lasttriptotulsa

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 02:19 PM) They let Ben Wallace wear a headband. They didn't let Ben Wallace wear a headband. He was even pulled from a game and suspended when he knowlingly violated the rule.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 01:21 PM) Well, he got the MVP in 1994 and finished with .358/.493/.698 with 4 HRs in '95. Neither was a bad thing. Hawk's opinion on baseball is too hyperbolic to be taken as truth. There is a pretty substantial difference in his pre and post all star splits in 1994 though. Pre all star he had a .385/.519/.832 slash and post he was .260/.400/.521. Whether that was because of the HR derby or not is anybody's guess. It very well could be because of something different and Hawk is just talking out of his ass. It certainly wouldn't be the first time.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 01:04 PM) According to Hawk, it screwed up The Big Hurt for a couple of weeks. Frank participated in 1994 and 1995. His line for the next two weeks in 1994 - .264/.423/.509 with 3 HRs, in 1995 - .358/.493/.698 with 4 HRs So maybe it did affect him in 1994 as his OPS was nearly 300 points lower for the next couple weeks compared to his season line, but he seemed to get better in 1995, so who knows. It just goes to show how great Frank was. Most guys would kill for a .932 OPS and that was him when he was "struggling".

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 10:54 AM) I would think a better excuse for Game 1 of the double header is cheering for the USMNT against Belgium. Maybe they could show parts of the game on the scoreboard between innings? Showing soccer on the scoreboard would be a good way to put the crowd to sleep.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 08:06 AM) I say China is a good reason not to attend. Meanwhile I'll be going to both games today. What's your excuse, everyone else. I work until 3:15, I am out of vacation for the year and I live 185 miles from the Cell. Is that good enough?

Tornado sirens going off in my town in SW Wisconsin. Pretty nasty out. If this is heading Chicago's way, they aint playing tonight.

Dickey's pitching. I wonder what kind of experience Abreu has hitting knuckleballs. Anybody know if it's thrown much in Cuba?

QUOTE (whtsoxfan @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 03:19 PM) The argument is, is Rizzo better than Abreu? And the answer at this point is who knows? Abreu hasn't played half a season yet and Rizzo's only been good for half a season. They're both fairly young and both Chicago teams should feel pretty good about their 1B situations.

QUOTE (whtsoxfan @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 11:44 AM) ....argument to be made that Anthony Rizzo is now the best first baseman in baseball. Seriously? http://www.bleachernation.com/2014/06/27/a...-other-bullets/ If he is legitamately as good as he has played the first half of this year, he is definitely in the discussion.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 11:19 AM) And that is the basic point. You can't just throw Konerko out there like he has been garbage. If Abreu has that kind of a peak, or career, this has been one of the best signings in franchise history. Those guys don't come along every day. I don't think anybody is saying that. I think everyone agrees Konerko should have his number retired and will go down as one the greatest White Sox players ever. The point I was making is that Abreu is already as good if not better than Konerko was at his best. Could the league catch up to Abreu, sure. Could he get hurt and never play again, sure. Could this start be a fluke, sure (we've seen it before). One thing I do know is that when Abreu comes up to bat, I stop what I'm doing to make sure I see him hit. I could never say that about Konerko or any other Sox player since Frank Thomas. I have watched Abreu enough already to know that if he does not end up as a far superior player to Konerko, I will be disappointed. I know the original discussion involved Rizzo too, but I honestly haven't watched him enough to make a judgement other than from looking at the numbers.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 10:53 AM) You are talking about one of the top 5 hitters in franchise history, and just short of a Hall of Famer type of career. I don't want it to seem like I'm bashing Konerko because I'm not, but the only thing he has going for him Hall of Fame wise is the counting stats and a World Series. He has never won any awards, never led the league in anything and his rate stats are not that great. His average fWAR for his career is about 1.9. That rates as average or even slightly below average. JAWS lists him as the 81st greatest 1B to play the game. He's 198th all time in OPS and just 381st all time in OPS+. As a 1B, that's not that great.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 10:48 AM) Top 2% of all time. 6-time all-star ALCS MVP I think he's been fairly rated, and he deserves his number retirement. I agree he should have his number retired. One of the best Sox players ever. But there have been honest discussions on this board about who was better, Paul Konerko or Frank Thomas. While the vast majority agreed it was obviously Frank, the fact that the conversation existed says a lot about certain Sox fans. There are also people who legitamately believe Konerko is a Hall of Famer.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 10:32 AM) Konerko's prime lasted about 10 years. If you want to narrow it down to peak, Konerko had back to back 40 homer seasons, backed up with two more years of 30 homers. He even had two more 30+ homer seasons late in his career. Again, I think people are really underestimating how good he was, and how long he was that good. Personally I feel that Sox fans have always overrated Konerko.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 09:28 AM) That surprises me, I figured he would have approached that in 03 when the Marlins took out the Cubs, he was great He was pretty good that year. 3.8 WAR, 133 wRC+. Better year than most players will ever have.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 09:34 AM) He's also played 1/3 of a season effectively. Konerko did his damage for a decade and a half. The point was about who was better in their prime, not who will have a better career.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 10:15 AM) The fact that we are talking about players from a generation ago kind of makes the point for me. More recently Chris Anderson, Udonis Haslem and Raja Bell were all undrafted and have had productive careers.

Brad Miller was undrafted and had a pretty damn solid career.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 08:42 AM) I don't think you quite realize how good the top years of those 2 players were. Abreu is as good right now, as a rookie, as Konerko ever was and pretty close to what Lee was at their respective peaks. Abreu currently has a 149 wRC+. Konerko only had one season that high or better (158 in 2010) and Derrek Lee only had two such seasons (170 in 2005, 150 in 2009). If you want to look at WAR, Abreu is on pace for about 5.3 fWAR this season. Konerko's career highs were 3.7 in 2005 and 3.6 in 2010. Derrek Lee's career highs were 6.8 in 2005 and 5.3 in 2009 with no other season over 4.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 04:51 PM) Earlier in the season, all of the Abreu comments here were "I can't wait until he hits in warm weather". I was one of these people. Is it me or is he keeping the same pace as April/beginning of May? April/May .260/.312/.595, 11.5 AB/HR, 26k%, 5bb% June .310/.352/.655, 10.5 AB/HR, 21k%, 6.5bb% I'd say he's gotten better.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 11:43 AM) When the guy gets through the 8th on like 7 pitches of which 6 are strikes and the hitters are completely f***ed mentally and are behind the fastball and in front of the change you don't need to go to your closer. I love the shift stuff, that's the best. Pay waaaaaaaay too much attention to what is happening on the IF but let your s*** corner OFs play shallow. I'd like to put Robin on a double decker plane, Robin and a bunch of Alexei-looking stick people in the upper portion in first class and a bunch of Biiiig BERTHA!! plumpers in the lower deck. Then let's do the same thing, shift all the plumpers in the lower deck to one side of the plane and let the Alexei stick people stay exactly where they are. When the plane tips over maybe he'll understand how stupid it is to focus all his energy on half the defensive setup and none on the other, but then again, maybe that little raisin of a brain in his skull, upon flipping over, will clink against the top of his skull and give him a new idea for once. God this guy is bad. FIRE HIM NOW!!! Trade for Gardenhire also, even though I know it can't/won't happen. I luuuuuuv Ron Gardenhire. Do you ever post anything that isn't complete gibberish? I get that you're trying to be funny, but trust me you're failing miserably.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 07:21 AM) No need to call up Rodon and start his arb clock unless the Sox are actually in it in September, which doesn't seem at all likely at this point. If they bring him up this year at all, it means they are going to have him on the opening day roster next year. In that case it won't have any bearing on his arbitration clock provided they wait until after the Super 2 cutoff date.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 25, 2014 -> 11:37 AM) Hawk called at least one of his bombs "Biiiiiiiig BERTHA!!!!" and I thought that was going to stick. Unfortunately it appears it did not. There's a highlight video of that one somewhere & Stoney tries to hold back his laughter. Also I wasn't sure if it was canyon or canon Hawk was referring to, i.e. ball is shot out of a canon or he can hit it out of a canyon. Hawk's nickname for him is "The Cannon". Spanish for "The Cannon" is "El Cañón". He usually says it both ways when he says it.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jun 23, 2014 -> 10:47 PM) If he stays on this pace and plays in 140 games (has played in 63 of our 77, and likely will receive 7-10 off days), then he'll go 49/133. Has anyone else ever had those exact HR/RBI numbers? I thought Pujols, but he was 49/137. QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 24, 2014 -> 08:25 AM) Ha! Hasn't he only had one off day the entire season? I believe when he was slumping and even then he pinch hit. I highly, highly doubt he gets 7-10 off days the rest of the season unless he gets some sort of nagging injury. They will give him days off from playing 1st, but he will still DH. If you assume he plays every day the rest of the season he is on a 52/141 pace (would have been 57/154 without the DL stint). Pretty ridiculous.

QUOTE (Bigsoxhurt35 @ Jun 20, 2014 -> 06:07 PM) Ugh lol I feel like the chiefs fan I am right now lol. Take a flier on anyone I guess Hey sometimes it works out good. The Chiefs sure found a diamond in the rough when they picked up the Hanson brothers.

While I like Putz, unless he learns to throw left handed I don't see a place for him. Putnam and Petricka have been pretty good. Belisario is pitching better than the numbers show and Carroll has been solid as the long man. The area we are lacking is a good lefty set up man and unfortunately Putz is not that. If he clears waivers and can be signed for the pro-rated minimum, why not? But other than that I would pass.