Donaldo

FWIW, Matt has already equaled his walk total from last season.

That's the only thing I can think of. His swing in college is what made him a first round draft pick... why in God's name did ANYBODY think it would be a good idea to change it? unless... (this was my argument back on page 1 of this thread) Maybe somebody at FS can ask Getz or Hostetler about this?

How is he defensively?

+1

About a week ago I read that Hansen was "nowhere near ready" to start throwing. Now all of a sudden his arm issues are mysteriously "resolved," and he's going to start throwing? IDK what to make of this. I'm hopeful, but not confident.

19 walks and 9 strikeouts. He can't find the strik1e zone.

He could hit in college.

Why did he change his swing?

Engel's defense hasn't been good this year, and I'm not seeing much improvement in his batting. A .150 average is somewhat acceptable as long as you're playing great in CF.

QUOTE (Sox-35th @ Mar 28, 2018 -> 09:45 AM) Well, I was wrong, the new Score shakeup is...interesting. Love Danny Mac and prefer Bernstein middays. He and Goff could get pretty toxic. Danny Parkins does a great job, too. I heard Spiegel on with Bernstein talking about the Cubs. He's still with the station, but in a more limited role. Congratulations to Spiegs on his marriage. Hopefully the third time will be the charm for him.

Keon Barnum won't be around much longer either.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 18, 2018 -> 09:56 AM) Yeah, baseball on cable networks really turned out to be a complete failure. Today, nearly 90% of all Americans have cable or satellite television. That number was MUCH smaller in the early 80s. IIRC, the original Sportsvision was PREMIUM cable (like HBO).

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 17, 2018 -> 05:16 PM) Rumored 60k plus attendance... I'll believe it when I see it A's fans are annoying enough when there are 5,000 in that stadium (especially that idiot who blows that damn horn the whole game). It'll be a nightmare with a full house there.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 16, 2018 -> 06:49 PM) Is it ok to hope Zavala is our future championship catcher? Why not? Collins sure isn't looking the part right now.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 11, 2018 -> 05:43 AM) Then how come the Braves aren’t like the Cubs? They are more like the Sox really. Maybe worse. When they made they playoffs something like 15 years in a row, you could buy tickets at the box office for their playoff games. If the White Sox made the playoffs that often, no way could you do that. For some reason 1984 turned things around for the Cubs. Wrigley Field became a shrine. I truly think if they were 75-87 that year, and did what they did the rest of the time, they would not be nearly as popular as they are nationally or locally. Braves fans got spoiled during that run... LDS and LCS games were so commonplace, nobody cared. Remember when the Bears were good and we took "just getting to the playoffs" for granted? In those days, anything short of the NFC Championship was treated like a regular season game. You are 100% correct about 1984. The only Cubs game I ever went to was in 1982. The attendance that warm August afternoon was just over 15,000. Blackhawks games were NEVER televised locally over-the-air in the 80s, 90s, or 2000s, and the fanbase took a hit for it. They had no problem winning the city over because they have no competition. Chicago has only one NHL (and NBA) team, so Chicago is a Blackhawks (and Bulls) town by default. Chicago is a Cubs town, and it will be for the foreseeable future. What will cause the pendulum to swing south again? I don't know. Maybe the Cubs (like the Braves of the 90s) will become victims of their own success? The "Lovable Losers" label is already history

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 12:22 PM) Joe McConnell was a true pro. RIP. But on to Harry. Can someone explain to me if Sportsvision was the Sox death knell and WGN and Harry were the Cubs pot of gold, how come in 1982 the Sox outdrew the Cubs by over 300k. In 1983 the Sox outdrew the Cubs by 650k, and in 1984 the Sox, despite the Cubs making the playoffs, outdrew the Cubs by 25k? Sportschannel was over by then. This was before big money in TV. Bill Veeck's last season as an owner, the Sox were getting $3k a game for TV. 1984 happened. That's what turned the Cubs into the darlings they have remained. It wasn't Harry. If 1984 single-handedly turned the Cubs into darlings, why didn't 1983 do the same for the Sox? The Sox routinely outdrew the Cubs throughout the 60s, 70s, and early 80s. Will Perdue was in the booth with Benetti and Stone today, and he said that when he was growing up in Florida, his two favorite teams were the Braves (WTBS) and the Cubs (WGN) because those were the only two teams he could watch on a regular basis. WGN CLEARLY explains the Cubs' national appeal. Why is Chicago a Cubs Town, and what will change that? I have no answer to either of those questions.

Here is a tribute to Joe from a Purdue site. There's a link here to listen to a few of his best Purdue calls. Profiles in Badassery: Joe McConnell

I didn't realize he was 79. I'm a bit young to remember him with the Bears or Sox, but I heard him make a lot of memorable calls at Purdue... especially during the Brees and Orton eras. He was a GREAT play-by-play guy. Rest In Peace Joe

Wellington Castillo should have some trade value as well.

Just about everybody will get bit by the injury bug sooner or later, but on some players the bug just keeps on biting and biting. Micker has a lengthy list of injuries before his 21st birthday. That doesn't give me a lot of confidence about his future health. Hopefully he can get healthy and STAY healthy.

The Cubs' rotation now has Q and Yu.

QUOTE (Sox-35th @ Jan 18, 2018 -> 03:07 PM) I worry he won't last long. Mac and David Haugh filled in for Spiegel and Parkins on Friday. It was awesome. QUOTE (Tony @ Feb 5, 2018 -> 07:40 AM) Thought it was funny that John Fox was at Tom Waddles Super Bowl party. Everybody said Foxy was the life of the party.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 7, 2018 -> 07:59 PM) You don't like hearing Len Kasper do interviews ten times a week on the Score during baseball season? On ESPN 1000, they must talk to Jesse Rogers three times a day every day during baseball season (and I'm not exaggerating by much). Doug Padilla used to be their Sox reporter, but I'm not sure they ever replaced him. I wonder if both stations will send crews out to Mesa for a week, while completely ignoring Sox camp like they did last year?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 24, 2018 -> 11:43 PM) Watters from ND, mostly SF 49ers and Eagles fame. Remember that playoff game when he ran wild against the Bears? I think that was `94 or `95.

How much of the "failure" can be attributed to player development within the organization?