Sox Therapy: A Pleasant Trip So Far

The Sox have had a nice little road trip so far notching a 5-2 record and washing the taste of the disappointing homestand out of their collective mouths.  What I think is encouraging is how they have gotten here.  Returning star Mookie Betts has not yet hit his stride hitting just .200/.286/.320 and Ace Chris Sale only started one of the seven games.  I think there are a few things of note both up and down that probably deserve some recognition;

- If this is “all” Eduardo Rodriguez is I think ...

Sox Therapy: Where Are We?

After a disappointing and somewhat punchless 3-3 homestand the Sox hit the road for a bit of a rugged road trip through Baltimore (3), Seattle (4) and Minnesota (3).  3-3 isn’t an awful homestand or anything but it’s a bit disappointing given the fairly mediocre opposition.  The bad news was the potent offense has really scuffled the last four games scoring just 8 runs while dropping 3 out of 4.  That disappointment is somewhat mitigated by the elephant in the room that is the bizarrely long ...

Gonfalon Cubs: Clicking

Although it was another poor weekend for the offense, it’s hard not to like how a lot of things are starting to look like they’re coming together for the Cubs right now.  This year’s team looks more like the 2016 version than the 2017 version, although there’s still plenty of reason to be concerned about the rotation.  We’re starting to see games where it’s one phase of the team that really shines - be it the defense or baserunning - in ways we really didn’t see last year.  So all in all, it’s ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1943 Results

Congratulations to Stan Musial, our unanimous pick for the 1943 Most Meritorious Player!

Player Name	pts	ballots	1sts
Stan Musial	105	7	7
Josh Gibson	86	7	0
Luke Appling	83	7	0
Spud Chandler	80	7	0
Charlie Keller	74	7	0
Lou Boudreau	70	7	0
Bill Nicholson	69	7	0
Joe Gordon	38	4	0
Mort Cooper	31	4	0
Augie Galan	25	3	0
Rudy  York	25	3	0
Johnny Wright	14	2	0
Arky Vaughan	13	2	0
Lou    Klein	12	2	0
Max Lanier	10	1	0

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1944 Discussion

All of the leagues are hollowed out of prime career players.

The Cardinals and Browns met in the Streetcar Series sharing the same home park. The Cardinals won in 6.
The Homestead Grays beat the Birmingham Black Barons 4 games to 1 in the Negro World Series.

Vote for 10.

Player			SH WS		BBR WAR
Stan Musial		36.6		8.8
Snuffy Stirnweiss	36.2		8.5
Lou Boudreau		31.0		8.0
Bobby Doerr		27.1		5.9
Bob Johnson		30.7		6.3
Vern Stephens		34.0		5.2
Stan Spence		32.8		6.0
Jim Russell		30.8		4.8
Bill ...

Sox Therapy: It’s Getting Drafty

Bit hectic this week at casa de Jose so I really haven’t had a chance to look into the draft.  The Sox top three picks are #26, #64 and #100 and given the state of the system I think it is fair to say the Sox could use a good draft.  I’ll put this up in case anyone wants to comment as the draft gets rolling and despite being completely devoid of knowledge of the draftees this year I fully plan on complaining at some point.  Some notes on these picks;

#26 - Top 5
Alan Trammell - 70.4
Dave ...

Sox Therapy: That Was Fun

In theory it all sounded good; Sunday of a holiday weekend, good weather, Chris Sale on the bump, stars Mookie Betts and JD Martinez leading the Red Sox while a group of exciting young Braves oppose them.  Instead the weather blew, Sale sucked, Mookie and JDM didn’t play and Ronald Acuna seems to have died at first base (joking aside I hope he’s OK, it looked bad).

But that wasn’t the fun part.  The fun part was the alumni game.  Dragging my fat can out of bed early this morning was a ...

Sox Therapy: So That Happened

OK, everyone who expected the Hanley Ramirez DFA move raise your hand.  Now everyone raising your hand please put it down because you are a lying dog and I will cut you with the new machete I bought.  Obviously while this is a big shock I think it’s worth considering what it means for the rest of the roster before we go much further.

Jackie Bradley Jr. We’re cool with you - One potential fall back for a club without a lot of outfield options was an alignment with Hanley as the every day DH, ...

Gonfalon Cubs: Padding

After a couple of weeks facing the pitching staffs from the Marlins, White Sox, and Reds, a bunch of guys’ numbers are looking a whole lot better than before.  Going into the Reds series, Rizzo, Baez, and Happ all were tied with a .301 OBP.  Afterwards, Happ is all the way up to .361 (I personally demoted him to Iowa before this series), while Baez and Rizzo are down to .299 and .297, respectively. 

Anyway, to the categories.

Encouraging
Bryant - one of the quieter MVP pushes I can remember ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1942 Results

Congratulations to Ted Williams for being unanimously named the 1942 MMP. Williams was also a unanimous selection in 1941.

Player Name	pts	ballots	1sts
Ted Williams	105	7	7
Joe Gordon	76	7	0
Mort Cooper	75	7	0
Charlie Keller	73	7	0
Enos Slaughter	63	6	0
Josh Gibson	56	5	0
Mel Ott	47	5	0
Leon Day	46	4	0
Johnny Pesky	37	4	0
Joe DiMaggio	34	4	0
Bus Clarkson	24	2	0
Johnny Mize	19	2	0
Stan Musial	19	3	0
Dom DiMaggio	14	1	0
Tex Hughson	10	1	0
Bill Nicholson	10	1	0
Phil Rizzuto	9	1	0
Pete ...