Reports from SoxFest, Day 3
by Jim Margalus on Jan 30, 2012 6:00 AM CST
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Print(In case you missed it: Friday and Saturday recaps)
If Mark Parent ever allowed me a one-punch head start in a bar fight, it would hurt me a helluva lot more than it'd hurt him.
At least that's the impression I got from reading his comments at SoxFest. We haven't heard much about Parent since Robin Ventura plucked him from obscurity (specifically, Reading, Pa.) to serve as his bench coach. We knew he was a well-traveled backup catcher and a mountain of a man, but neither tells you much of his ethos.
During Sunday's seminar, Parent talked a game that Sox fans have long-desired to hear. He spoke of a need to retaliate when hitters are getting knocked down, and honestly evaluated A.J. Pierzynski's problems keeping the running game in check. In a nutshell:
Broadcaster Steve Stone joked about another ploy to slow opponents. "Or (pour) 10 gallons of water near first base," he said.
"We can try that," Parent joked. "If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying."
Now, whether the Sox will back up Parent's talk is something to throw in the wait-and-see bin. But the first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem, and Parent spoke of them in plain terms. At the very least, he looks like he's set to play bad cop, and maybe the devil on Ventura's shoulder, which will be a departure from Joey Cora's apparent role of administrator.
Among the out-of-session stories:
- Brent Lillibridge would like to get back into the infield mix, which would be a pretty sweet value-added feature if he could pull it off.
- Joe Cowley gets some good, honest quotes from Paul Konerko, which he uses for, you know...
- Philip Humber's solution for his problematic reaction time on the mound? A bigger glove.
- Doug Padilla talks to Matt Thornton about his early-season struggles, but neither of them mention the mystery 'tweener pitch that he stopped throwing after May.
- Brent Morel elaborates on the change in his approach, saying he was disappointed with his timidity before getting "selfish."
- This shouldn't surprise anybody -- apparently Tyler Flowers and A.J. Pierzynski didn't like each other at first. But Jake Peavy remains steadfast in his Flowers fandom.
All the important tweets are below the jump. Big ups to KenWo for his heavy-duty tweeting action, and it was nice to see our pal 67WMAQ back in the mix, hung up on Ed Farmer's presentation.
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wow, Jim, starting the week off with an ugly joke?
I bet if I punched Mark Parent in the face, it would hurt me a helluva lot more than it’d hurt him.
White Sox 2012: Helplessly rebuilding?
He could give me a head start and I'd still get my ass kicked.
I figured I was making fun of myself, if anybody.
by Jim Margalus on Jan 30, 2012 11:48 AM CST up reply actions
now that the rah rah parade is ova
Let’s go out and sign a Cuban outfielder.
"Good teams win games. Bad teams have meetings."
by BobbySouthSide on Jan 30, 2012 8:09 AM CST via iPhone app reply actions
On punching someone in the face: yes, chances are it would end up hurting you more than them.
Fingers are fragile, relatively speaking, the fact is not and is also pointy. That’s a bad combination.
To my knowledge, certain things were not known.
-James Murdoch
by 2ndHalfAdjustments on Jan 30, 2012 8:40 AM CST reply actions
joe cowley needs an intervention
between his ass cheeks.
by obnoxious american on Jan 30, 2012 9:37 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
Cowley's problem is that he truly, sincerely believes that he's the only one that is realistic...
about the current situation that the White Sox are in. So he feels that it’s his duty to overcompensate for the slightest positivity by being a smarmy, negative douchebag. He gets off on stirring shit up, and his defense is that deep down he would LOVE to see Reinsdorf get another championship. But I think that’s a lie too.
His love for the Guillens is obvious. But what I find most baffling is this… It would be one thing if Cowley felt that both Ozzie and Kenny should’ve gone at the end of the 2011 season. A lot of people feel that way. But he believes (or at least tries to make it seem) that Ozzie should’ve stayed and KW was the only one that should’ve gone. Which means he truly believes that Ozzie did nothing wrong the last few years, be it how he handled the lineup, how he dealt with his son on twitter, or how he demanded a contract extension during inappropriate times.
It baffles me that he was watching the same team/manager. I don’t know what his ulterior motives are in trying to get KW fired. It’s one thing to be a writer or analyst and people know that you have people or teams that you like/hate. But he isn’t even the slightest bit concerned about his credibility. He blatantly bashes all Chicago sports fans and yet he still writes about the city’s sports. Why? Go somewhere else if you hate it so much. Is the Sun Times getting off on having him stir up bullshit?
Bottom line: Cowley is a wart on the ass of sports journalism.
"Relax, all right? Don't try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring. Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls. It's more democratic" - Crash Davis
by Servant2LordBeckham on Jan 30, 2012 10:01 AM CST up reply actions
well i grew up having to deal with mariotti.
it’s almost like there needs to be someone in that role of insufferable sportswriter. just like a rush limbaugh or something, merely an “entertainer” for lack of a better term. it seems that there’s no way they actually believe half of what they write, stirring up shit to get “people talking”. when i comment on him, i just think it’s funny. i don’t know how anyone can truly take him seriously.
by obnoxious american on Jan 30, 2012 10:10 AM CST up reply actions
yup. i doubt he hates chicago sports teams,
he is just filling the mariotti role. and it is a role that worked out exceedingly well for mariotti until he self-destructed. i can see why someone would want to follow the same lucrative career path.
I think it's different when you frequently visit a site like this...
You get a variety of stories and a variety of opinions regarding the White Sox here. The facts are posted and then you can scroll down to see how colintj feels about it and how Ken feels about it. People just reading Sun Times columns get a different picture painted for them. Now I’m not saying the majority of people do take him seriously. I guess I just find it ridiculous that someone would be okay writing like that for the paper when you can go get a job with the National Enquirer if that’s your thing.
"Relax, all right? Don't try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring. Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls. It's more democratic" - Crash Davis
by Servant2LordBeckham on Jan 30, 2012 10:18 AM CST up reply actions
I thought it was pretty obnoxious that he called the fans "sheep".
Just because they are getting excited about the new direction their beloved team is taking? We aren’t stupid and I think every fan there knows the inherent question marks in the team, but if I was at Soxfest, I’d be cheering the new staff and players. Isn’t that the definition of supporting a team? FJC. I regret that I wasted that two minutes to read his article to see how overblown he was. Never again.
"Kool Aid drinking" as he calls it.
That’s what he called the standing ovation for Ventura.
"Relax, all right? Don't try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring. Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls. It's more democratic" - Crash Davis
by Servant2LordBeckham on Jan 30, 2012 11:09 AM CST up reply actions
Pass the barf bag
At least I’ll be one of the many sheep to turn off the radio during radio broadcasts when he comes on.
these Storify threads keep acting up
I think its just based on the time it takes to load, but I’m not having a good “user experience.”
Dave Martinez woulda had that.
I'm kind of hoping this is the last one for a while.
"Many people need desperately to receive this message: 'I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.'"
boofriggityhoo
Although Jim probably could have jgot away with just posting the picture of Southpaw sleeping as a metaphor for the weekend.
It came from afar and traveled sedately on, a shrug of eternity
Better than the pic of Southpaw as a metaphor for the '11 season
*Yes, that is Blake Griffin in drag.
by South Side Expat on Jan 30, 2012 7:56 PM CST up reply actions 6 recs
I just don't enable their javascript and hope that I'm not missing anything.
It’s a good system; I recommend it.
by mechanical turk on Jan 30, 2012 10:44 AM CST up reply actions
yeah, it was messing me up at first.
now i just open a page, but don’t look at it for a minute or two so i know it’s fully loaded.
Some people get so rich they lose all respect for humanity. That's how rich I want to be.
by MarketMaker on Jan 30, 2012 11:17 AM CST up reply actions
Or just hold down the Page Down key until it stops scrolling.
It only takes about seven seconds.
It’s the last one for a while, unless there’s an unforeseen event that is captured more comprehensively by tweets than any group of articles.
by Jim Margalus on Jan 30, 2012 12:46 PM CST up reply actions
The grouping is awesome, so it's tough to hate how it loads.
Too much at least; it’s annoying as all get-out. Seven seconds is an internet lifetime.
The lords of dawn are men such as Mr. Lucy.
my dad lives in rural tennessee
all he can get is dial up out there.
he’s coming up this weekend for a visit. I think he just needs to check his email.
by e-gus on Jan 30, 2012 2:23 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
ha.
can’t you do satellite if faced with such a dire fate?
by obnoxious american on Jan 30, 2012 2:24 PM CST up reply actions
Is your dad Jim Thome?
Jug-eared, stump-jumping motherfucker.
We're all here because we're not all there.
by winningugly on Jan 30, 2012 2:25 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
HEY GUYS IT'S E_GU
E_GUSES DAD
by Yinka Double Dare on Jan 30, 2012 4:16 PM CST up reply actions 4 recs
It seems this cheryl is the only one out of the bunch that can't seem to tweet in comprehensible English.
"That baseball is the smartest thing out on that field." —Hawk Harrelson
The median team has gone 21.5 years without a World Series title. Depressed yet?
Example?
I’m not sure of her “forehead in the way of the ball” story, but I could read her tweets just fine.
The lords of dawn are men such as Mr. Lucy.
Okay, how about these?
How manage them when they want to do something diff.
Prepared & how to do and would get done.
Joe yes. Sucks the way career ended but 05 sticks out and happy. Cliff feels same way. Want 2 go out own but look back not change #SoxFest
And that’s just from Day 3.
"That baseball is the smartest thing out on that field." —Hawk Harrelson
The median team has gone 21.5 years without a World Series title. Depressed yet?
by mikecws91 on Jan 30, 2012 11:18 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Difference in perception I guess. I could understand those.
Not the best prose, but got the points across.
The lords of dawn are men such as Mr. Lucy.
live-tweeting speeches/presos is tough
KenWo deserves major credit for his quality messages. He probably missed some fanboy moments, having his face in his phone.
Dave Martinez woulda had that.
thanks. one thing i found tough was to convey the humor of something that was said.
i wanted to get a lot of what was said out there… hopefully i didn’t annoy you the way shannon sharpe annoys me when he blows up my feed. lol
Kenwo4life=ratings. Just call me Mr. USA Today.
It was really good stuff.
Given that you doubled your follower count, I imagine people will now expect you to comprehensively live-tweet every White Sox event, game or otherwise.
by Jim Margalus on Jan 30, 2012 12:37 PM CST up reply actions
thanks. i enjoyed doing it. my dad usually ends up in autograph lines and wants me to tell him what was said,
this made it easy.
i dont know about live game tweets though. i have a tendency to throw my phone if something undesirable happens. lol. could get expensive.
Kenwo4life=ratings. Just call me Mr. USA Today.
Rather than live-tweet, why don't you just participate in some gamethreads this summer?
Drunks and trolls report March 5th if I’m not mistaken.
It came from afar and traveled sedately on, a shrug of eternity
Good luck with that, I tried live-tweeting some games a few years back and wound up getting my account suspended for spamming.
Haven’t tried since but I hear nothing’s changed.
by mechanical turk on Jan 30, 2012 12:52 PM CST up reply actions
Didn't help that the pitcher's name was CHEAP VIAGRA.
by Jim Margalus on Jan 30, 2012 1:10 PM CST up reply actions 8 recs
Honestly
who puts a # in their kids name? #CheapViagra’s did….
Well, boys, it's a round ball and a round bat and you got to hit the ball square. ~Joe Schultz, 1969
I could see the algorithm for that thinking to itself-
“Another bunt attempt with one on and no outs? Must be spam… no way any human would keep calling for that.”
by South Side Expat on Jan 30, 2012 1:16 PM CST up reply actions
"Given that you doubled your follower count, I imagine people will now expect you to comprehensively live-tweet every White Sox event, game or otherwise."
Wait KenWo, you don’t? I’m on of your new followers and I was so excited for the play by play during all 162 games this season!
I have.
But I literally do not understand what any of the above examples are trying to say. If everyone else can, then I’m sorry for being so dumb.
"That baseball is the smartest thing out on that field." —Hawk Harrelson
The median team has gone 21.5 years without a World Series title. Depressed yet?
you are not in the minority mike
"Rhubarb, if you wouldn’t mind, ram your taint into your monitor as hard as you can." - joewho112
Well, include the context, too.
Peavy and Rios have their own thing, meaning their own outlook, routine, etc. How to deal with established players differing from the opinion or procedure set by management is something Ventura will very likely need to address throughout the season.
Pablo was asked about stealing second. He said he was always well-prepared and had a plan and executed that plan.
Crede was agreeing with something. 2005 was good year and should be remembered for what it was.
The lords of dawn are men such as Mr. Lucy.
Heh.
If everyone else can, then I’m sorry for being so dumb.
If everyone else can what? I don’t get this at all.
Regarding the Crede one: Crede and Politte are both slightly bummed out that injuries ended their careers, and they wanted to go out on their own terms. But they can’t do anything about it, and 2005 was pretty good.
She’s tweeting real-time, and in enormous volume. My real-time notes are far more incomprehensible to the public than those. Others chose to wait until responses could be grouped together. Cheryl put them out as they happened. The after-the-fact answers are tidier, but she ended up covering a lot of stuff others didn’t.
If somebody is taking the time to tweet basically every question and answer as they’re happening, I’m not going to complain that it’s in a shorthand form that may not always be understandable with one read.
I tried to set up the ones I thought might be difficult to get with surrounding tweets. But maybe I’m used to reading shorthand. The only times I couldn’t understand it was when autocorrect changed a key word. If others are being thrown for a loss, then the problem is how I arranged it.
by Jim Margalus on Jan 30, 2012 12:25 PM CST up reply actions
it was pretty bad.
who is she anyway?
"Rhubarb, if you wouldn’t mind, ram your taint into your monitor as hard as you can." - joewho112
http://aeryssports.com/south-side-hit-girl/
"Many people need desperately to receive this message: 'I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.'"
LOL...that is one sad-looking panel discussion.
Good thing I’m ready to “appreciate the game” this year and not worry about such things as winning.
"I wouldn’t say I’m hitting five days a week…some weeks we won’t go at all." – Adam Dunn on his preparation routine for the 2012 season (1/24/12)
Anyone have a wordpress account that isn't denying your existence?
Hardball Talk keeps posting about how horrible the Sox are for even considering retaliation for a HBP, and I’d like to point out that it’s not a made up, or even new problem.
(In line blogger-style links done as training for the coming blogowar I’m clearly about to start. Clearly.)
by mechanical turk on Jan 30, 2012 10:48 AM CST reply actions
i don't know what's so hard for people to understand,
just because someone gets hit, it’s not time to start beaning people. but when 5 guys in 2 games get hit, uh yeah, someone needs a message.
by obnoxious american on Jan 30, 2012 11:28 AM CST up reply actions
now that teams are on notice
I wonder if the pummelings will decrease
"I'm holding out hope Reinsdorf can somehow use his amnesty clause on Rios"
-Duck99
by Hazymania on Jan 30, 2012 12:54 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
i love it.
major league baseball,
by obnoxious american on Jan 30, 2012 2:12 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Very well said.
"Rooting for the Twins is just a roundabout way of rooting for a first-round playoff bye for the Yankees." by big_fun
I'll never forget you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyLGYDBkLzw
It came from afar and traveled sedately on, a shrug of eternity
the advantages of sending a mole to soxfest:
lilligraphed nacho helmet. please do try to withhold your jealousy. it’s unseemly.
I love seasons too. That's why I live in a place that skips the shitty ones.
by thatshortkid on Jan 30, 2012 1:01 PM CST reply actions 5 recs
i knew frank would say him. he was terrible against nelson.
i’m not sure how many at bats crede could possibly have gotten vs. contreras but crede said that when he faced him for the first time he considered finding another line of work because this baseball thing isnt going to work out.
Kenwo4life=ratings. Just call me Mr. USA Today.
Crede actually did OK against him:
2-for-9, 2 HR, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP. .222/417/.889.
One of those homers was in Crede’s first at-bat against the Sox.
by Jim Margalus on Jan 30, 2012 2:15 PM CST up reply actions
he must have meant Rivera
this game In october of 2001 Crede went 0-5 with 3 Ks, the last of which ended the game vs Mariano.
The next night he went 0-3.
JOE! CREDE!
"I considered throwing a volley, but since I'm considerably closer to Ford City than Dodge City, I figure it might have been misinterpreted."
This guy looks extremely concerned about the thing on Konerko's neck.
The lords of dawn are men such as Mr. Lucy.
Dammit Paulie! I'm a doctor!
Not a… oh yeah, let me check that out.
Well, boys, it's a round ball and a round bat and you got to hit the ball square. ~Joe Schultz, 1969
Anytime I see something screech across a room
and latch onto someone’s neck, and the guy screams and tries to get it off, I have to laugh, because what is that thing.
by dr. lingerie on Jan 30, 2012 3:16 PM CST up reply actions 5 recs
It's a Jack Handy quote.
"Many people need desperately to receive this message: 'I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.'"
How is it even possible to take fuzzy picture
of Harold Baines?
In 1988 I had a full beard.
My then-boss’ 12 year old twin daughters (easy, U-God) told me I looked like Harold. Best compliment I ever received.
We're all here because we're not all there.
now why wouldnt you refer to them as your 'then preteen twins?'
"Rhubarb, if you wouldn’t mind, ram your taint into your monitor as hard as you can." - joewho112
Not really into blind girls either.
"Many people need desperately to receive this message: 'I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.'"
by U-God on Jan 30, 2012 4:51 PM CST up reply actions 4 recs
Not sure if this was posted anywhere yet, but I found it particularly hilarious.
Classic Hawk. No matter what your opinion of Moneyball, and I’m sure we’ve got people from both ends of the spectrum here as there are across the sport in general, wouldn’t it be good to read the book, or at least watch the movie, before lambasting it and declaring it “a bunch of BS”.
While some of the views that Beane held in the book (i.e. the preference for drafting college players) have been at least somewhat shot down by research and the A’s never won a world series (yeah we know), the overarching premise remains: they won an astounding number of games with an incredibly low payroll, routinely clubbing the “big boys” en route to big regular season finishes. Obviously the ultimate goal is the win the series, but what they did is still impressive nonetheless. I found the book to be very interesting and it provoked a lot of interesting thought and conversation.
I think Hahn stated it pretty well here: “It’s a peanut butter and jelly issue. You can have both, so why choose one?” – Hahn on sabermetrics and scouting
Some Baseball Prospectus folks always called it "beer and tacos"
Each have their merits alone but it’s even better when you have both.
by Yinka Double Dare on Jan 30, 2012 4:20 PM CST up reply actions
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