NorthSideSox72

My 5 year old daughter came out of the bathroom once, saying she was scared of the "big spider" in the window right next to where she was sitting on the toilet. Said it was really big. We get spiders like everyone else - usually either those tiny, skinny-legged "dust spiders", or the chunkier but still small tan house spiders. Maybe occasionally one that's a little bigger. So I asked her if it was one of those dust spiders like she saw somewhere else recently, and she tentatively said yes. A couple hours later, I go in there myself, turn on the light, and sitting there in the sill like a foot from where someone would stand or sit to go, is the biggest non-tarantula spider I've ever seen. Wolf Spider, and a really, really, really big one. Seriously almost as big as the tarantulas I've seen occasionally out west. I normally don't freak out with spiders, but this one legitimately made me jump a bit. I tried to get him with a shoe, but he ran super-creepy-fast into a crevice against the block window. Desperate, I got spider spray from the garage (not sure why we even had that) and basically filled every crack around that damn window with fluid. Never saw it again. That was an OUTSIDE spider. Still biggest I've seen in the Midwest. I apologized to my daughter.

FutureSox: Carroll and Snodgress non-tendered - what it means. In response to SS2K5, as it turns out, they COULD have put Snodgress through waivers and used an option, but chose not to. Which is odd. Which is what I wrote about.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 2, 2014 -> 04:27 PM) If they are clearing him off of the 40 man roster, I believe that at the very least means Snodgress is now exposed to waivers and any team can claim him with a 40 man roster position. The language of "not offering a contract" makes me think released and now free agents, but I don't know if that is true. I believe since Snodgress has options, he's still in the Sox system. I'm 90% sure, but that is why I was asking. I highly doubt they'd release him, and I don't believe that players with options have to go through waivers to go off the 40. Just not fully sure.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Dec 2, 2014 -> 04:12 PM) Dan Hayes ‏@CSNHayes 52s52 seconds ago #WhiteSox declined to tender contracts to Scott Snodgress and Scott Carroll. Moves leaves 40-man at 39. Forgive my ignorance on this, hoping someone will help me... With Snodgress, I believe that still means they have his rights and can option him, right? Without exposure to waivers? For Carroll, he's already been DFA'd and is in flux. Yes? No options for Carroll? Calling Kalapse!

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Dec 1, 2014 -> 08:08 PM) So nothing to report on how our players did in the Dominican, PR, Austrailian and Venezuelan Winter Leagues ? Seems strange to start threads about it then have no hitting or pitching updates . We'll do a review after the season. For now... Dan Black and Leury Garcia are kicking ass for their respective teams.

I so rarely buy fast food burgers. If you want slightly better than true fast food, go Epic Burger. Best real fast food joint for burgers I've ever had was Backyard Burgers, we had them when I lived in Memphis. Southern chain. Damn good burgers. Perfect burger: Blackened, cheddar or mozz, bacon, lettuce, mayo, and if they have it - avocado.

We've published a guest post, written by Sox scouting supervisor Kevin Burrell, on the life of a scout. Give it a read, as this is a unique 1st hand view into some of the realities of that career.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 11:18 AM) I liked winter when I was younger but I just despise it now. I hate the cold, I hate snow, f*** winter. Seemed appropriate and accurate today. If it weren't for career and family needs keeping me here, I would have moved to the southwest long, long ago.

As a season ticket holder, they send you a few gifts during the season that are specific to season ticket holders. Could be anything, but never anything super-expensive. What you also get is, around November, they send you a box with like 20 different gifts in it that are essentially one of each for all the give-aways during the season in the stadium. This year for example we got like 5 bobbleheads, a couple hats, kid stuff, blanket, Konerko baseball card with game-used jersey shred, a pennant, etc.

Jeff wrote a deep look at the 2013 White Sox MLB draftees' performance in 2014, their first full seasons as pro ballplayers. Take a look and see how they've performed so far.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 28, 2014 -> 01:00 PM) So who are the likely outfielder candidates at charlotte? Trayce, Mitchell, anyone else? Because the Sox do seem to owe Charlotte a better roster next year. Josh Richmond will be in the mix. Also, not sure if Christian Marrero has been (or will be) re-signed, though he's more 1B/DH than OF at this point. Likely it is Thompson, Mitchell (if he's not gone in the Rule V), Richmond, and one or two of the Danks-Campana-Shuck group pointing at 3-4 OF spots in Charlotte.

Saw Interstellar. Not sure what to think. The first 75% of the movie, give or take, I really enjoyed - it was long but needed to be, it had a few cheesy lines, but also explored some good stuff and was well done. Then all of a sudden, it full-on jumped the tracks into this weird Stanley Kubrick meets M. Night Shyamalan thing. Jarring and weird. Then right near the end it came back down a bit, but still left a weird taste.

North Dakota? I tried not to reply, but... the population is exceedingly tiny and mostly in lower wage work, not to mention the oil boom is by nature likely to cycle back down at some point. The list of usual metro area suspects remains pretty much the same: San Antonio/McAllen, Portland, Las Vegas, Albuquerque/Santa Fe, Nashville, Montreal, Charlotte, Salt Lake City, San Juan. Long shots maybe New Orleans, Oklahoma City. Honestly I could come up with probably at least 50 metro areas ahead of anything in the Dakotas on a list. ETA: The Tampa team is the one who would move, not Miami.

QUOTE (bear_brian @ Nov 26, 2014 -> 04:15 PM) Are you aware that Hamels is a lefty??? um... apparently not. LOL, perhaps I shouldn't have just thrown that in there and then not logged in for two days. No idea why I thought Hamels was a righty, apparently I was thinking of someone else. Not sure who. QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 26, 2014 -> 05:02 PM) I have a hard time buying into the Sox making an offer for Hamels. His contract is not the kind the Sox would go after in a pitcher plus I don't see the Sox giving up two or three of their best prospects the Phillies are reportedly after. You're talking Rodon, Anderson and Montas if Amaro gets his way and I don't see the Sox giving up that kind of talent and rightfully so. If I had to guess, I'd say the Cards land Hamels. They want another pitcher, have plenty of young talent to trade, payroll space and might prefer Hamels' salary over what Lester is going to get. Lester could cost 3-5M more per year. Boston signs Lester, Cards trade for Hamels. I don't get the impression Hamels will get 2-3 best prospects. But that said, being lefty (now that I was reminded), I am thinking it won't happen. I wasn't even that confident when I thought he was right-handed.

Sox need a RH starter, or at least would like one. Phillies GM just came out and said he had a good offer for Cole Hamels in hand, but it was from a team not yet mentioned in the media about him. I'll go out on a limb and say the Sox may be taking a shot at Hamels.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 26, 2014 -> 01:49 PM) Yeah I don't actually know native american prosecution/incarceration rates off the top of my head or if they're substantially different from other groups, but I figured that if they were, "tribal police system" would be the obvious answer. Do you know if tribal arrests show up in federal crime statistics at all? I don't know about the available stats, but I do know that all tribal agencies (law enforcement of otherwise) fall under review and/or purview of the federal government under the laws of the Dawes Act and subsequent legislation and legal findings. If the tribal police arrest someone, that has to be documented, and the FBI has (or should have) that information (not sure if it is ever disseminated publically). If they are charged with a crime, it can go through a tribal court system (if one is present and patent), or else they'd need to be charged federally and go through that legal system as with other federal crimes. Those certainly would be documented - but I'm not sure about requirements for tribal court documentation. And the decision process as to which system they fall into has been noted for being... fuzzy math, we'll call it. As far as tickets and minor infractions of local or reservation laws and ordinances, I have zero clue how well documented those things are. My suspicion is, the paper trail is sparse and unreliable, but that is purely a guess. I should also note, it is possible they only looked at people being given tickets by municipalities or states, which would exclude much of the AmerInd populations by nature anyway. In that case, the sample size for that group is likely so small as to make the outcome statistically useless. -- Longest paper I ever wrote was on the Dawes Act and the Reservation System. Does it show? LOL

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 26, 2014 -> 01:18 PM) What outlier? Native American populations have well-documented struggles with alcohol and drug abuse, especially on reservations. That would also explain incarceration/prosecution differences if it's mainly handled (or ignored) by reservation police. Sort of a tangent, but... on this stat, it was talking about minor traffic infractions. The reason they have so few in that group is that many of them live on and spend most of their time on reservations. Those are patrolled generally by some sort of tribal police force, and those forces usually to next to no traffic enforcement on local roads. The reasons for that are many, but just wanted to point the likely reason for that particular anomoly.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 26, 2014 -> 10:04 AM) They're supposed to be given facts and determine if probable cause exists for the charge. That necessitates some credibility analysis and comparing evidence A and B together. We all know he could have gotten an indictment if he wanted, or he could have charged him if he wanted. Just because he didn't and he wanted that conclusion to be validated by a grand jury with all the evidence he had, doesn't mean it was some corrupt process. And let's face it: no matter what happened here - he brought charges, he got an indictment, or it goes to trial and Wilson wins, you all would STILL be pissed off about it. You're just latching on to this GJ thing to further your conspiracy theory that Wilson, a cold blooded murderer, shot a saintly, innocent, unarmed black kid, and the powers at be are protecting him to further their racist aims. It's another example of the "epidemic" you believe is happening across the country of white cops killing black kids because racism. I have expressed my displeasure with the GJ process here multiple times, but I assure you I do not resemble the comments in bold. QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 26, 2014 -> 10:04 AM) I'm wondering if all of the failures in the investigation and incident reporting is where a civil rights violation might come into play. Ferguson PD did turn the case over the St. Louis County either that Saturday or the next day, but StLC seemed preoccupied with conducting a military occupation of Ferguson and shutting down the media. So SLCSD or the SLC DA's office or whomever, likely failed there. Even if there is no law per se to require it (which I don't know if there is), seems like some pretty piss poor investigative technique at best.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 26, 2014 -> 08:19 AM) fun fact from this 'investigation:' nobody bothered to get an official statement from Wilson on his version of events for at least a month after the shooting, giving him plenty of time to craft his story around everything that was publicly reported (plus whatever was leaked to him). Even with all of that prep time and advantage, he still came up with an at times fantastical story that the prosecution didn't bother to question at all. Putting aside whatever he said later, which I don't think is all that fantastical... I do agree that a lack of recorded or written statement from Wilson immediately after is messed up. I can't speak for Missouri, but in at least one state, I can tell you that any use of force with a non-compliant subject required a special report to be filled out and a copy filed with the state, and that said report had to be completed within 24 hours. That alone should have been a start. Furthermore, in most deadly force scenarios, I'm pretty sure in Illinois (and in at least one other state) you typically have a seperate agency (State Police, county, neighboring town, non-police prosecuting authority, etc.) do an initial investigation or at least be part of it, including collecting statements. That is supposed to occur straight away. I think Chicago may be an exception here as they have a (supposedly) seperate internal review department for such things. Either way, if he didn't have to make a legally admissable statement for a month, either someone screwed up (intentionally or accidentally), or Missouri's laws need some tweaking.

I don't know why this story cracked me up so much, but I am still laughing about some of it... For anyone who has a job they think is miserable, remember, it could be worse. You could work at Radio Shack.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Nov 25, 2014 -> 05:34 PM) Nothing special about Carroll. Thing about Wilkins is that, while he's unlikely to hit in the majors, he could, and it would be at a higher level than Carroll pitches. Plus, there are no hitters on the 40 other than the Major League starters. And presuming that report on future sox was wrong about Rondon, the Sox don't seem to have much Rule 5 vulnerability. Which report was that? Did we report something on Rondon regarding this? Want to make sure we fix it if needed. QUOTE (Kalapse @ Nov 25, 2014 -> 06:40 PM) This isn't necessarily correct. As far as we know Carroll has not been waived, he's in purgatory for the next 10 days by the end of which the Sox must release or trade him they may also place him on waivers within 7 days with the intention of outrighting him to Charlotte. It's a minor distinction but possibly an important one, designating a player for assignment simply buys a team time when they need to immediately clear a spot on the 40 man roster, nothing more, the other options come after the DFA. If the Sox feel he has some value and may be claimed on waivers they have 7 days to find a trade partner before waiving him. QUOTE (Kalapse @ Nov 25, 2014 -> 07:16 PM) A player can be optioned to the minors after being DFA though that wouldn't be an option at present time since there is no 25 man roster to option him from, also a player cannot be optioned if he was replaced on the 40 man roster with another player which Carroll was today by LaRoche. Thanks for the clarification, always appreciated.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Nov 25, 2014 -> 05:10 PM) If they simply DFA could another team have signed at any point, even after the Sox assigned him? He hasn't been assigned yet. He was Designated For Assignment, which means he is currently on the waiver wire. If he passes through, he can then be assigned outright (which I think he can then reject if he wants to, but I'm not sure on that one).

QUOTE (oldsox @ Nov 25, 2014 -> 03:36 PM) When does Moncada's fate get decided? Tough to follow the new int'l rules. He's been cleared by MLB, declared a free agent. But he has not yet been cleared by OFAC (US government). Usually it happens the other way around. But both need to be done before anyone can move on him. Likely after that he starts engaging with teams - but he may also make a strategic decision to wait until after 7/2, because different teams are then available to him for signing.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Nov 25, 2014 -> 02:42 PM) Strategically, why waive instead of an outright assignment? Because he might pass through, where another team won't take him. That way they can keep him, and outright assign him to Charlotte. I'm surprised this wasn't Wilkins.

Loved Carroll's backstory, and I loved getting to help him edit the post he wrote for FutureSox. He's good people, and I'd say the Sox would love to keep him if no one picks him up on waivers. QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 25, 2014 -> 01:20 PM) I would have figured someone would take on Carroll. They still might. He'll be on waivers for a while - this wasn't an outright assignment (yet).