Thad Bosley

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 17, 2016 -> 12:19 PM) LOL. You have admitted you can't determine if a season is exciting or not until it is over. And the only way for a season to be exciting is to win a WS. Hence your numerous 1 exciting season under JR ownership posts.The fact is, I see this team not hitting but still 8-3. It is a reason to be optimistic about the future. In basketball, when a team shoots 30 percent in a half and has the lead or is only behind a little bit, it is thought of as a good sign. I liken this start to that. Expecting impending doom is a miserable way to look at things. The only one apparently "miserable" around here today has been you, Dick Allen. All of the rage in these various posts in this thread which have almost universally agreed by everyone to be a complete overreaction on your part to the simple topic at hand. There really is need or call for your Angry Bird routine. This is a fan site/message board for a baseball team. Fans will have and express concerns about the team - that's the way it works. I'm sorry you have such a difficult time with a point of view on things that is different than your own. That's what seems to make you so miserable all of the time.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 17, 2016 -> 10:49 AM) Why waste your time on baseball at all if your strategy is to be miserable even when things are going well? Just kick yourself in the nuts and get it over with. Lol - such a silly thing to say. No contributor to this thread has acted as if he or she is "miserable", outside of maybe you and Dick Allen, given comments like this one and the overreaction by Dick in his earlier comments. All that's going on in this thread is an acknowledgment by several astute posters of the fact that the baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. So while the sprint of the past two weeks has been awesome and very enjoyable, there is a legitimate concern about sustainability given this team's shortcomings on offense. You can be a very happy person and have this concern.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 17, 2016 -> 07:22 AM) Probably close to their career numbers. 2005 was a benchmark year. We have seen numerous posts about that offense being balanced etc. just remember that team won 15 games scoring 2 runs or less. So far this year, the team has 1 win scoring 2 runs or less. It just fascinates me people can't enjoy 8-3 in first place best start in 34 years , despite 9 of those games being on the road. I don't think there's a Sox fan alive who hasn't enjoyed this first place start. We're winning for the first time in a very long time, and the experience is quite refreshing. I think the point some are trying to put forward in this thread is the sustainability of the winning given the continuation of the poor offense we saw all of last year. We were dead last in offense last year, and now early on we find ourselves third to last. It should get better as the season moves on, but when you acknowledge that the only real upgrade in the offense over the winter was Frazier, and to a lesser extent Frazier, it's fair to question whether the offense as currently constructed will be good enough for the long haul.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Apr 10, 2016 -> 07:40 PM) For April 10 we've got one of the most dramatic moments in franchise history both audio AND video. It was Opening Day 1981 in Boston and Carlton Fisk returned only wearing a different uniform. He would immediately make the Red Sox pay for his contract debacle late in the game. Announcers: Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall. Courtesy: WGN-TV. http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/04/t...k-gets-revenge/ Mark Yup, once upon a time HE was OUR announcer on THAT station. And then HE wasn't. Thank you, Jerry. Thank you, Eddie. Brilliant move.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Apr 9, 2016 -> 07:26 AM) absolutely love hawk. Will tremendously miss him when he goes. I'm 31 years old and hes been the only voice of my favorite team I've ever known. I love the personality, I love the homerism. I love the stories about the old players. Even if many or most of them are embellished, don't you sort of want that? There's a romantic quality about baseball where guys get made into Tall Tales in a way and become legendary for it. IMO Hawk helps perpetuate that. Does he make mistakes and say stupid things in the booth? Of course. But he's broadcasting the baseball game I'm watching. He's not managing my retirement funds or diagnosing disease. Terrific post! My sentiments exactly.

Playoff-caliber teams often find ways to come back late in games like this one to come from behind and win. Let's see how it goes!

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 6, 2016 -> 09:32 PM) Look at the Reds, Braves, and Phillies lineups though. Nah, I don't want to be talking about our team in the same breath as those teams this year if I can avoid it.

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ Apr 6, 2016 -> 09:29 PM) Aside from Garcia the Sox lineup is all MLB players. Maybe not all good MLB players, but at least there's less of the usual garbage. One would hope, given this is the MLB.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 2, 2016 -> 06:38 PM) Leave it to the King of the buzzkill to take the absolute worst out of an off season that saw a ton of improvement in this line up, especially at 2nd, 3rd, and C. We don't need a ton of career years to avoid being "last in offense". We need career average years from most of the team, which we didn't see from a lot of players last year. Lol - well, I was just working off of your "while not ideal...doing the best we can with what we have" sentiment. I certainly wouldn't equate that to some sort of excitement buzz that I then came in and trampled all over. And I also wouldn't call replacing many of Tyler Flowers' at-bats with those from Avila as a "ton of improvement" at that position. But I did account for the improvements expected at 2nd and 3rd when I said the team would be better offensively than they were last year. But when you see all of the at-bats earmarked for the likes of Jackson, Avila, Rollins, Garcia, and Cabrera, well then, you tell me. Last in the league in offense again? There's as good a chance at that as there isn't, unfortunately.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 2, 2016 -> 06:04 PM) While not ideal, it is the best use of the players we have. Oh, it's far from ideal, wouldn't you say? The team that was dead last in offense in the league last year STILL features Melky Cabrera in the middle of the order, STILL will be giving regular at-bats to Avisail Garcia, and NOW is graced with the offensive juggernauts that are Austin Jackson, Alex Avila, and Jimmy Rollins. That's not very promising at all. We will probably be better overall offensively than we were last year, but seriously, with this cast of characters, we could still be last in offense once again. We are going to need some big time career years and surprises to avoid that outcome.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Mar 25, 2016 -> 03:10 PM) Fangraphs projections have the four collectively at 5 WAR, I think it's fairly reasonable. The guys they are replacing were collectively worth -0.1 WAR last year, so that'd be a big upgrade. Not really that much into projections at this point. Just reality. We have four/five guys in our starting lineup upon whom we should have plenty of skepticism about based on "actual" recent performances. Garcia, Avila, Rollins and Jackson should scare the h-e-double-toothpick out of all of us at this point.

QUOTE (Scoots @ Mar 24, 2016 -> 09:20 PM) Here's my prediction for the opening day roster: 2016 Chicago White Sox Starting Lineup (vs. RHP) 1) Adam Eaton (RF) (L) 2) Jimmy Rollins (SS) (S) 3) Jose Abreu (1B) ® 4) Todd Frazier (3B) ® 5) Melky Cabrera (LF) (S) 6) Avisail Garcia (DH) ® 7) Brett Lawrie (2B) ® 8) Austin Jackson (CF) ® 9) Alex Avila © (L) Boy oh boy, we are going to need quite a few fellas turning their performances around from a year ago if we are going to have any chance of competing for anything this season. A lot of "big if's" in this lineup. Yikes.

QUOTE (Markbilliards @ Mar 24, 2016 -> 08:02 PM) Granted, this is a spring training game, but this is likely representative of what you get with Cespedes at times. I'm ok with not giving him the largest AAV salary in Sox history. Another inside the ballpark homer on Cespedes Lol - ask the Mets who they'd rather trust with their chances to return to the World Series this year: Yoenis Cespedes at what they're willing to pay him...or Austin Jackson, at the bargain basement price of $5M. If as a fan you are concerned about "AAV", then Jackson is easily your choice. If as a fan you are concerned about winning and returning to the postseason with a chance of capturing a championship, then Cespedes is your choice, and you let the ownership group running their billion dollar operation figure out how to pay for it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 23, 2016 -> 03:24 PM) Of course perfect timing. Rob Hart ‏@RobHart1980 26m26 minutes ago Reinsdorf/Einhorn bought Sox from Veeck for $20 million. $53 million today. 'Tis a shame the fan's investment in the Sox the last 35 years hasn't had nearly the payoff as that of the owners. Just sayin'!

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 23, 2016 -> 11:41 AM) Hopefully the adjustments help him, but to think it will cut his k's way back and increase his homers is about as likely as Thad Bosley giving JR a compliment. Oh I'll give someone their just due faster than Grant took Richmond, Dick Allen - believe you, me! Now it's true, it's quite difficult for me to come up with a compliment for the 'ol bloke as it relates to his results as owner of the Chicago White Sox baseball franchise. You know, that whole "his teams have only made it to the postseason in 5 of the 35 years he's been at the helm" business? Remember all of that? Hard to find a compliment to hand over to him based on that abysmal track record. However, as far as I can tell, he does seem to be a good husband & father, and from all accounts appears to be generous when contributing to charity. And when it comes to cigar smoking, I defy you to find a more expert chomper on a cigar than he. In fact, while I can't prove it, I'll bet he has exquisite taste in cigars, and that is a noteworthy quality for anyone to have!

LaRoche, in addition to being a rather lousy ball player in the twilight of his career, was obviously a very selfish one as well. The idea that he somehow presumed all of his 24 co-workers wanted his brat around every day to the extent Drake was is ludicrous. I don't care what handshake agreement he may or may not have had with management. How about taking into consideration the impact his kid's non-stop presence had on his teammates - the same teammates he just quit on, I might add. LaRoche was only thinking about what was good for LaRoche, and now he is free to do so to his heart's content while not stinking up White Sox baseball in the process. Good riddance.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 18, 2016 -> 04:35 PM) A lot of people can't separate what a guy does on the field, with what he does off of the field. While his years in Chicago were a bust on the field, Adam Dunn was an all-star off of it. Completely meaningless to a results-oriented fan base.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Mar 18, 2016 -> 02:45 PM) The owner is in charge. And he can't be fired. Don't remind me.

Mr. LaRoche, take your kid, take your weird beard, take your strikeouts, leave your $13M, and just get the heck outta here. Thank you.

I keep reading how this joker LaRoche walked away from the $13M. Well he also walked out on his teammates, too, in the middle of spring training, no less. Now on paper our chances to come back this season and be competitive relied somewhat on his returning to form, and now we don't even have that. And all because the team asked him to cut back on the amount of time his kid spends in the clubhouse. Not a full out ban, just dialing it back a bit, and for that he quits on his teammates. That's the part I find rather inexcusable, and it makes me wonder why the players would even consider going down the road of threatening to boycott a practice or even an exhibition game. It doesn't sound like he had the same level of commitment to them as they may have had to him.

All I know is we'll never have to watch Adam LaRoche try and hit left-handed pitching and/or hit into a shift in a White Sox uniform EVER again.

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Mar 10, 2016 -> 12:40 PM) 83-79 +1 I don't think the dumpster dives during this past month acquiring Rollins, Jackson, and Latos are going to move the needle much, and any improvement over last year's debacle is going to require players like LaRoche, Garcia and Cabrera all playing better than they did last year. The law of averages suggests that one or more might, so let's hope for that. Meanwhile, the contributions of Frazier will obviously have a positive effect, and I think Lawrie will be a plus. Still not sure what to expect out of this catching tandem, though.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 10, 2016 -> 02:00 PM) I was going to put down 90, but then I remembered to subtract 15, since Robin is still the manager, subtract another 15 because KW is calling the shots, and finally, subtract another 60 because Jerry Reinsdorf owns this team. So 0-162.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 7, 2016 -> 02:07 PM) Dan Hayes ‏@CSNHayes 16m16 minutes ago Adam Eaton still likes playing CF. But he wants to win more. Likes addition of Austin Jackson. #WhiteSox http://bit.ly/1TF1Xjx PREACH!!!

QUOTE (Tony @ Mar 6, 2016 -> 11:33 PM) Seriously, looking at other teams OF situation and simply trying to compare is a very lazy way of looking at things. For anyone that watched this team, and understands the finances of this organization, right or wrong, the move made a ton of sense. I wanted Fowler, but that's besides the point. And again, this move eliminates a large number of at bats from either LaRoche or Avi, which ever one isn't preforming, all while the OF defense significantly improves. ...and gives them to Austin Jackson. Let's not conflate the HUGE and much-needed upgrade in the OF defense with what this guy will bring to the plate offensively.