TaylorStSox

I would guess that if there were a true census of "real" fans in the Chicagoland area, the Cubs would have a slight lead. The Cubs dominate downstate. The difference is the park and the neighborhood. Bridgeport just isn't a great destination for partying.

I still see Viciedo as a potential 275/35/100 guy with an OBP around 330. In this era, that's a real valuable player. He did hit 25 homers as a 23 year old in his first full season. He's the type of player you try to acquire in a rebuild and we already have him.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 7, 2013 -> 06:18 PM) In theory. What makes it out there is still a mix. Just like cocaine. It's stepped on, but usually not with other drugs. Why would a drug dealer cut drugs with other expensive drugs? It's not economical. Some people prefer the cocktail. They buy pills. Back in my day, they actually had people at raves that would test your pills so you know what's in them, Dancesafe.org. I'm not sure if it still exists.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 7, 2013 -> 05:36 PM) Molly is just rebranded ecstasy. There is no "pure" mdma. It's not pressed into pills. Pure MDMA won't press into pills. It's actually pretty mild. Ecstasy is more of a smorgasbord of drugs, like a drug cocktail.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 7, 2013 -> 02:49 PM) Except he didn't bounce back to his career norms. If you throw out 2012 as an aberration, you still have 4 straight years of OPS drops since his career high of 2008. WAR and oWar have also been on a pretty steady decline. dWar was 0.1 from a career low. BA, SLG, OPB are also on a steady decline. No reason to think these trends won't continue, and probably they will accelerate. How much of that is in line with league wide drops in offensive production? I'm not an advocate of signing him. Just sayin...

The only reason to sign Granderson is if you can get a significant discount and flip him for prospects at the deadline.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 7, 2013 -> 12:18 PM) This was Viciedo and Rizzo. Just looking at splits, here's Rizzo over his last 1058 - .251/.330/.435/.765 And here's Viciedo over his alst 1016 - .260/.302/.436/.738 I thought there was on,y one golden boy. I should probably read the whole thread.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 7, 2013 -> 11:55 AM) No he's not, lol. How is he outproducing him? 265/14/56/731 in an injury plagued year 267/5/24/698 in an injury plagued year Beckham's defense is obviously better, but easily replaceable. Viciedo has a higher upside, better bat speed, a more fluid swing, stronger hands and consistently hits the ball harder. Advanced stats probably won't tell you any of that, but your eyes and ears will. Viciedo also doesn't have anyone in the organization pushing him. Beckham has Semien and Garcia. Even if Garcia hits 220, he appears to be a better fielder and has more tools.

Brian Anderson taught Gordon Beckham to take a walk.

LTP has 2 kids by Gordon Beckham's girlfriend.

Gordon Beckham makes Curtis Enis look good.

Let me keep spelling it out for you. Beckham is the worst. He's absolutely awful. Video games won't even let you create a Gordon Beckham. He's the biggest flop I've seen in any sport. Holy s***, he sucks. I actually hate him.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 26, 2013 -> 12:16 AM) Why am I an idiot? Explain. Beckham's defense made up for his lousy offense so I gave him a C. He's a f***ing average second baseman all-around which means C. He's a C if I've ever seen one. As far as Viciedo, he's been pathetic defensively, just pathetic, and he's a lousy to average hitter. So I gave him what I gave him, a D-plus. I was thinking C-minus and could accept that grade for him. What are your grades for them?? I don't think I deserved the "idiot" tag for those 2 grades. You're an idiot because Viciedo is a much better baseball player. f***. The numbers tell you that.

Nm

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 25, 2013 -> 11:05 PM) Sale A (team MVP) Crain - A - Quintana - A- Santiago B Peavy B Lindstrom C A. Garcia - B Rios - B Reed - B-plus Thornton C- Lexi - C Nate Jones C Gillaspie C-minus DeAza - C-minus Viciedo - D-plus Beckham - C to C-minus Dunn - D Keppinger - D Phegs - C-minus to D Flowers - F Konerko - D-minus Axe - F Ventura - F Cooper - C to B-minus Manto - F Beckham is a C and Viciedo is a D. You're an idiot. I need to step away from the Internet.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 25, 2013 -> 07:06 PM) You can't pretty much lose 100 games with no F's. Without looking it up, Keppinger has about 15 xbh's in about 600 PA's. He makes up for it with awful defense. If that's not an F, I don't know what an F is.

I'll just say some of these grades are insane.

It's like everyone forgets Beckham is one of the worst players in the AL.

I'm not going to get into a political debate, but it just amazes me that we live in an industrialized, supposedly progressive country where you can pay about 35% tax and still not have universal healthcare. I work around 60 hours a week. I'm the working poor. I'm fairly well educated, have a degree, provide a service people need and want, yet still can't afford health care. Its really embarrassing for us as Americans. I know several Europeans who work in the same industry, and their standard of living is on a whole different level. It really is night and day. Sure, my occupation is my choice. Yet, the amount of working poor in this country is just insane.

Oakland and TB are good when they have good pitching, especially Oakland. The A's play in a dump that's a pitcher's paradise. The Rays have been able to have a nice blend of stars and identify role players.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Sep 24, 2013 -> 10:02 PM) It's amazing how few teams see the advantages of platooning your hitters. It's one of the main ways Oakland and Tampa compete with their smaller payrolls. Because it creates a new set of problems. Most players need to play everyday. Few can only play match ups. This isn't XBox.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 24, 2013 -> 09:14 PM) His stuff isn't good enough to be a closer, IMO Reed reminds me of a poor man's Lidge when he only throws the FB/Slider. His best pitch is his change. It's downright nasty, but he just won't throw it enough.

I get data dropouts in the loop everyday around noon with AT&T.

This will sound crazy, but one of the most shortsighted moves the government made was by dissolving the leadership of these gangs, especially where the violence is most concentrated, between the GD's and BD's. When these gangs had strong leadership, they were governed by their own codes, rules and standards. There were real repercussions to breaking these rules. Now, there's no leadership and no structure. At one time, these gangs were pretty tight run organizations. Lawmakers were naive in thinking they could eliminate gangs. The reality is that these are multigenerational organizations that the members identify with before anything else. The number of gangbangers has only increased and now, with no leadership, you're left rogues and renegades who have grown even more violent. It worked with the mafia, but honestly the mafia had nothing on these guys. The entire scale is completely different. Unfortunately, there is no short term solution to quell the violence. I'm sure as hell not smart enough to come up with one. Actually, I do know. It starts with legalizing drugs and robbing the gangs of their purpose, to secure areas to sell the drugs. Take away their funding.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 22, 2013 -> 11:43 PM) Why does Robin all of a sudden want to manage forever? If his stance has completely changed, my guess is he'll sign that multi-year extension if it's offered again this offseason. If we suck defensively and on the basepaths again next year, Robin should be on the hotseat. He probably won't be, though, cause Sox are not going to be in the news much next season if we are out of it in May. My guess is attendance also will take a big hit this time if we suck a second consecutive season. p.s. To those of you who get mad when I bring up how expensive it is to go to a game, the current edition of ESPN the Mag has an article on best/worst franchises. The BEST FRANCHISES currently (Memphis Grizzlies is No. 1) are ones with very cheap season ticket prices and food prices. ESPN said surveys say AFFORDABILITY is huge now with fans. Fans don't want to be robbed at their sports venues. Finally, I'll be at the United Center this year to watch Duke play Kansas in men's college basketball and Kentucky play Michigan State. I have to drive a car to the United Center and not take public transportation. Do you think a.) I'll be mugged or b.) my car will be damaged/stolen? I have to stay a while after the game waiting for a friend who works at the UC. Will I be mugged going back to my vehicle? Thank u for all the answers. You're totally gonna get mugged in the land of sprawling parking lots and new condos. That neighborhood is downright scary. They don't call it Chiraq for nothing!