CaliSoxFanViaSWside

QUOTE (ron883 @ Aug 28, 2015 -> 01:58 PM) This is getting ridiculous. Didn't I tell you not to be surprised ?

I really hate responding to you because you are so smart and I am an ignoramus. What I mean is do normal baseball fans these days even know what you're saying ? My guess there's not too many who can explain the theory of being replacement level, which is the easier of the things you are trying to say. Now I know some might think they know what it is but couldn't quite put it into words if you asked them without looking it up 1st. Bat is one standard deviation below league average and glove one below legendary bad ? Let me look all that up on the back of todays modern baseball card, or let some announcers on baseball telecasts explain it to me . Oh wait pretty much the only place you find this stuff is online or in some level of math class I never got to or forgot long ago. You may very well be right about Avi but by traditional numbers Alexei, LaRoche , Flowers have been worse right ? I can't understand why then a MLB organization with reems and reems of all this wonderful new data can play all 4 of those guys full time . Maybe I'm wrong and I'm sure there will be others to say they understand most advanced stats but I still believe there is a wide gap between a regular baseball explanation for why Avi is so bad and the advanced metrics explanation .At least half the people who read what you said can't explain in more simple terms. And I actually think it's more than 50% and there are more highly educated young men on Soxtalk than your average fan. I'm a dinosaur I know but when people used to talk baseball they didn't need a chalk board with a lot of x's on it with derivatives and 5 syllable mathematical terms. Baseball used to unite the classes , unite the young and the old, now its just one more thing that divides us.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 28, 2015 -> 12:34 PM) But KW got him. Every candidate has warts. One thing KW has is a shiny ring. I know, he got lucky one year and everything worked out, but even if that was true, why doesn't it happen to every dope with a GM title? I am no fan of KW, but you have to give him a world title and he has brought many good players to Chicago. If you are going to remember everything that went wrong, you have to remember everything that went right. Not every team has won a WS since KW's reign began. That said, I think this is much ado about nothing. Why would he go to Seattle and leave his new wife in Chicago? I'm not sure KW is going anywhere either. Lots of GMs being fired lately and Kenny has more power than he ever has. GM's are lower on the pecking order than they have been in a while.

The last meeting between the two last Sunday in Seattle neither pitched particularly well .Walker gave up 5 runs on 7 hits in 5 2/3 innings while Danks allowed 7 runs on 8 hits in 5 innings. This time around it's at the Cell so maybe Danks can muster up some of that home mojo and get the Sox closer to .500 Don't be surprised if TNT is on the bench tonight since Walker is RH.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2550988...-des-art-bot-18 Good article on how Sale went from an over the top delivery to his current 3/4 arm slot.

SouthSideSox also had a few good articles on the 1976-1981 throwback jersey . http://www.southsidesox.com/2015/8/27/9184...ms-are-the-best http://www.southsidesox.com/2015/8/28/9219...g-with-a-tailor Kind of strange there seems to be so little interest on Soxtalk but another losing season sort of empties the whole website . Nothing really to talk about except who will be brought up in September and next years team.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Aug 27, 2015 -> 08:17 PM) Mr 500 has a nice ring too Ha well you know that won't last but it is sweet at the moment.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Aug 27, 2015 -> 08:06 PM) All aboard! I"ll assume TFT is Trayce friggin Thompson and the TNT are his initials and new nickname

The Carlos Rodon and Trayce Thompson Show continued to boost the Sox and their fans hope for the future . Rodon pitched 6 innings gave up 3 hits , 2 runs, K'd 5 and walked 3. Thompson was 2/4 with 2 doubles and an RBI to keep his average above. 500 in his brief tour of duty. Zach Duke , Nate Jones, and David Robertson kept the M's from mounting any thoughts of a comeback. Trayces' full name is Trayce Nikolas Thompson so calling him TNT seems right especially with his bat being so explosive so far. Edit . I really need to proofread my stuff before I post it . Can someone pls make the Whire Sox White ?

I just looked up Trayces' full name because I thought it would be cool if his middle name started with and N so he can be called TNT but thinking it wasn't very likely. His full name ? Trayce Nikolas Thompson TNT !!!

Very efficient 2nd inning for Rodon. Now for some Carry on.

Sox doing their best not to score a run , Mariners doing their best to give them one. Hooray for Mariners defense !

Rodon wild early but if you believe in the accuracy of PitchTrax the ump has missed about 4 pitches that have caught the zone. I guess Flowers framing doesn't help any.

Back to baseball, Rodon going for a 4th consecutive quality start.

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Aug 27, 2015 -> 01:37 PM) They would like to extend to you an invitation to the pants party. Isn't that the same as there's a party in my pants and I want you all to come ?

An excerpt from the Brohamer article: Brohamer, who credits former Indians teammate Graig Nettles with fostering his acerbic sense of humor, was quoted in the Chicago papers saying he wouldn’t wear the shorts unless they let him wear a halter top, as well. “We had a lot of fun with that,” Brohamer remembers. “Bart Johnson, who was like 6 foot 6, told them, ‘I’m just going to wear Brohamer’s long pants!’ I’m 5-9, so we had a bit of a height difference there.” C'mon I know some of you old timers remember this as much as you do Disco Demolition.

The Sox celebrated the US bicentennial by finishing in last place with a 64 and 97 record and wearing some of the ugliest uniforms in baseball history courtesy of owner Bill Veeck. It's appropriate that I start this game thread because it was the year I graduated HS wearing a red ,white and blue tassel atop the cap of my cap and gown. Despite the worries about sliding wearing shorts, the Sox actually went 8 for 8 in stolen bases in the 3 game span they wore the shorts with those uniforms. Go Sox !

Good story about the 3 game span that the Sox wore shorts in 1976, the only HR ever hit wearing those shorts and how that time in Sox history is remembered. http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-ou...home-run-082115 Sox were 8 for 8 in steals in that 3 game span . Amazing I bring this up because the Sox will be wearing those 1976 unis today ( without the shorts) August 27th. http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2015/08/20/144314...adbpr=241544156 that's how they look for those who may have never heard of it. Here's another article with a picture. Can anyone name some of the guys in the picture ? I'm pretty sure I see Brian Downing , Chet Lemon and Bucky Dent. http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2012/08/22/371554...r-the-last-time

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Aug 27, 2015 -> 08:37 AM) It was 4 years $56 million. Not terribly huge money. Sox act like a small market team in this instance though. Teams have way worse contracts than Dunn's ever was. Yea you're right but it might as well be $100M because it is the Sox we're talking about here and they will do everything they can to try and recoup that money by playing the guy . Same thing with LaRoche . Everyone and their brother knew he should be platooned but somehow some way the Sox didnt anticipate that and it left a gaping hole in the middle of the lineup against left handers. You just can't win with such a huge hole in such a key spot yet come hell or high water the Sox want to squeeze every ounce of production or lack of production for the money they are paying him at the expense of playing winning baseball.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Aug 25, 2015 -> 06:47 AM) And again. Dunn, for example, should not make anybody's list, because as disappointed as one might have been with his performance, he never complained. He never made excuses or pointed the finger at anybody else or took it out on teammates (like that d***head David Wells did). I would have to agree but when a big money acquisition for a key role like a middle of the lineup bat doesn't produce as expected it really sucks because it handicaps everything for that 4 year period since the Sox were basically stuck with him and the end result is a team that won't win anything for that 4 years. Hate is definitely too strong a word for it but if you love winning baseball you end up hating everything that Dunn represented , a big money failure that prevented the Sox from doing much of anything to win.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 27, 2015 -> 07:23 AM) Well that and cocaine. Yea Hoyt took "winning ugly" a bit too literally .

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Aug 26, 2015 -> 09:41 AM) LaRoche is better vs RHP than Garcia. It's pretty equal depending on what you consider more important statistically. Based on speed alone I'd rather play Garcia and keep getting him AB's for his long term development. LaRoche if you think his recent weekly output may continue and the Sox might salvage some semblance of production from him for his remaining year. Neither is ideal but Avi is infinitely more tradable for his youth and potential whereas LaRoche seems like a sunk cost . Him retiring after this year would be perfect but who turns down another year at $13M ?

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Aug 26, 2015 -> 08:44 AM) That season was amazing but I still have to give the greatest season ever nod to The Big Hurt's 1994. Hard to say how he would have finished without the strike but its real hard to beat a .353/.487/.729 slash line. Belle '98 - .328/.399/.655/1.055, 113 R, 200 H, 48 2B, 49 HR, 152 RBI, 81 BB, 84 K, 165 wRC+, 7.1 fWAR in 163 games Thomas '94 - .353/.487/.729/1.217, 106 R, 141 H, 34 2B, 38 HR, 101 RBI, 109 BB, 61 K, 205 wRC+, 7.0 fWAR in 113 games Thomas '94 pace - .353/.487/.729/1.217, 152 R, 202 H, 49 2B, 54 HR, 145 RBI, 156 BB, 87 K, 205 wRC+, 10.0 fWAR I didn't count the 94 season because of the strike but yea Frank certainly had another 6 or 7 seasons to rival what Belle did in 98. Probably the only reason I gave it to Belle was total bases . He had 200 hits that year and 99 of them were either doubles, triples, or HR. 399 TB is very high and despite Franks greatness in many seasons the most he ever had was 364. Plus Belle played all 163 games that year. Never hurt or rested ,in the lineup every day.

QUOTE (My_Sox_Summer @ Aug 25, 2015 -> 08:33 AM) I never liked Swish. Plus he embraces the Br-Ohio. https://usatftw.files.wordpress.com/2014/05...=448&crop=1 Belle really sticks out to me. My cousin and I were at spring training, he went to take a picture of Mr. Belle. Mr. Belle (in not such a nice way) asked if my cousin was into men and questioned why he was taking pictures of him rather than the pretty girls there. He then called him a derogatory name for a gay male and walked up to bat. He was swell! Oh to have a camera phone back then. Good story. Pretty funny actually from my perspective but yea would've hated it happening to me. I think Belle was probably pretty much a jerk to everyone and frankly I loved his performance on the field. Despite all of Frank Thomas good years I think Belle put up the greatest season in Sox history in 1998. His 2nd half that year was crazy good. .387 BA. .451 OBP .816 SLG 1.267 OPS 48 doubles 49 HR for the season . Led the league in SLG , OPS, OPS+ and Total bases.

QUOTE (dpd9189 @ Aug 25, 2015 -> 08:02 PM) I would trade Quintana for a quality bat. I'm pushing for the non obvious choice with Anthony Rendon from the Nats. injury plagued down year. They've been playing him too much at 2nd base and he's a natural 3rd baseman. Doubt the Nats would trade him though you ever know. Just turned 25 in June . 5th in MVP voting in 2014 . Not sure how good of a fielder he is at 3rd but if memory serves he's good there.