caulfield12

It's a heckuva lot more compelling than the White Sox season...that's for sure. Especially getting to watch young hitters with some pop in their bats. At this point, there's general indifference about the team winning games if the youngsters look good...whereas with the Cubs it's such a soap opera with the history of that franchise that you have to watch since the White Sox fan side of you keeps hoping for the disappointment to continue, somehow.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 5, 2015 -> 10:35 PM) Very sad take. This woman supports Hillary just because she is a woman. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stacey-newma...kusaolp00000592 I don't think I've ever read anything as sad/sick as that story. What an awful endorsement, based on sex alone. Isn't saying they want Trump to be president to see what happens when he has conflicts with Putin, North Korea, China or ISIS even scarier...? Because he can be as belligerent as he wants, but does he honestly believe he can commit the U.S. military to every conflict his mouth starts? He will just magically negotiate better using his Trump brand and real estate bag of tricks?

Saving money for daughters to become plastic surgeons....?

If Danks is our #3, good luck winning more than 72-74 games. I guess it doesn't matter how you slot Erik Johnson, Montas and/or Fulmer...but those rookie pitchers (and EJ's barely past the innings limit, so technically 2nd year) are going to have to pitch a lot better than Samardzija and Rodon this season. Not likely. It's hard to count on more than one of them having an ERA under 4, in all honesty. And it would seem insane to spend money on a FA pitcher (think Latos/Iwakuma level) to replace Samardzija when they need to pitch Johnson/Montas/Fulmer in order to prepare them all for THEORETICALLY trying to compete in 2017 (3rd year of the supposed window).

And yet you just know a game like this wasn't possible when the pressure was actually on and the White Sox were 2-3 games out of the Wild Card race. Now with every win, you're wondering if it decreases the odds of picking up the right hitter in the draft next June. It would be pretty ironic if the Twins crept back and took the WC after everyone basically wrote them off and said Molitor had no idea what he was doing....that would mean 3 of the 4 "totally inexperienced" managers would have gotten their teams into the playoffs, all but Ventura.

Well, this is one game where the Danks tradition of beating KC won out over the overall scenario. Of course, it came way too late to make any difference. Now, it's almost like anything Danks does well will be used as an argument for keeping him all of next season..."well, he's our only starter who can consistently beat the Royals, so we have to ignore his results against the rest of baseball and keep him around" At least Greg can praise him for beating the Royals, the anti/reverse Bruce Chen or Guthrie.

With how the Royals' offense has looked the last week or so, close game isn't coming to mind right now.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 4, 2015 -> 03:27 PM) Balta, with all due respect, I don't care about Trump because he's not a real option to win anything, much less the presidency. Yes I love the fact Trump is getting up there blasting everybody. But there's no way in hell he's going to be President. I doubt I'd even vote for him. Remember, Greg is FAIR. Frick, I voted for Obama over that boring imbecile, Romney. I actually voted for Obama. I doubt I'd pull the proverbial lever for Trump. But yes I do love his style and I laugh at his speeches and interviews. As far as Chris Matthews and the media ... SHAME! Hillary should be out over these lies. Out! Again, Trump? He's not winning anything. People just love what's coming out of his mouth right now. s***, his quotes about women alone along his obvious disdain for women guarantee him not having a chance of winning anything. I want a real threat, Hillary, removed from the race by the media. Trump? WHo cares. He's funny but not winnin that is for certain. It's not the job of the media to "take sides" and try to remove candidates. They cover frontrunners, and most candidates eliminate themselves because they don't have the ability to withstand the scrutiny or pressure, for whatever reason/s (see GOP primary season, 2007/2008). In fact, you could make the argument that the Clintons (just like in 1991-92) will use the media attacks and throw them in the "white wing conspiracy" bag of tricks, although it was definitely a lot easier back then to back Bill because he was at least likable, entertaining and obviously brilliant as a pure politican. Hilary is none of those things, which is why there's so much resistance. She's the female equivalent of Romney/Dole. The main things keeping her alive are the fact that the economy did quite well under the Clintons in the mid to late 90's, and the fact that the idea of an experienced co-president is intriguing to many after their disappointment with Obama's first term. But, just like Trump, the media "turning up the screws" on Hilary won't make her go away no matter how much you might wish it...and the Dems' betting money still isn't ready to move to Biden. The only name they'll readily accept is Elizabeth Warren right now, who apparently is still sitting this one out or waiting for Clinton to completely implode so she doesn't look as opportunistic.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Sep 4, 2015 -> 07:00 AM) If Obamacare the ACA had done anything to curb the rising costs of care, perhaps...but it didn't. Edit: I hate referring to it as Obamacare...it was a derogatory nickname given to it by butt hurt neocons. I was just joking, actually. Playing Devil's Advocate. But are salaries still escalating for brain/heart/plastic surgeons in general? At least higher than the rate of inflation? Or depends if you work for private/public hospital or clinic?

This is starting to become reminiscent of the game of chicken Ozzie and his crew played with Orlando Cabrera after the 2008 season...luckily Alexei was ready to take over and things worked out perfectly in that particular situation. Who did we draft in that spot, though?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 4, 2015 -> 12:55 AM) good joke. they are not sure yet, women surgeons give good advice to kids nowadays about what to pursue. Wouldn't female surgeons give the advice that while there's going to be more and more Baby Boomers in need of medical care, the Obamacare government takeover will make it impossible to make as good a living as a surgeon compared to 10 or 20 years ago?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 4, 2015 -> 12:52 AM) I can't take it when we get owned like this. I've turned down free tickets now in the beautiful middle level to 3 different Sox games cause I can't take the awful play vs. KC. I remember going to games there and feeling sorry/pity for the Royals. I was at that game when Miguel Asencio threw 16 consecutive balls to walk in a run. Now we have to feel sorry for the White Sox organization. To those of us who have lived and died with this franchise for the last 30 years, this is all very confusing — almost as confusing as rooting for a team that’s resting its regulars for the playoffs with five weeks left in the season. That the Royals are the anything of baseball is disorienting enough. For a generation, the Royals were props, redshirts existing only as plot devices. That they are now central characters in baseball’s drama is heady enough; that they are regarded as villains is icing on the cake. Your favorite team can inspire worse emotions than hatred. Pity, for instance. The irony is probably the only contact for most of the US this year with the White Sox (other than Chris Sale K's) has been Eazy-E incorrectly wearing an early 90's White Sox cap 3-4 years before it was even introduced. In that sense, I guess it's not a surprise. Whether it's Shoeless Joe Jackson's denial or C caps with "Piglet" tails that get confused with the Cleveland Indians, it has been a LONG LONG three years in the wilderness, and the likelihood of beating KC, Minnesota or Cleveland before 2018 is about the same as Kim Jong Eun being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for using an anti-aircraft missile battery to execute one of his top military advisors.

Medlen's been on a roll recently and is putting himself firmly in the conversation for the 4th spot in a playoff rotation. Right now, it's Cueto, Ventura or Volquez (based on recent starts and last post-season, Ventura), Duffy and Medlen battling for the final spot. Duffy would also be very helpful to give them two lefties out of the pen for the playoffs. Good dilemma to have for KC. A couple of months ago, those names would have been Chris Young, Guthrie, Vargas and Blanton at the back end.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 3, 2015 -> 10:10 PM) I do think Saladino at least has a chance, whereas I knew Conor had no chance. Saladino has a chance to be a great glove .250 hitter. He's one of our many candidates for 2B where .250 could be acceptable with a great glove. The only choice is to do an operation like in "Face Off" and merge Micah, Saladino and Sanchez into one super player. How did you know Gillaspie had no chance when he was our best hitter (other than Abreu and Eaton) for most of 2014? Because of his defense?

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/pro...?P=Brian-Dozier For what it's worth, Dozier had a 779 career minor league OPS. 8th round draft pick. Of course, what are the odds that a young White Sox hitter actually surprises to the upside offensively? You'd think it would have to happen sooner rather than later, with all the "bad luck" for the last decade. Then again, maybe our only luck all went to Carlos Quentin in 2008, Alexei and Jose Abreu.

http://grantland.com/features/2015-mlb-kan...ision-champion/ A Dayton With Destiny How many years will we have to wait for one appearance in the playoffs, let alone back to back?

If this "rebuild" is on track, I would love to see one that's not. The only team that seems like it has put itself in a worse situation than the White Sox would probably be the Padres. Other than that, we still don't have anyone you can count on for a grand total of six positions in the batting order going into next season.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 3, 2015 -> 12:50 AM) How come Ben Carson can't garner more support? He'd be our second African American president and he's not a politico like Obama. Why do we HAVE to have a woman? Why can't we go with Ben?? Hillary gives me great concern; Ben seems like an upstanding man with a clue. Why would he do any better than Jimmy Carter (which wasn't very good, to be honest)? How/why is he qualified?

By the way, let's hope the Twins don't put out a "Twins' Way" notebook on how they go about beating up Chris Sale pretty consistently. Never would have thought Sano (coming off the injury) would be the one who delivered on all the hype and more compared to Buxton...but it just goes to show how much love there is for five-tool players and how often we end up disappointed when they fail to meet their projections. It's early though, for every 50 Cameron Maybins or Kenny Williams, Jr., there's usually one Trout or Harper.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Sep 2, 2015 -> 05:37 PM) Yea here we are again. Wanna see Rodon, Trayce, Avi & Saladino dominate but let Webb give up the lead for a loss. Top ten pick would really help those in the Heyward camp. I think it's more likely we see Mark Buehrle in a Sox uniform next season than Heyward...not when some team out there's going to give him $140-180 million. There's just no way we put all of our eggs in one basket when we have so many positions to cover. You have to spread out that money, or allocate it more efficiently in economic terms. Other than Adam Eaton and Abreu, it's hard to argue any members of the current starting line-up are likely to around after the 2017 season.

But...White Flag, the Sox attendance will nosedive, etc., etc. Would have been nice if they would have started rebuilding in 2007 instead of eight years later. If that had been done correctly, we'd be sitting in a sweet position right about now. According to this thread, we're now pushing back to 2018-19-20. Hope they get it right at some point. And/or decide to hold someone accountable for not getting it right finally.

The M's weren't planning to keep Jackson after this season, despite the fact that they don't have a ready replacement for him in their system. Basically, the Cubs should be the subject of Moneyball 2, with the "niche" being the ability to bring in youngish veterans like Arrieta, Montero, Coghlan, Strop, Grimm, Edwards, Ramirez, etc. For all the hype around Bryant, Schwarber, Soler, Russell, Baez, Almora, etc., none of them have quite lived up to the expectations 100%. We've seen a very solid season out of Bryant, but the White Sox have had hitters like Quentin, Beckham and Viciedo never reach their full potential. There's no guarantee Schwarber will be a superstar, look at what Soler did last year and compare it to his Avi Garcia impression (albeit better defense) this year. They've had misfires with players like Olt, Edwin Jackson, Baez, Almora, Soler, Alcantara, Lake, etc. Just like with Mulder/Zito/Hudson, their starting pitching and bullpen have carried them more than the offense. They've also won more one run games (I think) than any team in baseball. For now, with Arrieta on a Jose Contreras/Bumgarner-like run, anything is possible, but for all that strength up front, there's questions about Lester holding runners, the back end of the rotation, how the bullpen will hold up under playoff pressure, etc. The Pirates are a playoff experienced-team, they'll undoubtedly be starting Cole at home, where they have a huge homefield advantage. It should be a good game, but all those Cubs' future "superstar" hitters like Bryant, Schwarber and Russell will look increasingly human in the playoffs. Remember how good the White Sox offense was in 2000? This Cubs' team isn't even close, and they were absolutely shut down by the Mariners that post-season.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 30, 2015 -> 09:45 PM) I just think he's brilliant and one of the greatest individuals to be President. His intelligence cannot be questioned. And he is full of faith in God, so I see it only natural as I would point to Jimmy as somebody to solidify my position that there is a God. Couldn't we make the opposite argument about Adolf Hitler or Werner Von Braun (rocketry/physics)? Heck, we can throw out the fictional Dr. Hannibal Lecter just for argument's sake. Some of the most brilliant men and women throughout history have perpetrated genocides or led cults that ended in mass suicides. Because Jimmy Carter was a decorated submarine officer, brilliant Navy cadet or respected Sunday school preacher doesn't make him the unquestioned authority on faith/belief/existence. Point being that intelligence has limits in understand/interpreting the universe, and it's just as easy to quote Hawking, Einstein or even a lesser light such as Richard Dawkins in making the opposite case. Greg, did you watch the "God is Not Dead" Christian film with Kevin Sorbo/Hercules playing the agnostic professor? Feels like a lot of the same arguments going back and forth.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Aug 30, 2015 -> 11:54 PM) I'd be very surprised if you even got that. I suspect now more than ever everyone returns next year, KW, Bell, Robin and his cadre of clown coaches. It's really hard to find any silver lining for the franchise in all this and it's worse with the Cubs seemingly figured it out enough to look like they could be a factor for years to come while the Sox keep "hoping" they can figure something out. Mark I wish there was some type of computer/quant simulation which could demonstrate the impact of a manager/coaching staff...that it could "run" 1000 seasons with Ventura in charge of the Cubs, and Maddon in charge of the White Sox. Some will swear until they're blue in the face it wouldn't make any difference at all. An equal number who have put up with the tail end of the Ozzie show and then the abysmal baserunning/fundamentals/execution/defense of the 2013-2015 White Sox teams would swear on their graves that a better manager could maximize this team's talent and at least have them close to .500 if not better. Obviously SOMETHING happened the first 5 months or 2012, just subtracting Guillen from the equation...yet Ventura's inexperience showed up down the stretch. Yet those who still advocate for keeping Robin around will use the argument of a number of teams changing managers mid-season and it not making much of a positive impact (or is it simply the fact that most of the teams with managers getting fired weren't very good in the first place?). It does seem that the best time to implement a new system/strategy from a managerial/coaching standpoint is in the offseason.

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Aug 30, 2015 -> 09:24 PM) I'm 30. I watched the World Series team just like you did. The organization celebrated by continually driving into the ground. Yeah, but things can turn quickly. Everyone thought 2007 was rock bottom as well...with the only thing to get excited about Josh Fields that second half (unless you were a Jerry Owens fan).