Lip Man 1

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

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Sep 24, 2016 -> 06:43 AM) I think you'll get your wish, or something closely resembling it, anyway. Since that 23-10 start from long, long ago, the Sox have gone 49-71 in the 120 games subsequent. That pencils out to an abysmal .408 winning percentage. Only the Twins have played to a worse winning percentage than that this year in all of baseball. Given the sample size of the last 120 games versus the first 33, even my blind dog can see this White Sox team is currently a real clunker. Therefore, I don't expect Kenny Hahn to go on another retooling, put-lipstick-on-a-pig jaunt this winter. That gig is up. Year 1 of the three year plan rendered 76 wins, and it looks like Year 2 is going to cough and wheeze out about the same. I don't think they'll bother with a Year 3, but rather go now in the direction you suggest, which would be the prudent way to go at this point. I disagree. I think they are going to try to make another run for it next season. We'll see. Mark

It's September 22, 1959 the Sox are in Cleveland and the 40 year wait is about to end. The Sox beat Cleveland 4-2 to win their first pennant since 1919. Al Smith and “Jungle” Jim Rivera hit back to back home runs in the game. Smith also threw out former Sox star “Minnie” Minoso trying to score a run. A crowd estimated by the Chicago Sun-Times at 125,000 was at Midway Airport to greet the Sox when they returned home early that morning. All this on a night when Chicago fire commissioner Robert Quinn ordered the air raid sirens turned on to celebrate the title, causing fear and panic in a number of non-baseball fans who thought the Russians were attacking. It was some night. We've got the back to back home runs from Smith and Rivera, the announcer is Bob Elson. Courtesy: WCFL Radio. http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/09/t...e-world-series/ Mark

It's a push. Neither was very good for different reasons. At least I guess, Robin never waived in a bullpen pitcher when there wasn't any warming up or got into a fist fight with an umpire at a steakhouse. LOL. Mark

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 22, 2016 -> 12:21 PM) Those years the team didn't win, they didn't win because we had one of the worst strings of 5th starting carousels that I can ever remember (and in general, relatively lousy pitching). Offense was streaky at times, but the bigger theme was we had 5th starters who didn't win for what seemed like 2 years (because they stunk...not because we didn't generate runs) and when you had a pretty much guaranteed probability of losing every 5th game, the club was in a tough spot to overcome that. There is truth in that comment as well...see 2003 and 2004 respectively in addition don't forget about 1996. I guess the point is like I said in my last sentence getting a good balance is very hard to do. Mark

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Sep 22, 2016 -> 10:39 AM) Sneed is a woman. Thank you...didn't know that. Mark

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Sep 22, 2016 -> 11:02 AM) I was watching Ken Harrelson drool all over Kansas City the other night, as he is wont to do, and like stopped clocks that are always right twice a day, he actually stumbled upon an excellent point. He said that at some point the KC "grinderball" Royals had won because they had designed their team for their ballpark (just like the 2000-2005 Minnesota "grinderball" Twins that got a bunch of skinny, fast dudes that Harrelson ALSO LOVED to beat the ball into that astroturf as hard as possible to fly down the first base line in hopes of singles, had the staff turn on the AC in the ninth, and hope the lead held). That ballpark in Kansas City is NOT a park where you can hit home runs, which is why the stadium has been a House of Horrors for the Sox over the years. But this got me to thinking - the Sox don't actually hit homers. And then, it got me to more thinking. It has been beaten into our skulls over the past umpteen years that US Cellular is a home run hitter's wet dream of a ballpark. And Guaranteed-to-Not-Call-It-Guaranteed-Rate Field in 2017 is still gonna be....you guessed it....a home run hitters ballpark. It used to be that we made sure we got a few dudes who could hit these things. Used to be. These days? No. So my question is....when the hell did this team lose this mantra? And why did we stop doing this? Because whenever the White Sox HAVE succeeded, it is because their lineup HIT HOME RUNS. A LOT OF HOME RUNS. I think there is this pervasive myth that the successful teams from the last 15 years were built on pitching and a good mix of power, speed and bench. I would say that it's much more simple than that. It's about home runs. The 2008 Blackout Sox won their division largely because they led MLB in home runs in a home run hitting ballpark. That lineup hit 235 of them. If you divide 235 by 9, that's as if every single of the 9 regular slots of that lineup was responsible for 26 home runs. Every single slot hit a home run every six games. Can you imagine that with this team? I sure can't. Yes, it was nice to win that blackout game with some pitching. But we got there because men hit balls out of the park with runners on base with one swing. The home run. The 2005 World Series winners with 5th in homers in MLB. Yes, they had great pitching, and yes, they had the emergence of a genuine flash-in-the-pan phenom closer. But that lineup still hit 200 home runs. Again, this is as if every single slot was responsible for 22+ home runs. Oh and by the way, the best white sox hitter of all time, Frank Edward Thomas, was severly limited in the number of games he played due to injury. Remember that 2000 team that won the division? There's a reason why Cal Eldred looked like a world beater until June and James Baldwin started 7-0 and it had NOTHING to do with their pitching skills. It had to do with the lineup hitting the cover off of the ball. Future $100,000,000 man Carlos Lee hit SEVENTH in that lineup. 216 home runs for that team. This current team? Does not hit home runs. They are 23rd in homers. If pace holds, they will hit approximately 165 of them total. That's atrocious considering our stadium, considering the number of homers our opponents hit against us, and considering the history of this team. Does it get better next year? Not if we sport this lineup again. Because: 1) Tim Anderson, at first glance, seems like a great little player. A little-known rookie with no expectations hitting .279 with a bit a pop and some wheels, the future seems bright. However, like many, many other players in this lineup - the looks are deceiving. Because: a) He has a .279 average and a .300 OBP. This is a worse OBP than Todd Frazier, who hits roughly 60 points worse than Anderson. b) He has a 10 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio. That's an absurdly bad statistic. c) He has a .702 OPS. d) He does not hit home runs. e) He does not hit home runs. f) HE DOES NOT HIT HOME RUNS. 2) Melky Cabrera and Adam Eaton are good players - who do not hit nearly enough home runs. Can this team acquire an outfielder who can have an OPS north of .800? Apparently not! Note: I am not complaining about these players. However, they are symptomatic of the White Sox building a team that has great stats for the ballpark they do not play in - and many of the wrong strengths for the ballpark that they do. It is wonderful that Eaton has ostensibly transformed into a gold glove defender. It is commendable that he gets on base at a nice little clip. However, The third best home run hitter on this team CANNOT have less than 15 home runs for a season, so if these guys are NOT going to hit home runs, we need another Beefcake slugger to pick up the slack. Normally, this would be a designated hitter, but the White Sox have also decided to have a year long joke with the fans that they now play in the National League and their Designated Hitter should actually hit like a pitcher, which is why Avisail Garcia cannot maintain an OPS north of SEVEN HUNDRED and you get people like JB Shuck and Jerry Sands laughing all the way to the occasional start. I don't even know that those guys should be called AAAA players. 3) Brett Lawrie and Tyler Saladino are nice little players - who do not hit enough home runs. Again, if your outfield cannot hit homers, the rest of our infield besides Abreu and Frazier better. Abreu and Frazier only come up so many times in a game, and without power protection why wouldn't teams just pitch around them? 4) Our catchers cannot do apparently anything at a major league level, and I don't know that there's a remedy for this. Our best offensive player, Jose Abreu, is ranked 43rd in MLB in OPS. The next best offensive player, Adam Eaton, is like 86th. Yeah, 86 for 86 this offense, I guess. There's a reason why James "Big Game" Shields has NINE QUALITY STARTS as a member of the White Sox and is only 3-3 in those 9 games. There's a reason why the bullpen comes up so many times in the 6th, 7th, 8th inning protecting small leads that we have no hope of retaking if we lose them (and we do with the likes of Cat Albers holding so many games in his fat little hands) There's a reason why mediocre starters have no chance to recover if they get touched for say 4 runs in 6 innings. There's a reason why Jose Quintana has "bad luck" and can't win games. WE CANNOT HIT HOME RUNS. Fix the home runs, fix the OPS. We need to remedy this, stat. How the hell has this organization lost this simple fact? I think your comments are certainly a part of the problem but not all of it. Remember the Sox have also had many years since the start of the new century where they hit a lot of home runs but also went into prolonged slumps and losing streaks because of the "home run or nothing" approach. To me the solution can be summed up in one word...balance. A team that can beat you by stealing a base, by dropping down a bunt with a man on third, by getting enough on a pitch to bloop it into short right field or by hitting a three run home run. The Sox haven't had that balance since the 2005 season. It's very difficult to do. Mark

Well there is some good news anyway... According to Sneed in the Sun-Times today the Sox are in negotiations with the Guaranteed Loan Company to make some changes to the company logo that will be adoring the main entrance to the park. Seems they are concerned about the "downward pointing arrow" and the implications for a baseball team according to Sneed. It will just be around the front / main entrance according to his story. Mark

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 21, 2016 -> 08:56 PM) I may be done with baseball if it's Buddy Bell. I think it'll be Renteria though. My choices ... a.) La Russa. b.) Leyland. c.) Whoever Maddon's bench coach is with the Cubs. d.) Gene Lamont. I'm assuming this is being sarcastic right? If not..... Mark

I know who'd I'd like it to be but in all probability it will be an inexperienced guy with some ties to the White Sox simply happy to have a job. As Ozzie once said, "that's the way we roll..." Mark

Pretty bad when the Phillies can beat you three out of four played this season. Oh well. Update: Here's how irrelevant the Sox are becoming. Just caught CSN Chicago's Sports report to see the highlights. When they were done the anchor said, "the Sox will try to avoid the sweep tomorrow..." The Sox are off tomorrow according to my schedule and the Sox web site. Mark

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Sep 20, 2016 -> 08:42 PM) I seriously hope it's a physical issue. Back problem that heals with rest and he is good to go next year If Shields was 24 or so, I'd say maybe....but he's 35. With ten years worth of over 200 innings pitched I believe. He's done. The Sox replaced a bad deal with Danks with another one with Shields. Simply amazing. Mark

I wonder how, if at all, this miscalculation by Hahn may impact the "trust" factor between him and JR in the future. Given the stories that JR had to be talked into this by Hahn you wonder now if this means Kenny assumes a bigger role again going forward...that maybe JR has doubts about Hahn's judgment. Just speculation on my part but this did cross my mind tonight. Mark