NorthSideSox72

Very good article. Also very LOOOOONG. Stoltz and I worked together a bit when I did a similar, much shorter, article back in April. Some of the conclusions we came to then still hold now, which you can see if you read both articles. But this new one has much more detail, videos, and good recent information. Worth the long read.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 02:58 PM) Kind of crazy that they didnt' think about this when building the vehicle. You'd think it would be common place to have the back-seats of this type of car being able to handle all types of child safety seats. It isn't like we are talking about a smart car or a coupe, which you could at least understand the notion that those type of cars aren't marketed for typical family types. Edit: Now that I think about it, I have a friend who has a Volt and he loves it (charges for free at work and gets carpool lane access for free). I swear he fits his newborn in the back no problem though. At least I presume he does. I guess I never look to see which car he drives when he comes over to our place with his younggun (who is Your friend may use the trick we did - put the single back-facing baby seat in the middle of the back bench, so it can protrude between the front seats a bit. But that won't work with a second kid. Also, I'm 6'3", and my wife is 5'9", so we're on the taller side. And therefore have the front seats further back. Shorter people may have less of an issue than we do.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 02:56 PM) Yeah this will be the big limitation - size. We only have the one now, so it would have to fit him (13 months old) in the back. If not, there's no way. We found there was, for functional purposes, less room for a baby seat (as measured from back of back seat to back of front seat when in typical position) in the Volt than there was in the Escape, which was already too tight. By the way, that is the measurement you want to take for baby seats. Not the official "leg room" number. Take a tape measure to the dealer, sit in the front, adjust the seats to where you will typically have them to drive, then measure that gap from back of back seat to back of front seat. Compare it to the car you have.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 02:40 PM) Is Viciedo going to be healthy enough to play tonight? Wells has played for him the last 2 games since he jammed his thumb, right? If he's a DL candidate then this could in fact open up a slot for Garcia for 2 weeks. For a day-to-day thumb injury? Kinda doubt he's headed for the DL. But if he is, then yeah, that changes things.

I figure it probably has to be either BAL or TEX. Hope for TEX. But could be BAL blocking.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 02:06 PM) I'm still torn on what to get my wife. Government Motors just started a 5k off promotion on the Volt. Added with the Federal tax credit of $7,500 and the Illinois rebate for electric cars (10% of the base price of the car, so about $4k), I could basically get one for $24k. And the nice part is that my wife's commute (20-25 miles max) is less than the 38 mile range on the car. According to Chevy you can charge the thing for $1.60/day (assume that's a really low estimate and double it and that's still about a grand a year for "fuel"). Very, very tempting. Ford isn't offering any good finance deals on the ford fusion hybrid or the energi (the plug-in model) doesn't get any of the tax credits (as far as I can tell). Decisions, decisions. Keep this in mind too... we looked at the Volt, briefly, and rejected it because the rear seat room is severely lacking. You have a kid and might have another, right? We had one with another on the way when we last bought, and had to reject the Volt out of hand because it had even less "leg" room than the vehicle we were already in that was too small. It is probably a very good commuter car choice, and oddly, would probably work fine for kids old enough to be fully in forward-facing seats or just boosters (or no kid seats at all). But for smaller kids still in bulky buckets that protrude a lot or are backwards-facing, it just doesn't work.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 02:31 PM) That's a scary thought. I also don't think Konerko is going to be playing every game the rest of the way due to his back. As it stands right now, the Sox have no reason to trade De Aza after this year. Scary but true - he needs to perform. But even if they want to trade him in the offseason or something, again, at age 24 and not a guy to give up on yet, you have to play him every day.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 02:21 PM) Or they're truly going to start playing for next year and want Garcia to get time in CF and ADA in LF based on their plans going forward? They are already playing for next year... that doesn't mean it makes sense to bench any of those guys. Think this through: --How much value does it get the Sox to play Garcia an extra 3 weeks on this team? Instead of waiting until roster expansion? Little to none. --De Aza is hitting, they may want to trade him this offseason, so they want him to keep playing. --Rios the same, but more so - they want him showing value for the rest of August, if he is here. --Viciedo is key to the team's future, so they surely won't want to bench him while he is a developing 24 year old. --Konerko is either in his retirement year or going into free agency. Either way, he wants to play, and they will respect that. --Dunn is part of next year OR offseason trade bait OR waiver bait right now. IN any case, you want him playing. He's also hitting a ton.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 02:15 PM) There is, CF You are saying they are going to have some combo of De Aza, Rios, Viciedo, Dunn and Konerko spend extra time on the bench? I just can't see that. De Aza is hitting, they want Rios to keep showing value, Viciedo is still developing, and Dunn/Konerko are not going to be benched or platooned.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 02:10 PM) It makes sense to call up Garcia, as they would play him in CF and move ADA to LF and then find playing time for 2/3 of Konerko/Dunn/Viciedo. Disagree, I don't see that happening. Then there's this... QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 02:10 PM) Stone has been making it very clear in recent broadcasts that Garcia isn't coming up until there is a full-time spot for him.

One of the beat writers was suggesting that this opens a roster spot for Garcia. I really, really doubt they bring up Garcia to add to the current OF. I don't think he comes up unless/until Rios is gone or rosters expand in September, whichever comes first. I can't see them having Garcia or any of the three OF starters riding the bench. Sanchez coming up would be a surprise, he's not been hitting AAA pitching this season, though he's shown occasional signs of improvement in recent weeks. Tekotte makes some sense.

Considering he came in cold and hadn't done it before... I thought he looked semi-decent in that one pitching outing. He may want to seriously consider that.

There was a rumor I saw from one of the national writers, saying BAL was claiming guys left and right, trying to block teams above them. Hopefully that isn't the case here.

If the K rate stays demonstrably lower for all of August/September for him... then I think it will be an indicator. Still an iffy one, but, at least a hint of improvement, which is good. 6 games though? Meaningless. He had a brief run of games where the K rate went down noticeably right before his injury too.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 10:12 AM) Ha, that's what I meant. coaching staff, not pitching staff* OK, I was kinda wondering why you brought up the pitching staff. I figured you mean the other teams' pitching staffs or something.

For people who want some background on Leesman, here is his FutureSox profile.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 7, 2013 -> 05:04 PM) Its not hyperbole. If you are confident about the current testing and no one is testing positive, that suggests no one or very few are using. Again, no one is saying that. What people have said to you, repeatedly, that you keep ignoring, is that the testing is BETTER, and they are confident in that. No one has said that "no one" is using.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Aug 7, 2013 -> 08:53 PM) I just made an observation. Everyone who's played in Double A B-Ham is having a career high or close to a career high in BB%. I am not sure if this is a factor of the park, the league, or hopefully the pitching staff, but the team as a whole is getting on base a lot. Guys like Semien and Dan Black posted ridiculous walk numbers, while others guys like Walker, Thompson, Jared Mitchell, Andy Wilkins, Saladino (especially last year), even Michael Blanke are posting the highest BB% of their career at BB. Then I tried to picture Courtney Hawkins eventually playing at Double A, and my mind just blew up. How about the coaching? Semien, when I interviewed him last week, specifically credited Gary Ward for some improvements in his approach. Gary's the hitting coach in AA.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 07:23 AM) And with Zapata being an American citizen, it could also change things as well I'd think that does make it easier to move him around, yes. Plus he understands English, which some DSL players probably don't. But I think his skill level and play will still be what dictates where he starts next year, mostly.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 7, 2013 -> 04:40 PM) Has anyone been caught with the new tests? You can't really think no one is using anymore. huh? Who said no one is using anymore? You will get better discussion from people if you stay away from hyperbole.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 7, 2013 -> 04:32 PM) You can't have confidence in the testing program. Everyone suspended this week didn't fail a test. And previous failures do cause more suspicion. Maybe Quintana did this clean. Maybe he did not. Of course you can, it is definitively a better program. Not perfect or impenetrable, but better. A lot. There is more testing, more random testing, more chemicals tested, adding blood tests, etc. It will catch more people as a percentage, and it will cause more fear of being caught. The Biogenesis things were going on before the new testing regimen, by the way.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 7, 2013 -> 04:11 PM) One thing I find fascinating, is guys like Quintana aren't suspected of juicing anymore once they get caught. I don't know how many times Hawk has mentioned how much bigger and stronger Quintana got over the winter. He said he was almost unrecognizable.The first winter after earning a sweet paycheck.anyone reaaly think Colon is just naturally doing what he is doing at 40? Studies have shown most people who do time commit more crime after they do the time. I suspect juicing is the same. Except the testing has changed dramatically since he was 17. Heck it has changed a lot since last year, when Biogenesis was going on. Players, coaches, others are all saying that players are doing it a lot less now. And that makes perfect sense, with the increased testing and more difficult regimen to get around. It is just a higher risk now. That, plus the obvious fact that being caught before almost ruined his career, are the reasons he is less likely. And your comparison to outright criminals is a bit of a stretch. Also, at his age, putting on more strength is not unusual. Doing it in their late 30's is another matter. I'm not saying Quintana is definitely clean. I am saying the likelihood of any given player right now doing it is fairly low, and for a guy who almost lost his career as a result of a penalty, he's even less likely to do it.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Aug 7, 2013 -> 03:13 PM) Question: What happens with someone as young as Micker Zapata? Does he stay at a camp in the DR until he reaches a certain age and then comes up to the minors? QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Aug 7, 2013 -> 03:22 PM) Will probably play in America this spring This year he is in development camp. Next spring, he could be in DSL, or state-side, depending on where they think he is development-wise. There is no definite answer, it depends on the player.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Aug 7, 2013 -> 02:13 PM) The attendance numbers for the last 2 nights have been right in line with the rest of the season so far. I doubt Arod playing in the game had much to do with it. Sox said they sold over 4k tickets on GAME DAY for Monday's game. And they had like 29k, or something, I think (I should look up the exact number). There was a definite A-Rod bump for Monday. Tuesday's game came down to more like normal levels, I think.

I understand what Neyer is trying to say... but he has resorted to one of the classic argument styles used by people unwilling to engage in discussing the detals of a difficult issue: the slippery cliff. Not slope mind you - but making such hyperbolic examples of things that it becomes a cliff. Equating a guy who got caught at 17 (and apparently didn't even know, but that is up for debate), was released, and had to start his career over... to a guy who spent years doing it to help his numbers in the majors... in terms of HOF credentials? Preposterous. Lazy people want to make something subjective black and white. The comparison is laughable.