kitekrazy

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 26, 2013 -> 12:46 AM) Or the beat writers are covering for Ventura because they feel sorry for him and believe it's not really his fault, that the team is just either getting old (Konerko) or lacking in talent. It's pretty rare that beat writers step out and openly confront something like this unless they have some inkling the manager's days are numbered and he's going to be leaving soon...that the tide/momentum has shifted enough to give them cover. Maybe with the Ozzie/KW war, it would be less unusual because it was much a PR/spin war in the media (and social media) than anything else. I think it could be he is too likeable. He's not really defensive like Ozzie and the previous managers.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 06:44 AM) That's kind of the point of the whole debate between Balta and Dick Allen. The truth lies somewhere in-between. There are always some players who seem to be progressing and then mysteriously regress, too. Gordon Beckham would be a perfect example. Some would blame it on make-up/character/stubbornness. Some on attitude. Some on the coaching staff. Some on those around Gordon who "enabled" him throughout university and into the first round. Some on the scouts who missed mechanical flaws that would be exposed at higher levels. Some on the inability to make adjustments. Many many issues. The Sox seem to suffer this with veteran player FAs as well. It's like a curse. I still think scouting and instruction need an overhaul. Beckham is not a total disaster compared to some of the other Sox prospects. He could fit on a team that doesn't rely on his offense but needs his defense like the 2012 Tigers. This organization has had some really bad flops that even semi-pro teams wouldn't sign them.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 06:19 PM) That's why you have to ask for more. It's the tigers. No way you lose that trade. Caste llanos is worth far less than y'all realize. Ilitch wants to win this year not develop a prospect. This. Plus the Tiger have a pretty good pitching coach. They might take Reed.

Maybe I'm wrong but isn't Sale suppose to move to the 1st base side away from the play?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 10:16 AM) Have you seen the Bartman 30 for 30? That was game 6, but the kid filming from the stadium gave a good feeling as to how anxious the place was. I started watching that. Most us were watching the TV broadcast. What's real interesting how classless Stone was on the radio over that. The funniest thing is Gov. Rod B., "He'll never get a pardon from me." It's a testament on how classless the Cubs organization is and how barbaric we have become as sports fans.

QUOTE (My_Sox_Summer @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 08:57 AM) AJ provided this team with a leader and a voice. An attitude. They are really missing that this year. This team is very vanilla, someone needs to step up and make some noise. Pauly isn't gonna do it. Dunn isn't gonna do it. Peavy talks a good game, but doesn't carry it over clearly. We need a leader. AJ doesn't make us a contender, much like Flowers doesn't make us a losing team. That being said, a World Series trophy is only second to a Super Bowl trophy in this town. NBA would be 3rd. Hockey 4th. There are a TON of Blackhawk bandwagons right now, that happens. It says alot that the Stanley Cup finals was on a channel that many folks didn't even get on their regular cable/dish. Hawks sell tons of tickets, and keep raising their prices. No one even complains. The wagon is going strong, ride it till the wheels fall off! I enjoy the Hawks, but I am in no way a die-hard fan. And hell, I'd watch the Playoffs of just about any sport. The team has been vanilla for quite some time. They need a young superstar like Frank in his prime. Chris Sale doesn't fill that void since he is a pitcher.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 08:55 AM) I fell in love with the team and hockey in general during this stretch. So awesome. I gotta save some money to buy a ticket when the Hawks comes to town. I'm 3 miles away from Jobing.com Arena.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 08:45 AM) No one in their right mind would argue hockey's place on the national stage but this city has absolutely fallen in love with the Hawks. Look at the sell out streak, ticket prices, tv ratings, whatever you want to look at, Chicago has been hockey crazy for a bit now. Funny how winning does that.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 07:29 AM) Except for that whole double 3-peat thing in the 90s Yeah that's a real stain in Chicago sports history.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jun 24, 2013 -> 08:10 PM) NO trades for salary relief. Get maximum talent. The budget will be smaller next year anyway as we regroup - there's the salary relief. I'm against trading Peavy at the break unless it's too good to be true. I would see what he fetches in the off season.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 24, 2013 -> 08:18 PM) Part of it was deliberately pitching around Gordon to give up a run (that's my opinion). Then you just had some bad luck with Crain fielding (one of the better overall athletes on the team)...it's not like he was hit around. I know the 2nd single of the inning just kind of plopped in there as if it was deliberately thrown from home plate. My perception is that he was deliberately giving up the streak and thought Escobar was an easier out, the right play statistically. But Crain had also thrown roughly 100 pitches in outings almost back-to-back-to-back...Ventura was REALLY pushing his luck, too. He's lucky that he's still an asset for the White Sox after how Robin has ridden him so hard (like Peavy last year). So it's easy to make Ramirez the fall guy since he hasn't been playing well. I watched the replay from behind the SS view. That ball was suppose to get closer to the ground as it bounced. After the 2nd hop it took flight. It also looked liked he was on the OF grass. Was he really playing that deep?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 24, 2013 -> 09:09 PM) What's your intuition telling you, then? Is it Ventura being too lax with players who consistently are making mental/physical errors and demonstrating a lack of concentration/focus that's almost inexplicable? The other coaches are simply not doing their jobs, like Parent? Bad luck? Is there really a correct answer? Some players can be coached and it brings short term success. Basically after that they return to their norm.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 24, 2013 -> 05:01 PM) Last year we heard over and over and over again that it was the most fundamentals-oriented spring training any of them ever went through. This year we haven't heard a peep even resembling that. Whether it was the WBC schedule, the fact that the team tired out last year, whatever...they didn't do the fundamentals focus they did last year and the results speak for themselves. We've given up more unearned runs this year so far than we did all of last year. Not to mention the missed cutoff men, etc. The most blatant one is the rundowns. outside of Youk who wasn't there for ST, it seemed like every rundown last year was executed perfectly. That's just a skill to practice; run at the guy and then 1 throw. We nailed that just about every time last year. This year I don't think I've seen it done correctly once. No one practiced it. Not a soul. Maybe he didn't realize how well it worked/ how important it was to last year's success, maybe he stopped caring, maybe the players stopped caring, maybe he decided the team was too tired at the end of the year. Whatever the reason was, I'd have extended him several years last offseason for hwo good the team looked. I want him fired now for how bad this team looks. The other thing that stood out last year was their approach at the plate.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 02:00 AM) Yeah, it's nice to see a Chicago team win it all/get within reach, and then not immediately fade into obscurity. It wouldn't be a Chicago team otherwise.

Eventually you have to take a risk to find out what your future holds. This was the year to find out what Flowers was like. I'm sure the Pack could have held on to Favre a couple more yours but you have to take a risk and find out of the other guy is the real deal. You can't fault them for that. I doubt he would be hitting .300 in this lineup. Hitting in the Rangers lineup is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay different than hitting in this lineup.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 21, 2013 -> 02:00 PM) That didn't take long, Valverde DFA No one signed him in the offseason and fans shocked he was back. This would be the equivalent of the Sox resigning Adam Dunn.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 23, 2013 -> 06:12 PM) Despite the "down" years from Boston & New York, the AL East is the best division in baseball again. It will be interesting when the season is over to see how it pans out with the Blue Jays. I always wonder like 20 years from now they will tinker with this division to create "parity" or add a few expansion teams to create 4 divisions and put more teams in the playoffs.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Jun 24, 2013 -> 01:44 PM) I think this board has reiterated the fact that Ethier is a platoon player enough. I want nothing to do with Ethier. Unfortunately this organization likes to gamble on those players to satisfy their "lightening in a bottle" epidemic.

So why did a rookie manager part with something that worked? Did this pattern exist before? Even Manuel claimed they worked on things in ST that seems to reflect the opposite once the season starts. You can only change a leopard's spots so often.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 24, 2013 -> 04:50 AM) Ramirez, whose 12 errors equal his total in 2012, declined to speak after the loss and said he might reconsider Tuesday. This arguably was the Sox's most frustrating loss in an array of lows this season. This time the Sox (31-42) wasted four RBIs from Dunn while blowing leads of 4-0 and 6-4, largely because they stranded 10 runners and increased their season error total to 53 at the worst time. The loss merely heightened the speculation about personnel change after they missed a chance to earn their first series road sweep of the season. The eighth-inning errors marked the 12th time the Sox have committed two or more in a game. Crain, who trimmed the beard he had grown during the streaks, bobbled a bunt by Elliott Johnson that loaded the bases. The streaks ended when he walked Alex Gordon with two out, but he still had a one-run lead until Alcides Escobar hit a hard grounder that skipped past Ramirez to score the tying and winning runs. "(Ramirez) didn't catch it," manager Robin Ventura said. "That's it. That's why it's an error. (It gets a little tougher as the game goes on the field dries out and gets harder.)'' Second baseman Beckham, who hit a two-run double that put the Sox ahead in the seventh, came to Ramirez's defense. "It's frustrating, but that ball was hit pretty hard and this is a very hard field," Beckham said. "That ball hopped up a little bit, and we weren't able to get it. But it's not for a lack of trying." Crain, who last was charged with a run April 12 in Cleveland when Nick Swisher hit a game-winning double, accepted his share of responsibility. "It's baseball for you," Crain said. "I don't make a bunt play and I could have been out of it, (but) another ball finds a way to sneak through. You've got to have a lot of luck to have a streak like that. Guys make good plays behind you, and sometimes you have to battle through things. "Sometimes mistakes are made by me, most importantly." The biggest issue for the Sox could be how management intends to correct a series of failures that has stunted any semblance of momentum. At least Jesse Stones manned up and took responsibility for something that wasn't his fault. Did Chris Rongey also use the "hard field/tough hop" excuse? Or did he claim Alexei Ramirez was tired from playing every single inning this year and was losing focus/concentration? (Of course, that would be an attack on either Hahn or Ventura, implicitly). www.chicagotribune.com/sports (Gonzales) I only got to watch the replay but that ball looked like a bad hop. BTW how did all of those men get on base before that?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 24, 2013 -> 01:38 PM) With all due respect, if you can trade Rios, get rid of him now. What have we ever won with Rios? Stick Danks out there and get what we can get for Rios, the ultimate gamer (sarcasm). I'm all for revamping our everyday lineup, keeping our pitching. Considering what he is getting paid and what he does he is living up to his value compared to the likes of Hamilton. This is not a salary dump type trade.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 02:36 PM) Next year will be a throwaway year. Sonic the Hedgehog could manage the team and I wouldn't give a rip. Given we'll likely have a lot of s***ty players, someone who preaches fundamentals would be nice. We really don't know that. Many thought the 05 team would not be dominant. Last season many thought this team would flirt with 4th place. Baseball can be the least predictable sport.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 24, 2013 -> 01:50 PM) Last year was a big, big difference in focus and preparation. This year makes Ozzies teams look prepared and ready. I've read articles from those outside of the Sox kingdom have said KW built teams have always been weak in defense and fundamentals until Ozzie got there. At some point managers get too much praise and blame for these things. Some of the MLB players have probably been playing baseball since age 6. How far does some amatuer coach or parent let a player's weakness slip by that even a minor league system can't fix. New coaches and managers often make improvements apparent but eventually those players slip back to their old ways. It's trying to fix a habit that existed for 10 plus years. Just like any bad habit the responsibility is more on the individual to fix. This is often evident in hard throwing pitchers who have a short career. Change may be short term failure and they go back to their old ways.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Jun 23, 2013 -> 03:35 PM) This will not be a popular topic for most people, as Sale is the closest to being untouchable on this team. But I always like to go against the popular ideas. If we do fall out of contention by the trade deadline, would you consider offers for Sale? Please elaborate rather than shooting the idea down. Here's why I would consider - Durability. The tall, lanky frame, along with his delivery has always been a concern for injury. I am not confident that he will be healthy and effective two years down the road. You're hoping GMs would belive or see the same thing.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 21, 2013 -> 01:17 PM) I can't stand football. I know I'm in the extreme minority but I just think it's the dumbest sport, and all they do is talk football like 9 months of the year. I can't even turn on the radio unless there's a game on. But that's better anyway, those guys are all blowhards. ESPN has ruined the NFL for me. Why over hype that doesn't need hype. I live in a warm climate. I have a hard time staying indoors during the NFL season because the weather starts to get nice. Back in the Mid West after October the NFL was a couch potato activity. Watching the NFL is about 9 hours of your Sunday if you chose to watch every game.