caulfield12

The game was still quite close in the top of the 7th, Sale had been cruising ever since the 1st (although he had to throw quite a few pitches to get Sano there if I remember correctly) and Minnesota had the weaker part of their batting order coming at the time...I remember being a bit surprised, because he threw 112 the previous game and struggled a bit, but you can also understand wanting to keep a close game (and the 7-0 record) in Sale's hands as long as possible. We've seen too many 1-2 run Sale/Quintana leads disappear in the 7th or 8th innings over the last 3+ seasons to not understand RV's move there. As Frazier said, now's the time to pick up some separation from the rest of the division while CLE/KC are beating up on each other and the Rangers' bats are feasting on Tiger pitching. At any rate, for a game where we were absolutely abysmal with RISP (Saladino had a single but no RBI) until later in the game when we started piling on a bit, it was nice to get a comfortable win there at the end. In years past, we don't score there (against the bullpen with bases loaded, one out and Abreu up) and we turn around and give back the lead with bad defense the next half inning. 5-0 against the Twins, 6-1 overall against ALCD. 20-1 in Sale/Quintana/Latos/Gonzalez starts.

Therein lies the rub. The White Sox have a tremendously profitable stadium lease arrangement right now, even without drawing in excess of 2,000,000 per season (not to mention control of all the parking revenues). The odds of the public financing climate changing in the state of Illinois, will all its attendant economic and tax problems...and, in light of how close they were to losing the team in the 1980's, you'd have to imagine nobody would step in to rescue them this time. So it amounts to an owner or another market making an even more attractive offer than the guaranteed profits from remaining in Chicago for the next 15 years or so. It's more likely around that time that baseball would be looking to expand internationally...or they'd come up with some type of agreement to play XX number of games per season in Mexico, Havana, Brazil, etc. Las Vegas, for the reasons you mentioned...indoor baseball, the fact that gambling is very macroeconomic-influenced (booms and busts, just like housing), and that it's hard to imagine picking up enough season ticket holders with the transitory nature of seasonal residents, just not seeing it. If you look at population and economic trends, San Antonio or Austin, Montreal, California, Charlotte, perhaps Portland (have a feeling both Portland and Vancouver are too close to Seattle, territorial rights)...it all just depends on the type of legacy the Reinsdorf family wants to leave in Chicago. It's likely that JR would try to influence his children to eventually sell to someone who would keep the team in the Chicago area, somehow.

GreenSox will enjoy this stat... Marcus Semien now with 8 homers and 15 RBI's, 9th in qualified SS OPS and tied for 10th with Russell/Baez, Villar, Asdrubal Cabrera and Elvis Andrus at 0.5 WAR. Aledmys Diaz of STL already at 1.9.

White Sox are 102-75 if you skip the last 15 games of 2012 and completely dismiss 2013-2015, lol...

28,000+ 19,328 per game average... Now 27th in the majors again (passed OAK)...and currently only trailing the surprising Orioles by about 1,200 per game. Should catch Miami, Cincinnati and Minnesota at some point in May or June. One has a feeling Philly and ATL will slide back, too. Interestingly, the Nationals are "only" 20th in attendance at 26,144 per game...seems weird that the Orioles and Nats are both among the best teams in their divisions in the early going and both struggling in that same geographic market. Weather? Hard to figure, with arguably the best or 2nd best player in the game in Harper. KC 9th, Detroit 13th, Minnesota 23rd, Cleveland 30th (and almost 2,000 lower per game than TB).

Well, that's one way to get Park out of the game. Of course, Mauer is their best hitter again this year, but doesn't particularly enjoy facing Sale lefty lefty. Need more productive outs there from #2 hitter. Sure Jackson will be seeing better pitches to hit, but his strikeout rate is just too high for that spot in the order.

Santana still has some life on his fastball...95 MPH. Main reason the Angels gave up on him...they felt the quality of his stuff was degrading.

Well, 2-0 isn't that bad...with Suzuki batting, you almost expected a bases-clearing double and a 5-0 lead and an early end to your Saturday night's entertainment. So much for Bill Melton's advice. You start to wonder if those hit by pitches were a carryover from the game late last night...Park was probably intentional, right?

Well, this start isn't boding well. Reminds me of that time Buehrle totally got destroyed by the Twins in the 1st and the team rallied back later...hopefully no grand salami here. 32 pitches.

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ May 7, 2016 -> 04:46 PM) Yes. It is weird. But you don't like the way Hillary speaks. And you think she's "mean" (without, of course, the same scrutiny for the way Trump treats others). So I have a feeling that your position on the Clintons has zero to do with substance and everything to do with "judging a book by its cover." And we can use that argument too with George W. Bush never having become president without riding on the coattails and connections of the father...even though he ran away from him as president in big decisions. Of course, Greg's argument would be that nepotism is bad in general...Adams/John Quincy Adams, etc.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 7, 2016 -> 11:14 AM) It's not devaluing the currency, it's about defaulting on the bonds to "get a better deal." I saw a full story today. Apparently, he wants to negotiate a better rate on the bonds (giving investors a "haircut" as they say)...haven't seen a single economist who agrees with this tactic. His argument for doing so relates to how he did the same thing with creditors during his four previous bankruptcy filings...well, because the biggest economy in the world works exactly like his companies, at least in his mind. Certainly, it would push up interest rates on debt to much higher rates than 1.5-2.0% That's obvious.

The Rangers are absolutely blitzing the Tigers so far this weekend with a barrage of homers... That line-up doesn't have many easy outs in it at the moment. Playing match-ups this early in the season (go for the sweep against MN or set the tone with going for the first win in a series against TEX) usually doesn't work out for well. They did attempt to do that, moving Danks out of the Blue Jays series and pushing him back against Baltimore, where he'd experienced more career success. 50% success with that, offense bailed out Gonzo in TOR, who gave up 5 and ordinarily would have taken the loss.

Looking like a perfect day so far with the Tigers losing and KC beating CLE and even the Cubs losing their lead...Sox win and they're five games clear of all three ALCD teams. Hope the positive vibes extend to Sale taking care of business against the Twins after a number of rough outings last year that bloated his ERA.

We can talk about Torre, Cox and LaRussa all we want, but if this team tanked and Ventura didn't have a job for next season, how many organizations would be lining up for his services? Is Robin Ventura so loyal to only JR and the Sox organization he wouldn't work for another team...he'd just go home and spend time with his family and coaching Little League again? Does anyone get the sense he'd like to make it a career for the rest of his life? As far as Illini's post goes, he does in some sense need to prove he can weather storms longer than 2 or 3 game losing streaks...which means how can he get the team to respond if they lose first place, one of their best players gets injured, the fifth starters continue to get pummeled or the Royals/Indians/Tigers dominate them in the first half of the season and really take off? Obviously, that 4-11 finish in 2012 raised a lot of questions. Were the Tigers just the better team all along? Did the White Sox simply choke the lead away? Was it simply they got tired and weren't used to the heat of a pennant race with so many rookie pitchers going that season? Adam Dunn's slide? Addison Reed folding? Was that finish inevitable? Would the team have righted itself with Francona or Leyland at the reigns, etc.? Dick Allen will surely defend Robin Ventura, and at least he's been consistent on this...but I don't think for a million years he will actually agree that the White Sox should give him an extension at this early stage. Or Renteria, for that matter. And there's always the possibility that "insiders" in the organization are attributing the team's rise in performance this year more to Renteria and new leadership emerging from Frazier/Rollins/Navarro/Jackson/Avila, etc. Hard to really know what's going on from the outside unless you're inside that clubhouse every day and/or were to ask the players "off the record" what they attribute the change to...? It could be something as simple as the resolution of the Adam & Drake LaRoche controversy clearing the air...after all the hard feelings were put out there for the world. Sale and Eaton were both highly criticized, and they've been two of the top ten performers in baseball this early season.

For a midmarket team, that's incredibly risky...because Trout has a ballooning contract, too. Eaton and Quintana being included is scary enough. Maybe if you substituted Rodon for Q...but that's probably undervaluing Rodon with his slow start.

With the presence of Simmons, the incentive to add Anderson to any package in lessened. While Fulmer would be attractive, and Adams...they just can't put together a competitive enough package compared to the 5-7 teams like the Red Sox, Dodgers, etc. It really has to be a significant overpay of prospects for them to give him up.

Is there anyone here actually in agreement with extending him now? My personal belief is that he needs to get to the playoffs first...and I wouldn't be too comfortable providing an extension during the regular season beyond the end of next year when many key players have expiring contracts like Cabrera, Frazier and Lawrie. Three year extension if he does successfully take this team to the playoffs. I do hope just contending but falling short doesn't earn him 2-3 more years automatically.

First of all, it would look completely inappropriate for him to take exorbidant speaking fees as "First Man." They probably should put all the Clinton Foundation investments in a blind trust. Which husband and wife got along best in the White House? The Carters...probably the worst presidency of the modern era. It would be idiotic for Hilary not to take advantage of his insight and experience...that said, MANY things have changed in the sixteen years since he was last president. He looks frailer, weaker and less energetic. Can still give a great stump speech, far better than his wife, but that's not exactly a high standard to meet.

I could theoretically see the White Sox at least waiting until the All-Star Break or trade deadline...and THEN extending him, but I almost have the feeling with so many players with one or two year deals that Ventura being extended would take away from some of that "last chance" feeling for players like Navarro, Rollins, Jackson, Avila and Latos. Right now, there's a real sense of immediacy...which we haven't seen for a long time. There's also the concern that we see another 2012-like fade down the stretch. You don't want to have Ventura extended for 2-3 more years in that environment. And it's not like there are any other teams in baseball breathing down our necks to outbid the Sox or pry him away (Atlanta Braves, for example).

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/05/note...m-showcase.html

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/captain-americ...-205611003.html Why no Black Widow movie so far?...seems obvious slam dunk with star's popularity.

Should be Time's Person of the Year if he hasn't already....Nobel Peace Prize, on its way as well. If Obama can win it based on what he might have been able to accomplish in the future (mostly theoretically)...then Francis clearly should receive the award.

http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/surging...a-new-contract/

And perfect timing, The Melkman t-shirt promotion is coming in just a couple of weeks...

Let’s say you’re a family of four sitting where I sat Thursday night, in a field-box seat about 35 rows behind home plate. Four tickets cost a total of $280. Mom and Dad have two craft beers each, totaling $36. Four hot dogs cost a combined $23. But who eats just one hot dog (certainly not Telander, whose press-box record is 12)? Let’s double it to $46. Soft drinks for the two kids come to $9. Buy them some ice cream for not spilling the drinks on the bro and his girlfriend sitting in front of you. That’s another $10. Parking sets you back at least $25. That adds up to $406. Hey, there’s no law that says those two young kids have to go to college. The prices at Wrigley are ridiculous but not so ridiculous that Thursday’s announced crowd of 37,564 decided to stay home. In other words, I can shake my head at how much it costs to go to a game and ask what it means for the future of the republic, but the fact is that people keep spending. There are either a lot of folks with money or a lot of folks with a lot of credit-card debt. http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/on-ejec...-wrigley-field/ Funniest part of the story was not wanting to be a "peeping Tom" in the urinals or not wanting to make eye contact with the man/boys across from you when peeing at the urinal island in the middle of the restrooms...