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If you haven't checked out (and/or contributed to) Tom Weinberg's Minnie Minoso documentary project over at Kickstarter, this week is your last chance to do so.
Over at Chicagoside, Weinberg wrote about why he wants to share Minoso's story:
Minnie hasn’t been taken as seriously as he should be. It’s because of his personality, his accent, and because he became a kind of a sideshow when Bill Veeck kept bringing him out of retirement to play—first in 1976 and then again in 1980—even though Bill’s original intention was to help Minnie get his pension.
That’s one of the reasons for this film. I believe this is important. It’s important to preserve the story of Minnie Minoso. This will be around a long time after I’m gone—and he’s gone.
We've written a few things about Minoso. His Hall of Fame Library file was so rich I needed to break it into two parts, and e-gus went to the forum the Sox hosted that touted Minoso's case. There's a lot to his story, but unfortunately, he is often oversimplified to the point of insult because he doesn't say "no" when it comes to baseball, or even competition in general (as Weinberg points out in his anecdote about shuffleboard).
So anything that helps reveal Minoso's depth is a good thing. And if you want to see the kind of stuff Weinberg has about Minoso, here's a sample.
Terrerobytes
Jeff Manto thinks Gordon Beckham finally has all his body parts working together over this recent run, and offers some details on what he's seeing mechanically:
"Where he was, I don’t think he could have sustained a major-league season, 600 plate appearances,’’ Manto said. "The bat path was a little off, and his shoulders were steep. Right now he’s square, head with the shoulders. He has way better balance, and he’s way more aggressive. In the position he is now, being taller, and the bat path a little better, he can sustain. I’m not saying he can hit .300 or .280, but he’s able to make adjustments throughout a season.’’
Armchair critics and amateur hitting coaches harp on Beckham’s "load’’ — how the hands go back before going forward.
"When you talk about loads and gathers, that’s a whole different entity,’’ Manto said. "When people are looking at his hands, that’s like Joe Morgan flapping down his back elbow. It’s the same thing, a timing mechanism — definitely not a load. [Beckham’s] load comes with his leg kick. That’s his load.’’
No mention of Beckham going from the toe-tap to the leg kick, though.
The former White Sox hitting coach is enjoying his new digs, and who can blame him? The Braves have scored the most runs in the NL (although the Cardinals have them beat in runs per game), and they're second in batting average and third in OPS. He's still speaking only in generalities about the end of his White Sox career, but I laughed when I read his thoughts about Kenny Williams:
"I shook Kenny’s hand when I left at the end," Walker said. "I wished him well. As long as he is working for Jerry I will be pulling for him to do a good job."
This isn't a Scott Merkin article. Instead, it's Cleveland-based Zack Meisel, who says that Chris Sale "doesn't have a preference" about starting or relieving. Based on what he says elsewhere in the article and his thoughts entering the season ... well, at least Sale was able to sell an unfamiliar party on his enthusiasm.
Like us, Sulia-abusing Phil Rogers doesn't understand why the Sox decided on sending Sale to the bullpen based on the evidence they presented. But he says that Kenny Williams truly believes he'll have replacements. The names he throws out? Nestor Molina, Simon Castro, Jose Quintana, Pedro Hernandez and ... Cameron Bayne, which is a weird one.
Chuck Garfien catches up with Jared Mitchell, although it probably would've been better a week ago. He's 3-for-19 with one walk and 10 strikeouts over his last five games, although in his defense, all three hits went for extra bases (two doubles, one triple).