Balta1701

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Apr 2, 2015 -> 09:26 AM) That Dodgers payroll is just ridiculous. The Dodgers are paying players about $40 million to not play for the Dodgers next year.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 2, 2015 -> 03:17 AM) Folks, I am all for gay rights. For sure. But I think people are overreacting. This law isn't mean to deny gays service. The problem, and I'm glad the governor is getting fried, is nobody can understand how to read a f***ing law. The mumbo jumbo legalese is impossible to understand. So this is a lesson to governors everywhere. Write your damn laws in words we can all understand! YES. IT. IS. That is explicitly the point. No one has given a single example of how this could be applied that isn't denying someone service based on who they are. The "how dare you make a religious person make a cake for a gay wedding" is explicitly an argument that people should be able to decide that it's ok to discriminate because their religion tells them too, and of course, that's the least offensive version of this anyone has thought of. We've got plenty of other much more disheartening versions we could come up with, all of which fit the text of this law and all of which are discriminating against people that aren't liked. The Governor himself was given half a dozen chances to explain how that wasn't the point and ducked the question every time.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Apr 1, 2015 -> 07:31 PM) Well that is certainly what Huffpo and most screaming liberal talking heads kept saying every time one of those popped up. Strangely though whenever someone threatened Bush, it was always some lone crazy person, not representative of the left as a whole at all! Just to make sure I get this straight then: People who send death threats to pizzeria: indictment of everyone who opposes this bill. People who send death threats to Obama: totally not an indictment of you or anyone else who opposes Obama. I agree with the sentiment of this post. Anyone who uses the rantings of some lunatic as a means to smear another side in a political debate has embarrassed him or herself and does not deserve respect. For example, this person: QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Apr 1, 2015 -> 07:20 PM) An example of real 'tolerance' here. http://hotair.com/archives/2015/04/01/cris...r-gay-weddings/ Death threats. Threats to burn the place down. Yeah, way to win over hearts and minds there with your extreme tolerance.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Apr 1, 2015 -> 07:24 PM) Did I say anything about it encompassing all? Just showing an example, of which there are many. There are many examples of people sending death threats to Barack Obama. Therefore, all christian republicans are black-hating murderers. You make me sick, how dare you threaten to kill the president just because he's black?

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Apr 1, 2015 -> 07:20 PM) How is the baker who doesn't want to bake a cake being intolerant? He is saying that he doesn't want anything to do with your ceremony, but go ahead and get married, or whatever, just don't involve me. The other side is saying 'do as i say or we'll force you to do it thru the use of government power'. It is not a crime to think that gay marriage isn't right or against your religion. (a stance I do not share, btw) SO why try and force someone to do something against their will? An example of real 'tolerance' here. http://hotair.com/archives/2015/04/01/cris...r-gay-weddings/ Death threats. Threats to burn the place down. Yeah, way to win over hearts and minds there with your extreme tolerance. If you're going to play the "any time someone gets death threats it condemns anyone who agrees with you" card, you better be ready to have that turned back against you.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 1, 2015 -> 05:13 PM) You gave no logical reply, so there wasn't much to listen to. IIRC you gave a stat about NFL abuse being lower than the national rate, which was irrelevant to the NFL still allowing that s*** in their league. You're making the exact same bad correlation argument. Doing business in Indiana based on one law out of the tens of thousands on the books does not mean you support said law in any way shape or form. Btw, you living in this country wherein states can pass laws to discriminate against homosexuals means you support discrimination of homosexuals. Which is why I want people like you to assist me in ending Indiana's discriminatory bullcrap. But alas, that's clearly a lost cause.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Apr 1, 2015 -> 05:05 PM) Win/Win/Loss/Win/Win/Loss Because you can do that in baseball. Right.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 1, 2015 -> 05:02 PM) You still watch the Superbowl, you child/spouse abuse supporter. You continue to say this while ignoring the reply I gave last time so I'm not going to bother since you obviously didn't listen then.

QUOTE (Capn12 @ Apr 1, 2015 -> 04:49 PM) Samardzija...I haven't really watched much ST, but has he been pretty tough to watch, the entire month? Yeah, it's Spring Training, blah blah...but by this point of the month, it should be more about getting into your normal rhythm, and not experimenting, etc... His ERA in official games for the Cubs last year was 5.14, batters hit .346 against him.

QUOTE (Tex @ Apr 1, 2015 -> 04:41 PM) I'll saw off the limb. Mom and pop business, and all single location businesses, pay taxes in Indiana. Large corporations are more likely to have been given tax incentives to locate there. They are also more likely to shift their tax liabilities to more tax friendly locations. The Indy 500 is based at a specific track and isn't moving. Also as a member school Indiana isn't going to be frozen out of the revenues or kicked out of the Big 10 over this. Notre Dame isn't going to find opponents unwilling to play in Indiana. But you certainly could convince people like me not to watch the Big 10 Tourney if it was held in Indy.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxLifer @ Apr 1, 2015 -> 03:32 PM) Chris Sale gave up an opposite-field home run in his second inning of work. Followed it with strikeouts sandwiched around a grounder. https://twitter.com/CSNHayes/status/583347323490562048 I've said it before and I'll say it again. Trade for that guy.

QUOTE (Tex @ Apr 1, 2015 -> 02:17 PM) Counterpoints for discussion. What is the convention mecca in Indiana? Fort Wayne? Any convention is probably more local in nature. It will be more expensive to move it out of state and the folks attending are probably already in Indiana. I'm also going to believe the businesses that support this law will "proudly" announce it. Is opening in Texas or Pennsylvania a statement of supporting capital punishment? Opening in Wyoming a statement about gun ownership? Was opening a business in Iowa a statement about same sex marriage? People open businesses in their home areas. Corporations open where there are customers. This will blow over and be forgotten in days or weeks. If Indiana offered you a tenure track position you would have to consider it. It isn't that you support this law. A business could open up, place a sign that they do not discriminate and that anyone is welcome and be in business and protest the law at the same time. The loss of money is hyperbole and propaganda to overturn a really stupid law that I am embarrassed to see passed in the nation I live. More like 1815 and 2015. I would say that the likelihood that a convention attendee or fan/player at the NCAA tournament is gay is much greater than the likelihood that they will have to face capital punishment in any state other than Texas. That makes it a heckuva lot more personal.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Apr 1, 2015 -> 02:08 PM) Either (a) the law doesn't actually allow that or (b) Pence has pledged that if the law does allow that, it will be altered so that it doesn't Pence and the legislative leadership are claiming that they meant the scope to be much narrower, so we'll see what the final result is. ? Private businesses are allowed to discriminate for closely-held religious reasons under this law even if the government isn't involved. That's basically the heart of the law. Unless a group is specifically covered by other anti-discrimination legislation you're good. Gays in Indiana are not a protected group. Pence has also talked out of both sides of his mouth and today said no changes were necessary.

QUOTE (Tex @ Apr 1, 2015 -> 01:34 PM) Such as? People not planning their vacations to Indiana? And businesses not wanting to associate with Indiana. If you bring 100+ people to the state for a convention there's a high likelihood one of them is gay. Restaurants in Indiana would have the right to turn them away for that reason. You want to push your employees like that? You want them to know that's the kind of environment you create on an everyday basis? Having a convention or opening an office in Indiana is a statement in support of legalized discrimination. Opening somewhere else isn't a statement on anything. Doing business with the state of Indiana is now a statement in favor of discrimination.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 04:59 PM) I really hope it doesnt take that long I hope it takes longer because that means Danks is actually performing.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 01:27 PM) btw, this is another pitcher to put in the group of pitchers the sox have developing...... dang the future looks great..... Beck, Fry, Adams, Danish Montas all knocking on the door. Some of them will get hurt, some will wind up in the bullpen, some will struggle when they get to the big leagues or higher levels some will be traded. The trick is: if Rodon is as good as he is supposed to be, then all we need from those guys is to fill back-of-the-rotation roles, and if they're any better than that then our rotation is loaded. Chris Beck absolutely has the talent to be a mid-rotation pitcher. Will he get there? No idea. But, if we get a #4 starter, a guy who puts up an ERA in the low-mid 4's out of him who is cheap for 5-6 years, that's a huge asset regardless.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 01:04 PM) dang, a really good question. me, i am limited in my knowledge of pro ball. i am thinking as a fan so i have half baked ideas. i am at a dilemma of the right way of doing this. i am glad the pro's know what to do, in other words, coaches. but i would shut Rodon down, now that he and his agent knows he is not ready, and rest. start him back up during the all star time and start getting him ready for the playoff time. but like i have always said, what the hell do i know. Not a chance. I start him in April in Charlotte and see what happens. That's being way too cautious for me. The thing he needs to do most this season IMO is pitch >150 innings. If he clears 160-170 innings this year then I'm suddenly happy with him being penciled into the rotation full time next year with a 200 inning goal.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 12:17 PM) i like him, but my concern is for his speed of the fastball. yeah a nother yr of developing may make him a better overall pittcher. When I saw him in person last year he topped out 94-95. Good speed on his fastball through 5 innings but he tired out in inning 6 and that's when he started getting hit around, you could see his average FB drop below 90 at that time. He has plenty of velocity and he's also supposed to have a good sinker IIRC.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 12:21 PM) you got it..... everything you mention is what i was slowing getting at. but those dog days of summer leading into sept, the sox in the middle of a fight for the playoff. (man, i get chills just thinking of this) how will Rodon perform.... no matter what, he still may get fatigued by the long concentration of playing ball. competitive ball, playoff kind of ball. The ideal way to bring him into a pennant race is September 1 coming up and maybe giving 1 spot start but otherwise working out of the bullpen as an extra, high-octane lefty who might be able to be a dominant bullpen lefty if there's a playoff race, similar to what happened wiht David Price. The question is whether the Sox's 4 and 5 starters will be good enough and starters 1-5 will be healthy enough for that to happen.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 12:13 PM) well this is another subject, but i wasn't too keen on getting Drabek. i think this is a owners looking out for others in the family kind of deal. there has to be better options that are being release now. it is an understanding I disagree. That just seems like a guy the White Sox have had whispers around for years, ever since his first TJS or so, as a guy that maybe we could do something with his mechanics. We've got a history of doing that successfully.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 06:54 AM) 1 question. if Rodon come up and plays with the sox, either as a RP or SP. the sox keeps him on some sort of a pitch count, either way, would he still get fatigue?? i mean either mentally or physically, reason is, he still has yet have a full season of pro ball. just wondering. As a relief pitcher? Maybe, because he'd be going all out every time. As a starter even on a pitch count IMO almost certainly. He's never thrown more than 130 innings in a year in his career and even had some fatigue issues with fewer than that last year (people said the coach at SC was leaving him in games too long). At some point you do have to pitch through it, but there's a difference between pitching through it in August at Charlotte and pitching through it in September against a team you're 1/2 game behind in the standings.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 07:01 AM) opinions...... re Beck. how, in your own opinion, did Beck perform this spring? The time I saw him on air he looked good. Crisp, hard to hit his fastball. No radar gun was available. From previous impressions though it's going to be "lasting 6+ innings" that could still be the task he needs to overcome - involving both stamina and working in offspeed stuff. Always hard to judge offspeed stuff in AZ since it's dry, desert, and hanging.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 30, 2015 -> 05:41 PM) this will be a great name to start collecting ..... many thanks. We better not be picking #1 in 2017.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 30, 2015 -> 04:29 PM) Good thing it's been spring training, as balta would be going nuts with all the errors and base running mistakes The good news is it'll stop when it hits the regular season and that's why I picked this as a 99 win team this season.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Mar 30, 2015 -> 03:58 PM) Conor has played alot of 1B this spring. Sort of bizarre. If the backup 1b is playing DH most days, and it's a blowout in the 6th inning, wouldn't you like Jose to take a seat? That can only happen if someone is available to switch over to 1b unless we give up the DH spot for the remainder of the game.