Lip Man 1

I think it's 55 games but I could be wrong.

Don't think they show the Pacers in St. Louis do they? That's not Indiana's market and they don't show the Royals in the St. Louis area obviously. As far as soccer that doesn't move the needle much either way.

Well let's all hope the Sox get good.

Basically Fox Sports Midwest out of St. Louis, only other pro team on it is the Blues. They have no competition during baseball season and are affiliated with a major broadcast organization.

Just a guess, I haven't spoken with anyone on this but I think the Cubs are going to try to go solo. That's been their wish for a long time. I think the other three teams are going to return to NBC Sports Chicago. In the Sox case I think they'll still have some games (maybe 35 or so) on "free" TV, one of the other channels (not 2,5,7, or 9)

Apparently he's back in Chicago now. Guy is done.

I think you mean channel 32? And this is from my interview with Bob Grim, the Sox Director of Broadcast Operations: ML: Have you thought about starting a regional type network for example like the St. Louis Cardinals have? BG: “The issue there is that a lot of the area cable operations just don’t want to take on a channel that’s just going to show ballgames especially if they have to charge a premium rate for it.” “And the issue we have with a regional radio network is that a lot of the “mom and pop” stations that used to be around and aired Sox games in the past just don’t exist anymore. They’ve all been bought up by national corporations and they simply program via satellite from Dallas or Chicago or someplace. The stations simply don’t want to have to pay someone even though it’s probably not a lot, to run the board and insert commercials between innings and such.” (Author's Note: At one time during the 1950's & 1960's the Sox radio network was around 100 stations...one of the largest in baseball stretching all across the Midwest and into the deep South including places like Jackson, Mississippi, Atlanta, before they got the Braves and most of the state of Florida since they trained in Tampa and then Sarasota in the spring) ML: Well taking it a step further have the Sox ever had any discussions about starting their own TV network a la the Yankees YES Network? I mean Jerry Reinsdorf owns the Sox, he owns the Bulls and he has a good relationship with the Wirtz Family, they both built the United Center. That gives you three major sports and you don’t have to play second fiddle to the Cubs anymore. BG: “I’ve never personally been involved in any discussions like that but I think it probably has been talked about. Even with those three teams that you mentioned Mark, we’d still have an awful lot of time to fill. You’re talking about 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” “Right now to be honest the Sox simply don’t have the amount of video, classic games and stuff that could be used to do something like that. We’re getting closer though, Major League Baseball now requires all teams to tape every game and send the copy to New York where they archive it for us. So as time goes on we’ll be getting more and more material that we could use if something like this happens but now unlike the Yankees, we just don’t have material from the 20’s or 30’s that we could use say as a documentary to help fill time. When Jerry and his group took over in January 1981, they looked and any material that the Sox may have had was gone. No one knows where it went or who got it.” Just can't ever see the Sox having their own network.

This may be true but the strikeouts are very alarming and with this pitching staff those errors especially on "easy" plays are causing them trouble because often they can't pitch around them. No one is arguing about his potential but also keep in mind this was the #1 prospect in all of baseball, consensus across the board, to see him struggling like this gets your attention. This wasn't a 17th round draft pick or a minor league free agent. This was supposedly the top guy. Now add in the Sox issues with developing everyday players (non-pitchers) for the last 15 years and fair or not fans start to think, "they're screwing up another kid...again."

Speaking of Hansen how has he been doing? Saw where he had a shaky first start but that was to be expected, but nothing on him since.

I think it's deeper than that, remember since the late 80's the Sox have hired only two guys who previously managed in the major leagues (Torborg, Renteria). JR has admitted that he's never thought managers (or head coaches) make that much of a difference and refuses to pay high amounts to get those type guys plus (and I'm not necessarily knocking him for this) he's always been a guy who likes to give opportunities to people, maybe that's because they are grateful to have a job and will work cheap, although if that is a part of it, I think it is a small part...he just likes to give folks chances and often the inexperience will show through.

Giolito pitched his ass off today. Second good start in a row for that kid. Very encouraging. Was so happy to see the Sox get that run in the 9th inning and get him off the hook...no way in hell he deserved a loss. Speaking of the 9th inning that was the most excited I've been watching a Sox inning in a long time, was standing hoping they'd end it. I have no idea what Moncada was looking for or thinking in that 9th inning at-bat. That pitch was perfect for a left hander (I know I am one) and should have been ripped, instead he stands there. Kid flashes potential but man he's got a long, long, looonnnggg way to go.

Didn't see this posted but Scott Merkin has said Dunning's MRI shows a moderate elbow sprain that "presently" will not require surgery. He's out 6-8 weeks and then will begin a throwing routine. Guess it could be worse but from what I've been reading usually the ultimate result is TJ surgery. Sigh... Personally if the end of the road is ultimately going to result in the surgery I'd rather they do it sooner rather than later and waste precious time. Perhaps PTAC can weigh in.

Scott Merkin was asked this question about Girardi at White Sox.com: How long do you see Renteria leading the rebuild? And do you think the White Sox will go after an experienced manager like Joe Girardi? I don't see Renteria being the manager when the team is ready to contend. -- @JH_Santiago21 Renteria has an excellent grasp on what the organization is trying to do through this rebuild, putting his clear imprint on the process, and he has full support of the front office, his staff and the players. I understand Girardi is the big-name free agent with Chicago ties, but look for Renteria to stay at the helm of this team for the immediate and foreseeable future.

Just a few random thoughts on this issue: 1. I've never understood why some folks are upset when a MLB game goes 3:15 but when an NFL game does that it's OK. When I was a kid and would go to Comiskey Park to see a DH, I'd wonder if eight hours or so was going to be enough baseball. (I'd get there two hours or so before first pitch to watch BP and infield practice, they used to open the gates three hours before first pitch). I don't think the game should be radically changed because a particular generation has a five minute attention span. 2. MLB is becoming like the NBA. Realistically only a handful of teams can win a title. The rest are all flotsam and jetsam. Hard to get fans excited when they know even with expanded playoffs they've got no chance. I can tell you right now the 10 teams that will probably be playing in October and I think I'd get eight or nine right. 3. Marketing is a huge issue with MLB, this I agree with. They have to do a better job. 4. The networks are a big player in this as well. It's always Yankees vs. Red Sox or Red Sox vs. Yankees seemingly every week (not literally of course but you get my drift...only select teams are usually shown). I recall the statement, by the ESPN ombudsman at the time, 'ESPN has to realize that Yankees-Red Sox mean very little to fans west of the Allegheny Mountains.' You want fans to get interested again in baseball? Stop promoting and showing just a handful of teams week after week. It used to be every team was required to be on the "Game of the Week" at least once, that is no longer in play. Ed Sherman wrote about this a few years ago when the A's finally were shown on Sunday Night Baseball.

Speaking of the Cubs I read an interesting story at the Awful Announcing web site this morning. Story said that with the AT&T / Time Warner merger approved. It is now expected that company is going to be a player for the Cubs broadcasting rights starting in the 2020 season. Story said the AT&T company already owns three RSN's (Pittsburgh, Rocky Mountain and Southwest) doing Pirate, Rockies and Astros games. They would form a new RSN just for the Cubs if they got their rights and would give them partial ownership. If nothing else, the story said, having AT&T as a player could drive up the price to keep the Cubs on NBC Sports Chicago.

Cuban has publicly said that if he could own any baseball team it would be the Pirates, the team he grew up rooting for as a kid. He did express interest in the Cubs when they became available. It didn't get very far. The last thing MLB wants is him owning a team and potentially having a team payroll of 250-275-300 million.

I wouldn't bet the house on that comment myself.

So the "dumbing down" of baseball continues.

Have heard and maybe someone can confirm this that Farmer and DJ were really ripping on the team on the radio broadcast. Supposedly DJ said "this is more of the clown baseball we've been seeing lately..." And Farmer supposedly said "Anderson has got to learn to catch something over there at short..." Rebuilding or not if this is true I salute the radio guys for calling the team out.

The at-bat that caught my attention was Anderson's in the 8th inning. Sanchez on second, no out, down a run. It looked like Anderson wasn't even trying to go the other way to get the guy to third base. No effort at all. Just swing hard and hope you make contact. Nope. Either RR and the staff are doing a bad job of getting through to these guys regarding fundamentals or the players are letting it go in one ear and out the other. I know Anderson hit a three run home run earlier. Great...not diminisihing that at all, but with the game on the line he looked awful and "baseball-stupid." Very frustrating even in a rebuilding year

Look at the good side to all this...they can't lose tonight!

A few things. PTATC is correct, the other owners would never allow Cuban in. He himself has said that if he were going to buy a team it would be the Pirates a team he grew up rooting for. He did have interest at one time in the Cubs but his first choice would be Pittsburgh. Regarding JR and selling. JR himself has said many times publicly, that he is going to own the team until he dies and part of that reason is because if he were to sell the club before then, taxes on the profit would be significant. He is a tax guy, he knows the in's and out's. After he were to pass on if his family / investors sold the team they would not be as high.

Given how they played the last month of last season and in the spring I expected better at least fundamentally. Not saying they were going to contend, or come close to a winning record, I just thought they would be progressing better overall. They aren't...and now you've got one of their own (Lopez) questioning their attitude and intensity. That reflects back on the manager and coaching staff if it is in fact true.

Another error this afternoon, nine or 10 now if I remember right.

Hard to argue with the points that were brought up.