Dick Allen

QUOTE (brett05 @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 08:03 AM) It's a basic thing that managers do, but the bad ones don't. You ride a hot hand. You can laugh at that all you want. I like Leury Garcia more than most here, but the fact is, riding Leury Garcia makes guys bad managers.

QUOTE (brett05 @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 07:49 AM) No like for a game or two. Say a guy like Garcia gets a hit, plays the next day and gets two more. Does he play the third day? Nope, back to the bench. You are criticizing Robin Ventura for not leaving a "hot" Leury Garcia in the line up? That is comedy gold. I thought the guys at WSI, what with their complaining about the stripes on pants, the patches on sleeves, the lack of smiles from the guy taking their parking money, were really reaching in the complaint department, but this may top that.

QUOTE (brett05 @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 07:41 AM) Nothing super specific comes to mind. His handling of pitchers in game was pretty awful. He seemed to never really have a handle on that with that. He's also be prone to taking a hot guy out of the lineup because that guy wasn't a regular. I'm hoping he improves a ton this year. We'll see. What non regular White Sox player has been hot the last couple of years?

What people initially took as Ozzie's "genuis", the taking all the media pressure off the players and on to himself, was eventually shown to be nothing more than Ozzie's constant need of attention. He was a good manager at the beginning. He was bad at the end in Chicago, and horrific in Miami. If he could shrink his head some and just get back to baseball and not all about Ozzie, he can be good again. I always thought he probably could. He has been saying the correct things in the media the last year or so. But after sitting behind Oney and Ozney at a game last year, and realizing how they all influence each other, and watching those clowns openly root against the White Sox, I don't think any good could come of Ozzie being a paid White Sox employee anymore.

Middle 90s Robin would look very nice in the White Sox line up right now.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 16, 2015 -> 11:33 AM) Yea, why dont you go ahead and relax a bit and while you are relaxing, let me know why it isnt the same. The Marlins dropped a ton of dough on that team and had to dismantle it in 4 months because Ozzie didnt "immediately make it better" That is what I was going to post. A bad team, signs a bunch of free agents, and now has high expectations. Almost exactly the same. The 2012 White Sox were essentially the 2011 White Sox without Mark Buehrle. Somehow the team managed by Robin won more games.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Feb 15, 2015 -> 03:16 PM) Good rebuttal. Why don't you remind us all how Hawk really wasn't that bad of a GM again? Clearly you have no agenda here. Agenda? No matter what in your mind, Hawk is the problem, LOL.

QUOTE (ron883 @ Feb 15, 2015 -> 02:46 PM) lmao roasted! LOL

In Philadelphia, the 3 stadiums all share parking lots. It is pretty cool. They have a building there where the Spectrum used to be with bars, restaurants and stores. It is pretty much in the middle of the 3 stadiums.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Feb 15, 2015 -> 10:39 AM) Come on man, Steve Stone may be a complete asshole outside the booth, but Hawk is 100% to blame for their awful in-game chemistry. He's constantly talking over Steve and doesn't allow for different opinions/perspectives from his own, which is a shame because Stone has intelligent viewpoints he could be sharing those watching. We get you like Hawk a lot, but let's not ignore reality here. At this point in his career, Hawk is nearly impossible to work with unless you pair him with a parrot that will just agree with everything he says. I can't see Stone staying with the Sox after his contract ends and frankly I don't blame him. LOL.

QUOTE (WBWSF @ Feb 15, 2015 -> 07:23 AM) To the best of my knowledge, Hawk has a few more years on his TV contract with the White Sox. Stones contract has one more season to go. Taking everything into account 2015 will be Stones last season with the White Sox. I wouldn't be surprised if 2015 was Stones last year as an announcer anywhere. At his age I don't anybody will sign him. What I don't understand, and I do think they do get along better these days, is why 99% of people think if Hawk and Steve aren't getting along, it is Hawk's fault. If one were to interact with each of them seperately just as Joe Fan, it would be 100% the other way. If you ever run into Hawk on the street or at a hotel or something, the guy couldn't be more pleasant. Stone, let's just say he acts like they will be renaming the Cy Young award the Steve Stone award fairly soon.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 11:03 AM) http://www.southsidesox.com/2013/1/11/3862...y-minor-leagues So the basic point was that the Bonilla trade wasn't so terrible because he wouldn't have elevated the White Sox much beyond mediocrity....and that the Sox specific version of mediocrity put them in the exact position to draft Frank Thomas 7th. Well, I'm having a hard time giving a GM credit for that one...in hindsight, it worked out well, but that wasn't Harrelson's doing. It's like saying if he drafted Bonds instead of Kurt Brown....the White Sox would had Bonilla and Bonds paired together and in their primes...and could easily have peaked a couple of years earlier, avoiding the disaster of the 1994 season being wiped out by the strike, etc., etc. Of course, they might not have been able to draft Thomas and Alex Fernandez by that point. And they likely would have been able to compete with Baines/Bonilla/Bonds/Ventura...so they probably wouldn't have ended up trading Baines for Sosa/Alvarez/Fletcher. He was meeting with Billy Martin and his agent. TV crews were all over it. Fregosi obviously eventually became the replacement. Tony LaRussa getting fired didn't cost the White Sox any championships. http://www.southsidesox.com/2010/10/23/176...ma-harrelson-is Must-read article, some great "inside" stuff here about Hawk's year... Didn't realize he basically was sabotaging LaRussa at the end of April already by floating the idea of Billy Martin (Royko wrote the story)...and the "college of coaches" thing reminds me of a Hawk 13-1 blowout soundtrack, haha. And say whatever you want about Dombrowski and Duncan, they were 100% loyal to LaRussa. Among the other people Harrelson has hired to coach are Dick Allen, Rico Petrocelli, Tom Haller, Bob Bailey, Dick Bosman, Chuck Hartenstein, Bob Bolin, Jose Cardenal, Buzz Capra, Doug Rader, Herman Franks and Jim Marshall. There are some dinosaurs (Herman Franks?) and certifiable loonies in there, but Harrelson swears by them. SI portrayed Hawk as a flamboyant, freewheeling baseball character. The horror stories didn't come out until September. As Bob Verdi wrote in the Tribune: Shortly after his appointment last October, Harrelson called a meeting of White Sox administrative staffers, presumably to welcome them, introduce himself and so on. Instead, the Hawk warned of leaks and other disloyal acts, threatening even secretaries with dismissal. The troops, many of whom had nothing to do with the game`s inner workings, were shaken. He was meeting with Billy Martin and his agent. TV crews were all over it. Fregosi obviously eventually became the replacement. Tony LaRussa getting fired didn't cost the White Sox any championships.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 10:20 AM) Last year was the first year that I noticed a decline. I know he has become more of a characture of himself, but last year was the first year where it seemed like he wasn't following the game as well. It relly seemed like he was having vision problems. He's had some eye problems. I would hate to be on I80 when he's heading back to Granger after a night game.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 10:09 AM) I'm actually not much of a Brian Kenny fan. I like that he sticks up for modern analytics, but he's needlessly divisive and condescending, and I don't think the a lot of the conclusions he draws make a ton of sense. I don't think he's a good ambassador. Brian Kenny is like Bill Maher. He's fighting the good fight, but not doing a good job of it and acting like a prick the entire time. Really? I always though he seemed like a decent guy. They do give him a lot of crap on his show for being over the top on the saber stuff, especially when they talk about clutch stuff, but he seems to laugh it off. In fact I was watching the other day and they were talking bullpens. The argument was getting outs vs. having a defined roll. I guess the saber thought is getting high leveraged outs doesn't matter whether it's the 7th, 8th or 9th, and the more traditional guys and Rosenthal who I think is in between embraced roles, and were of the belief the 9th inning is different than the 7th and 8th. They were arguing but laughing the entire time.

QUOTE (flavum @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 10:02 AM) Sox sign Matt Albers https://twitter.com/JonHeymanCBS/status/566265624754929665 Hawk was right.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 10:01 AM) Yeah, he does get credit for getting Bonilla. But then he gets credit for pissing him away for DeLeon, too. I read the article -- I just don't agree that he should get credit for what others' did. I'm glad that the regime after him was able to make some good trades with what Hawk left him. But Hawk did not trade DeLeon because he knew that he could flip him for Lance Johnson a year later. Additionally, the next regime could have gotten a LOT more than that for Bobby Bonilla in 1988. That type of argument DOES lead you to the conclusion that "it didn't end up so bad after all," which I concede. But it isn't to Hawk's CREDIT that it didn't end so bad. The next FO did a good job turning Hawk's lemons into lemonade. I bet you would feel different if Hawk dissected baseball games these days like Brian Kenny. And even if you don't give him credit for what others did, he still came out ahead from what was left him.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 09:49 AM) Right but you can't give Hawk credit for trading for Tim Raines or Lance Johnson. Hawk gets credit for DeLeon and Calderon. One of those was a good trade, one was a bad trade. Read the link, and wouldn't you have to give him credit for selecting Bonilla in the rule 5? That's a lot of WAR he picked up for Scott Bradley and $50k.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 09:30 AM) Hell Dick, now nobody is going to post in this thread. You called them all out for being bad fans, which they are. I didn't say bad fans. Just people who kind of forget what they really thought and in hindsight criticize moves they agreed with. There is no way if Soxtalk were around in 1986 the firing of Tony LaRussa would have been universally panned.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 09:22 AM) You're right -- if someone claims that he set the franchise back several years, they're off base. Still, if the BEST thing you can say about a guy is that "the next regime was able to take advantage of all the great draft picks he earned them," and "the next regime was able to salvage some value from all the bad trades he made," then the guy was really bad. As I stated, the team was doomed. It was going to be bad. The next regime did a lot better job drafting players than ANY regime in White Sox history. And Hawk made some good trades. Calderon was a good player, and he also got the White Sox Tim Raines. Jose DeLeon, acquired for Bonilla, who Hawk selected in the rule 5 draft, was a good pitcher, and he also eventually netted Lance Johnson. Bonilla was better than DeLeon, but not as good as what the Sox might not have had if they had kept him. http://www.southsidesox.com/2013/1/11/3862...y-minor-leagues

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 09:18 AM) It's not like there are any big moves left to make, other than Moncada... Maybe a late spring training addition. They have spent the money. If there is something that really needs addressing, I think they now will try to do something about it instead of waiting. If, for some reason, all the computers are right, and this is a 77 or 78 win team (without huge injuries), it will be a huge blow to the franchise.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 09:10 AM) Flowers would definitely get claimed. That would be a good thing. I for one, am kind of sick of seeing him walk back to the dugout after an AB.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 08:34 AM) Lol DA, this might be the faintest praise I've ever read/heard. Hawk's year as the GM has been written and talked about as something that basically set the team back for 5 years. That team was going to be bad regardless of who the GM was. All you really have to do is check the roster. There were some pieces acquired that helped in the future. I laugh at all of the people now who made it seem like Hawk committed some sort of felony when he got rid of LaRussa. LaRussa got booed every time he went to the mound. Many of the same people who would call into radio shows to say LaRussa sucked and needed to go are fans that now use firing LaRussa as proof Hawk is an idiot.

QUOTE (La Marr Hoyt HOF @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 08:26 AM) Fair enough ... Only take issue with 'it was worth losing for years because it brought us better players later' The minor league system was worse than it was at any time during the KW regime. There wasn't much talent at the major league level. It was a case where they had to tear it all down and rebuild it. They got really lucky when Himes hit paydirt 4 years in a row and that set them up for a while.

QUOTE (La Marr Hoyt HOF @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 08:00 AM) You mean better than he did in 1986? Getting rid of LaRussa, Dombrowski and Bonilla? You do know in 1986 he picked Bonilla in the rule 5 don't you? Trading him probably turned out well for the White Sox. A few more wins the next couple of seasons, they might not have had McDowell, Ventura, Thomas and Fernandez later on. And if Soxtalk were around in 1986, LaRussa would have been about as popular as Robin Ventura if he brought Cleto in to close a 1 run game with the bases loaded. I think Larry Himes did a pretty good job as Hawk's replacement. I doubt Dombrowski, if he would have been the replacement had Hawk kept him around, would have been able to match. Hawk wasn't a great GM. He will be the first to tell you that. But it wasn't nearly as bad as a lot of people made it out to be. The 1986 team was doomed. Burns was done. Seaver wanted out. James was done. Hawk got Bonilla, who eventually turned into Lance Johnson. He also got Calderon who was pretty good, and became Tim Raines. Hawk got the job because the minor league system was worse than it has been at any point the last 20 years. The year before they drafted the great catcher Kurt Brown in round one. The next pick.........Barry Bonds.

Hawks drives me nuts sometimes when he goes overboard with the umpires, but I think he's awesome.