Dick Allen

Yeah that series in April vs the Yankees was the dead giveaway. Over analyzing to be miserable must be a White Sox fan trait.

If the day spring training started you were told Eloy would miss 100 games, Robert around 80, Madrigal most of the season, Grandal over a month and 2 months at far less than full strength. Foster and Heuer would implode, and Bummer be far from the lock down releiver we expected, Earon would be released,, Engel miss a couple of months,, TA spends time on the IL, Abreu be banged up, you probably would have thought the team would be where the Twins are, not running away with the division. There is really nothing to complain about.

Please name a team that would be missing 4 regulars, have some sort of restriction on a couple of their better pitchers, and would be doing as well as this team?

I would suspect their output, at least initially, to be a little less than normal. OTOH, at playoff time, when most of the league is going to be pretty fatigued, these guys will probably not.

That's right and the fact is the Brewers didn't go tag him for the same reason. Seems a little unfair one side still has recourse 5 minutes later and one side does not.

They had nothing to protest. I am sure most of the delay was searching replay rules. And this particular play probably is so rare it never was considered. The umpires on the field and in the replay room knew this was a bit unfair because of the safe sign, and were probably trying to find a way around it. The replay was obvious. I bet that it gets written into the replay rules next season where once an umpire signals safe, whether or not he touched home is not reviewable.

You have a point. Spikes are a lot more comfortable these days nut when I played, I definitely would be able to tell if I hit it or not when not sliding. The entire problem is the umpire confirmed he hit it, so time to get away. The Brewers didn't bother to tag him for the same reason.

Right and those are plays where the guy has time to get to the plate, not some little roller to the pitcher. If the umpire didn't give the safe call, then he could give Collins some heat for not noticing . Besides, the play was in front of Moncada, nothing for Collins to do.

So you think if the Sox traded for Gallo last week they win these games? Do to roster size, etc. there is limits as to what the team can do. We have to hope the 3 returning players can stay healthy and produce. And the 2nd baseman they acquire produces.

What this series is telling us is it sure would be nice if the Sox could get anywhere near full strength

I know Collins is a punching bag so any time you can take a shot, do so, but 2 things...first there is no way he had time on that play to get around home from the on deck circle, and second, the umpire confirmed he hit home plate.

I remember in July or August of 2005, the Angel's coming to Chicago and dominating. The Sox should have packed it in right then. Why are people so panicked? The team is missing 4 regulars. 3 will come back soon. A 2nd baseman will be added and a reliever. If they can stay healthy, I like their chances.

In this instance, they clearly didn't need the extra time to view the play, however, it is very possible they had no idea to even review it until someone on the TV crew mentioned it

I don't even know why you have to appeal check swings, the 1st and 3rd base umpires should have to signal a swing if they thought he swung without an appeal.

That's where I am at with it. It is the one play in baseball that is like blowing the whistle in an NFL game The Brewers made no attempt to go tag him. In fact while watching the game I mentioned to my wife he looked like he missed the plate, but I told her he must have got it since the umpire signaled safe. No need to go back and get it. With as clearly the replay showed he missed home and as lengthy as that process took, all the things we are mentioning were most likely discussed. They probably had to look at the replay rules themselves.

The call was right, but unlike any other base, once the umpire signals safe at home, the play there is over. So if there was any doubt you missed the plate, thar safe call would end it. They should make the play unreviewable if the umpire signals safe. It is basically the same thing as calling a guy at 2nd our even though he was safe, having the play reviewed, admitting he was safe but since he was called out and came off the base to go back to the dugout, was tagged then so he is still out. It doesn't excuse Moncada from missing home, but it is a call that stops the action of the runner, and fielder as they made no attempt to tag him.

How many teams lose 4 important regular players for an extended period at the same time and don't feel it in some way?

Tony's bitching already paying dividends.

I agree. Lamb serves no purpose with Foodwin around, and if someone gets hurt, Sheets can fill that role. The only caveat being if Lamb is the first ready to return, Sheets or Burger will probably go down for him, but ultimately he is dfad. Hamilton seems like an obvious choice but speed and defense will win out. A 9th inning protect the lead OF of Hamilton, Robert, and Engel probably has a legit shot of being thee best defensive OF of all time.

The good news is the Bummer doesn't get shelled, he just has no command and gives up a ton of soft hits. He needs to get straight. Crochet seems to go missing a lot. I hope it isn't because he is sore. In the playoffs you don't need 5 starters, so I imagine Kuechel or Cease will take the roll Kopech has and Kopech can pitch the 7th or the 8th. Hopefully, they can get one reliable guy to take Burrs or Ruizs place. I think the bullpen can still be a strength.

At the time all this crap was happening, most of us considered the Blackhawks a model professional sports franchise. Turns out they were anything but.

This may shock everyone, but most teams have a problem beating good teams with good pitching. 9 game lead missing 4 regular players. What you are asking for is the impossible.

I don't think TB does anything any other team doesn't do except evaluate , and develop talent better. I think they traded Hill because they thought his shelf life was ending. Maybe they get something out of the catcher, but they think Hill is cooked. They wouldn't trade Eloy. They didn't trade Longoria until he was worthless. They traded Price when most teams would have traded him and got some useful parts. They just seem to have fewer misses that most and occasionally a big hit. Sometimes not being able to afford guys who are going to br free agents thus forcing you to trade them may make you look bad to your fanbase at first, but make you look good later on.

They got 95 innings out of Hill, probably more than they thought they were going to get, and can see where he's heading. They get a 4th round pick catcher out of the deal. Not bad.

It's true, but he is much less offensive than most trolls.