Dick Allen

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 12:24 PM) I think you guys are really underestimating how many fans the Cubs would get in Milwaukee. It's not THAT far, and there are plenty of Cubs "fans" in between Wrigleyville & the state line, not to mention tons in Wisconsin itself too. On like two days notice when the hurricane hit Houston, they got over 23k at Miller Park when Zambrano threw the no-hitter. Would they draw more total at the Cell? Probably, but it wouldn't be that significant. If they had a good team, I think it would be very significant. I agree for some it isn't that much farther, but it is farther. An extra half hour each way adds up. I doubt many will want to drive up there on a Wednesday after work. The Zambrano thing was a one time deal, when it's an 81 time deal, it is a little less unique. But any point is moot. JR doesn't want them there anyway. I doubt it would go over well in the neighborhood except for some businesses. So, he is doing what Ricketts swore the Cubs would do, before he blew up his rooftop partners businesses and cared so much about his neighbors he wanted around the clock construction, and that is be a good neighbor. Plus the Sox use USCF for many things on off days and that wouldn't be available.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 11:22 AM) All the better reason to go after fans who have proven loyal spenders. So you are saying USCF is going to make Cubs fans forget about a renovated Wrigley Field and become White Sox fans. And that is a reason the Cubs would rather play in Milwaukee. While I really do like USCF and find it incredibly underrated, I think that is hysterical. How come you don't think the Cubs would basically be sending a good deal of their fans to USCF if they didn't feel like treking to Milwaukee? If I am Cubs management, I would rather the Cubs fan root on the Cubs at USCF, than some other team. I think there would be a higher danger of a flip.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 11:02 AM) Exactly the reason for the Cubs not to send them south. It is WAY easier for them to start going to White Sox games vs Brewers games. When Wrigley is fixed, it will probably be better than USCF or Miller Park. The only fans they would lose due to USCF are fans that aren't attached and would have gone to USCF anyway. Don't kid yourself, if the Cubs are playing in Milwaukee, many of their fans would go to White Sox games for their baseball fix. I highly doubt the reason the Cubs didn't consider USCF is because they were afraid USCF would impress their fanbase so much they would switch allegences by the truckloads. It doesn't even attract White Sox fans.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 10:14 AM) That makes of a lot of sense honestly. Why send your fans over to your competitors shop? Because it is way more convenient. 8 miles away vs. 90. And IIRC, the Brewers are also a competitor. If they played in Milwaukee, there is no doubt many Cubs fans wanting to watch baseball during the summer would head to USCF. I would think the odds of them flipping teams is higher than just watching the Cubs at USCF. As a White Sox fan, and Chicago resident, if USCF was unplayable for a season, I would much prefer they played in the dump and Clark and Addison, than the really nice park in Milwaukee.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 4, 2015 -> 08:00 PM) totally unrelated the northsiders really considered moving their home game to Milwaukee b/c of the repairs. well here is the link. http://www.prosportsdaily.com/articles/cub...kee-344576.html wouldn't it be better doing it in the south side, soldier's field??? Supposedly they didn't even check into using USCF. Their "research" told them Cub fans wanted nothing to do with USCF. I think in the past, JR has pretty much made it clear the Cubs weren't welcome anyway. From what I have read, the terms of his lease would give him the ultimate authority in letting the Cubs play there.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Mar 4, 2015 -> 11:12 PM) I like that comparison. Pablo's clearly the better player at a more premium position but his deal has zero upside. At best he's worth his contract. Personally I think there's a fat chance of that happening. Melky only needs to about 5 war in his contract to make it worth it for the Sox. Melky is a good player he's not the same guy he was in NY at the dish anymore. Maybeyou can say that's due to PEDs but I saw the guy make one of the more bone headed mental gaffes a ballplayer will ever make (missed a ball tipping his cap to the intros at yankee stadium about 20 feet in front of us back in 2009) and it's clear he had a lot of mental growing up to do on and off the field . When you break into the Bronx at 20, a full time starter at 21, it can go to your head. Something clicked with the guy a few years ago and I think he's going to produce about 6 WAR in three years. A lot depends on his defense but in the smallish LF of the Cell I can't imagine he'll have much trouble. PEDs or not, the guy keeps himself in great shape and at 29 hard to imagine he'll decline too much athletically in three years. Injury could happen, and he does have some history there (the tumor thing wtf) so as with anything hope for health. I know park factors probably had something to do with it, but Gillaspie and his 7 homers, out OPS'd Panda last season. Owing Panda $100 million would be pretty scary to me. I know he has played well fat, but how long does that continue? The Giants always were on him about his weight. There has to be a reason. I don't think he will age well.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 08:45 AM) I agree on offense but defensively you can get a better reading. If a player goes 3-3 but it is against a Class A pitchers it does not mean much. If he steals 2 bases but it is against the 5th string catcher in camp then again you can't draw much. But if a guy is not covering the ground for his position or is not making good throws or struggles turning the doubleplay, those can be takeaways of what is to come this spring when the roster gets trimmed. Back when I was a little kid, the Sox had a guy named Jorge Orta. He was a really good hitter, but brutal 2B. Every year in the spring he would get rave reviews for his improved defense, and every year he was what he had always been. Guys do improve and regress defensively, but usually unless they are really young, not that drastic. I just find it hard to believe you will be able to really tell the very first game of spring training. I also think since it's been 6 months, people who do want to evaluate on day 1 go way overboard both ways. Garcia made a nice catch. He has done that before. Dayan Viciedo has made nice defensive plays before. Chances are, you still will see Avi take a taxi driver desperate for extra money route to the ball when you see in at USCF in RF.

QUOTE (staxx @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 08:01 AM) Defense is something that translates from spring. Obviously hits are a lot of times meaningless, but its nice to see the players have some great energy. Yes, but it was March 3. There are a lot of guys who look like stars the first couple of weeks of spring training that wind up being bad, and vice versa. Especially this early, a lot depends on how much you did in the offseason. Others who didn't hit as much or throw as much eventually catch up. I like Micah Johnson and hope he winds up starting at 2B. But whether he went 0-4 with 4 k's or 4-4 with 3 steals on March 3rd, it wouldn't change my opinion. The guys that played some winter ball are probably a little ahead right now. Watching these games now are great for entertainment purposes. It's been a while since we have seen them on the field. But making any evaluation at this point is crazy.

I really don't know what you can take away from the very first meaningless game in spring training. Good or bad.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Mar 3, 2015 -> 11:59 PM) Fantastic road win for Iowa. Let's keep this streal rolling this weekend and work on enhancing seeding and keeping positive momentum rolling!!! It looked like they would collapse like last season a couple weeks ago, but Aaron White didn't let that happen.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 3, 2015 -> 03:13 PM) Former white sox relief prospect Gregory Infante trying to close out a save for the Pirates. Hasn't been in the bigs since 2010. I have a game worn Gregory Infante jersey purchased at the season tickeholder party for $20. He has a career ERA of 0.00.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Mar 3, 2015 -> 02:36 PM) Illinois was 15th in home attendance in the nation last year, I think we'll be ok. We should be more like top 10 every year, but the program is obviously trying to rebuild itself. But it is fading. I do agree a couple of great players will change it and they won't even consider giving tickets away for free. But Illini fans will bail if they don't start winning. At least they aren't Penn State bad. IMO they still are probably a tourney team, some schools would kill to be a tourney team at their peak. Several years ago, the Blackhawks used to give tickets away for nothing but the Ticketmaster charge for several games near the end of the season. For the most part, I am just playing with this, but I am kind of shocked about free tickets. Everyone in my immediate family except me is an U of I grad, and I have heard how referees have had it out for the Illini since I was a little punk kid. I like to give them crap whenever possible.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 3, 2015 -> 02:34 PM) Students are taking the normal tickets in this case so no Why don't these students already have tickets? The students that will attend you could have got to attend for $5 if you threw in a $1 pocket protector.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Mar 3, 2015 -> 02:30 PM) 9pm game on a Wednesday against a mediocre opponent, we were going to struggle to get non-student attendance for that. Giving away free tickets to students was the right call, shows good faith to the students and fills with stadium with people who will be awake and loud. This was a must for senior night/season being on the line. Last home game. A couple more mediocre years and their basketball stands will look like their football stands.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 3, 2015 -> 02:29 PM) It's seats over over 17k (way way too big for a cbb stadium) and it's a 9 PM start. Good move. 9 PM is late for a college student? You are making them look even more lame.

Pretty lame if you have to do this and are considered a "basketball school". http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/438/...e/p2p-82963287/

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 2, 2015 -> 08:39 PM) It's not like Stanford's a crappy school, haha. One of my students here in China got turned down by them but accepted at MIT (also not wanting to get into the argument about the quality of a state school, versus, let's say Northwestern or Notre Dame). At any rate, like Ozzie, KW got a little bit lazy and started resting on his laurels. Call it cockiness, overconfidence, whatever you want. The most blatant example was the misunderstanding about the Nestor Molina acquisition, and his status over that winter. Seems he was delegating too much (in that case, to Paddy) and, in other cases, to Dave Wilder to have carte blanche to run his own show in the Dominican. KW spent a semester at Stanford on a football scholarship. a little different than a typical student.

Garfien just said Sox tickets sales are up 50% from the same time last year.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 2, 2015 -> 01:27 PM) What kind of question is this? The Bulls shouldn't play the guys they have? I can't even guess what this is supposed to mean. It was sarcastic.

Oakland has a switch pitcher in camp. I hope he makes it. It really surprises me there haven't at least been a couple of these guys around. You really wouldn't have to be that good from at least one side to be really effective.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Mar 2, 2015 -> 01:12 PM) A week ago they were healthy. If it isn't Rose, it will be Butler, or Noah or someone else. It really may be the most fragile roster in professional sports.

Why did Thibs have him in the game? The Bulls have so many players who are chronically injured. It's time for Gar/Pax to shake that up a bit. Even if they were totally healthy for Game 1 of the playoffs, no way that lasts more than a game or two. It is amazing how many games their players miss. Stubhub prices are only going to go lower.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 2, 2015 -> 12:54 PM) Daryl Van Schouwen ‏@CST_soxvan 9m9 minutes ago Jeremy Haber, assistant to the GM Rick Hahn, promoted to assistant general manager. Haber led negotiations on Quintana's 5-year contract. Doug Padilla ‏@ESPNChiSox 7m7 minutes ago Haber led negotiations on Quintana's 5-year contract and leads club's salary arbitration negotiations. Dan Hayes ‏@CSNHayes 11m11 minutes ago Here's more about new #WhiteSox assistant GM Jeremy Haber from last offseason. http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/white-...er-assistant-gm … #WhiteSox have promoted Jeremy Haber to assistant general manager. Had been the assistant to the GM for almost past two years. So he went from the assistant to the GM to the assistant GM.

Cause of death is a tear in a pulmonary artery.

I just read a good, but probably easy for a big White Sox fan, trivia question. There is still an active player who had a teammate who was a teammate of Minnie's.