Lip Man 1

He'll be out at least a month. Typical White Sox.

May 4, 1980 - During an 11-1 loss to the Brewers at Comiskey Park, Mike Squires became the first left- handed catcher to appear in a game since Dale Long in 1958. The move came in the ninth inning and saw Squires behind the plate for four hitters. He’d catch again on May 7 in a 12-5 loss to the Royals, again in the ninth inning and again he’d be behind the plate for four hitters. In the modern era only Long, Squires and Benny Distefano were left-handed throwers who caught in a big-league game. May 4, 1992 - For Sox starter Alex Fernandez it was his best performance on a pitching mound. Fernandez one-hit Milwaukee, winning 7-0 at Comiskey Park. Alex struck out seven allowing only a one out double to Dante Bichette in the second inning. Another Brewer reached base on a walk and a third on an error. Five times with the Sox he posted a season with 10 or more wins before leaving via free agency to the Marlins where he helped that team win a World Series. May 4, 2011 - The Sox lost to the Twins 3-2 at U.S. Cellular Field. It was their 17th loss in 22 games… more alarming however was this. According to the MLB Network, in the previous 20 games the Sox team batting average was .202. That was the worst stretch of hitting over a 20-game period for the franchise since the pitching mound was lowered to create more offense before the start of the 1969 season. May 4, 2021 – In one of the best all-around individual performances by a pitcher in White Sox history Dylan Cease had himself a night in Cincinnati against the Reds in a 9-0 win. Cease went six innings allowing one hit with 11 strikeouts. But as impressive was his 3 for 3 performance at the plate! Cease had two singles and a double. It was the first time he batted in a game since his senior year in high school. He became the first Sox pitcher with three hits in a game since Tom Bradley did it at home against the Orioles on May 14, 1972 in a 4-1 win. Bradley had three singles and an RBI in that game.

Sure..."Another one bites the dust..."

More required reading: https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/white-sox/ct-chicago-white-sox-jerry-reinsdorf-20230503-dokpqkwesng27delfriahnqopu-story.html

Yes.

Injuries impact all teams. Other overcome them in part because they have an actual minor league system that produces people who can contribute and because they were willing to acquire quality depth knowing injuries were going to happen. Rick Hahn and this front office have neither a productive minor league system nor were willing to go out and get the needed depth. Instead second base and right field remain black holes year after year after year after year. Here's the bottom line. He's been the GM for 10 years, he has TWO, count them TWO winning seasons...and they weren't always tanking in that entire time. He couldn't even put together a winning team when they were actually trying to win.

Third baseman Jake Burger left Wednesday’s game with left side discomfort after striking out looking in the fourth inning. Burger appeared to wince after swinging the bat. He is being further evaluated, the team said. Sure glad we got Hanser Alberto! ? Meanwhile Moncada still hasn't gone on a rehab assignment, getting to be a month out of action now.

Here's the thing, maybe someone can find the actual press release. I don't recall in the release JR categorically denying Sampson's statement. As I recall, and I could be wrong, the press release said he "didn't recall" making that comment. "Didn't recall" is a lot different from "I didn't say that" or words to that effect.

Hamilton's hustle proven big. Real hustle and baseball-smarts can win you a lot of games. On the other hand... Cease now is a real concern. Not even close to last season. Far to many damn walks.

The organization does do one thing well...that's pick up every has been, cast off, retread and never was for "minor league depth" LOL. Except those guys usually make their way up to the big club when the injuries hit. Like the Dramatics sang in 1971, "Whatcha see is whatcha get..."

Required reading: https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2023/5/3/23709810/jerry-reinsdorf-truth-make-an-appearance-as-white-sox-struggle-rick-hahn-world-series-david-samson?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=042823 Afternoon Edition&utm_content=042823 Afternoon Edition+CID_c6de1d3397bb43a99a01f8d488cbbc0b&utm_source=cst campaign monitor&utm_term=make an appearance as the White Sox struggle&tpcc=042823 Afternoon Edition

From a story at MLB.com today a polling of MLB executives showed Giolito getting the most votes as "likely to be traded." Anderson and Lynn also got votes. Sox were the only team on the list with three players. "Talk to me after the parade!" ?

Agreed, if nothing else if he is productive the Sox can get something for him come July when Hahn announced a rebuild on the rebuild (which was on a rebuild...)?

I would basically agree with this although I'd add he also is sharp and shrewd enough to stretch things right to the absolute limit of the law. Remember he got his professional start working for the IRS. In fact, ironically, one of his first cases was with a guy named Bill Veeck!

I'm not getting into the parsing of 'terrible stuff" or not. I'm simply giving examples that like all of us there are many sides to this guy.

On his part in trying to stop Nintento from buying the Mariners: “Meanwhile the ownership committee fumed. One member was Jerry Reinsdorf, and he felt strongly that this committee and not the commissioner– were empowered to act upon ownership applications. And this idea of the Japanese...he didn’t like it and he wrapped himself in the flag. To one committee meeting Reinsdorf even brought a clip from ‘Field of Dreams’ in which James Earl Jones rhapsodizes on America and baseball. (The real reason for Reinsdorf’s stance, though some skeptics, was his resentment of a sad-sack franchise being bought for top dollar by a deep pockets owner. How would the union ever be convinced of baseball’s economic peril? Invoking the yellow peril was the only answer.) In the end, Reinsdorf couldn’t stop Nintendo but he could hold the buyer to strict conditions. Nintendo’s voting stock in the franchise would be less than 50 percent and the Mariners operating chief would have to be a local hand. It turned out to be a Seattle utility executive named John Ellis. “– From the book ‘The Lords of the Realm’ by John Helyar. Pg. 509. Published 1994.

Here's another one that shows JR plays the hardest of hardball: “In 1988, Frank Morsani had tried to prevent Jerry Reinsdorf from getting American League approval for moving the White Sox to Tampa. He contacted several team owners, including the owner of the Baltimore Orioles, Edward Bennett Williams -- who in 1960 mounted a legal challenge to Calvin Griffith's relocation of the Washington Senators to Minnesota. Reinsdorf heard about it and became royally pissed off. Morsani tried to block our move to St. Petersburg, Reinsdorf says. He fought us in the [Florida] legislature. And he went to see Edward Bennett Williams, who at the time owned the Orioles, and asked him to vote against the White Sox move to St. Petersburg. If baseball came to St. Petersburg, [Morsani] wanted to be involved. He had invested several million dollars trying to get an expansion team and if we came in; his money was going down the drain. But him going to see Williams was like someone who is not a member of a country club going to a member of the country club and asking him to vote against the admission of a third person. Ed Williams and I were members of the same country club and Morsani was not. I didn't think that was right. Later in the same year, when Morsani attempted to buy the Texas Rangers, it was widely believed Reinsdorf was the man who stood in his way. Reinsdorf opposed the sale of the Rangers to Morsani; he also objected to broadcaster Ed Gaylord as owner. For blocking Morsani and Gaylord, the American League told Reinsdorf to find a qualified buyer for the Texas franchise. This made Reinsdorf even madder at Morsani, because he believed the price agreed upon by Morsani and Rangers owner Eddie Chiles was too high, making it tough to find an owner. However, Reinsdorf is generally credited with creating the George W. Bush ownership group. Reinsdorf never forgot or forgave Morsani's actions, giving the Tampa car dealer a powerful and vocal opponent among baseball owners. Of Reinsdorf, Morsani says, I am not crazy about a lot of things that he did. In the spring of 1990, Allen Keesler took Morsani to the White Sox spring training camp in Sarasota to try and patch things up between his friends. The trio sat in Reinsdorf's box, ate lunch and talked. Allen was trying to patch things up between Morsani and me, Reinsdorf says. I was very angry because I felt, number one, he should be more civic-minded. Reinsdorf believed that despite Morsani's personal investment, he should have supported any baseball team that came to Tampa Bay, whether he owned it or not.” From the internet story, ‘Stadium for Rent: Tampa Bay’s Quest for Major League Baseball’ by Bob Andelman. Chapter 10. Published 1993.

That is just one thing and the fact that the point was even raised is at least an indication someone had a concern.

May 3, 1968 - It’s a dubious record, one that first baseman Tommy McCraw wishes never happened. In the third inning of a game at Comiskey Park, McCraw made three errors against the Yankees. Two of them came when he couldn’t field ground balls and the third was on a throwing error. New York scored all of their runs in that frame in beating the Sox 3-2. All the runs were unearned of course. May 3, 2005 - With a comeback win over Kansas City, 5-4, the White Sox established a Major League record by holding a lead in their first 26 games of the season. That broke the old mark set by the Brooklyn Dodgers. After trailing all game, the White Sox took the lead on a Carl Everett double to right-center, scoring Scott Podsednik and Tadahito Iguchi with the eventual deciding tallies. The win improved Chicago to an MLB best 19-7 record. The White Sox would extend this record to 37 before playing a game in which they failed to hold a lead. That happened on May 15 when they never led in a 6-2 loss to the Orioles at U.S. Cellular Field.

Found this quote interesting today in a story at MLB.com: “Not much has gone right on the South Side,” an AL executive said of the Sox, who ended April with an 8-21 record. “They might be forced to rebuild the rebuild.”

Like with every individual there are some things that do raise concern about character. I did a 75 page 'biography' of JR so that I'd have research material on hand for the future many years ago. This was one item: Wound up selling Balcor to American Express for 53 million dollars (although others have claimed it was for much more.) After the sale, rumors surfaced of American Express being upset at some of the things they had supposedly found in the company books, however these ‘charges’ were never followed up or proven and must be considered a myth.

It was in L.A. Remember JR spends a lot of time in Arizona now so it isn't that far.

Well other then the end how did you like the play Mrs. Lincoln?

Great a two game winning streak! Next stop...the parade. And Colome fits right in with this brutal bullpen. ?

The problem is the highly paid front office is the one who is supposed to have that answer. ?