Greg Hibbard

Also...there are 13 home sundays on the schedule....and 68 other home games.

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Apr 17, 2014 -> 10:18 AM) A family of four can go to a sox game on a sunday for $30 which includes parking. Brookfield zoo is actually more expensive. You're including transportation to and from the ballpark and food, right?

I think it has much more to do with other factors than anything necessarily intrinsic to the White Sox. Recent home entertainment options have made the value of going to a baseball game vs. the cost of going to a baseball game absurdly disproportionate. If MLB teams do not wise up, they will lose almost everybody eventually. I'm sorry, but it is simply no longer worth $50-$100 to go to a regular season baseball game.

Boy, there's nothing I hate more than 1-out walks. Except 0 out walks and 2 out walks.

As instructed, I took it.

NP: The Jam - "The E(a)ton Rifles"

perhaps the diehards at the park can get 16-18 innings out of this perfect weather day for baseball

This has all the makings of a white sox game-3-of-a-series-about-to-sweep late-inning choke.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 31, 2013 -> 05:49 AM) 84 appearances, 83 starts, 537.2 IP, 36-29, 4.00 ERA, 7 CG, 3 SO, 1.15 WHIP, 7.97 K/9, 3.66 K/BB Is it just me, or do those peripherals not add up to a 4.00 ERA? Too many HR allowed with people on base?

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/i...g-the-white-sox Some pretty interesting insights into the intangibles like Schneider that are never considered when evaluating this franchise

Beckham showed flashes last year, but he's maybe the best player in baseball history at being just on the cusp of acceptable for the longest period of time

This team will do what 80% of our teams going back to 1999 have done, they will win between 79 and 87 games. They are set up to be competitive and to have a less than 50% chance of winning this division. I am sincerely hoping that once we shake loose of these huge contracts in the next 2-3 year, the general White Sox strategy of ensuring that the team is "competitive" and "has the opportunity to win the division" every year (at the expense of bottoming out) gets revised. White Sox fans aren't interested in a competitive team anymore, and if 2012 taught us anything, it's that being in first place even most of the year isn't going to put asses in seats unless the team wins the division. Pre-05, the 80+ win strategy ensured interest and some fans coming to games. Moving forward, it will be better to completely scrap heap the team every few years. The floor of ticket sales and budget is easier to deal with than the ceiling. There apparently is nothing to be done to raise that ceiling these days, especially considering live baseball is a particularly good entertainment value anymore at the price points it has swelled to, given the HD home entertainment alternatives. That's a whole 'nother thread and conversation.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Oct 29, 2012 -> 11:36 AM) You better live within the city limits... I'm not talking about a city/suburbs argument, and I think you know it. FWIW, I currently live within 2 miles (actually 1.25) of the city limits. For 12 years, I lived on the west side of the city proper. I have lived within 2 miles of the city limits for the last 30 years. I'm talking about other cities. People who abandon their cities for Chicago, but root against Chicago teams in a vitriolic, hypocritical way (this includes against the Bears, Blackhawks and Bulls btw) because "their team" representing "their city" is suddenly somewhat good again. These are fans of convenience who will literally ignore sports unless "their" team is suddenly in contention - and then suddenly there they are at the cell jumping on the bandwagon. Sorry for the vitriol.

The main reason I hate Twins, Tigers and Indians "fans" - many of them live in Chicago, because they abandoned their cities years ago. They attend games at The Cell to root for "THEIR TEAMS". You know, the ones who play for the cities they abandoned to come live in a real one. I loved seeing the various 40 year old female "chicagoans" with their brand spankin' new Tigers hats on the train the last two weeks. So yeah, f*** the other teams in the AL Central. And f*** fake Chicagoans.

2000 and 2008 were both electric experiences that allegedly were going to rejuvenate interest in the Sox and create a buzz and add credibility. Both were unexpected just like 2012 would have been. Both featured young players that were allegedly signs of good things to come. In both subsequent seasons, the team did significantly worse (which is not inconceivable for 2013, by the way - it could go either way) and there was no residual attendance bump from a playoff appearance anyway, in fact, the team actually lost a significant number of fans in both years. So, if your argument is that a single playoff GAME's revenue like 2008 would some sort of salvation for the franchise... well I guess...I disagree. The only thing that impacted the Sox was the WS win - and that was only for 2-3 years of a modest attendance bump. Sellouts every night? Root for another team. It will never happen.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 3, 2012 -> 02:13 PM) The Sox desperately needed to complete the deal this year to generate that playoff buzz and excitement that only the postseason can bring. A division title would have meant a real playoff series, not the one game wildcard bulls***. Jerry should be furious because that playoff buzz would have really helped this franchise regain credibility. Just like the attendance bump they experienced in 2001 and 2009, right?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 3, 2012 -> 02:05 PM) It wasn't a two year trend. It was a five year trend. Attendance has fallen every year since 2007. Ozzie didn't generate anything. As a matter of a fact we lost almost a million fans a year under his watch. More accurately, we gained a bunch of fans, and then lost them, under his watch.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 3, 2012 -> 01:54 PM) Thing is, '67 was considered a failure throughout history and this one is being shrugged off with the Sox still being applauded since "nobody expected them to be in contention and to lose 90 games." So how is the answer to "worst collapse in franchise history" not "1967"? I'm not sure what the point of your reply to me is.

As far as the topic at hand goes, '67 was worse.

The South Side is 3 times larger than the North Side, for one thing. I live in Oak Park, and Sox fans outnumber Cubs fans I know by like 3:1 Growing up (80s/90s) it was a more even split. Bear in mind I said BORN IN CHICAGO. How much of the 36k the Cubs draw every night do you think is comprised of tourists and transplants? Every transplant I know is a Cubs fan. I don't know a single transplant Sox fan.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 08:26 PM) I really believe the Sox are content with 25,000 and slightly more profit rather than 28-30,000 per game and posting any bottom-line numbers due to decreased prices for parking/tickets/concessions that are less than what they're currently getting at 25K per game. The problem with losing out on those 5,000 fans per game is that you're not developing the fanbase for the future...you're maximizing (or squeezing) the revenue in current terms, but probably "penny wise/pound foolish" long term IMO. This isn't the stone age, or even the Bill Wirtz-era Blackhawks. Fans at the game =/= fans of the team. The internet, HD television, and many other outlets allow people to follow the team just fine. IMO there are more fans born in Chicago that follow the White Sox than follow the Cubs. Cubs fans are largely boosted by tourists and transplants from Detroit, Minny, Cleveland.

Marty, you seem like a guy who understands internet forums pretty well. There's this thing about "credibility" that members of an Internet forum generate. Perhaps this point is lost on you. See, when certain people post on this forum, I read their content with great interest. What do you think your "credibility" on this forum is? From my point of view you have absolutely none, based on everything I have ever seen you post here. You, sir, are a vulture. The worst kind. You have waited all season to swoop in with the worst kind of hearsay possible. Your first thread, 8th in AL, slams the general manager baselessly, and when called out on your stupid s***, you feign ignorance and throw your hands in the air. Do you even realize what kind of jackass hypocrite that particular thread made you look like to 90% of Soxtalk? Probably not - or we wouldn't have gotten your Legacy thread. Your masterwork, if you will. See, here is the kind of thread I will heartily enjoy bumping for approximately the next 5 years. It completely sums up everything you need to know about Marty. It's filled with ridiculous nonsense only a gullible child could ever believe, and is so outrageously self servingly bitter. During a week when many Sox fans have had their hearts broken by this team, you just can't wait to pile on. You just cant help yourself. I think that speaks volumes of your intentions here. Congratulations on being a complete dick.

is this list filled with world-beaters/unavailable guys? I honestly don't know how many of these are available. http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/sor.../qualified/true

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Sep 28, 2012 -> 09:29 AM) Are there really? I'm not certain of that. Please let me know who is available to provide that kind of OBP for less. Ok, lets say you're right for a second - couldn't you get two .340 OBP guys for 13 million combined? I mean, IIRC Juan Pierre still has an OBP around .340.

I like most of your post but, 13 million for a .354 OBP? No thank you. There are many ways to get a .354 OBP and they don't cost 13 mil.