will not be prima donnaish or 1950sish. I am as modern as the iphone. -- I wondered if anybody would catch my rip of the 3B position. I played 3B all the way through high school and was told more than once I was at third cause it's the easiest position. And it was easy. That play to your left where you cut off the shortstop is so easy. Charging in for a roller is not that difficult; you either can do it or you can't. I could with no problem. The shot right at you is very easy to snatch as hard hit as it might be. The toughest plays for me were the bloops to left field where you might kill yourself running into the ss or leftfielder and I was not great on the bullet to my right, down the line. It's a long throw after you snag the ball. I think 3B is easier than second cause second you have the stolen base to worry about and the DP pivot, et. all. At third, it's easy to step on the bag and fire for the DP or throw to second and on to first for the DP. Yes third is easy. This is a Greg rant to end all Greg rants. Your list of reasons why you are not out of touch with sports have nothing to do with what is being discussed. The statement was made in reference to your assertion that Ventura will manage the Sox for the next 20-25 years. That is a completely illogical statement. There are so many more reasons why he won't vs. that he will. You're right that he won't pull an Ozzie, because only Ozzie can do that. But there is a much greater chance that Robin will either decide he wants to move on or the Sox will decide to move on than the chance that he'll be in the dugout in 2032. Remember that managers are fired/not re-signed all of the time when a team doesn't perform, even if it isn't their fault. And third base is not an easy position to play. It's not the hardest, but it's defintely not easy. Playing there requires fast reaction time, quick feet, and a very strong arm. Many third basemen can also play first base, but not nearly as many first basmen can play third base.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Aug 14, 2012 -> 02:10 PM) Bernstein just said on the score that Starlin Castro has made 28 more outs this season than Adam Dunn has. It's amazing what HR's and OBP can do for you. Oh wait, Dunn sucks at baseball. I forgot. I'll assume this is sarcasm. Adam Dunn is a very unique player. His contact rate is obviously terrible if he's batting .208 and has a zillion strikeouts. But when he does hit the ball, it goes a long way (it's a good thing the back of the Skydome wasn't open...that ball might not have landed yet). I think I saw a stat last night that his career BA is around .240, so he's quite aways from that right now. But he has more HRs than anyone in baseball right now. So, no he doesn't suck at baseball, but he can be a very frustrating player to watch. 2011 seems to have been an anomoly, however the BA is still frighteningly low. I'd like to see him boost it back up to near .220, but I'm not sure that'll happen. But if he hits another 15-20 HRs this season (with some of those in key situations), we may not care as much about the BA.

QUOTE (The Gooch @ Aug 14, 2012 -> 01:39 PM) Why do Toronto games start at :07 instead of :10 or :05? A Canadian minute is only worth 7/10 of a US minute.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Aug 14, 2012 -> 11:47 AM) One thing you can count on with Greg. He never lets facts get in the way of his strong opinion. However odd it may be. Well, he does regularly check the pulse of the White Sox fandom in Kansas.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 13, 2012 -> 10:36 PM) I think so, because the only question with Robin (at least to me) was the question of whether being a color announcer at the Little League World Series would translate into being a big-league manager. He had absolutely no experience at all, aside from playing an easy, reaction position, third base for a long time and hitting at a high level for a long time. There was always the chance he could be a Bevington, a total clown in the dugout. However, he has proven he is no clown, he in fact is as good as any other manager in baseball. Let's face it, most of them make the same decisions over and over. You can second guess his use of certain relievers, but that goes with the territory. In most 3-to-5 run losses you can point to "mishandling" of the bullpen. Since he knows what he's doing, the only way he could get fired is to rub people the wrong way and there's been no evidence of any of that. The fact NO VETERANS on our team have had any hints of trouble with Robin prove he's a players' manager as well. I see him managing 20-25 years on the south side unless he decides it's too much travel and he wants to count his money for a few years and golf. If he does decide to quit at some point, I could see AJP getting the nod. I don't know if there is any manager in the current world of baseball that anyone could see managing for 20 or 25 years for the same team. Don't get me wrong, I like Robin, and I think he'll be managing the team for a while. But, I think a realistic view is 10 years, tops. Something will happen between now and then that will result in Robin deciding to move on or him being fired/not re-signed. I think that would probably be true with most managers. But, if in 2032, Robin is still sauntering out of the dugout to take the ball from a winded pitcher, be sure to bump this thread.

Hell on Wheels was pretty good. I wasn't blown away by the show last season, but it definitely kept my interest. I imagine the Swede will be a bigger part again. Right now he's almost comic relief, having to empty people's s*** pots and remove the dead.

The homerun to left field was an encouraging sight. However, we've seen him hit to the opposite field a few times before reverting back to a pull-only hitter. He's a much more dangerous hitter when he can hit to left. Holy crap, though, that first homerun was a bomb.

Yankees. I would root for the Cubs if they were playing the Yankees...unless it was the World Series, only because (as others have stated) the celebration of a Cubs WS victory would be way too much to handle. That lousy team gets enough national and local attention. But I just despise the Yankees. And it doesn't help that every time you turn on ESPN it's like watching a local NY station.

QUOTE (Joxer_Daly @ Aug 10, 2012 -> 06:32 AM) Then there's the explaining to someone that you think is an utter tool why you didn't accept their friend request. I will almost never accept a friend request I either know them or they have multiple common friends.

I have both, but rarely look at Twitter. As far as Facebook, I look at it a couple times a day, but I probably only post a couple times a week. I've been on Facebook for about 4 years but only have 250 friends. I don't understand when people have thousands of "friends". But then again, I only use it to keep in touch with family and friends. And to jump on the Greg bandwagon, I like him, too. Even if he does love Ozzie.

Thanks guys!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 08:48 AM) Yes, every closer will blow saves, but the point is they need to be few and far between, and preferably not in key situations against major rivals. And you also wind up needing to count games hwere the guy was pulled and someone else absorbed the blown save. I agree 100%. My concern with Reed is that he's so close to blowing saves too often. I realize a save is a save, and you even hear people like Steve Stone say that a closer's ERA doesn't mean anything. I disagree with that lije of thinking because a high ERA shows that the pitcher gives up too many runs. I suppose a closer could have an ERA of 9.00 and not blow any saves if he always ends up in a situation where the team has more than a one run lead.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 08:41 AM) So, do you pay for performance or do you pay even more for potential? If Liriano comes out and continues walking 5 per 9 IP the rest of the year, you can say all the same things about "perhaps Coop will help him", but we're still right there with that same question. Tough one. I think when Floyd was extended, there was a look at his potential. To me, Floyd seems to buckle under pressure where Liriano is more consistent in just throwing too many damn balls. Both have shown flashes of being much better pitchers than their numbers show. Liriano, however, seems like the guy with more potential. I certainly wouldn't mind having them both, provided Coop can work on Liriano's control and Floyd can become a more confident guy. However, you'd be looking at $18MM or so of guys who have question marks.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 08:19 AM) For a closer, "Blowing a few saves" really is where you draw the line. Every closer is going to blow saves. Look at what happened to Jenks. He was lights out for a while then began blowing saves, and his stock really spiraled after that. Reed hasn't shown himself to be a lights out closer, yet. Almost all of his saves have been exciting, and not in a good way. I like Reed, and hopefully he can be a more consistent closer. His saves to opportunities ratio isn't bad at all, and if you just looked at stats you'd say he's fine. But watching him is another story. And the "get real fat" line was just a joke towards Jenks, as his weight was always a discussion on this board, especially after he blew a save.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 06:23 AM) Greg, it seems you're on the defend Addison Reed bandwagon now... Any truth to that rumor? I would say he's not there yet. Too many people on here still like Reed. Wait til he blows a few more saves or becomes real fat.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 06:39 AM) You haven't listed Danks, who has to be paid even if he isn't healthy. I don't see any way that Danks, Floyd, Peavy, and Liriano are all on the payroll next year. At most three of the four and maybe only even two, depending on how Humber finishes out the season. Wow, I totally forgot about Danks. I see your point. If all four of those guys can't be on the payroll, I would choose Peavy, Danks, and Liriano. I realize that Floyd has better numbers overall, but I think Liriano may have better stuff. And hopefully working with Cooper will make him an even better pitcher.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 1, 2012 -> 09:50 PM) Ugh. I remember when people turned on Paulie. It made me ill. Even moreso than the fans' rips of some of my faves: Jenks, Wise, Pods, Pierre, Dye. Geez, Greg, don't say this too loud. You don't have to be every poor player's apologist. By the by, Wise was just released by the Yankees.