ewokpelts

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/colum...,6313245.column HAHA. Cubs are looking more and more pathetic by the day.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jun 20, 2014 -> 04:27 PM) Designated for assigment by the Diamondbacks today. ERA of 6.59 on the year (in just 13.2 innings) but FIP of 3.52, xFIP of 3.72 and SIERA of 3.24. Decent groundball rate which seems to be a big Hahn thing for the bullpen. Owed $3.86m for the rest of the season, of which the Diamondbacks would presumably eat some. Well worth a go, imo.He'll likely get released, so a team won't have to pay him more than the minimum.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jun 20, 2014 -> 04:40 PM) Well, you may choose to not care about attendance, but for those of us who attend the games and/or watch them on TV, seeing the team you love playing in an empty ballpark is downright depressing. Is it not a different experience for you when the park is packed vs. the ghost yard experience we're typically treated to? And as far as payroll goes, we'd be able to cover an even larger payroll if we had more ticket and concession revenue coming in. You do bring up one interesting point, though - the "rich man's plaything". Maybe that approach should be adopted. Could be fun, ya know, and it certainly couldn't render any worse results than the so-called "sustainable business" model you claim they're employing. Go "rich man's plaything", I say! Get wild! Shake this thing up a little bit, and who knows? WE MIGHT START WINNING MORE!! You want a rich man's plaything? Look at 1060 w Addison and tell me if that's better for you.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jun 20, 2014 -> 09:32 AM) "Decibel level"? Oh, for heaven's sake. Stop with that. Whether I'm voicing my opinion from the ChiSox Bar and Grill (which I was at a couple of weeks ago when I was in town prior to watching Sale's outstanding start against the Padres) or from the moon is irrelevant to the discussion. As a former season ticket holder in Comiskey Parks Old and New and who still makes it to 2-3 games a year when I'm in town, I am more than qualified to speak on this subject. Fact remains the Sox have an attendance problem. It's because they don't have enough season ticket holders. They don't have enough season ticket holders because they don't win enough and get into the playoffs enough to generate the kind of interest it takes for people to justify spending money on season tickets. The Sox haven't gotten into the playoffs enough times because White Sox management simply hasn't put together teams that have managed to get the job done. I'm not saying they haven't tried, but the record of performance is what it is over the past few decades, which is not very good. And from an accountability perspective, that's not the fan's fault. That's on Sox management, and ultimately, the buck stops on Mr. Reinsdorf's desk. The season ticket base won't grow when a veteran team designed to compete loses 99 games. That's what happened in 2013. Let's. NOT. f***ing. forget. that. And it won't grow when the team goes younger the next offseason. No matter how positive the moves are. And let's not forget the stubhub effect. The benefits of an ST plan are not always good enough for a value shopper on stubhub. I've talked to people that decided against an ST plan(even 7 game plans) because of the cost and commitment to make sure all games are used/sold. And when i say "what about playoff tix?", the respond that they're ok with going on the secondary considering that they saved money earlier in the year not being tied down to a package.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 20, 2014 -> 09:16 AM) So you are saying the Sox are fine with 7 years declining attendance and declining viewership on television because they can make payroll? You are satisfied with the once every 5 or 6 years they make the playoffs. The fact is attendance is not where it should be, and it is not just on the White Sox, the fanbase has been ridiculous. It's one of those chicken/egg arguments, is the ridiculousness because of White Sox management or does White Sox management have to act like they are operating in KC because of the fanbase? I think it's a lot of both myself. This team should have the means to make a mockery of the ALC division. They have advantages the others do not. The White Sox are a large market team with a pretty small market mentality right now. And their fans will always find some excuse not to attend games. Of course they are not happy about that. But the business side of the sox is set up to withstand attendance decline. It's well documented that the sox are ran more like a sustainable business than a rich man's plaything. All one has to do is look at the quick turnaround this 2014 squad has made vs last year's debacle. Rick and Kenny aren't swimming in a sea of bad debt and horrible contracts like some "geniuses" up north. And they were able to make payroll room for guys like Abreu and make a bid for Tanaka because they were proactive and worked in the boundaries of their budget. I said this before, but the only people that should care about sox attendance are the Sox ticket sales staff.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 08:36 PM) Close to a packed house on 4/12, and last year the Sox outdrew the 1970 Sox. You do make a compelling argument for why the Sox' attendance issues aren't as bad as they seem. Thanks for your insights! They really aren't. Sox can make payroll just from the comcast and national tv deals. You out of towners should focus on other things that sox HOME attendance.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 07:38 AM) If the excuse is based on the trailing year, 2009 was down as well, after winning a division title and one of the most exciting chases in team history. Team sucked in 09. And the recession hit, while the sox raised prices.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 09:18 AM) If you're telling us that these tiny crowds we see at the ballpark everyday include a whole bunch of freebies, then the problem is worse than I thought. 4/12 was a close to packed house, yet was 29k in the box score. 4/26 had a small paid number, but A lot of people came in and out for the free minoso statues. These things happen , Debbie downer. Get off your f***ing high horse and quit your b****ing, out of state fan

Also of note: The sox gave out a TON of tickets this year. Two surveys in the offseason, plus the kids club having four free tix handed put per member, AND they gave out April tix on fan appreciation day last year. Comps do not count in the attendance rolls, so the sox' goodwill gesture is not as obvious.

The 2007-2008 attendance needs to be looked at in a different light. The abortion known as 2007 made a LOT of season ticket holders drop tickets. Where there was once a waiting list there was now the sox begging accounts to stay. My brother had four full season tickets on my plan, and dropped them due to the poor performance of the team and the massive losses he took in unwanted/unneeded games. The 2008 attendance was saved by the high walk up/online sales due to both Chicago teams in first place throughout the summer. I sold my cubs/sox tix for a ton of money that year. If 07 was a 500 team that contended throughout, you would have had more accounts stay. And a higher attendance thanks to 08's success.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 09:15 PM) It is more of a statement on the fans than anything else. We play in a town where the other team never wins, yet is always way ahead of us in attendance, so it isn't just WINNING. We have a bandwagon fan base that is better at making excuses than actually showing up. I don't think this is a bandwagon fanbase. Just a fickle and petty one

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 07:22 PM) Well I'm very glad to hear that they have figured it out financially for themselves. I'm not sure why you or I as fans really care about that, but whatever. Aren't you a tad more interested in the product on the field, though? Wouldn't you like to see the team make it to the playoffs more than once every seven or eight years? Because that's all we've gotten during the last 34 years, and that's why there's only a bandwagon fan base (and not even a very good one at that!), and why the park is more than half empty every single day. But hey - they "HAVE figured it out financially at least" so who am I to complain! The sox have drawn more consistently under Reinsdorf and co than under any other ownership group. They are more or less debt free( unlike the cubs) and have the financial flexibility to make moves. This factors heavily into what Hahn, Kenny, and the front office can do. So yes, I do care about that. The sox also are not reliant on ticket sales to pay for the club. They get 50 million just from comcast games. So how bout you shut up and let the adults have this conversation.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 07:12 PM) So you are "impressed" that the Sox drew more than 495,000 fans in 2013, which is what they drew in that magical season of 1970. Ok then! Are you high?

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 06:21 PM) Nope, haven't missed the history. What I have missed is current ownership, after 34 years of trying their hand at this, figuring out a way to turn this thing around. To win on something at least remotely resembling a consistent basis, because that's the only way to get those "bandwagon fans" to the ballpark. Outside of '05, there are all of four postseason wins in the Jerry Reinsdorf era. Four. Four in the other 33 years of his ownership of the ball club. Part of the reason there was only $18K "paid" attendance on a lovely summer night at a game featuring Sale v. Scherzer, with Abreu and Cabrera also in the house. The Sox either break even or turn a profit most years. They HAVE "figured it out" financially at least. The attendance issue affects only the fans and the ticket sales staff for the sox.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 05:49 PM) Doubled to what? We're currently 28th in attendance on our way to the third straight year of drawing less than two million, which is pathetic for a big market team. That's the story, not that Reinsdorf's teams are outdrawing the Veeck and Allyn teams of yesteryear. Actually, the fact that the sox drew more in 2013 than 1970 is impressive, considering that tickets were MUCH cheaper in 1970, and all games are on tv and online. Oh, and the red line was shut down for most of the year.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 11:15 AM) Then that might require new ownership, because Mr. Reinsdorf & Co. are in Year #34 of their control of this team, and they have yet to build a sustainable winning ballclub in that period of time. No White Sox team under their rule has made it to the playoffs in consecutive years. And outside of 2005, there have only been four other playoff appearances since 1981 when they took over, and the combined number of victories in those four appearances is four. An absolutely dreadful record of performance. So if improving attendance is predicated on sustainable success, then perhaps its time to bring in an ownership group that could actually figure out how to make that happen. The Sox have NEVER made two consecutive postseason appearnaces. It's not a Jerry thing. Never happened under veeck, comiskey, or either allyn brother.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 10:45 AM) And that is the problem with dynamic pricing raising prices instead of lowering them for unsold tickets as the game draws near. I would use Stubhub myself. It is a reason many season ticketholders, at least those with the smaller plans bailed. They can save money by having others take a bath. The $7/20 tickets do not go up or down.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 02:30 PM) I know people who won't pick up a golf club cause it's too expensive a sport to play. I know people who won't go to a baseball game cause they are used to the days you could go, get a great seat on the cheap and eat and drink at the park on the cheap and now it's just too much cash. I know people don't want to hear it -- KC talk show hosts scoff at people balking at 60 dollar tickets -- but folks, it's true. I know you can get a cheap ticket in the upper tank at Sox games but hey, even 20 bucks per ticket is too much for a lot of dads when you multiply it by a couple kids. Say what you want, baseball is not an elitist sport. There was no reason to pays these guys this amount of cash to play a game they'd play for pennies. Go ahead and flame me, but it's the cost, people. It's the cost. (And I do commend the Sox for having special Sundays, etc.) My guess is the one day or two days a year a dad or mom will bring the family he/she does take advantage of the special Sunday rates or whatever. But I'd guess aside from rabid fans it's a one or two games at the most per summer for most people in the middle class or unemployed. Sox Kids club is FREE. And gives EACH kids FOUR FREE TICKETS. A family of four can go to two games free on the sox. I just made cost a non-issue.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 10:37 AM) We should make a SoxTalk outing this summer. Someone set it up. I think it's tonight

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 10:41 AM) Right, but Stubhub isn't walk up. Its resale. The White Sox sell very few tickets the day of game anymore. Like I stated earlier, 2500 was considered gigantic. But most people making last minute decisions are not going to whitesox.com. They are buying at the stubub rate, even if those tix are other than what the box office has.

You guys forget that all the comps from April and rainouts this year do not count in the attendance. Like farmer says every nights, it's PAID attendance. Sox can give out 40k free seats for tonight and have one paid ticket. The official attendance figure will be 1. Sox have been on the offensive this year with comps.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 10:02 AM) Attendance is going to be bad because season ticket sales are probably as low as they have been this century. With dynamic pricing, walk up sales are usually pretty weak. I read an article a couple years ago or so ago which stated the Sox were expecting a walk up of around 2500 for some game (this is when they were at least decent) and it was by far the highest walk up of the season. I remember half price Monday and Tuesdays with the Pepsi can. The lines at the ticket windows were huge. Those days are OVA! You get some same day sale with the K-Zone for Sale. But that is only when he starts.They should come up with a section for Abreu, for a daily thing. Maybe the back half of the bleachers or something, see if he can reach them. That would help day of game sales, but the fruits of this season attendance wise, if it winds up being successful, won't really be felt until next season when a few more season ticket plans are sold. Most "walk up" sales are done online right now. And more often than not on stubhub

It was well documented that Texas wanted rios for free in 2014. Hahn said f*** no, we'll just accept the waiver and you are stuck with everything in exchange for 50 grand( the transfer fee). The rangers should be lucky they even got the sox to give up $1 million in 2013 salary in exchange for Garcia. It was also reported that the pirates wanted rios, but the players they offered were not enough for Hahn to pick up 2014 salary. Unlike a certain genius on Addison and Clark, who have the YANKEES 14 million to take soriano in exchange for alone fourth round pitching prospect.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 10:53 PM) I know it gets talked about a lot around here, but I just had a thought in my mind. If the Rios trade wasn't all about salary relief, what do you guys think we could of gotten from the Rangers for Rios? Not much. Unless the sox gave te pirates 14 million to cover Rios' salary

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 3, 2014 -> 09:02 AM) Only if there are more breaks. More time between pitches benefits no one. This mound conference sponsored by....... Kids come meet southpaw while Adam eaton takes his helmet off between pitches