Lip Man 1

From Merkin's newsletter: He’s shut down right now,” general manager Chris Getz said. “It’s a flexor strain. There is a level of optimism. Because of where his soreness is, it is going to take a little bit of time to get a better read on his return to play. Right now, it’s rest and recover, and we’ll see where he is.” My take: Uh-oh...hello Dane Dunning, hello Carlos Rodon...hello Davis Martin. The carnage continues...

September 29, 1908 - Sox starting pitcher Ed Walsh fired two complete games in a double header against the Red Sox. He won both by the scores of 5-1 and 2-0 allowing only seven total hits. That season Walsh would have arguably the greatest pitching year in the history of the game, winning 40 times with an ERA of 1.42. He appeared in 66 games, started 49, with 42 complete games, 11 shutouts and a mind-boggling 464 innings pitched. He also would have received credit for six saves had that been a statistic used during the season. September 29, 1917 - With a 3-1 win in the second game of a double header in New York, the Sox won their 100th game of the season. It is still the most wins in a single season in franchise history. Ed Cicotte picked up the win, his 28th of the year. September 29, 1920 - With the Sox trailing the Indians by only a half game with 10 days left in the season, pitcher Eddie Cicotte and outfielder Joe Jackson confessed (without an attorney present) that they helped throw the 1919 World Series. Charles Comiskey suspended eight players; the Sox collapsed down the stretch losing two of the final three games to the St. Louis Browns and blew a possible pennant, losing out to the Indians by two games ending up at 96-58. The losses to the Browns were 8-6 and 16-7. September 29, 1921 - One of the ‘clean’ Sox, pitcher Dickie Kerr was honored with a day at Comiskey Park. Kerr then went out and fired one of his best games blanking Cleveland on six hits winning 5-0 for his 19th win. He was given a 52-piece silverware set in a mahogany chest. September 29, 1967 - The Sox still had a chance for the pennant before they lost 1-0 to the Senators. The only run was set up when first baseman Tommy McCraw wasn’t able to catch a pop up off the bat of Washington’s Fred Valentine in the first inning. NBC-TV had erected a barrier for their field level cameras in case the World Series came to Comiskey Park and Valentine’s pop fell into that enclosed area near the visitor’s dugout. Valentine then singled driving in the only run. Two errors by the Sox in that first inning led to the unearned run. That season marked the 17th straight year that the Sox finished better than .500 at 89-73. September 29, 1990 - The last night game ever played at the original Comiskey Park was won by the Sox 5-2. Frank Thomas slapped a two-run single up the middle with two out, off Mariners starter Matt Young to drive in the go ahead runs in the seventh inning. September 29, 2005 - The Sox beat the Tigers in Detroit 4-2 clinching the Central Division title. Carl Everett’s two run triple in the first inning gave the Sox a lead they never relinquished. Paul Konerko also hit his 40th home run of the season later in the game. The Sox won 99 regular season games and led the division every day of the season. They were one of the few teams to go wire to wire in baseball history. The Sox then blitzed through the post season going 11-1 on their way to the World Championship. They swept Houston in four games to get it. September 29, 2008 - Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez set the Major League rookie record (since tied) when he hit his fourth grand slam of the season in an 8-2 win over the Tigers. The home run would also set the franchise record for most grand slams in a year with 12. This was the middle game of a three game ‘must win’ set against three different opponents that propelled the Sox into the playoffs. They had to beat Cleveland, Detroit and Minnesota on consecutive days to get in which they did behind Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd and John Danks respectively. September 29, 2019 – Despite going 0-2 in his final game of the season Sox shortstop Tim Anderson won the American League batting title with a .335 average. That average not only was the best in the league but the best in all of baseball. Anderson joined Luke Appling and Frank Thomas as the only franchise players to win the crown. In the same game Sox first baseman/DH Jose Abreu took the American League RBI title as he drove in 123 runs on the year. He also had a .284 batting average and 33 home runs. He joined Dick Allen as the only Sox players to lead the league in that category. Abreu would win the RBI title again in 2020 during the 60-game pandemic season. September 29, 2020 – The White Sox played in their first postseason game since 2008, facing the Athletics in the Oakland Coliseum and it was a memorable afternoon for Lucas Giolito. The Sox All-Star right hander who had already thrown a no-hitter on August 25 was perfect for the first six innings as the Sox won the first game of the Wild Card series 4-1. Giolito allowed only two hits striking out eight in seven innings. He got support from three Sox home runs hit by Adam Engel, Jose Abreu and Yasmani Grandal. Unfortunately, this would be the highlight of the series as the Sox would lose the next two games including a 3-0 lead in the deciding game three, to be knocked out by a team that had lost nine consecutive elimination games going back to 1973.

https://soxmachine.com/2023/09/more-details-about-ballpark-shooting-more-questions-about-white-soxs-reponse/

Too bad, it helps the Cubs. Oh well...maybe they'll lose again tonight.

https://soxmachine.com/2023/09/chris-getz-might-need-a-year-to-assess-white-sox-after-all/

September 28, 1902- For the second game of a doubleheader at Sportsman’s Park, the Browns and White Sox used the last day of the season to throw all non-pitchers in their game. White Sox left fielder Sam Mertes got the 10-4 win, beating St. Louis left fielder Jesse Burkett. First baseman Frank Isbell was the ‘opener’ for the game, pitching one inning of three-hit, two-run ball. Then Mertes took over for the next seven plus innings! With just one earned run allowed, Mertes finished the year with a 1.17 ERA; it was the only pitching performance of his career. Both teams also had unorthodox lineups. St. Louis went bananas, with some players manning four different positions during the course of the game. The White Sox didn’t swap positions in-game, but there were some uncustomary assignments: White Sox two-way player Jimmy Callahan, normally a left fielder/pitcher, started at shortstop. Pitcher (and manager) Clark Griffith played left field. And Mertes himself started at catcher, then moved to the mound after one inning. Oh, the game ended one out early, with St. Louis fans rushing the field, apparently tiring of the unique exhibition. October 28, 1920 - Eight members of the 1919 White Sox Charles “Swede” Risberg, Arnold “Chick” Gandil, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, George “Buck” Weaver, Eddie Cicotte, Claude “Lefty” Williams, Oscar “Happy” Felsch and Fred McMullin — were indicted for throwing the World Series, which the White Sox lost, five games to three to the Cincinnati Reds. The grand jury returned five counts of conspiracy to obtain money by false pretenses and/or via a confidence game against these eight “Black Sox.” The group was exonerated by a Chicago jury the next summer but were nonetheless banned for life by the baseball commissioner, Kenesaw “Mountain” Landis who ironically was a White Sox fan. September 28, 1932 - J. Louis Comiskey, the new owner and son of Charles Comiskey tried to rebuild his franchise. He paid an unheard-of-sum (in those days) of $150,000 to the Philadelphia A’s for infielder Jimmy Dykes, outfielder Al Simmons and utility man George “Mule” Haas. Simmons would become a member of the Hall of Fame in 1953 and in three seasons with the Sox twice drove in over 100 RBI’s. Dykes played for the Sox for four full seasons and parts of three others while also managing the club starting in 1934! He’d manage the team for 12 full seasons and a part of a 13th. He’d have five winning years and one season at .500 in that time. He also had the distinction of scoring the first ever run in the All-Star Game going 2 for 3 in the 1933 contest. September 28, 1959 - The White Sox team photo appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The caption read, “Chicago’s New Champions Sit For Their Portrait.” September 28, 1997 - Frank Thomas won the batting championship with a .347 average. He joined Luke Appling as the only Sox players to do this at that time. Tim Anderson would also win the batting title in 2019. Thomas was one of only a handful of players in Major League history with a batting title and at least 450 home runs to their credit. Thomas was also the largest player (both in height and weight) to ever win a batting crown. Thomas had 184 hits in 530 at bats at year. September 28, 2003 - Sox starter Esteban Loaiza recorded his 21st win of the season, beating the Royals 5-1. The 21 wins tied the Major League record for the most wins in a season by a pitcher born in Mexico. Loaiza tied the mark set by Fernando Valenzuela in 1986. He went 21-9 with a 2.90 ERA. He’d finish second in the Cy Young voting that season. Two 1-0 losses to a last place Tigers team probably cost him winning it.

September 27, 1920 – A 2-0 win over the Tigers gave Dickie Kerr his 20th win of the season in a game that took all of 66 minutes, one of the quickest games in franchise history. But it also gave the White Sox their fourth 20-game winner of the season with Kerr joining Urban “Red” Faber, Ed Cicotte and Claude “Lefty” Williams in that category. Major League Baseball wouldn’t see four 20-game winners on a club again until the 1971 Baltimore Orioles did it with Mike Cuellar, Jim Palmer, Dave McNally and Pat Dobson. This also was the final game the White Sox played before news broke nationally of the scandal that was soon to engulf the team and baseball regarding the 1919 World Series. Before the next afternoon’s game both Cicotte and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson admitted to involvement in the fixing of the series and owner Charles Comiskey promptly suspended eight players who were eventually found innocent in court but banned from the game by commissioner Kenesaw “Mountain” Landis. September 27, 1953 - The Sox beat the St. Louis Browns 2-1 in 11 innings behind Billy Pierce. It was the last American League game ever played in St. Louis since the Browns would be moved to Baltimore during the off season after they were sold by future Sox owner Bill Veeck. Pierce went all 11 innings allowing only seven hits, striking out eight. September 27, 1959 - The Sox closed their championship season with a 6-4 win at Detroit and when the final stats were in, second baseman Nellie Fox pulled off a rare feat. Fox wound up leading all American League second baseman in fielding percentage, put outs and assists. This game also saw one of the more unusual triple plays in Sox history. In the third inning Tiger first baseman Gail Harris hit a ground ball that turned into the triple play because of baserunning errors by Detroit. On the grounder back to pitcher Bob Shaw, the Tigers Tom Morgan broke for home and was thrown out. During the play Harris attempted to get to second and was out as Sox third baseman John “Bubba” Phillips covered and tagged him. On that play Harvey Kuenn then broke for the plate and was caught in a rundown, Phillips to Johnny Romano to Luis Aparicio who tagged him ending the inning. September 27, 1963 - During the last home double header, the White Sox caught on to the folk music craze sweeping the nation. Between games against the Senators the Sox had a hootenanny promotion where folk groups and singers held a concert on the field. September 27, 1967- The Sox finished the season with the two worst teams in the league, Kansas City and Washington and the fans could smell that elusive World Series in the greatest pennant race ever. However, it all began to fall apart this night as the Sox dropped a double header to the A’s 5-2 and 4-0 after rain postponed the single game Tuesday. The Sox, in the middle of a pennant race, got over three days off, not having played since Sunday afternoon in Cleveland. Pitchers Gary Peters and Joe Horlen got tagged with the losses on “Black Wednesday” but the final embarrassment was yet to come. The normally fundamentally sound White Sox made three errors in the twin-bill disaster and got seven hits. September 27, 1981- In the first game of a double header in Oakland Sox starting pitcher Ross Baumgarten got shelled early. He faced five hitters and all reached base. Manager Tony LaRussa lifted him and brought in LaMarr Hoyt, hoping he could throw a few innings and save the bullpen. Hoyt did a lot more than that. In fact, he went all nine innings, shutting out the A’s on five hits. Even better, his teammates picked him up, wiping out a five-run deficit and winning 9-5. Because Baumgarten never recorded any outs, Hoyt got credit for a complete game…in relief! The Sox would also take the nightcap 10-3 behind a complete game from Jerry Koosman. September 27, 1993 - In front of a capacity crowd at the new Comiskey Park, the Sox won the Western Division by beating Seattle 4-2. It was “Bo” Jackson who clubbed a towering three run blast that just dropped over the wall in left that was the difference in the game. The homer capped off an incredible comeback season for one of the finest athletes in history. Also, in this game Sox starting pitcher Wilson Alvarez saw his streak of 30 consecutive shutout innings snapped when Seattle got to him for two runs in the eighth inning. The Sox went 94-68 and took the title by eight games over Texas. After a .500 start the first two months, beginning on June 1, the Sox got rolling and went 69-45. September 27, 2003 - In one of the highest scoring games in their history, the Sox battered the Royals in Kansas City 19-3. The Sox had a seven run second inning and a five run fifth. They collected 21 hits for the game. Pitcher Bartolo Colon won this one easily going the distance. Joe Crede and Carl Everett both had four RBI’s in the game. September 27, 2011 - Pitcher Mark Buehrle set the franchise record when, for the 11th straight season he made at least 30 starts, won at least 10 games and pitched at least 200 innings. Buehrle set the milestone during a 2-1 win over the Blue Jays. Those numbers were a testament to his ability, dedication and durability. September 27, 2014 - The Chicago White Sox have had a number of great players over the decades. One of them was first baseman Paul Konerko. On this day the Sox honored Paul with a ceremony and unveiled a sculpture of him. The numbers showed he was one of the best players in franchise history. Konerko hit 432 home runs and drove in 1,383 RBI’s with the Sox. He was a six-time All-Star, a World Series champion, the 2005 A.L.C.S. M.V.P. and the 2002 Comeback Player of the Year. He’d play his final game for the Sox the next day and retired after 16 seasons with the club. In May 2015 Konerko returned to U.S. Cellular Field and had his #14 retired.

The Sun-Times stopped paywall stories months ago. They changed ownership philosophy and now rely on contributions from readers to help but if you don't contribute the stories are still unblocked. https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2022/10/6/23389729/paywall-sun-times-dropping-news-journalism-nykia-wright-jennifer-kho-celeste-lecompte?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20230927_Membership_FallCampaign_Email1_CURRENTDIGITALMEMBER&utm_content=20230927_Membership_FallCampaign_Email1_CURRENTDIGITALMEMBER+CID_b7a16de335f527ae7b75dbf07f7ee12d&utm_source=cst campaign monitor&utm_term=We dropped the paywall&tpcc=20230927_Membership_FallCampaign_Email1_CURRENTDIGITALMEMBER

Talks about Anderson et al: https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2023/9/26/23891692/white-sox-getz-still-weighing-decision-on-tim-anderson

It says how decimated this franchise is when literally every pitcher who threw tonight for them are retreads, has-been's, never was's and dumpster dives. Just in September these buffoons have allowed at least 10 runs in a game six times. In my opinion, literally the only guys worth a damn are Clevinger, Cease and maybe Santos. That's it. The rest are all flotsam, jetsam. Total unadulterated garbage.

Hopefully the week ends up the same way for the Cubs completely out of the playoffs.

I went to Brother Rice and you must have had the wrong teachers then.

Lane was a master at trading... getting guys like Pierce, Fox, Donovan, Minoso, Rivera, Lollar and Carrasquel.

Not my thing. But there are many around here who enjoy trout fishing on the Snake River among others.

Sprained MCL, out 2-4 weeks with rest and rehab. (So they say...LOL)

From my interview with Mike Veeck: ML: That group made the first in a long line of faux paux when Eddie Einhorn made a statement the day they bought the club along the lines of ‘we’re going to start running a first class operation.’ Many Sox fans and reportedly your dad were shocked and insulted by that comment. Making it worse was that your dad was right there when it was said. How did your dad and the Veeck family feel about that comment? MV: “We have never equated money with class. Just because we didn’t wear 200 hundred dollar shirts and 3,000 thousand dollar suits didn’t mean we didn’t have manners or didn’t respect other people. The one thing that my family has always done first and foremost was respect the fans of baseball and the game of baseball.” ML: I have heard that supposedly, Eddie Einhorn over the years privately apologized to your dad and tried to mend fences with him to no avail. Is that true? MV: “No… Eddie Einhorn never apologized for that remark, Jerry Reinsdorf did, and there is a difference between those two men.” ML: Basically those owners said it would be the Reinsdorf / Einhorn group or nobody. I guess your dad resigned himself to this but how did he feel about those two individuals? MV: “He was a businessman. He did what needed to be done.”

September 26, 1905 - In a double header at Boston, Sox pitcher “Big” Ed Walsh relieved starter Guy “Doc” White in the first inning of the first game and got the win 10-5. He then started and won the nightcap game 3-1. White didn’t retire a batter so Walsh got credit for a pair of complete games. September 26, 1943 - The Sox set the franchise record for the most runs ever scored in the fourth inning of a game when they put 13 on the board against the Senators at Washington. They’d win the game 15-3. Future Sox star pitcher Early Wynn was the victim of the Sox uprising. Also, of note in the 13-run inning, was the Sox triple-steal on one play, as Thurman Tucker, Guy Curtright and Luke Appling all swiped bases, with Tucker stealing home. The 13 runs are also the most the Sox have ever scored in any single inning. September 26, 1984 - Despite a disastrous season on the field, the Sox drew 2,136,988 fans to Comiskey Park becoming the first Chicago franchise to draw two million or more fans in consecutive seasons. September 26, 1998 - Sox outfielder Brian Simmons became the third player in franchise history to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in the same game. Simmons connected off the Royals Brian Barber in the fourth inning and Allen McDill in the seventh. He drove in five runs in the Sox 13-5 win going 3 for 5 along with two runs scored. In January 2001 he’d be traded to Toronto as part of the David Wells deal that became known as “Shouldergate” September 26, 2011 – He was considered the face of the franchise for eight seasons but on this night after a 4-3 win over Toronto, manager Ozzie Guillen announced he was leaving after owner Jerry Reinsdorf agreed to let him out of the final year of his contract. Guillen, who was the 1985 A.L. Rookie of the Year with the White Sox, won the World Series in 2005 and also got the club into the playoffs in 2008. He had five winning seasons in the eight years as manager and was named Manager of the Year for his work in 2005. In that magical season of 2005, “Ozzie Ball” resulted in the Sox getting off to the best start in their history and with a perfect blend of pitching, speed, power and the ability to execute the fundamentals the Sox were in first place from wire to wire. Then they blitzed through the post season putting together an 11-1 record that was the third best post season record in baseball history. Guillen’s passion and enthusiasm for the franchise was unparalleled but at times he was his own worst enemy. Over his final years in Chicago, he became increasingly thin-skinned and defensive when criticism was directed his way and he lashed out at Sox fans on more than one occasion. Among his famous rants against the fans were one where he said that they could ‘‘Turn off their TVs and stop watching the game if they don’t like the [bleep]ing lineup’’ and another in May 2011 where he claimed Sox fans would not remember him, “As soon as you leave the ballpark, they don’t care about you. They don’t. The monuments, the statues…they pee on them when they get drunk.” On the afternoon of the day he left the team Guillen told reporters that he would not want to return to fulfill his 2012 contract unless he got an extension and more money. Ozzie’s relationship with G.M. Kenny Williams also deteriorated over the final few years because the two men appeared to have different viewpoints over how the roster should be constructed and the style to which the Sox should play. The Jim Thome/DH controversy was an example of the different ideas. Guillen’s family didn’t help the situation with social media comments derogatory to Williams. Many felt when Ozzie was hired in November 2003 that he was the right man for the right team at the right time and for a few years he was. Unfortunately, the manager with the longest tenure since Al Lopez let some personal foibles override a good situation and it was best for all that a parting of the ways took place. September 26, 2020 – In a most bizarre season, a most bizarre stat. The White Sox beat the Cubs Jon Lester winning an important pennant race game 9-5 at Guaranteed Rate Field but it also wrote the team’s name into the record books. For the first time in the modern era a club went an entire ‘season’ without losing a game to a left-handed starter. The Sox went 14-0 against lefties. Yes, the season was only 60 games long due to COVID-19 but the record stands and was entered as such into the history books.

Yep. And will the last healthy Sox player please turn out the lights upon leaving the stadium.

Just making sure you know I was born and raised in Chicago, in the Back of the Yards area, went to Brother Rice high school. I'm Chicago through and through, still doesn't bother me if they move to a suburb and continue to call themselves "Chicago" White Sox. And its Chubbuck, Idaho a suburb of Pocatello. I'm 2 1/2 hours north of Salt Lake City and 3 1/2 hours Southeast of Boise.

When I interviewed Mike he had an interesting take on why Disco Demolition went south: ML: Let’s talk about that night, what went wrong, and what would you have done differently? MV: “My mistake was thinking that we’d get about 35,000 for the promotion. It turned out there were 60,000 inside the park and another 30-40 thousand on the streets around the park. Traffic was backed up all the way out to O’Hare Airport! Who had any idea that many kids would come out? WLUP was a 5,000 watt station; it wasn’t a giant like WLS or WCFL from when I was a kid.” “The other thing that happened was that we moved some of the police off the field. We had an adequate security force for 35,000 fans but not for 60,000. Outside of the park there were some temporary ticket booths staffed by older people. The kids were starting to get out of hand and started rocking those booths. We moved some of the police off the field outside to help. What happened next was the worst thing that could possible happen, the crowd began thinking as one and they realized there were only 35-40 police on the field. When a crowd begins thinking as one there is no such thing as crowd control. They said ‘let’s go on the field!’ ML: Some Sox fans feel DJ Steve Dahl could have done more to help calm the situation; instead he left the park with the riot in full force. Could he have done more to help? MV: “He could have made an effort. I, my dad and Harry Caray were all down on the field trying to regain control and he wasn’t... but the responsibility was mine. It was a bad decision.” “It was also a slow news day and that generated a tremendous amount of publicity, it was also an election year and Jayne Byrne used the situation as an election photo-op. What I most remember is newspaper guys like Bill Gleason saying what a tragedy it was. I know what a tragedy is, my daughter is losing her sight... this wasn’t a tragedy. The sun came up the next day; the Sox played another baseball game a few days later. It was the fourth forfeit in baseball history but how many take the same umbrage at 30,000 Dodger fans throwing baseballs on the field causing the fifth forfeit in baseball?” (Author’s Note: That took place on August 11, 1995 when Dodgers fans threw baseballs by the thousands on to the field with one out in the 9th inning in a game against the Cardinals. St. Louis was awarded a forfeit win.)

You of course have to do as you think best. To me personally it's all the Chicago area... doesn't bother me at all. If that's where they go and if they actually have success all the better as far as I'm concerned.

September 25, 1965 - The Sox set the franchise record by hitting their 15th consecutive solo home run. The streak started at Baltimore on September 2 in the second game of a double header when Johnny Romano homered. The run continued until a game on this date was played in New York. Pitcher Tommy John hit the last home run in the streak. The breakdown saw Ken Berry with five solo home runs, Don Buford, Romano and Pete Ward with a pair each and John, Floyd Robinson, Bill “Moose” Skowron and Bill Voss with one solo home run. The Sox would tie this rather odd record in 2016. September 25, 2015 – The White Sox beat the Yankees in New York 5-2 for the franchises 9,000th win. Carlos Rodon of the Sox went six innings allowing two runs to get the win with David Robertson closing it out for his 32nd save. Mike Olt and Gordon Beckham hit solo home runs for the Sox.

Granted... but the Cubs making a deep playoff run won't help the situation...it will only make it worse.

Story in Tribune today. Says woman who suffered most injuries is being "uncooperative." https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ct-chicago-white-sox-fan-shooting-update-20230925-vsfylwoc45abzbn4fbok7ejz4i-story.html

Sox have got to roll over and die to the Diamondbacks who only have a slight lead over the Cubs in the wild card race. Cubs can't get any home games. Sox getting swept while Cubs are at Atlanta/Milwaukee would help that situation. Cubs will make the playoff with 85 wins but with no home games they should be a quick out.