Balta1701

3 straight hits including 2 doubles, 5-2 Sox. First "Kansas City Special" reference.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 02:50 PM) Why is Albers warming up in the 2nd inning? Is Rodon hurt? Bases were loaded and he was in genuine trouble. I know we're not used to Robin being proactive about having relievers up, so it seems odd.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 02:38 PM) It's the height of ignorance to hate on Avi. Why anyone would hate on a 24 year with his skillset is beyond me. I get that he's been below replacement but FFS there is a reason he was a highly coveted prospect doesn't mean he's gonna pan out but this isn't a Viciedo situation. I guarantee if Avi was DFA today you'd have at least a dozen teams ready to scoop him up. He has plenty of PA until his time to prove runs out. Yes the sands are ticking through the hour class but this is a young player that is playing his first full big league season. The injury f***ed him up dev wise. We all should be willing to give him at least another 500 PA. Great. I'm 100% ok with this. As long as you agree there's zero reason to spend any money on FAs this offseason and to treat 2016 as a major rebuilding year since you can't rely on him to even be a tolerable player next year with any degree of confidence.

HOLY F*** GARCIA HR AND HE EVEN PULLED THE BALL.

2-0 Sox, still haven't recorded an out. Might be one of the white sox days today.

Eaton scores, 1-0 Sox on Abreu single, but Eaton definitely was still hobbling while going around 3b and while scoring.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 02:21 PM) What's wrong with Spanky? He stays in, Hawk doesn't think he looks that good running but trainer made the call. Could maybe just be a cramp? But that didn't look all that good.

Eaton limping after jumping over ball while running from 1st to 2nd.

Great first inning for Carlos.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 02:09 PM) I've seen a lot of posters here and on WSI lament the fact that we hadn't torn it all down and done a complete rebuild in the past, but looking back, when would such a move had made sense? In 2009, the year after winning the division? In 2011, a year after we won 88 games and would have probably made the playoffs with a competent DH? In 2012, when we lead the division for 95% of the season? 2013 basically was a total rebuilding year, as was 2014. you could argue they should have made 2015 a rebuilding year too, but we were 13th in runs scored last year in the MLB and had money to spend. If we had the same offensive production as the 2014 squad (and we made a few theoretical upgrades too), we're probably right there for a playoff spot this year. It's hard to argue with the results this season that we shouldn't have made 2015 a rebuilding year, but given that we had money to spend I don't necessarily fault them for going for it a little bit (just like in 2011 when we thought we had filled the DH hole). However, I don't buy the argument that ownership was afraid of plummeting attendance if they committed to a full rebuild. There really wasn't a logical situation for it outside of the last couple of seasons, which were rebuilding years anyway. Also, all our main assets in 2013 and 2014 were young and cost-controlled, so a complete sell-off didn't really make sense. The White Sox have had 2 "big spending splurges where they sacrificed draft picks" in the past 5 seasons, after 2010 and after 2014. Both of them have basically been failures and the guys they spent money on have seriously underperformed. 2013 was also a big spending season, everything just collapsed during it. At the very least, sitting back and saying "this tactic has now failed for us repeatedly, what can we do different with this organization" should be at the top of the list.

Ouch, since May 14 opponents hitting .196 against Ramirez with an ERA in the 2s.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 12:33 PM) It doesn't work that way, and I'm pretty sure you know that. Looking at Bassitt's peripherals and advanced metrics, he's been lucky. He's a good talent, but unless he's done something to work in a batter change and breaking pitch (which maybe he has), he's a reliever or a doomed starter. Not because he can't handle the workload, but because he is so heavily reliant on a (very good) sinking mid-90s fastball and plus control. The rest of his repertoire lacks movement and command, again, unless he improved it. According to PitchFX Fangraphs, he's throwing the fastball a little more than last year (60%, which is right around league average), but both his fastball and his slider are coming in as more effective pitches. It also thinks he's throwing a changeup 5% of the time, but I always wonder how accurate that is (could just be classifying his lower-velocity sliders). His curveball still shows as a weak, below-average pitch, but he's throwing it 15% of the time as well.

QUOTE (flavum @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 11:46 AM) Rodon vs Ramirez No Thompson today https://twitter.com/whitesox/status/628954300480253952 Rays https://twitter.com/RaysBaseball/status/628953817099284480 WTF? Didn't Robin specifically say that TT would be playing on Wednesday?

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 11:45 AM) All interesting speculation, but I'll wager Robin Ventura is going nowhere Until proven otherwise, my guess is the only major debate this offseason is whether or not Ventura's contract will be extended.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 10:35 AM) But your point is based on a wrong premise. Why should it be MY responsibility to adopt YOUR 'mistake'? Why should that be the government's responsibility either. YOU f***ed up, literally, you fix it. And don't make me pay for it. Who pays for the kid?

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 09:58 AM) And we're talking about the Cubs and we're always drawn to compare them to the White Sox. The issue is, of course, that the Cubs are one of the superfanbases in terms of size and following. We simply do not have that. Our more similar comparison would be Houston. Houston had a game where no one officially watched the game on television. They were so bad for a number of years, but now they have real talent. The question is, how good can they be and how good do they have to be to get fans back? If the Astros can survive this level of rebuild, the White Sox can, too. When it all comes down to it, the reality is our owner is a very old man. I can't blame Jerry for wanting to win right now. At this point, any Front Office changes cost the team a year, but every year it feels like the White Sox are wasting away what makes an organization strong to pretend to compete. My biggest problem with this reply is...it's an argument for why the White Sox can't afford to rebuild, why the White Sox can't afford to do things like have 4 losing seasons out of 5 years. The White Sox ARE about to have 4 losing seasons in 5 years. It no longer scares me. We already, 100%, did the thing we were never, ever, ever supposed to do. The thing that people tell us nightmares about. The thing that will destroy our fanbase if we do it. We just did it, and the end result isn't a roster where you look to the future and think we're going to be a nightmare for other teams.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 09:44 AM) No, those are two different things. Someone going to PP to get birth control has never been an issue for 99% of people out there. It's a personal choice for you to walk down to the clinic and buy some. No one can stop you. Forcing a company to cover birth control for their employees has nothing to do with that. Well at least now you're supporting strong funding for PP and touting the effectiveness of that funding, so I guess that is an improvement.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 09:41 AM) When has PP funding for birth control and the like ever been a problem? Beginning in high school I knew girls/dated girls that routinely went to PP for birth control and it was insanely cheap. That was the last 90's, I really doubt things have changed since then. I can't think of a single example in recent years of where paying for Birth Control has been remotely controversial or challenging and I'm 100% sure no one else can cite a single case as well.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 09:00 AM) But PP has been in this business for years, so if these communities still don't have access, then they really suck at what they're doing. You're 100% right. They do stink at this. It would be far better if we had a health care system that actually was able to cover everyone in the country and give them genuine opportunities for regular care and family planning. We took a solid step forwards in 2010, unfortunately between states rejecting the Medicaid expansion and Medicaid not being all that strong anyway, there's still a good deal of ground to cover. It also doesn't help when the women's health bits get specifically targeted for political gain, whether it be Jeb Bush yesterday, the Hobby Lobby case, or even in the PPACA in the first place (I can't be the only one who remembers people complaining about the PPACA saying you couldn't charge women more than men or there being a multi-day pause because they couldn't figure out the strongest way to get the Hyde amendment applied to its passage).

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 08:43 AM) Was it his last start where he got a liner in the knee? I feel like he has been different since then. He struggled somewhat in his first start after the AS break as well (11 hits, 4 ER in 6 IP). The Sox being desperate to give him more AS break rest seems like it was a clue that they were worried about something.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 08:25 AM) What I find impressive is that they went all out on acquiring blue chip hitters, yet managed to find a #1 and #3 pitcher basically off the scrap heap. (Yes, I realize they are taking advantage of the NL, but my point still stands) When you have a losing roster with a weak system, one of the things you do have is time. You don't have people who are blocked and you have lots of open at bats and starts. If you use that time to pick up talented people who haven't yet succeeded and give them a chance to play, not all of them will be successful, but some of them will be. It's a lesson I've been wishing the White Sox would figure out. You can't do it if you're under pressure to win now, but you can do it if you have a GM who has ownership's confidence and has stability for several years, time enough to ride out the struggles of the guys you bring in.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 03:24 AM) Good stuff. Thanks. That first story was wildly entertaining IMO. Of course that reporter was right. This is like Howard Stern running for president. Sure he'll drop out pretty soon. But as I said, I merely like the fact Trump tells it like it is or how he thinks it is. He doesn't take crap from anybody and I liked that about the controversy about the border when he didn't apologize. Didn't pull a Hulk Hogan and cower and leave the limelight forever. I said I probably wouldn't vote for him, I just love his style. And I'm sure that's been his appeal. He actually should keep saying crazy stuff for a while and not apologize for it. I did like his take on the Planned Parenthood controversy as well. He said he'd shut down the government til they took away all funding. I like all that. I'm sure I'll tire of Trump, but I think that first story shows how he already won. He got all those media to follow him to the border and pack two buses. Hilarious. Spouting factually incorrect BS about nationalities he doesn't like is not "telling it like it is".

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 08:48 AM) Isn't the myth that most abortions are obtained by poor inner city women, when in fact the biggest chunk are middle class suburban women? No. That was the case back in the 1970s, it no longer is based on the available statistics. Middle class suburban white women are able to obtain more regular birth control which has been denied to lower income women. In other words, there's a reason why Planned Parenthood is in this business in the first place, they're serving the community which otherwise doesn't have access to this type of health care due to costs.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 08:24 AM) Leaving the White Sox for a higher salary is equivalent to betraying Jesus? C'mon, Dombrowski's doing the same exact thing, basically. When he signs for $8-10 million per season with Boston, LAA, Toronto or Seattle, should he be burned in effigy or hung from lampposts in Detroit? Negotiating with a different team while he was under contract with the White Sox is 100% lying to and betraying his employer. Honor him for 2005 fine, but he should never work in this town again.

Oh, we're also 1-4 since RH said "If the team keeps playing like this we'll be right there at the end", barring a spectacular comeback.