Lip Man 1

Incompetent, dysfunctional and inept from top to bottom. Chuck's podcast this week should be epic indeed.

Agreed. Should have been done months ago but these are the White Sox who were desperately grasping at anything to try to save the season.

That's why he'll have surgery this off season.

https://www.audacy.com/670thescore/sports/chicago-white-sox/jon-heyman-reacts-to-keynan-middleton-shredding-white-sox

Honestly it probably would be a big help to Tim as well to get a fresh start someplace else.

Glad you enjoy them. I actually have that 9th inning in my library, the WSNS-TV broadcast, Dr. Fletcher from the Chicago Baseball Museum got me a copy. Don't know how he received it. Have had it for several years now. Runs around 20 minutes and includes the post game show with Harry.

August 7, 1910 - Sox pitcher “Big” Ed Walsh fired the first shutout in the original Comiskey Park when he blanked the Washington Senators 4-0. He allowed only two hits and struck out 10 in the game. Senators outfielder William “Wid” Conroy got both of the hits off Walsh that afternoon. August 7, 1970 - In the midst of the worst season in franchise history, some smiles were seen after the Sox unveiled the “Big White Machine,” at Comiskey Park. The car was a 1929 Ford, rebuilt and put together by Sox players Ed Herrmann, Bill Melton, Syd O’Brien and the folks at Hawkinson Ford (now known as Hawk Ford). It circled the Comiskey Park warning track every time the Sox won a home game (which wasn’t often!) August 7, 1972 – He played in the big leagues for 23 seasons, five with the White Sox and his 300 lifetime wins allowed Early Wynn to be inducted into the Hall of Fame on this date. Wynn pitched five seasons for the Sox winning 64 games. He led the American League in innings pitched, games started, strikeouts and wins at various times between 1958 and 1962 when he was in Chicago. He averaged 38 starts a year during that time period. His signature season was the pennant winning year of 1959 when he won the Cy Young Award with 22 wins and an ERA of 3.17. (There was only one award in those days instead of each league having a recipient.) Later he became a White Sox broadcaster in the early 1980’s. August 7, 1974 - Comiskey Park was the site for one of the most exciting games of the early 1970’s and it involved Nolan Ryan. The flamethrower took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Sox and led 1-0 thanks to a Frank Robinson home run. After getting the first out in the inning however it all fell apart for him. Dick Allen beat out an infield hit spoiling the no-hitter and Carlos May reached on an error. Ken Henderson ripped a single to center to tie the game and then with two out, Billy Sharp singled to right to win it. The Sox beat the Angels 2-1 getting all three of their hits in the final inning. Sox pitcher Jim Kaat was brilliant as well and the late rally saved him from a tough loss. August 7, 1994 - In a game in Anaheim, Frank Thomas drove in two RBI’s in the Sox 10-5 win in 12 innings over the Angels. The RBI’s were his 100th and 101st on the season. They’d come in the team’s 110th game which set the franchise mark for fastest to 100 RBI’s. Thomas held the old mark set the year before, when he collected his 100th RBI in the team’s 118th contest.

He should get one a little longer since he did seem to escalate things.

Again in all seriousness he could sleep with a dozen women, I don't give a s%*# but when that impacts what he does on the field, AS HE HAS ADMITTED that the off field situation has come into play, that's when I draw the line. He was designated (possibly without his real consent) as the "face of the franchise." That carries certain responsibilities. In three years he's gone from a talented likeable guy to a scowling, arrogant asshole. Yea, that bothers me. He needs to go. (And so do a few others to stop this slide into embarrassment and irrelevance.)

Because it's part of the narrative just like the Tweets, suspensions and controversies. And I'll continue to bring all of those up since they are part of his problems (and no I'm not a moralist or a conservative Christian or any of that other crap).

Quin: Just to be clear my point about Anderson sleeping around and I should be OK with that was in response to those saying he should be supported unconditionally. Personally what he does off the field is none of my business, couldn't care less but it's clear his off the field antics HAVE been impacting his on-field performance and embarrassing the organization.. How could they not if you are a normal human being? It's gone off the rails and he and the Sox need a divorce and a fresh start.

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/yankees-reliever-rips-no-rules-white-sox-after-trade-says-rookies-were-sleeping-in-bullpen-during-games/

Remember last year the SELL THE TEAM signs at the park? And the billboards in the spring? As long as they make a lot of money nothing is going to embarrass them. If something really would, given all the dysfunction and incompetence it would have had an impact by now. It's simple, nothing changes and nothing will change until current ownership is gone.

An additional thought on this issue. When you think about it, it really doesn't matter if Anderson was "wrong" or "right" with what happened Saturday. It's the fact that yet again he was involved in a situation. Again. After the first half dozen times a pattern starts to form doesn't it? The off the field drama, the suspensions, the controversies, the comments which many consider arrogant. For whatever reason or reasons he can't stay away from situations and incidents. They may not be all his fault but at the very least he helps them along. He simply can't help himself and that's why they are going to continue as long as he is with this organization.

Here you go, it's up at the Sun-Times: https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2023/8/6/23822523/ex-white-sox-reliever-keynan-middleton-says-team-has-no-rules-accountability-yankees Monday is going to be VERY interesting.

Well there was one time when even JR had enough. Remember when Ozzie and Kenny were going at it publicly almost daily. The Sox were in D.C. and JR had a extremely rare press conference up in the press box/owners box area where he publicly called on both of them to basically shut the hell up and get along. It was the right thing to do at the time. The problem was JR refuses to do this more often, hold people accountable and demand results.

Careful Polish...some folks will feel you are being "disloyal" ?

He was what the bullpen coach? Something along those lines if I remember right. He couldn't have had a lot of say or a lot of authority.

Well said. Absolutely correct. And that's very unfortunate and unforgivable.

So when are you going to answer my comment about why I should "support" an adulterer among other things? I'd like to hear the justification for doing so. The Sox deserved the scorn from Cleveland because they brought it on themselves. They shot their big mouths off and then fell flat on their asses. You earn respect. Tim had everything going for him and like I was told over the winter, "The Sox gave him the keys to the car and he drove it right off the cliff." I have to "support" an idiot? Just because he wears a White Sox uniform? TA doesn't owe me s%*# but he does owe the organization that is paying him millions of dollars to respect it, respect his teammates, respect the game and by proxy respect the city named on his uniform. Instead you get what I've already listed on and off the field. He's the "face of the franchise"...LOL. Yea it completely fits with the complete and total incompetence, dysfunction and ineptness. And if you remember last night I posted that given his injury earlier this year I could understand why he'd get upset with Ramirez slightly pushing his leg but it didn't look like it was a big deal. Later I read where he was shooting his mouth off earlier in the game and the umpire told him to shut up. Again I'm supposed to "support" this without question at all times? ? I'm supposed to "support" and "defend" Anderson but yet somehow it's OK to rip on Clevinger? (And I'm not for a moment defending what he is alleged to have done) What's the difference? They are both embarrassments.

Well he can dodge it by not even bothering to attempt to speak with them.

And as long as they are making a lot of money none of it matters. The embarrassing situations didn't just start in 2021 under this ownership it literally began the day the bought the franchise. 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.” And nothing it seems, no matter how embarrassing, how unseemly, how much bad PR it generates changes anything. JR still feels he's the smartest guy in the room and how dare you question or criticize anything the Sox do. Just a very sad situation.

The story said that's basically what he was told when joining the team but that shouldn't be a surprise, after all guys were told not to run hard last season among other things. But when you consider the remarks Grifol made when he got the job about fundamentals, accountability, ready to kick ass et al Middleton's comments tonight put him squarely in the cross hairs. Nothing has changed under his watch if those comments are accurate (and based on what I've seen and the on-field results I think they are)

The White Flag Trade's impact on attendance was felt for years.

He's got two more years on his contract that's all the "earning" he needs in the minds of the front office/ownership.