South Side Hit Men

Some teams offer free admission to children, which makes it an affordable family event. Several teams host it at the park and it's free for everyone. I'd also return the season ticket holder events which were really fun back when I held them. I know corporate sponsors also get special events including batting cages (that's great fun as well). Have a big picnic event in the patio section, perhaps limit free beer to 1-2 for responsible drinking. Play catch on the outfield, run the bases, Not sure if they still let kids run the bases on Family Sundays for kids, but they should resume that as well. Would be forward thinking for the entire league to hold a day during the season across MLB for the 15 home teams (rotate teams every other year) hold the event the Thursday of All Star Game week. All Star Week: Saturday 3 PM EDT / Noon PDT All 15 MLB Games start at the same time. 4 PM EDT Celebrity All Star Game (Cable + MLB.com) 7 PM EDT MLB Futures Game (Fox/MLB.com) Sunday 3 PM EDT / Noon PDT All 15 MLB Games start at the same time. 7 PM EDT MLB Draft Rounds 1-2 (Fox/MLB.com) Monday 2 PM EDT MLB Draft Rounds 3-10 (MLB/MLB.com) 8 PM EDT Home Run Derby Tuesday 2 PM EDT MLB Draft Rounds 11-20 (MLB/MLB.com) 8:10 EDT MLB All Star Game (Fox/MLB.com) Wednesday - Travel / Off Day Thursday 5 PM - 10 PM Local Time Fan Events held at each of the 15 post ASB Home Stadiums (rotating each season) Home team players and visiting players attend fan / family friendly events Friday - MLB Post ASB Schedule Resumes

I choose not to use racist MLB marketed names, imagery and trademarks, regardless of whether these are permitted on SoxTalk. These organizations can Go Fund Themselves.

20 MLB Teams Hosting Winter Fan Festivals AL East Boston Red Sox Winter Weekend Tampa Bay Rays Fan Fest Toronto Blue Jays Winter Tour AL Central Cleveland Guardians Guards Fest Kansas City Royals Royals Rally Minnesota Twins TwinsFest AL West Houston Astros Astros FanFest Oakland Athletics A's Spirt Week Seattle Mariners Mariners FanFest Texas Rangers Fan Fest NL East Atlanta Team Fest Miami Marlins Miami Marlins FanFest NL Central Chicago Cubs Cubs Convention Cincinnati Reds Redsfest Pittsburgh Pirates PiratesFest Saint Louis Cardinals Winter Warm-Up NL West Colorado Rockies Rockies Fest Los Angeles Dodgers FanFest San Diego Padres Padres Fan Fest San Francisco Giants Giants FanFest Remaining Ten Teams Arizona Diamondbacks: Converted event to a Season Ticket / Corporate Sponsor Event in 2022. Baltimore Orioles: Cancelled before COVID (2019 last one held) - Moving to Nashville Chicago White Sox: Cancelled post COVID - Also Moving to Nashville Detroit Tigers: Winter Caravan cancelled post COVID. Los Angeles Angels: Held "Moving Day" event pre OD through 2019. Cancelled post COVID. Milwaukee Brewers: Brewers on Deck cancelled post COVID. New York Mets: Fan Fest cancelled post COVID. New York Yankees: Never held a Fan Festival. Philadelphia Phillies: In season Fan Festival cancelled during/post COVID. Washington Nationals: Winterfest cancelled post COVID.

I was critical of the Orioles who did little at the deadline despite the fact having an legitimate once in a lifetime opportunity for the majority of their fan base to experience the team winning a World Series. Instead of going for it, Orioles ownership said they will soon blow up the core because they are unwilling to pay for it, and suspended their broadcaster for telling the truth. The bottom line is there are about 6-8 teams legitimately trying to win each season, and 20 plus teams content with being the Washington Generals and leeching off of revenue generated by the winners (revenue sharing), taxpayers (free stadiums) and cable fees (most customers abandoned MLB over the past three decades, don’t watch). Jerry has always prioritized fielding a profitable loser, selling carrots to rubes, and privatizing profits / socializing expenses.

Last update for me this postseason. Will return to SoxTalk after Kim Ng is hired and or the Sox do something of importance. White Sox Alumni League Championship Series Statistics through Monday: Jose Abreu Houston 8-28, 1 HR, 1 2B, 5 RBI, 3 R, 3 BB, 1 SB, 6 K Marcus Semein Texas 6-29, 4 R, 4 BB, 2 K, 1 Error Dane Dunning Texas 2 2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 ER, 4 K, Loss Craig Kimbrel Philadelphia 3 IP, 5 H, 4 BB, 1 HR, 4 K, 4 ER, 1 Save, 2 Losses

Nice to see Jose fight to the end.

Well, two innings away from Hot Stove for me. Will be the eighth also ran "Champion". 1997 Florida - Second Place - 9 Games Back 2002 Anaheim - Second Place - 4 Games Back 2003 Florida - Second Place - 10 Games Back 2004 Boston - Second Place - 3 Games Back 2011 Saint Louis - Second Place - 6 Games Back 2014 San Francisco - Second Place - 6 Games Back 2019 Washington - Second Place - 4 Games Back 2023 Second Place Teams Texas (Garbage new MLB Tie Breaker Rule - Return Game 163 and loser goes golfing) Philadelphia 14 Games Back Arizona 16 Games Back Better Luck and Health next season Jose, you played great this postseason and made Sox and Houston fans proud.

IIRC personal appearances in and out of season are part of player contracts. New United States based players should attend their first available season. other Sox with the highest fan interest should rotate. Make it worthwhile for former players / featured team anniversary celebrations. Most teams accommodate their fans. The Sox need to fight harder to increase fan interest. "Fixing SoxFest" article, when people thought it might return for 2024. https://fromthe108.com/2023/01/31/the-5-fixing-soxfest-for-2024/

More Teflon than Hahn, with a longer tenure.

He is Cuban and should currently be on the White Sox.

Would love to see Scherzer with an equally putrid start. Nice they got out of it keeping it at three. Jose Abreu hit a Grand Slam off of Max Scherzer in their only matchup this season. https://stathead.com/baseball/versus-finder.cgi?request=1&player_id1=abreu-009jos&player_id2=scherz001max They also faced of in 2014 and 2016.

I support any and all efforts to break the anti-trust scam baseball currently holds here, and open professional baseball leagues to maximize player exposure and options. Would love to see an actual World Series one day, and not this wild card bullshit served here to grab extra playoff TV dollars.

Can't cost very much net to put this on, drum up interest in a team which sorely needs fan interest and positive good news. Have smaller informal gatherings throughout Chicago communities with former Sox players at little league events during the season. Half of CPS students are Latino, start broadcasting games on television and events in various communities to draw in fans you alienated or never reached out to in the first place. So many things big and small can be done. All Boyer offers is the same old same old (fireworks, 1983 uniforms, bring your dog and 1/2 way to St. Patricks Day, etc.) decade after decade.

It’s more like contraction vs. moving over the past few decades, with neighborhood schools closing or merging to survive. Daley tore down our school (Old Saint Pat’s Parish is still there) to build the Kennedy back in the 1950s, before kicking out the Italians decade later for Circle Campus.

It has been 1,367 days since the last Soxfest date (1/25/20). The other Chicago teams including Jerry’s Bulls are holding fan festivals. bears https://www.chicagobears.com/fan-zone/family-fest Blackhawks https://wgntv.com/sports/blackhawks/blackhawks-2023-training-camp-includes-change-for-fans/amp/ Bulls https://www.nba.com/bulls/bullsfest Cubs https://www.mlb.com/cubs/fans/cubs-convention Why does Brooks Boyer still have a job if he can’t provide minimal fan engagement such as holding SoxFest, or season tickets events? Why is there a blank SoxFest page which only provides links to subscribe to text and email spam to be used by Brooks Boyer’s minions to harass and insult current and potential season ticket holders? https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/fans/soxfest Are we not human beings worthy of engagement and celebration? My high school has a far more extensive fan and alumni outreach than this $2B organization.

One Game Seven for certain, a second if Arizona wins tomorrow. White Sox Alumni League Championship Series Statistics through Sunday: Jose Abreu Houston 6-23, 1 HR, 1 2B, 4 RBI, 3 R, 3 BB, 1 SB, 6 K Marcus Semein Texas 5-24, 3 R, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 Error Dane Dunning Texas 2 2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 ER, 4 K, Loss Craig Kimbrel Philadelphia 2 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 1 HR, 2 K, 4 ER, 1 Save, 2 Losses

Even if JR was an acceptable owner to work for, his age and potential for a new owner which will likely lead to an overhaul of the FO if a non Reinsdorf takes over makes the job a potential lame duck position. Managers typically sign 3 + year deals, FOs depending on the situation 3-5 year deals. So they would get severance not to work like Hahn and Kenny, but anyone ambitious and qualified like Ng would rather just sign with a stable and better situation than the Sox. Couple that with Jerry's preference for the cheapest management / manager possible, and it would be a pipedream to snag a qualified candidate. Hence the Getz hired, no need to waste time when there was zero intention on hiring a qualified candidate. Ditto Robin, Ricky, Tony, Pedro.

No White Sox Alumni played Saturday. Houston can return to the World Series with a win tonight. Good piece in MLB trade rumors in terms of Jose Abreu’s bad back and post recovery turn around to end the season and star in the playoffs. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/10/al-notes-abreu-dipuglia-mckinstry.html A lot of sad lazy hot takes bashing Jose Abreu all year on Soxtalk. Media people and the Usual Suspects here clamoring for horseshit like Justin Turner. Jose Abreu is the best White Sox position player in the 21st Century. May finish the century as the best White Sox if Jerry lives into his 110s and beyond and his family keeps the team. Not surprising Cheap and Stupid TM Jerry dumped both leaders below, and that both had solid contributions after leaving here. That goes for Frank Thomas as well, the greatest White Sox of all time. White Sox with 15.0 + fWAR ranked below. 21st Century White Sox Position Player fWAR Leaders: 27.4 Jose Abreu 22.7 Paul Konerko 19.6 Alexei Ramirez 18.7 Tim Anderson 17.3 Jose Valentin 15.5 Magglio Ordonez 15.1 Carlos Lee 15.0 Yoan Moncada 21st Century White Sox Pitcher fWAR Leaders: 42.8 Mark Buehrle 27.1 Chris Sale 21.1 Jose Quintana 17.5 John Danks 17.1 Jon Garland 15.3 Gavin Floyd 15.1 Lucas Giolito

Would agree with most of that, but would say there are no replacements Jerry is willing to pay to replace the production of Lucas Giolito or Clevinger. Fat f*** Steak Dinner sucked ass his entire extension and every playoff this decade, so he can be easily replaced by a cheap pitcher. The only possible 2024 hope is Kopech and Crochet can be salvaged as starters, and Cease can return to what made him successful in 2022. Even getting to 2021 Cease would be great in 2024. Then on the position player side Tim, Yoan and Eloy have solid years playing for their 2025 contracts (extensions or new deals if options not picked up), Robert has a great year again, they can salvage a 1.0 + season out of their garbage LFer, they can get a serviceable RFer, 2B, Vaughn takes a big leap and they get decent veteran catchers who can help the staff and play decent enough , and perhaps the Anaheim catcher prospect can hopefully arrive and catch/hit in 2025. That is a lot of ifs, which is why 60s or low 70s is the likely win total in 2024.

Whether the Astros win or lose, Pito is the Rocky of the 21st Century and beloved by people throughout the world. The Final Bell (Bill Conti). RIP Burt Young

Houston Astros Starting Lineup: SS Christopher Walken CF David Bowie 3B Sean Connery 1B Jose Aberu LF Burt Reynolds 2B Chuck Norris DH Morgan Freeman C Charlie Murphy RF Jimi Hendrix Rotation J. R. Richard Robert Plant Dean Martin Frank Sinatra Sammy Davis Jr. Bullpen Charlie Sheen Joe Pesci James Caan Clint Eastwood Al Pacino Henry Rollins Townes Van Zandt Betty White

Well, what an excellent day for one former White Sox as Jose Abreu and the Houston Astros are now five wins away from a World Series championship. Former White Sox Craig Kimbrel and Dane Dunning have three of the possible five losses heading into the weekend. That said, plopping Marcus down to third after his abysmal performance this series. Tim’s 2023 .582 OPS batting lead off is .164 higher than Semein’s .418 Postseason OPS heading into Sunday. White Sox Alumni League Championship Series Statistics through Friday: Jose Abreu Houston 4-19, 1 HR, 1 2B, 4 RBI, 3 R, 3 BB, 1 SB, 6 K Dane Dunning Texas 2 2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 ER, 4 K, Loss Marcus Semein Texas 3-21, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 Error Craig Kimbrel Philadelphia 2 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 1 HR, 2 K, 4 ER, 1 Save, 2 Losses