Lip Man 1

He's been assigned to Charlotte.

Like I say take care of yourself and hope to be alive to see the changes.

Burger is an issue defensively no question. But unlike Moncada I get the sense Burger at least wants to play and to try to provide for his family. To me that's a big deal even though Moncada has far more talent. But what good is it when the guy is supposedly always hurt?

Solak has been assigned to Charlotte. Didn't know much about him but Jim Margalus of Sox Machine did a deep dive into today's moves. Don't expect miracles from Solak is basically what he writes. Guy is defensively challenged and outside of a small stretch with Texas can't hit: https://soxmachine.com/2023/04/white-sox-reinstate-eloy-jimenez-from-il-shelve-yoan-moncada/

You are right, no guarantees with new ownership that anything will change. But we know how things have deteriorated under the ownership since 2007. I'll take my chances.

As long as ownership remains the same, the front office will remain the same which translates to more incompetence in 2025.

Sox have had this "philosophy" from back in the Jermaine Dye days.

He'll milk it and be out a month. Sox may be able to trade him if they pay a large part of his salary next year but that's still going to be difficult to do. I didn't care for the WBC when it was first announced and I care even less for it now. Grifol has already publicly stated he thinks Moncada's back issues were caused by the halfway round the world flights from Arizona to Taiwan, from Taiwan to Miami and then from Miami back to Arizona. But hey it's more important to play for a country in a meaningless made for TV tournament than playing for the team that's paying you millions of dollars. And once again the Sox play shorthanded for a week, "hoping" his back got better. Nothing changes.

April 14, 1910 - Sox pitcher Frank Smith fired the franchises only opening day one-hitter as he beat the St. Louis Browns in Chicago 3-0 in front of almost 24-thousand fans. Smith would later go on to pitch for the Red Sox and Reds. The only hit he allowed the Browns came off the bat of outfielder Ray Demmitt who’d later play for the White Sox in 1914 and 1915. April 14, 1917 - Sox pitching star Eddie Cicotte no-hit the St. Louis Browns, easily winning 11-0. The game was at St. Louis and is the earliest no-hitter ever thrown by a Sox pitcher in a season. Only one member of the Browns came close to a hit but Jim Austin’s ground ball was ruled an error in the eighth inning when it went right through first baseman Arnold “Chick” Gandil who was in position to make a play but the ball bounced past him. April 14, 1942 - Because of the intervention of President Franklin Roosevelt, Major League Baseball continued during the World War. The Sox would lose to St. Louis 3-0, this opening day in front of less than 10-thousand fans. According to the reports at the time it was a very quiet, somber crowd. Marines and sailors marched in carrying the American flag from center field. Pearl Harbor was still etched in everyone’s memories. April 14, 1953 - Cleveland’s Bob Lemon, who’d go on to manage the Sox in 1977 and some of 1978, almost duplicated Bob Feller’s opening day no-hitter, holding the Sox to one-hit in winning 6-0. Feller’s gem is the only opening day no-hitter in MLB history. He did it in 1940. “Minnie” Minoso got the only White Sox hit and that came in the first inning, a single to left field. April 14, 1955 - The White Sox and Sandy Consuegra defeated the Kansas City Athletics 7-1 in the Comiskey Park home opener. The game was the first ever between the Sox and the Athletics since the A’s move from Philadelphia to Kansas City. Sandy went the distance allowing only three hits. Right fielder Bob Nieman drove in three runs on the day, a pair coming on his sixth inning home run. April 14, 1964 - The bittersweet 1964 season began with the Sox dropping a 5-3 decision to the Orioles in Chicago. Hoyt Wilhelm gave up two runs and three hits to lose the game. The 1964 White Sox would win 98 games...only to finish one game behind the Yankees for the pennant. April 14, 1981 - In the home opener for the season and for new owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn, 51,560 fans poured into Comiskey Park to see the new faces and new attitude. The Sox put on a show, blowing apart Milwaukee 9-3. The big blow was Carlton Fisk’s grand slam in the fourth inning into the seats in left center field, off former Sox hurler Pete Vuckovich. Another Sox newcomer, Greg Luzinski would have two hits and drive in two runs himself that afternoon. April 14, 2017 – The White Sox started an all-Garcia outfield at Minnesota, marking the first time in Major League history a team's three starting outfielders all had the same last name. All three collected hits, including Willy Garcia, who doubled in his first big league at-bat in the second. He played left field with Leury Garcia in center and Avisail Garcia in right. Leury had a hit and Avisail had a pair in the game. The Alou brothers all played in the outfield for San Francisco in 1963 a few times but all three never actually started the game. The Sox would win the contest 2-1. April 14, 2021 – He’s always had the talent, he just could never stay healthy but on this night, Carlos Rodon put it all together and threw the 20th no-hitter in White Sox history as he beat the Indians 8-0 at Guaranteed Rate Field. He got all the support he needed as the Sox put six runs on the board in the first inning. Rodon almost went one step further and achieved the pitcher’s ultimate game as he retired the first 25 hitters in a row and was working on a perfect game before an 1-2 slider got away from him and he hit Roberto Perez in the left foot. He then retired the final two hitters to finish off the no-hitter. Carlos threw 114 pitches, striking out seven in the win. He’d become a free agent and sign with the Giants for 2021 before becoming a free agent again and sign a monster contract to pitch for the Yankees.

Twins had a nine run first inning in New York. Four up on the Sox already after two weeks. With the Sox brutal next three weeks, the injuries, the issues...this could get very ugly, very fast. We'll see who is actually available (willing) to play tomorrow for the Sox. Listened to Garfein latest podcast on You Tube earlier today (speaking of Baltimore) he said that after the Orioles came in and took three of four from the Sox he knew "the season was over." Garfein said he'd never publicly said that last year but that's what he was thinking.

Reading the story I sense was from the way he wrote what he did that he wasn't necessarily referring to Crochet as "late May-early June" that the time frame was fluid for both Hendriks and Crochet. I'm guessing Hendriks would be more June.

Maybe a better question would be what free agent would WANT to sign with this organization unless they overpay given the poor track record.

Correct in my opinion. Hahn "hoped" they'd get through the year OK on this issue. "Hope" is not a strategy. "Hope" rarely works out.

This is a terrific piece looking at the total history of Rick's free agent signings and the value, positive or negative, they brought to the Sox: https://www.southsidesox.com/2023/4/13/23681821/white-sox-a-rick-hahn-assessment-part-two-free-agency There's also a link to the previous story on a deep-dive in his trade history.

Let's just say you are close in your guessing.

Had MLB had two divisions say during the Sox "Golden Age" from 1951-1967 they would have made the post season six times. And 1965 wasn't even their best club...that was 1964.

I wish I could say this is a possibility but literally everything I've been told by numerous folks who would know, say this is a pipedream. As long as JR is alive he's not selling and he is loath to fire anybody (as long as they are loyal and the Sox are making money).

Well since the start of the 2007 season the Sox have had only five winning seasons out of 16 years so those numbers make sense.

I don't know if the Sox deliberately tanked the Machado situation but I was told by a source he used the Sox, he had no intention of signing with them.

April 13, 1965 - The Sox turned the tide so to speak from 1964, beating the Orioles in Baltimore opening day, by the score of 5-3. They lost to the same club to open the 1964 season at Comiskey Park by the exact same margin. Tommy John, making his White Sox debut, picked up the save for Gary Peters. He struck out “Boog” Powell with two on in the ninth inning to close it out. The 1965 White Sox would win 95 games under Al Lopez in his last full season as Sox skipper. They finished in second place, seven games out. April 13, 2009 - The White Sox beat the Tigers, 10-6, in a unique game in baseball history. Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning — both times reaching the 300-homer career mark! According to Baseball-Reference, no teammates have EVER reached 300, 400, or 500 home run milestones in the same game, much less the same inning or with back-to-back blasts.

The do have a seat at the table...the kids table.

90 losses, 88 losses, 87 losses. It's all the same crap...another losing season, another year urinated away in a supposed "window of contention." If you can't at the very least win more games than you lose the number of losses really is irrelevant (save for draft position)

Exactly correct. In that case the fascinating item is going to be how Hahn "sells" this to a fan base ready to come after him with pitchforks and burning torches.

No they shouldn't but the reality is JR apparently has lost interest (if you listen to Hawk and others) and if the last 15 years of dysfunction hasn't gotten through to him nothing will. He's made it plain publicly multiple times he's not selling (primarily because of a massive tax hit) so there's only one thing left that will cause the needed change.

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoy reading them.