NorthSideSox72

I like the matchup. Also, if the Sox win, they are at 5-4 and lost a series to perhaps the strongest team in baseball, in their stadium, 2 games to 1. That really isn't bad at all. Then they get Cleveland and its awful pitching staff.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 10, 2013 -> 06:10 PM) Maybe Mitchell will end up hot instead of starting out hot and then fading. He has been so inconsistent. And you might as well forget about "hot" springs. Mitchell, Keppinger, Loman...they were all very good in AZ and it didn't carry over at all into the regular season. But yeah, the only prospects to watch are Mitchell and especially Sanchez. Thankfully, Hawkins hit a HR already for W-S. And Mitchell's only a 4/7 stretch from being back at .200. Averages aren't so important until you get into May. Random and strange post is random and strange. Loman has been a beast so far in Charlotte, slugging over .700 and OBP over .500. I can only assume you mean there are only Mitchell and Sanchez to follow in Charlotte... in which case... Castro? Rienzo? Phegley? And how do you lump Keppinger (a major leaguer), Mitchell (a decent prospect) and Loman (an insurance policy at best) into the same analysis?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 10, 2013 -> 02:28 PM) At least the White Sox had prospects in the lineup. Everyone that played for Norfolk today is AAAA garbage. Yeah, people tend to forget that most AAA teams are 50% or more non-prospects, AAAA guys, filler, insurance on major leaguers, etc. CHarlotte has 3 or 4 real prospects in the usual lineup, which is probably pretty average. Also, Mitchell and Morel both struggling so far, but it is still way early.

QUOTE (La Marr Hoyt HOF @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 02:44 PM) There's a debate over the use of 'Chicago' in the name, but they were originally named the White Stockings. Per Wink: "One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Chicago team was established as a major league baseball club in 1900. The club was originally called the Chicago White Stockings, after the nickname abandoned by the Cubs" So the Cubs had it first, but the Sox also had it after, briefly? I didn't know that middle part. I only knew about the Cubs. I stand corrected.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 12:22 PM) Someone in this thread compared the few games that have been played with last year's and there has been a slight boost. Just don't expect attendance to suddenly jump to 30,000 every single game simply because ticket prices went down. Especially since the biggest target for the pricing improvements are families, who are a lot more likely to go to summer games than April ones.

The White Sox were never called the White Stockings. But the Cubs were.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 8, 2013 -> 04:52 PM) Someone did accuse him earlier of doing this just for publicity. Wasn't me.

QUOTE (My_Sox_Summer @ Apr 8, 2013 -> 04:47 PM) We'll see! Hope more come out. 2- If you think what I did last summer was for publicity, that is way off. I didn't get any publicity, on here I did, but nothing happened to me after I finished. Publicity for what I would ask. I thought it was a good thing to share with the board, guess some people looked at it in a negative light. The whole deal was you don't have to spend a small fortune to go to a Sox game, and I proved it. There were multiple deals available to make it easy on the regular family. We debated many issues in my thread last summer, I though it was great chatter. That didn't even occur to me. Again, what are you talking about? When did I say anything even slightly related to anything in this response? Are you confusing me with someone else? I thought your info was great.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Apr 8, 2013 -> 04:33 PM) I hate to say it but the first part of that sentence matters much more than the latter. You can't expect one miracle fix that suddenly makes attendance jump 10K per game. It doesn't exist. Make the playoffs 3, 4 or 5 years in a row. You'll have no problem selling tickets then. Few, fewer and almost no teams do that - it is just really tough to do it in baseball. Let's start with making it once, that goes a long way.

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 8, 2013 -> 04:28 PM) I think this should be fleshed out more. Why hasn't $5 sundays been more highly marketed? I wonder if they are trying to do some very selective price discrimination here. I don't see how that would make sense. I mean, it isn't as if other groups of people are being charged higher because they don't know some discount code - the prices are public for those games. And who they are marketing to for Sundays, I am pretty sure, is primarily families (especially those with kids). Look at the promotions they are running, they are kid-oriented. And families with little kids drive at a higher % than young adults will. Honestly, I think they just haven't invested enough in advertising it. Sox marketing is just getting it wrong, IMO, thinking people will find out by social media or word of mouth. They need to get out there with this pricing info via more traditional methods - TV spots, billboards, website and newspaper ads, coupled marketing with local businesses who get families, etc.

QUOTE (My_Sox_Summer @ Apr 8, 2013 -> 03:07 PM) And if more people showed up, there would be more money. I understand that it is early, but if the fans aren't excited at the beginning of the year, I doubt when it is hot and or we are 10 games out, they will be coming in droves. Well, you really missed the point (I wonder if you even read the blog honestly) of why I did what I did. That's cool, no worries. Graf 1, history says you are wrong - people come out in bigger numbers in summer even in down years, this trend has existed time eternal. Graf 2... what on earth are you talking about?

QUOTE (southsidepride15 @ Apr 8, 2013 -> 02:27 PM) I think we all go to as many games a year as we can. If I had no other responsibilities, and either lived in the area or had a s***-ton of disposable income then I would be there rain or shine. The place is a mecca to most of us and just because you were resourseful/lucky enough to attend 50 games last year doesn't mean you need to get up on a soap-box about attendance (or lack thereof). Congrats on "your Sox summer", I think it awesome and would love to be able to do that myself someday. With that said, so help me the next time I hear you claim that I am not a Sox fan because I haven't been to a game a week into the season because "tickets and parking are cheaper" I will find you and b**** slap you. Was that last part really necessary? Let's tone it down a little bit. I actually agree with you that it is a bit insulting to question people's fanhood because they haven't been to a game yet, one week into the season. I also agree with SS2K5 that the Sox fan base is fickle, that is just the way it is. But, the OP also was specifically pointing to people who were complaining about ticket and parking prices - and he's right that they don't have much room to complain anymore. But it is also WAY too early to make a judgment on how the price changes will or won't hurt things.

Always like looking at this. As interleague play starts for the Sox, here is a look at how Sox pitchers have hit during their careers... Sale: 0 for 2, 1 SH, 2K in 3 PA Peavy: .177/.217/.230/.447, 45 SH, 122K in 487 PA Floyd: .056/.089/.056/.145, 4 SH, 29 K in 60 PA Quintana: 0 for 3, 1 BB, 1 SH, 3 K in 5 PA Axelrod: ***has never batted Reed: ***has never batted Jones: ***has never batted Thornton: 0 for 1, 1 K in 1 PA Crain: 0 for 1, 1 K in 1 PA Lindstrom: 0 for 1, 1 K in 1 PA Santiago: ***has never batted Veal: 0 for 0, 1 SH in 1 PA *Danks: .053/.100/.053/.153, 1 SH, 6 K in 21 PA

Leaving Marty's hilarity about this somehow being the Sox' fault aside for the moment... it is APRIL, and the team just played two teams with possibly the smallest national followings of any other teams we will play. With most games being in the 30's or 40's weather-wise. Of course attendance was bad. And of course, it will get a lot better as the weather does and we play more popular opponents. Is this newsworthy?

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 7, 2013 -> 12:40 PM) Not a Sox guy, but the Rockies sent down their first pick from last year after one game, David Dahl. I just happened to check his twitter to see if he said anything...he missed a flight. Oops. They sent their top prospect back to Arizona and removed him from the a-ball roster after 1 game. There is zero chance it is simply because he "missed a flight". Has to have been more to it.

QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Apr 7, 2013 -> 08:44 AM) Opening Day Roster: 6 Brandon Brennan 35 Jake Cose 20 Joe Dvorsky 18 Michael Gunter 25 Brandon Hardin 29 Zachary Isler 14 Myles Jaye 32 Todd Kibby 26 Euclides Leyer 30 Adam Lopez 40 Jefferson Olacio 40 Braulio Olacio 31 Jason Van Skike 13 Zachary Fisher 12 Michael Marjama 10 Jean Almanzar 37 Micah Johnson 5 Michael Johnson 23 Rangel Ravelo 2 Tyler Williams 27 Yoandy Barroso 17 Jason Coats 6 Adam Heisler 9 Kale Kiser 24 Patrick Palmeiro Prospects: Brennan Jaye Leyer Olacio Micah Johnson Ravelo Coats Kiser 2013 Predictions: 1. Kale Kiser continues his success with a .300 AVG, 15 SB, and solid defense and earns a promotion to WS by July. 2. Micah Johnson hits .300, steals 25-30 bases, and continues his stellar defense and earns a promotion to WS over the summer. 3. Jason Coats shows that he's healthy and hits .300, 12 HR, and knocks in 60-80 runs and stays in Kanny. 4. Keon Barnum comes back in mid-May from injury and shows off his power with 15 homers, 70-80 RBIs, and a solid AVG by staying with Kanny a full year. 5. Rangel Ravelo moves back to 3B when Barnum returns and develops some power and continues solid contact hitting and remains in Kanny all year. 6. Adam Heisler has a good start to his year and earns a promotion to WS, still isn't considered a prospect. 7. Brandon Brennan has a solid year in Kanny with a 3.00 ERA, 90 K, and 8-10 W, and earns an August promotion to WS. 8. Myles Jaye remains in Kanny for a full year and has a great season pitching 120-130 innings with over 90 Ks and a dozen wins. 9. Euclides Leyer has a solid spring and earns a mid-season promotion to WS. 10. Kyle Hansen returns from injury and dominates Sally League hitters during his stay. 11. Jefferson Olacio stays in Kanny for a full year with a solid season striking out over a 100 batters. 12. Johnson, Kiser, Brennan, and Jaye are named Sally League mid-season All-Stars. 13. A few early 2013 MLB Draft signees from college make a late- season appearance in Kanny. 14. Tommy Thompson leads his ball club to a successful first and second half and may get in the playoffs. 15. Keon Barnum is named a post-season Sally League All-Star. Welcome to the board! Pretty optimistic I'd say, with that many people succeeding in their roles. If all those things happen, that would be surprisingly good results from that group.\

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 5, 2013 -> 09:37 PM) Wow, looks like they finally moved Petricka to the bullpen. And Todd Kibby. Petricka looked for years like he was headed to the pen anyway. Hopefully he can focus on 2 pitches there and do better than he did as a starter.

No Quetzlcoatl yet?

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Apr 1, 2013 -> 10:57 PM) Where's he slated to start this season out? Need catching depth. He's at A+ Winston-Salem. Hopefully he sees AA this year at some point.

It would seem that the organization took notice of Mark, because he played in 4 games in spring training this year, surprising for a guy at his level. He's been assigned to Winston-Salem, likely starting in RF. No big surprise there - AA was a long shot if the stars aligned, but with the crowd of talented OF's ahead of him, that wasn't likely. Having shown his contact rate is better than expected, and coupled with the strong offensive numbers and good defensive reports, Haddow now faces two other issues: age questions, and the mutliple highly regarded OF prospects ahead of (and alongside) him in the minors. He'll need to have a big year in 2013 to find his way into an AA slot during the season, and doing well there is a big key.

Remenowsky pitched briefly in the Venezuelan Winter League in the offseason, and he has been assigned to AAA Charlotte, as expected. But he is on the "DL". I use quotes because there are about 10 guys on Charlotte's DL, and it sure looks like they are just using to to alleviate crowding for now. I've got a note in to Dan personally, to see if I can find out more about his injury, if there is any.

Ravelo made it back to camp this year, and has been assigned to Kannapolis again. Not a huge surprise, given his missed development time, and if he hits he may not stick around long. What IS a bit of a surprise, though, is that he started his opening game at 1B. There were rumors (courtesy of Eric Grabe's father) that he'd been spending time at first in spring camp, and there have previously been questions about whether or not he needed to move there eventually for defensive reasons. But this does make the path more difficult for him. In order to be a viable prospect at first, he needs to develop some significant power, which he has not yet done. He's still young, so if he spends the full year in Kanny trying to develop the power, all is not lost. But if he can't make that happen, his likelihood of seeing the majors becomes much smaller.

Offseason up to Opening Day update for Brennan... Brandon had his name show up on the periphery of a few top prospect lists over the winter. He is in Kannapolis' starting rotation as expected, so he should make his first start by early next week at the latest.

Ravelo played 1B for Kanny, and it was previously noted by Grabe's Dad that he had been playing a lot there in AZ games. Seems like maybe they are sliding him over? Or maybe they are just doing this for now, but... to make room for Patrick Palmeiro? That seems unlikely. His bat doesn't play well at 1B, unless he can add some power. If he could hold down 3B defensively, he's a prospect worth watching. If he has to play 1B, I think he's in trouble.

Not listed as such, but per Gonzo, Kyle Hansen starts the year on the DL as well. Brackman I'd guess is in extended ST.