SB Nation User Blog: chrome

Jay Mariotti Resigns From Sun-Times

chrome — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:55:15 -0000

Jay Mariotti Resigns From Sun-Times

Jay Mariotti, the opinionated and polarizing sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, told the Chicago Tribune he resigned on Tuesday after 17 years with the paper.

Just back from Beijing where he wrote about the Summer Olympics, Mariotti said in a phone interview Tuesday night that he decided to quit after it became clear while in China that sports journalism had become "entirely a Web site business. There were not many newspapers there.'' He added that most of the journalists covering the Games were "there writing for Web sites.''

Mariotti, whose public battles with fellow staffers, team owners, and rival columnists are legendary, didn't disclose any specific plans except to say he will continue doing his regular stint on ESPN's "Around the Horn.''

3 tickets to tonight's game

chrome — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:10:59 -0000

Hey guys, I'm not going to be able to make tonight's game.

I have 3 tickets in sec 156, row 17. I'd prefer to recoup face value (45 each) but willing to go lower. But obviously not too much lower, as I rather enjoy not losing money.

Anyone interested, shoot me an email.

jason.magnuson@gmail.com

However, I still need to satisfy the 75 word limit, and I can't think of any finer way than including the lyrics to the legendary Motown Philly.

Motownphilly's back again
Doin' a little east coast fling
Boyz II Men going off
Not too hard, not too soft

It's long overdue but now
Philly is slammin'
Boyz II Men, ABC, BBD
The east coast family

Never skipped a beat, na
While cooling on South street
Jet black Benz, plenty of friends
And all the Philly steaks you could eat

Back in school we used to dream about this everyday
Could it really happen? Or do dreams fade away
Then we started singing them
They said it sounded smooth
So we started a group and here we are
Kickin' it just for you

Chorus:
Motownphilly's back again
Doin' a little east coast song
Boyz II Men going off
Not too hard, not too soft

The spotlight is on us now
Watch us do this
Da da, daaa da da, da da da da da da

Live and direct from Philly town
Rap and hype and we can get down
We are ready to roll
So now the world will know that we were

Back in school we used to dream about this everyday
Could it really happen? Or do dreams fade away
Then we started singing them
They said it sounded smooth
So we started a group and here we are
Kickin' it just for you

Gio Gonzalez starting to dominate AAA

chrome — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:59:35 -0000

Gio Gonzalez starting to dominate AAA

If you are like most and wondering why the surprising A's, still in contention, would wave the white flag and trade Rich Harden for a pair of marginal outfield prospects, a pitcher and a catcher hitting around the Mendoza Line in Class A, check these guys out:

Lefty Gio Gonzalez, a key piece in the Nick Swisher trade ...
Righty Trevor Cahill, 20, their top homegrown pitching prospect ...
And righty Brett Anderson, 20, a key piece in the Dan Haren trade.
As if they needed any more young pitching, the A's have already had a stacked young rotation. They are enjoying breakthroughs of Pitch-22 (good enough to start, once too valuable in relief) Justin Duchscherer and Haren trade chips Greg Smith, 24, and Dana Eveland, 24 -- a new-wave Big Three if you will.

Minor League stats
Interested in seeing how your favorite prospects are performing in the minor leagues? You can find a player's stats on his page or you can sort stats for Triple-A and Double-A by clicking here.
That terrific trio above appears to be well on its way to setting them up well in the long term with the next wave.

Gonzalez is the closest, having the most minor league experience and proving dominant of late in Triple-A. In the past month, he has posted strikeout totals of 13, 12, seven (twice) in four of his past four starts. He has allowed just two earned runs in the past 21 innings, striking out 27.

For the season, Gonzalez is merely 6-6 with a humble 4.56 ERA, but he has a .239 batting-average against and 110 strikeouts in 102 2/3 innings. The 49 walks are alarming, but after the Harden deal, Gonzalez went out and posted six one-hit innings Wednesday night, fanning seven and walking just one.

3 tix for Tuesday's game

chrome — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:25:25 -0000

Hey all,

I've got three tickets to Tuesday's game (sec 162, row 22) that I can no longer make. Anyone interested in purchasing them? I'll sell them for 30 each, below face.

I'd have to meet in the loop tomorrow evening to exchange by 4:30 latest. Or, if you will be at the game tonight, we could exchange there.

Send me an email at jason.magnuson@gmail if interested.

Do it for Q!

Sox bigger collapse than the '69 Cubs?

chrome — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 20:20:56 -0000

Answer? Yes!

The Cubs could lose 100 games for the first time since 1966, but it's the White Sox who may be a team for the ages.

If the standings hold, the 2006 White Sox will be bigger chokers than the legendary 1969 Cubs.

Here's how it breaks down:

Since starting the season 57-31, The White Sox have gone 27-34 so far in the second half.

The '69 Cubs went 61-37 during the first half before finishing 31-33 in the second half.

Not only did the '69 Cubs have a higher second-half winning percentage, but there's also another huge distinction: If the wild card were in existence in 1969, the second-place Cubs would have made the playoffs.

The Sox may miss out on the playoffs even with two extra playoff spots awarded in the American League.

And they've done this while playing the season virtually injury-free, with enormous home-crowd support and while their chief competitors, the Minnesota Twins, had its starting rotation decimated by injuries.

You can argue that the Sox never had anywhere near the 10-game lead the Cubs had on the Mets, but the fact is the White Sox led the Twins by 10 games at the All-Star break. This choke was just more methodical and less dramatic.

Would you get rid of Ozzie this offseason?

chrome — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 19:01:19 -0000

Here's a diary I never thought I'd write last year, but after a season in which our pitching could no longer hide Ozzie Guillen's glaring managerial weaknesses, the question should be asked. Could this team improve with a smarter manager guiding this team?

Ozzie's errors are well known on this site, with his misuse of Mackowiak/Anderson, Podsednik, McCarthy, his free passes given to our starting pitchers, his use of Politte and Cotts in critical situations long after they showed they weren't performing, his 3+ sub lineups, etc.

I believe this team would be at least 5 games better at this point if we had a manager who optimized this teams talents, or at the very least, could explain some of his personnel decisions.

I know some will argue that Ozzie's record should preclude him from this discussion, but the same thing could have been said about Grady Little in 2003.

Poll

If the Sox fail to make the playoffs, would you fire Ozzie

Who had the most surprising first half?

chrome — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 17:32:41 -0000

We're nearing the end of the first half of the season, with the Sox currently standing in second at 50-26. However, the way we've gone about getting to 50 wins has been quite a bit different than the way we were winning games this time last year. At this point in the season, which player has surprised you most with their play(good or bad)?

If there are any players I am missing, please add to the comments section below.

Poll

SB Nation User Blog: chrome

Jay Mariotti Resigns From Sun-Times

Jay Mariotti Resigns From Sun-Times

3 tickets to tonight's game

Gio Gonzalez starting to dominate AAA

Gio Gonzalez starting to dominate AAA

3 tix for Tuesday's game

Sox bigger collapse than the '69 Cubs?

Would you get rid of Ozzie this offseason?

If the Sox fail to make the playoffs, would you fire Ozzie

Who had the most surprising first half?

Most surprising first half?