Dick Allen

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 25, 2013 -> 03:18 PM) More afraid of Cleveland. They're 4-0 to starting Spring Training. They are for real dog. An Indians' beat writer actually said this current team reminds him of the Indians teams in the 90s. Talk about someone who is going to be dissappointed.

QUOTE (southside_hitman @ Feb 25, 2013 -> 02:57 PM) 4.) The Tigers have much more talent than the Sox and it is unlikely that we can compete with them this season. I just watched Castellanos, their LF blast an opposite filed home run off the Phillies Papelbon like he was hitting a hitting practice pitcher. Casteallanos, Austin Jackson and Tori Hunter in the outfield, Prince and Miguel Cabrera at first and third, VMart at DH , etc, gives them a frmidable line-up. Then of course their rotation is stronger than the Sox. There will be more Detroit fans at our home games vs. Detroit this season than Sox fans. I don't see any reason for the Sox to field a team this year.

I caught something on TV yesterday near the end, but it seemed like the most important number Emery takes isn't the 40, it's the vertical. He says that is the best indicator of athletic ability.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 25, 2013 -> 08:48 AM) The Bulls are the 6th seed with Derrick Rose missing the entire season. They've had hot streaks, now they're on a cold streak. Kirk Hinrich blows and the team was fine for stretches earlier in the year with him down because Noah was beasting and people were hitting big shots. Thibs ran his All-Stars into the ground and now we're at this place because they are playing injured / at 80%. Hinrich does just as much harm on the court as he does good by putting his teammates in bad position with no time left on the shot clock. The Bulls got to their target (past the ASB) in 5th place in the Eastern Conference, and expected the cavalry to be comin' di-rectly. It didn't. They got blown out by a fantastic team in the Thunder, and I'm not surprised. We'll see what happens when #1 gets back in the lineup - but everyone stop acting like Kirk is the reason they are losing. You can't deny the W-L record is far superior with Hinrich in the line up. We all know he's a crappy player at this point, I even got sick of watching him when he was considered decent, but there always are guys who seem like crappy players, whose team plays better when they are in the line up. Hinrich wasn't going to make the difference last night, I think everyone understands that. LeBron playing with the Bulls last night would have only made it a little closer game and far more enjoyable to watch, but as much as I don't like watching him play, Hinrich does add value for some reason.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 25, 2013 -> 08:14 AM) I like him mentioning backspinning to left center and right center, especially right-center. For one thing, that's what he was doing when he came up his rookie year and he was awesome that year. Next, backspinning balls to those gaps is fun because it can be a difficult ball to read and results in a ton of doubles and triples (if not all out home runs). And finally, he will hit more home runs because getting that backspin on the ball keeps it in the air longer and more of them will carry out of the ballpark. I obviously want to see him do it in the regular season, but I'm cautiously optimistic regarding Beckham this year. His right hand is his top hand. Switch hitting doesn't make any sense. Not to mention a 26 year old guy who has never batted left handed picking it up and becoming major league quality has about a 1 in a billion chance, if that, of being successful. It's like asking a pitcher who blows out his shoulder to switch and start throwing with the other arm, maybe not quite that extreme, but the odds of success are nil.

QUOTE (Jake @ Feb 25, 2013 -> 07:54 AM) Also, I actually think much of the recent slide can be attributed to the loss of Hinrich. I love me some Nate Robinson, but there is a serious limit to how much that dude can play. He has to be employed selectively and without Kirk, he is applied indiscriminately and there is no hope that he can play an entire game and not f*** everything up. Kirk is a very flawed player, but he brings a steady hand to the offense and helps us at least rely on our most talented players to win and play a relatively smart game like the one we gameplan for. Nate can score some points and has won some games for us with his offense, but he just can't consistently get an offense to run and causes us to play a 4 man defense sans the occasional fast break blocked shot. I agree. Hinrich has always been a frustrating guy to watch, but for some reason, the team plays better when he is playing.

There seemed to be so many injuries last year, yet they were among the best in fewest days on the DL. Shows you how spoiled we are, or at least I am, regarding White Sox health.

I would never blame injuries on trainers. They most of the time just happen. Herm has been able to keep the games lost to a minimum, but it is ironic he is getting some pub a year after the Sox were about as banged up as they have been since Herm has been around.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Feb 22, 2013 -> 11:33 AM) He reached the majors at age 20 Not by merit. It was in his contract.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Feb 21, 2013 -> 01:32 PM) It is perfectly normal to attend women's college volleyball games alone. Literally alone.

Morel could be the back up infielder. Beckham and Ramirez aren't going to be pulled for defense. Keppinger could be, Paulie could be. Morel could come in late, play 3B and have Keppinger move to 1B if necessary or Keppinger could play another position the days Morel is starting. No one is calling Morel a great player, but right now the extra infielder is Angel Sanchez. I don't think his baseball card is worth much. Maybe it will be beneficial for Morel, again assumming he is healthy, to get some ABs in Charlotte, but if he looks good this spring, I think putting him on the roster makes sense. He really has nothing to prove at AAA. He's either a AAAA player or useful in the major leagues.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 21, 2013 -> 06:41 AM) Wow, begging for a 3B coaching job already? How the mighty have fallen. And for Buck. Didn't Ozzie and Buck have a little feud? I believe Ozzie used to sarcastically say Buck invented baseball. The way Baltimore won last year makes you think they are in for a fall. Maybe Ozzie was thinking, they will struggle, get rid of Buck and as the 3B coach with a lot of experience, he would get the job.

QUOTE (Special K @ Feb 20, 2013 -> 10:49 PM) Morel is horrible. I think this board has amnesia. Have you ever watched Angel Sanchez? If Morel can give you anything close to a staring 3b performance, he is better than the rule 5 pick up.

QUOTE (Hawkfan @ Feb 20, 2013 -> 11:34 PM) lowering prices to appease non existent fans= business death They lowered the prices on tickets they weren't selling. Many of the premium seats were jacked up and they are virtually sold out. Money-wise, if they drew the same number, it is probably a wash or very close to it, but the cheaper prices will draw more fans, and if they win 85 again, their projection will be like the Sox usual Pecota projection, really short.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 20, 2013 -> 03:10 PM) Were not exactly talking about Josh Hamilton with the bats here. 2 months of a replacement level player dealing with back problems isn't something to write home about. If his back isn't going to hold up in Chicago, it won't in Charlotte either. If he has 2 months of health in his system and he is better than a guy like Sanchez, you take him for 2 months.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Feb 20, 2013 -> 01:02 PM) Severe economic downturns at play though. 2001 Frank Thomas going down early didn't help.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 19, 2013 -> 01:24 PM) SOXOBAMA is gone, so unbunch the panties and let it go Is he off on an around the world adventure?

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Feb 20, 2013 -> 08:24 AM) Well yeah, Jeff Keppinger. Really though, I'd hope they would be expecting an increase. I was surprised to find out that last season's playoff invoice covered this year's split season plan and then some. I thought I had somehow snoozed on it when I didn't see any literature asking for money in the mail. Paid up without realizing it is kind of nice.

QUOTE (TomSeaverFan @ Feb 19, 2013 -> 05:48 PM) Thanks for the Grantland story and all the comments. I had no idea. Wow. What an education I received. With Loria being smart as a fox, I'm a little surprised guys like Guillen fell for it. All Loria did was ruin Guillen's career. Now, Guillen I'm assuming has to be paid the full amount of the contract, which was a good contract. Guillen is the proverbial "set for life" I guess. But my final question to you is ... why did Loria bother signing a guy like Guillen in the first place? Did he truly care at that point of signing Guillen about the popular perception that the team would be attracting Latino fans? I don't see where signing a "big name" manager would have mattered to Loria if he has this genius master plan of just making money. Where did Guillen fit into this?? Ozzie's $2.5 million paycheck this year is more than every Marlin on their payroll except 2.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 19, 2013 -> 10:02 AM) This season is a waste of a season. The Bulls need to move forward and get younger. They need to do something other than sit on these assets before they waste away to nothing. They have already wasted a season without Derrick Rose that would have been perfect to start remodeling in. While tanking and hoping for a decent draft pick makes sense on one hand, you have a lot of people paying a lot of money to see the Bulls in person.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 19, 2013 -> 10:25 AM) Damn, I thought we had 14. They will easily create more if they need it.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 19, 2013 -> 08:42 AM) That's a really long-winded way of saying that the Bulls would happily give away Rip Hamilton's worthless ass. If he played once a week, he would be pretty good.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Feb 15, 2013 -> 01:23 PM) Dunn in camp. Guess he welcomed a baby girl recently That's surprising. He looked pregnant in 2011, but not last year.

QUOTE (Elgin Slim @ Feb 15, 2013 -> 01:24 PM) The article stated that "significant progress needs to be made" I take that as a red flag, even in February. Considering he just started throwing a month and a half ago, and they have him on a program so he won't overdue it, his velocity will be the last thing that comes. All indications are he is either right on schedule or even ahead of schedule and isn't in any pain. I think, if everyone is being straight, it is more optimistic than pessimistic. Time will tell.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 14, 2013 -> 09:12 AM) Spin it how you want, but a manager declining an extension is never a good thing. We all knew Robin's interest in this position was luke-warm at best, and he had to be talked into it. That being said, I thought he did a great job getting the most out of a bunch of bums last year, and he'll have to do that again this year to make baseball interesting in August. I don't see anything wrong with it. Robin Ventura is about the White Sox. The previous manager was about the White Sox for a couple of years, then became about himself. Robin said he's more comfortable and sees himself doing this longer than he thought when he signed the contract. He's just one of those guys that has his money, and wants to make sure the fit is still right for both sides before committing to any more time. Who knows, in a couple of years everyone (Robin, the White Sox and the fans) might be doing cartwheels he didn't sign an extension.