Lip Man 1

With free agency coming into play for 1976 and with Finley knowing there was no way he was going to be able to re-sign Blue, Fingers, Rudi, Tenace, Bando et al, yes at the trade deadline in June 1975 (when the A's were at Comiskey Park ironically) he began to sell his stars off in return for young players. The Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers were all involved in going after his players. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn stepped in and voided all the sales, saying it was bad for baseball. Finley's argument (and factually he had a case) was that he built the club (and he did a lot of his own scouting) that enabled the A's to win back-to-back-to-back World Series titles in 72,73,74 and if given the resources he could do it again. Oakland won the division in 72,73,74 and 75 (even with all the turmoil) and in 76 with a bunch of his stars gone still won 87 games and finished 21/2 games behind the Royals for the division again.

Keep in mind though Finley was from LaPorte, Indiana and his insurance company was located downtown in Chicago. He had been wanting to buy the White Sox as far back as 1959, when he offered 500,000 dollars (a gigantic sum at the time) to Dorothy Comiskey for the club. He almost got it too. Had he got the Chicago market by moving the A's to the South Side before the 1976 season it's a reasonable guess that he would have held on to the team longer than he did with the club in Oakland because he was from the area as well as his business interests.

In that scenario a deal would have to be reached between the White Sox (now Seattle) and the A's as far as naming rights, team colors, records etc. As a fairly recent example when the Expos moved to Washington the owners wanted to call them the Senators but the Texas Rangers (the original Senators) held all the rights to the name, team colors, records and so forth. A deal couldn't be reached so the new owners went in a different direction and called the franchise the Nationals. In the NFL though when the Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore, then commissioner Paul Tagliabue stepped in and brokered a deal promising the city of Cleveland first dibs on a new expansion club and ordered that the "new" Browns would retain the rights to the name, team colors and records, that they would not be transferred with the team moving to Baltimore.

For over 15 years I've been compiling news, notes, facts and factoids on the Sox franchise from a historical perspective. I call it, "This Day In Sox History." I thought this would be something fans would enjoy so I'll be posting my notations on a daily basis. I don't have something for all 365 days of the year, but I'd guess for over 300 of them. I hope you will enjoy this. Feel free to comment on any of the events, players etc. this brings to mind for you. Maybe some of you were even at the games when the events took place? And with that, here we go: January 2, 1986 – Former two-time owner of the White Sox, Bill Veeck died at the age of 71. Veeck owned the club from March 1959 through June 1961 and then again from December 1975 to January 1981 when he sold it to the group headed up by Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn. Veeck buying the team the second time, with considerable help from then Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, a big Sox fan, saved the franchise from being moved to Seattle with the Oakland A’s relocating to the South Side. Major League Baseball was trying to settle the lawsuits filed by Washington state, the city of Seattle and King County over the Pilots being relocated to Milwaukee in 1970. Moving the financially strapped White Sox to the Pacific Northwest would have ended the legal issues. Veeck saved the team but never really had the financial resources to make them competitive especially with the advent of free agency. Part of his syndicate included some of the richest people in America but he had made a promise to never go to them for additional funds and to always turn them a profit. He was however known for his promotions, stunts and off-the-wall ideas which ranged from installing a shower in the center field bleachers at Comiskey Park, to broadcaster Harry Caray leading the crowd in singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” in the seventh inning to the infamous “Disco Demolition” night. Veeck was voted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. January 2, 2020 – The White Sox signed Luis Robert to a multiyear contract without him having played a single Major League game. The future Gold Glove winner agreed to $50 million for six years, with team options worth 38 million more over two final seasons. Robert showcased five-tool talent and the ability to impact a game in many ways but his inconsistencies and the injury issues he’s faced caused him not to progress as far or as fast as the team and fans hoped.

Unfortunately that's not happening. Just take care of yourself and hope to outlive current ownership.

The White Sox fan motto should be: "Hope for the best...expect the worst."

True but he's got what 18 million reasons to 'put up' with it.

Balta: You asked the question about the future with the stadium lease expiring in seven years...I asked a source, one of those individuals that I spoke with for my "State of the Sox" story. This was their reply: "Good question. I have never been in a meeting when this issue came up. Probably due to the fact that Jerry will no longer own the club by then and it will be left up to new ownership to deal with."

Here's what I was told, I know the name(s) of the person/people involved but I'm not at liberty to specifically say who they are so I'll speak in general terms. There were some "connections" between some members of the White Sox and people working for Guaranteed Rate, those involved didn''t disclose those connections to JR and tried to play up Guaranteed Rate as much as possible.

I think Sox machine is one of the best sites around covering the Sox around today and this latest story hits home: https://soxmachine.com/2022/12/the-white-sox-have-stopped-trying-to-sell-themselves/

Again from a source in my story on the State of the Sox: “The NBC deal expires in a year or two and the Sox are looking into starting their own network along with the Bulls and Blackhawks. I know before the NBC deal was completed there was some talk about trying to do something then but JR and others thought it wasn’t the right time, the market wasn’t right to get the best deal.”

It's Rick Hahn remember. If I could give him any advice it would be never to talk to the media again. He has zero credibility and simply embarrasses himself when he opens his mouth then has to go back and make excuses.

DeBartolo invented the modern shopping mall in Boardman, Ohio. The Allyn's were businessmen with diversified interests.

It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened. But I guess it would depend on where the move goes to. If it's across the country MLB may look to relocated a current team or expand, which is what almost happened to the Sox before Veeck bought them in December 1975. The plan was for the Sox to move to Seattle ending the lawsuits and then Charlie Finley would move the A's to Chicago where he had always wanted a team.

Balta: I have never heard anything along these lines but that's a good question. I'll try to reach out and see if I can get any feedback.

Your examples came from back in the day when the outside revenue streams (not involving ticket sales) were practically non-existent. In the hear and now especially in Chicago, a good owner with a winning franchise (again considering the overall history of teams in Chicago) would make more revenue than they could dream of. Chicago has advertising, marketing and promotional opportunities other cities simply do not have. Now throw in the sweetheart least that JR has had for decades and (assuming he is still around) the Sox aren't going anywhere. That is one thing JR has done well, he has brought stability to this franchise.

To my knowledge that's incorrect. JR turned down Wintrust not the ISA. he holds that power based on what seems to have transpired.

We shouldn't be surprised by this at all, that been the rumors for months and with the Sox up against the self-imposed payroll restrictions I would have been shocked if things turned out differently.

That I don't know I suspect some of it may but remember JR has so much power and control over the stadium itself and the lease (for example he can veto any activities on the field such as concerts) that this may also be part of the bargain, he gets naming rights money. This particular source (and again I spoke with six) has close intimate knowledge of this particular area being discussed.

From a source in my look at the State of the Sox (one of six sources by the way): “Wintrust offered a much better deal than Guaranteed Rate but part of what Wintrust wanted is the name had to be changed back to Comiskey Park and JR didn’t like that at all. He also wasn’t told some of the details in the agreement that may have made a difference had he knew.”

I know this has been discussed here, along the lines of would you give up on the Sox? Could anything drive you away? Etc. I thought this was very well written trying to describe the emotions of the fan base after last season and why things may be different now: https://www.southsidesox.com/2022/12/29/23529472/2022-the-year-that-broke-chicago-white-sox-fans

Just wondering, why can't you be a fan BOTH of winning and of a particular team? Other fan bases seem to have both...why can't White Sox fans?

The arrogance of this organization under his ownership knows no bounds. "Who are you to criticize us? We know better than you. WE know what we are doing and we're smarter than you! (History shows they don't however...)

It won't.

The Sox will be put on the market in a reasonable amount of time right after JR passes. https://www.southsidesox.com/2022/8/29/23325369/jerry-reinsdorf-selling-chicago-white-sox-not-on-his-life