caulfield12

"The will to win is worthless, without the will to prepare." Robin Ventura

Things are working out so far in this particular game, but tonight's line-up shows how desperately we need Viciedo on the active roster to add some punch from the RH side. Otherwise, you're left with only Konerko, Rios and maybe Flowers as your power threats.

High Sierra (Berman Nickname) is now Low/Middle Sierra

QUOTE (Jake @ Apr 25, 2013 -> 04:59 PM) He's being blocked by Shelley Duncan That has to be a joke. That's like being blocked by Andy Gonzalez.

The Will to Win. The Will to Attend. (joking, the fans should have their own tagline, too) The Will to Cheer, and Drink Your Beer.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Apr 25, 2013 -> 05:59 PM) Sigh. At least our Sally League Champions (Augusta GreenJackets) made up a better t-shirt logo back in 1995. "First Place is For Winners Who Refuse To Accept Defeat" Double sigh.

Are we sure that the marketing department didn't "plant" this catch-phrase or at least suggest it to Harrelson? It's fine if we have a good enough team. It's incredibly dangerous if we finish 72-90. Because right away, there will be numerous jokes about Adam Dunn "not having the will to win." Every time he K's, in fact.

Homer or K?

QUOTE (Brian @ Apr 25, 2013 -> 04:13 PM) How long until our first TWTW commercial? What is our tagline this year, by the way? Do we have one?

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Apr 25, 2013 -> 03:36 PM) A wrist break is not an easy injury to come back from in terms of being baseball ready. He'll lose some strength that has to be built back up, then spend some time in Charlotte getting back to normal...what's a realistic return? Mid-July would be my guess. A broken wrist is different than a broken/chipped off hamate bone. Late June would be a better guess.

QUOTE (Brian @ Apr 25, 2013 -> 03:30 PM) I'm far from a saber guy and even I think Hawk sounded clueless. Wins maybe the most worthless stat for a pitcher. James Baldwin and Danny Wright say hi. Or Jesse Crain, wasn't he like 10-0 his rookie season pitching in relief? Something like that...when a lot of the results were blown holds or blown leads that resulted in wins. Nathan Jones, last year, etc.

Rondon was throwing 98 or 99 MPH, but the only pitch he could get over the plate was the FB. Moustakas even managed to turn around a straight fastball for a double down into the RF corner, and he's struggling about as badly as anyone in baseball right now.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 25, 2013 -> 12:52 PM) His name is Chris Sale. I meant in terms of having an emerging pitching prospect who could be leveraged for the equivalent of John Danks. I don't think you're planning on trading away Sale, are you?

Green Lantern, Green Hornet and Fantastic Four...all in serious need of help. Nolan and the Matt Damon/Greengrass/Bourne movies....not only changed the comic universe, they also changed the James Bond film series as well.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Apr 25, 2013 -> 12:53 PM) Yes, '84, but that wasn't the point. Would the union even allow that kind of thing now? I mean having to use 6 starters in 3 days? And who knows what it would do to a bullpen. Well, probably there's some situation where they would allow minor leaguers to be recalled (24 hours) for a couple of those starts in such dramatic circumstances now. I guess it hasn't come up often in the last 20-30 years.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Apr 25, 2013 -> 12:48 PM) I think that a lot of people under value Ethier. He is a really good hitter versus RHP. His stats are always diminished by his inability to hit lefties. That wouldn't be much of a problem in our division, as there aren't many good lefties in it. He just turned 31 and probably has 3 or 4 good years left. The contract may look pretty bad in that last year, but he sure would solve the problem of a left handed bat. The Sox are almost certainly going to have to look outside the organization, as there isn't a single potentially impact, left handed bat in the entire system. Therefore, it's not just a temporary problem. Maybe the Dodgers would include a little salary relief, in exchange for bolstering their crippled starting staff. The problem is that we're 3-4 Andre Ethiers all across the line-up from being competitive, not just that one single addition. When you rebuild the line-up to the point where that one acquisition puts you over the top, then fine. But you can't rebuild your roster that way, because the future payroll flexibility is completely hamstrung again (potentially) by yet another big contract.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 25, 2013 -> 12:37 PM) "Restructure" = "worst team in the league for 3 years and a losing team for 6-7 years?" Nice euphemism. In the AL Central, you're not guaranteed EVER of being the worst team in the baseball or losing for 6-7 years, just because of your examples of the Astros. Or we could also use the Mariners as well, for a more relevant example vis a vis the Sox. Let's just call it "reinvigoration" then. It cost us Brandon McCarthy, Cris Carter, Richard/Poreda, and Freddy Garcia to get Gavin Floyd, Alexei Ramirez, Dayan Viciedo, Carlos Quentin, Alex Rios, Jake Peavy and John Danks. So it shouldn't be that hard....since we ALREADY have the equivalent of that in Garcia (Gavin Floyd), Richard (Santiago/Quintana/Johnson/Snodgress/Beck), Carter (one of the four outfield prospects). Maybe the only thing we're clearly missing is the equivalent of Brandon McCarthy in our minor league system...right?

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 25, 2013 -> 12:24 PM) caulfield, with all due respect, I'm tired of the attendance discussion already. It's far too early to tell anything about how the fans will respond to the Sox this year. Okay, I'll drop that, as long as Balta stops using Astros' tv ratings for one game in September when the Texans were playing to use that as a reason not to "restructure" the roster.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...97630,post.poll

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 25, 2013 -> 12:14 PM) 20,131 - 19,846 = 285, ≠ 2000. It was a 2,000 split 2-3 days ago. The reason it's not still there is because we've lost 2 home games in the last week, and the Astros have been playing at home against the M's. If the Twins and Indians games went ahead as previously scheduled, it would be 2,000 still.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 25, 2013 -> 12:04 PM) They'll still put Astros games to shame. But the Astros have better attendance by 2000 fans a game... Are the t.v. ratings actually more important now? Have they announced any early ratings for White Sox games in early APRIL? Where is that available? Arbitron? Nielsen? Because with the Masters, NFL draft, Bulls, NCAA basketball tourney, Blackhawks, nicer weather, school not out, spring/early summer movie season....there are a TON of reasons for fans not to be watching White Sox games, too. http://blog.chron.com/sportsmedia/2012/09/...low-for-astros/ I looked up the story Balta was referring to. When you're comparing an Astros team in the midst of a second season losing over 100 games in a row...in September....going head-to-head against a Texans game, it's not a complete surprise. I'm sure White Sox t.v. ratings the final two weeks of 2013 after it was obvious they weren't going to catch the Tigers were similarly bleak, especially on the weekend going up head-to-head against a Bears game.

Has Harrelson essentially replaced Ozzie Guillen drama as our national symbol/identity? I wonder if they still have the idea that any publicity is better than no publicity at all? Because you'd have to believe that along with Ventura and Konerko, in the past year, Harrelson's become just as recognized for his broadcasting "issues" than Chris Sale for becoming an elite pitcher.

Nice pitching match-up in Motown for the early start. Verlander vs. Shields for 1st place, Verlander 91-94 MPH in the first inning, averaging 91-92 still. Very strange, never in a million years would have thought of Torii Hunter as an ideal #2 hole hitter. Trying to bunt Austin Jackson over to 3B early. Funny to hear Ryan Levebvre say how the White Sox have issues because they have to jump over 4 teams already, even if they're only 3 GB. Didn't realize Hunter and his agent were the ones who approached the Tigers about him joining their team. Pretty cool for the Tigers to have the type of organization that's known for its drive to get back to the World Series and a winning culture.

Nice pitching match-up in Motown for the early start. Verlander vs. Shields for 1st place, Verlander 91-94 MPH in the first inning, averaging 91-92 still.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 25, 2013 -> 11:35 AM) I can't imagine how bad the ratings will be for tonight's game, but who cares as long as the Sox win! I'm sure the debut of Iron Man 3 will be blamed for reduced attendance soon, or the new Fast & Furious movie. Although this weekend for the TB series, we only have to deal with "Pain & Gain," which is a good title for the Sox season so far...with more emphasis on the pain than gain part, haha.