Thad Bosley

QUOTE (Julius @ Jul 8, 2015 -> 08:37 PM) If the Marketing Department is reading this, then here is my Open Letter to Brooks Boyer…. "Brooks - at the end of the day, The Cell is in a terrible location relative to your fan base. Your challenge is to get people to show up on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday….and even Friday. Unfortunately, you couldn't give away enough tickets (heck, even enough t-shirts) to get people to suffer through Chicago traffic. My friends in Cary and Arlington Heights only go to games on Saturday and Sunday. Imagine the people that would show up if you had a ballpark in the burbs. The sox had that opportunity but JR failed to see the genius in moving to Addison. Relocation won't happen because JR has a sweetheart deal with the State of Illinois. What's the solution? Remove JR and his cronies and get people who know how to build a sustainable winner." I am as big a critic of Jerry Reinsdorf as anyone on this site, primarily because of his failure during his 35 years as owner to deliver sustainable winning baseball, as evidenced through exciting postseason action. Only one season in 35 has met that threshold. Failure! He's also made a host of bungling decisions along the way that have had lasting, negative effects on the franchise. And oh, how I look forward to the day when this team gets a new owner! However, I'm in a generous mood after our nice walk-off win last night, so why don't I give the 'ol boy his just due and refute the bolded. Reinsdorf did see the genius in moving the team to Addison. Addison was by far his first choice for location of the new ballpark. He even purchased the tract of land upon which the park would have been built (we're talking mid 80s here). The reason you and your friends from Cary and Arlington Heights are not traveling to Addison today to watch White Sox baseball is because the construction of a new ballpark in that town was put up for voter referendum - and it was defeated by 30 votes. Just 30 votes! If a mere 16 people in Addison had voted differently that one fateful day, the entire state of the franchise would look very different today. The Sox would have been playing in the suburbs for the past 25 years instead of at that crummy location in Bridgeport. I obviously can't say if the results since 1991 would have been better or worse, but they certainly would have been different.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 8, 2015 -> 01:39 PM) Yet Cubs fans kept going to Wrigley Field in droves long before there was any hope or improvement. The only "nonsense" trotting out whatever the excuse du jour is, while people in the same town do the exact opposite of said excuse. Forget about the Cubs. It's almost like comparing apples to oranges. In the '80s, due primarily to the combination of the ultimate salesman in Harry Caray and the power of WGN, they very successfully marketed the Wrigley Field/Wrigleyville experience. The popularity skyrocketed in the mid 80s and has carried to this very day. People go there primarily to experience the ballpark and neighborhood. The Sox have neither of those two things working for them. If the Cubs had neither, they'd have attendance issues, too, given their poor track record for winning. But they do have those two advantages, and therefore you cannot compare the two teams fairly on the attendance front. As for this "excuse du jour", your argument continues to be upside down on all of this. Do you think Sox attendance is what it is this year because Sox fans wake up every day and make a different excuse for not going out to the ballpark? That's ridiculous. They are not going because Reinsdorf, Williams, and Hahn have given them no compelling reason to do so because the team they've given us is about as dreadful as it could get. Sox fans don't need to make an excuse - the team being awful is enough to keep them away. And with no other draw in the form of an amazing ballpark and/or great neighborhood experience, then the low attendance is no surprise.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 8, 2015 -> 12:41 PM) What it boils down to is White Sox fans have all the excuses in the world. Less on the lame fans' excuses nonsense and more on the dire need for this incompetent management team to substantially improve the product they are trying to sell to the fans.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Jul 7, 2015 -> 03:58 PM) From 2009 to now - since the cutoff is evidently 2008 - there are 12 teams in baseball with a worse win% than the Sox. 6 of them have had no playoff appearances in that time. 5 more have won a total of 6 playoff games in 7 appearances between them. The remaining team is KC, who was a laughing stock until 2014. So as far as "one of the worst franchises," maybe. Depends how large a clump you want to make "the worst" (I'd say bottom 6, I guess, to match the number of divisions) and how much stock you put into short playoff runs (I'd say some). Let's go crazy and look at the last 55 years: just FIVE playoff appearances for this franchise since 1960! Noodle on that for a few moments! And then we wonder how a team that has been around as long as the Chicago White Sox has been unable to build a robust fan base.

QUOTE (dpd9189 @ Jul 7, 2015 -> 10:19 PM) The problem is I think if Hahn had his way, he'd go young and rebuild like so many other teams have done the past few years (Astros, Cubs, Twins) but the Sox have always had a mindset under KW (and perhaps by orders of JR) to never go that route. The Sox will always try to put the most competitive team on the field which is good however when you get to the point where they are now and you're dishing out contracts to 35 and 36 year old players and the result is always the same, it's time to try something new. Hahn IS getting his way. His way IS Kenny's way, it IS Reinsdorf's way. This idea that Hahn has some philosophy or point of view different than that of his two bosses which is somehow being suppressed is pure fantasy. One of the moderators here will tell you over and over and over again how Hahn chose to stay with the White Sox over a myriad of other GM job opportunities out there. Doesn't sound like that decision came from a man unhappy about not getting his way, now does it. No, the White Sox "way" has been, is, and will continue to be co-developed by Jerry, Kenny, and Rick, and Hahn is perfectly fine with that.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jul 7, 2015 -> 03:29 PM) Neither. Just stating that since he won a world series for JR, he will be with the organization aslong as he wants. So no "What have you done for me lately?" managing of this organization by JR? That's strange. I mean, ask Kenny and Rick yourself, and they'll gush about Reinsdorf's "competitive spirit" - you know, that same spirit that compelled him to go above and beyond this winter to sign the Great Melky Cabrera. The two of them couldn't shut up about it at the time of the signing. However, if JR is as competitive as those two say, then your assertion that Williams stays as long as he wants, results be damned, cannot be true. He should be demanding and expecting better results than he's been receiving for quite some time now. If he is content with that one championship and therefore prioritizes his loyalty to those who brought him that one championship, then yes, your assertion is most definitely true.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Jul 7, 2015 -> 08:35 AM) More than half of the starting lineup is hitting below .228. What a sad state for this offense. Worst in the league in multiple offensive categories. 5. Adam LaRoche .228 6. Alexei Ramirez .226 7. Gordon Beckham .203 8. Tyler Flowers .224 9. Carlos Sanchez .162 This is the bottom half of the lineup. I think it's safe to say this is the worst offensive White Sox team of my lifetime. The defense is pretty bad also. Well, don't worry about any of this. If you haven't heard, Kenny's taking responsibility for all of this, so we're good.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jul 7, 2015 -> 02:16 PM) Especially when you are the most successful executive the team has ever had. Is this meant to be a compliment to Kenny or a very damning (yet deserved) critique of all of his predecessors?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 7, 2015 -> 09:47 AM) Then you get a part of the fan base who swears he never takes responsibility for anything. Pretty easy to always stand up and take responsibility for continuous failures when it is seemingly clear at this point that there will be no ramifications whatsoever from above.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jul 6, 2015 -> 09:24 AM) This is consistent with what I've been saying all along. We need to realize that the league is changing -- the polarity of competing vs. rebuilding is becoming a thing of the past. Yes, the White Sox were trying to put a winner on the field this year, but it was NOT an all-in, do or die plan. I know, Balta, you are concerned about the financials, and I think what you bring up makes sense if we assume a static payroll and a new big ticket pitcher -- but it IS possible for the payroll to increase, and if the FO is stating that they are on pace for a three year plan, it's safe to assume that they have the resources they need. I don't think that's true at all. Williams says this is Year 1 of a 3 year plan to maximize the window of opportunity with this current core. I think this past offseason absolutely resembled the team trying to do just that: signing an elite closer, trading for an ace starting pitcher, signing a slugger to bat 4th in the lineup - if those aren't "all in" type moves to try and win with this core, I don't know what is. In fact, both Williams and Hahn practically said as much after the Cabrera signing when they were gushing over Reinsdorf's so-called "competitive spirit" after he approved going over budget to sign the guy. They were as "all in" as they could get. I think when they say three year plan, they actually do mean "do or die" in each year. What else could it mean if you are trying to "maximize" the window of opportunity with this core? The problem is that for the first half of Year 1, it's pretty much been all "die", unfortunately. They are going to have to work hard to find a whole bunch of better players with whom to supplement this core if they hope to win during this window of opportunity.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jul 3, 2015 -> 07:21 AM) Doesn't matter what we want. It's probably going to be Thome or Konerko. Team needs a new owner. Very much so! Can't say it enough! The Reinsdorf way of doing things has proven to be more disastrous than not during his 35 year reign of terror. The sooner this franchise receives a new and fresh vision and strategy from the top, the better the team's chances of improving it's overall results, which have not been very good under Reinsdorf. Just five trips to the postseason during these past 35 years? Absolutely and undeniably pathetic!

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 08:28 PM) Neither one very good at this point. One can't play MLB-caliber defense; the other, can't hit at the MLB level, at least not yet.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 03:46 PM) I heard another Steve Stone say he had no desire to do this. He likes what he's doing now. For most of his post-playing days, he has actually publicly mentioned on many occasions his desire to be a GM someday. I think it's only been in the past year or so that he's suggested the time for him to do so has now past, given his age (coming up on 68).

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 11:08 AM) lol I'm tellin' ya - ride the Stone Pony right on out of the "Land of the Williams/Hahn Bad Decisions", out of the cellar of the American League, and onto baseball greatness!!

Out with Williams and Hahn, in with STEVE STONE. That's right, you heard me - put Stoney in charge of the whole production! He's always wanted to be a GM, and he's certainly smart enough to do so. The timing is right as he's at the end of his TV contract at the end of this season. He would pass the Jerry Reinsdorf loyalty program smell test, while at the same time he would bring in a new and fresh perspective on how to run an organization. And then once you install him in as GM or exec. VP of baseball ops or whatever, then let him find the right baseball mind to run things in the dugout.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 29, 2015 -> 10:45 AM) You love the Royals, the Cubs, the Astros, the Pirates, probably the Rays. A couple things those teams have in common are they haven't won anything for 30 years and they had to be very bad a very long time to get where they are at. The White Sox have been bad for 3 years, and people here can't take it. They tried to win this year, but the rebuild on the fly is still in order. They did surrender a 2nd and 3rd round pick, and sent some prospects to Oakland. (Not to much whining about Semien lately) But unless you are in JR's will, the rebuild is still on. They do have a plan. Some of it is going to hinge on some of their players playing up to their capabilities. I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean - "they have a plan". When don't they have a plan? Didn't they have a plan in '09? '11? Last year? "They", meaning the brain trust comprising Jerry, Kenny and Rick, always have a plan. The problem is the track record with their co-developed plans. It's not very good. Their "plans" have amounted to just two trips to the postseason in 13 seasons of working together as a team and executing their plans. So when you say "they have a plan" as a way of somewhat encouraging us to be optimistic about the future, it's a bit of a hard sell, unfortunately. Again, given the collective track record of this particular management team.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Jun 28, 2015 -> 10:19 PM) White Sox baseball, lack of accountability and 100% loyal to bad! In all honesty, it starts at the very top. Until we get a new owner, or he shocks us all by making changes in upper management, this team will continue to lack a direction and be mediocre to bad. Irrefutable.

One to nothing in favor of the White Sox!

With all of this talk about the Sox' inability to either draft and/or develop position players, what has Rick Hahn done since he became GM to address this issue? This was a known problem under Kenny's run as GM, but what has Hahn done to improve in this area? He obviously has left Bell and Laumann in their respective roles as the leaders of player development and scouting. But has he instructed either of those two to make any substantial changes either in personnel or philosophy? Because if he hasn't, then this notion that somehow the "Rick Hahn Era" is different than that of the "Kenny Williams Era" is a farce. Not one thing seems to have changed except for a couple of titles on the business cards.

Fundamentals now, boys! Please!

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Jun 26, 2015 -> 08:45 PM) This will sound disingenuous but Jose has to pitch better. Giving up that many hits, he's lucky they don't have a bigger lead IMO. Stone aptly pointed out that they probably would have, had it not been for the fact Q didn't walk anyone.

I do pull a lot for Sanchez to figure it out with the bat, because he's something special with that leather.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Jun 26, 2015 -> 08:36 PM) Why did we bring in Duke against a bunch of RH?? Robin is so stupid They're paying this guy to be the 8th inning guy.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 26, 2015 -> 07:59 PM) And 2b and SS Almost as big. At least you have a glimmer of hope in two youngsters at 2nd, and a keep-your-fingers-crossed hope that our All-Star shortstop from just last year will snap out of this year's woes. But we have zero going on at 3rd and catcher, and I mean zero!

We really have two huge, gaping holes at both 3rd and catcher.