Crowdsourcing

Clare called yesterday afternoon to tell me about an email from the White Sox.  It had a link to a fan survey on the players.  The idea was for fans to tell the team what they thought, what they liked, about players.  In true White Sox fashion, the link didn’t work, which only upset my daughter, who wanted to know what her benighted team was up to.  “Do they really want my opinion on Matt Davidson as a DH?” she wondered.

Or maybe the link broke because somebody in the front office realized James Shields was starting in an afternoon game against the Twins. Shields has let it be known he’s more interested in winning than in rebuilding; towards that end, he’s given up six homeruns in his last two starts, both losses.  Way to go, James.

The Red Sox had their own James Shields in the person of first baseman Hanley Ramirez.  Rather than keep an unproductive player, Boston chose to release Ramirez, even though it cost them in the neighborhood of $15 million.  That is definitely not the White Sox way.  They’ve said from spring training that Shields is a good mentor to the young pitchers; alas, a mentor gone grumpy changes nothing on the South Side.  Better to keep Shields than eat the $21 million he’s owed this year than admit a mistake.  Rright, guys?

I really hope they fix that link.