TaylorStSox

VLC.

The sixth season of SOA has been absolutely incredible. As soon as you leave a good show, it draws you back in.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 11:25 PM) If you didn't like Revelations I wouldn't play III. I thought III was the worst of the franchise since I, but I also liked Revelations. IV however is better, although a huge game. It's the biggest of any AC game by quite a bit. IGN has their nominees only now: Bioshock Infinite Device 6 Dota 2 Gone Home GTA5 Last of Us Zelda Super Mario 3D World Tearaway Tomb Raider I got really bored of the running engine and the combat. It's so repetitive and so easy to manipulate. I also got tired of the story. Desmond, you're a drag. You've been the low point in ever AC game since the beginning. I actually loved Brotherhood though. At that point, I thought the series peaked and should have been retired.

Everyone that actually goes to see Spike Lee's version of Old Boy should be forced to watch the original first. What a joke.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 08:02 PM) They're really going to have to be careful about who they employ at SS if this is the case. If Ramirez is traded, Sanchez is the one with the best defensive profile for that position. Now that 2 of the top 4 FA's (position players) for next season are probably no go's for the Sox (Headley and Sandoval), Hanley Ramirez becomes the most interesting candidate for SS, but he's not really a full-time SS at this point in his career, unless you are willing to only get 100-120 games out of him. That said, offense wise, he's far and away the most interesting FA target because of the hit tool he brings to the SS position. It's going to be an interesting decision to invest the next big contract numbers into C, SS or the starting rotation. As far as Peavy goes, I'm willing to say he gave us a good 1 1/2 seasons out of 4... Garcia. I haven't seen enough him to really know how good he is, but my god that kid's got some tools.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 04:33 PM) 11 minutes needed to repeat yourself? Um, ok. I was hoping nobody would acknowledge those posts and he would throw a temper tantrum. Damn it, Balta!

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 04:48 PM) Obviously, some of it is the quality of the team, but it had the fewest amount of doubles - 213 (PetCo was next at 225, Fenway led with 348), second fewest amount of triples (Dodger Stadium had 11, USCF had 12, Camden Yards had 14), while allowing the 6th amount of home runs (179). In 2012, it was 22nd in doubles with 255 and 21st in triples with 23 while being 3rd in homers with 228. In 2011, it was 28th in doubles with 242 and 25th in triples with 19 while being 10th in homers with 166. I think there is some credence to what you are saying, but a lot of times, you can't control how far fly balls fly. USCF, compared to Dodger Stadium which is a similar sized park, tends to see balls fly out to left field instead of having the wind push it back into the stadium. Interesting. I've always thought it was a terrible park for line drive hitters and a great park for HR hitters. I've always been in favor of the Sox loading up on power hitters for this reason.

I wonder what the numbers are in our park for doubles and triples. The gaps seem to play incredibly small. I actually think it's a good park for fly ball pitchers because the gaps balance out the HR's. I have no evidence to back this up; just thinking aloud.

Because they aren't very good.

I haven't played anything since Borderlands 2. I have the entire weekend off and am looking to buy something to flip in a couple days. I'm thinking either AC III, Bioshock Infinite or The Walking Dead. I'm leaning towards Bioshock. I loved the first 2. I was a big AC fan until Revelations, which I played for a couple hours and put away.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 09:45 AM) Like Steve said, I did play a port (although FIFA was supposed to be a very good port). However, you do understand that developers rarely develop specifically for the PC anymore right? So pretty much all PC games are ports, just with better resolution and AA. So of course I expected better from a next gen console considering the PS3 was basically a PC from 2006. I apologize, man. That post came off very assholish and I just meant it as a joke.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Dec 18, 2013 -> 06:24 PM) I play a lot of PC games on my gaming rig, so I know what games look like with in 1080P with AA. I played the PS4 for the first time today (it was FIFA 14) and I was not impressed with the visuals at all. That said, I did get NBA 2K14 and Madden 25 for $20 combined after trading in 6 PS3 games and a controller. So you played a console and it didn't stand up to your PC? Well, that's revolutionary. In other news, the Yankees are still good.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 07:18 PM) I think it explains some of it. Players don't have the "strength" they used to so they need to lengthen the swing and pull the ball more to try to hit the HR. The big contracts go to the HR guys so this approach increases the Ks. It's like before the rampant PEDs, the HR hitters were high strikeout guys. It was rare to have high ave., OBP and HRs. There's not a doubt in my mind that the ball had way more to do with the era than the juice. Guys have been roiding for decades and still are. The ball is what turned warning track power into tiny SS's hitting 25 HR's a year.

I think W/L still has some value. More often than not, due to rotations, good pitchers face other good pitchers. Despite overall numbers, some pitchers have the propensity to give up big hits. Some pitchers rise to the occasion better than others. Some guys are just "winners." Not everything in the game is tangible. There's no doubt in my mind that momentum exists in sports and there really isn't a stat to explain it. Occasionally you'll see pitchers that win a lot of games without the best peripherals. Some of those guys just know what it takes to get a win.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 08:26 PM) The one thing people aren't calling him is "elite" and if he isn't an elite SS then him and Davidson pencils in as a weak left side. It could get better with experience but that's how it would be on paper. How many times have we seen defensive scouting reports be completely wrong? Alexei's scouting reports were totally off base. For the vast majority of players, you really need to see them play consistently to judge their defense. I'll trust the Sox' judgement.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 07:42 PM) He just didn't like the White Sox philosophy under Kenny Williams of trading for need, rather than getting full market value. Hahn's philosophy is closer to his and the sabre types. There's nothing to indicate that Hahn hasn't traded for need either. He may have been able to get more for Santiago, it seemed to be the consensus, but he wanted Eaton. Same with Peavy really.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 07:37 PM) How much have you seen him play? I would guess not near enough to know what kind of defender he can be. Pardon me for using all the scouts' opinions who have seen him play. Nice rebuttal. I haven't seen any scouting reports that say he's a bad defender. I also don't put much value in scouting reports from "scouts" that haven't seen much of him.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 07:10 PM) I value a SS's defense too much to put Semien there. At best he is acceptable. I'd prefer us to bring in a younger version of Alexei and give Semien the 2B job after the Beckham situation sorts itself out. How much have you seen him play? I would guess not near enough to know what kind of defender he can be.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 03:25 PM) I'd guess De Aza, Gillaspie, and Keppinger are all gone at the very minimum. I think Dunn, Beckham, and Ramirez are probably being shopped at the moment too. If just the first 3 are moved (and depending on who is brought back), I think you see a bench of Nieto, Elmore, Danks, and Konerko. If you move Dunn, you could see another bat being added or perhaps Gillaspie remains on the team. If Beckham is moved, I see Semien making the roster. If Ramirez is moved, I see a competition between Garcia and Semien for the SS spot. I am legitimately excited for the team at this point. I don't think they make Semien compete for the job. When he's ready, it's his job. I like empowering young players and letting them play without looking behind their back. Kids press too much and fail in that scenario. I'm still very intrigued by L. Garcia. He's a dynamic player.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 01:15 PM) His fastball wasn't nearly as fast as was advertised, as he seemed to be in the 92-94 range as opposed to 94-96mph range like we were told he was at in the minors. That was by design, same as Sale. Reed is much better at 93 vs 96. This organization doesn't give a s*** about velocity.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Dec 15, 2013 -> 12:06 PM) Balta, do you really need an explanation? Do you not know who John McEnroe is? If so, do you not know about his famous question to a linesman? "You can't be serious? Or, do you think Hawkins will have a "snapback season" as Dick Allen hopes for? This guy's made it clear he has a vendetta against Hawkins. A lot of his posts are just railing the kid.

Considering he needs to come up with $30,000 to get out, you probably won't be seeing him. Call a family member and have them gets his belongings.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 12, 2013 -> 02:49 PM) December 4th. What's impressive is that right after he signed, he donated both kidneys to sick children and saved 10 puppies from a house fire , all while travelling to the Phillipines to bring relief supplies to the typhoon victims. And he did all this while wearing a #40 jersey in honor of the Hawk (because his #12 jersey was at the cleaners). And it didn't even stop him from being an insufferable prick. What's a brother to do?

QUOTE (hi8is @ Dec 12, 2013 -> 03:26 AM) I know he was a highly touted prospect but he's never put it together thus far in the bigs. From what I recall, he's a somewhat questionable defender, strikes out a lot, has a low walk rate, but has the potential to be a cost controlled heavy slugging catcher - especially if paired at the cell. Not overly excited about this prospect but it's worth some discussion. You just said "Tyler Flowers."

I think the best thing to do with Dunn is to hang on to him, pray he has a great first half, and flip him for a real prospect. I think it's worth risk.