Good day friends, we wanted to get out ahead of the “blogs” and “podcasts” as all of those spots will be doing their “Season Review”, well there wasn’t specifically a Season Review done by the fans,….UNTIL NOW.  Your pals at Section 108 wanted to highly involve all of you in our discussion of the season in total by putting up player polls and by plucking the best of the best comments to include in the reviews.

Okay, now we can start….

 

Avisail Garcia

The Fans….

BeefLoaf’s Take – I was Underwhelmed by Avi, but then again, I’m always underwhelmed by Avi.  He has 1 year above 0.7 bWAR, he’s not the prospect he was hyped as.

Nicky Delmonico

The Fans…..

BeefLoaf’s Take – I agree with the Fans.  Nicky got hurt this year, so maybe that sapped some of the power, but he looks like a guy who doesn’t have enough power for a corner OF spot, not enough speed to play CF, but enough on-base skills and versatility to help a team on their 40 man roster.  He looks like the dude you try and stash at AAA so he can come up when you have some injuries and give you a month of decent plate appearances.

Adam Engel

The Fans……

BeefLoaf’s Take – I voted Encouraged.  I’m really not sure why, I can’t stand watching Adam Engel bat. It’s an abortion.  His defense is pretty fucking slick tho’.  Maybe my expectations were that he gets chewed up and spit out by the harsh major leagues and end up playing in a beer league next to other “has beens” and “never will be’s”, but alas he’s here.  Upon looking into his offensive profile, his wRC+ and OPS+ (those are fancy metrics that try and pin down offensive value without having to use a bunch of stand alone statistics) would put him in the Billy Hamilton or Adeiny Hecheverria range of hitter….real luminaries of the craft.  I’ve come to the conclusion that Adam Engel needs to pick a lane…here are his two choices and if he comes back to spring training not choosing one of these, well then I am sure they can find him a nice job at the Bulls / Sox Academy.

1. Become a slappy singles hitter that hustles to get on base – Remember when Scotty Pods had his second go around with the White Sox?  He was sitting on his couch looking handsome when he unexpectedly got a call from the White Sox to come play.  He was an awful defender, not really a good base stealer anymore, but he decided that if he just hit .300 and got on base he could be valuable.  So he started running up on the pitch and trying to chop it and doing all kind of other weird things just to get on base.  I want the “Handsome” Scotty Pods to come in and teach Adam Engel the ropes on how to apply 16 inch softball tactics to the MLB.  ALSO, i’d like him to start working hard on the muscles in that left shoulder, because we are going to attempt to take a few dozen pitches off of that shoulder in 2019.
2. Sell out for power – Ron Kittle needs to be on the job for this.  I just want him to mash 20 dongs ($1 Zach Sherwood), I don’t care wtf the rest of his hitting profile looks like, if he can tap that power, he’ll get more walks and be on base more to use his speed and he’ll never really have to learn how to hit.

 

Daniel Palka

The Fans…..

BeefLoaf’s Take – I obviously voted with the Fans!  The only reason to even come to the ballpark most nights was to see if Palka was going to smash one.  He’s our spirit animal, he embraces #108ing, he’s the man.  I just assume that those who pressed the button on “Meh” Or “Underwhelmed” miss clicked.

That’s all for the Outfielders……we’ll be back with the Infielders soon…

I really couldn’t write a better Hawk send off than dozens of other folks have written.  I have enjoyed parts of Hawk’s bit for years, particularly his catch phrases and his enthusiasm for the White Sox.  I know LOTS of people in the White Sox fan base and even interlopers are tired of Hawk’s “act” and tired of his “child-like qualities” but I for one am going to miss Hawk Harrelson.  I think the era of us having these entertaining, hyperbolic and mercurial personalities in the television booth of a baseball game are over (I mean, that doesn’t mean one broadcaster won’t attempt to choke another broadcaster out off camera over which chair they’ll sit in, but that’s entertainment for the interwebs, not for the actual broadcast).  Just a few of the reasons why Hawk was so unique are listed below….

Homerism – I can only speak for me, but when I listen to the home broadcast of my favorite team, I’d like that person to be as personally invested in the team winning or losing as I am.  Hawk is MORE invested than the fans out there.  What other broadcaster runs down to the clubhouse to check on Todd Frazier after an injury?  What other broadcaster gets mad af and goes silent for a whole half inning?  What other broadcaster screams at the umps or goes down to the clubhouse to even give them a piece of his mind.  NOBODY!!  Hawk did / does all the shit that any of us fans would do if we were in his spot.

He threatened to punch Jay Mariotti – The 108ers aren’t really fans of physical violence, in fact we avoid it at all cost, but when someone is really fucking asking for it, well, I can do nothing but take great delight in them being scared out of town over it.  Mariotti was a scumbag before we knew he was into hitting women.  A loud mouth jerk off sometimes gets what they deserve and Hawk was ready to serve it up to him, so for all of us out here who also think he’s a fucking jagoff I raise my glass to Hawk in a typical #108ing style.

Stories – This motherfucker LIVED!  Hawk has sooooo many stories!  If you think about it, a baseball broadcast is part sporting event, part talk show and Hawk was fluent in both.  I know people would occasionally call it “The Hawk Show” and mean that as a derogatory term, but for me, I love that Hawk could fill in the dead times with stories both of on and off the field exploits.  As the late great Kurt Cobain said “Here we are now, entertain us!”  A lot of the modern broadcasters just haven’t lived enough life yet to have anything like this for us.  They’ve been too busy hustling up the next play-by-play gig after their graduation from Syracuse.  It isn’t their fault, but it is to our detriment as consumers.

Originality – The entire White Sox fan language has basically been created by Hawk.  You can’t get through watching an entire White Sox game with another fan without a Hawkism spilling out of one or both of your mouths.  The persona of Hawk is an original character that I don’t see being recreated in the remainder of my lifetime.  It seems people are content to receive broadcasts in a non-hyperbolic, well-mannered, controlled delivery (sorry Gus Johnson) and so the bombastic characters of yesteryear like Hawk are probably finished.  If you can’t get excited when Hawk is delivering a BIG CALL on a game winner for the White Sox, then something is wrong with you.

After getting my thoughts down on paper (web paper, i guess), I got to thinking…..maybe tv broadcasts don’t really need an on-air broadcast team in the traditional sense.  If we can’t have a colorful character with a bunch of stories coming at us and mostly what we get is cookie cutter college broadcast program types, then why not innovate this shit and move in a different direction?  We have the visuals, so what might make sense instead.  Mind you, this is no shot at our current play-by-play man Jason Benetti, who does have a personality and can be very engaging on air, but if you flip around to the rest of the tv broadcasts on MLB.TV, you are getting less and less folks that can really spin a yarn.

AI Broadcaster – Artificial Intelligence is being used everywhere else in all of our other regular activities, why not just grab a bot or two and get to testing.  Survey the public for the most generic, pleasing, unoriginal voice (sort of like your run of the mill Bryan Adams album) and program that to recognize the activity and just give you the facts.  That’s what I often hear the intelligencia want, they don’t want a big over the top story guy, they just want the information coming at them, so here you go, and eventually once it’s rolled out everywhere, then the cost will be lower and the innovation will be complete.

Sound man – How about we just hire up the great sound men of each city, whether it be DJ’s for Radio sound men / women or whatever.  In Chicago, we have Chris Tannehill from 670 the Score.  Just let him loose in the booth, to play anything and everything he wants as a sort of backing track to the game play.  It could be music, so maybe during the early parts of the game you have something more like shoe-gazer like My Bloody Valentine, busted up by various sound bites that more accurate describe the big action when it occurs.  This would probably suit the twitter crowd great.  Later in the game when there is a lot more tension, you could flip the switch some some metal or hip hop depending on game play situations.  I dunno.  The folks that do this shit would probably come up with something really cool to back the game with.  I’d love to see it tried.

Mic the field – I mean, really mic the field, I want Steve Albini to be the first person to hang the mics for this shit.  Then, all we get is crowd sound, bat sound, ball hitting glove sound, umpires yelling, etc.  You could really create the visceral sounds of the ballpark at home with this approach and it would cost a fraction of the price.

Constant commercials – I know this is getting ownership groups everywhere to have tight pants, but you could employ a read man or woman and literally get every facet of the game sponsored to varying degrees.  You could run a panel of the screen with up to the second stats and then have the ad man drop in that that pitch out was sponsored by Menards.  That sacrifice bunt was sponsored by Depends, or whatever the fuck.

All the rest of the game innovates when it gets to a stagnant spot, I’d have to guess that one of these innovations or something really cool that my feeble mind could not even process are on the way.  Congrats on retirement Hawk, you’ll be missed.

Allow me to reintroduce myself…….

Welcome to FRI-YAY Folks! It’s been a minute, but I am MySoxSummer. Been a bit busy shipping out all these #108ing shirts to all you lovely fans (available here)! And raising some kids. That takes up most my time.

The final weekend series is upon us, starts today. 6 games left to see our beloved team that has really taken alot out of us this year. There were very few things to cheer for this year, but 2 words, Daniel Palka. You killed it man. You ARE the southside. A grinder. A baller. And funny as fuck. Thanks for 2018 man, you really made our year in the 108.

I went to get some tickets yesterday and lamented to Box Office Jimmy that I was bummed that the Cub(e)s were our last weekend series. He seemed to share my feelings. Most years we in the 108 sell these tickets. It’s a game that you can actually sell for more than face which is pretty nice! But it being a weekend series and the last one in 2018, we are all in for Saturday and Sunday. So if you are headed to the games this weekend here are 5 things to enjoy!

1- CrossTown Wasted.

Y’all hear that we are throwing down with SoxOn35th this Saturday? Well we are! It’s tomorrow. In Lot B. At 3:30pm. Ya know what the best thing is? YOU DON’T NEED A FUCKING TICKET TO GO TO THE TAILGATE! You need not pay a crazy price to see a baseball game to get kinda wasted with your favorite White Sox twitter friends! Also Johnnie Nonnie and BeefLoaf are known to fully stock coolers for insane parties. So the High Life and the Busch Light will be ice cold and flowing. No excuses folks, no excuses.

2- Sweater Weather.

As a fat guy, the weather is looking DOPE AF. Mid 60’s is the HIGH for Saturday. Will I wear jeans? Unlikely. But maybe I won’t sweat like a whore in church all game. You know what is perfect to do in mid 60’s temp? DRINK A BUNCHA BEER. It will be pleasant out which we deserve. Baseball in this kinda weather is pretty awesome too. We can also imagine it’s 2023 and we are gunning for that Wild Card or trying to lock up a division. #TrustTheProspects

3- Cub(e)s Fans.

I know, some of them are fucking awful. We wanna short sell them on baseball knowledge, which is sometimes is deserved. But do we really wanna paint the whole fanbase based on a few people? Do we really?

Listen, in a few short years, we’ll be back and most likely they will be down. Maybe they won’t. Fuck, maybe we won’t. But I am kinda tired of the constant Sox vs Cub(e)s hate. So let’s act like the brothers that hate each other but we both love their mom (baseball). We can act civil for holidays, like this weekend, for mom.

So maybe, just maybe if you have a good interaction with a fan from the north you offer to buy him a beer. Maybe that fan will see your move and buy you one back. Let’s all be the better fan(s). Maybe?

4- Beer. Brats. Baseball.

This is what it is all about. Don’t think about how fucking awful long the lines will be this weekend, or the lack of space, or how shitty the service will likely be, think about how great that brat will taste. And really don’t think about how long that line will be to get a fancy beer, but rather enjoy a Bud Light or Corona Light or Modelo cause really that pairs just as well as the fancy beer. Plus they deliver that beer! Also, take care of those guys. They were out there when you weren’t, so tip them well. For baseball, like the McRib, is limited time only. It will be back, much like the McRib, but not for awhile. So fucking enjoy all of these B’s.

5- 11am Sunday Soak.

That’s right, wake up (hungover) with the boys in the 108. The Monsters of the Midway will be rolling after the game, so we want you to watch that. We also think the possibility of someone puking in the tub is very likely. Well, just me really. The other guys rarely puke. So make sure to tune in at 11am to watch the last regularly scheduled soak. There will be other soaks, maybe around Bears games, but nothing is on the books.

We are looking forward to this last party with all you crazy folks. Make sure to come and say hi in these final games. If you wanna save $5 And want a shirt, send me a DM on Twitter. Stay hydrated my friends.

MySoxSummer

Much like the dozens of you reading this text right now, I was first in SHOCK, then SAD, then MAD, about Michael Kopech’s injury.  It really sucks that we as White Sox fans were getting our first taste of a prospect hitting the ground running and actually living up to the prospect hype.  Our titty nipples were rock hard with excitement for this kid and then this speed bump came and launched us right off of our big wheel of happiness and back into the pit of snakes that has been the last decade of White Sox baseball.  Waking up this morning, hungover obv, I returned to my normal outlook on life…”Look at the bright side”…..so let’s do that, I bring you “The 5” Positives of Michael Kopech’s injury.

5. More hulking out rehab pictures and instagram stories of Michael

This kid is a work out freak, even for a tall bean pole like he is.  The guy could probably throw 108 without being ripped as shit, but why? Might as well have the lasses (as well as the cougars) feelin’ his vibe.  Also, from his past as a player, he’s not afraid to mix it up, so ole Nuke here might as well keep in tip top for when the occasion arises.

4. The ballpark will be just as roomy and comfortable as the 108ers are accustomed to it being

It is no secret.  The reason the 108 has become the 108 is mainly because the White Sox have been a hot mess for damn near a decade and the roominess in our section provides a great area for fans to come by and crush brews and commiserate about the various ailments of this squad.  With Kopech coming up, he provided something that we weren’t used to……what’s the word?  Oh Yea!!! HOPE!  Well, thats fucking gone now, so we can get back to spreading out, chatting, using the bathrooms with no lines and having beer vendors literally sit in our section

damn near half the game because nobody showed up.

3. We can continue to blame our alcoholism on bad White Sox baseball

I know this sounds bad, but you know its true.  Look, most of you out there aren’t harboring a Nick Cage in Leaving Las Vegas type habit,

but 108% of you have taken the day off for no other reason than to binge drink all day.  Probably in your garage.  When things aren’t going right, its an easy move to grab for that couple tree negatives in your life and blame them for your personal demons.  We are all for that.  So join us, don’t blame your personality defects, blame the White Sox!

2. He’s got time to grow his flow back before the next time we see him

It’s uncouth to take a shot at a persons appearance.  We are supposed to judge people for who they are on the inside and not the outside and we here at the 108 generally do just that, EXCEPT for when you got a beautiful mop on the top of your head and for some unknown reason, you lop off big chunks of that delicious flow and come back butchered.  We can’t haz that.  Nobody wants what came back after that hair cut, not even the Salmon Sisters.

MIKE!  Get your flow right before you come back bruh, we need everything in it’s right place.

1. One more year to keep selling the fans on development and patience while doing nothing to improve the roster.

There are two undeniable facts with this rebuild.  The chairman loves having the lowest payroll in baseball.  Rick Hahn doesn’t know wtf he is going to do with 90% of this roster and farm system.  For these two, this injury was a breath of fresh air.  Now if Eloy can just get banged up in winter ball / spring training and keep him out until mid-June, they’ll be incredibly boned up.

It sounds harsh, but you all know there are two different games going on here and…..let’s call it “delaying gratification” is more what the front office is into these days.

Hi friends, it’s your pal BeefLoaf, come on in, pour yourself some coffee (feel free to make it Irish if you’d like) and have a seat.  I have a parable of sorts to share with the class, and as the Slumpbuster always tells me, “make sure you bring enough for the whole class”…..don’t worry, I am.

I’d like to protect the names of the innocent here, but I can only protect so much, plus it is fun for some people to know who it is, so let’s call this fella “El Jefe”.  El Jefe is a big Chicago sports fan, White Sox, Bears and Blackhawks, a BIG BLACKHAWKS guy, a season ticket holder.  El Jefe HATES Corey Crawford, he fucking HATES him.  If you were to look through his Facebook posts during Blackhawks season it is an endless stream of anti-Corey Crawford messages.  In fact, many of his friends spent significant time trolling him about his irrational hate.  Of course, you know how this story ends up going, the Blackhawks win 3 Stanley Cups, 2 of which feature Crawford prominently.  EVEN THEN, even after they have won the Cup, El Jefe still stuck to his guns about how the Blackhawks got lucky to win the Cup inspite of Crawford.  I saw him fairly recently and gave him a ribbing about this and he is still on the anti-Crawford train.  You don’t have to do this folks.

How about another version of this, one where the spicy takes were reversed, eventually.  Your boy and Chorizy-E were both on the DFA Matt Davidson train.  We talk about it multiple times in our infamous Periscope vids (these were probably in the Feb-Mar 2018 timeframe).  Of course, we are morons and Matt Davidson continued to improve into 2018 and he’s a serviceable big league 1B/DH kinda guy.  We did reverse course tho’ and now we are Matt Davidson Fanbois.

You are probably asking by now, Beefy, wtf your point, fam?  My point is this, don’t be that guy (or gal).  If you get some new information that makes you realize your position on some silly sports, music, pop culture thing is wrong, then stand up (ie, get on the twitters), admit your mistake and change your opinion.  Consider this twitter confession and I’ll be your priest (we’ll knock back some of that church wine, and I promise not to diddle).  I’m not saying you have to do this, maybe you really enjoy having very odd opinions that jive significantly with reality, it’s fine, but if you don’t really want to continue to be the “Mark Buehrle is a HOF’er” gal any longer and would like to repent, please do so.  Just to be clear, we aren’t talking about unknowable / ambiguous things, like favorite Beatle or best pizza joint or whatever.  Those aren’t the subjects we are talking about.  Also, if you were a big “Move Zorich to LB” guy or gal, you aren’t allowed to re-neg on that opinion, it is locked in till the end of time.

The following are a list of potential “hot takes” that you could reverse…..

It’s a start….come holler at me,

When you sit in the 108 and you’re out there 108ing like we do, people will stop by and share a drink from time to time.  And when they’re sharing that drink, sometimes they’ll share a story too or some interesting tidbit of info.  Sometimes it’s the trivia that gets thrown down by Biguns or Beefloaf or Mr Hand.  Sometimes it’s a story about Big Frank visiting a late night kitchen in Lincoln Park.  Sometimes it’s hearing about Daniel Palka’s pitching prowess.  Sometimes it’s info on an Indianapolis stripper that’s friendly with a washed out Sox reliever.  And sometimes it’s word from inside the Sox front office.  This is rare, but it happens.  And recently, we got word that the front office has been tracking a group of bloggers/tailgaters/general drunkards.  Let’s call this group “The Organization”.

This inside man gave us the low down on this probe.  He was also able to sneak us a pic of part of their bulletin board.  If you’re not on it, don’t think you’re in the clear.  There are no associates pictured at all and there is certainly a chance there are more capos and soldiers floating around.

We’ll provide info as we have it, but please do not let this deter you from coming out on Saturday September 22nd for the Crosstown Wasted Tailgate.  There are at least a few capos counting on you being there.  You wouldn’t want to disappoint them, would you?

Good day, this is your pal BeefLoaf and this is the 5.  5 possible reasons that Eloy Jimenez is still in Charlotte…..ENJOY!

5 – Eloy has Halitosis

If there is one thing that could derail a young talent core of players is if the new talent dude has stanky breath.  Think about it, you go to high five him and you get that dead tooth smell pouring out onto your jersey.  What about when Eloy ends up the home run chain, the next dude who gets it gonna have to throw that muthafucka out.  Whatta scene.

4 – Jeremy Haber forgot to file the paperwork

Every once in awhile, you read about some trade or some inadvertent free agency occurring because one of the pencil pushers simply forgets to file the paperwork timely or doesn’t file it correctly.  We assume all this stuff always goes exactly right, it doesn’t.  I remember in my first job out of college, a hedge fund was breaking up and I misread a name and allocated $30k to a dude that belonged to another dude.  BIG MISTAKE….amazingly I didn’t get fired, but I do what it takes to get by

3 – Front Office knows if Daniel Palka loses playing time, WE. WILL. RIOT! 

I can’t say we’ll protest and shutdown 35th street or something like that, but we’ll definitely be pissed and probably do some public display to show our displeasure (SURPRISE, it might have to do with consuming lots of alcohol and possibly falling down)

2 – More time needed to expunge his twitter account of racist / sexist tweets from 2011

You know I’m right.  Nobody probably looked down this rabbit hole yet, and the front office probably realized it right around Labor Day.  FUCK!!!  We never checked Eloy’s twitter for bad tweets.  Not to mention, they’ll need someone who can read spanish to do it.  This clearly is going to take until at least April 12, 2019.

1 – Developing a sick bat flip is the last box to be checked

I know some people like a humble superstar, like the way Barry Sanders would just flip the ball to the ref after a TD, but this is the Southside and we want a brash star that nearly gets into a fight weekly with a hot headed player on the opposing team.  In that vain, Eloy needs to work on his bat flip and get it to Joey Bats levels of ridiculousness.

The 108 Interview Series continues with the host of Red Line Radio (@RedLineRadio), which was recently picked up by Barstool Sports (congrats!!!), the winner of the 2018 White Sox Twitter Personalities Tournament and all around great White Sox fan and twitter follow WhiteSoxDave….before we start, the 108ers want to give a big virtual bro hug to WhiteSoxDave, not just for this interview, but for his help and support of what we do over here at Section 108.  It’s pretty rare that the big fish in your proverbial pond would be as kind and helpful with their time and resources, so we want to say Thanks!  And let us know if you need anyone “taken care of”…….Let’s get on with it!!

 

Likes

Favorite game that you were at?  Easily the Scotty Pods walk off in game 2.

Favorite all time player that doesn’t have a statue on the concourse?  Aaron Rowand.  Absolute grinder.  Epitome of a south side mentality even though he was a call bro

Favorite drink and food at the park? Brat loaded up with green peppers and onions and of course cheap domestic beer

Favorite place to sit? Anywhere that’s not the upper deck

Favorite uniform? 83’s

Favorite giveaway? Not a big giveaway guy, mostly because I’m too lazy to carry shit around.

Favorite theme night? Same, not a theme night guy.  I feel like that stuff is reserved as a way to get asses in seats.  It’s fun and all, but nothing that I really care about personally.  Their fireworks are fantastic though

Dislikes

What irks you the most about White Sox fans? Recently, their lack of patience with the rebuild.

What is the worst part of being a Sox fan? Dealing with assholes who say “Nobody gives a shit about the White Sox”

Worst part of the game day experience? Losing on purpose, more or less.  But that’s all about to change

What really grinds your gears? The Brewers being a loser franchise and being afraid of the Cubs

Least favorite White Sox player of all time I could name about 2 dozen players on this list but the very first name that popped in my mind was Adam LaRoche.  I’m not even talking about his kid being in the clubhouse, he was just absolute dog shit.

Game Day

Most memorable experience as a White Sox fan 2005!

Ballpark experience, how could it be better? I honestly think they should build a new park in the South Loop when their lease is up.  Love the Bridgeport area and people, but if they want overflow tourism coming into the stadium, fans to come during the week, etc. they should move the park to the biggest up and coming area of the city in a decade or so IMO.  Sox Park is already one of the oldest stadiums in baseball

Best Sox Park hack? If you ever have upper deck tickets, walk down through the fundamentals deck and pay the ticket taker $10 to have him let you walk down to the lower deck

What brings you back for every game? Watching the young guns

Feelings on the wave? Never take part in it, doesn’t necessarily bother me though

Which Gate is your favorite to enter the park from? 4

How early do you get to games? For Saturday games as soon as the parking lots open

What do you bring to games? My wallet and if it’s a weekend game and I’m not coming from work a case of brew

How many games do you go to each year?  When I was younger a lot more but I’m a slave to the man now, this year about 20ish

 

Section 108 Questions

What is your favorite baseball word? Command

What is your least favorite baseball word? I honestly can’t think of one?  Maybe “can’t miss”?  No such thing as a can’t miss anything in baseball

What gets you excited about the White Sox? Watching their MiLB and young guys develop

What makes you sad about the White Sox? Dealing a future HOF pitcher and not being able to build around them.  I’ll never forgive them for the shit they pulled during the Sale years, not unless they win the big one

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

What sound or noise at the ballpark do you hate? That stupid woo thing they randomly started doing.  Nails on chalkboard and I don’t understand why they do it

What is your favorite Hawkism? Stretch!

Is Brian Bilek really as much of a scallywag as he showed on Opening Day 2018? Even worse.  Kid’s a bad seed

Congrats on getting the pod picked up by Barstool, well deserved…as your media career takes off……what media types did you grow up enjoying / admiring most? I used to watch about 12 episodes of sportscenter a day growing up, but ESPN is trash now.  Boers and Bernstein used to be hilarious, but Bernstein is a holier than thou dickhead now

If the RLR crew played the 108ers in 3 on 3 basketball, how much would the 108ers win by? Probably a lot, we all stink at that sport

WhiteSoxDave vs BigCat in a hot dog eating contest..What is the line?  Who wins? I’d demolish him. He put down 12 in the nathan’s contest a few years ago, I think I could do 15

If the other members of RLR were each individually throwing a tailgate, whose tailgate would you go to?  Eddie, he’s a complete and total wild card

Is it possible Red Line Radio is a bigger mess than The 108?  You guys are a mess in a good way.  So yes?  haha

If the White Sox agreed to sign you for one day, and you got to pitch to one batter, which batter would you want to plunk? Ryan Braun is an absolute piece of shit, so probably him

If you had to go drink for drink with one of the 108ers, who would it be? Wally… I’ve seen the pictures, he can’t hang.

How is that cowboy hat coming, will it make an appearance before or after Eloy does?  As soon as I have enough disposable income to sink $1000 into a cowboy hat just to wear to get social media likes, then it will make an appearance.  So hopefully before Eloy ha

If we name drop you at Armand’s will we get a free drink? Depends on who’s tending the bar, but maybe

What’s your greatest fear about the “rebuild”? That they won’t sign high end talent to complement the young guns

Give us a #HotTake about the rebuild They’ll beat the Cubs in a World Series

Who finalizes our rotation next year? Cease

Are we buyers in the off season? 100%

Favorite White Sox Twitter Account (Besides @fromthe108) and why? Future Sox does awesome work

Person from White Sox Twitter that you’d most like to meet and why? I’ve met everyone from Sox twitter I want to meet, if I haven’t you it’s because I don’t want to

Favorite Non-White Sox Twitter Account and why? PFT Commenter is a genius

What do you like best about @fromthe108 How authentic you guys are from top to bottom in your fandom and how you get along with all parts of Sox twitter

Favorite White Sox related blog or podcast and why? Again, future sox, because I rely on them for info that I can’t get myself.  I don’t listen to other Sox podcasts at all because I don’t want their ideas seeping into my brain.  I honestly don’t read much white sox stuff outside of m

What is your favorite alcoholic drink?  Be specific and feel free to go with more than one if you need to.  If I’m having one of those nights where I need to shut my brain off then an old fashion or a manhattan

Favorite cut of Steak?  Prepared? Porterhouse, medium rare x100000

Gimme an “Uncle Rico” moment from your prior sports playing past. Had a few… I was actually good at baseball until college when partying became my priority.  2x all conference in HS and threw out a kid who played at ISU twice my senior year from catcher.  He was 23-25 in stolen bases that year

Where would you take @ChiPartyAunt out on a date? Hangge uppe then back to my crib at 4am

Favorite performance enhancing drug? I love needle in ass steroids.  We’re talking about doing a cycle on RLR for content.  No idea if that’s actually illegal or not but we want to do it to see how yoked up we get

Who do you hate more Jim Belushi or John Cusack? Grew up in Wheaton so we innately love Belushi there, he’s a born bred Wheaton guy.  Fuck Cusack

Best #108ing story (that you can tell us)  I think I’m past the statute of limitations on a lot of them but still don’t want to incriminate myself… Probably getting hammered with my dad at Yankees stadium when I was like 18 and talking shit to Yankees fans.  Mariano Rivera blew a save that game (Uribe double with 2 on) and my dad and I went bat shit, surprised we didn’t get curb stomped

Happy Ending

What other Chicago teams do you enjoy.  Northwestern (ALMOST as diehard an NU football fan as Sox baseball), Bears and I’m the most diehard fairweather Hawks fan ever… the city was a ton of fun when they were good

Favorite Chicago Sports History Moment.  Obviously the 2005 World Series Sweep

Favorite All-Time Sox Broadcaster. Obviously Hawk

Any stories about running into or meeting White Sox players? Other Chicago athletes? Took a piss next to the Big Hurt in Libertyville like 5 years ago.  Did a double take and said “you’re the big hurt”.  He laughed and said “yup”.

Favorite band? Sublime

What is your favorite song? I have NO idea.  Love all music from Sinatra to Lupe Fiasco.  I couldn’t pick just one song

Favorite TV Show (or Netflix or HBO or whatever the fuck)? Breaking bad

Married or Single? Looking for a GF? Single

Why don’t girls like independent Sox bloggers?  Who says they don’t?

Do you remember your first Sox game? No, it was old comiskey and I don’t think I could even walk

What player had the greatest impact on you? The Big Hurt

What was the happiest day watching the Sox? Game 4 WS

What was the saddest day watching the Sox? The jersey cutting fiasco… I was at the game and at that point the Sox were a legit national embarrassment.  I wanted to start a completely and total mutiny of how the organization was being ran

What do you do for work? If you could be or do anything else – what? I sling freight for my day job now, but we plan on turning RLR and Barstool into careers

If you could live in any other time, when might that be? Mid 80s.  I’d start google, amazon, twitter, facebook, etc. and conquer the world

If you could have dinner with five White Sox Players, past and present, who would they be? Rowand, Ozzie, Sale, Palka and Hawk even though he didn’t play for them

If you could change one thing in your past, what might that be? Wouldn’t go to college.  It’s a scam

What are you most proud of? Nothing really to be honest.  I have a lot of unfinished business

How would you like to be remembered? Just a good dude and good sox fan.

What’s the one thing about you few people know? I’m almost fluent in Spanish.  I can still write/read it fluently, but speaking it has gotten way worse since college

What do you dislike most about yourself? Height

What do you dislike most in others? Height.  Why do other people get to be taller than me?  Fuck that

What were your best/worst subjects in school? English/Spanish and math.  Sucked ass at math.  That’s why I leave the sabermetrics alone

What do you like doing in your spare time? Running

Who is your celebrity crush? Norah Jones, greatest voice I’ve ever heard.  Also had an unhealthy obsession with Jessica Alba back in HS.  Smoking hot

What is your favorite movie? Almost Famous

What is your favorite baseball movie? The Sandlot

What is your biggest/weirdest fear? I’m deathly afraid of spiders.  Fuck those things

What would be your one super power? Fly

What would you change your name to? Something catchy like Rex or something

What pet would you love to have? Dog, can’t have one right now because it wouldn’t be fair to the dog with how busy I am.  Dogs are the best things on earth

What’s your one biggest pet peeve? People not responding to texts/emails in any fashion at all.  Just respond, don’t be a dick

What’s your one annoying habit? I bite my nails way too much and don’t even realize I’m doing it

What would be a good theme song for your life? I did it my way – Sinatra

What ballpark would you like to visit? San Fran or Coors Field.  They both look amazing

Any good crockpot recipes?

OH BUDDY DO I!

2 cans pinto beans, 2 cans kidney beans, 2 cans of pickled chili peppers, 2 cans of pickled jalapenos, two tablespoons paprika/cumin/chili powder, 2 garlic cloves diced up, 3 cans diced tomatoes with jalapenos, ½ pound of chopped bacon, 1 can of bud heavy, 1 pound of ground beef, 1 pound of jimmy deans spicy breakfast sausage.  All ya gotta do is cook the beef/sausage/bacon then mix it into the rest of the ingredients in the crock and cook it on low for like 4-5 hours.  It’s insanely spicy but it’s awesome

Welcome friends….this is your bestest buddy BeefLoaf.  If you are reading this blog post, you are interested in the 108 take on the Eloy non-promotion.  Before we begin, if you would like to read some really basebally takes on the decision and the weighting of various issues related to the decision, there aren’t two better pieces than the ones linked below.  Both of them dudes are sharp and provide you with two solidly different takes on the situation….

……alright, now enough of that….let’s begin…..

I’m mad as fuck that Eloy Jimenez isn’t playing baseball in Chicago RIGHT. DAMN. NOW!!  Let me be clear, I understand the implications and factors and as a 108er, this is a damn no-brainer.  I’m not going to give you the 7 is bigger than 6 bullshit, only a guy who is a lifetime Cubs homer would treat White Sox fans with such disdain and disrespect writing for a dying newspaper.  I also think that most folks who have been beating the drum of waiting till April 2019 for Eloy’s arrival are either A) folks that depend very much on the White Sox for their income / content / reputation (ie, tv personalities, content providers with close ties to the team, other people that require access to White Sox management and or personnel) or B) Folks that are trying to sound smart in mixed company.  Lucky for you, we don’t carry nobody’s fucking water.  Fans go to the ballpark for an entertainment product, the people voting with their wallets and sitting in the ballpark on a nightly basis materially want to see Eloy at 35th and Shields.  Truthfully, I don’t care what others think, the way I think about it is this, having Eloy here, right now, will improve the entertainment product and the team for me and other fans, much more than EV of ~$7M of excess value in the 2025 season (I’m picking a number out of the air more or less, but given the high price of stars who were super two eligible in their final arbitration year, I’m in the ballpark).  It just does.  We just don’t know much other than, this is starting to look like a real team, right now and the addition of Eloy will improve this situation even more.  Just imagine if the White Sox were willing to make decisions that improved their on-field entertainment products, then Don Cooper wouldn’t have to whine and cry in the public about nobody showing up to the ballpark.  Wouldn’t that be nice?

If it sounds like I am a bit salty, I am.  The fan base as a whole has been in a bad place for awhile, but we are coming out of it and are currently in our “getting back into exercising and eating vegetables cycle”.  We had those bad years dating all the way back to 2008 with the last division title.  We drank too much, we ate too much fried foods and we lived a goddamn sedentary lifestyle and let’s be honest, we were in bad health, much like our White Sox, but now, we’ve started living healthier, we just still look like the folks that used to “Sweat To the Oldies” with Richard Simmons,

doing the right thing, but still puffy and bloated looking.  Winning should be the thing that puts us over the top!  But enough about us fans, we’ve been creating our own fucking fun, #108ing our damn asses off as this team starts to bubble up in to relevancy……there are others tho’….

One group that is under represented and under serviced in the lexicon of White Sox twitter are the folks that actually earn their living at the ballpark.  I’m talking about the vendors, security, mc’s, pride crew and office employees.  Those folks have been dealing with the same conditions I mentioned above as our team and fan base, but their direct income is depending on this.  They aren’t like me or you, they have to put on a happy face when they go to the ballpark and work hard serving the patrons.  In general these people fight back the bullshit product on the field and the bullshit conditions by management and put on a brave face and do a great job….however, I’d be lying if I told you we haven’t heard various folks around the ballpark that know what we do, say something along the lines of “another bad year, thanks for what you are doing, it makes it go by a little easier“.  Believe you me, this is cool that they tell us this, but it is also NOT COOL that they have to….it’s time for management to change all of this…..it’s time for the staff to be able to trust management…..TRUST.

Back to “carrying water” which we don’t do here, we’ll never do here….we’ve been supportive, but highly critical of Rick Hahn (check out our twitter, check out the #SundaySoak).  In our minds, there are still large questions about his competencies as GM of the team.  He took the helm prior to the 2013 season and this team has been a steaming pile since he took over.  With risk of upsetting the “Hahn bots” ($1, SoxMachine fam), why are we giving this guy the benefit of the doubt?  Is it his various degrees (*Bruce Weber voice* who cares?), is it that he’s not Kenny Williams (we all aren’t that dumb are we?)…nope…wait for it….it’s because we trust him for telling us the truth.  That’s right, Hahn’s whole deal is that he’s upfront with the fan base, even explaining in full detail the rebuild and process ahead.  He’s affable and friendly, he even did that live podcast at Reggie’s with Chuck Garfien and crew.  Hahn is the guy that will just tell it like it is…don’t worry that things haven’t turned out in his tenure as GM, he’s honest to us fans and treats us well and we believe he’ll do the right thing by us……then this steaming turd.

This has been getting destroyed all over the twitters

 

 

Let us not forget that Hahn was fine with Dayan Viciedo manning the outfield during his watch….remember when the 2016 White Sox had those injuries and were trying to turn it around, he was happy to trot JB Shuck out to centerfield….oh and right fucking now they employ Avi Garcia everyday in rightfield, so clearly, defense is a top priority for Rick Hahn.  Gimme a fucking break!!!  It’s odd that Hahn would be willing to so brazenly light on fire the only thing that he really had going for him with the fan base, his honesty.  He was so quick to just burn that bridge.  Things happen for a reason, they always do….I think I have a beat on this.

One thing that smacked me in the head like a hangover after a night of #108ing is that once Eloy is in Chicago, you have your 3 blue chip prospects from trades in the majors (Eloy, Moncada and Kopech), it is time to start building a winning core, it is time to start spending money to fix your deficiencies or to build up depth where it is needed.  It is time to compete.  Just envision if Eloy arrived on August 7th or something and had a .950 OPS to close the year in Chicago.  Hahn can no longer hide behind “the rebuild” to make curious roster decisions, because slowly but surely people are going to stop defending him, you can’t rebuild forever and once the clock is solidly running on what is expected to be your 3 best home grown (sort of) players you need to start spending money.  MAYBE, Hahn isn’t sure what to do with Avi Garcia.  MAYBE, Hahn isn’t sure who should get playing time next year between Palka, Davidson and Nicky Steaks.  MAYBE, Hahn doesn’t know for sure if Moncada is a second basemen or not.  Those are the “easy” tough decisions, his toughest tough decisions are like Memphis Raines tryna lock down his “Eleanor”.

1. MAYBE, He’s scared af about trading some prospects because he’s already known for the worst prospect trade of this decade…..

2. MAYBE, He’s unsure what free agents he really wants to buy, because recent history of free agents hasn’t been that kind to him……

I get it, we all have our fears, we all have those obstacles that have been tough to conquer.  The only difference is, I’m sure we didn’t tell a bold face lie to the people that have been supporting us just to avoid it.  MAYBE, we are willing to give Rick Hahn one mulligan.  Be better next time Rick, those of us that have stood with you through all this shit expect better.