southsider2k5 Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 Daryl Van Schouwen @CST_soxvan 8h Rios, Crain, Ramirez look ready for Opener. Toni Ginnetti on the Sox. http://abv8.me/3u0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Mar 29, 2013 -> 09:18 PM) Perk up the optimism Greg. It's your duty as a "crazed" Sox fan to be hopeful in spring. So, in the spirit of looking on the bright side I will venture to try and give you hope for the positions you feel are average. 3B: Keppinger hit .325 last year and his OBP was .367. Most think it was probably a career year and certainly he didn't get a huge contract for those numbers but he is a huge improvement over what the Sox had last year. He will be 33 soon so maybe he was a late bloomer, but if he puts up the same type of numbers as last year Sox fans will love him. He hit nearly .500 in spring training so include that with how he did last year and you have to be optimistic. CF. De Aza did very well in his 1st full season facing ML pitching so since it's spring lets just say he avoids the sophomore jinx and becomes an even better player. He does a lot of things well just nothing spectacular. I would gladly take a repeat performance from him. LF : Viciedo's upside is really high. The highest of any player on the 25 man roster. Imagine if you will he hits 5-10 more HR's than last year , raises his batting average 25 points ,raises his RBI totals by 20 doubles the amount of walks he gets. The key to his improvement is how he does against RH pitchers and maintains what he did against LH's. This spring he hit very well against RH's , granted it may mean nothing but its better than sucking in spring. 2B: Plenty of room to improve here. Beckham's another low OBP player (Viciedo, Ramirez). Very good fielder and decent pop. This is most likely his make or break year. Reports are he added more muscle and looks quicker with the bat. He works so hard on getting better. I hope he does. He also had a good spring. C: Sox fans loved AJ so that means Tyler will probably take the most heat from fans if he doesn't produce. You shouldn't be worried about him being better defensively than AJ because he will be and by a long shot. He's got a boat load of power so the only thing he has to do is make consistent contact and keep taking walks to be equal or better than equal to AJ. I hope after reading this you feel more optimistic. No matter if the season turns out good or bad. Spring is the time for renewed hope and I see no reason for that not to be so with the Sox. Feel free to talk Sox baseball with me any time Greg weather here or via PM. Good stuff. I like it a lot. Keppinger stuff was awesome. QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 29, 2013 -> 09:45 PM) The philosophy regarding baseball and sports in general over the last few years is to not worry about it and not get upset. Be excited to watch at the beginning of the year. Greg, your post makes you sound like you're dreading Opening Day. As far as I'm concerned, that is the 2nd best sporting day of the entire year. If you get all pissed off about how the Sox are doing or when they get in a slump, it's going to affect your personal life and letting a baseball team that doesn't know you affect you in that way is silly. Being aware that guys suck and there are holes is no problem...that's just being an observant fan. Don't let it bother you. Just be a White Sox fan and get excited. Great post. Made me think. I don't want to dread Opening Day. That's a nice lesson you gave me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flavum Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 And this is how spring training comes to an "end", so to speak. Actually this is pretty funny, and Veal's comment made it funnier: https://twitter.com/DylanAxelrod_33/status/...128616225505280 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IlliniKrush Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Lots of D's http://espn.go.com/mlb/preview13/story/_/p...baseball-season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justBLAZE Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 None of these experts picks the White Sox to make the playoffs but few of them give Red Sox or Yankees the wild card. Ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cali Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Now comes that fun game where you drive yourself crazy over thinking it. Detroit picked by so many, so it won't happen right? Or is that just a White Sox thing? There is no doubt in my mind that if it was all Sox picks they would tank or some catasophic injury or injuries would befall the team. They do better when everyone doubts them, but s*** what's that like to not have that problem? Teams that have year in year out expectations from major sports publications easily matching them. Time will tell if Detroit can meet them. Yes I'm biased, yes I've said I hate Detroit several times here, and I've said I almost root for ANYONE to win the division except them (not just the Sox) but f***, when you spending that much money year in and year out you just don't deserve to be rewarded. It's why I hope the Dodgers fail (and was glad they did last year) and why I rooted against the Yankees and Red Sox the last decade plus... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliSoxFanViaSWside Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Sit back. relax and strap it down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Mar 30, 2013 -> 08:48 PM) Lots of D's http://espn.go.com/mlb/preview13/story/_/p...baseball-season Experts are historically inaccurate, but all the guys at Yahoo predicted Detroit to win last year. They also predicted the White Sox to finish last, 4th, and last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quin Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 So that means neither Detroit or Washington will make the playoffs, right? Everyone knows the Baseball Gods will smite the Nationals for shutting down Strasburg with a chance to win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldsox Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Mar 29, 2013 -> 04:09 PM) If putting ads on the outfield walls leads to more revenue I'm all for it. SoxTalk should put an ad out there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottyDo Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Is it tomorrow yet? If not, why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 QUOTE (ScottyDo @ Mar 31, 2013 -> 03:38 PM) Is it tomorrow yet? If not, why not? Physics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 QUOTE (Cali @ Mar 31, 2013 -> 09:16 AM) Now comes that fun game where you drive yourself crazy over thinking it. Detroit picked by so many, so it won't happen right? Or is that just a White Sox thing? There is no doubt in my mind that if it was all Sox picks they would tank or some catasophic injury or injuries would befall the team. They do better when everyone doubts them, but s*** what's that like to not have that problem? Teams that have year in year out expectations from major sports publications easily matching them. Time will tell if Detroit can meet them. Yes I'm biased, yes I've said I hate Detroit several times here, and I've said I almost root for ANYONE to win the division except them (not just the Sox) but f***, when you spending that much money year in and year out you just don't deserve to be rewarded. It's why I hope the Dodgers fail (and was glad they did last year) and why I rooted against the Yankees and Red Sox the last decade plus... I think what generally drives me crazy as a fan and winds up getting me suspended is when crazy stuff happens in our season. Like we'll have a rotten record in the Cell the first 2 months. Usually teams with the talent of the White Sox go 6-4 minimum on long homestands, not 4-6 or 3-7. I'd love for our team to be consistently good in the Cell. It'd save me pulling my hair out. What also drives me batty is never having a long winning streak. It seems like my team, the Sox, is incapable of one of those indescribably delicious 9-to-12 game win streaks that can really get the team well over .500 and establishing itself as a wild card contender. What also has driven me insane is losing to divisional foes, when those teams stink. Let's say KC has a typical KC season. It kills me when they dominate us in that scenario as the Royals did last year. Finally what drives me batty is the inability of Sox starters to complete six innings, preferably get one out in the seventh, even two outs. I am of the opinion the Sox have a heckuva difficult time covering nine outs with our bullpen. That said, I think I will be a lot calmer this year even if those things happen again ... cause my expecations are finally lower. They've remained high every year since 2005. I've had high expectations all those years that followed the WS title. This year I hope to enjoy baseball or at least not get so worked up. I don't expect us to get the wildcard which leaves the division title or bust. And I'm not too energized about our chances there. But I am kind of a wacko regarding the Sox. My opinion on most Sox matters totally deviates from the normal fan. GO SOX! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottyDo Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 FINALLY! It's tomorrow! And not a minute too soon. Happy Opening Day, everybody! Time to close down this thread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottyDo Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 (edited) QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 1, 2013 -> 12:55 AM) I think what generally drives me crazy as a fan and winds up getting me suspended is when crazy stuff happens in our season. Like we'll have a rotten record in the Cell the first 2 months. Usually teams with the talent of the White Sox go 6-4 minimum on long homestands, not 4-6 or 3-7. I'd love for our team to be consistently good in the Cell. It'd save me pulling my hair out. What also drives me batty is never having a long winning streak. It seems like my team, the Sox, is incapable of one of those indescribably delicious 9-to-12 game win streaks that can really get the team well over .500 and establishing itself as a wild card contender. What also has driven me insane is losing to divisional foes, when those teams stink. Let's say KC has a typical KC season. It kills me when they dominate us in that scenario as the Royals did last year. Finally what drives me batty is the inability of Sox starters to complete six innings, preferably get one out in the seventh, even two outs. I am of the opinion the Sox have a heckuva difficult time covering nine outs with our bullpen. That said, I think I will be a lot calmer this year even if those things happen again ... cause my expecations are finally lower. They've remained high every year since 2005. I've had high expectations all those years that followed the WS title. This year I hope to enjoy baseball or at least not get so worked up. I don't expect us to get the wildcard which leaves the division title or bust. And I'm not too energized about our chances there. But I am kind of a wacko regarding the Sox. My opinion on most Sox matters totally deviates from the normal fan. GO SOX! Last year the Sox had a 9-game win streak from May 23rd to June 1st. In 2010 they had an 11-game win streak. 2011 was the only recent year where they couldn't put a streak together. Streaks are a happenstance of probability anyway. It's obviously better to go 10-1 with two five-game streaks than get an 8 game win streak. We didn't make the playoffs either of the years we had those streaks, so they don't really push you into the playoffs...they're just nice when they happen. Sustained success is really the key, which is maybe too obvious to even say. But I'm not hitting the delete key. EDIT: Longest win streak in 2005 - 8 Longest win streak in 2008 - 8 Edited April 1, 2013 by ScottyDo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliSoxFanViaSWside Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 If I recall correctly didn't the Sox have like four 8 game winning streaks in 2005 ? It's really hard to say I come into every season with no expectations but I do come in with hope. First and foremost I enjoy watching Sox games. I like winning a lot more than losing but I try not to get caught up placing blame on why we lost. It just is what it is. We have 1 World series win in almost 100 years. I relish games won and put the losses out of my mind as quickly as possible and look forward to the next game. When you can't win everything 98% of the time each individual win , each game winning hit, each masterful pitching performance takes on more significance. I don't expect to win everything . Percentages alone tell me that is folly. Hope and small victories keep me coming back year after year, after year , after year..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 QUOTE (greg775 @ Mar 31, 2013 -> 11:55 PM) I think what generally drives me crazy as a fan and winds up getting me suspended is when crazy stuff happens in our season. Like we'll have a rotten record in the Cell the first 2 months. Usually teams with the talent of the White Sox go 6-4 minimum on long homestands, not 4-6 or 3-7. I'd love for our team to be consistently good in the Cell. It'd save me pulling my hair out. What also drives me batty is never having a long winning streak. It seems like my team, the Sox, is incapable of one of those indescribably delicious 9-to-12 game win streaks that can really get the team well over .500 and establishing itself as a wild card contender. What also has driven me insane is losing to divisional foes, when those teams stink. Let's say KC has a typical KC season. It kills me when they dominate us in that scenario as the Royals did last year. Finally what drives me batty is the inability of Sox starters to complete six innings, preferably get one out in the seventh, even two outs. I am of the opinion the Sox have a heckuva difficult time covering nine outs with our bullpen. That said, I think I will be a lot calmer this year even if those things happen again ... cause my expecations are finally lower. They've remained high every year since 2005. I've had high expectations all those years that followed the WS title. This year I hope to enjoy baseball or at least not get so worked up. I don't expect us to get the wildcard which leaves the division title or bust. And I'm not too energized about our chances there. But I am kind of a wacko regarding the Sox. My opinion on most Sox matters totally deviates from the normal fan. GO SOX! LOL hearing your pre-emptive complaining about the Sox's play at home means it really is time for another year of White Sox baseball. Woo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabiness42 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Best thing about this thread? Today is the end of it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Apr 1, 2013 -> 07:23 AM) Best thing about this thread? Today is the end of it! Lock it up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 QUOTE (Brian @ Apr 1, 2013 -> 07:29 AM) Lock it up! I agree. Time to start anew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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