The 5 – Players that RV will waste playing time on in a lost September

Posted on by mysoxsummer
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I don’t trust grown men who wear rubber bracelets.
When it gets to September the last several years, it is almost certain that our White Sox are just playing out the string.  That doesn’t mean that this time of year can’t be valuable in some way shape or form even if that doesn’t have anything to due with the Win/Loss columns in the 2016 standings.  Smarter writers than those here at the 108 have noted that PA (Plate Appearances) are a commodity to be used wisely.  Alas, we still have Robin Ventura at the helm and he’s guaranteed to hurt the White Sox down the stretch even when the standings don’t matter, by giving those valuable PA to players that don’t matter and leaving on the bench players we’d like to see, to determine if they can be someone on the big club……….the list below…in no particular order, will make me cry when it actually occurs.
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James, don’t go away mad. James, just go away. #crue #wallymoney
5. James Shields – Wasting even one more start this season on this dumpster fire is terrible team management top to bottom.   I understand he’s likely to exercise his option and be under contract for two more seasons, but running him out there as a starter in 2016 for the White Sox or Padres has been downright dreadful.  Alternative –  Carson Fulmer Anthony Raunado  I know Raunado hasn’t been too hot since his first start at Wrigley, but giving him a little run is worth a lot more than watching James Shields get to 20 losses (sorry Biguns). Other ideas – Bullpen game or use the Rays 5th starter idea (this is when the Rays would start a high leverage reliever for the 1st inning and then bring in a starter in the 2nd inning and have them face roughly 18 batters to avoid the 3rd time through the lineup penalty)
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Playing Edward Mc 40 Hands? F Yeah.
4. Brett Lawrie – If he recovers we don’t really need to see him again, we know what he is……………high energy, meh production, major injury risk.  Alternative – Carlos Sanchez I know his OPS is lower than the weight of some of our fellow Sox fans, but he’s still young, hasn’t had a lot of PA’s in MLB and could possibly show something that either the White Sox or some other team in trade may find valuable.  The glove has been there, but I’d like to see some more PA’s to determine if he can be passable with the bat.  Other ideas – Tyler Saladino is clearly still a bench player on this team next year so no harm in him getting the PAs
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Love my friend. Love his wife more.

 

3. Avisail Garcia – He’s received nearly 1500 PA, for a slash line of .259/.310/.384, that’s right folks, he’s Dayan Viciedo with even less power.  Suffice to say, he shouldn’t be on this roster next year unless full scale rebuild is occurring and you are just looking for warm bodies to help you gather up a top 5 draft pick.  Alternatives – Jason Coats has done nothing but hit at the top levels of the minors, so there isn’t a good reason not to give him as many PA’s in September as possible.  Let’s see if he can actually hit in the majors and determine from there his best use (probably in a trade, or in LF after trading Melky).   Other Ideas – Tyler Saladino could get worked out in a corner OF spot just to give him reps for emergencies in the future.  Again, this isn’t a minors loaded with ready OF’s or hitters (RIP Charlie Tilson).  Other Other Ideas – Jacob May it truly could not hurt to see Jacob May man CF a few times during September, I just want to put an eye on him even if he’s not really a player.  If JB Shuck absorbs any of this playing time, you know we’re fucked.
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Might be the last time we ever post this picture. EL NINO!
2. Matt Albers – His career is probably over so there is no upside here other than tanking for a protected draft pick.  There was a time in April of this vary season (when the White Sox were the best team EVAR) that Albers was a fan favorite of the 108, El Nino…………now, he’s basically become Chris Farley in Beverly Hills Ninja, once beloved, but now just playing out the string and close to the end.  Alternatives – Zach Burdi Anything Other Ideas – Release him tomorrow
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Dollar Shave Club brah. 
1.  Alex Avila – I see no point in playing anyone at catcher other than Omar Narvaez, with a sprinkling of Kevan Smith.     Let’s see an extended look and determine if Narvaez is your #1 catcher next year in a rebuild or your #2 catcher next year on a team making another (sigh) run.  Alternatives – Omar Narvaez  Other Ideas – Omar Narvaez………just fucking play him everyday and twice on Sunday!!!!

– BeefLoaf

The 5 – Reasons TO Buy The Hype

Posted on by beefloaf108

Have you bought in yet? Find yourself wanting to head to 35th and Shields to catch some of this awesomeness? It feels good Sox fans.  For us who have suffered through the past few seasons, we deserve this.  The players deserve this.  Ventura deserves this.  Here’s my 5 reasons to buy in now!

Offseason moves.

Unlike 2015, the Sox actually filled holes.  Frazier, Jackson, Avila. In the short term, it seems to be working. Allowing Garcia to only DH, makes sense.  Maybe will keep him healthy.  Who knows? The talent is there, let’s stay healthy guys!

AMAZINGLY Good start.

I ran into Jim Rose (@jimroseabc7) at Walgreens down on State St. I asked him his thoughts before the season started and he hesitated to give me the solid thumbs up.  he was very concerned with the clubhouse mood after the whole LaRoche  incident.  But he did say we’ll know how well this team will do a few weeks into the season.  I agree 1000%.  In 2012, they started strong and held that lead till September.  Sad decline, but was a fun year to watch Sox baseball.  I think that year also set us back, thinking that we did have the right components for a winning team, which we clearly did not after three abysmal  seasons in a row. We chatted about some other stuff, which I will share with anyone in a private conversation, then went about our way.  Mine was to look for clearance Easter candy that didn’t suck, his was for gift cards.

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Timely hitting.

It’s been kinda sparse, but last year when we had two on with no outs, you hit that slump in the order that produced little to no runs.  Had to deal with the Beckham and Flowers vortex that just sucked any momentum we had going.  This year, so far, we have seemed to come up and got a few hits that got us the runs we needed to win that game.  I hope it will continue to happen as the bats warm with the weather, but honestly, who knows. If we are down 2 runs in the 7th, this year we know it isn’t over.  Been very fun to watch.

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Matt “El Niño” Albers and the pitching staff.

I like his passion.  I like his pitch selection.  I like his overall size.  His consecutive out record that he was carrying since last August is just a nice thing to see.  Good to see the bullpen coming in and kicking some ass.  Will he keep this type of production up the rest of the year?  Maybe.  Most likely not, but let’s hope so.  Will he help you finish a helmet sundae?  You know he will.  Cause he’s a team player.

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Chris Sale is 6-0.  Mat “Cat” Latos is 4-0. Jose “Q” Quintana is 3-1.  Once again, it’s early, but these are some great numbers. I bow to you Donnie Cooper. The offense is helping it happen too. We have a stinker, Mr. Danks, but honestly that guy is trying as hard as he can.  He’s had his chance, it ain’t working, let’s bring him in for long relief situations.  I like John, but it’s time to move on.  Bring in the new guys, feed off their energy.  Feed off this hella good start.  Let’s cash in bitches!

No pressure.

Besides us crazy ass fans, no one is expecting the White Sox to do anything.  I want them to have a chance to make the playoffs.  They don’t have to make the playoffs, but I would like to see some meaningful baseball in September.  They boys up north have all the pressure on them.

We are playing the perfect hand.  The city is Cubs crazy.  The fact that the Sox have stayed with ’em as far as wins is really amazing. Fans are starting to show up on the southside, causing some longer wait times, which is pretty cool too.  The best baseball is being played in Chicago right now.  Amen. Good time to be in the city.

UPDATE – I wrote this weeks ago, still holds up, but within that time the Sox have swept two series.  They are playing crazy good right now.  I am almost fully on board.  However, I know once I buy in at 100%, shit will go badly.  So for all of you, I will not be 100% till we make the playoffs.  It’s awful fun to watch them win though.

-MSS

 

The 5 – Reasons NOT To Buy The Hype

Posted on by beefloaf108

It’s Early.

It’s way f’ing early.  Shit, the way the media is talking in Chicago, Cubs have the World Series berth locked up and maybe the Sox will compete with them in October.  Y’all are f’ing nuts.

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Crack pipe.  Yep.

John Danks. 

Yeah.  2 games, 2 losses.  Not even close.  I met John at SoxFest ’16, hell of a great guy.  Always looks really excited, possibly high, maybe it’s time to pack it up, take care of that smoking hot wife of yours and call it day.  Hell, go hang out with Dunn.  Maybe join LaRoche on one of his “missions”.  He’s not cutting it, maybe he’ll get hot later, but let’s bring him in if a young guy starts getting pounded.  He shouldn’t be starting.

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So high.

The teams we have played.

“We would have lost to the Twins last year”  – Friend in passing.

He’s right by the way.  Were the Twins better last year?  I HAVE NO F’ING IDEA.  I am a White Sox fan, I can barely keep up with them, I rely on the head nod and squinty eyes when I am asked in depth baseball questions.  Chorizy , Polish or ‘Loaf can handle your technical questions better, I rely on the ol’ eye test.  The Twins f’ing failed the eye test.  Badly.   When I see Oakland starting Phegley and Semien, I think to myself, “I know how good those guys are so you guys must really suck.”  I am sure they will come on later in the year to prove me wrong (Phegley Fever!) and I hope they do. Tribe sucks too, cause, well Cleveland.  Look what that city did to that find upstanding COLLEGE GRADUATE from Texas A&M, Johnny “Football” Manziel.  Cue Beastie Boys – Johnny Ryall.

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Jimmy Rollins.

Dude is old.  Like way old.  I am 1 year older than him. I am f’old too.  I don’t need to be on the softball field anymore, much less a MLB field.  I hope JRoll keeps not hurting himself.  I hope he continues to help us in the field and smack a hit here and there. What I am guessing will happen is one day his leg will just fall off.  You better be practicing Tyler, you let a 37 yr old guy beat you for your spot.  I met Tyler at SoxFest too, I asked him what the plans were, his handler said he was the starting SS for us.  Tyler responded with a “We’ll see”.  Yeah, cause goddamn, we’re gonna need ya son.

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Dude looks high too. I swear I bought weed from this guy several times in college.

 

Hitting.

Not long ago, Jose Abreu had to swing at anything close cause the dude wasn’t being protected by ANYONE. Now we have reigning home run champ Todd Frazier batting behind him and he still swings at junk.  Will he get more disciplined?  Maybe.  Hitting coach Todd Steverson is a hell of a nice guy too, I know he has worked hard with Jose, so I am hopeful.  But will Frazier start hitting?  Kinda a big component in the whole deal.  I hope as the weather warms up so will the bats.  Still not hitting good enough to get behind them yet.

MLB: Arizona Diamondbacks at Chicago White Sox
Hit that ball buddy.

 

So alot of things that need to be fixed before I can even list these guys an contenders.  I thought this past weekend would be a good test, lost 2 of 3.  Hoping that they can split with the Angels and take the series vs the Rangers.  I will be at a few games this week, hope to see you guys there!

-MSS

The 5. Haterade. By Polish with Extra Onions

Posted on by mysoxsummer

 

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This isn’t about you.

OK, I could sit here and talk about the 5 worst seasons ever by a White Sox player. I could reference Adam Dunn, I could go in on Scottie Fletcher’s 1990 season which was an absolute shit sandwich, but none of those actually draw out my hatred. The list you are about to read is a list of 5 players who I hate. You may not hate these 5 players, but there is absolutely no way that you actually liked these 5 players. Without further ado, here is the list of 5:

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Too easy.

5) Billy Koch: If by his 3rd week as our closer you did not pronounce the “ch” as a “ck”, I’m not sure you were watching White Sox baseball. He was a lockdown closer in Oakland, and had a triple digit fastball. What could possibly go wrong? Coming over to the Sox in a trade where we dumped Keith Foulke, I had this joyous feeling. Basically, it was a “My closer is a badass who throws 100 f’ing miles per hour” feeling, but a feeling nonetheless. What did that feeling get us? A 5.66 ERA, a 5.34 FIP, and a -.9 WAR. Oh, let us not forget the $10,000,000 salary that he was earning. The salary part doesn’t bother me that much. Teams pay what they think a player is worth, but this was just a cherry on the top for me. I was young, in college, and could not comprehend how this shit storm was out here every save opportunity. Did I mention that Keith Foulke went on to be much better, with a 2.06 ERA, and a 4.09 FIP. Did I mention that he didn’t suck?

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“Oh man. Why Polish with Extra Onions? Why you gotta be so cruel? “

Polish with Extra Onions

4) This one for me is actually a little bit painful. I was born in 1978, and had access to golden box seats growing up. My favorite player was Harold Baines. I was a righty hitter, but went to extreme lengths to try and mimic Harold’s batting stance and swing. As a tee baller, I thought that if I could just hit lefty like Harold, I could dominate the Donovan Park circuit. This is why it pains me to put him here. Now, this is not 1980-1989, nor 96,97 Harold Baines that I am talking about. I am talking about 2000-2001 Harold. I can vividly remember a game where he got a double, and thinking he should retire and ask for the ball, because it isn’t going to get any better that that. Harold had a -.3 and a -1.2 WAR during this span. What is most astounding is that he had a negative defensive WAR. I don’t even think he had a glove anymore when he came back to the Southside, but that may have been the problem. This was the hardest thing for me to write, but I feel that this has cleansed my soul. I will preach on!!!!!

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That ball isn’t going where you’s expect.

3) Mike Caruso: These kids can play!!!!! No they f’ing can’t. Mike gave us a glimmer of hope during his first season with the Pale Hose. He gave us a +2.7 WAR, a .721 OPS and received ROY votes. Overall, it was an impressive one year resume. On the other hand, we should have seen the signs coming. He tailed off defensively at the end of year one, and his September BABIP was only .248. But we had hope. Mike was going to solidify our SS position for years to come. Then year two came along. Mr. Caruso had a -1.6 WAR and a 47 OPS +. I am pretty sure that the Babe could do that right now. Yes, I know that he is dead, but prove me wrong. His second year was like a terrible car crash. You didn’t want to watch it anymore, but you also couldn’t turn of the television. There were errors, there were terrible at bats, but there was also hope that he could regain form. That was a whole bunch of hate piled into 2 years. In my defense though, those 2 years really seemed like 7.

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Douche? Yup.

2) Dye with the catch, Swish with the worm!!!! Mercy!!!!! Hawk, you get a pass for this, but let’s be honest, Nick Swisher’s tenure with the Sox was so awful. Before I break into my hatred, let me give him a little credit. Swish was playing out of position from day one. When you trade for a corner OF from Oakland, and think you can put him in CF at the Cell, you are not exactly setting someone up for success, but I digress. At first, his Captain Morgan celebration was cute, and catchy, but when you hit an abysmal .219 with an OBP of .332 you are not really allowed to celebrate or complain. I think the fact that it was always someone else’s fault when he struggled is what really amped up my hatred. A -.2 WAR is no one’s fault but your own. But there was Bromontana Swisher blaming Ozzie, blaming the media, blaming the clubhouse. Then of course, he leaves the South Side, and gives the Yankees an 11.5 WAR. He still had the douchey attitude, but it is easier to swallow when he is performing. And just to throw a little icing on the cake, we sent Gio Gonzalez to Oakland to get Nick Swisher. Yeah, that is bad.

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“I fucking won!”

This man is the crème de la crème. He was a utility player that was supposed to be a reserve, but was thrust into the starting lineup because Brian Anderson was supposed to be the next big thing. Brian was one of the best defenders that I can recall, but he could not hit a fastball. You know, the ball that goes straight. That isn’t good for a Major League player. Number 1 with a bullet is Rob Mackowiak. Now, before I get into the thick of it, I want to point out that I have played against Rob in several men’s softball leagues, and he is a fucking stud. He is the fastest player out there, he hits a bomb every time he comes up, and holy shit he is a lefty shortstop that dominates. If only the AL Central was a slow pitch 12” league. Rob basically held his own at the plate with a .360 OBP, and a 98 OPS+, but when you take in the defense, it was so so bad, a -.9 WAR isn’t doing it for me. What if he could cover more than a 6 foot radius? What if he could make the right read on a fly ball? Would we be celebrating back to back WS titles? Damn you Rob Mackowiak!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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“Out there dad, that is where the ball is supposed to go”

Honorable Mention: Drake LaRoche. Have you ever had a take your child to work day? It was cute, your child got to see where mommy/daddy worked. You had lunch together, and everyone went home happy. You know what you did the next day? No? Well, let me tell you. You woke up, went to work, did the shit you did every day with the exception of yesterday, and guess what, there was no fucking kid there. Everyone wants to tip toe around this, but Adam LaRoche is a weirdo. Who wants to spend every moment with their child? I have 2 of them, and I gotta be honest, if they were with me every moment, it would not only make my production go down, it would make me underappreciate the time that I do get to spend with them. Now, you could say “Polish, your hatred is really towards Adam.” But what sane 14 yr old wants to spend every moment with his dad? When I was 14, I was trying to get past 2nd base, and not on a baseball diamond. Instead, this weirdo is indirectly the reason that the Sox are in the mainstream media.

I would like to thank Baseball Reference for having the stats to confirm just how bad these 5 were.

– Polish with Extra Onions

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Happy 37th Birthday Juan Uribe

Posted on by beefloaf108
On December 2, 2003, the Chicago White Sox traded Aaron Miles to the Colorado Rockies for Juan Uribe.
Admittedly, I like things that are unorthodox that work.  Juan Uribe is one of those things.
Before I gush all over the single greatest play in White Sox history and how Juan Uribe isn’t generally acknowledged for it, you have to understand the legend that is one Juan Uribe.  In the 2004 season, Juan Uribe announced his presence with authority, .283/.327/.506 for 4.0 WAR (according to Baseball Reference)……or in old school stats R 82, HR 23, RBI 74.

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Magical.

Anyway you slice it, an excellent performance at the plate and above average shortstop defense.  Then 2005, where Uribe was still good, but not quite as good at the plate, defense still solidly above average.  Most White Sox fans will remember this play for the rest of their lives, or like me and my friends, we never saw it in real time as the second he gloved it, everyone jumped up and started hugging.    Unfortunately, this play gets lost in lore (sky point). At least Joe Buck and Tim McCarver get it……..but I don’t think anyone ever talks about this play in the history of the World Series, but it is likely the best late inning defensive play in the history of the classic.  Imagine a world in which Derek Jeter makes this play or Cal Ripken makes this play.  It would be considered the greatest moment in the history of mankind (next to when John C. Dorito created his magical chips).

Uribe is also listed on Baseball Reference as 6 feet tall, 235 pounds and he looks fatter than that.  Although few fat men dress this well.

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Uribe has a reputation as being a fantastic clubhouse guy as noted by this USA today article in 2009 (see #17)  and this article by Vice, imagine that, a journeyman middle infielder being profiled by Vice.  The article points out that Clayton Kershaw thanked Juan Uribe specifically in his Cy Young award winning speech “Thank you for making me laugh, you are one of the most important people in our clubhouse.”  Jimmy Rollins is quoted in the article and it is the essence of how I think about Juan Uribe’s defense “You look at him and he shouldn’t be that athletic and move as well as he does,” says Jimmy Rollins who will play shortstop next to Uribe this season for the Dodgers. “But he gets to them. All the time. He’s gotten me a few times, I’m like how does he do it? Look at that dude. Like…look at him! How does he get to that play and make it? You know, it seems very nonchalant. But that’s how he does it.”
On the field, Juan Uribe has produced 24.3 WAR (Baseball Reference) over 15 years, which classifies him as a solid major league regular.  What the statistics don’t tell you are that he is the epitome of clubhouse guy.  The mythical beast that you read about when beat reporters don’t have anything of substance to talk about.  In this case, Juan Uribe’s contribution is documented everywhere and he fits Brandon McCarthy’s definition of chemistry (McCarthy is a nerd stat guy, who knocked pocket protectors everywhere in 2013 with this proclamation).
So let’s just spend today enjoying what Juan Uribe is to baseball.  Happy Birthday Juan!!  zen-and-the-art-of-third-base-body-image-1426444039

-BeefLoaf

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Keep Your Balls Off The Field -Chorizy-E

Posted on by chorizy

As much as I love going to baseball games, there are a few things I cannot stand.  MySoxSummer already covered “the wave”:

https://mysoxsummer.wordpress.com/2015/09/14/my-video-made-deadspin-and-a-bunch-of-other-websites-damn/

Check out the video, because it’s wonderful.

The other thing that is equal in my level of hatred is people who throw home runs back on the field.  This annoys me more than anything else at a game.

What’s The End Game?

On top of it just being stupid, I really want to know what people think this act will accomplish.  Do you think they’ll take the run off the board?  Do you think that Eaton will relay to Lawrie to Avila for an amazing out at home?  Do you think Rick Hahn will see the beautiful, weak loft to your throw and give you millions of dollars to be the next Jim Parque?  Really, you’re an idiot if you do this.  Best case scenario is you don’t get kicked out for throwing something on the field.  Worst case is either you don’t even get the ball back on the field and you are rightfully ridiculed or your inability to throw accurately starts with you hitting a player with the ball and ends with Chicago’s finest helping you take the stairs down to the holding cell.  So as you can see, don’t do this dumb shit.

I don’t know what it is about Yankees fans, but they are seriously bad at this

 

But What Do I Do With The Ball?

So you find yourself with the ball after a Ryan Raburn home run, what should you do?  Well, you trampled 3 old ladies and 5 children to catch it, so you obviously don’t want it.  So let’s think.  I don’t know, maybe give it to a kid.  I am sure this is your first time around children and/or baseball, so I’ll let you in on a secret: It would make that kid’s day to get a baseball at a Sox game no matter where it comes from.  This is not really a perplexing problem, so if you find yourself in a situation like this, now you know how to deal with it.

Or if you’re really awesome and well prepared, like this kid, you can do this:

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Exception To The Rule

There is an exception to this rule.  If you are at Wrigley Field and you catch a Cubs home run, feel free to throw that back.  But they’ll definitely kick you out: https://www.sny.tv/mets/news/read-mets-fan-at-wrigley/149357710

-Chorizy-E

 

The 5 – Make The 108 Great – By Beefloaf!

Posted on by beefloaf108

juanuribe1. Pizza Vendors – It wasn’t long ago that one could get a tasty slice of Connie’s Pizza from a vendor walking right up to your seat.  Then came the DiGiornio’s debacle and the ballpark pizza sucked.  Now we have Beggar’s, which is a solid slice.  I couldn’t help but believe that my ingame pizza consumption would go up 12,000% if someone walked past my seat with a slice of pepperoni every couple of innings.

2. Apps for ordering drinks – If casinos can set up slot machines with this function, no reason your seat or even a phone app couldn’t coordinate this sort of thing.  C’mon Sox, be a trend setter.

3. Rewards cards – Season ticket holders should have rewards cards that have various discounts and allow the ticket holder to pay directly through the card, which would be linked to their credit card on their season ticket holder account.

4. Gambling – Not real gambling, but in-game contests based on “guessing” events in the next, inning, rest of the game, etc.  It would be a great opportunity for the team to give things away to people who would interact on a phone app.  The team could direct give aways to those fans that are really into the competition and gather information for their own use.  It also adds to the fun, when you have a little something on the game.

5. On field stunts – I am really only referencing one on field stunt, that used to exist and was the best thing ever.  On Friday nights, the White Sox used to pull a fan (sometimes an intoxicated fan) out of the crowd and shoot fly balls for them to catch.  This needs to come back.  Now!!!  Especially on Friday and Saturday nights.

– Beefloaf

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The 5 – Keep it local – By MySoxSummer

Posted on by mysoxsummer

Welcome to a little slice of Sox-cusssion we like to call The 5. When we think of 5 reasons to write about something, we will. If you think of something you’d like us to write about tweet it to us @fromthe108 using the hashtag #thesox5.  Don’t have Twitter, leave us a message below in the comments. Or hell, we are on the Facebook here, send us a message there too!

Keep it local.  We hear that a lot.  We think that means fresh, exciting, local.  We think we are supporting people that live in our communities and in most cases we are.  There are a few areas in the ballpark where a local product is being used and it is a far superior than what was there before.

Pizza – In 2012 they had DiGiorno. I heard that before that they had Connie’s, which makes perfect sense being in Chicago. I think the Cubs carried Gino’s for awhile.  But it always broke my heart that in Chicago, in our ballparks, we were serving frozen pizza.  WTF. Never ,under any circumstance, was I going to eat a damn slice of frozen pizza. Nothing against the pizza, it is plenty fine when I am drunk or really hungry and lazy, but when I am a short walk from Fabulous Freddie’s, I will stick to the classics. But then, the Sox announced in 2014 the switch to a Chicago favorite, Beggars.  That stuff is great, and it is very easy to carry 4 or 5 slices back to your buds on a Friday game.  BeefLoaf is convinced that if there was a guy walking around selling pizza, it would do awesome.  But he’ll talk about that later.

Beer – The Sox have always had a great selection of beers available at the park.  I admire that. I still drink (at the games) mostly Miller Lite, but having the option to have a Summer Shandy or Blue Moon is great.  But last season they did the unthinkable, they added in Chicago’s Revolution Brewery Anti-Hero IPA and Lagunitas IPA, ON DRAFT.I think they cost $10.75 for a 24oz beer, which I am sure has you like nah, but what if I told you it is the best deal (per ounce and in alcohol content) in the park.  It is actually cheaper than Miller Lite, and has more alcohol.  Miller Lite is $8 for 16oz, so 50¢ an ounce.  But with the Lagunitas and Anti-Hero you pay just 45¢ per ounce. It makes cents.  I talked to the food and beverage guy at SoxFest ’16 and he wasn’t sure that deal or the beer would be back.  Not sure we’d have the drafts from the local guys, which in all honesty, bums me the F out.

So there are two great examples of local being better.  Here is one more area that we think the Sox could make the game day experience even more localized.

Intro Music. 

Years and years the sounds of Australia’s own AC/DC welcomed our boys on the field.  Last year, the sounds of Fall Out Boy THEN AC/DC did the job.  Fall Out Boy has some local ties, but damn, not my bag. The song makes sense too, “Light It Up”, yeah we all get it, but nothing about FOB speaks to Sox fans.  AC/DC did and does ring true to the Southside. So who local can we play to get that same vibe?  Here our our top 5 selections.

1. “High-Fiving MF” – Local H.

If you haven’t heard this song, do yourself a favor and listen to it now.  Turn it up too. Local H is from Zion, IL and my god do they rock.  This song just get’s ya amped up.  For reals.  Even play the instrumental version (lots of swears) at the game, so much better than FOB.

2. “Good Ass Intro” – Chance The Rapper.

Chance. Dude is the real deal.  Local product. Local flavor. Loves the Sox. Reps the Sox. Can’t think of a better rapper to watch our boys run onto the field to.

3. “Seether” – Veruca Salt.

Chicks that rock. Still rock. Their album American Thighs still hits as hard as it did back in the day.

4. “N.W.O.” – Ministry.

Just because this kicks off a little harder than “Jesus Built My Hotrod” I choose “N.W.O.” I used to rock out to this as a high schooler back in the day too, blaring this CD (or a tape copy that was made from this CD) in my ’81 Chevette with the Realistic tape deck and Realistic speakers. Rocked then and it rocks now. Does it get ya ready to play some baseball? Hell yes.  It’s mean. It’s raw. It’s local.

5. “Cherub Rock” – Smashing Pumpkins.

A great intro song on one of the best albums of the 90’s.  I saw the Smashing Pumpkins so many times in my youth, it was really awesome. This song would be great at high volume at the park, while we watch the highlights of yesteryear. Remembering when the Pumpkins (and the Sox) were great.

So there you have it, 5 songs that are a far better intro song than Fall Out Boy. Don’t like it?  Hate tweet me at @fromthe108.  Do it. Think I missed something?  Send me a tweet. Just do it. Love it?  Share it with your Sox friends.  We love attention, so share the f outta this.  Share away!

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-MySoxSummer