Balta1701

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 26, 2015 -> 03:44 PM) Since the "reign of terror" started when JR bought the team in 1981, the Rangers have won 5 division titles and 2686 games. The White Sox have won 5 division titles and 2770 games and a WS. It has been better to be a White Sox fan than Rangers fan. You are the one who brought up payrolls and said "oh we need $180 million in payroll to be competitive". The White Sox won a world series and that juiced their payroll into the top 11 in MLB for about 7 years afterwards. The problem continues to be they had a pretty awful record during those years, with only 1 playoff appearance. That payroll boost evaporated in the last couple years and they still have failed to set themselves up as a winning franchise. Neither of these had to happen. That requires a long time of systemic failure. If the Rangers keep struggling the next couple years, you'll see something very similar happen - their payroll boost will erode as they continue to lose. I continue to think that this losing is a bad thing.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 26, 2015 -> 03:41 PM) Corpseball was after 2005. Now apparently people have forgotten about that kind of stuff. This. Team. Is. Dead. Still feels accurate.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 26, 2015 -> 03:27 PM) Rose being hurt has nothing to do with it. Thibs coached more games without him than with him, and the playoff results are going to be used against him when they do can him. If Rose gets hurt again this team as constructed should still make the playoffs and probably be a first round exit in the East.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 26, 2015 -> 03:27 PM) Rose being hurt has nothing to do with it. Thibs coached more games without him than with him, and the playoff results are going to be used against him when they do can him. If Rose gets hurt again this team as constructed should still make the playoffs and probably be a first round exit in the East.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 26, 2015 -> 03:21 PM) Yes but how many of them are teams that make the playoffs 3 or 4 years out of 5? The real trick is that the most of the teams who do things like that move themselves higher up because they're winning a lot. The Rangers won several years in a row and, despite the lack of a world series, now have a much higher payroll than us. Before they hit those runs of success they had lower payrolls than us. The Giants had a lower payroll than us for much of the late 2000s and didn't pass us by until 2012. Those teams turned success into a model that has allowed them several years of being competitive and even lets them survive a down year or two because they climb their way back in.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 26, 2015 -> 03:12 PM) I don't think anyone is blaming the fans for not coming to the games, but saying, hey, you don't come to the games, it's pretty hard to have the $180 million payroll required to provide the latest hurdles that need to be cleared to attend. If the fans don't come out when they are winning, it's pretty hard to argue against the limited opportunities they will have to improve, and be a team that can be expected to be in the playoffs each season. Again, I have bashed the attendance, but I don't blame people for not going. Just don't b**** and moan when the winning isn't sustained when you won't support the winning in the first place. Right now 15 teams are .500 or better. 7 of them have lower payrolls than the White Sox.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ May 26, 2015 -> 03:10 PM) I'm not going to attempt to read your quadruple negative there, but I'll repeat: you're ignoring that these laws are being proposed on a belief that they will prevent similar crimes in the future if they are enacted. They're not being proposed simply to add more punishment for crimes (and given that a lot of these crimes end in suicides/intended deaths, that wouldn't even make sense). Without the tragedy, there's no push for new laws. No one disagrees with your general point, but you need to move past it to the next level. We already have gun/murder laws. People are punished for using guns in unlawful ways and/or for murdering people in unjustified ways. The question now is do we need these other laws on top of existing laws. Here's one problem with your assertion that "gun laws won't fix the problem" or however you're writing it - we know they won't work when they're filled full of holes. Limiting straw purchases and requiring background checks in Chicago does nothing if the buyers can arm themselves to the teeth by walking over the border to the shop in Indiana that doesn't care. That doesn't mean the concept in general will not work, it means that the concept has not been tried.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 26, 2015 -> 03:08 PM) This Thibs stuff is crazy. Now there are multiple reports the Bulls are going to wait until all the coaching vacancies are filled, and then fire him. Pay him $4 million next season out of spite, and make him sit. Cowley said a player told him the exit interview was a slam Thibs fest. If the Mayor is hired and the Bulls don't improve their playoff performance, what kind of rope does Gar/Pax get, since they seem to blame this all on Thibs, who they hired, along with Vinnie Del Negro. I have a feeling the Bulls are going to be really bad in a few years. Depends on why? Rose goes down again is that something you can really blame on them? Only thing they coudl have done to avoid that problem is not extending him and that's not a gamble I'll be down on them for.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ May 26, 2015 -> 02:17 PM) "PR hit" is a manufactured media story, not a real problem. Again, that's the bigger problem here, that the Bears have to play the PR game to begin with. Not quite following the 2nd sentence, as a major public franchise relying on people in the area for their revenue it seems like playing the PR game has to be a huge part of anything they do. Do you think it shouldn't be and the Bears should just ignore that?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ May 26, 2015 -> 02:11 PM) Why? What does the Bears offering this guy a second chance and then cutting him when he gets arrested again have anything to do with a player in the future? I wouldn't be surprised if they were extra on the lookout to avoid a similar PR hit in the near future. Put it this way. Matt Forte gets hurt in TC. Ray Rice is available. Are the Bears going to be the team that does that? I'd guess this actually would effect the answer.

QUOTE (spiderman @ May 26, 2015 -> 02:05 PM) Do people believe there would be a 8-10 game difference (81-81 to 90-72) if the White Sox had a different manager? I'm not really a Ventura supporter; he got this position with no experience and because he was a former White Sox player. That sort of tells me the value the team places in a manager. The biggest issues remain even after the off-season where some of these issues were thought to have been addressed. They have received little production or less than anticipated at C, 2B, SS, 3B, LF, CF and DH. The end of the rotation is as bad as expected and even the front-line guys have been spotty at times. Here's the question. We've got >10 major positions that are underperforming. LF, CF, 1B (i don't know why you didn't include that), 3b, SS, 3 starting pitchers, 2b, and C, in addition to the weak bench spots. That's not the way its supposed to work. Some guys are supposed to get better, other guys are not. You're not supposed to have 90% of the starting lineup of a team dramatically underperform just by random chance.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 26, 2015 -> 02:04 PM) Low financial risk. They all look like fools right now. Is financial risk the only one here? Is there a PR risk issue? They also have a potential fine of $150k from the NFL front office for now having signed 2 people with law-enforcement issues, that fine could increase if anyone else gets into trouble.

QUOTE (scs787 @ May 26, 2015 -> 01:56 PM) I asked you this previously...How? Do you think they did their due diligence in checking up on the guy's past actions and talking to his co-workers, coaches, etc.? Because the rapid downfall within about 2 months suggests to me that they did an unacceptable job of it.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 26, 2015 -> 01:53 PM) You can spin it however you want to spin it, but winning games, being in first place, doesn't really help all that much. Getting to the WS where people will buy packages for WS tickets does. It's too bad it takes a WS for White Sox fans to enjoy baseball. Think about it, Thad Bosley said the White Sox have had only 1 exciting season the last 35. So 90+ win seasons aren't fun, winning divisions aren't fun. It's only the WS trophy that is fun. If that is how one thinks, it is time to move on. The Braves won 1 WS and made the playoffs 15 years in a row. 1 exciting season out of 15. I for one think that the 90 win seasons are plenty fun. Can we try having one of those again please? This'll make 9 years without one. I'm not sure that these 70 win seasons you're so thrilled with and are so adamant are completely ok are all that fun to watch.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ May 26, 2015 -> 01:53 PM) I think there is an important question. This looks like a .500 team which many of us predicted. But there were other fans who projected 90 wins and are now ranting about everything being wrong. I think the big question is Robin. How big of a problem is he and his staff. If Robin is a big problem then you make minor moves and maybe Shark gets moved since he would be gone anyway. Maybe LaRoche can also be moved but probably as a salary dump with little return. You can't trade Alexei because you probably don't have an adequate replacement. If you want a catcher, the only tradeable assets are probably pitching i.e Q?? But that opens another hole. If Robin is not the main problem, then you need to blow up some more of the roster and continue the rebuild shooting for 2017. There are currently 5 teams in the AL that are closer to .500 (but still under) than the White Sox. If this were a .500 team right now, or if they get there by ~mid June, then filling in the holes could push them into wild card consideration legitimately. They need to dig themselves out of a 4 game hole in the next month to get there.

QUOTE (scs787 @ May 26, 2015 -> 01:48 PM) And they would have looked brilliant if he would have stayed out of trouble and played like he's capabale of playing. You can't predict these things. It's kinda someone's job to make sure you can predict those things.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 26, 2015 -> 01:48 PM) The decrease in years where we are losing is 191,000 and the decrease in years where we're above .500 is 116,000 if I drop the blackout game out. 73% of the dropoff in attendance since the 2006 peak has happened in the 5 losing seasons, 27% has happened in the 3 winning seasons. If we had lost fans at the ballpark at the rate seen during >.500 seasons, starting from 2006, last year we'd have sold 376,000 more tickets. So, the losing over the last 9 seasons has so far been worth 376,000 tickets/season so far.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 26, 2015 -> 01:44 PM) 40,354 was the attendance for the Blackout Game. So, somewhere your math, despite your popping off is incorrect. Just like the when you thought this was for a Wild Card. The decrease in years where we are losing is 191,000 and the decrease in years where we're above .500 is 116,000 if I drop the blackout game out. 73% of the dropoff in attendance since the 2006 peak has happened in the 5 losing seasons, 27% has happened in the 3 winning seasons.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 26, 2015 -> 01:08 PM) 2008 sure didn't see that either. Decrease in year-over-year ticket sales during the season: 2014 117592 2013 197542 2012 35162 2011 193261 2010 89785 2009 216485 2008 183747 2007 273019 Sorting: Team below .500: 2007 273019 2009 216485 2011 193261 2014 117592 2013 197542 Team above .500: 2008 183747 2010 89785 2012 35162 Average ticket sale decrease over the last 8 seasons: Team below .500: 199,580 Team above .500: 102,898 When the team has been above .500 the ticket sale boost from the world series has eroded at 1/2 the rate that it has in the losing seasons.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ May 25, 2015 -> 09:32 PM) Absolutely do NOT fire Steverson. He's the only non-insider on this staff. He uses a modern approach. It's not his fault Kenny loads this team with stiffs. He got a lot out of the younger players like Abreu, Eaton (at least last year) and Avisail this year. Gillaspie improved too. Get rid of Bell. And let Hahn handle all personnel. So what happened to the other 7 guys in our lineup this year who are doing worse?

Well at the very least Noesi has saved the bullpen for the rest of the week.

QUOTE (jeffro2525 @ May 25, 2015 -> 08:35 PM) If Hector is done for the day let me just say good job buddy. Did. His. Job. He's the only Sox player who can say that today. He shoudln't be done yet. It's not like if he gives up a run or two in the 7th that we're going to lose the game more.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 25, 2015 -> 08:31 PM) Stone saying RV should hit and run more too stay out of all the DP. Maybe a good idea but not sure this team is mentally up to executing something like that.

Another really nice play by Beckham.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 25, 2015 -> 08:17 PM) If this season goes as it looks, I would guess there will be a lot of changes to coaching staff There should be...but I will believe it when I see it. Last time we spent $115 million+ and won 63 games, the manager got a contract extension.