NWINFan

Kopech obviously has a world of talent, but I don't expect big things from him in 2020. He has only a tiny bit of major league experience and he still has to work on his command. 2020 is going to be a learning year him. If he develops quickly that would be great, but I see him as a young player who will do what other young players have to do: Learn to be a major leaguer.

The bottom line is that teams should earn their way into playoffs. Diluting the system is total BS. MLB has some serious problems right now. Changing the playoffs solves little if anything.

I am only one fan, but if they add any more teams to the playoffs, I will lose interest. The regular season is supposed to mean something. This will only cheapen it. One thing that was great about MLB is that it was different than other sports. Making it similar to the NBA of NHL is a dumb idea. And playing the World Series on the eve of November is also dumb. MLB can shove this crap.

I see your point, but I am not a believer of life-time bans. Long-term bans, yes. Life-time, no. Also, I am not a big fan of Rose. He has lied and continues his act of denial. I do think there should be a vote for his Hall of Fame consideration. I don't believe he should be connected to baseball in any official capacity. He has bet on baseball before; he will do it again.

No way. Trubisky is no where near Mahomes and never will be. Watching these two teams play, I can see the Bears are not even close to this level.

It will be interesting how this jewel event is handled since MLB would rather not talk about the 1919 scandal, and it wants little to do with the Joe Jackson legacy. And if MLB "re-instates" Joe Jackson, Pete Rose and his supporters will be demanding the same. That will not be a pleasant subject, and the Astros scandal only worsens everything. I think there should be a special ballot for the Hall of Fame. It should have two names on it: Joe Jackson and Pete Rose. This is a democracy. Let there be a vote.

I was under the impression that Major League Baseball was in total charge of this event. Is that not true? Are the White Sox in control? Some think Shoeless Joe Jackson will be re-instated, but who knows?

You could be right, at least to a certain extent. But if sign stealing is not a big advantage, why did the Astros spend so much time doing it? The main point of all of this to me is the intent to cheat. The game loses credibility when the fans doubt the results.

But they ended up not signing Wheeler. Meanwhile, I am not holding out hope for any mega signings in the future. If it happens, fine, but I am not expecting or hoping for it.

I don't know why. This FO will never sign mega-deals like this for any reason. They have shown what their philosophy is by this rebuild. Build from within and then add free agents that have contracts that are relatively short in length and don't go past $100 million. We will see how it will work. It has a chance go work. But fans should stop dreaming of deals like this. Not going to happen.

All I can say is that I am not jealous of anything related to the Cubs and that includes their over-rated ball park. But then again Sox fans shouldn't obsess about them. On the other hand, Cub fans have become more bitter and angry since 2016. You would think with their long-awaited championship, Cub fans would be on the mellow side. Instead, they feel they have to lash out at Sox fans even more. Their anger and bitterness is palatable. Why is that? Lovable losers doesn't work anymore? Someone got poison ivy from the ivy? By the way, does anyone know where I can get an "L" flag?

I agree with in spirit for most of this, but I really think a detailed investigation has to occur before any more punishment (if any) is handed out. The problem here is similar to other baseball scandals. MLB tends to look the other way, things blow up, and there is no real policy in hand to deal with the situation. The industry and the union need to get together to hammer out things regarding this and other kinds of cheating. There will always be some kind cheating or shading things. But certain things can't be tolerated and long-term action needs to be taken to provide real deterrence. Fans pay to go to games. They are entitled not to be cheated.

Players sounded like a bunch of arrogant wimps. They don't seem to have any idea what this scandal means and probably don't care. Hope they don't get near that World Series they seem to think they are entitled to.

Mahomes is a quarterback the Bears have never had: a real talent who no defense can stop.

I'm a big fan of McDowell, but this does sound like he wants attention again. Years ago, Milt Pappas wanted to be noticed so he admitted grooving pitches to Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle when they were chasing Babe Ruth in 1961. So, to get attention, Pappas admitted he was a cheater. I don't know what McDowell is trying to achieve here, but I'm not all that impressed. MLB is facing some big problems now, and it doesn't help if the picture gets muddied. We know that players and others push the envelope. Now, how do we decide how far that envelope can be pushed?

Yes, they did, Now it is on to the next scandal.

At the very least, MLB should have a decisive reaction to all of this. The industry should not want fans debating about cheating or wondering if players' performances are legitimate. The talk should be about division races and playoff possibilities not this nonsense. Franchises have had stadiums built with pubic funds. They can make money with a losing team. They are exempt from anti-trust laws. The least they can do is have an operation that is at least half-way honest. So many connected with Baseball are obscenely rich. Enough of this crap already.

Actually my last post was more of a shot at the FO than Ventura. The FO let the team go and 2013 was a horrible year. Ventura was put in an impossible position. I just would have wanted a different baseball man managing the club. Otherwise, 2013 just showed how the franchise had been neglected and only more losing followed.

Maybe you are right, but I looked at the hire as extremely important. The Guillen era was done. Whatever was left from the 2005 team was aging, and the franchise couldn't rest on past laurels anymore. The Ventura hire was interesting - for one day. Otherwise it made little sense. Everyone took it on the chin in 2013. After the Sox got slaughtered by the Cubs, things only worsened. Board members were quoted in the Tribune as saying they just left everything to Jerry. And since Jerry wasn't talking publicly, the appearance was that no one cared the team was on its way to its worst season in 43 years, coming one loss short of 100. So far it is the beginning of a losing streak that has lasted seven seasons. I remember one pop up in between the mound and the plate and three Sox infielders converged only to let it fall in the grass about 10 feet in front of home. Ah, the memories. I'm like most White Sox fans. I prefer to remember Ventura the third baseman, not Ventura the manager.

I don't really have anything against Robin Ventura then or now. But I will never understand why took a job he didn't want, or why it was offered to him in the first place. I only hope future managerial hires don't go this way.

Unfortunately, I have the feeling there is a lot of cheating going on, and the Astros are just a part of it. As I posted, MLB has to do a better job of policing itself. As fans, we have to decide just how much cheating we will tolerate, and how many scandals have to occur. Boycotting some games is one good solution.

MLB just has to do a better job of policing itself or one day the sport will truly suffer. Gambling had been a big problem with Baseball before 1919 but the powers-that-be looked the other way. Then came 1919 and the sport was lucky to survive. MLB knew about Rose and his gambling long before the Dowd Report. And we fans probably know only a fraction about what happened with Rose. And now the player with the most hits in history isn't even connected with the sport. All together Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa hit nearly 2,000 home runs, yet none are in the Hall of Fame yet. Fans want this minimum: They want an honest game, Yes, they realize many players are far from being role models. But if the game will not survive if fans believe games are being fixed one way or another.

Keuchel was in the same position as Buck Weaver was with the 1919 Black Sox. Weaver knew about the fix, but took no money, and played a honest Series. Yet, he was put in with the rest and banned for life. It was a ban he didn't deserve.

I think we all know that there is some kind of cheating in baseball. It starts in little league and works its way up. But what are we willing to tolerate? Yogi Berra used the rub the ball in the dirt during night games making it harder to see. During the 1950s and 1960s, the White Sox had great pitching and played in a big ball park. The team was accused of putting baseballs in the freezer. It was also said the grounds crew really dampened the dirt right in front of home plate. Is this cheating or home field advantage? As fans, we should at least hope for some honesty. We invest a great deal of emotion and money in the sport. If we come to feel game results have little integrity, there is no point going to a game.

There are so many great many great moments in 2005, they are hard to list. That last out in Detroit to cinch the division is one of the best. I had tears in my eyes out of relief. Then it just got better. That is why the last few years have been so hard. But these memories will last a lifetime. I agree with palehose1. The Konerko grand slam is the greatest moment in franchise history. It was so apt that Konerko was the player who came through. I just hope we get one more experience like this.