caulfield12

QUOTE (Tex @ May 27, 2016 -> 10:52 AM) One year my travelling team finished as co-champs because our league all-star team had advanced to a national tournament. Strike one for that trophy. At our banquet a prominent Cubs player Don Kessinger automatically autographed all the trophies, temporarily strike 2. I still have it. But he was also a former Sox player/manager...that has to undo the strike. I think the only one, unless you go back to the beginning of the franchise, perhaps.

QUOTE (South Sider @ May 27, 2016 -> 10:37 AM) I am one of those kids who are still stuck at home. I suppose that first I'll explain how my individual situation went down, and then explain why I believe this is occurring and what my final thoughts are on the subject from my millenial point-of-view. My parents split up while I was in middle school. After high school, I could live with my mom rent-free if I went to college. If not, I had to pay some kind of rent. I was pretty much an idiot at those times, and didn't care a lick for school so I dropped out of community college. My father was going through some rough times. I won't go into details but I was able to live there rent-free until I was 20, which I'm sure my mom wasn't very pleased with. Luckily for me I didn't blow off all of high school; only most of it. I had two internships and had classes that built computer repair and networking skills. The second internship turned into a full time job for a little bit after high school until the owner sold the company. I was able to keep my job for awhile, but the writing was on the wall. Around the age of 19, I was laid off. Without a job to speak of, I was pretty much lost into my 20th year. My buddy who was also laid off ended up moving back with his folks a few states away and landed a similar job. He told me they had room for another technician, and I was ready for a change of scenery so I got out on my own! Things were good. Business was booming and after a short adjustment phase at my buddies folks house, we rented a house with our boss and his new wife. This lasted for about a year until things deteriorated rapidly and we had to move back into my buddies parents house. I lived there longer than I had liked, but the job was going south as well and income was becoming tighter and tighter. The hope was to get an apartment, but when I realized the job wasn't going anywhere, I decided to move back to Illinois. Shortly after moving back I landed a retail job with a lot of promise. I started getting full time hours and consistent pay checks so I worked out a rent agreement with my father. This is the point where I could have moved out. I could have paid a bunch more in rent and lived paycheck to paycheck. I could have moved into a big rented party animal house down the street and hated every sober moment of it. But my father had an unused room. I buy my own food. I contribute to household chores and tasks. Finally, I suspect my father would be lonely without me around. The big plus is that I was able to save some money. About a year ago, I started gunning for a managerial position at my job. It would change everything. I would be making considerably more money, and definitely be able to afford an apartment without having to resort to incredible frugality. I'll be honest. I don't indulge myself a lot with material items, but I also want to be able to enjoy some of the money that I slave for. Trips to places like Cedar Point with my girlfriend and visits to my mother (who now lives in Arizona). Nice dinner dates every now and then, Sox games, craft beer, steaks etc. However, I had a realization about the managerial position that completely changed my plan. The first is that the managers in a store work hours that are incredibly demanding physically and mentally. If you've heard of a waterfall schedule, it's kind of like that. An example would be: Tuesday 1PM-11PM Wednesday Noon-10PM Thursday 8AM-6PM Friday 6AM-4PM Saturday 5AM-3PM Sunday Monday Off There are some areas of this schedule that are less than ideal for families, and I am a firm believer that your family is the #1 thing in your life, not work. I don't want my relationship with my girlfriend or my future kids to suffer because I work such a demanding schedule. The second realization was that to become a store manager (the head honcho of the store, who makes much more money and can work whatever schedule they like so long as it is 50 hours per week) was close to an insurmountable task for most managers. The first problem is that almost every manager wants to be a store manager. Competition is all well and good here, but the second problem is that there are simply not enough locations in this company. They only open a couple of locations a year, and it's not like current store managers are in a hurry to retire. I've seen firsthand many amazing regular managers toiling away for 10+ years hoping that their name would be called soon for store manager. However, only one location opened in this region alone last year with none that I know of set to open this year. I realized I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to toil away for 10+ years working my ass off, and I didn't want to put my girlfriend (fiance soon) and future kids through that. Call me a lazy millenial if you wish, but I simply do not view it that way. My girlfriend is finishing up her bachelors and is in the process of deciding whether or not to go for a masters. She will be working some kind of 9-5 job Monday through Friday. My weird managerial schedule just would not jive with hers. So I made the decision to go back to school and continue working part-time at my retail job. I wish I had decided to go back to school earlier; I am 28 years old now. It is what it is, though. The retail job for store employees is actually fantastic. In 5 years I went from $10.50/hour to $17.35/hour. They offer retirement packages so I opted into one awhile ago and have been building it up. These benefits kept me chugging along as a store employee without giving a thought to schooling. Boredom has started to creep in, though, as well as a revitalized urge to continue bettering myself. With some of my savings, I am able to finance my schooling at community college for the time being. Subsidized loans and the American Opportunity Tax Credit help immensly. I also hope to qualify for a Pell Grant next year. I still live at my dads, and I wanted it to be clear and okay with him that while I am going back to school, I will be working less (which should help me qualify for a Pell Grant). We arranged a new rent agreement, and he supports me in my quest for an education. It is certain that after I get my bachelors or maybe even my associates that I will be moving out and getting a place with my girlfriend, and finally stop bothering my father by living with him for so long. Greg, I heard that statistic that you mentioned as well on a newsflash from WDCB 90.9. Despite who or what you may listen to, the statistic is real. I think that a lot of parents are recognizing that the economic landscape of today is not as good as when they were our age, so they give their young adults more leash. Both of my parents never completed college and they were able to buy a house and other nice things. This is just not possible today. In my composition class, I wrote a paper about how I believe many Americans are overworked and in my paper I discuss how the cost of living has risen, productivity has risen and at the same time wages have remained relatively stagnant. At the same time, the rich keep getting richer and wealth inequality continues to worsen, which is another contributing factor. There's a lot of good information here if you care to look: http://www.epi.org/publication/charting-wage-stagnation/ If anyone is interested in reading my paper, I'm rather proud of it and would love to share it with you. Just send me a PM and I'll e-mail you a copy. I can't speak for all millenials, just myself, but I am not going to perpetuate society down that path. I place real value on my free time and I will fight for a society that accepts free time as part of our culture. I surmise that a lot of what is perceived to be "lazy millenials", like those who expect inflated vacation time simply have a different way of viewing life in general, perhaps similar to mine. For sure, as things are now, employers now who are old school are going to hire those who don't want vacation time or inflated free time. That's just how it is right now. If I am correct, and many millenials view things as I do, then eventually society will shift as the millenials become the dominant generation. I think this is a really good thing as I believe that America is trending towards being overworked. Somethings going to have to give, and if it is a generation that all the super hard workers view as lazy, entitled brats that shifts America from overworking themselves to something better for future generations, then I think that is great. I don't want my children to grow up in a country where it is expected to basically live to work. I want them to be able to work hard, get what they deserve for it, and also have enough time for their families and to grow themselves individually. Michael Moore would agree with you on this. His most recent documentary touches on all of these exact same points, looking at the policies of different countries on things like vacation time, maternity leave, overtime, etc. WHERE TO INVADE NEXT? Two of the countries that have much better policies in this regard are Italy and Germany. It's the same argument going on in Europe now between southern and northern Europeans (particularly the Germans, as the strongest economy). As soon as you think the Germans are all working themselves to death, you realize their system is also much more progressive. Heck, I think the US is one of two countries in the world without mandatory (extended) maternity leave, which is incredible when you think about. My wife here in China had five months, closer to 5 1/2 actually, of PAID maternity leave. She ended up taking off about 1 1/2 to 2 months before the baby (I forced her to when she was having some bleeding due to stress/overtime on weekends) and then went back after staying home 3+ months after the baby was born. She also must have left work and not come back at least 6-7 other days to go for hospital check-ups. Note, in China they even provide an EXTRA month of paid vacation if you're over 25 as a mother. (Now, one significant difference is the amount of base pay there is probably 1/3rd what it is in the US, even 1/4th...but that's another issue for another time.)

That season was cursed as soon as Thomas went down anyway...started out 14-29 and battled back to get to .500. Featured a lot of young pitchers and Jose Canseco. The best thing Wells did for us was get us $4+ million in insurance compensation.

https://weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/l/USMO0460:1:US Situation looks a LOT more positive than it did 4-5 hours ago. Especially around gametime. Looks like the kind of weather they could play through, not much red anymore.

He's obviously referring to the Shark and Frazier trades. Semien's average is quite low, but he's been a very valuable player for the A's, compared to his contract...if he could just hit .250 or .260, and part of that's a function of the huge park he plays in. The other one obviously is Trayce Thompson. If we were wrong on BOTH those guys, it will hurt, especially Thompson, because it means we lost an athletic, cost-controlled CF. Essentially, we "fixed" 3rd base for 2 years only to "unfix" CF for the upcoming future...IF IF IF Thompson's the real deal and can sustain his MLB success at a rate far beyond the numbers he put up the last 2-3 years in our system. Having Anderson, Semien wasn't QUITE such a big deal...but there's not much hope that Jacob May's going to be similarly productive (compared to Thompson). Let's just say the odds are not in favor of it happening, at the moment.

GreenSox, the Twins and Astros are not in the greatest of shape. The Royals and Pirates are getting near that point where their windows are closing more than opening. With the Mets, collecting that many young arms seems to be a little bit of an anomaly or "luck" rather than a systematic approach. And they're still a NY team with NY resources (despite the Wilpons), so not sure we can exactly credit them with "doing things the right way."

I'd say 20% of the blame falls on Ventura, 40% on Hahn and 40% on Reinsdorf for not authorizing signing Desmond for one year. He shouldn't be overplaying him against RHP, and certainly not hitting him 2nd where he's getting an extra AB every game nearly. Unfortunately, if they end up pushing Anderson to the big leagues in June and he ends up like Byron Buxton, the narrative until the end of time will be that he was rushed and it adversely affected his development, like Semien, Micah Johnson and Beckham. (Not to mention that Desmond almost has a 2 WAR playing LF already and later on could have been moved to Cabrera's position with Anderson coming up to add even more energy and athleticism to the line-up). Eaton Anderson Abreu Frazier Cabrera Desmond Lawrie Navarro Jackson Other than Jackson's hitting issues, that's a line-up that definitely can at least hang in there with DET and CLE. Right now, we're 2 players short. 1-7, those hitters can give you 15-18 homers, and obviously Abreu, Frazier, Desmond and maybe Lawrie even more.

Yeah, someone mentioned that Sale has pitched much better on an extra day of rest...he had that hellacious 40+ pitch inning with those extended at-bats with Ramirez and Uribe, they must be a BIT concerned about the aftereffects. However, putting him in the spotlight in a game where everyone will be watching to see what Matt Harvey does...he's either going to dial it back down and throw lower 90's and only occasionally throw 96-97 or he's going to end up repeating his CLE game by overthrowing and trying to duel with Harvey on the radar gun. Hopefully he's matured beyond doing that and is more concerned with just getting out of there with another win.

Calling Rollins a disaster is pushing it. LaRoche last season was a disaster. Keppinger and Bonifacio. Paulino. Dunn in 2011. Kelly Downs. ETC. Garcia in the OF. I believe he's played a significant role in changing the chemistry and seriousness of that clubhouse, although there's no way to prove it. I'm perfectly fine platooning him as the LH side (and part-time SS in the sense Beckham was last year) part of a DH combo with Garcia until they can find a better solution on the trade market. Saladino can back up every position on the infield, PR (gives our bench more speed with Rollins and Saladino, one of the complaints and reasons for SOME asking for Leury Garcia of all possibilities)...and perhaps he can also learn how to play some outfield, at least in an emergency. Playing LF hasn't seemed to hurt Desmond's OPS numbers, for example...he's adjusted well so far. At some point, you think about releasing or DFAing Rollins, but that's only as a last measure...let's say things go terribly awry and the team is 5-7 games out of the WC race like most of last summer, with a ton of teams to pass. Also would be pretty shocked to see Hayes or Coats taking AB's from Avi or Rollins. Maybe in September, but unlikely.

https://weather.com/weather/5day/l/USMO0460:1:US Right now, it's looking like 50/50 odds to get the Friday game in...probably after 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday look much more promising. They'd have to schedule a DHer, probably Saturday, if Friday's game also gets bagged. White Sox have an early game Monday (Memorial Day) against Harvey in NYC, so no desire to play two games on getaway day, especially going to New York. Royals also have a game at home against TB.

Current (personal) List Carlos Beltran Michael Saunders Justin Bour (Marlins) CarGo Jacoby Ellsbury Kevin Kiermaier Coco Crisp Logan Forsythe Marcell Ozuna The other names are likely unrealistic for a number of different reasons.

One wonders what, if any, say that Chris Sale had in this one...I can see how part of him would be attracted to the idea of pitching in the spotlight in NY, compared to a Sunday afternoon in KC. That said, he knows better than anyone that the road to October goes through divisional opponents, particularly teams you've struggled to match up well with in the past. Not to mention the fact that KC starting nine is comprised of three good to great hitters (Cain/Hosmer/Perez)...one really struggling but with a past history (K. Morales) and then FIVE "pesky/Pirahna" players in the rest of the line-up who've combined for TWO homers roughly 1/3rd of the way into the season (Merrifield/Cuthbert/Infante/Dyson/Orlando/Escobar/Eibner/Colon). As I recall, Buehrle aggressively campaigned to take that start in Yankee Stadium, and it was one of the key defining moments of the 2nd half of 2003. Cotts got bombed into oblivion/life as a reliever. I remember vividly for awhile that Harrelson was saying the Sox might be the best team in the American League that August.

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=2...lb&sid=milb Anderson having a May to remember. Lots of good quotes. Lefty Killer Line-Up Eaton Anderson Abreu Frazier Rollins Cabrera Lawrie Navarro Jackson Pretty obvious they need one LH batter (preferably can play CF) who can crush righties. He's hitting .387 against lefties and .288 so far this season against RHP (971 vs. 665 OPS). So I think you'd probably see him or Rollins hitting second against lefties and down at the bottom of the order against RHP. Another encouraging stat is .386 on the road and "just" .263 at home. .387 in all May games. He's been incredibly consistent with his hitting stats against RH and LH pitching the last 2 1/2 years. 2013 stands out as something of an anomaly. 2015 vs. LHP .339 BA/839 OPS 2015 vs. RHP .303 BA/759 OPS -36 points, -80 points 2014 vs. LHP .329 BA/840 OPS 2014 vs. RHP .286 BA/780 OPS -43 points, -60 points 2013 vs. LHP .234 BA/557 OPS 2013 vs. RHP .291 BA/759 OPS He's also consistently been hitting at a 759-780 OPS clip for three years against RHP. This year in AAA has been the only season (so far) down in the 600's for OPS, but his huge numbers against LHP are cancelling that out.

This thread just went off the rails. Greg, who do you consider "unbiased" sources, because Limbaugh and McCain are definitely not that. However, in fairness, the McCains as a family are seemingly much more progressive than 90-95% of Republicans. She's not in that right-wing inflammatory category with the likes of Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter.

Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro and Bobby Thigpen all came from Mississippi State, right? Red Sox draft 12th. Definitely could see the A's or Tigers going after him. Not sure about the Padres or Marlins.

You really want Saladino in LF over Cabrera? The main advantage he provides is infield defense and speed...if we were going to do that, we should have just signed Desmond or Fowler, moved Melky to DH and traded Avi/Sanchez/Johnson as a package.

NOPE. Gonzalez/Duffy tmrw...Royals pushing back Ian Kennedy to next week, Ventura Sat and Volquez Sun. Sale vs. Mets next week in NYC.

Make it what you want. Just thought it was better to put here unless the Game Thread stays open...which I guess it theoretically should since the same exact pitching match-up's still intact? Last time the two teams met, I know Lip wanted to push Sale back and move Q to the Thursday game against HOU, but they obviously didn't do that. (Probably would have been too amped up like he was for CLE, overthrowing). Guess they have more confidence in Miguel Gonzalez than most of the fans do. They’ve done it before this season, and White Sox players are confident they can find it once again. Once off to a 23-10 start, the White Sox have been brought back to Earth by a stretch during which they’ve lost 11 of 15. Still, they don’t feel like they’re far off the mark, and eight losses since May 10 by two or fewer runs would suggest they aren’t. But the White Sox know they have to get back to what worked before, and that hasn’t occurred in a stretch where they’ve lost five consecutive series. “It just hasn’t been as tight as it was when we were winning, making the plays, coming up with clutch hits, throwing the ball where you want to throw it and getting the result,” veteran shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-white-so...&yptr=yahoo

Game will not be made up this weekend (that could theoretically change if they also lost Friday or Saturday afternoon's game). Right now, most likely to be August 9th-11th. Royals will push back Ian Kennedy to next week. Pitching match-ups (for now) are Gonzalez/Duffy, Rodon/Ventura and Latos/Volquez. White Sox pushing their entire rotation back, so Sale will start next week against the Mets in NYC. Guarantees the White Sox will spend at least one more day in 1st place. Have held that position for all but six days (tied or leading) since the beginning of the season. Friday, April 8th, we were 1 game behind KC (biggest margin).

Anderson to the 2/9 hole. Saladino back to supersub. Rollins/Garcia (for now) platoon at DH, Rollins hitting against all LHP. Sands to AAA/DFA. Probably the future at some point here soon...

It's still not an easy call. DFAing Rollins when the White Sox are still technically in first place? It doesn't make sense to not have Saladino as the back-up because of his positional versatility. Then you have the fact that Rollins hits LHPers extremely well, but the DH situation is another issue altogether. Maybe you have Rollins/Avi DH and designate Sands? I guess that's the likeliest scenario.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/rosen...526-column.html Rosenbloom counsels waiting it out...desperate times don't call for desperate measures, as Sox will severely overpay unless they just take on a contract another team is dumping. Even then, Rios/Peavy show the danger of that.

What would the White Sox numbers be for numbers of RISP with less than 2 outs over that time period? What about total baserunners or runners on 2nd with less than 1 out? The low numbers are partly a function of the diminished OPS/OBP, but it seems the statistical evidence would tell you he's not the most likeliest manager to bunt, let's say, compared to Yost. Then again, it all depends on how you go about manufacturing runs...waiting for a three run homer or station to station, keep the line moving.

Who gets the credit for Ranaudo, haha? Gave up 2 runs now, but ERA still is an impressive 2.84. Anderson just doubled (line drive down the LF line). 2/3. Another multi-hit game. Leading the league with 59 hits as of now. 19 multi-hit games for Tim. 7th double. .319 now, 16 RBI's, 40 hits in May alone, hitting .380 overall for the month of May. OPS still at just 763 due to lack of XB hits and walks.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 26, 2016 -> 05:35 PM) I agree. Really all they need is a Shields/Cueto type of No. 1 guy they can trade for at the break. The bullpen thing they have going is still good as long as they get the good Soria, not the bad one. That potentially will keep them mediocre. Soria can screw up their whole bullpen thing. Yes and no. They still have Hochevar for the 7th (as well), but, over the course of a full season, you can't make it with just three dependable relievers. You need a fourth, and, with Duffy back in the rotation, they're also missing a lefty. Supposedly Tim Collins is coming back soon but at one point that timetable was May and now it's already June. All that said, it's much easier to find a reliever than a 3B. And Soria has been pitching much better recently, has his ERA back to the mid 3's.