It was an early morning on Thursday.  The plan was for BeefLoaf to be up and on the road by 5am, grab Chorizy-E and then head down to the fine town of Highland, IN to meet up with Biguns and Slumpbuster for the ride to Detroit Rock City, with Slumpbuster manning the controls on the cruiseship that would land us at our destination.  To everyone’s surprise it was the BeefLoaf that was running late, while everyone else was on time.  Regardless, we left Highland, semi-timely and headed off to start our journey……

A note on this carpool…..these are the OG 108ers.  Long before MySoxSummer was doing his blog about going to 50 games and what not, this crew was going to WhiteSox games, tailgating and going on road trips together.  The crew in this car go back to 2008 and it was great to catch up in a ~4 hour car ride together, just laughing about old stories, talking about the current WhiteSox and who each person thinks will be good and who won’t….making fun of each other.  It’s just four old friends that know they are going to stretch the boundaries of what their livers can do this fine weekend.

Finally, it is time to stop at a rest area for a little relief as we are close to Detroit and low behold, who do we find there?????

Solid beers and decent food….it looked like a pretty happening lunch spot as it filled as we were heading out.

Comerica was literally steps from BeefLoaf and Chorizy’s hotel (thanks to a friend of ‘Loaf’s for the recommendation) and we had lit seats, right behind the dish.  A couple of notes about the stadium…..

1) They have separate entrances for people without bags…but more importantly, for people that are SEASON TICKET HOLDERS!  Also, these lines moved fast.  Sox Park sucks so badly at moving lines at the entrance.  They have to be bottom 5 in MLB.

Post, we hit up HockeyTown for a bite and to huddle up on where we wanted to go.  A decision was made to hit a dive bar, unfortunately, insufficient research was completed on the matter and the 108ers ended up in a neighborhood and by a saloon that wasn’t a “good fit” for the crew.  We weren’t even quite sure that this was or ever had been a bar, and we had no need for smack or hookers, so we passed.

We asked the Uber driver to keep driving and take us to a more proper location….a fitting spot for the 108ers….”Bookies”.  The boys actually had a hoot here, meeting other fans, and jawing with both fans and wait staff.  Drinks flowed until it was time to for our nightly jaunt to the casino.

As every group of friends normally do, we hit this shit way too hard on the first night.  We all knew it was going to happen, we did nothing to stop it.  The first meet up of the day was at Grand Trunk Pub for lunch (it was around 1pm when the 108ers were finally up and running).  There are 3 main ways to deal with too much #108ing from the night before….

1) Start drinking again immediately.  This was the route that Wally$ chose….more on that later.

2) Get hydrated as fast as possible.  Biguns chose to go this route.

3) Order food, take one or two bites and fight back vomit.  This route is also known as “the Chorizy-E”

After lunch, it was time to head back to the rooms for some and for Wally$ to grab Aloha Mr. Hand, who was just arriving in town, with a fistful of tix for the Friday / Saturday games.

The crew then when on a barhopping of sorts, hitting Detroit Sport & Social (connected to the Little Caesars arena), Kid Rock’s joint

and a smaller bar called Harry’s.  Drinks were had, acquaintances made and we moved on to the game…….

SIDE NOTE:  Friday night also promised to be a very fun night for the 108ers since it was Flint Tropics jersey night for BeefLoaf (Jackie Moon), Biguns (Coffee Black) and Chorizy-E (Monix).  We were told by the first local that saw us that “you are going to get a lot of love from the locals“.  That fucking joker was CORRECT.

Once in the ballpark, we had the best seats some of us have ever enjoyed in our lives, although they were a bit of a snoozer to at least one 108er.

The game was fairly uneventful for a while, as the Sox were getting blanked, in fact the biggest moments through early in the game were……..

1) The fans loved the Tropics jerseys, someone yelled “Corndogs Jackie, Corndogs!” at BeefLoaf…..and another fan accosted Biguns and asked for a pic with the group.  Lots of thumbs up and yelling, let’s just say that the team jerseys were a hit.

That isn’t the video we wanted, it is the video we deserved.  Honestly, I think we look pretty damn good for the amount of beer, booze, and fried food we ingested in the 60 hrs previous to that vid.  Friends, this is the 108 in all of its gorgeousness and gorgeousity.

Good day frenz, I hope life is treating you just as well as it is treating me right now.  I spent a night in the not so distant past live-tweeting one of my favorite Gambling Movies of all time, “Rounders”, so it got me thinking that because Gambling has been one of my main interests for a good chunk of my adult life that I might as well get down on a quick “5” of my favorite gambling movies.  If you want a quick gambling tutorial, check out these flicks…..

5. Let It Ride – Horse racing is basically dead in America, but there was a time when going to the track and betting on the ponies was a well travelled path of Americana.  This comedy takes you through a day of hilarious side plots and degenerate gambling to a dramatic conclusion……it’s fun, but it also shows you a form of gambling that is no longer mainstream.

IMPORTANT GAMBLING LESSON – “Fade the public” – In the final stanza the lead character Jay Trotter (Richard Dreyfuss) walks around the track and asks people who they like in the final race and literally crosses off all of those horses until he’s down to the horse that nobody liked, that’s his choice.  In gambling fading the crowd is often valuable because of pricing, if a good chunk of the public is on one side of a bet, that side is often mis-priced due to the demand.

4. The Sting –  This movie features many short cons and a LOOOOONG Con as well as some terrific acting.  It’s the oldest film on this list and one that I first saw when I was a child.  My favorite scene is the poker scene on the train.  You’ll need to check it out to know WTF ole ‘Loaf is talking about.

IMPORTANT GAMBLING LESSON – “Know who you can trust“ – It’s not enough to have a gambling angle and a willing participant, but you need to know who ELSE might be trying to take a shot at you in this endeavor

3. Casino – Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal and Tony Spilotro are two legendary characters in the 70’s Las Vegas scene and this movie chronicles the life and times of these two and others.  The movie is from a time and place that people still romanticize when it comes to Las Vegas, long before the major consolidation of casinos and the shift from gambling as the main business to tourism.  I’m only 40 years old, so my first visits to Las Vegas weren’t until the early 2000’s, so I didn’t get to really enjoy any of this, but I did get to Vegas early enough to enjoy before “downtown” was rejuvenated.  I could go on and explain the plot of the movie, but I won’t because if you haven’t seen this movie, you just need to go see it.  The movie crosses the old mob classics into gambling lore.  Yours truly is on the hill that this film is BETTER than Goodfellas.  Watch them back to back to judge.  It’s an all-timer.

IMPORTANT GAMBLING LESSON – “Leave Ego at the Door“ – Ace Rothstein fucked up everyone’s shit by letting his Ego ruin him in several big situations. 1. Marrying Ginger (played by Sharon Stone) 2. The County Commissioner 3. Dispute with Nicky.  All of these were spots where if he chooses with his brain and not his YUGE Ego, he gets through and doesn’t end up in the spot he ends up in, which is out of the business and back to his original gig of handicapping sports.

2. Rounders – Before the poker boom, Brian Koppelman tossed this gem out to the general public without much fanfare, but before you knew it, it became a cult classic.  Mostly everyone you knew at your local poker game was doing a Teddy KGB impression and using the poker vernacular they picked up from this film.  This movie also has lots of good gambling lessons within and a bunch of big no-no’s including playing with your entire bankroll on the table.  Every time I watch this film, I pick up some other little phrase or word that I know now but never noticed back then.  The attention to detail is terrific and the story line is also great.  Even if you don’t already love gambling, you’ll enjoy this Matt Damon / Edward Norton classic.

IMPORTANT GAMBLING LESSON – “Don’t over bet your bankroll” – The opening scene of the movie has your main character Mike McDermott playing a high stakes game with his ENTIRE BANKROLL on the table.  Big no-no if you plan to gamble for a living.  Truth be told, its not terribly bright in other facets of life either.  He forgot to follow the cardinal fucking rule “Always leave yourself outs.”

1. Diggstown – If I were a betting man….AND I AM….I’d bet most of you reading this have never even seen Diggstown, well get your ass in front of a screen and check this movie out RIGHT. DAMN. NOW!  Setting up a big gambling situation takes a lot of actors and the right mark, as you’ll see in this great film and ego and greed.  James Woods is terrific (forget his politics, if they aren’t your cup of tea, the man is a great actor)….Bruce Dern is the perfect villain in this film.  There is even an young, nubile Heather Graham for those that just want a little scenery with their gambling movie.

IMPORTANT GAMBLING LESSON – “Never con a conman, especially one that’s better than you“- Anytime you get offered an incredible bet that seems so obvious that it will win, THINK TWICE.  Good gamblers will think of an angle you didn’t and take advantage of you.  Just read any of a million stories about Amarillo Slim prop bets and you’ll understand what I mean.  Even if you think you have all the details covered, remember what you are up against.

Good day friends, it’s your old pal BeefLoaf…..I’m going to pour a drink, so I suggest you do the same.  Alright, that’s better.  In the past 6 weeks or so, we have seen the meteoric rise of one former first round pick (number tree overall) Carlos Rodon.  I’ve read ad nausem all of the various “conclusions” as to why Carlos has taken this NEXT STEP, some say it is simply health, others say pitch mix, control, yada, yada, (btw, I did yada, yada over the best part)…..the 108ers don’t know baseball THAT well to tell you what amount those things matter, but what we can tell you is that there is one unmeasured factor (at least by the masses) that matters….more than most things…..first, a definition.

Ashley Rodon is “Ride or Die” for her husband Carlos…..this much we know….here is proof

The human factor is routinely discarded in critical analysis of sports, mostly because it is difficult to determine and when it is used it is often ambiguous type stuff like mentoring and clubhouse leadering and other such stuff.  It is rare that discussions of actual positive personal life items enter into the fold and what effect it might have on performance.  In this case, we don’t know exactly either, but we have a player at a cross roads in his career, and clear evidence of wonderful, beautiful support by a spouse.  Maybe this is me reverse engineering a narrative, but I would think it has to have some effect on performance.  We’ve all been there, only our significant other still believing in us when we are down and almost out.  Is that what we are seeing in Carlos Rodon’s resurgence?  I don’t know for sure, but I want to believe it!

Ashley, thanks for bringing us White Sox twitter folks something fun, funny and beautiful every five days.  You are a bright spot in a mostly dark season.  Oh and watching Carlos kick some fucking ass is great too!!  Cheers!!!

This is the One Hitter, don’t forget to exhale. Today is a BIG DAY! The 108ers are looking for an intern! Yep, we’re fucking big time now.  Daniel Palka (much like his homers) have put us in a new stratosphere.

Below are a list of qualifications, below that are a list of responsibilities. If you think you can fill out the proverbial giant shoes it takes to be an @fromthe108 intern, please hit us up on the Twitters and tell us why we should select yous (this is Bridgeport).

Qualifications

– Must smell okay

– Must like being around grown men that might not smell okay

Responsibilities

– Retweet ALL #108ing on the Twitters

– Run to Rev bar in LF to get us brews

– Read our Split the Pot ticket to see if it won

– Teach us what Snapchat is

– Create memes and gifs from 3 movies: Bowfinger, Life (the Eddie Murphy one), and Blood In Blood Out

– Stand in the $1 hot dog line

– Wake up Chorizy in the 8th inning

– Deter the Wave from starting

– Bum smokes for MSS

– Keep Gabe from trying to turn Section 108 into the White Hole

– Get Pete Hand’s extra tickets scanned

– Help Wally$ musk up

– Clean the hot tub

– Ice down the coolers

– Rally a crew to pick up bobbleheads for MSS, Wally$ and Bobbles Jim

– Trim MSS’s back hair

– AND MORE……..

Do you think you have what it takes to be the 108’s intern? Hit us up. We’ll even let you post any article you want as long as it is up to the 108 standards.  Which , if you read our blog, is pretty attainable.  If you write stuff, we can get you college credit.  We’re pretty sure about that, we think.  Especially if you go to a JuCo.

Sincerely,

108 Management

As the trade deadline has passed Sox fans, such as me, cast an eye towards the off-season and the free agent class of 2018. A lot has been made of the White Sox desire to sign Manny Machado. I would be happy with that signing but I think that the team should target Bryce Harper. Why you ask, let me explain.

1. Talent – There is no doubt that putting Bryce Harper in the White Sox lineup would immediately make him the most talented player on the roster. If one were to look at the White Sox roster, 25 and 40 man, you would be hard pressed to find ½ of the current roster that would be a player on a championship caliber team. The team is also in a situation where they are trying to build from the bottom up. This would require pieces to be filled in via free agency, which the team has acknowledged is something they will have to do.

2. Grit – This team is a bunch of “nice guys”. To quote Paul Konerko you can’t have a team full of “milk drinkers”. This team needs toughness, think of it as the AJ effect. Bryce would immediately add this. Overnight he would bring a grit to the clubhouse that is sorely needed.

3. Business / Marketing – This is where the true crux of my argument lies. The team will be entering into a new TV contract in 2019, which means more money. As such, they will need something to market as the face of the franchise. Jose Abreu and Yoan Moncada just won’t work in this function and I’m sorry but a pitcher, unless it is someone the level of Clayton Kershaw, shouldn’t be the face of your franchise since they pitch once every five days. Bryce Harper would be the perfect person to fill this role. He is young, dynamic, and has thrived under pressure since he was a 16-year-old on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Further, after the last couple of seasons the team will need to do something to keep the fans engaged. Kopech and Jimenez will sell tickets, but nothing compared to what Bryce Harper could do, in my opinion. Signing Harper will also send a message to the rest of the league that the White Sox are open for business, like the message sent by the Washington Nationals when they signed Jayson Werth.

4. Money – Money should not be an issue. The team sat on the roughly $50 million they received from MLB for the sale of MLB Advanced Media. They have slashed payroll to have one of the lowest, now I believe the lowest, payrolls in baseball and they are building a roster of young, cheap, controllable talent that will allow them to more effectively deploy money on areas of need. Further, James Shields most likely comes off the books next year making even more money available.

5. Contract – What would a potential contract look like. In my opinion I see a 12-year deal for roughly 375 – 400 million. The key to the contract will be front loaded money and an opt-out after three years. This is how it can be done. This will allow Scott Boras to claim he got the largest contract for his client while also allowing his client to opt out after three years while still in his “prime”. It would also allow the White Sox to avoid committing to a long-term deal, especially with the next Collective Bargaining Agreement looking like it will be contentious negotiation. It would be a win-win for all parties.

I can already hear the screams of Jerry will NEVER do that. Let’s look at some of the other things that Jerry would never do.

1. Pay a tax on signing players – This has been done twice in the last year with the Robert signing (International tax of 50%) and a tax on going over draft pool money for the 2018 draft class.

2. Trade with the Cubs – This was done with the Quintana for Jimenez and Cease deal.

3. Pay money to send a player away – See Jeff Keppinger

There is one more “won’t do” item that can be checked off. Sign a Boras client. Carlos Rodon, Andruw Jones and Joe Crede were Boras clients and from feedback from Boras, regarding the handling of Rodon, he thought Rick Hahn did a great job. Remember, it is Rick Hahn on the front line, not Kenny Williams.

Will the Harper signing happen, I do not know, but I think for the reasons above it makes complete roster and business sense? I believe it also sends a message to the team and the fan base that the White Sox are serious and are truly trying to build a world class championship organization. I will also add that I know he is a polarizing figure, but so was AJ and look at his revered status. Also remember Jerry is in his 80’s, so he may also believe he would not be the one paying the contract.

The Winter Meetings will be an interesting watch, and frankly I think this is the White Sox move for the reasons I have listed.

Feel free to let me know what you think.

-AlohaMr.Hand

There has been a pressing matter throughout White Sox nation for the past weeks/months.  That matter is Eloy Jimenez not being on the major league roster.  Now, this is even more of a quandary for those of us that drink our nights away in the 108.  And the reason is that the outfield is already pretty crowded, so there is a chance that the Eloy promotion would have a corresponding move that sends 108 favorite Daniel Palka down to Charlotte.  This, at least to us, is an unacceptable result.

So we have been putting our heads together on what to do to keep him in the majors while also bringing up Eloy.   And much like Ned Flanders’s parents, we came up emtpy.

Then it happened.  The scout that discovered the mighty Daniel Palka slid into our DMs.  Now I assume you’re sitting there saying ‘I know Palka can smash the ball a million miles, so what new info could this scout provide?’  Well, we’re happy to clue you in.  In his message which was mainly about what a great person Palka is, he dropped this at the end: “He still believes he can pitch in the big leagues too.”  Palka didn’t come up through our system, so our knowledge of him is a bit limited.  We absolutely had to follow up on this.  Turns out Palka was a reliever in college and we’ll let you decide on his level of goodness in that role:

So here is what we do, we send down a reliever, actually, let’s send down 2.  We bring up Kopech and Eloy.  Send one of the starters to the pen and then fill the last spot with a combo of Matt Davidson and Palka.  We would have a left/right platoon at both reliever and DH.  And why not?  If the Sox are down 10 runs in the 8th, do you want to see Juan Minaya or do you want to see Palka and Davidson get through the final 6 of the game?

I know this sounds crazy, but is it really?  Beefloaf and I have talked about how every team needs a guy like this ever since we laid eyes on Micah Owings.  The guy had a career 4.86 ERA, but he also had a .813 OPS.  Why not have a guy on the roster that could be serviceable on the mound for the not so important innings of the year but also crank dingers from the DH or PH spot?  This probably has more value in the NL, but who knows, maybe Palka is a legit relief option.  I’d much rather try this than send him down to AAA.

Last, I’ll say that we are not terribly concerned with the extra year of control that we could get by holding Eloy and Kopech down in AAA until mid April 2019.  I mean, by the time that season rolls around Oprah and Michael Jordan will own the team and will spare no expense to keep them on the roster until they’re in their late 40s.

Big thanks to T.R. for reaching out to us!

-Chorizy-E

Good morning friends, it’s your old pal BeefLoaf coming off of an interesting appearance on ChiSoxWeekly and a weekend of fun experiences at the ballpark, including what we’ll affectionately call the “Daniel Palka game“.  It was tough dragging my substantial self to work on Monday and Tuesday but one thing that kept me interested was the impending Trade Deadline.  Tuesday was a flurry of deals across a majority of the teams league, but one specific deal caught my eye.

Probably looks mundane to yous (this is Bridgeport) reading the trade, but to me it struck a chord, WHY DIDN’T THE WHITE SOX MAKE THIS TRADE?  According to MLB.com (not the end all be all, but hey this is what we have to work with right now.) Justin Williams and Genesis Cabrera are the 14th and 25th prospects in the Rays system….Roel Ramirez is off of the top 30 prospects, so basically, the Rays used org depth to grab an average CF in MLB.  Guess what team has tons of org depth and is desperate for a league average CF, you guessed it, the team that gave Trayce Thompson 130 PA’s and continue to trot out Adam Engel with a career OPS+ of 50, the White Sox!!

Let’s say we believe the White Sox system is a little bit better than the Rays (by all accounts it is a little bit better), so say according to MLB.com the White Sox give up their 15th and 26th prospects to acquire Tommy Pham, which are Gavin Sheets and Spencer Adams…..would you do that?  I did an impromptu poll, which basically means I talked to a handful of people and tweeted about this and for the most part, the people were split on this, a group of people were of the “NO BRAINER, you do this all day”…..and another group of people were “HOARD THE PROSPECTS”…….I might not be clear in communicating why our White Sox need to think like the Rays more often….Forget competitive windows (as that was definitely cited as to why NOT to do a deal like this) and Forget NEEDS for the time being (although a specific NEED is what caught my eye in looking at this deal, since our White Sox are desperate for a CF), lets go with a definition.

This trade was about Arbitrage.  The Rays do quite a few trades that have you scratching your head as to why they made them, because they might trade for a player that is an obvious redundancy and then have to figure out later how to make use of them.  The Rays frequently find trades or free agent acquisitions that have them paying pennies on the dollar for players.  THAT. IS. ARBITRAGE.  This appears to be the situation here.  Per the interwebs, Tommy Pham hasn’t been happy with St Louis management for sometime, potentially even through his breakout season in which was pounding out a 7 WAR year.  Chances are, the Cardinals were looking for somewhere to park him for a discount, especially in a lost season and found just a suitor in the Rays.  Both the Rays and Cardinals should have good but not great rosters next year and the Cardinals are looking for a reason to offload a malcontent to play either their young talented OF corps OR the old hands that have a lot of money coming their way.  Pham despite his talents was a piece that didn’t fit and needed a home….enter the Rays.

I think most of us have gotten used to seeing trades which aren’t like this.  Most trades these days are team A trading future value for team B’s current value.  Deadline trades are generally of this nature.  Those trades are for the most part deemed equal value trades (after adjusting for time value & risk), but a trade like the one the Rays made is something I would consider arbitrage.

I have read that the prospect haul back to the Cards is actually pretty decent and might only make this a small “scalp” for the Rays, but you get the idea.  I’d like Rick Hahn and crew to just see excess value out in the marketplace and go get it.  It appears the White Sox are too focused on “windows” and “time-lines” to see good deals out in the market place and just execute on them.  A smart org grabs excess value when it exists and turns it into something (in this case, there is no reason you can’t do a deal like this and then figure out another home for the player in 1.5 years when you maybe don’t need their services anymore….or sooner).  The Rays aren’t competing for a playoff spot in 2018, but with this acquisition, they are better positioned to do so in 2019.

The beauty of rebuilds is that in theory you farm raise 5 WAR players to lead your next team to a playoff run (hopefully Moncada, Eloy, Kopech & someone else), but you also need to be able to find / sign / acquire 2-3 WAR players cheaply that round out the group.  Rick Hahn has yet to prove he can do that on a regular basis, the Rays do that every fucking day.

Here at the 108, it is our job….our duty to bring to you the great personalities of White Sox twitter, either via tweet / photo / video or blog post.  In continuing with the tradition of bringing you “the goods” from White Sox twitter we have our interview with KenWo, a controversial, but thoughtful and highly entertaining member of WhiteSox twitter.  The 108ers have yet to meet KenWo in person, but there’s no doubt we’d have a great time throwing down with him.  Anywho, let’s get on with this shits, ENJOY!

Likes

Favorite Game That You Were At: July 1st, 1990 sticks out to me. The White Sox were playing the Yankees on Comiskey Park’s 80th and final birthday. Andy Hawkins squared off against Greg Hibbard. Hawkins gave up no hits, yet the White Sox won the game 4-0 on errors by Jim Leyritz and Jesse Barfield. I don’t think I will ever see another one like that.

Favorite All Time Player That Doesn’t Have a Statue On the Concourse: Friend of the 108 and everyone else, Ron Kittle. As a little kid watching him hit the ball on the roof was incredible. Like a super hero.

Favorite Drink and Dinner at the Park: I enjoy the corned beef deli sandwiches that are right by the 108. I’m not a fussy beer drinker and am very content with a Bud Light. If it was a Bud Light Lime, I’d be even happier, but I don’t think they sell them at the park.

Favorite Place to Sit: Wherever there is an open seat.

Favorite Uniform: 1983’s are crispy clean!

Favorite Giveaway: Bobble heads. I think it would be the t shirt giveaways if they offered them with two X’s. Real man size!

Favorite Theme Night: I would like Elvis night if it weren’t for all the dummy old people that come out for that night that never go to another game.

Dislikes

What irks you the most about White Sox fans? That many of them think that this rebuild is going to equal multiple world series titles without seeing any of these players in Chicago, except for ones that have warts

What is the worst part of being a Sox fan? August 1994.

Worst part of the game day experience? The on field product stinks.

What really grinds your gears? Rick Hahn apologists. Service time concerns. Super two.

Least Favorite White Sox player of all time: Phil Bradley. Didn’t appreciate them trading Ron Kittle to the Orioles for him in 1990. Then he was shitty on top of it.

Game Day

Most memorable experience as a White Sox fan Running on the field with my dad after the Sox clinched in 1983 when police started hauling people off and some of the people that were getting hauled off yelling to my dad because he was their college teacher.

Ballpark experience, how could it be better? I really hate that 99.99% of the home runs hit at white sox park all look the same. Clanging into a metal bleacher. I stated earlier about how Ron Kittle’s home runs onto the roof were majestic. Or guys putting it into the upper deck was always more cool than just a lower deck homer. I want a damn home run porch somewhere.

Best Sox Park hack? Knowing people that live in the area and getting my visitors parking pass. Buying cheap seats and sitting anywhere you want.

What brings you back for every game? Jimmy Fallon said it in Fever Pitch. It’s home. I feel comfortable there. Losing myself into a game and not worrying about anything else is an extreme sense of relief.

Feelings on the wave? Depends on the timing.

Which Gate is your favorite to enter the park from? 5

How Early Do You Get To Games? Usually an hour before at least. I like to make all my stops before the game starts.

How Many Games Do You Go To Each Year? As a kid I was in the 40s. Been in the 20s as an adult. This year I’m at 7. Coaching travel baseball hurts my attendance numbers.

Section 108 Questions

What is your favorite baseball word? Dinger

What is your least favorite baseball word? Competitive window. OK that is two words. Still hate it.

What get’s you excited about the White Sox? Palka Power!

What makes you sad about the White Sox? 1994

What sound or noise at the ballpark do you love? Crack of the bat

What sound or noise at the ballpark do you hate? Crack of the bat if it’s hit by the other team.

What is your favorite Hawkism? Put it on the board!

What is KenWAR and can you give us the top 5 White Sox ALL TIME in KenWAR? A player can earn KenWar points in many ways. Clutch hitting, wearing lots of gold chains, having good facial hair, throwing serious heat, being a full figured guy, doing major damage against the cubs, going #108ing, having swagger, long home runs, being a good “heel”…

1. Ivan Calderon

2. Albert Belle

3. Greg Luzinski

4. AJ Pierzynski

5. Carlos Lee

Why do you dislike Pnoles so much? He has a very punchable face, but overall pnoles is a good guy.

Why do most White Sox fans (incorrectly) believe Rick Hahn is a better GM than Kenny Williams? My guess is because Ozzie and Kenny had their beef and all the fans sided with Ozzie. That makes Kenny the bad guy. In reality, Kenny always did a pretty good job at finding talent to play under the ridiculous constraints that were placed on him by ownership. Whether that be established guys like Dye, Thome, Pierzynski, Peavy, Youkilis or young guys like Uribe, Danks, Floyd, Jenks, Quentin, Sale, Quintana or Alexei. The times Kenny failed (besides Adam Dunn- whom the vast majority of Sox fans were excited about when they signed him) were because he was trying to appease Ozzie. Not signing Thome and allowing him to kick our ass for the Twins. Getting rid of Swisher for next to nothing.

What’s your greatest fear about the “rebuild”? That Moncada comes up and hits .220, that Lopez and Giolito don’t perform well… uh oh.

What is there about this team that excites you the most? I like Abreu and Avi and Palka. I believe they could be on the road to finally getting back to hitting a lot of home runs, which is an essential part of the White Sox being successful.

Give us a #HotTake about the rebuild. They are going to have to spend money. Probably one (or two) starter, a third baseman and a center fielder at least in the short term. Just because someone is over 30 doesn’t mean it is a bad signing. It is a necessity. This worries me because the White Sox have never really committed to spending. They spent on Albert Belle in the 96-97 off-season. Then they were dumping guys in July instead of doubling down and adding when they were 3.5 games out.

Favorite White Sox Twitter Account (Besides @fromthe108) and why? @southsidelarry pulls no punches and I trust his opinion on prospects because he doesn’t think all of them will be all stars.

Person from White Sox Twitter that you’d most like to meet and why? The guy that ranks the Sox twitter personalities, so I could punch him in the face!

Favorite Non-White Sox Twitter Account and why? @TheRealDiceClay Because it is Dice Clay.

What do you like best about @fromthe108 ? You guys love the sox but will call them out on some shit when necessary. Also, we both had an insta-crush on Danny Palka. Seem like great guys.

Favorite White Sox related blog or podcast and why? southsidesox.com, soxmachine.com. South Side Sox has the best format. Sox Machine has Saturday Sporcle. I like all of the guys on both sites.

What is your favorite alcoholic drink?  Be specific and feel free to go with more than one if you need to: Grey Goose is my favorite. I usually will mix it with sprite. Also enjoy Captain and coke and Big Hurt Beer.

Favorite cut of Steak?  Prepared? Bone in rib eye- medium with sauteed mushrooms and a side of spinach will get the job done every time.

Gimme an “Uncle Rico” moment from your prior sports playing past. I struck out 18 guys in a six inning game as a 12 year old.

Where would you take @ChiPartyAunt out on a date? Somewhere classy. Like Portillos or something.

Favorite performance enhancing drug? Hot dogs and beer

Who do you hate more Jim Belushi or John Cusack? Eddie Vedder is worse than both of them. Pearl Jam fucking sucks and he’s a Cub fan. What a dick.

Happy Ending

What Other Chicago Teams Do You Enjoy I cheered for the Bulls during the Rodman years. Otherwise, none. I’m a Raiders fan. I’ve given up on the NBA and I don’t watch hockey.

Favorite Chicago Sports History Moment The White Sox championship parade was pretty sweet.

Favorite All-Time Sox Broadcaster The Hawkeroo. Not even close.

Any Stories About Running Into or Meeting White Sox Players? Other Chicago Athletes? My good buddy and I went to the last series of the year in Cleveland in 2005. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton, which was the team hotel. A lot of the boys were obviously in a good mood, none more than Jon Garland who decided he wanted to chill with us at the hotel bar for a couple of hours. We shot the shit, I remember him specifically saying he wanted the Red Sox in the first round. I thought he was nutsy and wanted to face the Angels. He charged up all the drinks to Mark Buehrle’s room. Really cool guy. Will never say a bad word about Jon Garland.

Favorite Band? Motley F’n Crue

What is your favorite song? Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix and perfected when it became Hollywood Hogan’s theme song.

Favorite TV Show (or Netflix or HBO or whatever the fuck)? Married With Children. But the first season of Eastbound and Down is legendary.

Married or Single? Looking for a GF? Married and looking. Just in case Tiffani Thiessen is reading.

Do you remember your first Sox game? No, my dad had me going super early. I do remember a lot of 1983, even though I was four years old.

What Player had the greatest impact on you? Frank Thomas. He came to the Sox when I was 10 years old. He left when I was 25. A lot of life changes in that time, but the Big Hurt was always consistent.

What was the happiest day watching the Sox? October 26, 2005. Big Game Freddy, JD and Uribe bringing home the title.

What was the saddest day watching the Sox? The last game at Comiskey Park. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

What do you do for work? If you could be or do anything else – what? I’m a teacher. I’d love my own sports talk show. I tend to be a lightning rod, which is good for business. But I am happy teaching. My students are awesome and you can’t beat the schedule.

If you could live in any other time, when might that be? 1920s, I’d want to be one of Capone’s guys.

If you could have dinner with five White Sox Players, past and present, who would they be? Ron Kittle, Frank Thomas, Ivan Calderon, Freddy Garcia, Jermaine Dye

If you could change one thing in your past, what might that be? I would have tried to play college ball when the opportunity was there instead of falling in love with #108ing

What are you most proud of? My little league championships.

How would you like to be remembered? As that crazy fucking white sox fan that was right a lot more than we thought he’d be.

What’s the one thing about you few people know? I think people that actually know me would say I’m a friendly, easy going guy.

What do you dislike most about yourself? I could never figure out how to hit that fucking good curve ball.

What do you dislike most in others? I’m not a fan of people that pretend to be authorities on every topic.

What were your best/worst subjects in school? History and PE are the only classes worth attending.

What do you like doing in your spare time? Twitter with you guys, fantasy sports, coaching baseball.

Who is your celebrity crush? 1. Tiffani Thiessen. 2. Torrie Wilson (I’ve #108ed with her before. Might be the finest night of my life other than winning those coveted little league championships).

What is your favorite movie? Rocky 1-4, Rocky Balboa, Creed

What is your favorite baseball movie? Major League

What is your biggest/weirdest fear? I’ve got a shit ton of baseball memorabilia and I panic it will get ruined when it rains.

What would you change your name to? Ivan. Nobody fucks with a guy named Ivan. Well except the rotten bastard that killed Calderon. But even then he shot him from behind.

What pet would you love to have? Two dogs is enough. You sound like my wife.

What’s your one biggest pet peeve? SUV’s irk me. Can’t see around them when I’m making a left turn. Should be banned!

What would be a good theme song for your life? hmmm… Sexy Motherfucker by Prince.

What ballpark would you like to visit? San Francisco is the one I haven’t been to that I would like to check off. Pittsburgh is the one I have been to that I’d suggest you go to.

THE END

The White Sox Twitter Power Rankings #2

AND WE ARE BACK for some reason I was asked to do this again by my #108ing pals. Taking a different approach this time, instead of writing something about everyone making the list we’re gonna give you some of their tweets that made me think ‘hmmm they should really be on the list’. Sooo without wasting too much time, sit back, relax and strap it down because the second edition of the White Sox Twitter Power Rankings are coming at ya! Oh by the way, we’ve added 5 positions to the Rankings making that a grand total of 15 chances for YOU to make the list. LEGGGOOOO

#15 Sox Nerd (@Soxnerd)

Shoutout Sox Nerd for heading to DC for the all star game! Also having the best player name puns in the league!

#14 Jim Margalus (@Soxmachine)

What Jim has done with Sox Machine is truly impressive! Assembling a solid team of bloggers and content creators is not easy. Stay tuned for more Sox Machine personalities.

#13 Jonnie Nonnie (@Nonniejonnie)

 #13 in the Power Rankings, #1 Leury Garcia fanboy Jonnie did a great job with the sox on 35th/108/barstool/sox mafia/white sox/city of chicago/NW Indiana tailgate!

#12 Sox-Side Pride (@Pittsshady)

 #11 Donald Trump (@Chisoxtrump)

  #10 Patrick Nolan (@Soxmach_pnoles)

 #9 Brandon Anderson (@B_son4)

Happy birthday to the kid as well the big 17!

#8 (Dear friend of WSD) Rick Hahn (@Notrickhahn)

#7 Barstool White Sox Dave (@BarstoolWSD)

#6 Gabriel (@Bearstownsox35)

#5 Ali (@Aliwhitesox)

#4 Kenny Williams (@NotKenWilliams)                                      

#3 (Frequent 108er) Daniel Palka

#2 Herb Lawrence (@Ecnerwal)

And the number one member of White Sox twitter for July 2018 is……

KenWo!  

Congratulations @Kenwo4life!

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Real number one member of White Sox Twitter for July is……..

Chris Tannehill (@Christannehill)

– BennyBaseball

….got any comments, observations, complaints or good ole pats on the fanny for our guy about the list or any other shit you just HAZZ to tell him, please to be contacting here