The WHITE SOX waved the flag of surrender on wednesday when they once again pissed away a late lead and lost 5-4 in extra innings which effectively ended any chance for post season play.
going into the all star game, they had won 10 of 16 and were within striking distance of a wild card spot but losing 5 of 6 since the break has dropped them to eighth place in that race and the bottom line is that they're just not good enough to compete with teams like baltimore, houston & toronto.
it's time to BLOW IT UP. keep CHRIS SALE, CARSON FULMER & CARLOS RODON for the core of your pitching staff and get to work moving the other 22 players for prospects and young talent. enough is enough.
i quietly removed the sox banner from my flag pole today and placed it in the basement until next season. R.I.P.
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i wrote this a little earlier in the season but why won't the cubs trade KYLE SCHWARBER to the yankees and punch their ticket to the world series? i don't understand their thinking. schwarber is a .240 hitter who looks like a buffoon in the outfield and is best suited as a DH in the american league.
FACT: first baseman ANTHONY RIZZO will hold down that position for the next ten years. FACT: with the retirement of david ross and the declining skills of miguel montero, WILSON CONTRERAS will handle the catching position for a long, long time. so where does that leave schwarber????
IMAGINE either one or BOTH of the yankee relievers wearing cubbie blue. LEFT HANDER ANDREW MILLER for your set-up man and/or ARNOLDIS CHAPMAN closing the door at 105 freaking miles per hour. mercy! miller has three years left on his contract and can also close games. chapman will be a free agen but listen closely again: a hundred and freaking five miles an hour!
you have the pieces...now use them to win a world championship!
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and in breaking news....the cubs announced today they obtained left handed relief pitcher MIKE MONTGOMERY and a minor league pitcher from AA for top 20 prospect DAN VOGELBACH and a AA pitcher from their farm system. just trading meat but it brings them a left handed reliever and lets vogelbach go to the AMERICAN LEAGUE where he belongs. (sound familiar?) it's a start.
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the cubs have many more movable pieces to dangle. JORGE SOLER, JAVY BAEZ, shortstop GLYBER TORRES (or do you want ADDISON RUSSELL?), second baseman IAN HAPP, pitchers KYLE HENDRICKS & JASON HAMMEL (remember, you only need three starters in the playoffs) , TOMMY La STELLA, PEDRO STROP and HECTOR RONDON. do something!
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have the CHICAGO BULLS LOST THEIR MINDS??? "we want to get younger and more athletic" said GM GAR FOREMAN and then he signs 35 year old DWAYNE WADE & 30 year old RAJON RONDO (coming off knee surgery), neither of whom can shoot from outside of fifteen feet. this team will play ZERO DEFENSE this season but i guarantee they'll push the ball up the court.
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can't tell you how happy i am that MR. SOFTEE aka derrick rose, is gone.
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KUDOS TO THE BULLS summer league team for winning the title. DENZEL VALENTINE looks like the real deal and BOBBY PORTIS looks much improved.
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pre-season rankings are out for the NCAA football teams and with one exception, they all look deserving of a spot in the top ten. ALABAMA, FLORIDA STATE, OHIO STATE, CLEMSON & MICHIGAN are the top five with OKLAHOMA, TENNESSEE, notre dame, LSU & OLE MISS rounding out the top ten.
notre dame? this long overrated program returns but 8 starters and will struggle to stop teams. their final ranking should be around #23 but only their schedule is loaded with cupcakes.
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gotta run. try & stay cool.
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
CUBS half-way home....or are they?
Here's a first half evaluation of the CHICAGO CUBS.
The north side boys started off like a ball of fire and absolutely dominated the month of april, winning every series but one and sweeping the reds, angels and brewers on the way to posting a 17-5 record for the month. JAKE ARRIETA, JON LESTER and JOHN LACKEY were a combined 10-2 with the rest of the hall of fame pitching staff being basically untouchable.
THE greatest team since the 1927 yankees continued to roll with an 18-10 record for the month and their overall record swelled to 35-15, two better than the aforementioned NYY.
JUST how good are they???
when the lights went off on may 31, arrieta was 9-0, lackey was 5-2, lester 5-3, JASON HAMMEL was 6-1 and even TRAVIS WOOD was 3-0. the only two questions remaining for THE KINGS OF SPRING regarded their bullpen which had been rarely tested and the team's terrible record of just 2-13 when they score three runs or less. for their sake, i hope they keep hitting.
ah, june. summer arrives along with warm weather and the cubbies pounce with an opening four game winning streak to run their record to 39-15. LET THE CELEBRATING BEGIN! the bars are full every night in wrigleyville, the price of cocaine is down and the local residents from boys town are dancing in the streets wearing their multi-colored hotpants and even exercise guru RICHARD SIMMONS declares he's a cub fan.
merchandise flies off the shelves and everyone swears they're been a cub fan their entire lives and supported them every year. but most can't name more than five on the current roster and have never been to a gaame. and then on June 5th, a cold wind began to blow down clark street.......and it brought with it the infamous JUNE SWOON.
the cubs played 24 games after june 4th and played just .500 baseball at 12-12. arrieta finally lost his first game, then another, and got shelled by both the cardinals and the reds towards the end of the month. lester was good but hammel lost one, then another and yet another before lackey lost his last two starts. no problem, we're 51-27 after three months and 14 games up on the division. just a hiccup. right? right?
btw, the north siders go 1-10 in low scoring games for a three month total of 3-23 when they score less than 3 runs. relief pitchers. big deal, we just need to keep hitting.
hey, it's JULY! let's play some cubs baseball and get back on track. how about it? ahhhhhhhh, no.
the KINGS OF SPRING continue to melt under the summer sun and lose all three series leading up to the all-star break plus a makeup to the worst team in baseball, the atlanta braves for a grand total of 2-8 and their lead shrinks from 14 games to 7, along with going 0-5 in low scoring games for a season total of 3-28. the cubs average about 4 runs a game during this stretch, down from 6.5 earlier in the season.
lester gets blown up in his two july starts and arrieta also loses two more. NOTE: arrieta looks like he's hurting when he throws. don't be surprised if he makes a trip to the DL.
bottom line? the cubs WILL WIN the division easily because the pirates have no pitching and the cardinals lead the league in players on the DL so the cubs are home free.
so you look to the post season with a terrible bullpen and the top two starters coming back to earth. still dancing in the streets, cub fans? i think not.
and now on to the second half! later.
The north side boys started off like a ball of fire and absolutely dominated the month of april, winning every series but one and sweeping the reds, angels and brewers on the way to posting a 17-5 record for the month. JAKE ARRIETA, JON LESTER and JOHN LACKEY were a combined 10-2 with the rest of the hall of fame pitching staff being basically untouchable.
THE greatest team since the 1927 yankees continued to roll with an 18-10 record for the month and their overall record swelled to 35-15, two better than the aforementioned NYY.
JUST how good are they???
when the lights went off on may 31, arrieta was 9-0, lackey was 5-2, lester 5-3, JASON HAMMEL was 6-1 and even TRAVIS WOOD was 3-0. the only two questions remaining for THE KINGS OF SPRING regarded their bullpen which had been rarely tested and the team's terrible record of just 2-13 when they score three runs or less. for their sake, i hope they keep hitting.
ah, june. summer arrives along with warm weather and the cubbies pounce with an opening four game winning streak to run their record to 39-15. LET THE CELEBRATING BEGIN! the bars are full every night in wrigleyville, the price of cocaine is down and the local residents from boys town are dancing in the streets wearing their multi-colored hotpants and even exercise guru RICHARD SIMMONS declares he's a cub fan.
merchandise flies off the shelves and everyone swears they're been a cub fan their entire lives and supported them every year. but most can't name more than five on the current roster and have never been to a gaame. and then on June 5th, a cold wind began to blow down clark street.......and it brought with it the infamous JUNE SWOON.
the cubs played 24 games after june 4th and played just .500 baseball at 12-12. arrieta finally lost his first game, then another, and got shelled by both the cardinals and the reds towards the end of the month. lester was good but hammel lost one, then another and yet another before lackey lost his last two starts. no problem, we're 51-27 after three months and 14 games up on the division. just a hiccup. right? right?
btw, the north siders go 1-10 in low scoring games for a three month total of 3-23 when they score less than 3 runs. relief pitchers. big deal, we just need to keep hitting.
hey, it's JULY! let's play some cubs baseball and get back on track. how about it? ahhhhhhhh, no.
the KINGS OF SPRING continue to melt under the summer sun and lose all three series leading up to the all-star break plus a makeup to the worst team in baseball, the atlanta braves for a grand total of 2-8 and their lead shrinks from 14 games to 7, along with going 0-5 in low scoring games for a season total of 3-28. the cubs average about 4 runs a game during this stretch, down from 6.5 earlier in the season.
lester gets blown up in his two july starts and arrieta also loses two more. NOTE: arrieta looks like he's hurting when he throws. don't be surprised if he makes a trip to the DL.
bottom line? the cubs WILL WIN the division easily because the pirates have no pitching and the cardinals lead the league in players on the DL so the cubs are home free.
so you look to the post season with a terrible bullpen and the top two starters coming back to earth. still dancing in the streets, cub fans? i think not.
and now on to the second half! later.
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
all sorts of stuff
ok, i have to pass on all the notes i've made the last month, in no particular order.
That collective sigh you heard this morning came from the camp of HILLARY CLINTON when the FBI decided to not charge her for her glaring misuse of her email services. clinton has been proven to be a liar during the course of the investigation but will now CRUSH DONALD TRUMP in the november election. clinton is sleazy but trump is just unbelievable in his everyday rhetoric.
recent polls show that the ONLY republican that the anti-christ can defeat IS donald trump. all of the other former candidates, including JOHN KASICH & MITT ROMNEY would defeat her handily. shennanigans ahead at the republican convention??????
BILL GATES is donating 100,000 chickens to poor countries to stimulate the economy. here's a guarantee: not one of those cluckers make it to a farmer's barn but chicken something will be the meal of the day for a while.
hey coffee drinkers: ultra strong CUBAN COFFEE is coming to the united states soon.
is TAYLOR SWIFT as weird as i think she is?
there are 65 million displaced people in the world and more than half of them are under 18 years of age. what country takes in the most refugees? nope, it's CANADA.
can we stop handgun violence? not until we wake up and start executing those criminals who use guns for criminal acts. i learned a long time ago that the only reason you leave the house with a handgun is to harm another human being so i think the wording of the law becomes easy.
'you can own a handgun for home protection but as soon as you leave the house with an illegal handgun, you pay the ultimate price.' it would take a couple of years to cull the herds in the jungle but eventually even gang members would see their destiny with handguns.
think we have problems in illinois? well, you're right. 22,000 people moved out of state in the last year, including 10,000 from the jungles of cook county.
SPAIN has come up with a new wine and it's color is blue! they call it GIK. enjoy but don't get sick on it. imagine watching that swirling down your toilet.
ON JULY 11, you can get a FREE SLURPEE to help celebrate it's 50th birthday at every 7-11. yummy......wait, brain freeze!
and if you jump inside the 'wayback' machine, you can see a shapely girl walking on the beach in 1946 wearing the first bikini. many initial wearers were arrested for obscenity. most people i know now SHOULD BE ARRESTED if they tried wearing a bikini.
country music legend KENNY ROGERS is doing his final tour at age 77 and i get to see him at RAVINIA this month. ya got to know when to hold em......
the THREE BEST FRUITS for hydration in the summer? watermelon, peaches and strawberries.
and speaking of cool, if you can keep the palms of your hands cool while walking or working out, it helps circulation which pushes heat out of the body. a simple plastic bottle of very cold water should do the trick.
car windows and sunroom glass don't filter UVA rays so yes, you can get sunburned driving the car or just sitting in the house.
and finally, (thank god, i can finally see my desk) we've had a banner year for ticks in the midwest and here's an easy way to protect everyone in the family. if you come back from a hike in the woods, toss your clothes in the dryer on high heat for ten minutes. the ticks dry out and die. same reason you should keep your grass cut real short during tic season....the sun burns them up.
game, set and match. i'm outta here.
That collective sigh you heard this morning came from the camp of HILLARY CLINTON when the FBI decided to not charge her for her glaring misuse of her email services. clinton has been proven to be a liar during the course of the investigation but will now CRUSH DONALD TRUMP in the november election. clinton is sleazy but trump is just unbelievable in his everyday rhetoric.
recent polls show that the ONLY republican that the anti-christ can defeat IS donald trump. all of the other former candidates, including JOHN KASICH & MITT ROMNEY would defeat her handily. shennanigans ahead at the republican convention??????
BILL GATES is donating 100,000 chickens to poor countries to stimulate the economy. here's a guarantee: not one of those cluckers make it to a farmer's barn but chicken something will be the meal of the day for a while.
hey coffee drinkers: ultra strong CUBAN COFFEE is coming to the united states soon.
is TAYLOR SWIFT as weird as i think she is?
there are 65 million displaced people in the world and more than half of them are under 18 years of age. what country takes in the most refugees? nope, it's CANADA.
can we stop handgun violence? not until we wake up and start executing those criminals who use guns for criminal acts. i learned a long time ago that the only reason you leave the house with a handgun is to harm another human being so i think the wording of the law becomes easy.
'you can own a handgun for home protection but as soon as you leave the house with an illegal handgun, you pay the ultimate price.' it would take a couple of years to cull the herds in the jungle but eventually even gang members would see their destiny with handguns.
think we have problems in illinois? well, you're right. 22,000 people moved out of state in the last year, including 10,000 from the jungles of cook county.
SPAIN has come up with a new wine and it's color is blue! they call it GIK. enjoy but don't get sick on it. imagine watching that swirling down your toilet.
ON JULY 11, you can get a FREE SLURPEE to help celebrate it's 50th birthday at every 7-11. yummy......wait, brain freeze!
and if you jump inside the 'wayback' machine, you can see a shapely girl walking on the beach in 1946 wearing the first bikini. many initial wearers were arrested for obscenity. most people i know now SHOULD BE ARRESTED if they tried wearing a bikini.
country music legend KENNY ROGERS is doing his final tour at age 77 and i get to see him at RAVINIA this month. ya got to know when to hold em......
the THREE BEST FRUITS for hydration in the summer? watermelon, peaches and strawberries.
and speaking of cool, if you can keep the palms of your hands cool while walking or working out, it helps circulation which pushes heat out of the body. a simple plastic bottle of very cold water should do the trick.
car windows and sunroom glass don't filter UVA rays so yes, you can get sunburned driving the car or just sitting in the house.
and finally, (thank god, i can finally see my desk) we've had a banner year for ticks in the midwest and here's an easy way to protect everyone in the family. if you come back from a hike in the woods, toss your clothes in the dryer on high heat for ten minutes. the ticks dry out and die. same reason you should keep your grass cut real short during tic season....the sun burns them up.
game, set and match. i'm outta here.
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