South Side Hit Men

MVP!!!! Suck it Ron! 1-0!!!

Love that we can skip over 15-20 pages of bitching about calls as displayed on the TV pitch box tonight.

Can of Corn! Come on Sox!!!

There is a speed gun somewhere, because Len just called the pitch and MPH.

Sox got away with one there.

15 minutes in, one at bat completed. Len and DJ not too far ahead of the TV Broadcast, TV on mute for me.

Damn Yankees.

About 8,000 Outlanders on hand for this one.

White Sox Regular Season Home Game Record through August 11, 2021: 445-252 South Side Park III 1901-1910 (West 38th Place (now Pershing) & South Princeton Avenue, Chicago, Illinois) 3,326-2,889 Comiskey Park 1910-1990 (324 West 35th Street, Chicago, Illinois) 8-12 Milwaukee County Stadium 1968-1969 (201 South 46th Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) 1303-1097 Comiskey Park II 1991-2021 (333 West 35th Street, Chicago, Illinois) 0-0 Field of Dreams 2021 (28995 Lansing Road, Dyersville, Iowa)

It's "play catch", not "have a catch".

I use this for playoff tracker: https://www.mlb.com/standings/wild-card/2021-08-12

I may be in the minority here, but I'm fine with giving 10-15 games off a season. The Sox are nowhere close to giving guys 30 games off. A few of the extra "games off" this year are due to the increase in doubleheaders for COVID, guys playing one game and skipping the second. Last year was a 60 game sprint, so it made more sense to push things, though Jose and Tim still should have had more than 0-1 scheduled games off, IMO. They sat their core Wednesday to ensure their stars would be available for the hyped corn game today. 2021 Gamedays Off (does not count a game off if a player played one of two doubleheader games) 2 Luis Robert (Plus 60 + day IL stint) 5 Tim Anderson (Plus 10 day IL stint) 6 Jose Abreu 11 Yoan Moncada 2020 Gamedays Off (does not count a game off if a player played one of two doubleheader games) 0 Jose Abreu 1 Tim Anderson (Plus 10 day IL stint) 4 Luis Robert 8 Yoan Moncada

They have an off day to find him.

Fans have been taking counter-measures for decades, they increasingly stop going / stop watching. "If you ruin it, he will leave." Television Ratings: All Star Game: 1981 20.1 1991 17.4 2001 11.0 2011 6.9 2021 4.5 World Series: 1980 32.8 1990 20.8 2000 12.4 2010 8.4 2020 5.2 MLB Baseball Attendance per game: 2009 30,213 2019 28,199 Minor League Attendance also crashing (8/10/21 article) https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/68881/moonshot-minor-league-attendance-is-crashing/

Hernandez has had a good start here, and I expect him to play well, but with the talent here, I expect him to be in the bottom third of the order. Now that everyone has returned, I would the Sox to have a primary standard lineup, and not fret about this or that platoon matchup EVERY. SINGLE. GAME., but it makes too much sense to expect this to happen. (OPS Career Platoon Splits RHP/LHP) SS T. Anderson (.721/.851) 3B Y. Moncada (.807/.708) # 1B J. Abreu (.846/.922) DH E. Jimenez (.897/.756) C Y. Grandal (.794/.799) # LF A. Vaughn (.679/1.048) CF L. Robert (.722/.901) 2B C. Hernandez (.737/.737) # RF A. Engel (.617/.690) - Playing way above these numbers the past two seasons For backup catcher games, backup catcher bats 8th, Vaughn, Robert and Hernandez move up one, Engel stays at the bottom for a second speedy sparkplug before the top of the order. Not saying they need to grind these guys out everyday over the next seven weeks, just that they should have a set lineup for the playoffs, and not fret platoons or anything else Shelly Duncan puts in front of La Russa. These guys are talented enough to play every game, this lineup is the best defensively, and there is no reason to worry about squeezing in someone for some theoretical platoon advantage.

Solid article. Like Tim I have also not seen Field of Dreams beyond a few minutes flipping around, and have no plans of seeing it.

Hitters are max effort as well, hence all the oblique issues. 20-30 games is not really accurate in terms of assigned rest / load management. 1-2 games off per month is reasonable, both then and now. Abreu, Yoan and Tim are adhering to this. Leury is the hardest working utility man in show business. Luis didn’t get a day off until he landed on the IL, he likely will play near everyday once he is fully recovered. Engel is also still working toward full strength.

Pregame show starts on FOX at 5 PM CDT, Game Broadcast begins at 6 PM CDT, expected first pitch at 6:15 PM CDT. This will be the first White Sox game managed by Miguel Cairo, though I believe this will count in Tony La Russa's managerial record. He is on bereavement leave, expected to return for the next White Sox game, also against New York, in Comiskey Park on Saturday. This will also be a home game for the Chicago White Sox, the first played outside of Chicago since they hosted the Detroit Tigers in Milwaukee County Stadium in front of 42,808 on August 26, 1968, a 3-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers. This is also the first Major League game played in the State of Iowa. The probable starting pitchers for today are LHP Andrew Heaney (7-8; 5.45 ERA), acquired by New York at the trade deadline vs. RHP Lance Lynn (10-3; 2.04 ERA) acquired for Avery Weems and Dane Dunning on December 8, 2020, and extended through 2023 on July 18, 2021. Projected lineup per MLB.com are as follows: New York A.L. : CF B. Gardner ^; DH G. Stanton; RF A. Judge; LF J. Gallo ^; 2B DJ LeMahieu; 1B L. Voit; 3B R. Odor ^; C K. Higashioka; SS A. Velazquez # Chicago White Sox: SS T. Anderson; RF A. Engel; 1B J. Abreu; DH E. Jimenez; 3B Y. Moncada #; LF A. Vaughn; CF L. Robert; 2B C. Hernandez #; C S. Zavala Notable Yankees on the IL include C Gary Sanchez, 1B A. Rizzo; SS G. Torres; 3B G. Urshela; OF A. Hicks; SP G. Cole; SP L. Severino; SP D. German; SP C. Kluber; SP J. Montgomery; RP A. Chapman.

I only think of Jim Boylen's gaffe at this point when I hear this.

Kenny Williams would opt for Frank as Thulsa Doom in this scene from Conan The Barbarian (Money shot 2:00-2:45).

Hopefully they will once Robert and Eloy can play regularly. Rodon will be a big loss if he misses more than a few starts, especially since they aren't considering Kopech for starts like they did in the first half, despite the fact they acquired two solid backend relievers. Not sure why Katz said Kopech's role would be limited to short high leverage playoff appearances. when a solid pitcher who can give you 2-3 innings in the playoffs is much more valuable. Just hoping they can return to first half form, with the improved lineup (CF, RF, 2B and in September C) and fortified bullpen, offsetting any possible starter regression. Really hope they activate Hamilton for the playoffs, he can single handedly win a game with his glove or on the base paths.

Minnesota isn't as desperate to sell of anyone/anytime like Cleveland, There were no reported discussions or rumors that the Twins would have considered giving Colome to help the White Sox. The Twins had a ton of guys they could have dumped just to save money, https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/07/the-twins-looming-deadline-decisions.html They wound up limiting trades to Cruz (40 years old/final year in contract), Happ (who has sucked all year and was about to be dropped from their already depleted rotation), and Berrios (solely because Berriors had zero interest in an extension with the team). They were stubborn and wouldn't give up Buxton for any of the packages offered, or trade pending Free Agents Pineda or Simmons, Cleveland, Washington and Ricketts' Cubs were the three teams desperate to shed any salary they could at the deadline. The Twins weren't.

The primary two criticisms this series were valid. Keuchel has demonstrated he is not effective after 5 innings / 3rd time through. Even if Tony was "trusting his gut", or once again trying to steal an out or inning, it was irresponsible to have nobody warming up to start the inning, or leave him in after he walked Sano. Today people are bringing up "Ozzie's Sunday Lineup", but Ozzie used primary lineups most other games. Tony is always fretting about this or that platoon, regardless of whether a player even has a platoon advantage. Rest one or two guys a game, or when you're up 8-0 after 5 innings like they were Monday vs. dumping all four bench guys into the lineup today and hoping they score a few runs. Your bench is already weakened by losing guys like Hamilton due to injury, or demoting Sheets so you can keep Lamb around to cash ML checks and play a couple games a month. Earlier this year, I stated good managers typically have a better second half record than first, because they use the first half of the season to sort through the roster so that they can optimize usage in the second half. Tony definitely needed the benefit of the doubt this year with a brand new roster and being outside of managing for a decade (he came into 1980 familiar with the roster after taking over midway through 1979), and the team played great this first half largely due to the starting staff. Ozzie was 64 games over .500 and three games under .500 as White Sox manager. Tony's team is once again trending this way, despite a very soft second half schedule and all but Grandal returning. Time will tell if this will continue to play out. Tony's White Sox managerial record (First Half / Second Half) 1980 39-42 / 31-48 1981 31-22 / 23-30 1982 45-37 / 42-38 1983 42-39 / 57-24 1984 41-40 / 33-48 1985 40-41 / 45-36 2021 49-32 / 18-15 First Half 287-253 .531 / Second Half 249-239 .510 2021 Second Half Opponents: (White Sox Record Against, Opponent, Opponent 2021 Winning Percentage): 2-1 Houston .596 1-2 Milwaukee .596 2-1 Cleveland .495 0-2 Detroit .478 3-0 Chicago NL .452 <= Played after they dumped Rizzo, Bryant, Baez, Kimbrel, Tepera 5-5 Minnesota .435 <= 1-2 after Minnesota dumped their best hitter (Cruz) and pitcher (Berrios). 2-5 Kansas City .434 3-0 Baltimore .342

Well they warmed Kopech up today, but let him sit to allow Ruiz to pitch another high leverage situation. Perhaps warming him up but not using him will let him transition from 50-60 innings to 200. Wainwright did it fifteen years ago. Tony’s gut tells him it’s the smart path for Kopech. No need to think when you have a gut.

SoxTalk (Monday): It’s so great everybody is back. SoxTalk (Wednesday): Sox scored zero runs. It’s irrelevant Tony sat half the regulars all at once, and sat all his best relievers for another one run loss. Tony has mastered the one run loss. His poor decision making and antiquated bullpen management is not going to magically improve, against far better teams, in October. This year, or as long as he is allowed to fester.