3GamesToLove

QUOTE (harkness @ Aug 14, 2015 -> 09:50 PM) at the time of the trade deadline he wasn't really doing that great and I'm guessing we weren't getting offered enough. QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Aug 16, 2015 -> 06:18 AM) exactly He had a 2.27 ERA in July.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Aug 16, 2015 -> 11:19 AM) Why Flowers over Soto day after night game, RV makes no sense at all Sale.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 15, 2015 -> 11:37 PM) Hawk actually does know baseball. Cmon. As far as advanced metrics, how come the producers don't even put OBP on the screen in most broadcasts? It's still BA, HR, RBI for hitters and WL, pitch count and ERA for pitchers. Have you not watched a game on CSN this year? Every AB features the full AVG/OBP/SLG slash line.

In all seriousness, there is now just the one infielder on the bench now.

Not so much a rant on Shark, but... Remember when media, Sox fans, and the organization itself was lauding Samardzija as a second ace and everyone was talking about the Sale/Shark combo, completely ignoring that Jose Quintana is a much better and more reliable pitcher? Quintana gets no love. I can count on one hand the number of jerseys/shirseys I've seen at the park aside from my own. Saw plenty of "one year of control" Samardzija shirts...

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 14, 2015 -> 01:28 PM) No, it isn't, as I stated, they are terrible. Nobody besides (some) Sox fans believes that the Cubs booth is inferior to the Sox.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Aug 14, 2015 -> 01:03 PM) I agree with you. He is a draw for kids because he is a loud cheering fan and they want to cheer and get excited with him. Kids don't care about advanced statistics and actual analysis. They are going to scream and yell at good at bad plays, like Hawk. You think a 10 year old kid is rolling his eyes when Hawk says the Sox are more talented than the Royals, or that Carlos Sanchez is going to be a "real good baseball player for a long time". No. Those kids have no idea how laughably wrong he is. The kids are being grossly misinformed, absolutely, but they are being entertained and having fun. Generations of kids growing up on Hawk has led to a lot of misinformed adult fans today.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Aug 14, 2015 -> 12:06 PM) Scully is terrible now? Umm alright. Cubs booth far superior to Sox booth too. QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Aug 14, 2015 -> 12:07 PM) [Hawk] is not the voice of the fans. He might be the voice of stupid fans.

HE FOUND IT HE FOUND IT HE FOUND IT HE FOUND IT

Something's gotta give between Bonifacio, Thompson and Shuck, though I suppose it'll be nearly September when both the two rehabbing guys are back.

Donaldson and Gordon's catches were the best this year by far.

The funnest (sic) of fun facts: Matt Albers has finished 86 games in his career. He has never recorded a save. All time, this is second only to fellow active journeyman Ryan Webb, currently in the Indians pen. Webb has surged ahead this season: he has already recorded 9 games finished, bringing his career total to 96(!). Albers's time on the DL has done him no favors in this chase for history, as he's got just 3 on the year. (Credit goes to Baseball Prospectus's "Effectively Wild" podcast for noticing this race last year)

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Aug 12, 2015 -> 10:39 PM) we ask the players to treat this profession as more than just a $$-centered business fun & celebrating? then we reprimand them for it. You hit the nail on the head. It's a total contradiction. Seemingly, millions of meatballs are happy with this bit of cognitive dissonance.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Aug 12, 2015 -> 06:35 PM) ...utter contempt for the integrity of the game. QUOTE (Kalapse @ Aug 12, 2015 -> 07:19 PM) Craig Biggio is what? Top 5 all time in doubles? How many times do you remember him showboating after hitting one? Zero. Because he has too much RESPECT for the GAME. That's why he's in the hall of fame and Melky is a roided up clown. Boy, I laughed aloud at the first post because I assumed it was satire. Then I laughed aloud at the second post because it was ridiculous.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 12, 2015 -> 02:45 PM) Is this guy a star? This could cure a lot of ills if he's a good hitter/outfielder. Sign him and trade Melky and one of Eaton/Avi perhaps? Sign him and the other guys will find playing time somewhere else. He's also only 20 so would probably need some time in the minors.

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Aug 11, 2015 -> 09:28 AM) I mean, I've essentially given up. I stopped watching games on Friday against the Royals. Yesterday I watched maybe 2-3 innings. Don't take this as serious, but if you want to twist reality, one can reasonably try and get excited for another week to 10 days (Anyway to trick my mind until football season). With 6 games against the Angels and 3 against the Cubs --- followed by 10 games against the Mariners and BoSox?? Again, this is just to get me to football season, but for the sake of argument, let's go with best case scenario: We sweep the Angels. 4.5 back. (Regardless of what the teams do ahead of us, Orioles wouldn't be able to overtake Angels) We play the Cubs -- sometimes catapults a new energy within a team -- let's say we take 2 of 3. Either remain 4.5 back or 3.5 back. Let's split and call it 4 games back. The Angels go to play the Royals over the weekend in a 4 game set. Let's just call them 2-2 that series. Go to play the Angels - take 3 out of 4. Now we are 2 back -- of the Angels. Baltimore plays SEA, OAK, NYM, MIN over the next 10. They'll probably end up at like 6 games over .500, so 3 back of WC. Again - this is best case scenario. It'd mean we went 8-2 over the next 10 and would be 60-60 with 13 games coming up against SEA, BOS, and the Twins. Nothing that I've watched all season .... and that is probably 90 of the games so far leads me to believe this will ever come close to happening... but letting my mind dream for a few more weeks til football. Screw football. Still plenty of baseball left; whether the Sox are in contention or not.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Aug 12, 2015 -> 07:15 AM) This was a poorly designed survey in general. But specifically, the question about fan input impacting team decisions. I sure hope they're talking about team decisions in the areas of ticket/parking pricing, marketing and promotions. If they're talking about fan input affecting team personnel decisions, then I want no part of that. No team should be catering to fans that way. QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 12, 2015 -> 07:53 AM) They have done survey's on this stuff in the past. Yes. When they slashed ticket and parking prices in 2013(?) they specifically said it was due to the feedback they got from the fan surveys.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy ESPN's coverage of most sports as well. Their baseball coverage actually isn't bad (and Baseball Tonight is a better show minute for minute than MLB Tonight), their soccer coverage has been great for years, and I'm a tennis nut and appreciate the respect they give to the game there too (though Chris Evert is abysmal and John McEnroe is pretty bad now too). They just obviously weren't in a position to take over the Premier League. Also, soccer WOULD have taken a step backwards if it'd gone to FOX, because Premier League would have cannibalized the new Bundesliga deal over there. That would've been a nightmare. Now we get 2-3 matches a weekend on FS1/2 in addition to our fantastic PL stuff on NBCSN. Win-win.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Aug 11, 2015 -> 11:01 AM) ESPN has set the standard for soccer coverage in this country so I don't know how they could have ruined the coverage. In fact, they had the Premier League rights before NBC and basically showed the league has value in this country. Fox has been inconsistent to me (Gus Johnson announcing Champions League was embarrassing and insulting), but ESPN is still the best at covering soccer. If the rights moved, we would have been fine. ESPN's soccer coverage generally is fantastic, but the previous Premier League arrangement wasn't ideal. Just the early Saturday kickoff and the occasional midweek. Unfortunately, the bulk of coverage was on the low-rent FSC, who only had the ability to air a match at a time, and didn't offer streaming of extra games. FS+ (and Setanta before it) was still a ripoff back then. ESPN did fine with what little Prem coverage they had (and did a good job promoting it; they really hyped up the Manchester derby at the end of 2012), and their coverage of the 2010/14 World Cup and the Euros are still the gold standard...NBC clearly learned from them. ESPN did fine with what they had, but they wouldn't be able to fully commit to the league due to other programming. The coverage itself would be good, but the volume would be substandard. If they had teamed back up with FOX, that would've been bad quality AND bad volume. NBC has no such conflicts. We would not "have been fine" if the rights had gone back to some FOX/ESPN partnership. It would've been a massive step back. The article I linked to makes this argument more thoroughly than I just did.

American soccer fans rejoice! NBC has just won the rights to keep the Premier League through the '21/22 season! This was the last season of their original three-year deal. NBC's coverage of the league is perhaps the best coverage of any sport on American TV. Going back to FOX/ESPN would have been a major step backward.

My attitude towards the NFL/Bears is somewhere between "ambivalence" and "f*** football," so I'm fine if the Cubs and baseball capture the city's imagination for a while longer. I'd rather sit down and have a conversation with a Cubs fan who knows his stuff than talk about the NFL or hockey.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 11:50 PM) Marl? Wait so you type your name everytime? It's not a signature? Haha mercy man, mercy. ? He never quite got the hang of it at WSI, either.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 9, 2015 -> 03:43 PM) Season from hell, highlighted perfectly by this weekend. Arrieta has become the best pitcher in the city. lolwut PS it's only a season from hell if you are obsessed with the Cubs/Sox "rivalry."

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Aug 2, 2015 -> 04:06 AM) Outside of 2005, what are your favorite "playoff related highlights"? Everything about the Blackout game, including Alexei's grand slam a couple days before if we're counting it.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Jul 20, 2015 -> 08:11 AM) Sorry I find Farmio and DJ's banterings more entertaining than White Sox baseball. I'd rather not know what's going on in the game. Then listen to crappy unfunny talk radio. I think most people tuning into a baseball broadcast would like description and analysis of a baseball game.