kitekrazy

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 27, 2012 -> 03:15 PM) This really has been a crazy series, at least if you throw the weather in. Wind on Friday, now the heat. This kind of crazy I enjoy. Too bad I didn't get to see any of this.

QUOTE (chw42 @ May 27, 2012 -> 03:14 PM) It shows me the Indians can't pitch. No Cy Young performances for the Sox either.

It doesn't appear to be a good demonstration of pitching this series on both sides.

I'm just a poor boy

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ May 25, 2012 -> 10:35 AM) His catchphrases are what bridge the generations...it's also why Chris Berman had his time, with his nicknames. Here's the difference, though... Chris Berman doesn't do it anymore for whatever reason. Hawk has evolved. He doesn't really give out nicknames anymore (even though they were much better that the constant song references that Berman had), but Hawk has also refreshed, added new, dropped other catchphrases. Sure he has his usual that are on the sound board, but there have been some new ones like "Stretch." (whether you like it or hate it, it's newer) As far as I'm concerned, Hawk has earned the right to stay in that booth as long as he wants. He doesn't hurt the team, he isn't losing viewers, and if anything, the addition of Steve Stone has been the best thing to happen to him since Wimpy left. The 2005 post season taught us a lot about Berman and Hawk. Berman is bad doing play by play and couldn't hold in that East Coast bias. It's sad that people did not get to hear Hawk for that post season. I hate it when he calls Stone, stone pony.

I don't like the DH. It removes some of the managerial strategy. It makes room for more "professionals" coming up that can't catch a baseball. On the other hand it allows some players to have longer careers. I still get a laugh when Luzinski had to borrow a glove during an extra inning game. I'm not impressed with interleague play so much either. Maybe they can limit it to the beginning of the season and have the Midwest and East Coast teams play those on the West Coast. The Cross Town Classic is now a major yawn.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 16, 2012 -> 02:42 PM) No, he hasn't. He's minor league fodder at this point and has been for a few years (save the time he spent in Japan where he was still awful). He's a testament to how bad the farm system has been under the KW regime. The ability to catch a baseball means nothing and Kenny replaces him with an even more expensive person that could catch a baseball. I have suspicions the current Sox manager may be activated as a player manager just in case they can't fill that hole.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 16, 2012 -> 02:07 PM) See you in 2015 The way this organization is they might keep him past that if he plays for less than $2M a year.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ May 16, 2012 -> 12:18 PM) I never said that, straw man, but I can definitely tell when a manager brutally mishandles a baseball game with an extremely dumb decision, and then makes an even dumber rationalization. It's pretty hard to make a good decision with a team lacking talent.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ May 7, 2012 -> 02:37 PM) I don't know how KW can possibly make it through the year. I don't think it matters though. As bad as KW's minor league system is, most of that is on Reinsdorf for not spending in the draft and on the international market. I know that the new rules might help some of that but the way the White Sox do business has been a joke for a long time. There's probably more people that need to go that are in scouting and development.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ May 8, 2012 -> 11:47 AM) I've been mostly quiet until now, because I've favored a wait and see attitude. When they were 10-6, I didn't quite believe they were that good or lucky. Similarly, during this 3-11 stretch, I certainly don't believe they're this bad or unlucky. At this point, I don't think they can compete as-is, at least not particularly effectively, beyond a lucky win of the division and a very early exit in the playoffs. Maybe that was good enough for me in 2000, but I'm certainly not interested in that now. This is an 79-90 win team, just like the last umpteen teams have been, outside of 2007 and 2005. Williams believes that putting yourself in a position to win 80 games and then getting some breaks is good enough. I guess so, if you are getting some off the chart WARs. It struck me last night how fundamentally unsound Williams' "retool" strategy has been, at the core. It has relied on static parts producing at predicted results, paired with high-variance acquisitions to produce at or near the top of their game. It's a brutally flawed strategy, because it undermines some of the fundamentals of player development. In layman's terms, a lot of dudes in baseball just don't particularly pan out, which is why your Gordon Beckhams, your Brent Morels, your Dayan Viciedos are paired with a s***load of other prospects and brought along in tandem. This is why you bottom out at 95-100 wins for a couple of seasons. You trade talent away, hoard draft picks. and 3 years down the line you know who the the 2-3 diamonds are out of the 20 pieces of coal you throw in your pan. They are still cheap, so you can go out and spend money to get the FA you need to pair with your developed talent. You break the bank for two seasons and put together your attack run. You have a 2 year window, then you break it all down again. Why is this so hard for Kenny to realize? 2006-2012 was a series of moves designed to work IF everything fell into place. It's a bulls*** strategy, because it was based on the results of a lucky season. If Williams were a poker player, he'd play A2 suited because THAT was the hand that won him the $2000 tournament, not because it was a sound play to begin with, all things considered. Do I think it was a brilliant season? Yes. Do I commend Williams for his strategy? To a point, yes. We also got no less than 8 career years in 2005, and the playoffs of a lifetime - that still could have brutally swung the other way in the ALCS. Luckily, it didn't. Unluckily, Williams believed his own hype - that he could get career years out of "his guys" like getting water from a well. Ladies and Gents, I give you exhibit A - Scott Linebrink. We need to evaluate Brent Morel and Gordon Beckham and either cast them off as dead weight or give them the tools they need to succeed. We need to understand who Dayan Viciedo and Alejandro De Aza are, and give them the tools they need to succeed or continue to succeed at the major league level. We need to stop f***ing with Chris Sale. We need to fix John Danks. We need to trade everyone who resembles a closer and probably Jake Peavy. Most importantly, we need to stop looking at wins and losses this season, because it is the cancer that prevents us from any sustained long term success. It's one thing to act like the Yankees and go "all in" every year, it's another to half-ass your way to being "competitive" with a lackluster bottom half of the lineup. Wow! Awesome post! I would like to know what you mean by "give them the tools". I believe they should have most of those tools before they are drafted.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 5, 2012 -> 11:32 AM) You guys are all being a bit harsh, in my opinion...and if you were all as smart as you seem to think you are, you wouldn't be just posting on this message board to tell us about it. If we could be so lucky to take over for Phil Rodgers or over half of the "smart" paid bloggers on ESPN and Yahoo. I'm not sure your ending statement has any real meaning. People do get paid for being stupid.

I'm out of the view area and can't afford mlb.com. It's hard to get angry over anything. We shouldn't be surprised over this. I'm bothered by the Sale situation but this shouldn't be surprising either.

QUOTE (Jake @ May 5, 2012 -> 10:24 AM) You all have to admit, Sale as successful closer will make watching games easier. I wish he could go on to be the Cy Young this year, but if it's his arm falling off or this, I pick this. At least we won't be losing every game that we have 9th inning leads in. Time to try out all those "prospects" every 5th day, have to admit that that is somewhat fun to watch as well I've haven't been able to watch any games. I've read where giving Sale a limited pitch count as a starter would be better idea. Every problem in this organization seems to relate to having a weak farm system.

QUOTE (Jake @ May 5, 2012 -> 08:30 AM) Since we're going to talk about Kenny Williams as if he's never made a good move, let's just go ahead and mention all the good moves so we remember that he's actually done some good. Aaron Rowand, Gio Gonzalez for Jim Thome Some would argue this is not good either. Meanwhile...........back to the original topic.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 4, 2012 -> 05:17 PM) You know what's really scary? What if he's a lousy closer? It was a pleasure to watch him start and completely make me forget bout Mark. It's hard to be a fan of this team. He'll fit right in.

QUOTE (Pants Rowland @ May 3, 2012 -> 10:38 PM) Well, those of us who grew up in a time when Eddie Einhorn was ahead of his time with sports on cable learned the game by listening on radio. I got to the point where I really preferred listening to games on radio and getting other things done rather than watching on TV. So, if you love baseball on radio and hate Farmer as your PBP man, it really makes the season less enjoyable. Rooney made for a very enjoyable and productive Saturday afternoon. That's a good point. Baseball is the best sport when it comes to radio.

QUOTE (IowanSoxFan @ Apr 26, 2012 -> 04:59 PM) It's weird that my Lions have to wait so long to draft. Hopefully some people slip like DeCastro, Gilmore, Jenkins, Glenn, Konz, and others. I remember when Millen was their GM and their 1st picks for like 3-4 years straight was a WR.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 25, 2012 -> 08:18 PM) If Emery can pull off something the following dream scenario: -Trade Matt Forte for a 1st -In the 1st, draft a DE and WR or OT -In the 2nd, draft a RB I might consider changing my sexual orientation. No GM would take that. RBs aren't highly thought like they use to. You see less teams drafting a RB in the 1st round. Forte wasn't a 1st round pick.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 25, 2012 -> 07:52 PM) Less than 24 hours away from the MOST EXCITING EVENT IN ALL OF SPORTS. I joke. Good. Modern day draft = zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Thanks ESPN! Back when the draft had more rounds I think it ended much quicker than this. If they did away with the draft Mel Kiper would have to bag groceries.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 24, 2012 -> 08:25 AM) These are the reasons I want to smack anyone who talks about how great of a commish Bud is. These must be fictional creatures....but there's a whole slew of owners that need that smack upside the head.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 26, 2012 -> 09:46 AM) Showtime is doing their Franchise series about the Marlins this year. They had a 30 minute preview last night, and it's fantastic. Really shocked at how much the owner and team president allowed the cameras to film with regards to the Ozzie controversy. Highly recommended for everyone on this site. As for Ozzie, he comes across very sincere and apologetic about the Castro comments. With that said, it sure sounds like they were very, very close to firing him. I doubt they were close to firing him. That's a lot of money to pay a manager from a month of baseball. Unfortunately all of these immigrants are adopting the current American culture of being easily offended. If they are not some tight assed Caucasian will be offended in their place.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 25, 2012 -> 12:41 PM) Rios is incredibly predictable if you pay attention, he's been an every other year guy for most of his career. It just so happens he's coming off of a down year and he's producing, again. This is the year to unload him if you can because he will SUCK next season. That's probably not a secret to even the most naive GMs.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 24, 2012 -> 06:01 PM) We haven't seen him stay interested for more than half a season since he came here. To me, as talented as he is, he'd always be a question mark. It could be that he isn't talented. Maybe one of those over hyped players.

QUOTE (Jake @ Apr 26, 2012 -> 05:55 AM) There's a way, but it's a pain in the ass. I'm assuming that's getting a stream from people's homes thru livescorehunter. Hopefully MLB will have another deal where I can watch the rest of the season online for $60. Too bad other pro sports don't do this. I can't stand watching the NFL on major networks and when the Hawks were on WGN is wasn't nationally. I can watch the Cubs but I'd rather watch the grass grow or the D-Backs.