Lip Man 1

Changing Robin was an absolute must. Don't know how it will work out replacing him with another 'in-house' Sox staffer but at least he actually managed at the major league level before. First time the Sox will have hired someone like that since 1989. Mark

My goodness we've got a bunch of stuff for September 30th! All the items both video AND audio can be found here: http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/10/t...ey-park-closes/ Here is what we've got: September 30, 1990: The final out of the final game at the original Comiskey Park. Announcer is John Rooney. Courtesy: WMAQ Radio. September 30, 2008: Jim Thome's "Blackout Game" home run. Announcers: Dick Stockton, Harold Reynolds and Ron Darling. Courtesy: WTBS. September 30, 2008: The top of the 9th inning as Bobby Jenks closed out the Twins. Announcers: Dick Stockton, harold Reynolds and Ron Darling. Courtesy: WTBS. Enjoy! Mark

No everything ownership does is not wrong...however baseball is a results orientate business and the results the last four years and seven of the last 10 clearly show things aren't working. Those are the unbiased facts...just look at the record, look at the TV ratings, look at the media coverage, look at the attendance. On the topic at hand. I spoke with an individual for an hour Thursday before I left for Portland, have to broadcast a football game in a few hours. That person knows Robin well although I don't know if they have spoken with him lately. After explaining the USA Today story and going over the possibilities this person said they think Robin will walk away from the job next week and return to California. Now we'll see what happens. I've got an all night trip back from Portland tonight into tomorrow but after I get some sleep when the last game is played Sunday I'll have some by the numbers for discussion purposes. Mark

Looking at the Sox 40 man roster in a perfect world, I 'd wish they'd simply cut about 10 of those stiffs who are nothing but deadwood...including Shields. Like I said though that's in a perfect world. Mark

A number of items for September 29th. We start with September 29, 2005 as the Sox are closing in on wrapping up the Central Division title. They are in Detroit leading 4-2 as Bobby Jenks was getting ready to close it out. We've got the final out as called by Ken Harrelson and Darrin Jackson. Courtesy: Comcast Sports Chicago. Then in the locker room Mark Buehrle talked with Chuck Garfien about finally shaking off Cleveland and getting it done. Then we go to September 29, 2008, the Sox are hosting Detroit in a must win game to set up a one game playoff the next night with the Twins. Alexei Ramirez came up with the bases loaded against former Sox started Freddy Garcia and broke it wide open with a grand slam. We've got the audio AND video again it's Ken Harrelson and Darrin Jackson on the call. Courtesy: WGN-TV. All the items can be found here: http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/09/t...complete-games/ Mark

Well they made a run at .500 but it turns out to be four straight years under .500 and seven out of the last 10. Not good. Mark

QUOTE (captain54 @ Sep 29, 2016 -> 03:59 PM) I agree, all across the board......100% There are two ways to look at it... 1) Does the current ownership fall victim to living in a town where they got a terrible luck of the draw? that despite bringing a WS to the city, they still play second fiddle? or 2) Did the current ownership completely drop the ball by not being able to capitalize on being the only MLB team in this town win a title in 100 yrs? Both you and Black Jack make excellent points here. It's the "chicken and the egg" thing. Which came first? There's no question in my mind though, the Sox had their chances to take back their own city and for reasons both under and beyond their control failed to do so or even try in some cases based on their stated operating philosophy from the time new ownership took over. Mark

QUOTE (captain54 @ Sep 29, 2016 -> 03:35 PM) You're probably too young to remember this, but in my lifetime.. there was a rather extended period of time where the White Sox were the #1 MLB in the city, not the Cubs...a stretch of almost two decades..the 50's and 60's..as a matter of fact, it was cause for serious ridicule to publicly admit you were a Cub fan... so it's not a given that the White Sox are relegated to 2nd class status.... That's true...very true. And I didn't realize now metro Chicago is smaller than San Francisco / Oakland...never knew that before. This was part of what I considered an outstanding column in the Sun-Times today just FYI: "Built into the Sox’ distaste for change is a real lack of respect for the fan base. It would take a lot of gall to be as bad to mediocre as the team has been under Ventura and then tell the faithful that you’re re-signing manager Status Quo. It would take almost as much gall to advance a phony storyline to protect Ventura’s feelings over the feelings of fans who have been battered by this franchise for years. Juxtapose all of this with the Cubs’ approach and the Epstein contract extension. The six NBA titles with the Bulls were nice, as was the World Series with the White Sox, but you never get the feeling that winning has been Reinsdorf’s motivation. He has always seemed more grateful for the relationships he has forged over the years, whether it be with Harold Baines, Ozzie Guillen, Paul Konerko, Jim Thome or Ventura, than the winning. But professional sports isn’t about collecting friends. It’s about collecting victories. What do they say? It’s why they keep score." Mark

QUOTE (Black_Jack29 @ Sep 29, 2016 -> 11:29 AM) Except that the Sox don't have a sweetheart TV deal like the Yankees and probably won't any time soon because their ratings suck. MLB is nowhere near where the NFL is in terms of TV/streaming money right now, and those 81 games of ticket/parking/concessions revenue still mean a lot. True but there is also more overall revenue sharing through merchandising, national TV deals and the new technology platforms to watch / stream games then ever before. We are talking a lot of shared money. And just for the record it was Bud Selig himself who claimed MLB is in the same ballpark as the NFL in terms of overall revenue. I'd assume as commissioner at the time he'd have an intimate knowledge of the financial situation for baseball and Selig was never known to tout how strong MLB was financially before this situation. Mark

QUOTE (Black_Jack29 @ Sep 29, 2016 -> 11:00 AM) Uh, yeah, that's it. Ticket revenue doesn't matter when running a sports franchise. It still has some meaning but simply not as much as before the billion dollar TV deals and the myriad ways MLB is producing revenue through non traditional streams. MLB is now in the NFL's ballpark when it comes to generated income. To say nothing of the lease agreement which in some strange ways actually makes it better for the Sox to not draw well since then they don't have to chip in for maintenance fees to the state of Illinois. Mark

QUOTE (miracleon35th @ Sep 29, 2016 -> 11:02 AM) The criticism of JR and of the White Sox is unwarranted. There is no proven correlation between spending on free agents and a team's success. There have been bad moves like Shields and LaRoach, but there have been some good transactions like Abreu, Eaton, Quintana and Sale. JR has spent enormous money on the White Sox and on the Bulls. MJ had the largest player Contract in history. There is a LOT of luck involved in Sports from Drafting players, trades and in the way the ball bounces in games. I am sick and tired of the hand wringing and the finger pointing. Mistakes have been made but baseball is just a game, so there s nothing earth shattering about that. As a Sox fan, just try to look forward to some changes and additions to the team for next season. 29 other teams will be trying to do the same thing. I remember about this time in 2003 when Sox fans were all down and depressed. Things turned around quickly and that can happen again. Fair point although there are some important differences. One is that the Sox had winning seasons in two of the three previous seasons before 2003 (they had a .500 season in the other one),and made the playoffs in 2000... two they had what was regarded as one of the top minor league systems in all of baseball. Three was that they already had on the big league roster young players who were showing they were capable of being very good at the major league level. I don't know if you can make the same claims about the franchise today as they get ready to head into 2017. Anything can happen but if it does it appears to me to be more the result of catching lightning in a bottle than any real plan. Mark

I actually did get a response back from Nightengale and I appreciated him taking the time to read my e-mail (and told him so). If interested here was his reply: "Thanks Mark, I really appreciate you taking the time to write. I just wanted to point out that it's refreshing when a team doesn't just use their manager as a scapegoat." I understand his point but there were better ways to do that then by ripping the fan base considering the garbage baseball they have seen for basically a decade. Mark

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Sep 29, 2016 -> 06:56 AM) Reinsdorf no doubt wants to win, but it has to be done his way. And quite frankly, that's the problem. He's not willing to go above and beyond what's necessary to overcome our poor farm system in order to build a winner. Signing a bunch of B free agents and never going into the red isn't going to cut it when we get very little help from the minors. He doesn't like utilizing loopholes, such as refusing to go over slot for years in the draft, and he's generally never been a big supporter of investing large dollars into said minor league system (with a few exceptions). Worst of all, he's built an organization with no accountability. How Buddy Bell is still here after years of development failure is beyond belief. The same arguably applies to KW, Hahn, & Ventura. Combine these factors amongst others, and it's no wonder we're stuck in baseball hell right now. I've never been a Reinsdorf hater, but we desperately need fresh blood at the top of this organzation. Very well written statement in my opinion. Mark

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 29, 2016 -> 01:46 AM) http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/colum...928-column.html The juxtaposition between the Cubs' and Sox announcements was jarring, to say the least. AS THEO EPSTEIN RECEIVES COMMITMENT ($50 million for 5 years), VENTURA TWISTS IN THE WIND I'm pretty sure the White Sox haven't spent $50 million on the GM's salary over the history of the entire franchise. Rick Morrissey in the Sun-Times today had one of the best columns I've read in a very long time talking about the Sox situation. Mark

Feel free to send an e-mail to [email protected] Here is what I wrote: Hi Bob: I write for the Chicago Baseball Museum, Sox Net and am a White Sox historian. I just wanted to touch on your column about Robin Ventura. Briefly it's this...about to have four straight losing seasons (last time that happened 1986-1989) and seven in the last 10 (you have to go back to 1968-1980 the last time the Sox had that long of a sustained stretch of bad baseball). Attendance is poor, TV ratings for the regional cable network (Comcast Sports Chicago) have been among the lowest in baseball the past two years...and the franchise with the Cubs success is becoming more and more irrelevant in their own home market. Loyalty by ownership is a good thing today...loyalty WITHOUT ACCOUNTABILITY is dangerous and that is exactly the situation the franchise finds themselves in. Name me another franchise that would put up with the type of results Sox fans have seen over the past decade. Robin Ventura (the same manager who waived in his relief pitcher BEFORE the Brewers had officially announced their pinch hitter two years ago) simply is part of the problem to be sure. Granted the problem goes much higher, to a dysfunctional front office and an ossified owner...but don't blame the fan base who is left for being pissed and upset. This franchise needs dramatic, radical, massive change...the fans can see it, why can't the front office / ownership? Instead they'll probably "go for it" again in 2017...with a poor free agent class, a self imposed financial limit and a minor league system that still is in shambles (and has been for over a decade). When the Sox finish with a losing record again next year, will it be the fans fault in your opinion? I enjoy your work but you are way, WAY off base here in your conclusions. Mark Liptak

QUOTE (Black_Jack29 @ Sep 28, 2016 -> 07:03 PM) I'm not sure that it's an accountability problem. I'd say the problem is Reinsdorf being unwilling to do a rebuild (full or partial) because of his age. Dude wants to win now and can't wait another four or five years to properly construct a winner. Detroit has the same problem with Mike Ilitch. The difference is money is no object for Ilitch. It seems to be an issue for the White Sox. Mark

Ventura is on his way to finishing with the worst win percentage for any manager in franchise history to have served five or more seasons...but he's not responsible at all??? Mark

From the Sun-Times web site: "While most speculation about Ventura’s status leaned toward the Sox going in a different direction, the front office believes the Sox’ record is more a reflection of roster deficiencies than Ventura’s managerial skills." Sure every manager always brings in a relief pitcher before the opponents pinch hitter is officially announced! But seriously, if the front office doesn't think Ventura is at fault then who exactly is? (Hint: They probably don't think it's them...all they do is the evaluations, the trades and sign the free agents right? LOL) Mark

If true all you can do is shake your head. Mark

It's September 27, 1993 and in front of a capacity crowd at the new Comiskey Park, the Sox won the Western Division by beating Seattle 4-2. It was “Bo” Jackson who clubbed a towering three run blast that just dropped over the wall in left that was the difference in the game. The homer capped off an incredible comeback season for one of the finest natural athletes in history. Also in this game Sox starting pitcher Wilson Alvarez saw his streak of 30 consecutive shutout innings snapped when Seattle got to him for two runs in the eighth inning. The Sox went 94-68 and took the title by eight games over Texas. Here is the call of Jackson's blast about halfway down the page: http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/09/t...-gets-a-statue/ Announcers are Ken Harrelson and Tom Paciorek. Courtesy: Sports Channel-Chicago.

I know some were (are) advocating the Sox go out and sign catcher Wilson Ramos this off season as a free agent. Just FYI, Dusty Baker has just announced he has a torn ACL in his knee and (naturally) is done ofr the rest of the season. ACL's are usually anywhere from six months to a full year recovery depending on the extent of the injury and the athlete themselves. Mark

I am still watching games... Of course they are either on tape or DVD's from years gone by when the franchise was winning and wasn't on life support. Mark

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 25, 2016 -> 01:57 PM) Hawk strongly implying Sox will be buyers this offseason. Hawk in today's Sun-Times: “I grew up in a different culture than these kids [players] — we took it home with us,’’ Harrelson said. “I’ve never been able to drop that. I’m not saying losing is easier for me – but to only see half as much of it because I’m doing only half the games … ’’ “What a bummer, to start 23-10 and have a six game lead on these guys,’’ Harrelson said. “If we get beat 2-0 and Corey Kluber sticks it to us that don’t bother me,’’ he said. “But when we play the way we played and continually make those mistakes there isn’t anybody after that game is over is more [ticked] off than I am. Nobody. And at my age … ’’ "They've got to start with the bullpen,’’ he said. “It’s no longer where your starters are going to take you, it’s where your bullpen is going to take you. You have to put Robin [Ventura] or whoever is going to manage this club in a position where he can manage a five- or six-inning game. If you can’t, you’re at a big disadvantage. If you can cover the last nine outs you will play meaningful games in September.’’ Also spoke with Jeff Torborg for about an hour this morning.He was close to both Ozzie and Robin as you know and he seemed to feel the biggest issue with the Sox right now going forward is also the bullpen (like Hawk) He said he's watched Robertson pitch a lot even when he was with the Yankees and while his stats are fine he doesn't think he's really a closer. More of an 8th inning guy. He said he doesn't have the type of fastball that allows him mistakes... very straight. Unless his slider or cutter is working that day, Jeff said he's in trouble and is very hittable. He also said the same thing about Nate Jones, throws very hard but his pitch doesn't break as much as say Bobby Thigpen's did (and Jeff said they always harped on Bobby that he needs to show a breaking pitch first before going to the fastball to plant the seed in the mind of a hitter.) He also said that he feels that it's Don Cooper who is managing the Sox bullpen and its use. He said when Ozzie was the manager Cooper was in control of the pen and that "Ozzie never even looked at his lineup card, so that showed me he wasn't really involved in that area." He said though that the manager still has the final decision but he wouldn't be surprised if Cooper is still really running that area for Robin. Interesting that now I've seen quotes from Hawk and Kenny and heard Jeff say the biggest issue is the bullpen. Mark

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 24, 2016 -> 01:45 PM) Because at one point he was a White Sox. His guy is LaRussa. It may be his dream job. Go get him and give Jimmy an offer he can't refuse. If it was his 'dream job' why did he personally say no to JR directly when he was offered it in the mid 90's? Answer: Because he was pissed off at the way he felt the organization treated his friend Gene Lamont. I don't think that's changed. Mark

I thought Michael Jackson performed at Comiskey Park in 1983 as well. Nice research by the way....well done! Must have taken some time to do. Mark