Dick Allen

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 27, 2009 -> 10:38 AM) this is also where I think speed is essential. Even if a guy gets on base at a good rate, will it take 3 consecutive hits to score him? This is a problem that results in "lack of hitting in the clutch." If this same player can score from first on a double, this team will have a more diverse and effective offense. It doesn't need to be the leadoff hitter but one of the players in the 1 or 2 position needs to have speed, because once it's JD, Thome and Konerko come up, it will take a HR or three hits to score them. Exactly. The more often guys are in scoring position for those 3, the more runs the White Sox are going to score, especially if they can run a little bit.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 27, 2009 -> 10:02 AM) There are 9 (or more) innings where you need table setters, and after the first one, its all a crapshoot as to who leads off. You are talking about a single event in any given game, then its just as likely as all other combinations after that. Yes, you should structure your lineup to get the first inning set in a good way, and also set your lineup to get high numbers of at bats for your best hitters. But its such a small thing (who leads off int he first inning), that I think if you try to dictate your talent search based on that, and trying to fit them into a position on the field as well, you end up causing yourself problems. Now, once in a while, you have the opportunity to pick up someone for a position you need filled AND one that isn't a table-clearing position AND that person is an ideal leadoff hitter (high OBP, some speed). That certainly has value. But if you look at the Sox now, the only leadoff-like hitter available to them is Jerry Owens. Do you choose Owens over a better player because Owens has speed? That's the constraints you are working under. So no, a leadoff hitter isn't important enough to effect your talent search in a big way. Its a nice-to-have. While I agree a leadoff hitter is only guaranteed to leadoff once a game, you want guys who have a tendancy to get on base more than average hitting in front of your better hitters who can drive them in, and they usually are in the middle of the line-up. I will still be in shock if KW doesn't acquire a real leadoff hitter.

QUOTE (watchtower41 @ Jan 23, 2009 -> 04:56 PM) I think what you said here is even more evident with reading this article than the way he conducted his show. He was always meant to be the cocky one, but somewhat reserved. In the article however, it sounds like he would have quit if he would not have been fired.... sorry Mac, I don't buy it. He wouldn't have quit because he would have stopped getting paid. Getting paid to do nothing is pretty nice, especially if its for about 6 months and will net you $300k.

Looks like interest isn't waning. From the Tribune: White Sox representatives say a small number of hotel packages and three-day (with hotel reservations) and two-day passes are available for SoxFest this weekend. Friday night is exclusive for Palmer House Hilton guests. Single-day passes for Saturday and Sunday are sold out. Hotel rooms can be booked online through Tuesday. The White Sox say the number of hotel rooms and weekend passes has been increased and they expect to at least match 2008's attendance.

From Gammons: Essentially Randy Wolf, Jon Garland and Braden Looper are getting similar offers in the range of $5 million per year (plus options and incentives). As of Friday, Wolf was not close to reaching a deal with any team.

Mayo Salad dressing of any kind. I just like pepper on my salad. I eat a lot of salad and its not too dry to me. Sour cream guaccomole wine

Tom and Jerry cartoons Nerds candy 3 Stooges Strat-o-matic baseball and football

QUOTE (klaus kinski @ Jan 23, 2009 -> 03:28 PM) yeah, we hear this AFTER the last ticket payment All Winter I think about the Kosher Dog-drowned in Onions with mustard. Now its gone-poo This has been known for quite some time.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Jan 23, 2009 -> 03:16 PM) He's giving a news conference right now. This guy is perhaps the most bizarre politican I have ever seen, and that's REALLY saying something with all of the loonies in that line of work. He's lost his mind. Supposedly when they were arresting him initially and talking to him, he was alternating running in place and laying down in the fetal position.

Onions Rush-The band Juan Uribe Jose Contreras Mayor Daley

Crane Kennedy was talking about the food being bad. What was keeping the Tribune Company from improving it?

Crane Kennedy admits Wrigley Field is a dump: "That's one part of it, and the other parts of it are fan amenities. Our mezzanine suites, we don't even call them luxury suites anymore because they're neither luxury, nor suites. We call them skyboxes. We all know the washroom situation is unacceptable. The concession, the quality of the food—we rank at the bottom.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 23, 2009 -> 10:02 AM) I apologize, dear Sir Dick Allen, for posting a thread. I don't believe I've ever had a comment negative or positive on Keith Law... however, I will make sure to run it by you before posting what seems like interesting writeups of three of our young players or anything else for that matter. I bow to your forum greatness. I'm not picking on you, but when this thread has run its course, do a search on Keith Law threads and you will find that some of the same people who call him a worthless wannabe who isn't qualified to be paid for his opinions when he says something negative about the Sox will be excited about the optimism he has for these prospects.

Why is it Keith Law, if he ever says anything negative about the White Sox organization, knows nothing, but everytime he says something positive, there's a thread acting like he is an excellent source?

I read where Freddy has a chance to earn $8-9 million with incentives, so even though they gave him a minor league deal, and considering the White Sox guaranteed Colon $1 million with $2 million in incentives, if he was going to be useful at all, the Mets were probably offering a ton more cash.

Jay-bird had a different take 11 years ago: Great Chase Turns Into Great Debate By Ross Newhan August 25, 1998 in print edition C-1 No one knows Mark McGwire’s body better than Jay McGwire, his 28-year-old younger brother and a physical trainer who works at a fitness facility in Chino Hills. The McGwires, often mistaken for twins, lived together in Northern California while Mark recovered from the heel and lower back injuries that sidelined him for virtually the entire 1993 and ‘94 seasons, and it was Jay, into bodybuilding since high school, who helped redesign the supplement-aided weightlifting program that helped his brother return bigger and better than ever. That program also has become a subject of debate in the last week as the St. Louis Cardinal first baseman wages a riveting home run duel with Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs and closes in on Roger Maris’ record of 61 homers. The debate stems from McGwire’s recent confirmation that he uses androstenedione, thought to be a naturally occurring testosterone booster that is sold over the counter as a dietary supplement. It is legal in baseball but banned by the NFL, NCAA and International Olympic Committee. All consider it to have steroid qualities, putting it in the class of performance-enhancing and potentially dangerous anabolic steroids, which have been linked to coronary disease, cancer, liver dysfunction and severe mood and mental disorders. What it is and what it isn’t is as much a part of the debate as McGwire’s open use of it. For instance, Michael Mellman, the Dodgers’ team doctor, said he doesn’t recommend androstenedione or anything like it. “If I don’t know that it will help and I can’t assure it won’t hurt, then I’m not going to recommend that a player use it,” he said. “It comes out of a poorly regulated industry in which there is no required testing for safety and efficacy.” Said a high ranking baseball official: “I’ve been on the phone to medical people for the better part of the last two days. One says we have a problem [by not banning androstenedione and similar substances] and the next says we don’t. We certainly didn’t need this at this time, but at the least we’re going to take a harder look at it in conjunction with the players union, and that machinery is being put in place now.” McGwire has used androstenedione for more than a year, and several other protein and amino acid-type supplements, including creatine, for four years. Jay McGwire, who said he has used similar supplements since he was in high school without any physical ramifications, put his brother on the program during the injury-marred 1993 and ‘94 seasons. In no way, the younger McGwire said, does androstenedione directly enhance McGwire’s performance on the field. In no way, he said, is he cheating. “It has nothing to do with his swing,” Jay McGwire said. “The only thing he gets out of it is enhanced tissue recovery. Weightlifting tears down tissue. This allows him to recover more quickly. It allows him to work out six times a week instead of four. “Mark had lifted before he got hurt [in ‘93], but not correctly. We put him on a program strengthening his legs and abs, not just his upper body. We worked at increasing his flexibility. He’s bigger and quicker now. He has phenomenal bat speed, range of motion.” If there are some attempting to discredit his three consecutive seasons of 50 or more home runs as a product of testosterone and performance-enhancers, how do they explain the 49 homers he hit as a rookie or the 39 in 1990 or the 42 in 1992? McGwire was already averaging 36 homers a year before injuring his heel in 1993. “This should be the greatest time in his life,” Jay McGwire said. “So many people come up to me every day to say that he’s creating so much joy and excitement for them. But then there’s these other people who just want to bring him down. “I mean, Mark takes so much pride in his body and is so worried about what people think of him that he would never do anything to damage his health or image. The key to anything is moderation, but that’s not to say he’s taking steroids because he isn’t. “I don’t know why the NFL and IOC have banned these products. We’re fortunate to be in a time when we know so much more about nutrition and have these supplements available to help us achieve our goals.” Brotherly love is understandable, but Dr. Gary Wadler, a supplement authority and associate professor of medicine at NYU, was reached at his Long Island office and said it would be foolish to “delude anyone that this is an innocuous substance.” “As a hormonal-related testosterone precursor it carries all the components of an anabolic steroid,” he said. “An anabolic steroid, used in conjunction with a strength program, can definitely enhance performance where strength is important but carries serious health risks.” He added that the disturbing aspect is that McGwire and others have basically authored a contract with the devil by tempting all the “wannabes” to use these supplements and he bemoaned the absence of government regulation in a $6-billion industry climbing toward $12 billion. “The government considers testosterone a controlled substance and requires a triplicate prescription to acquire it, but here you have an over-the-counter product that turns into a controlled substance [by elevating testosterone levels],” Wadler said. “That’s schizophrenic. It’s just so dangerous to allow these precursors to be sold over the counter without having to prove the safety and efficacy.” Androstenedione was a favorite of the former East German sports machine. It was used in a more potent nasal spray then. Now it is taken orally. The positive test it can produce is difficult to differentiate from the banned steroids, a significant reason that it too, is banned by the IOC and others as a related substance. Patrick Arnold helped introduce and market the capsule form as president of Seymour Bio-Organics of Seymour, Ill. He said in reasonable dosages it creates a very “transitory and mild testosterone increase of about 30% on average for two or three hours” and is virtually impossible to abuse because of the body’s own fail-safe system. “It doesn’t build muscle over the long term, but can it increase concentration and strength in a given performance? It’s never been proven, but that’s what we hope,” Arnold said. “It’s a very safe way of performance enhancement. I mean, let’s face it. Drinking a cup of coffee can enhance performance, and I would say this is just as safe.” So, apparently, would the brothers McGwire.

So he just confirms what everyone already knows and throws his brother under a bus. I'm glad I have a better brother.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 22, 2009 -> 09:56 AM) One guy's subjective ranking doesn't matter, I agree. But the overall quality of the system, its instruction and coaching, and its talent saturation at high levels all should matter to any Sox fan. And unfortunately, as we don't all see the players ourselves or have all the knowledge we need to evaluate them, we rely on scouting reports and lists like this. If you take a few different ones, you should get a decent idea of where things stand. Certainly not at all an exact science though. I agree. What I'm saying is it really shouldn't matter if Keith Law thinks you have the 5th best system or the 25th best system. Making what you have useful or getting players who can be useful is more important. The Sox were ranked #1 9 years ago. It didn't mean anything. Its one thing if everyone who looks at it says its real bad, but there is enough variance for there to be some hope.

Who cares about farm system rankings? They don't give you a trophy for being ranked high. Unless your system is so awful, and you are ranked at the bottom, the rest is a crapshoot. Organizations will get ranked higher for having 4 guys who have potential to be great who turn out to be nothing than an organization that has 1 or 2 guys who actually turn out to be good or great players. As someone who has noticed the crap coming from the Sox minor league system for years, it appears to have turned around and at least there is some hope a few of these guys could be pretty good. It doesn't matter to me if they are ranked first or 25th.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Jan 21, 2009 -> 08:02 PM) Yeah Im pretty pissed the sox couldn't get Blanco for the 1 year 750K he signed with the Padres for. He is exactly what we needed. I'm pretty disgusted too, especially if Stewart and Miller are really who will be battling for that spot. Blanco signed for less than half what they paid Toby Hall. He hits OK for a back-up, but defensively he's one of the best in the league. If AJP gets hurt, the White Sox are in trouble. Again.

QUOTE (Cerbaho-WG @ Jan 21, 2009 -> 03:22 PM) "A very questionable draft this year after Gordon Beckham won't do much to boost their system." ...Man, Keith Law is an idiot. If Beckham is half as good as they think he is, and everyone else is garbage, it will be one of the White Sox best drafts in since the Himes era.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Jan 21, 2009 -> 11:20 AM) Well Konerko definitely bounced back in the 2nd half of the season at least (and was our best hitter after the ASB), while Swisher after having respectable numbers in mid July went completely downhill. I think the main thing for Paulie is to keep healthy, but he's certainly not the hitter he once was. At least with Swisher you could argue he's not in his 30's yet, so he could be an excellent candidate for a bounce-back season, but I don't think he'll hit above .250 again anytime soon. Even with Konerko's improved second half, his "unlucky" level was higher than Swisher's. Paulie is in his early 30's. He'll be fine in 2009.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 21, 2009 -> 09:18 AM) because a soft line drive is going to fall in quite a bit too. And at some point, what is a soft line drive and what is a hard line drive? Watching Nick Swisher in 2008, he didn't appear any more "unlucky" than any other player. As was pointed out earlier, Konerko, using the same theories, was more "unlucky" than Swisher, still outperformed him, and a lot of people were still calling for Swisher to be Paulie's replacement while he was shown the door. If Swisher is a lock to bounce back, so must be Konerko.

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Jan 20, 2009 -> 11:20 AM) After Dahl was cancelled, I was looking for something to fill the void in my podcasts that I listen to a work. I listened to a month or so of B&B, and I couldn't take it anymore. I understand that they don't like "dumb" calls, but like you said, it's their screeners who let them through. McNeil (who I like as a host, but suspect I'd dislike greatly in person) is pompous. Bernstein is pompous squared. When B&B get on a topic, they really beat it to death, and nobody can change their opinions. They were talking about "half time adjustments" a while back, and Terry said he saw Phil Simms interviewed and Simms said that coaches don't make "half time adjustments." With that as the basis of his argument, B&B proceeded to browbeat anyone who said anything about Lovie Smith not making adjustments. If you listen to many ex-athletes, they use the term making adjustments quite often. It doesn't mean that the teams make huge changes in scheme or philosophy mid-game, it means making minor tweaks to the gameplan based on what has happened in the game. To me, that's B&B in a nutshell. If a caller makes a point and misspeaks or overstates something, they pounce and proceed to make the caller look stupid. I don't find that kind of radio entertaining. Yesterday they had a guy call in and say if Tom Brady had been drafted by the Bears or Kurt Warner, they might not be HOFers. (I agree) He was quickly shut up, told if you are good you are good and coaching means nothing. I would think a QB with better receivers and more time to throw generally will be better than one with bad receivers who have to unload the ball quickly. I think he would have been better off saying Rex Grossman might have played in a Pro Bowl or 2 if he was drafted by NE. While they are better spoken than most of their callers, B&B's pompous attitude is curious. I really don't think they know much more than them. I remember Hawk telling Boers he knew nothing about baseball. It was gold.

I think they want the idiot callers phoning in to make them look like they know what they are talking about.