Lip Man 1

Where have we heard this before? How many times since April??? Inquiring minds want to know: “It’s tough to hit somebody like that if you chase pitches,” manager Pedro Grifol said to DVS of the Sun-Times. “You can game plan against anybody but you have to stay in the strike zone.” ? Grifol was talking about the approach to Verlander tonight. Stupid is as stupid does...

Guessing it is both. The Sox don't teach very well and as history shows they get a large number of "baseball-stupid" players.

I don't ever recall Kenny saying anything along those lines. Doesn't mean it didn't happen but I don't remember anything like that. I do remember JR saying that he doesn't believe in paying for "potential."

Twins signed him last month.

I think Sox fans in various ways have been indicating how frustrated and disgusted they are with the situation. Unfortunately the owner doesn't care, he's making a lot of money and at his age refuses to change his beliefs plus JR has never liked being told or forced to do something he doesn't want to do. Basically you just take care of yourself and hope to outlive current ownership...that's really all you can do.

July 19, 1946 - In a strange game at Boston, umpires “Red” Jones and Bill Summers ejected or sent to the clubhouse 12 White Sox players, a coach and the batting practice pitcher due to bench jockeying and criticizing calls. In the third inning a high and tight pitch to Ted Williams resulted in a warning from umpire Jones to Sox pitcher Joe Haynes. Someone in the dugout yelled out, “Hey, meathead, what kind of call is that?” resulting in ejections to Ralph Hodgin, Dario Lodigiani, Eddie Smith, Leo Jones and coach Ed “Bing” Miller. The next inning after more comments, Jones ordered the nine remaining bench players to the clubhouse but they were eligible to be recalled to the field if needed. Players in the bullpen weren’t sent to the clubhouse. The nine people who were sent off were Johnny Rigney, Mike Tresh, Hal Trosky, Guy Curtwright, Eddie Lopat, Frank Whitman, Mizel “Whitey” Platt, Wally Moses and the batting practice pitcher. Naturally Boston would go on to win the game 9-2. July 19, 1960 - In a game at Comiskey Park, Luis Aparicio got an inside the park home run in the fourth inning off Boston’s Frank Sullivan. The play drove in three runs. It was Aparicio’s third inside the park home run in four years (1956-1960). The Sox won the game 6-0. Aparicio’s first ‘regular’ home run came on May 28, 1956 off the Athletics Tommy Lasorda! July 19, 1970 - Luis Aparicio Day was staged at Comiskey Park. The future Hall of Famer was praised for his many years of service in a pre-game ceremony. With the Sox in the middle of the worst season in franchise history, only 18,587 showed up on a rainy day for the double header with Baltimore. Aparicio would go 4 for 9 on the day as the Sox split the twin bill. July 19, 2022 – White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson was the starter at that position for the American League at the All-Star Game in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium. He became the first Sox player to start at that position in the game since Luis Aparicio did it in the 1970 contest in Cincinnati. Anderson was involved in some plays in the field and also recorded a single as the A.L. won 3-2 running their winning streak to nine in a row. His teammate, Liam Hendriks, who saved the 2021 game in Denver for the A.L. came on in the eighth inning recording an out and being credited with a hold.

Things will get better after the parade! ?

To be fair the 2020 season was only 60 games...who knows if they could have made it if they played a full slate. And the back to back was the first time ever in franchise history. They were the last of the original 16 franchises to do it.

He seems to be doing fewer and fewer games every year now. Nice work if you can get it!

July 18, 1921 - The trial for eight White Sox players known as the “Black Sox” began in Chicago. The players were accused of trying to defraud the public by throwing the World Series. A jury found the players innocent; however, Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned them for life and destroyed one of the finest teams on paper in baseball history and perhaps the only team that could have stopped the emerging Yankee dynasty. July 18, 1936 - Sox outfielder Ray “Rip” Radcliffe became the first player in franchise history to ever collect six hits in a game. He went 6 for 7 with four RBI’s and four runs scored in the Sox 21-14 win over the Athletics in Philadelphia. July 18, 1948 - In the first game of a double header in Philadelphia, Sox outfielder Pat Seerey hit four home runs in a game against the A’s. The Sox would win the slugfest 12-11 in 11 innings. He’s the only Sox player to ever hit that many in a single contest. He went 4 for 6, with seven RBI’s and four runs scored. The seven RBI’s is one off the franchise record for a single game. His home runs came in the fourth, sixth, seventh and 11th innings and his blow in the 11th was the game winner. July 18, 1984 - A dud of a deal because of the long-term implications. The Sox traded Chicago native, relief pitcher Kevin Hickey and prospect Doug Drabek (the player to be named later) to the Yankees for Roy Smalley. Smalley did nothing on the South Side...eventually Drabek would wind up as the ace of the great Pirate teams of the early 1990's winning the Cy Young Award. He finally pitched for the Sox in 1997 going 12-11 but his ERA was 5.74 July 18, 2008 – The White Sox brought their hitting shoes to the park for their game with the Royals. The first eight batters for the Sox reached base safely as part of a six run first inning. They’d wind up winning the game 9-5. Orlando Cabrera led off with a single, A.J. Pierzynski singled, Carlos Quentin was hit by a pitch, Jermaine Dye singled, Jim Thome singled, Paul Konerko singled, Nick Swisher singled and Joe Crede singled. The hits all came off Zach Greinke. July 18, 2021 – In the Sox 4-0 win over the Astros in Chicago a couple of franchise records were set. Shortstop Tim Anderson became the first player to have a hit and score a run in 11 straight games breaking the tie he had with several other players. The record came when he had a solo home run in the fifth inning. Also, that afternoon Carlos Rodon set the team mark by striking out at least eight hitters in 10 straight starts. He was tied with Juan Pizarro for that record. Rodon struck out 10 batters only allowing one-hit in seven innings of work.

That was partly because of the results of the study the Sox commissioned. Like I posted they never revealed what that study determined. They also hired a biomechanical specialist.

No Montgomery?

PTATC: I thought you'd be interested in this (if you haven't seen it already). It is from my "State of the Sox" story this past November. Spoke with a half dozen sources for it. Keep in mind over the last six years or so the Sox have gone through three trainers and members of the strength and conditioning staffs have been let go. On the constant injuries “Alan Thomas (Author’s Note: Thomas was the Director of Strength and Conditioning) was let go because his son was draft eligible and he was told the Sox no longer wanted to draft sons of members of the organization. Turns out his kid is playing center field for the Diamondbacks. I’m not saying he’d be playing center field for us but he’s good enough to be in the Major Leagues. I don’t know the new guy they brought in, but guys are getting hurt left and right.” (Author’s Note: I had heard Thomas disagreed with the results of the Sox injury study conducted last winter which was never released to the media or public. I was told he felt the Sox issues were only caused by the COVID restrictions. “The Sox play checkers where others teams play chess” when it comes to injury prevention, conditioning, nutrition, sleep schedules is a phrase I had heard mentioned.) “The White Sox playing shorthanded started in 2007 when Jermaine Dye got hurt and Kenny Williams refused to call up Brian Anderson or Ryan Sweeney. Maybe they were cheap, maybe they wanted to protect Herm’s record of keeping guys off the DL.” (Author’s Note: Herm Schneider was the Sox longtime head trainer and for years the Sox were among the league leaders in keeping players healthy.) “Jake Peavy made the comment one time, ‘They have no reservations about playing shorthanded.” “You know about Mike Reinold right? (Author’s Note: Reinold is the White Sox Senior Medical Advisor) He was fired by the Red Sox because he was injecting players with Toradol.” (Author’s Note: Bleacher Report had a story on this situation published in February 2013. Here is the link to that story: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1530943-ex-red-sox-trainer-mike-reinold-injected-players-with-controversial-substance) “Given the inordinate amount of soft-tissue injuries they have had you’d think that they would do a complete change in the training, conditioning and nutritional areas.”

same GM

From my story this past November from a source: “The problem with this team is there was no real leadership, nobody to hold guys accountable. No red-asses like the Sox had in the past… Carlton Fisk, Jack McDowell, A.J. Pierzynski. Paul Konerko was a quiet guy but when we weren’t doing well he’d get really pissed. Elvis Andrus tried to supply some leadership when he came and Lucas Giolito tried.”

The Sun-Times no longer charges for viewing stories, they changed that months ago. They just want you to register but stories are free.

July 17, 1959 - It was a pitcher’s duel for the ages and one of the key games in the 1959 season. The Sox were in New York and before over 42,000 fans, Ralph Terry and Early Wynn hooked up in a classic. After eight innings Terry had no-hit the Sox...Wynn allowed the Yankees one hit, that an infield single in the sixth inning to his mound opponent. In the top of the ninth Jim McAnany broke up the no-hitter with a single to center leading off the inning. The Sox would eventually score two runs thanks to Jim Landis’ bases loaded hit. Wynn closed down New York in the last of the frame and the Sox had a 2-0 win. It was Landis who also had the defensive play of the game, maybe of the regular season, when he robbed Mickey Mantle of an inside-the-park home run with a sensational catch out by the monuments in center field 460 feet away from home plate in the fourth inning. July 17, 1989 - In a game at Comiskey Park against the Yankees, Carlton Fisk notched his 2,000th career hit. It came in the first inning on a single to center off of former teammate Dave LaPoint. He’d have three for the evening in the Sox 7-3 win along with an RBI and a run scored. At the time he was the 173rd player ever to reach the 2,000 hits mark. July 17, 2022 – He came over from the Cubs in the Jose Quintana deal and it was showing to be one of the best trades made by the Sox in recent memory. Pitcher Dylan Cease was dominant against the Twins in the last game before the All-Star break going seven innings, allowing one hit and striking out eight in the 11-0 win. With the eight strikeouts he passed Chris Sale as the fastest White Sox pitcher ever to record 500 of them. He did it just short of 400 innings of work. Sale’s record was recorded in a little over 472 innings pitched. Cease and two relief pitchers only allowed Minnesota that one hit, a single by Alex Kirilloff in the fifth inning.

Garfein on his latest podcast said JR is "miserable" and won't go for another rebuild/tear down.

They'll sign some end of the road guys to one year deals hoping to catch lightening in a bottle like they always do.

40-55 in the supposed middle of the "championship window..." That's all folks.

"Only" is a relative term especially when the overall budget is probably going to be drastically slashed and the Sox are going to have to try to fill numerous gaping holes. At least try to get someone who can actually stay on the field.

Part of the issue I think with both Moncada and Eloy (well two issues) are they were given huge contracts before proving a damn thing and that impacted them negatively and second they are both built like Greek Gods, yet both are made of glass because of it.

For the 19th time, that's right DVS of the Sun-Times listed his missing in action stints since he was called up to the Sox last month in the newspaper, our guy Eloy is going to miss time "at least the next four or five days..." Of course the Sox won't put him on the IL and play shorthanded. LOL. https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2023/7/16/23796778/eloy-jimenez-exits-white-sox-game-with-groin-tightness Please trade this stiff! So tired of this crap. ?

Only thing that could save it would be a change of heart by JR or new ownership.

With what they owe him he isn't going anywhere (no one wants him unless the Sox eat most of the salary). They are stuck with him until the end of next year then..."he gone!" They'll play him you can bet on it. Burger will take a seat until Eloy goes on the IL yet again.