Paulie4Pres

The Hawks didn't suck until Bill passed away. They actually had several successful seasons under his time as owner. They have pretty much sucked for the last ten years or so, but it wasn't for lack of spending money, much like the White Sox. The franchise started to turn around when ownership showed the fans they were serious about putting a winning product on the ice again. Not just spending money to FILL SEATS, which is what Dollar Bill did, and what JR does with the Sox, but spending money to WIN. You really think the White Sox made moves like Griffey, Peavy, Manny, etc to WIN? No, they made big splash moves like that to SELL TICKETS and MERCHANDISE. Peavy is awesome, for the 1/4 of the season he is healthy. Griffey was awesome, ten years ago. Manny was awesome, five years ago. They make these moves for the hype, and because it sells tickets. Nothing more, nothing less. JR is a snake oil salesman.

Or, since we seem to be one of the worst teams in all of baseball at drafting and developing talent, maybe we should spend some money on our scouting staff instead of guys like Manny, Griffey, etc? You know, offer some of those Minnesota scouts big money to jump ship? Improve our minor league system FFS. Who was the last legit STUD to come out of the White Sox organization?

A team in a market like Chicago, crying about money, and not being able to spend on talent, is ridiculous. If you spend on talent, the money is there to be made. We aren't a small market here. If the Sox competed every year like the Yankees, the Cell would be FULL more often than not. Just common sense. The better the team, the more people go to games, the more people drink at games, the more people buy merchandise....

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 11:13 PM) Would you be happy with making the playoffs and losing ever year? How do you value success, if winning is all that matters then shouldnt it mean nothing if you aint got no ring? Sox spend to win. I will support them as long as they try to win. For most of my life they tried way less and I supported them, why am I going to go give up now? Not spending money on the team isn't giving up. It's investing wisely, and not throwing your money away.... If Chicago fans understood this, we might not go 50-100 years between championships. One could make an argument that the biggest reason the Cubs have sucked for years and years on end, is the fact that Wrigley is filled, win or lose. Same with the Bears and Soldier Field. Honestly, the only Chicago fans that "get it" are Blackhawks fans and Sox fans. The team sucks, and makes no efforts to get better, and you stop spending your hard earned money on them. It is common sense. Why should I pay for an inferior product? WINNING is the best marketing strategy you have as a sports franchise, so it's in your best interests to win.

QUOTE (Real @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 11:09 PM) Ticket sales equal roster payroll. Want the Baltimore Sox in 2012? Really don't care. If the team isn't willing to spend money out of their pocket to get better and correct their mistakes, it's not a team I want to support. The fans should NOT be paying for our organization's inability to draft well and develop players.

QUOTE (daggins @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 10:59 PM) Trust me, you don't want the Sox to win 60 games next year. Sixty games, ninety game, what does it matter if they don't make the playoffs? It doesn't.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 11:03 PM) Ridiculous pickup. We were already 3/4 buried when he arrived. Even so, he just has nothing left to offer the game of baseball. The guy NEEDS to be juicing, that much is obvious to anyone that has watched him bat since he got caught. The end of the season and the end of his time as a White Sox player cannot come soon enough.

No offense to the ManRam fans, but he needs to just hang it up. It's obvious he's pretty much useless when not on the juice. The guy just CANNOT catch up to any good fastballs anymore, and his clutch hitting ability is GONE. I will honestly be upset if the Sox bring him back next year. Strikeout after strikeout. See ya Manny, way to suck when not cheating.

Only if the Twins don't win another game against the Central all year. But, I don't think anyone here believes the Sox will sweep all three of those series to finish up the year. Typically, you have to BEAT your division, to win your divison. It seems like the Sox just don't understand that.

So, the Sox are 28-32 against the Central. You don't win your division by having a LOSING RECORD in your division. Sox don't deserve to make the playoffs. Period.

Kotsay is fail.

We could not be setup to lose this game any more than we are tonight. Let's hope we defy logic.

Actually, I'm pretty sure he had it x-rayed at the ballpark... At least, that's how it sounded to me.

The only thing that drives me nuts about Ozzie, is him taking the bat out of the hands of guys that are raking, to lay down a sacrifice bunt. Sac bunts that often times SUCK. When everyone on the team is hitting the ball well, especially during that game, you MAKE THE PITCHER GET YOU OUT. You don't hand them outs. Drives me NUTS. He belongs in the NL managing like that, where he can have his pitchers lay down sac bunts all game long.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Sep 6, 2010 -> 10:55 PM) If Thome isn't on the Twins and Morneau gets hurt yeah I agree, but if Moreneau doesnt get hurt Thome hardly gets playing time. Kubel is their primary DH, and deserving so, and Thome's contributions are minimal because of his reduced playing time, as was their plan from the get go when signing him. That's the thing though.... Morneau's injury hasn't hurt the Twins a whole bunch, because Thome has been pretty damn good for them... Take Thome off the Twins, stick him on the White Sox, and we're probably up three games with the Twins chasing us.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Sep 6, 2010 -> 10:40 PM) Its one of those baseball oddities that sees an inevitable correction....RIGHT?? We can hope?

Not only would Thome have been an upgrade for the Sox at DH, we would have kept him AWAY from the Twins, which I think is the bigger picture that most people here are missing. If Thome isn't on the Twins, the Sox are probably in first place right now. Not bringing back Thome could turn out to be the deciding factor in us not winning the central. Especially if the Twins squeek it out by a game or two. I'd say it's a big deal, but whatever.

I think we need to just concentrate on winning the game we're playing. Looking ahead or concetrating on any other team is pointless, as you cannot control what they do. Just play baseball and keep winning the games you should win. We've won six in a row, on the road, and we've picked up a half game....

QUOTE (danman31 @ Sep 1, 2010 -> 02:31 PM) It depends on how he does in spring. If his stuff translates as a starter (and it should, his changeup will come into play more often), he should be given a shot in spring. The offseason will probably decide his role. If a current starter gets dealt or if Peavy isn't ready for the start of the year then Sale should be a starter. The thing is, if you make him a reliever he won't be able to replace an injured starter. Which spot has more value? I think you make him a starter. Peavy will more than likely get hurt again, even if he's ready at the start of the year. It is just inevitable. It would be nice to have a guy like Sale to throw into that spot.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 1, 2010 -> 02:16 PM) The most impressive thing is that he pitched over the most made-to-order DP in the history of the game and didn't blink or make excuses, then let the game get away from him. You know Carlos Zambrano would have flipped out there. He was aiming the ball a little bit after the 2 walks, his radar readings then were "only" 93-94-95 (versus 95-100, consistently 97). What's most impressive is his ability to already control a much better slider than Thornton...and from what everyone says, his change-up might be his best pitch, and he's not even using that out of the bullpen. I realize Chapman and Henry Rodriguez with Oakland are getting a ton of hype too, but I can't think of two more impressive arms joining the White Sox (E-Jax, too) in the span of 2-3 months that didn't exist at the beginning of the season in our imaginations. A lot of scouts would take Chapman over Sale, and there are going to be concerns about his durability because of his slight frame and his mechanics/delivery...but we should just enjoy it while it lasts. Sale took down the toughest hitter on the Indians in Choo and Ozzie/Cooper had their faith in both Santos and Sale. Proves that Ozzie will trust a rookie, although the choice was pretty obvious to most. Right now, with Jackson, Danks, Floyd, Buehrle, Peavy and Sale, we have a combination of the the best six potential starters collected anywhere in MLB. There's no debate about it. Quite a turnaround from June 9th when many thought our talent was in the bottom 5-10 teams in MLB. Good post.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Sep 1, 2010 -> 02:06 PM) At this point someone is gonna pay him big bucks, not sure if he wants to take another home town discount. Sure, but it's not like we have a ton of guys in our lineup that are crushing the ball this year. As I said, if you don't pay him, who do you replace him with, and how much money does it actually save you? After seeing the mess at DH this year, I'm scared to see what the Sox do if they let Paulie go to another team...

QUOTE (JorgeFabregas @ Sep 1, 2010 -> 02:03 PM) And then he threw a ball. Me thinks he was a little amped up. A ball at 99... Amped up? Yeah, I think so. But he settled down and struck out the best hitter on their team and one of the hardest guys in the AL to get out. Works for me.

So, how do we not bring him back next year? I realize he's 34 this year, but I still think he has a couple good years left in the tank. If we don't bring him back, how do we replace him and his production, and what does it cost us to replace him?

Chris Sale is a gamer.... Man.... I could read his lips at the end of the game there. "One f***ing pitch. Just one mother f***ing pitch."

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 30, 2010 -> 09:59 PM) There's someone else in the movie besides Carla Gugino's tits? Jessica Alba...