Talking Mess with MSS – Vinnie P.
In our last podcast, I dropped some “mess” on fellow White Sox blogger Vinnie Parise, (Listen here starting at the 6 minute mark) mostly for this tweet –
Which I responded with –
And then he said –
Which really blew my mind. Because when you bring up a player that had been doing well in the playoffs and also bring up a player who was DFA’d before the All-Star break I AM GONNA COMPARE THE TWO. The Sox were clearly on the Joc train and HAD evaluated that talent. The player didn’t wanna come here (he bet on himself and kinda lost the money game) but that wasn’t a fail by our FO. I also don’t get repeating stuff that, while it makes sense, provides no depth of analysis. We can all do that. Of course if you evaluate free agents “properly” you can find value. It’s especially true when you wait till the end of the season to evaluate the talent.
But there is also risk, which every team goes through. Kyle Schwarber was a fucking All-Star this year. Who the fuck saw that coming? Certainly not the Cubs. He was mentioned in passing by most Sox fans, but was never taken as a serious option. Why wasn’t he? Maybe he wouldn’t have thrived in our system. It’s a fucking crap shoot every year. And to only point to successful examples is a little lazy IMO. Lotta folks (myself included) wanted Marcell Ozuna in RF. Again, crap shoot.
But was Vinnie done though? HELL NO HE WASN’T! Look at this gem –
Fucking Vinnie! Would home runs help us win more games? Of course they would. ‘Loaf has told me several times, ball go far, team go far. In both ALD Series the team with the most HR’s won. Shockingly the team with the most homers in the ALCS DIDN’T win (Astro’s 9 & BoSox 11). But ‘Loaf has assured me that normally the team with the most homers usually wins the series. And he’s a numbers guy, so I will believe him. The White Sox left tons of guys on base. Don’t believe me? Fine, look at these numbers….
Game 1, they were 1 for 8 with RISP.
Game 2, they were 2 for 11 with RISP.
Game 3, they won and were 8 for 15 with RISP. Hitting 2 homers for sure helped that cause.
Game 4, they were 0 for 2 with RISP.
I think it’s too simplistic to say the Sox just need to mash more homers. Would it help? Of course, scoring more runs would be immensely beneficial. But just getting base hits with RISP would have helped win games too, especially this post season. In game 2, can you imagine how much more confident Lucas Giolitio would have been out there had they converted on more than just 1 run in the 1st? They had a chance, bases loaded, 1 out, and they only scored 1 run. 1 RUN. A Grand Slam by Eloy would have been fantastic, but a single would have scored 2. Just putting the ball in the AIR would have given them a better shot, which we discussed at length in our last podcast (Listen here).
I got nothing against Vinnie, seems like a fine guy, I’d drink a beer with the guy. Likes the Sox, NIU and beer (I’ll forgive the Coors Light, this time), that’s good enough for me. I just want a little more substance in the takes, which, I know is ironic coming from a schlub like me.
-MSS
Not sure if you have heard but we BROADCAST the podcast LIVE on our YouTube Channel! We even take questions! Make sure you subscribe for alerts when we go live.
https://www.youtube.com/fromthe108
Also, get your ass to our shop and buy this Slay108’er shirt. It’s dope AF and as always #SoChoice. Buy it here.
About The Author
mysoxsummer
108 OG / The Face Of The 108 / #108ING / #SoChoice