CaliSoxFanViaSWside

Quite the eulogy given by his son Charlie . http://m.whitesox.mlb.com/news/article/111...ends-at-funeral

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 12:31 PM) If the Sox make the playoffs this year, it's going to be because of the strong arm of Beckham turning double plays. I guess we know who is the official White Sox whipping boy for the year. Seriously all this Beckham hate for a utility dude who didn't become what we all wanted him to be is a bit overboard. He's just another failed prospect in a long line of failed prospects. He'll either find his niche or be out of baseball soon enough.

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 08:06 PM) Not sure you can be a goat when you have 42-8-5 I did qualify it a lot by saying BIT of a goat AT THE END. He's a great player no doubt but he didn't fninish when they needed him to. Ibaka was wide open on the wing on the airball. Jordan was known for being a great finisher but of course he missed his share of last second shots too but he also learned that with everyone keying on him defensively to trust his teammates to make last second shots .

Great game. Didn't think the Bulls would get enough stops to pull it out. Westbrook a bit of a goat at the end with the airball and step out of bounds. He easily could'vee been called for a foul on the Moore 3 pointer also.

sonovab**** ! Can't beleive an exhibition game that's been over for a few hours is blacked out here in the L.A. area on MLB Network.

In another article referenced by SSS I'll give you this part: In The New Bill James Historical Abstract (The Free Press, 2000), James, the leading pioneer of baseball analytics, ranks Minoso as the 10th greatest left fielder of all time, ahead of Hall of Famers Billy Williams (11th), Ed Delahanty (12th), Joe Medwick (13th), Jesse Burkett (14th), Lou Brock (15th), Goose Goslin (16th), Ralph Kiner (18th), Fred Clarke (22nd), Zack Wheat (23rd), Jim Rice (27th), Joe Kelley (28th) and Heinie Manush (30th) James rates Minoso as the 91st best player of all time, writing: "Minoso didn't get to play in the Majors until he was 28 years old, but had a better career after 28 than almost any Hall of Fame left/right fielder. He had a .389 on-base percentage -- better than any of the other outfielders in this part of the rankings except Paul Waner (better than [Tim] Raines, Clemente, Al Simmons, [Willie] Stargell, [Al] Kaline, Ken Griffey Jr. For that matter, better than Willie Mays or Henry Aaron). Minoso hit for power, drove in 100 runs like clockwork, was a Gold Glove outfielder and one of the best baserunners of his time. Rate that group of outfielders in terms of power, defense, baserunning, batting average etc. and I think you'll see that Minoso more than holds his own. He led his league at various times in hits, doubles, triples, total bases, hit by pitch (in which he led ten times), sacrifice flies, stolen bases, stolen base percentage, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. He never won a batting title, but was second in hitting twice, in the top five, five times. He was a hustling, aggressive player, immensely popular with fans in both Cleveland and Chicago. Had he gotten to play when he was 21 years old, I think he'd probably be rated among the top 30 players of all time."

Sorry if this was mentioned already but I hate seeing the Minoso thread sinking down the page because most of us never saw the man play and don't realize how truly gifted he was as a player and even moreso as a person. SSS writes 3 articles and has a podcast about his passing and his career. It is some of his best work and every Sox fan should read it as well as the others. http://www.southsidesox.com/2015/3/2/81314...o-rest-in-peace .

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Mar 2, 2015 -> 10:23 AM) Also it's a solid move, considering Smith had a 1.5 million cap hit for next year. Liked him, but he was a decent guy on the PK, and that was about it. Need all the room they can get. And they need to get a little bigger and more physical.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 2, 2015 -> 11:50 AM) Channel 11 is rerunning the documentary on Minoso tonight at 1030. They'll also be talking about him on Chicago Tonight. I would love to see that . It's at times like this that I wish the MLB Network would play content like that . Is there any way to watch it online since I am in California ?

QUOTE (asindc @ Feb 27, 2015 -> 09:17 PM) This is my thinking as well. Tougher lineup to keep from scoring even when they are not stringing XBHs together. If Micah makes the team the Sox might lead the league in triples even though The Cell doesn't have a spacious outfield . Should be fun watching guys fly around the bases. The key to more steal attempts is if they have success early on but if the tutoring doesnr take hold or the agressiveness results in too many pickoffs then the confidence is shot aand will be less attempts. But if they do have early success watch out !

QUOTE (oldsox @ Feb 28, 2015 -> 04:17 PM) I remember when Dizzy Dean hurt his toe, then it effected his delivery, and the arm was next to go. Soumds like he dropped something om his size 14 foot .

QUOTE (LDF @ Feb 27, 2015 -> 04:21 AM) there is a way to reply without belittling. that was the point that got to me. do not post as you are superior. btw, reread your post and see how you made this as an argumentative thread. btw i am not crying, it is you who can't stand be proven wrong. you are really petty during this whole rant. btw, the other part of my post was about the idea of being too aggressive when the sox have some of the best talent coming up behind eaton.

QUOTE (LDF @ Feb 26, 2015 -> 07:18 PM) well at least if i am captain obvious, b/c you are really missing the point. btw, this is like playing a record so this is my last post on this. the bolded is a product of talent, natural inherent that the powers to be bestow on them at birth. they needed talent in order to be special. now i am sure you can't be that determine to acknowledge what i am saying is true. Vince had the talent to become a premiere basestealer and will pass along his knowledge to others who may not have the god given talent to be as good, but can become a better player via coaching and what to look for. this knowledge will not let a player steal some 50+ bases but can improve in being aggressive. lastly even you acknowledge on what i was saying about being aggressive on the base path, to take advantage of the little things, that a coach of vince's caliber can teach, and that is what i was saying in my first post, to be smart but not be too aggressive in the first yr. this takes time.... obviously this is something you couldn't understand. btw, no one can not be taught to be natural or else there would be many, many players who should be playing major league ball, instead of reaching a plateau of being avg or below avg. wake up and smell the coffee. Your first post was that stealing was an inherent talent and not learned yet you argue when I and others said many things can be learned to improve your abilty to steal. And you asked for thoughts. You got mine so don't cry bout being contradicted.

QUOTE (shoeless_joe21 @ Feb 25, 2015 -> 02:56 PM) None of the flyers the Sox took last year seemed to pan out, so it only seems fair that this year's batch turns into a bunch of Esteban Loaizas. Except for that really big flyer Mr. Abreu.

QUOTE (LDF @ Feb 26, 2015 -> 04:59 PM) and it is kind of assine to think that vince did all of his stealing b/c someone taught him and not b/c he was a natural. no matter how good of a coach vince is, he will not be able to teach someone like paulie k. who is slow of foot. i would be more comfortable if he was around for 2 yrs and sharing his wealth of knowledge, but at the same time in the first season, not let the pupils so to speak be ultra aggressive. i guess it is the aggressiveness on the base path i am thinking about. No one is a natural . Sure the faster you are the better your chances. I'm sure Coleman learned a lot of things along the way that helped him . You don't reach the pinnacle of the highest levels of any sport without gaining a lot of knowledge along the way and putting that knowledge to good use. If things can't be taught why hire the guy ? He knows he has a lot to offer otherwise he might just say " Either you got it or you don't, end of coaching lesson. " Thank you Captain Obvious for stating he won't be teaching the slowest of the slow runners . The guys he's instructing all have speed, Eaton, Michah Johnson, Carlos Sanchez, Tim Anderson , Avi Garcia but his most important lessons are baserunning not steals , going 1st to 3rd on a single or 2nd to home. He constantly speaks about imparting the knowledge so it becomes second nature which, with practice, turns it into an instinctual thing. In other words you can LEARN to be a natural.

QUOTE (LDF @ Feb 25, 2015 -> 12:45 PM) i am really excited of this part of sox baseball improving. but my concerns is, if the leadoff hitter is really not a base stealer, wouldn't he do more harm by trying to steal and getting caught. i mean the #2,3,4 hitter that the sox will field, wouldn't it be better to have him on base than getting caught? i mean, anyone who played ball know it is an inherent, natural talent that one has, and not learned. thoughts??? Kind of silly to say anyone who has played ball knows it's an inherent natural talent and not learned. There wouldn't be guys like Vince Coleman hired to teach if it was a natural talent and just speed. A guy like Eaton who stole maybe 16 but was caught 9 times has plenty of speed but needs to learn the finer points, reading pitchers, running on counts where you might think an offspeed pitch is coming, extending your lead , knowing pitchers moves ( who might use a slide step to quicken their delivery), knowing catchers with fast releases and strong arms, There are even ways to increase your acceleration like head position, stride length, arm action and lead leg action. Also you can work out to increase acceleration also strengthening your gluts and hamstrings. http://blog.athletesbrand.com/chalk-talk-g...n-acceleration/

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Feb 26, 2015 -> 03:08 PM) Are we talking about baseball players or GQ models? What next, a ban on tattoos? Chew? Alcohol? Wives? Its just facial hair. Actually California wants to ban chewing tobacco in ball parks which would include players . The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids announced Tuesday that it will sponsor legislation to ban all tobacco products at baseball venues, including Major League Baseball and organized league games. MLB says it supports banning smokeless tobacco and the spirit of the proposal. Using chewing tobacco, known as dipping, is already prohibited in minor leagues. The issue was highlighted by the death last June of former San Diego Padres all-star Tony Gwynn, who believed his oral cancer was linked to longtime chewing tobacco use. http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/califor...ll-parks-022415

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Feb 25, 2015 -> 09:28 PM) My prediction is that Sale and Abreu are the only 2 left for the Sox. Highly doubtful if anyone at MLB Network realizes that Q>Samardzija. I think Alexei has a chance considering they said that they consider defense in their rankings. Sale - 7, Abreu - 18. Top 10 prediction: Trout, Kershaw, Cutch, Felix, Stanton, Miggy, Sale, Posey, Bumgarner (Because MLB Network is obsessed with him), Price. MLB Network seems to be sabremetrically inclined at times since Brian Kenney is a huge advocate, Since Shark is at 82 Quintana should be in there since he has done it for 3 seasons and last year continued the trend of getting better every year. Quintana’s FIP was 2.81, comparable to Jon Lester’s 2.80 and good for 10th best in baseball among qualified pitchers. His strikeout rate has increased ever year he has been in the bigs – from 14.3 percent to 19.7 percent to 21.5 percent. At the same time, and his walk rate has dipped from 7.4 percent to 6.7 percent to 6.3 percent. (courtesy of SSS) I also believe his HR rate was very low.

QUOTE (Douglas Rome @ Feb 26, 2015 -> 03:52 AM) it was talked about a little on the TV yesterday, but what is America's fixation with facial hair? I watched American Idol last nite and all three Ryan Secrest, Keith Urban and Harry Connick look like they hadn't seen a barber or a razor blade in months. The Sox lineup looks like the players are auditioning for Smith Bros cough drops. Can the manager impose appearance codes or is that a thing of the past? thanks, douglas I think the Yankees still have facial hair standards and fairly recently Reinsdorf has asked that players look well groomed. Not sure if that will still be the case.

If the Sox do end up much improved and Eaton/Johnson have 30-40 steals each it will be a good season with a new version of the Go-Go White Sox.

Ventura also dece looking manager according to this http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/white-sox/...-tied-for-third

QUOTE (thegringokid @ Feb 24, 2015 -> 08:46 AM) As the article states, most fulltime players averaged 150 games a year so there is that. And cutting the number of starts from an average of 32-33 to 30-31 might reduce the load on SP's? Dunno, just thinking of obvious benefits. But if the cut in games means a cut in regular season revenue then I see that as a non-starter, unless they expand playoffs by one round?? Think that make even less sense doesn't it? Umm no the article said fewer 9 percent of position players played in 150 games. I'm good with a 154 game schedule . The only thing to do with the playiffs would be no 5 game series . Make everything 7 games except the 1 game playoff which you can increase to 3 or 5. Playoff teams then benefit from extra revenue from playoffs with full stadiums , thus more incentive to make the playoffs.

QUOTE (sammy esposito @ Feb 24, 2015 -> 11:55 AM) 2014 preseason there was talk of Nate being our closer. all those hopes were dashed early I hope he can return to his former pitching form. He would be a great asset later in the season to the '15 sox. As long as he doesn't do any more TV commercials I'm happy.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Feb 24, 2015 -> 02:46 PM) lol a 1-2 WAR player that was acquired for diddly squat and is pre-arb. Great guy to say "sucks". He's a decent starter and a great guy to have on the roster at his salary. I'm hoping for at least a 2.5 this year from Conor.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Feb 23, 2015 -> 01:41 PM) I agree here and there's also the Dodgers and Padres with too many outfielders. Perhaps other teams. I tend to think the Sox will wait it out and make a deal during spring training to pick up an outfielder who is squeezed out elsewhere that will be better than our internal options Shuck and Michael Taylor. This is exactly what I've thought all along.