Lip Man 1

Winning solves a lot of problems..but you have to win.

I'm beginning to wonder if he is having some vision issues. He looks totally and completely lost, doesn't seem to have any idea of what he wants to do or any type of plan. This is actually getting embarrassing for the kid and the organization.

I found this story in the Sun-Times today interesting. Both Konerko and Renteria comment on the state of baseball today and Rick also goes into more of his philosophy of what the team should be doing as long as he is the manager: https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/situational-hitting-will-always-be-in-with-white-sox-manager-rick-renteria/

Given that both Kenny and Hahn have publicly endorsed him (meaning they have stuck their necks out for him) Ricky isn't going anywhere at least until his deal is up. And frankly if the Sox kept Ventura for all those years I have a hard time thinking they'd replace him with a high profile guy at a high salary. JR has never done that because he has said he doesn't think managers and head coaches really are that important.

The Sox may very well be this bad again in 2019. It just depends on what happens this off season.

Could that be because when Boston called him up his service clock had already started?

I see where the Sox web site has now changed the headline on Anderson's benching so Jose' may have a point there.

Odd situation to be sure but from what I just posted what probably got Anderson the heave - ho was (if accurate) he still wasn't running even after the umpire ruled the ball in play. That's what probably got to Ricky and if I remember right he's had to pull Anderson before for not hustling.

Found this description of the play elsewhere: "Anderson smoked a low line drive to third with two men on and two outs. Initially it looked like the 3B caught it and I think Anderson froze a few steps out of the box thinking he was out. Ump signaled safe and the 3B for some odd reason threw to 2B for the force but the runner beat that easily. Anderson still wasn't running or had taken way to long to realize he was still in play but by then it was way too late and the 2B had him dead to rights. I think Anderson did give up at some point on the play after realizing he was not out on the initial snag so the benching was probably justified, but there are lots of guys who make that mistake and only the boneheaded decision by the 3B to go to second would have given Tim a chance."

No I did not, I am going off the headline at the White Sox "official" web site. Given that it is their site things are generally cleared and approved before posting so someone felt the wording was accurate in describing why the benching took place. Was that wording wrong, if so can you explain why?

Smart move by Boston to give him some rest.

According to the Sox web site Anderson was pulled from the game for not hustling on an at-bat after he hit a ball. I laud Rick for not putting up with that bull**** but it makes you wonder...this is the third or fourth time this year he's had to do that. I mean the players know what is going to happen if they don't hustle, yet it keeps happening. Not very smart on their part. Unless frustration at all the losing just sets in and they say "screw it" from time to time. Either way that's not a good development no matter how you look at it. Scary stat of the night, Engle's batting average is now the same as Moncada's .225 YIKES! And we know how bad Engle is.

With all the injuries, the missed developmental time I'm thinking more 2021 or 2022.

Either that forearm is still messed up or something mentally about that injury is impacting Hansen despite people telling him he is OK. You don't go from leading the minor leagues in strike outs to this. Personally I think that forearm is still screwed up and is going to need surgery.

At least fans who are angry and frustrated still care, otherwise they wouldn't be angry or frustrated in the first place. There's something to be said for that...the worst possible thing for any franchise is for the fan base to basically become apathetic and not give a damn at all.

Very true unfortunately.

Even though it is a rebuild and the bullpen is populated with cast-off's and has been's, this is still really discouraging and frustrating for a fan to see so many winnable games being flushed down the toilet. 11th game the Sox have lost when leading in the 7th inning or later. Five of those have seen them lose the lead / game in the 9th inning.

Thank God for small favors with Volstad but I have a feeling that like Minaya, nobody is going to want the stiff, he'll be sent to Charlotte and continue to be an option for the Sox big league roster. With the same results.

Is Hamels a free agent after the season?

It's actually humorous watching Minaya and Volstad trying to pitch. Talk about bad.

For what its worth the Sun-Times spoke with Ozzie about some things, its in Monday's paper. Ozzie talked about how today's players don't seem to value defense and had honest opinions about both Anderson and Moncada. Ozzie didn't pull any punches (but then he usually doesn't)

PTATC: By "changing" do you mean the individual players or the rehab / recovery program?

Tilson was sent back to Charlotte

We'll see how long he can stay off it now.

Add Zangari to the list tonight. And if you look at things, Sox players at the major league level have been dropping like flies for the past three years. I think at one point last year for example they had seven or eight pitchers on the DL. Now the minor league teams are getting gutted. It may be time for the Sox to bring in some outside folks to closely examine every aspect of the training / conditioning areas just to see if something is being missed. The fastest way to torpedo a rebuild is not be able to keep the guys expected to be the main cogs in said rebuild on the field.