Gregory Pratt

QUOTE(iamshack @ Dec 24, 2007 -> 11:35 AM) GP, I was the one who asked you to list the things you did like about the "Organization." And I clearly meant players, as they really are the core of the organization. But the reason I phrased the question that way is because I was honestly wondering what it was that brings you here. I was thinking maybe you grew up in Charlotte and loved the Knights or something. Because honestly, sometimes it makes me wonder how you could watch this team. How you could come to soxtalk. Why you even waste your efforts worrying about this team when the overwhelming majority of your comments and your outlook is negative. And of course, the answer you basically gave is that you like the hot dogs. I don't think it was 'clear" you were talking about the players, especially since you mentioned Ozzie I thought it was a question about the organization itself. You don't agree it was an honest interpretation? If I recall correctly, you didn't say "Is there anything about the team you like?" I have trouble deciding how to respond to the rest of that..post. I mean, what can I say? What am I supposed to say? "You don't like the White Sox because you're critical of KW/JR. Or it seems like it." What do you want me to say? I still watch almost every single game -- the only times I didn't last year were when out on dates or a couple of times I was so tired from my baseball season that I passed out on my bed, and even then the White Sox were what was on my TV when I woke up two hours later. I'll watch or listen to every single Sox game next year and always cheer for them. I'll attend several games, as many as a busy College kid can realistically attend and more. I mean, I am critical of the organization because I feel they don't do a good job with the team I grew up loving and still do. You can question my fandom all you want, that's your right. I resent the line of questioning, but I don't begrudge you that right anymore than it's my right to love the team and the joys of attending a White Sox baseball game, even if I am a little negative.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 24, 2007 -> 09:08 AM) Roughly half the board wants KW fired (thanks to your interestingly worded poll - 3 fired options and 1 not). It seems to me that makes the site pretty much evenly split on KW. Not really a surprise, is it? And if you wonder why people "badger" you about your negativity, look at the post you made recently when asked what you DO like about the Sox. It was mostly about the ballpark and fan incentives - virtually nothing about the team or its players or coaches. You pretty much proved to the readers of the site what many suspected - you really don't like the Sox. You just enjoy berating them. That's a rather dark post. "You pretty much proved to the readers of the site what many suspected - you really don't like the Sox. You just enjoy berating them." That can be said to any of the "negative" posters on the site and I accept your right to criticize me like that, but I reject it categorically. "You don't like the Sox". I suppose one could go into the Filibuster and say, "From what the criticisms you have of American government, it's clear you don't love your country. You just enjoy berating it." Right? I'm simply not one to parrot optimism if I don't tihnk the situation warrants it; you're completely ignoring all the times I've defended the white Sox and especially Ozzie Guillen over the years. Besides that, what I do isn't something I'd characterize as "berating". I don't post, "KW sux!!!!111" and leave it at that. I criticize and I think I do it reasonably, not trashily or lustily. If you disagree, that's your right but my criticisms are a far cry from "KW is doo doo!" I was asked, specifically, in that thread -- or thought I was being asked specifically -- about the "organization" which is far more than the players or team. But there are several answers to that: 1. I don't like Kenny Williams; to me, he's Bill Bavasi with an attitude problem. 2. I don't like Jerry Reinsdorf. ("Eat your hearts out, you're scum!" to Jimmy Piersall and Harry Caray; there's more, but that might be the pithiest way to explain it.) 3. I don't like the scouts that told KW about Nick Masset's "fast"ball (that's just example 1). I don't think I was being asked about players; I didn't think I was being asked about players. Players aren't quite what I think of when I think of "the organization" or "the machine". As for "likes": the question already conceded Ozzie Guillen as what I really like from the organization. I listed that the org. is generally good to its fans, or tries to be (from a non-baseball perspective there's little faulting them). If you want me to list what players I like, I can do that. I love rooting for Buehrle, Danks, Contreras, Thornton, Jenks, and MacDougal (even though two of those relievers are bad); I root for the rest of the guys on the pitching staff, even though I don't think they're good or they don't strike a chord with me. Players? Well, Thome, even if I appreciate him a little less than maybe I should. I like Fields. Let's put it this way -- there's no one on the team I particularly dislike except maybe AJ, but there are few guys I really like. I've always thought Crede was a great guy to root for, easy to root for. Lots of guys who are easy to root for on the team but that I'm not generally all that fond of except for the starters. Then again, all opver baseball if you ask me my favorite players you'll get pitcher after pitcher after pitcher. Does that clarify anything? Do you still think I don't love my White Sox?

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOY

I know someone who dropped out of HS to become an ultimate fighter. Dude might be the dumbest guy I know.

At this point, it's clear that despite the positivist complaint about how SoxTalk is negative and sees the sky as falling and hates the organization, most people here are not opposed to KW and in fact a majority likes him/thinks he's doing good. Some are critical, yes, and that's how I had a hunch that there was a lot more positivity here than they'd give themselves credit for: because everytime I say KW is bad, or Floyd sucks, or the scouts who did X, Y, or Z suck, there are several posts badgering me for it, and with positive things ("if we can get 200 innings of quality pithcing from Floyd") nobody but me or DA comes in and says, Wait a minute...let's not go...nuts... This was just a little poll I wanted to make to see where SoxTalk generally stands.

Dear New York Weather, Please cooperate with Mr. Brady next week. Love, Me.

Good for Bears fans... ...the season is a success!!

Someone said 80% of SoxTalk thinks KW is awful/should be fired. I'm curious what the actual numbers are. And I'm voting for mediocre, not "awful".

QUOTE(ptatc @ Dec 22, 2007 -> 10:08 PM) I would say it's the opposite on this board. Looking at the posts, at least 80% of the people here believe KW is an awful GM and should be fired. I think I am one of the few that thinks a GM with an above .500 record and a world series win under his belt deserves a chance. Very few current GMs can match this. I don't micromanage. I don't dissect each move in a vacuum. I look at results, so far his overall results have been good. Now if he has another disasterous season........ I don't think 80% of the people here believe KW is awful and should be fired. I'd guess it's something like 70/40, pro and against KW.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Dec 23, 2007 -> 11:26 AM) Our payroll makes it obvious that Reinsdorf is indeed cheap. What "special" players have we lost? Maggs? Well it would have been retarded to re-sign him under those circumstances. CLee? That trade indirectly won us a world series. Who else? Aaron Rowand? He's certainly not a special player and even if you consider him that, his trade led us to a more expensive Jim Thome. I don't understand this argument of yours at all. I didn't get the Yankees reference.

There is room for hack journalism in my heart; there is room for puff pieces. Besides, it's a good story.

I love it.

1. Who was the everyone slamming steroid users and 2. Who was the everyone praising this trade?

Interesting stuff.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 21, 2007 -> 01:16 PM) Are you talking about KW? Sounds a lot like KW. Look at the Sox of the decades before 2001, and how often they were "contenders". A lot less often than under KW, in basically all cases. We were "serious contenders" every year but 2005 in the Comedy Central in the same way that the Brewers have been contenders in this current Comedy Central over in the NL.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Dec 21, 2007 -> 05:30 PM) To anyone who would have wanted a Gio or DLS trade for Hamilton, that would be stupid as f***. The common cold could place Hamilton on the 15 day DL, imagine if he got the flu or something... he has no immune system after heavy drug abuse. Plus, what happens after he gets a couple million or so from some team? He could easily, even though I hope it won't happen, start doing drugs again. I wouldn't mind him as a secondary piece in a trade, but I wouldn't trade one of the two better pitching prospects in baseball for him. Maybe I'm quibbling, but Gio/DLS aren't two of the "better pitching prospects in baseball". Gio has a lot of question marks and DLS has a long way to go, although he could quickly rise up the ranks. QUOTE(iamshack @ Dec 21, 2007 -> 06:34 PM) I love how everyone is slamming the PED guys, but the guy who was snorting coke and smoking crack while getting all of his 26 tattoos, and tried to kill himself 3 times would be a welcome addition. Tell us how you really feel.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Dec 21, 2007 -> 04:56 PM) Regardless, talk about a rule 5 that worked out. Man, knowing KW, he didn't even know who Josh Hamilton was until reading rotoworld.com seconds ago. I actually think you're giving him too much credit and too little credit!

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Dec 21, 2007 -> 04:51 PM) Yeah, but it would have meant trading Gio or DLS. And they are already earmarked to be traded for Coco Crisp. Well, at least one of them is.... The thing is, the Sox thin system doesn't have anyone like Volquez: someone who has struggled and who's future in the big leagues is dubious, but whose stuff is so good that you can trade him for something valuable. It's not a terribly unfair trade. Both players are talented but carry significant risk. Of course, Hamilton has already excelled in the bigs, so I think Rangers did well here. Gio or DLS are easy choices for me for Hamilton.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 21, 2007 -> 04:34 PM) Yeah, why get a prime time talent in Hamilton for a 24 year old minor league pitcher? Great trade for Texas. It's too bad we couldn't offer Gio and Aardsma for him. I wonder if 1. we were in on him at all 2. why we didn't sneak in -- I mean, we could beat that package, I'm sure.

f*** Cinnci.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Dec 21, 2007 -> 04:03 PM) Wedge is not an idiot... unlike Guillen. Wedge has far more and better personnel at his disposal, unlike Guillen.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Dec 21, 2007 -> 01:50 PM) He was the greatest President Soxtalk ever had. Thank you, good sir. I tried my best. Sometimes, Congress cooperated; sometimes, it didn't. Sometimes, the people cooperated and sometimes they didn't. I tried my best to serve with integrity and honor. I tried my best to be a goodwill ambassador on behalf of the people and to forge close ties with other communities. I tried my best to be fair, rational, reasonable and handsome. More than anything, regarding my term, I want to be remembered as a peacemaker.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 21, 2007 -> 01:47 PM) Actually, his 1 year term expired on 12/7. Maybe. Maybe not. That leads to much legal wrangling! But I keep the title, as all Presidents do, for life. "Mr. President". Oooooh, it feels gooooooooooooooooood to be free of all my duties and responsibilities. It's also nice to know someone was counting down the days!

QUOTE(iamshack @ Dec 21, 2007 -> 01:39 PM) GP, You two don't share similar views, you share the precise same view, and you volley your negative beachball back and forth enough that eventually enough people see it and start to believe it. And DA and I tear into one another on a daily basis, so I don't think it's anything with which he'll be surprised. We disagree on several things. Notably Ozzie Guillen. Josh Fields. (DA and I.) As for our negative beach-balling, I'd counter that you and several others on this site spend so much time looking at the bright side you've burnt out your eyes. But really, I'm only teasing you to take it easy. I mean, Mariotti?! Really, I have respect for you and you know it, from back when we used to talk about Barry Zito to even today, when you provide counter.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Dec 21, 2007 -> 01:33 PM) You want to talk about "spin"? Look at your posts in regards to KW. You're impossible to satisfy. You're the ultimate "in hindsight" guy. You're always nitpicking everything. This team won the World Series in 05'. In 06', it won 90 games. Last year sucked. We ALL know that. But that doesn't mean that the 08' team immediately starts out as a 72-win capable team as currently constructed. There are such things in a season as momentum, cummulative affects, bad-luck, injury, that come together to achieve results which are not necessarily the sum of their parts. I'll be the first to admit it happened in 05' when we won. And it certainly happened last year when we stunk. But just as that 05' team was not 99-win strong in talent, the 07' team was not 90-loss in talent. The whole point is that Kenny felt Hunter for 5/75 was a risk worth taking, but not at 5/90. Why is that difficult to understand? And yes, some of the players that were signed before HAVE strangled the team a bit financially, but that's an amazingly relative situation. Your team CAN be strangled a bit financially if your veterans perform as they ought to. Last year, they did not. But that does not mean they will not again this year. What you're arguing is almost like you do not want Kenny to commit the necessary resources to maximize the team's chances for success. Had we had stacks and stacks of leftover $ with which to spend on other players, you'd be sitting here claiming Kenny is an idiot for not compiling the best team possible. You're just impossible to please. Ever. I actually think sometimes you are Jay Mariotti. Easy on my guy, shack. He and I share similar views, so perhaps I have an affinity for him and subsequent bias, but he's hardly Jay Mariotti.