Southwest Sider

This article tells me that the Sox need to part ways with KW, among others. At this point I am quite alright with that. But it's funny how much my tune has changed since the offseason. I was adamant that KW not depart to be the Blue Jays CEO, as was JR. How foolish I was. That would have been a godsend. It might have been the one thing this franchise needed to really start heading in the right direction. Instead, I was wooed by the big free agents, the go for it mentality... AGAIN. I regrettably bought a 7 game plan when I've never bought a plan like that before! Now, in hindsight, how I wish that would have happened before we started acquiring players. But the fact that JR denied the Blue Jays KW, tells me we may be in store for more of the same longer then we'd like. JR hasn't got the stones to let KW go.

Kimmo will be slower but should be at least reasonably more defensively responsible then Cumiskey has been. Versteeg, Bickell, pick your poison. I'd almost rather see someone else from the Hogs, but these guys are getting paid the big bucks. Really need our star players in this game.

Hahn talking about adding to this team scares me. The only adding that should be done at this point is "adding" like the Jake Peavy trade. Trading him is a good idea, and we just need to hope that the market for SP is thin, and that he starts pitching consistently better so that the Sox have leverage for a better offer.

This team has for too long had a lethargic tone about it. They'll show flashes of excitement, like any team, but never seem to seize the momentum from it. They bring in seemingly good players, but it never amounts to what is a good baseball team. I'm remembering back to the offseason, and all the talk of the Blue Jays wanting to hire KW as their team CEO. Ultimately, it seems like a real shame the Sox decided to go for it, at this point. This would have been a golden opportunity for JR to clean house without having to mean-spiritedly "fire" everyone. JR could have been like "Well, I lost my team president, might as well let all of 'his' people go because they haven't been working anyway". But that's just the problem. KW's people are also JR's people. JR is praised for his loyalty, but he truly is loyal to a fault. I used to think it was a great quality of our ownership, but now I see it as a serious detractor. As it is, this team is underachieving. They play sloppy baseball. Yes, a lot of it falls on Robin. But, this brand of baseball has been in place since 2007. Even the World Series champion Ozzie Guillen could not stop it from happening. So yes, Robin is partially responsible for this. But most of all, everyone is responsible for this, including the front office. Ken Williams and company, it is time to go. You have overseen too many years of an absolutely horrible brand of baseball, and you don't even have an elite farm system to show for it. Rick Hahn, might be more willing to give him the benefit of the doubt... but he is probably a KW guy. I like Rick Hahn, but I don't know if he is the voice or leader this team needs, or if he would implement a different organizational philosophy were he team president. All in all, none of this will happen. We sit here with a solid group of "core" players that we really lucked into. Abreu, Sale, Quintana, Garcia, Robertson, Eaton (I believe he is better and is having a sophomore slump) and soon to be Rodon. That's a pretty decent group. But faced with the idea of trading from that group to rebuild the farm, or trying to add to that group to contend, what do you choose? It is extremely difficult to digest the idea of trading Sale or Abreu. That's probably also how KW feels, and only a new leader of the front office would have the stones to trade those guys. You can trade them, tank a couple more years a la the Cubs. These players are good players but without them, you were going to have to do an all out rebuild anyway. Face it, the Sox lucked into Abreu, lucked into Sales arm not falling off yet, and lucked into Quintana being a good player. These players could be your golden ticket to a rebuild. Or you can keep trying to build around them. Keep adding to the payroll. The problem is, will they add to payroll, add significant free agents? They have chosen the path of minimal farm system, but in order to do that you need to add REAL quality free agents, and have to pay market value. You can't sit here and say "I won't ever give a pitcher a 5 year deal" if you aren't willing to really focus on having a great farm system. You can't scoff at the idea of paying a player 200 million dollars. If you want to play with the big dogs, you have to PAY the big dogs. If you want to play with the big dogs but not pay the big dogs, well then we should have focused on rebuilding the farm right around 2007, and continued to focus on the farm. I fully understand that buying all the elite free agents can leave your franchise in a worse state financially, but I also don't believe there is a middle ground. If you want to compete, you have to buy the Max Scherzers of the world. Not sit there in the next tier of free agents and hope that you can catch lightning in a bottle again. As a fan, I am highly disappointed. I bought into this team. Yes, it was only a 7 game ticket plan, but I was sold that this team would be decent. I am willing to bet that a lot of others were, because of the amount of ticket plans sold before the season started. This is going to leave a BAD taste in a lot of peoples mouths, and may lead to even lower attendance in the coming years. It's the whole fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Fans vote with their dollars. I know a lot of people complain about our attendance, but I truly believe now that fans really are voting with their dollars. A lot of fans were already fed up with the uninspiring baseball, and weren't coming out because of years past. A lot of fans bought into the hype of this team, and now might start to feel disconnected from the team. If the season ends the way I think it is, I am definitely NOT buying tickets again next year, no matter what they do in the offseason. I am now a proponent of change. I don't know what kind of change, but SOME kind of change. And change will only come when their profits go red. If this season ends the way it seems like it will, then I am now all for cleaning house and starting fresh. Will it happen? Probably not with JR as the owner. As much as people might complain about the Bears ownership, they had the stones to clean house and bring in Ernie Accorsi as an adviser to help rebuild their front office. I think JR could use the same, but would he be willing to live with himself after firing everyone? Probably not. Will JR sell the team? Probably not. To the OP's original question, how does Rick Hahn fix this mess? Rick Hahn alone cannot fix this mess. He's trying to the best of his ability, but he cannot purge this organization of the bad baseball disease that has been around for too long. The real question to me is, how do WE fix this mess? Vote with your dollars.

I would definitely love to see an effective TVR, but I'm scared that he may not be ready for the insane pace that these games will have. Hopefully, the practice squads have been playing with that pace, to give him a taste. It sure is nice to have a team like the Hawks to root for while my Sox are sucking up a storm.

I'd show up in my Toews winter classic sweater. AT least its not red. That is so clown of TB though. I wish I had the Hull pre sale code for when tickets go on sale tomorrow morning. Probably by the time the general public gets to buy them, they will be nearly sold out and the website will be running like a turtle.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 24, 2015 -> 12:03 PM) The way forward is quitting, at least according this thread. We'll see you all when the bandwagon fills up again. I know I'm not quitting anything. I'm still excited about this years White Sox team, even though they've only been exciting for a 1 week period against bad teams. I still think they can put it together, and another 6 or more game win streak and they are right back in this thing. This homestand has been depressing, for sure, but there's still a lot of baseball left and even if this year doesn't go as planned, there's still a decent foundation of good players to hopefully turn it around next season.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 23, 2015 -> 02:19 PM) As far as the Sox fans who are praising the Cubs in any way, please stop. That's just silly and senseless. Screw the Cubs. They've been a total joke. If this rebuild turns them into a perennial title contender like the Blackhawks in hockey, then we can talk. But for now, please, the Cubs are an ultimate joke. Sure, they were the ultimate joke. So were the Blackhawks.. but I started taking them seriously before they became a perennial title contender. I didn't have to wait until now to talk about the Hawks not being a joke anymore. I know something good when I see it, and if you think the Cubs are still the biggest joke, then the jokes on you, and you're just fooling yourself. Sure, they may not even win anything ever, that just speaks to how tough it is to win a World Series. But it's certain, they have made many correct moves in the past few years. That's no joke.

Frankly, and I know this is going to seem blasphemous to some, but I think Sox fans overall are watching the transformation of the franchise on the north side and wishing it was us. I haven't completely given up hope on the Reinsdorf regime or this team and its future, but our tanking of the last couple of seasons would sure seem a lot tolerable if it was overseen by Epstein/Hoyer. I know I wanted Theo on the south side but knew it wouldn't happen because of JRs loyalty to KW. Why didn't we make a push for Maddon? Because of JR/KWs loyalty to RV. Maddon, if given the choice, would have taken the Cubs job anyway. Their tanking has produced what appears to be a team that is going to be playing an exciting brand of baseball, much more so then the White Sox have been. I hate to pile the pressure on the Sox even more, but they REALLY need to start finding a way to consistently play exciting baseball. Exciting, but not necessarily dominating baseball. Because, and again this is going to sound blasphemous to some (I'm not a Cub hater like I used to be pre-2005), but I won't fault the casual fan for opting to watch Cubs baseball instead of the Sox. I won't ever switch sides but if it gets to the point where the Sox keep playing like we're used to, and the Cubs keep getting better and better, you better believe I'd rather spend the little time I have to watch baseball games watching an invigorating brand of baseball then the same lethargic baseball that we're getting used to. I'll always be a Sox fan first and foremost. If the teams met in the World Series, it's Sox all the way. But this is just the harsh reality for some. The Cubs represent the city I am from too, and they have done literally everything with their baseball operations that I wish the Sox had done. It's hard for me to not respect what they've done up to this point.

Should be a fun time. I got this game as part of my ticket plan. Definitely excited and hopefully the Sox can thrash Minnesota too.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ May 20, 2015 -> 12:07 PM) Let me know what you thought of this. I was at McBrides on 52 a couple weeks back and they had this on tap. When I ordered it, the waitress suggested I try a sample first because she thought it was a lot like a plain light beer. I tried a sample and agreed that it didn't have much watermelon flavor at all and was rather bland. I haven't tried it elsewhere yet. Bought a can expecting a super sweet beer, was pleasantly surprised by the actual beer. It's not really sweet, which I appreciate. It's basically an average wheat ale with a bit of watermelon flavors on the back end. It's not something I'd buy again, but it was interesting to try. The 21st Amendment IPA was really good.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ May 16, 2015 -> 04:13 PM) I've had mixed experiences with it. It's been amazing when i've had it on draft, but a few of my bottles had some unpleasant bitter carmel notes in the aftertaste. It made we wonder if I inadvertently skunked the beer. I bought a couple bottles and so far I've had one, poured into a Samuel Smith pint glass. It was decently hopped, and very pleasant. There's always a chance that whomever handled your beer beforehand exposed it to some sunlight, or adverse temperature conditions. But so far, so good.

QUOTE (Special K @ May 19, 2015 -> 08:54 AM) Maybe baseball has changed, but, I think in a 1-1 game in extra innings, where the Sox only run came from stealing home, at least 1 manager in baseball might think it's a good idea to lay a bunt down in the bottom of the 10th with runners on 1st and 2nd and nobody out, when you have a hitter who is 0-3 at the plate, rather than gamble and let Alexi swing away. It was a bad decision. And as for hindsight, the entire landscape of the game changes if it's 2nd and 3rd with one out. Soto may be intentionally walked instead, and he may change his hitting approach at the plate. I promise you 9 out of 10 managers will bunt in that situation. Just don't want to lose that way in the future. I think Robin also knows ALexei is terrible at sacrifice bunting. Alexei would be a better bunter if he always tried to bunt for a base hit, but when he squares to bunt, he is just terrible. Add to the fact that you were pretty sure he was going to see offspeed, which makes even harder for a bad bunter to bunt, and I kind of agree with the decision to let him swing for it. EDIT: sorry pretty much just repeated what shysocks has already said.

QUOTE (raBBit @ May 19, 2015 -> 09:21 AM) Sox are 11-5 at home. I am 0-4 this year at USCF. I am going Wednesday and Saturday. Goodness that is some bad luck... but you're due too. Yep Go Sox!

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ May 18, 2015 -> 01:33 PM) I am ridiculously excited for this one. It's going to be gorgeous evening for baseball. Absolutely a beautiful day. Decided to go out to the park tonight! Hoping to bring us a White Sox winner!

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ May 18, 2015 -> 12:21 AM) Hate to sound negative, but nothing on the recent Sox road trip inspired much confidence. Winning streak is fool's gold IMO. I just see far too many flaws on the field and in the dugout. I'll defend your right to have your opinion, but I disagree immensely. The Sox of a couple weeks ago would have found ways to lose against Oakland. Whatever you may think, the Sox were able to take advantage of them. I mean, 5 game win streak aside, we're talking about the first sweep of Oakland in Oakland since 1997. That fact right there should draw a little more positivity for the Sox moving forward. You have your negative reasons to feel the way you do, but here are a few positives for you. Danks pitched well Rodon is in the rotation Samardzija pitched well The bullpen pitched well Sanchez is much better defensively then Johnson Hitters look like they are starting to find their groove. Abreu/Alexei with long hit streaks, Laroche with a couple big hits, but especially impressive are Eaton and Garcia. This one is huge, because if your hitters can't hit then your team will go nowhere. I don't think anyone can argue against our team hitting looking better. Sure, they didn't hit a grand slam or a bases clearing double during every bases loaded opportunity, but they still cashed in a little. And had timely hitting. And continuation hitting. And GREAT at bats. If the flaws you see on the field can overshadow how much better the Sox hitters are looking, then I argue you should return those turd colored glasses you are wearing to wherever you got them. This team isn't close to perfect. The coaches could still be a detriment. Team defense is still lacking. Still some baserunning mistakes. But at the same time, they're being aggressive, and I like it. Hustle doubles are always a good thing. I think this team is trending upwards and getting back to .500 so quickly is a VERY good thing. Now they need to keep that momentum going and take advantage of another team that is not playing well. Hopefully they get some nice crowds, they deserve it.

Johnny Danks!!! Pitched through a crap umpire The only "mistake" if you could call it that was the outside fastball that Billy Butler guessed right on. You know he guessed right on it because he destroyed it for an opposite field home run.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ May 16, 2015 -> 11:49 PM) Anyone else worried about Robertson? He doesn't seem nearly as sharp lately. Also can't have Shark throw his standard 50 pitches through 2 innings tomorrow, we need our starters to go long into games without an off-day the rest of the month. Being not very familiar with him, if I'm thinking like you, I remember seeing that insane rising cutter he had in his Sox debut and thinking WOW. His stuff right now doesn't appear as "insane", but his heart is in it right now and that's all you can ask for until that insane stuff hopefully returns. If it does, I don't imagine he will blow many, if any, saves. As an aside, this is the kind of game baseball fans watch. That at bat by Avi was just excellent. I know there's been a lot of talk about his BABIP, but he really looks like an extremely talented hitter, and confident to boot. I think we have a special hitter on our hands. Danks and Chavez alike both battled through an umpire with a weird strike zone. All night, I couldn't tell if the guy would call it a strike or ball. Great performances by both pitchers. But a big shout out to Eaton, Melky, Mr. Abreu and Avi for getting the job done on offense. Also a shout out for Conor for that shot right to the first basemen with 1st and 3rd, no out. Tough luck.

UNdercover shutdown ale is back! Got a few bottles to try. Will report later on.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ May 15, 2015 -> 01:01 PM) I've put way too much thought into this, so I'll ask for opinions. I have to buy beer for a party we're hosting. At least 30 guests with variable drinking levels depending on who shows up. There will likely not be other beer snobs there, but I want stuff I will drink in case I buy too much. I guess another way to word it is I want good beer that will appeal to average drinkers as well as me without going crazy on price. I'm thinking... Bell's Oberon and Two Hearted Ale (probably 12 and 6) Revolution, probably a 6 each of Anti-Hero and Bottom Up (Fist City?) Sierra Nevada Pale Ale maybe? Anyway, I would appreciate suggestions. Unfortunately, I will probably have to buy some light beer even though it goes against my pinciples. If I'm you, I have a case of Bud, Miller or Coors (probably the light version) product around, unless you're certain they won't get touched. Some people just like that stuff primarily. Then, get some IPAs and wheat ales for the craft drinkers. If I'm a guest at your party, doesn't matter to me if it's one of Anti Hero or 2 Hearted, or one of Bottom Up or Oberon. Bottomline is I'm happy you have something other then the Bud/Miller/Coors beers. It's a much larger scale, but I used to do some wedding bartending, and this one time the groom went all craft beers, and a big portion of the guests wouldn't touch the stuff. They actually ended up supplying us a case of Miller Lite on their own, but it wasn't nearly enough and we had to make a run to get more.

Beckham continues to impress. Could he earn more playing time then he currently gets?

Doesn't hurt to have Abreu available to pinch hit for the pitcher in a big situation late game. I wouldn't call it a complete day off, because he will need to be ready to hit.

Yesterday was pretty good. Had dinner at a restaurant to find they had just tapped a keg of Hopslam. (!) Also enjoyed a Gringolandia Pilsner and Founders Rye IPA. Later that night, at a different establishment, discovered Crystal Hero on tap. That beer is also damn good. Somewhere in there a couple shots happened. Today felt like someone had played basketball with my brain all night. Meanwhile, got myself a couple nice bombers (Arctic Panzerwolf and Wicked Fist) to share with my friend who will be done abstaining from alcohol soon. Probably drink them if the Hawks win or lose the cup.

83 uniforms 'til a loss. And if we go on the road, road 83's too. Might as well just bring that uniform back. It was so 80s, but a few decades later I really like the look.

My buddy keeps hounding me to call in to work and get some tickets to the game tonight. As much fun as it would be, no way. I left my hoodie at the UC during round 1, so if I'm going to another game, it's there to try and get my hoody back. Hawks have really impressed me up to this point. Obviously, the series isn't over yet, but I thought there'd be a whole lot more annoyance with Minnesota then there has been. Wild fans probably feel like Sox fans do.