Look at Ray Ray Run

It's been tough! I watch more baseball played by other teams these days. Feel like raising my kid a Sox fan could constitute child abuse. I don't come here much because while I agree with the negativity 100%, I hate to be surrounded by it. It's why I watch less too. I'm fine being bad, we've been bad before and I find the joy in things still. This team though... this leadership. It's just different. Stoney telling fans to relax for years and then telling Lance Lynn to eat more salads this year. Jeeezus

The Big Lie is Over Seven years ago, on December 6th, 2016, the White Sox traded the best pitcher who ever put a White Sox uniform on. This trade symbolized the end of an era of White Sox baseball. Rick Hahn stood up at the podium and began laying out his plans for the future of this organization. A team that had, as he put it, been in an endless loop of perpetual mediocrity had seen enough; it was time to push this organization into the 21st century! At that time, fans were all in. They understood that the operational baseline for which the organization had operated in the 1990’s and 2000’s would not produce the results this fanbase deserved. Not only were the White Sox going to invest in player development and prospects, but they were also going to analytically move the White Sox into the modern era of baseball. Rick Hahn was saying all the right things, and all of his trades after the Sale move were lauded as big wins for the White Sox. For the first time since the early 1990’s, the White Sox had a top 5 farm system. Additionally, they had acquired the number 1 prospect in baseball; at least, accordingly to publicly available prospect data (more on that later). “Pray for the league” fans said over and over. Fast forward a little over two years, it’s now February of 2019 and Kenny Williams has just put his shades down to hide his shock. The White Sox spent much of the 2+ year period between 2016 and 2018 talking about their unprecedented financial flexibility, and here was their chance to show the world this organization means business. Yet, as Sox fans we really should have known better. After the White Sox misread the market on Machado – misreading the market should be put on Rick Hahn’s tombstone – they came out to the fanbase and proclaimed not to worry, THE MONEY WILL BE SPENT! Afterall, they offered Manny the best package, he just didn’t want to prove it! If you want to play for this elite organization, you’ve gotta be willing to prove it! Like any person in an abusive relationship, Sox fans ignored all the signs of danger. When a red flag went up telling us nothing had truly changed about the organization (such as the Machado situation), we looked on the field and fell in love with the narrative of tools of Moncada, Robert, Eloy and Kopech. The propaganda machine was on overdrive, and the organization had pulled the wool over my eyes for the last time. Just like all competitive rebuilding teams with aspirations for a World Series title do, the White Sox brought in a manager who required a nap-time clause be written into his contract to accommodate the fact that Connie Mack was calling him old. LaRussa had no interest in developing players or learning the modern game. He’d been out of the game so long, the last time he was involved the White Sox were actually competitive. Yet again though, the Hahn bots were setting the narrative that this was all Jerry’s fault. It’s always Jerry’s fault. What’s the truth though? Rick Hahn is a lawyer who had an edge writing contracts and exploiting eager young players who feared failure and wanted to make sure their family was set for life. Hahn’s entire tenure and reputation still revolves around the idea that he got young players to sign team friendly deals; completely forgetting the fact that Hahn had to trade those deals just to try and compete again. Hahn wasn’t even capable of building around 3 players producing 15+ WAR for about 21 million a year, yet we thought he could tear an organization down and rebuild it from the ground up. What Hahn really did was buy Reinsdorf three years of spending zero dollars on the team. During their rebuild, they hoarded international money instead of spending it on top talent, they lacked any minor league unison in messaging and development between levels, and players who came here couldn’t help but notice the lack of technologically driven developmental tools. In fact, by the time the White Sox purchased and began utilizing things like Rapsodo machines at the major league level, other advanced organizations had already moved on to more advanced and effective tools of evaluation. The White Sox had spent five years building the body of a Ferrari and then placing it on an engine from a Civic, because for them presentation was and will always be more important than production. The big lie bought the organization a decade; a decade of savings for Jerry and “benefit of the doubt” for Hahn. While LaRussa certainly put a damper on the organization, he’s not the reason this team has become the worst team in baseball during the peak of their contention window. Rick Hahn was quoted earlier this season talking about how writers and the likes surround themselves with the worst fans – negative fans, as Rick called ‘em. The audacity of Rick and Kenny to call out this fanbase is truly unbelievable. The White Sox exist in the countries third largest TV market but they’re one of three teams in MLB history not to give out a 9 figure contract; joining the likes of the Kansas City Royals and the Oakland A’s. It can’t be ignored that the Sox payroll is certainly competitive, but if you buy 10,000 rings from the dollar store, they’re not going to turn into a singular $10,000 diamond. That said, Rick Hahn going to the outlet store and buys only the items that aren’t truly on sale. During the past few years, Rick Hahn has wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on complete trash, topping it off with Andrew Benetendi who truly symbolizes the Hahn tenure as a baseball evaluator better than any other signing. Rick fell in love with Benetendi 8 years ago, and he was kicking himself for missing out on him from the draft. Despite the fact that Benetendi has regressed horribly since his age 23 season, never again eclipsing 3 WAR in a season, Hahn like his predecessor always gets his guy. It’s as if Hahn never changes his mind on a player despite endless amounts of data refuting his initial evaluation. At the end of it all, the White Sox fan and leadership relationship has never been more severed; never more broken. The trust that Hahn had unwarrantedly been granted by the fanbase was pissed down the drain alongside every other narrative and story this organization has sold since Reinsdorf took over. This time though? It has been even more obnoxious, more absurd and more offensive. At this point, Hahn has insinuated the fans are unreasonable; “no one takes this harder than me” Rick reiterates over and over again. While I am sure there is some truth to that, is this any different than Politicians standing in front of the country and saying “if only someone in power could do something about these issues?” No, because Rick Hahn made his bed and then blamed all the fans for how messy it is; for how uncomfortable, and cold it feels. White Sox fans are loyal to a fault, and they deserve so much better than the three stooges who stand up in front of them once or twice a year and blame them for the negative attitude around the team and the organization. While people think the big lie is a lack of money spent, the lack of farm system development, or a lack of accountability… while those may all be true, that’s not the big lie. The big lie this organization has sold the fanbase is that they care as much as we do. Kenny is “in a bad place” right now he’ll tell you, and Rick has to watch games on a treadmill. The failure is killing them just like it’s killing us. If only they knew someone who could do something to stop this, they would! They promise! While I’ll never stop being a White Sox fan; it’s engrained in my DNA… it runs through my veins. I’ve never watched less than I am today. I’ve never bought fewer tickets than I have this year and last. I’ve begun to prioritize other things in my life, because frankly why should I prioritize something so heavily that has never prioritized me? Baseball has been in my blood since I was a little kid and my love for the game has evolved along with each step of my life. For the first time ever, as a White Sox fan, this team has hampered that love. If Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams truly are in a bad place, and truly feel the same as the fans, then they should step down from their positions and end the big lie. Until then, Sox fans will be left longing for the days of perpetual mediocrity that Hahn promised to get us out of. To be fair though, that was one promise Rick Hahn did keep but sadly it was because they’re now just perpetually bad.

Opening day running to first lol

Risp and bases loaded production is pretty much always just statistical noise and I wouldn't worry much about it being a problem. The optimism should come from having that many opportunities this early in the year. They'll cash in sooner than later.

Robert is a streaky hitter. He never won't be. He'll carry you for three weeks but he'll also look a little lost at times.

The velocity was shocking.

No thanks. Perfect at 2:30 or less. How the game was played for a century.

First batch dropped about 5 inches of rain in an hour it felt like.

Guys tough as nails.

Sounds like it's exactly that. If you're on the bench this year, you'll be used as a pinch hitter or injury replacement. Otherwise there's not gonna be much time out there with the exception of right field.

Think this is ptsd from sox fans. One thing I had heard that was a shift for the org this year was they were going to act more like braves and have their starters play 155+ games. Hoping this is just due to the back and first series point you state. I'd like to see the starters play 150+ together

Yeah i think his command will still come and go, but the most exciting thing about cease last night was his efficiency. That was the next step he had to take.

The best part of the game to me, which is hilarious, was yo getting thrown out at 3rd with no outs in the 9th. It's a cardinal sin and a dumb play, but seeing yoan bust his ass out of the box to leg it out was something we never saw last year and it was a site for sore eyes. Play smarter, sure, but keep playing that hard boys. That's all I ask for.

Who will Harold blame now when a pitcher struggles??

Undefeated

? such a great comp

Look at that front leg plant and splat. My guy.

Solid baseball... leggo Edit spoke too soon

Day one. Game one. Year one. That's the mentality.

Lol why does Maldonado get the Michael Jordan treatment by the stros PA guy?

If you're not optimistic you're no baseball fan.

I'm fine with Colas first big league game not being vs framber.

Spring. Stats. Mean. Nothing.

I've been fine with your arguments so far, but spring training stats/hot is complete nonsense.

Crede is stoked to have a brother.