I think he was being sarcastic.

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Communists are just people who are terrible at capitalism.

From a strictly baseball perspective- I don't mean clubhouse persona or leadership- Harper would be a really good fit for the White Sox.

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Communists are just people who are terrible at capitalism.

It's a point many Sox fans have made. This last offseason included. Got like a 3 WAR for $40 million.

A guy that's pretty close to a lock to hit near 300 and blast 30 HR's would be a really good fit? Those are some deep baseball thoughts.

Hey pay attention, shithead. Nardi and I were talking about Harper and Machado. The Sox desperately need a lefthanded bat.

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Communists are just people who are terrible at capitalism.

FF was definitely being sarcastic back then. He wanted them to go all in on some stars.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

What do you think about Bellanger to play center field? He's still young and is a very good center fielder. Dodgers are talking about not bringing him back. He checks a lot of boxes for me and if he figures out his swing mechanics it would be a steal for them. First thing I would do would be to bring Jim Thome in as hitting instructor to work with both he and Gavin Sheets as well as Moncada if he is still on the roster.

_________________
An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip

MLB is working to get away from the 3 outcome AB. Jim Thome is the epitome of the the 3 outcome AB. Plus he seems like a dim bulb.

He's from Peoria.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Thome was a much better hitter than that. He had about 2400 hits in his career and a .276 batting average. HE was able to adjust his stroke as he aged and got many of his home runs to left and left center. He is also not some dimwit. He knows a lot about baseball and especially power hitting and setting up a pitcher. He also is about the nicest person in all of baseball.

_________________
An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip

There's not a hitting coach anywhere who can teach opposite field power. That is what separated him and it's nothing but a gift. Bonds was a total failure as a coach. Ted Williams, the same thing. I think the future is less Ks with the new shift rules. What does he have to offer in that regard?

Baloney. In fact I watched Thome explain the adjustment that he made in his last third of his career for hitting with power to left and left center field. Certainly Thome was gifted as a terrific hitter. However, every hitter that makes it to the majors is gifted also or they would be there. Paulie also could be a terrific hitting instructor. What happened in baseball is the shift it made to reward pure power hitters and the fascination with the home run. Guys like Moncada drive me nuts with their all or nothing swings instead of making contact and hitting the other way.

I don't know about bring Thome in as a manager. He's not my choice and reminds me of the Ventura hire. I'd prefer hiring Bochey with AJ being my second choice. But Thome as a hitting asset makes terrific sense to me.

_________________
An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip

Is it something online? I'd be interested in hearing about the adjustment.

I don't know about where you could find it. I saw it maybe 3 years ago on one of those Baseball Tonight shows with Reynolds or Ripken. What you probably know though is that Thome was a pupil early on of Charlie Manuel who recommended his unique stance and trigger point. Thome focused greatly on his hand drop with the knob of the bat focused on the catcher's mitt. He made sure that his head was always behind the ball. and was not focused on "launching" the ball like today's hitters have been doing so much.

He had a similar approach to hitting as Ted Williams focusing on his hands and his hips rotating. His focus, though was not trying to beat the shift per se because he was a power hitter and didn't give in to the shifts per se nor did Williams but he looked to pitchers to pitch him the other way and when they did he still retained the plate coverage he needed to take that outside pitch out of the park to left and left center. His enemy so to speak was the baseball and was looking to hit that ball hard using his hip turn and hand speed to drive it out of the park.

_________________
An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip

I remember him a couple years ago on MLB network helping the chick out trying to hit.

Charlie Manuel is top notch. If I recall, he's a balance guy. The Freddie Freeman swing is a perfect swing to Manuel.

The fact of the matter is Thome had to LOOK for the pitch away. If he wasn't, he would roll it over just like any other power hitter. But I do agree launch angle is a hindrance to oppo power.

Now if you tell me Thome is a balls deep Manuel disciple, then sure, why not, give him a shot. History is a b!tch though when the gifted are batting instructors.