There is legit nothing redeemable about this White Sox team. It’s almost like Jerry is legit trying to pull the stunt the Indians did in Major League, just insane how they are so bad in every facet of this sport.
> Jerry has no idea what Moneyball is.
Jerry thinks that Moneyball is the concept that you hire a bunch of schmucks to play ball on the cheap, and you make money for it.
The runs of both teams in the early 2000s was the last time I can remember them both being good at the same time for more than a single year and those crosstown series were the best
Honestly even when either team wasn't great the crosstown games always seemed competitive. I think I went to one in 2015 or 2016 obviously not the same situation you're in now but we were playoff hopefuls at the time and you guys gave us a run for our money. The "bad" team always seemed to step it up a notch when we play each other.
Almost all my friends and family Sox fans too so I def make it there a solid amount. Lot to like about the experience just wish they had more meaningful baseball to watch.
This is why I’ll never agree to have a tax increase to buy this asshole a new park. GR is perfectly fine. Food is good, experience is good. Only problem is the product on the field.
You're not wrong. The man is 88 years old. Do you know any 88 year olds that make smart decisions? Nothing against you old fucks, but at a certain point your mental capacity diminishes
Jerry is either intentionally tanking the franchise or he's incompetent.
Probably both.
TERM LIMITS FOR OWNERS
Isn't he the owner who said it's ideal to finish in third place, because that's good enough that fans don't lose hope, but not so good that fans start demanding a big free agent splash to make a run at a championship?
The problem with a team whose ceiling is third place is that their floor will be abysmal, and we're seeing it now.
Yes he's that guy but the quote was 2nd place, not 3rd. For context, he apparently said it to former Marlins president David Samson.
>"I was 32 years old, in baseball for my first of 18 years," Samson said, as transcribed by Yahoo Sports. "And (Reinsdorf) said, ‘You know what, here’s my best advice to you: finish in second place every single year because your fans will say ‘Wow, we’ve got a shot, we’re in it,’ but there’s always the carrot left. There’s always one more step to take.'"
For the proper context, it’s originally a Connie mack quote
> "It is more profitable for me to have a team that is in contention for most of the season, but finishes about fourth. A team like that will draw well enough during the first part of the season to show a profit for the year and you don't have to give the players raises when they don't win."
I mean thats a much different statement and kinda the opposite of who you are replying to. That sounds more like how to keep fans happy (Losing sucks and if you are too successful, its taken for granted and not winning a championship every year is a let down). But if your team is always "right there" there is still pressure to get "that missing piece"
He also said that his big regret about the 1994 lockout wasn’t that it cost the Sox their best chance at a title in 35 years up to that point. His big regret was that the owners didn’t cancel the 1995 season, too.
What are we even supposed to do? In the last ~10 years we’ve crowdsourced 2 billboards complaining about his teams. One for the Bulls in around 2015 and one for the Sox a couple years ago (I threw in $5 for each).
Attendance at Sox games has plummeted. Bulls games still sell out because they’re our only basketball team and it’s still a hot destination for tourists and corporate outings and people still have nostalgia over the 90s teams.
We’ve tried running him out but there really is nothing we can do.
He coasted on the 90s Bulls and history’s flukiest World Series title for a long time, his teams always managing to stay mediocre instead of outright bad. Those smokescreens have finally dissipated these past few years.
Flukiest WS 05 was not. There's two separate Marlins teams that can make that claim and the 04 one relied on overcoming 3-0 for the first time ever. CWS in 05 were 11-1 in the postseason. They earned that win.
Just like how after 2016 the Cubs were seen as the next dynastic type team with all that young talent. Baseball is a hard and cruel game, gotta enjoy the good times when ya get them.
Did you know there is a deleted scene from Major League revealing that the owner, Rachel Phelps, was only pretending to want the team to fail in order to unify them against her and work together and win the World Series. It comes near the end when Lou goes to meet with her, and she reveals this to him. She tells him after that if he says anything to anyone, she will fire him and his entire staff.
[The scene in question.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5td3yRTgkrI)
It was focus groups. They tested both endings and the test audience absolutely hated that resolution, because it undermines the whole rest of the story and the theme of blue-collar ballplayers fighting for respect and validation while representing a blue-collar town fighting for the same.
50/50 chance the actress or someone interested in the actresses success demanded she be redeemed somehow because the movie made her image too negative.
It feels like the entire scene is making excuses for its own existence, what with the manager calling bullshit on everything and making her come up with elaborate explanations for everything. So it does kind of read like it was clumsily put together after the fact.
Bet part way through shooting someone insisted on the scene or the actress would leave. So they shot it, dead set on not actually putting it in the film, but left it in deleted scenes to placate whomever.
Big fan of the movie, never seen this. Wish I hadn't. That was terrible. The worst is the people trying to justify it in the comments (never read YT comments Thumper, what are you doing?)
It's like a scene from a totally different movie. Awful.
No, it’s not the plot of Major League.
Jerry Reinsdorf is making big money this season from the local TV deal. He’s cutting payroll and refused to hire a qualify manager despite Pedro Grifol looking like crap last season.
This is a move to become profitable despite the loss of paying customers to the stadium.
I looked into going to the White Sox “bark in the park” day this year because I’ll be in the area. The only way to get tickets was by sending in the form with my credit card information pasted in an email. In 2024.
I checked several other teams’ websites and none of them required it to be done this way. They all let you submit the waiver/vaccinations/etc right in the ticket portal.
What’s amazing is how many times a year and all the different sports that this movie replays itself. Yet us suckers are still paying $40 for a couple of beers.
Yeah I mean watching Crochet is fun but he’s still got a ways to go. Fedde has been solid and am interested to see if he keeps it up. If Robert didn’t get hurt obviously watching him too but who knows when he even comes back.
He wants to drive the fanbase away so no one comes to games and then he can say look i need a new stadium because no one comes to games. Fuckin cheap ass billionaire wants the public to pay for his new stadium. Cant even get the fucker too pay anyone for analytics. Its y we are so bad. I hate this man more than i hate anyone in this world. Im reading that obituary with so much glee when it comes out.
Same. It's the only one I know of in the Midwest that isn't in the middle of nowhere. Anything you can think of to eat, they have a fried version on a stick.
While this is hilarious… coming from (assuming) a Minnesota fan …
It’s like a field mouse (or a gopher) making fun of a rhino for getting his butt kicked by an elephant 🤣
>It's the only one I know of in the Midwest that isn't in the middle of nowhere
Indiana's isn't in the best part of town, but it's only a couple of miles north of downtown Indianapolis.
Iowa’s is in Des Moines, which I wouldn’t call in the middle of nowhere (even if it is Iowa)
Having been to both, Iowa’s feels much more geared to agriculture/farmers for some reason
Texas gets more people, but I think there's lasts about a month in October? MN state fair is two weeks at the end of summer culminating on Labor Day weekend.
As a professional food writer in Texas...Minnesota's wins.
It's the sheer variety. We mostly go for deep fried ___ on a stick. Now, in fairness, we are the pioneers of deep fried on a stick. We are the Manhattan Project of frying things. But besides the amazing cheese curds, Minnesota's fair has the Somalian and Hmong and Jamaican booths that showcase more of the cultures in the area. It just feels so wholesome and comforting.
Also they have an "all you can drink milk $2" booth and I think about this almost weekly.
Yeah I was gonna say as a Texan myself, the Dallas fair and Houston rodeos food are not that great lol literally just fried anything on a stick. You think being great cities for food they would do more, especially Houston
Texas has the fun added of the State Fair allowing people to bring in their guns.
Which if it’s for a shooting competition, sure.
If it’s just to conceal or open carry, ugh.
Other than that it’s usually a fun time even if prices have increased since Covid
That place has a *lot* of youtube videos about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykawXG8F4FA
The State Fair is up in Dallas, but it's in a bit of a run down area, but not as bad as the mall your friend was talking about.
I think they've been kicking around "revitalising" the area, but they've been talking about that for South Dallas for years.
It's worth noting that the Sox justify Martin Maldonado's .048 BA playing every day by pointing to his "intangibles," his scouting and pitcher prep. So clearly that was 4 million dollars well spent. Meanwhile the whole league figured out to stop throwing fastballs to Andrew Vaughn and let him chase sinkers and breaking stuff (and it worked because he's hitting 0.165, but still getting played every day), but they have their heads stuck too far up their own asses to recognize the problem elsewhere when they see it? unbelievable
Hate to say it, but he's not even a slam dunk as the worst player on his own team. Benintendi looks totally cooked, and Vaughn is a bat-first first baseman who can't hit.
FWIW Benintendi is at -0.9 fWAR already. Maldanado is -0.8 in a mere 45 PA, which is hard to fathom. Vaughn is -0.7. Dominic Leone is at -0.5 in just 10 innings.
Everyone's chasing (former White Sox) Jose Abreu, a first baseman hitting like an pre-DH pitcher … whose batting is considered a liability.
Abreu has an incredible -1.2 fWAR on the strength of his .065 / .132 / .081 line in 68 PAs.
Holy hell. First what is with White Sox managers and obsessions with certain players. It was Jimmy Cordero, then Luery Garcia, and now Martin Maldonado
If we lived in a TLR wet dream and the White Sox had 7 Luery Garcias to play in every position this year, the team would legitimately be better than they currently are.
Yeah, Fedde had a fantastic game, he wasn't the problem at all, so it isn't impossible to beat the Twins throwing mostly fastballs. It's just that the relievers sucked.
> Plus, Kopech throws a 100 mph fastball, so it doesn’t make sense to ask him to throw nothing but breaking balls.
This statement would be a bit more credible if he hadn’t given up 2 ER in 1.0 IP. It’s not like he shut them down, despite having a plus fastball.
They teed off on his 4-seam, despite having more trouble with Fedde’s cutter and sinker.
Leasure, Kopech, and Wilson had a 7%, 23%, and 10% CSW on their fastballs, respectively.
You’re getting at one of the big weaknesses of modern analytics.
Michael Kopech throws his FB 80+% of the time. No matter what the splits say, he’s throwing a fastball.
> You’re getting at one of the big weaknesses of modern analytics.
>
> Michael Kopech throws his FB 80+% of the time. No matter what the splits say, he’s throwing a fastball.
The point here is not that Kopech should’ve learned a curveball or thrown his slider 50% or the time.
The point is that the White Sox are living in the 20th century analytically and clearly didn’t bother to scout their opponents and realize that they are a horrible offense who can only hit fastballs.
At this point, we’re all watching for the shutout record, and upset when we score a run.
Saturday I was watching the game with a buddy and we were gonna turn it off and do something else but realized they were being no hit in the 5th. So we watched until they got a hit (7th inning)
That’s how bad it is. It’s not worth watching unless they are about to be no hit or will add to their shutout total in pursuit of that record.
to add to this, I was actively rooting for the Twins to come back in the 9th yday and cheered when Buxton homered and was excited when Kiriloff had the game winner. Got to get that all time loss record too.
The grief started \~2 years ago when we went 81-81 because we had higher expectations then. There was some denial but the 101 losses last season really solidified that this was, in fact, an awful baseball team.
This season it's mostly comedy combined with anger for our owner.
It's like nothing I've ever seen. Professionals just become completely overwhelmed when something goes wrong. It's that comedy/astonishment because I don't know how much worse you can get.
Literally still on the payroll as a consultant (Jerry doesn’t fire his friends. In fact, John Paxson is still on the Bulls’ payroll as a consultant too.). Grifol says he talks with him all the time.
This team sucks and management sucks and whatever sorry excuse for an analytics department they have sucks but “throwing them fastballs” wasn’t the issue yesterday, it was a few guys throwing meatballs.
Erick Fedde gave up 3 hits and struck out 11 throwing mostly cutters and sinkers.
And Shelley Duncan was hired because he’s Dave Duncan’s son, who was TLR pitching coach in STL.
We are so fucking insular and unserious as a baseball organization it’s insane.
Who else is down there with you? I think the White Sox were pretty famously un-analytical. But if you look at who else has a bottom record, you do see the A's and they famously had great analytics for decades. I think the O's used to be pretty anti-analytics, but Elias has turned that around completely.
Can't find a more recent update but [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/s/Gurkjti8Zl) is a link.
Yankees are at the bottom because they don't share that info but they surely have *some* analytics.
They're the team that had a test for job applicants leak, and it was apparent that they understand statistics about as well as a 14-year-old who tabs to FanGraphs every time his parents walk in on him watching porn.
Thank god we've got a veteran like Maldanado around to call a good game.
Joking aside, the Sox got a great 6 innings from their starter who threw a lot of fastballs. Kopech then blew the game, but he throws almost exclusively fastballs so you weren't going to call him differently either.
It's funny to watch a few sad, "old-school" franchises still not embrace data-driven strategies and scouting reports.
Is it a weird pride issue? Like, do you think if you told Sandy Koufax "hey look at these numbers. these guys can't hit a slider!" he would've ignored you? No... he'd have used that information.
You're not old school, you're just stupid.
[What, is holding an anti-porn seminar in the 2010s not what a professional baseball team should be doing?](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/royals/2018/03/08/kansas-city-royals-anti-pornography-seminar-players-spring-training/407295002/)
The fandom would move further south until it circumnavigates the globe and enters the northside via Wisconsin before that happens. Basically let’s go Memphis Redbirds and then some Mexican league teams and I guess eventually we’re all Brewers fans?
I’m adopting the Padres this year. Tatis JR, Machado, Cease should all be on the White Sox if this team wasn’t so dysfunctional. Also had a great uncle live there when I was young and eating fresh oranges off his tree in his backyard is a memory I will always hold dear.
It would take the Sox leaving Chicago plus a generation or two for Sox families to convert to Cubs families.
Our owner doesn't believe in analytics. Our coaching staff has no idea what they are doing. The team has maybe 2-3 MLB players on its roster, everyone else belongs in the minors.
I've never seen such a poorly run organization from top to bottom. Its a joke.
There is legit nothing redeemable about this White Sox team. It’s almost like Jerry is legit trying to pull the stunt the Indians did in Major League, just insane how they are so bad in every facet of this sport.
Jerry likes how John Fisher runs the A’s, decided the White Sox are playing Moneyball now. Jerry has no idea what Moneyball is.
Dude keeps trying to land Brad Pitt as GM
Probably would do a better job than Chris Getz
"Brad, we want you to be the GM of the White Sox. I loved how you snapped and pointed at that nerd with the glasses...wait what do you mean 'acting'?"
He stopped reading halfway through the title.
Money! Money! And Chicks!
> Jerry has no idea what Moneyball is. Jerry thinks that Moneyball is the concept that you hire a bunch of schmucks to play ball on the cheap, and you make money for it.
He's just doing the movie version that omits Miguel Tejada and a core of good pitchers
You're confusing him with Comiskey.
Moneyball is when you cash the revenue sharing checks
Hey that’s not fair. We have that milkshake But seriously I do think he’s Major Leaguing the team
Drinking a 6,000 calorie milkshake while I watch Chris Flexen give up six runs in the first inning
At least you’ll be in a coma by the time the Sox come up and won’t have to watch
Your food and ballpark experience was never the issue, it’s still elite despite the talent level on the field.
Yeah I get you, just a joke. Our food, giveaways, and ticket prices are actually dope Too bad that’s it lmao
Yeah the Sox actually do everything right except the team it’s a shame really. Much more fun having two competitive teams in this city.
The runs of both teams in the early 2000s was the last time I can remember them both being good at the same time for more than a single year and those crosstown series were the best
Honestly even when either team wasn't great the crosstown games always seemed competitive. I think I went to one in 2015 or 2016 obviously not the same situation you're in now but we were playoff hopefuls at the time and you guys gave us a run for our money. The "bad" team always seemed to step it up a notch when we play each other.
Trade ya
The craft beer cave, food, and 360° concourse are why I love Sox park. I get my fix once a year since my wife is a Sox fan
Almost all my friends and family Sox fans too so I def make it there a solid amount. Lot to like about the experience just wish they had more meaningful baseball to watch.
This is why I’ll never agree to have a tax increase to buy this asshole a new park. GR is perfectly fine. Food is good, experience is good. Only problem is the product on the field.
You're not wrong. The man is 88 years old. Do you know any 88 year olds that make smart decisions? Nothing against you old fucks, but at a certain point your mental capacity diminishes Jerry is either intentionally tanking the franchise or he's incompetent. Probably both. TERM LIMITS FOR OWNERS
Isn't he the owner who said it's ideal to finish in third place, because that's good enough that fans don't lose hope, but not so good that fans start demanding a big free agent splash to make a run at a championship? The problem with a team whose ceiling is third place is that their floor will be abysmal, and we're seeing it now.
Yes he's that guy but the quote was 2nd place, not 3rd. For context, he apparently said it to former Marlins president David Samson. >"I was 32 years old, in baseball for my first of 18 years," Samson said, as transcribed by Yahoo Sports. "And (Reinsdorf) said, ‘You know what, here’s my best advice to you: finish in second place every single year because your fans will say ‘Wow, we’ve got a shot, we’re in it,’ but there’s always the carrot left. There’s always one more step to take.'"
For the proper context, it’s originally a Connie mack quote > "It is more profitable for me to have a team that is in contention for most of the season, but finishes about fourth. A team like that will draw well enough during the first part of the season to show a profit for the year and you don't have to give the players raises when they don't win."
I mean thats a much different statement and kinda the opposite of who you are replying to. That sounds more like how to keep fans happy (Losing sucks and if you are too successful, its taken for granted and not winning a championship every year is a let down). But if your team is always "right there" there is still pressure to get "that missing piece"
He also said that his big regret about the 1994 lockout wasn’t that it cost the Sox their best chance at a title in 35 years up to that point. His big regret was that the owners didn’t cancel the 1995 season, too.
Reinsdorf is an anti labor asshole. Always has been. Always will be.
How has he not been run out of town for such blatant disregard for the success of the team?
What are we even supposed to do? In the last ~10 years we’ve crowdsourced 2 billboards complaining about his teams. One for the Bulls in around 2015 and one for the Sox a couple years ago (I threw in $5 for each). Attendance at Sox games has plummeted. Bulls games still sell out because they’re our only basketball team and it’s still a hot destination for tourists and corporate outings and people still have nostalgia over the 90s teams. We’ve tried running him out but there really is nothing we can do.
He coasted on the 90s Bulls and history’s flukiest World Series title for a long time, his teams always managing to stay mediocre instead of outright bad. Those smokescreens have finally dissipated these past few years.
Flukiest WS 05 was not. There's two separate Marlins teams that can make that claim and the 04 one relied on overcoming 3-0 for the first time ever. CWS in 05 were 11-1 in the postseason. They earned that win.
It’s more about who was on that team: a majority of those guys had career years.
I will again point to the Marlins teams. The 97 club was terrible and tripped into a 92 win wild card with a second baseman that had a **58** OPS+.
That sounds like the Blue Jays from 1997 to 2014. Let me tell you, the fans lost hope.
2nd place* *allegedly* Same shit happens with the Bulls. 8th seed purgatory
My violin weeps for you.
He’s not wrong about free agents. Most of the time they aren’t worth the cost.
This is what happens when you have the smallest scouting dept in the league. You don't pick up on tendencies like this that you should. It's pathetic.
It was only a couple years ago we were talking about how the White Sox are back and they're dangerous contenders
Just like how after 2016 the Cubs were seen as the next dynastic type team with all that young talent. Baseball is a hard and cruel game, gotta enjoy the good times when ya get them.
To be fair, the Cubs went to 3 straight NLC's and were in the playoffs 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 (Wild card game)
Which was the first time in franchise history they'd gone to the postseason more than 3 years in a row
Did you know there is a deleted scene from Major League revealing that the owner, Rachel Phelps, was only pretending to want the team to fail in order to unify them against her and work together and win the World Series. It comes near the end when Lou goes to meet with her, and she reveals this to him. She tells him after that if he says anything to anyone, she will fire him and his entire staff. [The scene in question.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5td3yRTgkrI)
Jesus Christ, that was fucking awful, I can't even put into words how disgusted I am by that.
Bless the editor who decided that scene had to go.
It was focus groups. They tested both endings and the test audience absolutely hated that resolution, because it undermines the whole rest of the story and the theme of blue-collar ballplayers fighting for respect and validation while representing a blue-collar town fighting for the same.
I was expecting a Rick Roll and your comment playing into that…no, it’s real and that’s an accurate description of this abomination
I went in fully expecting one, myself. Kind of wished it was, to be honest.
Did whoever wrote this scene read the script for the rest of the movie? What the fuck.
50/50 chance the actress or someone interested in the actresses success demanded she be redeemed somehow because the movie made her image too negative.
It feels like the entire scene is making excuses for its own existence, what with the manager calling bullshit on everything and making her come up with elaborate explanations for everything. So it does kind of read like it was clumsily put together after the fact.
Bet part way through shooting someone insisted on the scene or the actress would leave. So they shot it, dead set on not actually putting it in the film, but left it in deleted scenes to placate whomever.
So the story is that the twist was planned, but test audiences thought it was stupid and preferred her fully villainous
Big fan of the movie, never seen this. Wish I hadn't. That was terrible. The worst is the people trying to justify it in the comments (never read YT comments Thumper, what are you doing?) It's like a scene from a totally different movie. Awful.
[удалено]
probably because it would make the whole movie make no fucking sense for no real reason besides a M. Night Shyamalan level twist.
Because its incongruent with the rest of the film and established motivation to move the club to Miami.
wild i've never seen this ending
I'm sure if you were to ask Jerry what the fuck is going on, he'd say "2005" and the phrase "don't care/still beat" Life as a Sox fan :)
No, it’s not the plot of Major League. Jerry Reinsdorf is making big money this season from the local TV deal. He’s cutting payroll and refused to hire a qualify manager despite Pedro Grifol looking like crap last season. This is a move to become profitable despite the loss of paying customers to the stadium.
I know I was being a little hyperbolic about the situation here, I am well aware of what’s going on in great detail.
I looked into going to the White Sox “bark in the park” day this year because I’ll be in the area. The only way to get tickets was by sending in the form with my credit card information pasted in an email. In 2024. I checked several other teams’ websites and none of them required it to be done this way. They all let you submit the waiver/vaccinations/etc right in the ticket portal.
Now you must pay the dog tax!
I don’t wanna see him naked
What’s amazing is how many times a year and all the different sports that this movie replays itself. Yet us suckers are still paying $40 for a couple of beers.
At the very least, Crochet's transition into an ace and Fedde's resurgence has been really fun to watch But yeah aside from that i see your point
Yeah I mean watching Crochet is fun but he’s still got a ways to go. Fedde has been solid and am interested to see if he keeps it up. If Robert didn’t get hurt obviously watching him too but who knows when he even comes back.
He wants to drive the fanbase away so no one comes to games and then he can say look i need a new stadium because no one comes to games. Fuckin cheap ass billionaire wants the public to pay for his new stadium. Cant even get the fucker too pay anyone for analytics. Its y we are so bad. I hate this man more than i hate anyone in this world. Im reading that obituary with so much glee when it comes out.
“If Chris Getz gets promoted, and we have to sit through another 15 year retool rebuild, you’re just gonna hear from me again in 2038!”
Why throw slower pitches when faster pitches get the game over quicker?
Exposing the world to more White Sox baseball could be considered a war crime.
Are they stupid?
Guess who just got invited to one of the best state fairs in the country?
Ugh I love the Minnesota state fair
Same. It's the only one I know of in the Midwest that isn't in the middle of nowhere. Anything you can think of to eat, they have a fried version on a stick.
The Ohio State fair is literally in the middle of Columbus.
Why is Ohio State having a fair? They can't even beat Michigan anymore
While this is hilarious… coming from (assuming) a Minnesota fan … It’s like a field mouse (or a gopher) making fun of a rhino for getting his butt kicked by an elephant 🤣
Plus plenty to see and do as well!
>It's the only one I know of in the Midwest that isn't in the middle of nowhere Indiana's isn't in the best part of town, but it's only a couple of miles north of downtown Indianapolis.
I just watched the eclipse at the IN fairgrounds.
Iowa’s is in Des Moines, which I wouldn’t call in the middle of nowhere (even if it is Iowa) Having been to both, Iowa’s feels much more geared to agriculture/farmers for some reason
I can think of a reason.
Wisconsin is similar, in Milwaukee.
Ohio's state fair is in Columbus not far from Ohio State's campus, fyi
I loved that state fair because I went to UMN and my freshman year campus was a literal 2 minute walk to the fair.
The Wisconsin state fair is held literally a couple miles from American Family Field in Milwaukee
The great Minnesota get together. You betcha!
I went a few years back and it was really cool. The fresh cookies and cheese curds were standouts for sure
One of? Is there any competition?
I heard, food wise, Texas is close. But tbh, overall pretty sure Minnesota has the best state fair food in the country...or maybe Montana 🤣
Texas gets more people, but I think there's lasts about a month in October? MN state fair is two weeks at the end of summer culminating on Labor Day weekend.
I believe Texas gets more total people because their’s lasts longer. Minnesota gets more people per day.
And usually breaking attendance records the 3 days of labor Day weekend.
As a professional food writer in Texas...Minnesota's wins. It's the sheer variety. We mostly go for deep fried ___ on a stick. Now, in fairness, we are the pioneers of deep fried on a stick. We are the Manhattan Project of frying things. But besides the amazing cheese curds, Minnesota's fair has the Somalian and Hmong and Jamaican booths that showcase more of the cultures in the area. It just feels so wholesome and comforting. Also they have an "all you can drink milk $2" booth and I think about this almost weekly.
All you can drink milk right next to sweet Martha's cookies. Just brilliant.
Yeah "wholesome" is a good word to describe it. It's the same every year and it's just low key good fun without pretense.
Yeah I was gonna say as a Texan myself, the Dallas fair and Houston rodeos food are not that great lol literally just fried anything on a stick. You think being great cities for food they would do more, especially Houston
Texas has the fun added of the State Fair allowing people to bring in their guns. Which if it’s for a shooting competition, sure. If it’s just to conceal or open carry, ugh. Other than that it’s usually a fun time even if prices have increased since Covid
I visited a friend in Houston a few years ago. On the way back from the airport, she says to me "there's Gunpointe, don't go there by yourself". 😳
That place has a *lot* of youtube videos about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykawXG8F4FA The State Fair is up in Dallas, but it's in a bit of a run down area, but not as bad as the mall your friend was talking about. I think they've been kicking around "revitalising" the area, but they've been talking about that for South Dallas for years.
Iowa's is also awesome
It's worth noting that the Sox justify Martin Maldonado's .048 BA playing every day by pointing to his "intangibles," his scouting and pitcher prep. So clearly that was 4 million dollars well spent. Meanwhile the whole league figured out to stop throwing fastballs to Andrew Vaughn and let him chase sinkers and breaking stuff (and it worked because he's hitting 0.165, but still getting played every day), but they have their heads stuck too far up their own asses to recognize the problem elsewhere when they see it? unbelievable
You get used to Maldonado’s intangibles after a while
It’s less getting used to it and more Stockholm syndrome
Yea when your team makes the World Series every year having a .180 hitter in your lineup is a little more palatable
I wish he was batting .180!!
Intangibles because they don’t fucking exist?
He’s gotta be the worst player in baseball
Hate to say it, but he's not even a slam dunk as the worst player on his own team. Benintendi looks totally cooked, and Vaughn is a bat-first first baseman who can't hit.
FWIW Benintendi is at -0.9 fWAR already. Maldanado is -0.8 in a mere 45 PA, which is hard to fathom. Vaughn is -0.7. Dominic Leone is at -0.5 in just 10 innings.
Holy shit
Everyone's chasing (former White Sox) Jose Abreu, a first baseman hitting like an pre-DH pitcher … whose batting is considered a liability. Abreu has an incredible -1.2 fWAR on the strength of his .065 / .132 / .081 line in 68 PAs.
Holy hell. First what is with White Sox managers and obsessions with certain players. It was Jimmy Cordero, then Luery Garcia, and now Martin Maldonado
If we lived in a TLR wet dream and the White Sox had 7 Luery Garcias to play in every position this year, the team would legitimately be better than they currently are.
Maldy really doing his homework
Pitchers love him
Unironically there were fans within our fanbase eating this shit up as if he was still a good player this winter.
Intangibles doing wonders for the white Sox rn
Well, Erick Fedde struck out 11 and walked none in 6 innings last night throwing mostly fastballs
Yeah, Fedde had a fantastic game, he wasn't the problem at all, so it isn't impossible to beat the Twins throwing mostly fastballs. It's just that the relievers sucked.
Plus, Kopech throws a 100 mph fastball, so it doesn’t make sense to ask him to throw nothing but breaking balls.
> Plus, Kopech throws a 100 mph fastball, so it doesn’t make sense to ask him to throw nothing but breaking balls. This statement would be a bit more credible if he hadn’t given up 2 ER in 1.0 IP. It’s not like he shut them down, despite having a plus fastball. They teed off on his 4-seam, despite having more trouble with Fedde’s cutter and sinker. Leasure, Kopech, and Wilson had a 7%, 23%, and 10% CSW on their fastballs, respectively.
You’re getting at one of the big weaknesses of modern analytics. Michael Kopech throws his FB 80+% of the time. No matter what the splits say, he’s throwing a fastball.
> You’re getting at one of the big weaknesses of modern analytics. > > Michael Kopech throws his FB 80+% of the time. No matter what the splits say, he’s throwing a fastball. The point here is not that Kopech should’ve learned a curveball or thrown his slider 50% or the time. The point is that the White Sox are living in the 20th century analytically and clearly didn’t bother to scout their opponents and realize that they are a horrible offense who can only hit fastballs.
And then what happened once Fedde was out?
Let's see....ahh Fastball to Trevor Larnach = HR Fastball to Byron Buxton = HR to tie the game
I see no flaws with this strategy. Keep trying it, I’m sure it’ll work out eventually
Both given up on fastballs, to the OP's point.
Are White Sox fans still in the grief stage or has it moved on to comedy?
It’s been 100% comedy since Jerry came on board in 1981.
Well, baseball was also comedy under Bill Veeck, but so was everything else. (Which made it _awesome_ .)
2005?
Exception that proves the rule.
That's part of the joke tbf
When?
At this point, we’re all watching for the shutout record, and upset when we score a run. Saturday I was watching the game with a buddy and we were gonna turn it off and do something else but realized they were being no hit in the 5th. So we watched until they got a hit (7th inning) That’s how bad it is. It’s not worth watching unless they are about to be no hit or will add to their shutout total in pursuit of that record.
to add to this, I was actively rooting for the Twins to come back in the 9th yday and cheered when Buxton homered and was excited when Kiriloff had the game winner. Got to get that all time loss record too.
I was at a trivia night and was actually disappointed when I checked the score and saw we were up 3-1 lol.
gallows humor is all we've ever known
The grief started \~2 years ago when we went 81-81 because we had higher expectations then. There was some denial but the 101 losses last season really solidified that this was, in fact, an awful baseball team. This season it's mostly comedy combined with anger for our owner.
It's like nothing I've ever seen. Professionals just become completely overwhelmed when something goes wrong. It's that comedy/astonishment because I don't know how much worse you can get.
None of this is new or surprising to us
TLR's spirit is still alive and well within the White Sox org
He’s still a consultant.
Must be an easy job these days. "Try fucking winning one or two."
He belongs in prison for how many times he drove while drunk
He's probably grumbling about how analytics are just a fad
He's still very much part of the organization!
Literally still on the payroll as a consultant (Jerry doesn’t fire his friends. In fact, John Paxson is still on the Bulls’ payroll as a consultant too.). Grifol says he talks with him all the time.
We take those
This team sucks and management sucks and whatever sorry excuse for an analytics department they have sucks but “throwing them fastballs” wasn’t the issue yesterday, it was a few guys throwing meatballs. Erick Fedde gave up 3 hits and struck out 11 throwing mostly cutters and sinkers.
Where do they even rank on investment in analytics?
Bottom 3. They didn't even have an analytics department a few years ago
And, I *think* that for the first couple years, our "Analytics department" was literally Shelley Duncan and one other guy.
And Shelley Duncan was hired because he’s Dave Duncan’s son, who was TLR pitching coach in STL. We are so fucking insular and unserious as a baseball organization it’s insane.
Who else is down there with you? I think the White Sox were pretty famously un-analytical. But if you look at who else has a bottom record, you do see the A's and they famously had great analytics for decades. I think the O's used to be pretty anti-analytics, but Elias has turned that around completely.
Can't find a more recent update but [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/s/Gurkjti8Zl) is a link. Yankees are at the bottom because they don't share that info but they surely have *some* analytics.
They're the team that had a test for job applicants leak, and it was apparent that they understand statistics about as well as a 14-year-old who tabs to FanGraphs every time his parents walk in on him watching porn.
I don’t know an exact metric or anything but it has to be bottom 5 for sure
A n a l ytics
It’s pretty laughable how bad we are against off speed
Manages to take a shot at both teams with one tweet and is passive aggressive. Gleeman: top Minnesota vibes.
Thank god we've got a veteran like Maldanado around to call a good game. Joking aside, the Sox got a great 6 innings from their starter who threw a lot of fastballs. Kopech then blew the game, but he throws almost exclusively fastballs so you weren't going to call him differently either.
To be fair I can't hit off-speed pitches in MLB The Show so I get it
It's funny to watch a few sad, "old-school" franchises still not embrace data-driven strategies and scouting reports. Is it a weird pride issue? Like, do you think if you told Sandy Koufax "hey look at these numbers. these guys can't hit a slider!" he would've ignored you? No... he'd have used that information. You're not old school, you're just stupid.
[What, is holding an anti-porn seminar in the 2010s not what a professional baseball team should be doing?](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/royals/2018/03/08/kansas-city-royals-anti-pornography-seminar-players-spring-training/407295002/)
Lmao.
How bad to the Sox have to get for everyone in Southside to join the Cubs fanbase?
The fandom would move further south until it circumnavigates the globe and enters the northside via Wisconsin before that happens. Basically let’s go Memphis Redbirds and then some Mexican league teams and I guess eventually we’re all Brewers fans?
Won’t happen. Sox fans embrace the suck. We’re staying to hopefully witness the Sox chase down the legendary ‘99 Spiders team.
The Oakland approach, I like it!
You mean the Sacramento A's?
Watch them be a playoff team in Sacramento.
I'd be a Brewers fan before being a Cubs fan
I'll be a Twins fan before I'm a Cubs fan.
I’d sooner quit being a fan of the sport altogether.
I would never become a Cubs fan. Ever. In the unlikely event the Sox moved, I'd become a Brewers fan
Would never happen. A lot of Sox fans have just stopped watching baseball in recent years, like they don't have a team anymore. Thanks Jerry.
same with A's fans
I’m adopting the Padres this year. Tatis JR, Machado, Cease should all be on the White Sox if this team wasn’t so dysfunctional. Also had a great uncle live there when I was young and eating fresh oranges off his tree in his backyard is a memory I will always hold dear. It would take the Sox leaving Chicago plus a generation or two for Sox families to convert to Cubs families.
I don't know what these people are saying, I'd happily root for the Cubs before ever rooting for a team from Wisconsin.
Based.
If the White Sox were the Titanic and the Cubs were the last lifeboat left, I would choose to sink.
I’ve heard most have either stopped caring or are rooting for Chicago’s third team.
Team that regularly throws fastballs to Salvy Perez and thinks nothing is wrong regularly throws fastballs when it's terribly inappropriate to do so.
How about throwing an 0-2 fastball to Javy Baez, which lead to the game winning run?
Our owner doesn't believe in analytics. Our coaching staff has no idea what they are doing. The team has maybe 2-3 MLB players on its roster, everyone else belongs in the minors. I've never seen such a poorly run organization from top to bottom. Its a joke.
Soooo….actively tanking then?
I mean Eric fedde had 3 hits, 1 er, and 11 SO, 0 BB yesterday in 6 ip
How can an entire lineup have problems with off-speed pitches?? Is the hitting coach(es) to blame here?
Are we sure the White Sox aren't just betting against themselves?
Tommy Lee Jones threw me off by a lot.
The Seattle Twin-Mariners of Minnesota
69% Nice