caulfield12

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 26, 2015 -> 09:19 PM) I disagree. We're actually knowledgable. How can you be that fired up when the defense is this bad? When the baserunning (and base stealing, lol) is so bad? When the pitching has been blah for the most part and the hitting has been rotten? At least tonight's game had highlights. A lot of games have no highlights. Didn't somebody post that the Sox have scored one run seven times and been shutout twice already? Yikes. We're not that pessimistic; we've just been given very weird baseball to watch the past few seasons. What are we supposed to do? Actually believe the Sox can beat Central Division teams, catch the damn ball and play smart baseball before the team does it for a month at least? And not fall 8 games back in May? Somehow we're still managing to lose ground to KC when they've uncharacteristically lost 3 in a row...

QUOTE (bmags @ May 26, 2015 -> 11:40 AM) Yeah previews at Mad Max were bad. There was a lot of hype around Jurassic World, but it looks just as contrived as JP2 and JP3. Mad Max was awesome. Maybe one of my favorite movies now. No extraneous plot. Well executed. Just so well executed. The best part is if someone tried to create a world like Mad Max in a new movie, they would spend 20-30 minutes of exposition explaining why everything is what it is. Screw that, just go! It's okay to leave people in the dark on things. Tomorrowland would probably fall into that category. It's a decent movie, but more was expected from Brad Bird for $180 million and because of his past track record. In his pantheon, it's a misfire in the same sense Interstellar was.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 26, 2015 -> 09:28 PM) I've become jaded. Because whenever a new guy arrives, he seems to always start slowly, at least the hitters (Robertson, Duke were on fire and quite effective out of the gates). But if we bring up a hitter or acquire a hitter, it seems to me he always starts horrifically. I'm not talking about a home run on opening day for LaRoche; I'm talking the first 25 at bats. Well, that was definitely true of Jermaine Dye in 2005. I notice Dye, Thome, Pods, Quentin, AJ, Iguchi, Alexei and Abreu were not on the list. At the very least, Dye, Thome and AJ all had career resurgences with Chicago. Pods stayed about even. Everett was on the downside already (I realize that was another trade, and not FA move, but distinguishing between trades and FA moves doesn't really matter, the business of baseball is talent procurement and cost/benefit analysis). In the end, the White Sox were able to cover up for all these mistakes (free agents as well as developing their own position players) largely because of the pitching staff nurturing guys like Sale/Quintana/Danks/Floyd (not to mention all the relievers whose careers were resuscitated) and hitting it big with Quentin (at least 2008), Ramirez and Abreu.

Eaton 153/172 0.00 WAR Alexei 154/172 0.00 WAR Melky 169/172 -0.2 WAR Tyler Flowers 582 OPS, career is 660 Carlos Sanchez 472 OPS, career is 530 (yikes) Conor Gillaspie 683 OPS, career is 714 That doesn't even cover Micah or Soto. Eaton's a problem, but far from the biggest. I'd almost argue that not having a super-reliable RH reliever for the 8th inning is becoming even more of an issue, as it's forcing Robertson into extended 4 out saves.

QUOTE (shipps @ May 26, 2015 -> 04:06 PM) I think a big part of being a Sox fan is we are notably the most pessimistic fans in the country. We will watch the team from a far when they are bad and every loss is the end of the season. Optimism my friend, only comes when they win it all. Phillies fans are just the same. We keep thinking we're unusual, but we're not... "They (the fans) don't understand the game," he said. "They don't understand the process. There's a process. And then they b---- and complain because we don't have a plan. There's a plan in place and we're sticking with the plan. We can't do what's best for the fan. We have to do what's best for the organization so the fan can reap the benefit of it later on. That's the truth." Ruben Amaro was born here, grew up here, played major-league baseball here, and has worked as a Phillies executive here. Of the 50 years he's been alive, he's spent more than 40 of them here. He graduated from Stanford. He's a smart guy. Yet he couldn't avoid making what amounted to a rookie mistake: He failed to remember that he's not in a position to b---- about fans who b---- about his baseball team. Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/philli...FmM5OFWKY8Uk.99

This argument has gotten so polarized that it's either "the White Sox must make it to the World Series every season" or at least 2/3 or 3/5 years...OR, JR needs to sell the team because of the 2008, 2010 and 2012 attendance. Losing sight of the fact that attendance is only 20-25% of revenues for most teams over the last decade. Of course, those who keep criticizing the Sox fanbase don't have a response, EITHER. Other than complaining about the lack of support, excuses, bandwagon fans, fair weather fans, etc. Leading to the logical conclusion, if, in their definition, even a "winning" team doesn't draw fans, then WHAT THE HECK ARE THEY GOING TO DO? Improve the product? Spend even more money? Make Sox fans feel guiltier (insulting the fans like KW has done in the past, or Ruben Amaro in the last 24-48 hours)? Better marketing? If the likes of Brooks Boyer are doing a great job and have tried everything possible, then what else can be done?

Then how can we explain the White Sox in 2012 or the Twins so far in 2015? Or the Indians the first year Francona managed them? All anomalies/statistical aberrations?

QUOTE (knightni @ May 26, 2015 -> 08:32 AM) My favorite film rental this year has been The Equalizer. What's yours? P.K. Starring amir khan, hindi movie. It has the same director as Three Idiots. Broke lots of box office records in India... There are 7 reviews at rottentomatoes, 6 positive and one negative.

What's the statistical probability of winning when you score first? Around 65-70%? 60%?

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ May 26, 2015 -> 12:01 AM) We score zero runs. Doesn't matter how great we do in the field. Let's start worry about actually hitting the ball. Feels like everyone is mentioning the defense when the offense has been just as bad if not worst. You can't win games when you consistently score 0-3 runs every game. “If you’re not going to score, it becomes very thin. Right now the offense isn’t clicking at all. You’re not being able to put anything in the outfield. Most of your hits are in the infield. They know it, and it’s got to change or you’re going to lose games.” Not sure there's a solution there. At any rate, there's a huge difference between just giving up a run or two in the early innings and the seemingly insurmountable five runs it turned out to be. Psychologically, if you're already feeling "here we go yet again" it's much harder for the offense to get back into the game. We have come back from 3-4 runs down this season, but never 5. Not to mention playing in the eastern version of Oakland's Little Shop of Horrors...Toronto, where we just never seem to play well historically. Have never been a good artificial turf team, and that always was exposed in Toronto, Seattle, Minnesota, KC and TB.

“I don’t know what the purpose is,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said of Ramirez’s spin. “(Hector is) out of the inning if we end up playing clean." But there’s no question that a White Sox defense that ranks 29th among 30 teams with minus-24 Defensive Runs Saved had its fingerprints all over the inning. Ramirez, who ranks 20th of 29 shortstops in Defensive Runs Saved, also settled for one out in the eighth inning when he dropped a Tailor-Made double play and Smoak made it count with a two-out, RBI single off Scott Carroll. “I was happy (with the grounders),” Noesi said. “We could have made a double play and then the bases should be cleared by the next hitter.” “(The double play) should be turned,” Ventura said. “It wasn’t. It ends up hurting you. After that, Hector battled and got through it. But the only thing really good about the game was it was fast. That was it. We weren’t very good offensively. We weren’t good defensively in that situation, and you’re going to end up losing the game. http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/early-...ox-shutout-loss Have to feel a bit sorry for Noesi...he has been largely abandoned by the defense, and has also been the victim of at least four of his inherited runners scoring when Rodon entered with no bullpen experience as well.

21,748 per game (2012) 21,614 per game (2013) 24,154 per game (2014, finish with over .500 record and not in last for first time since 2003) 31,815 per game (2015, leading the Cubs in attendance at #8 despite LOSING the World Series) 32% attendance increase in that major market, Kansas City. Field a team that wins, you get rewarded. Or even makes it to the World Series and loses. The White Sox had a 50% increase in 2006 over 2004. 26% increase 2006 over 2005.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 25, 2015 -> 06:51 PM) So the winning that particular season doesn't matter you have to wait until the next season, but that doesn't matter either. Got it. The Sox attendance was lower in 2008 than in 2007 when for most of the season, they either had or were really close to the worst record in baseball. Winning didn't matterr. Now,as the poster posted, the onky wasy fir a season to be successful or exciting is a team that wins a WS. So you don't even know if a season is exciting until it is over. And, for the 10,000 time, 80% of 2007 attendance was in the books before the season even started. Fans still had faith in the team, despite the way 2006 ended. 2007 wiped that out. If you gave the 2007 season ticket holders the right to cancel halfway through August that year, the rate would have been 75%. Those fans were NOT SUPPORTING LOSING BASEBALL, they were locked into their ticket packages but not showing up at games. They were disguised as empty seats but still counted attendance-wise. And, for the 10,000 time, it's not about WINNING the World Series, it's about a team having a legitimate chance to do so. That 2008 team, without Quentin, was dead in the water coming down the stretch and only made it because the Twins choked worse and then there were those final 3-4 games that were incredibly exciting. Nobody in the entire world predicted they would get past the Rays, though. Not even any of the Chicago/Sox beat writers. Other than that, the 2003 and 2006 teams were the last ones capable of making deep playoff runs. White Sox fans are definitely not stupid.

Drew Hutchinson led the AL (and maybe majors) with batting average against leading off innings. .392 and 20 hitters have reached base leading off innings against him. Tonight, no first batter hitting has reached base. You want to criticize Steverson and the approach...we're obviously giving away too many AB's, and the first one each inning is always the most critical in scoring runs. Keep in the mind, these Blue Jays have been terrible recently. 9-14 in May, bad at home...bad recent streak.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 25, 2015 -> 06:33 PM) Then explain 2009 and 2013 In the end, the team has to win. Even without Quentin. Besides 2005 and the Blackout Game (which everyone acknowledges would have been a loss in Minnesota if not for Hahn's kid lucking out on the coin flip), there's just not enough. Would White Sox fans have honestly been EXCITED heading into those two off-seasons? Not the way the previous seasons ended. Everyone felt 2012 was a fluke, and 2013 and 2014 proved that it was more of an anomaly than a return to even "mediocrity."

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 25, 2015 -> 06:37 PM) He shoudln't be done yet. It's not like if he gives up a run or two in the 7th that we're going to lose the game more. No, we'll use Carroll, then Robertson, who consequently won't be available later this week when we really need him.

QUOTE (jeffro2525 @ May 25, 2015 -> 06:35 PM) If Hector is done for the day let me just say good job buddy. Did. His. Job. He's the only Sox player who can say that today. You know things are bad when we're praising a pitcher for giving up ONLY 5 ER in 6 IP. Player of the game. Or Beckham.

The White Sox would be better off having Dan Jennings the pitcher as their manager. That way, there could be two managers with the same exact name, and also one manager would have traded the other. Carroll warming up...or just getting work in. Not sure anyone cares.

Keeping in mind, we're playing TOR without Jose Bautista. Gordon Beckham, after Robertson and Samardzija....might have the most trade value, lol. His play this season has been one of the few pleasant surprises.

QUOTE (JoshPR @ May 25, 2015 -> 06:25 PM) Once again atom ant thinks he's a power hitter If Hutchinson's blowing away Eaton with fastballs, we're in trouble. Meanwhile, AJ Pollock to continues to play like a stud for the DBacks in CF...

Soto=Mackey Sasser At least that's something entertaining about this season. Dale Murphy had it as a catcher, had to be moved to the OF. Knoblauch and Steve Sax. Lester, earlier this year. Ankiel, as a pitcher...just completely lost it mentally. YIPS.

QUOTE (jeffro2525 @ May 25, 2015 -> 06:20 PM) This is the stage of the game where the Jays start having less focused AB's since there is no threat the Sox can make a game of this the way the offense has gone over the last week plus. Noesi could go 7 and save the pen. The Blue Jays' crew is feeling sorry for us and worrying that stealing more bases at this point would be a baseball faux pas. Bonfacio padding his stats there. 0/1 stealing bases. He'll probably get thrown out when running would make little to no sense. White Sox offense "in shambles" right now, lol.

"Why does it look like Geovany Soto has never caught or thrown a baseball before?" Hilarious. REAL tweet/e-mail into the Blue Jays' booth. Talking about his Catholic crosses, rubbing it with his hand, writing in the dirt (throwing prep or routine)....seems to be a mental block, comparing him to Chuck Knoblauch. Stutter step, falling forward, throwing off the wrong foot...struggling to get the ball down to 2nd even when warming up the pitchers. Noesi just caught that throw bare-handed, lol. Can't throw the ball down to 3B on a K, either.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 25, 2015 -> 06:14 PM) Absolutely awful effort How many times have you said that this season? Probably more than in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013 combined.

Someone should have looked beyond the stats on Hutchinson. 2-1 with a 3.20 ERA in recent starts. He's also LEADING the majors in run support for a starter, right around 9 runs scored per game when he starts. (Buehrle isn't far behind, mid 8's for run support.) That's half a week for the White Sox. (Not to mention the fact that we almost never play well at SkyDome/Rogers or against Baltimore. Then we have the Rangers (Prince Fielder/Beltre are alive and well again) and Astros power shows to finish off this season, essentially.