Lip Man 1

From DVS story tonight in the Sun-Times. Have the Sox seen enough of his struggles? Sox probable starters for the weekend series in Detroit list Saturday as TBD in Michael Kopech’s turn. Kopech (5.31 ERA) has walked 31 batters and allowed 24 earned runs in his last 28 1⁄3 innings over seven starts. He was pulled from his start Sunday after recording just five outs and walking five batters. “We’re still in the process of communicating, not with Kopech, but as an organization, to see what we’re going to do,” Grifol said. “Why? That’s going to stay internal.” Story also said Crochet started another rehab assignment in Birmingham.

Bummer is awful and has been for a few years. "Bad luck" my ass.

Cubs at one point were nine games under and dead last in the division, then they played 10 consecutive games against the Cardinals and White Sox...then they had another stretch of 12 straight against the Sox, Royals, Tigers and Pirates.

I never understood that attitude (we're Chicago's American League team) either given the fact that both JR and EE spent a number of years in Chicago first off at Northwestern Law school (Einhorn was actually a vendor at Comiskey Park in the 1950's). They HAD to know that Sox fans were never going to root for the Cubs and Cub fans weren't going to root for the Sox. If you wanted to take control of the market you had to be aggressive.

That's what happens when you have an organization that knows what the hell they are doing.

Never underestimate the deniability of this organization.

From as far back as when they bought the team in 1981, the philosophy towards the Cubs was best expressed by Eddie Einhorn, "We're Chicago's American League team..." They never grasped the fact that the Cubs are their competition. They've always had the mindset 'we only care how we are doing.' Very big mistake. The only time someone in the organization took on the Cubs was Brooks Boyer's brilliant ad campaigns "Us vs. Them" and when someone put up the billboard across the street from Wrigley Field that said, "Real baseball played 8.1 miles south..."

Make sure you let the Sox, or Brooks Boyer, know exactly WHY you are cancelling.

https://soxmachine.com/2023/09/as-white-sox-get-worse-so-does-chris-getz-introduction/

September 6, 1903 - Guy “Doc” White of the White Sox hurled a one-hitter in beating Cleveland 1-0 in 10 innings in a game in Chicago. It would be the first of five one-hitters thrown by White between 1903 and 1908. White never threw a no-hitter by the way. Cleveland’s only hit was by third baseman Bill Bradley. It was a double. He also threw one-hitters against the Browns in 1904, the Athletics and Browns in 1906 and the Senators in 1908. In addition to being a great pitcher White was also a dentist, graduating from Georgetown University and an evangelist. And in what had to have been a baseball rarity then and certainly now, while being an active player in 1902 with the Philadelphia Phillies and in 1903 with the White Sox, White actually umpired Major League games! September 6, 1905 - Sox pitcher Frank Smith tossed a no-hitter against Detroit, in Detroit. The Sox won easily 15-0 and swept the twin bill; both by shutouts. In the game he allowed three walks. Smith would throw a second no-hitter in 1908 and also had three one-hitters between 1905 and 1910. The 15-run no-hitter held the record for the most lopsided no-hitter in the modern era until it was broken in 2016. September 6, 1971 - Sox pitcher Steve Kealey belted a three run eighth inning home run at Comiskey Park off the Twins Ray Corbin in the first of a twin bill. It helped the Sox to a 6-3 win. It would be the last time a Sox pitcher homered in a game at home. Kealey also picked up the save in the same game throwing almost three innings. The Sox would split the day’s contests. September 6, 1981 – It was the beginning of the end for broadcaster Jimmy Piersall in connection with the Sox. Piersall and Harry Caray appeared on the “Mike Royko show” on WLS-TV. Royko asked the duo how they handle baseball wives who disliked the comments they made about their husbands. Caray said, “You know what Mike. I would love to call all the wives together someday and tell them what their husbands say about them across the ballfield.” Piersall’s answer was more controversial to say the least. “First of all, they were horny broads that wanted to get married, and they wanted a little money, a little security and a big strong ballplayer. I traveled, I played. I got a load of those broads too.” September 6, 1999 - In a double header at Texas, manager Jerry Manuel and star DH Frank Thomas got into an argument after Thomas refused to pinch hit in the second game. Manuel was livid and sent Thomas back to Chicago. Thomas had pinch hit in the first game and struck out. It was discovered after examination by team doctors that Thomas saying he was hurt rang true. They found a bone spur the size of a walnut on the outside of his ankle which required surgery and ended his season. September 6, 2008 – The White Sox and Angels battled at U.S. Cellular Field for almost four hours in the middle of a pennant race and played 15 innings to boot. That’s when Jim Thome blasted a monstrous home run deep into the right field bleachers to end the game with a 7-6 White Sox win. The contest set the record for the longest game innings-wise ever played in September by two teams; both in first place at the time. The home run was Thome’s 30th on the season.

And it doesn't mean s%*# now does it?

Blow a 6-0 lead...? This team now expects to lose, not win games. 17th time the Sox had a lead in the 7th inning or later...and wound up losing. 7th time they lost the lead in the 9th inning.

Sox fans should break out the VHS tapes and DVD's of past games, past seasons when the team was actually watchable. Also there are a number of games on You Tube from good seasons although not a lot from 1983 unfortunately.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2023/9/5/23860478/white-sox-jerry-reinsdorf-chris-getz-rick-hahn-kenny-williams

Probably this based on JR's public comments.

More flotsam and jetsam.

February 7, 2005 - After one of the more acrimonious disputes in team history, four-time All-Star Magglio Ordonez signed a free agent deal with Detroit. Ordonez engaged Sox management in a war of words over how he was treated, the contract offered to him and his health status. Magglio’s agent, Scott Boras, refused to turn over medical information, which infuriated G.M. Kenny Williams and basically sealed Ordonez’s fate. Then manager Ozzie Guillen publicly called out Ordonez in no uncertain terms as well over the contract situation. Considering the severity of his knee injury, which required a secret trip to Austria for experimental surgery, it was hard to blame the Sox for their stance. Ordonez, who was almost traded to the Red Sox at the winter meetings in 2003 for Nomar Garciaparra, played with the team for six full seasons and parts of two others with 187 home runs and 702 RBI’s. In his full seasons he never hit less than .282 and in five of those years he was over .300.

The White Sox have been having issues with medical, training, conditioning people for decades. Remember KW holding his press conference and using part of it to defend the medical staff after "Shouldergate" and the charges from Sirotka?

"Winning is fun...fun is winning." - Ozzie Guillen

Merkin weighs in on the Burger trade: "Jake Burger has reached 30 home runs, 25 coming with the White Sox. And I don’t understand why he ever was traded from Chicago to the Marlins. That belief is completely independent of the talent possessed by Jake Eder, the left-handed pitcher the White Sox received in return. Eder already is ranked as the No. 5 White Sox prospect and might turn out to be a frontline starting pitcher. Burger still shouldn’t have been traded. People were quick to quote his swing-and-miss rate and his lack of walks, but the 2023 season was the first in which Burger received more than 185 plate appearances. His overall offensive ability remains untapped. There’s been a great deal of talk about leadership in relationship to this White Sox team, and Burger is a leader. It was pretty evident from the overall clubhouse disappointment after he was traded. He showed the ability to learn and adjust, which he has really been applying since missing three years of baseball due to injury. He also was willing to work at every challenge the White Sox gave him: third, first, second. If they wanted him at catcher, he would have done early work behind the plate. He wanted to win and wanted to win with the White Sox. Most of all, he had the ability to change games with one swing, which is missing from this lineup, aside from Luis Robert Jr."

You haven't figured that out by now? JR wants to win...but he wants to win HIS way. Big difference.

September 5, 1993 - In a game at Detroit, Sox star slugger Frank Thomas belted his 40th home run of the year. It marked the first time a Sox player ever hit that many in a season. Thomas’ shot came off Mike Moore in the first inning of the Sox 5-3 win. September 5, 2011 – In the back half of a day/night double header in Minnesota, Sox pitcher Zach Stewart fired a one-hitter beating the Twins 4-0. Stewart, acquired earlier in the season from Toronto, was making only his eighth career Major League start. Stewart retired the first 21 batters before Danny Valencia hit an opposite field double to right to end Stewart's perfect game bid. Zach would end the game with eight strikeouts. The Sox would also win the first game 2-1 behind the strong pitching of Phil Humber. September 5, 2019 – After getting knocked out of the game in the first inning a few days previously, Reynaldo Lopez rebounded to throw one of the best games in his career as he one-hit the Indians winning 7-1 in Cleveland. The right-hander struck out 11 and walked three, in going the distance. Kevin Plawecki delivered the lone hit off Lopez, recording a two-out double in the second that right-fielder Ryan Goins had a play on. A more experienced right fielder might have had a better chance at what was a tough play. The drive scored Jake Bauers from first. Otherwise, Lopez was unhittable, retiring the last 16 batters he faced.

“Accountability around here is not a problem.”- Kenny Williams 4/25/23

Chuck Tanner baseball card replication on the wall...nice

Right...he'll talk to the club and it will go in one ear and out the other.