I don't blame the team for not wanting his kid there every day all day. Likewise, I don't blame the Dad for retiring if spending time with his kid was more important than continuing his 12 year baseball career. If I had the kind of money he does I wouldn't bother working either. I'd be spending time with my family.

Valid points on #2 and #4.

I'd agree with #1 except for the simple fact I didn't read anywhere that other personnel were denied the same option. Not to say that didn't happen, but that certainly hasn't been introduced as a factor. Don't hate the guy because he was the only one to push the limits, others could have too I guess.

#3 just doesn't sit right with me logically. Guy getting paid $13 million to suck - no reason to walk away from that. Other than he felt strongly about spending time with son, and once that changed he walked away because he had nothing to prove and cheddar in the bank.

I think the White Sox wanted out of the contract - they were paying a guy $13 million to suck and they knew he knew that they knew, and he wasn't going anywhere. They knew how important the time spent with his son was, hell, they gave him a locker right next to his dad. They knew how to push his button and they did it.

It's not a homeschool debate. I don't have any problem with homeschooling in general. I'm not making any statements about the usefulness, effectiveness, or value of homeschooling, nor have I asserted anything about people who homeschool or kids who are homeschooled, except that homeschooling doesn't provide the same opportunities for peer group socialization as regular school. This should be painfully obvious to anyone not hopelessly entrenched in some ideology that requires them to ignore reality.

A kid who is in a place everyday with lots of other kids, has more opportunities to learn to socialize with other kids than a kid who is at home (or traveling, or at work, or going on educational tours) with his parents.

Not rocket science.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

homeschooling doesn't provide the same opportunities for peer group socialization as regular school. This should be painfully obvious to anyone not hopelessly entrenched in some ideology that requires them to ignore reality.

Or those of us with actual experience . . .



A kid who is in a place everyday with lots of other kids, has more opportunities to learn to socialize with other kids than a kid who is at home (or traveling, or at work, or going on educational tours) with his parents.

I think you're overestimating the amount of socializing that goes in modern school, as well as underestimating the amount of socializing that homeschooled kids are typically exposed to- the the point of caricature. It's not like kids in a modern school have loads of time to interact freely with each other, and it's certainly not like most homeschooled kids spend their childhood locked inside the house 24/7 with mom and dad.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

So does quantity of socialization opportunities equate into quality? Is 7 hours of opportunity better than 3? I don't know, I'm asking.

Is it better or worse for a 14 year old boy to presumably socialize more with adults than other 14 year old boys? Again, I don't know.

Making a blanket statement that the longer a kid is with other kids the more opportunities to learn to socialize with those kids isn't rocket surgery, I agree. Deriving advantage or disadvantage out of that statement isn't nearly as obvious, but then again, I'm slow. And no I wasn't homeschooled, not that there's anything wrong with that.

And I think you're inferring things from what I said that aren't there, out of oversensitivity to the choices you've made.

This kid (the kid I was speaking about when I made my statement) is homeschooled, and apparently spends nearly every day with his dad at the ballpark. That doesn't allow for much socialization with his peer group, as I said. Socializing with professional ballplayers, as juvenile as they might be, is not the same as socializing with peers.

I think you dramatically underestimate the socialization that happens at schools. Free time is not the issue. Kids socialize in class, at lunch, in the hallways between class, before and after school, on the bus, at extracurriculars, etc.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

 What if i wanted to bring my 14 year old daughter to practice every day? Can she hang out in the locker room ?

I'm not sure I'd want my kids in the same clubhouse as Brett Lawrie.

Here's what I know: One of us has direct and extensive experience with homeschooling, and the other does not. You can chalk up our disagreement to my supposed hypersensitivity about my life choices, or you can accept the fact that I have a better idea of what I'm talking about than you do. Go with whatever conclusion you want. I'm telling you that "socialization" is just not an issue when it comes to homeschooled kids in general, anymore than it is for kids who go to public schools. It's a myth, and like many such myths, it's based mostly in ignorance, not fact.

If you're simply referring to LaRoche's kid, and weren't making comments about homeschoolers in general, well, I didn't pick up on that. But even at that, you have no real idea of how well socialized he is, or how much time he spends with his peers. You only know that he doesn't go to school during the day.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

I'm just going to point out that you know basically fuck-all about how LaRoche raises his kid. You know he's homeschooled and spends a lot of time with his dad. I don't think you know anything else. He could spend many hours each week playing with other kids. He could study with other kids. Neither your nor I know. Parenting trial by Internet is pretty dumb. Particularly when this is a parent who's decided to spend more time with his kid. A travesty! In the spectrum of pro sports dads, LaRoche is probably far closer to one of the best than one of the worst. He's had one wife.


But, oh yeah, he's a "douche."

Good thing I didn't do that then, I guess.


And I'm going to point out that you apparently don't know fuck-all about reading comprehension. I didn't make any comments about LaRoche and how he raises his kid, except to point out that if the kid doesn't attend school, and spends all day in a professional dugout, then he's not getting the peer socialization a kid who attends school is getting. But hey, you and Vitus know better, because hanging out with pro athletes (many of whom don't speak English) is exactly like school.


Man, you are on a roll. Nobody said he was a douche because of how he decided to raise his kids, or because he decided to homeschool. Fucking parents are the fucking worst. God forbid anyone say anything that could tangentially be considered to be any sort of criticism or comment on how anyone does anything with regard to their kids, you idiots jump all over it like a bunch of hysterical jackasses.

LaRoche is a bit of a douche because he insisted on bringing his kid to work with him nearly 100% of the time, was offered the chance to keep bringing his kid to work but in a reduced amount, refused to negotiate and tried to force the White Sox to put some sort of percentage number on it, and then claimed to be so offended by this that he had to retire from baseball, when it's very likely he needed to retire anyway for being a mediocre player who barely hit over .200 last year and has had injuries, and then tried to self righteously take the high ground using hash tags to paint himself as a hero of the family.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Yeah, it was really hard to pick up on.


"First, this kid is homeschooled and taken to the ballpark each day, which basically means he has no chance to learn how to socialize with kids his own age."

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

I don't know if he was homeschooled, but I saw a good story from Ken Rosenthal earlier today where LaRoche was saying how he and his brother Andy (also a major leaguer) spent a ton of time as kids in the locker room where their dad Dave was a pitcher for the Angels. I don't know if they spent as much time as his son does now, but it does provide some context,

I know many ballplayers have their kids around the ballpark and the playing field quite a bit ( David Ortiz does this with his son, and Roger Clemens even had in his contract that his kids have lockers next to his). Rosenthal's article this morning said pretty much every team allows it but just around the clubhouse/ field until batting practice starts, when the kids then have to go to a designated family area.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

 
"First, this kid is homeschooled and taken to the ballpark each day, which basically means he has no chance to learn how to socialize with kids his own age."


And again, you don't know that. You only know he doesn't go to a regular school. He's at the ballpark during the day when his peers are in school. That's all you know. You have no idea how much time, or of what type and quality, he spends with kids his own age. Just like you don't know that some kid in a regular school doesn't go home immediately after the last bell rings just to spend the rest of his time until bed doing homework, or playing video games in the basement, or whatever.

And as far as limiting your comments to LaRouche's kid, that doesn't really fly, either. They would inevitably apply with the same logic to just about any kid who doesn't spend his daytime hours in school with other kids his age, whether they spend those hours at the ballpark or in the kitchen being taught by a parent or wherever else.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Ok, you and slowguy for some reason keep insisting on adding a superfluous U in LaRoche`s last name. Neither of you are Canadian so cut it out.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Screw off, eh? This is what we get for trying to make you feel at home.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Guarantee this kid isn't going to grow up to be some feminized metro sexual crying bitch.

What better masculine experience for a young man to be part of than being inside a clubhouse like that.

Great counter to all the male bashing going on in society today.

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"I really wish you would post more often. You always have some good stuff to say. I copied it below just in case someone missed it." BarryP to Chainpin on 10/21/06

The plot thickens.......

http://espn.go.com/...e-lied-exec-williams

As a life-long Sox fan, this is just a sign of a losing team that can't hope to get their shit together. Why the fuck is this kid at the ballpark all the time? Why the fuck didn't the Sox trade LaRoche anyways, he's sucked the last year or so? Why are the teammates talking trash in the media over what should have been a non-story? Why is management either lying to players, or why are the players so confused that they think management is lying to them?

It's going to be another shitty season.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Oy, what a bunch of tools. Just say why the rule was implemented. Be truthful. It's not difficult.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

When will this end? I'm a fan, and the WhiteSox are not this newsworthy.

my guess is that the complaints came from a player and Kenny wisely doesn't want to admit it. My guess is that it was Jose Abreu. Abreu has a 5 year old son that he's seen once in 5 years (because he can't get the kid out of Cuba).
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/ct-jose-abreu-cuba-csn-special-20160127-story.html


Jose doesn't speak English - so it would make sense for him to go to management.

if you were Kenny Williams, and your star player complained about another player who wasn't pulling his weight - which side would you be on?


Abreu - 2015- 30HR .290BA
Laroche -2015- 12HR .207 BA - <- those are not DH caliber stats.


Good riddance - Laroche did everyone (except his agent) a favor.

My guess is that it was Jose Abreu. Abreu has a 5 year old son that he's seen once in 5 years (because he can't get the kid out of Cuba).

Why would that cause him to object to LaRoche having his kid in the clubhouse?

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

  
Adam Laroche's Twitter:

https://twitter.com/e3laroche/status/725436321724932096
b


"Don't forget, tomorrow is take your child to work day. "

The responses are brutal:

"emphasis on the word "day" (singular)"



Good Riddance - the Chisox have the best record in the AL at 16-6 (going unnoticed because the Cubs get all the press). They Swept the Rangers and the Blue Jays. Sale, Quintana, and Latos are pitching out of their minds, and this years' defense is greatly improved over last year.

I thought it was a great move getting rid of him - but now it looks like absolute genius

I watched the game last night. Same script as almost every other Jays game this year. Starting pitcher is great. Hands it off to the bullpen and the wheels fall off.

The Jays bullpen is 0-7 with 5 blown saves this year. Brutal.

> 50% of inherited runners have scored. League average is roughly 25%.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?