WBWSF

Don Orsillo the TV announcer is leaving the Red Sox job after this season. Is he leaving to come to Chicago to be the White Sox TV announcer in 2016? On the White Sox last road trip to KC, I was told the Royals announcers were saying that this is the last year for the Hawk with the White Sox. I don't know anything about Don Orsillo.

I don't think JR cares what his legacy is. I read where he once said that he has had a very happy life. Owning part of the White Sox, Bulls and the United Center would make most people happy. Forbes magazine said JR is a billionaire. Not bad for somebody who grew up in a middle class family in Brooklyn. There has been good and bad about his White Sox ownership. THE GOOD: 1) He kept the White Sox in Chicago. Eddie Einhorn and some of the other investors wanted to move to Florida Granted JR got a sweetheart deal from the State of Illinois with the new stadium but believe me Einhorn wanted to move to Florida. JR didn't. 2) JR helped the White Sox become a very profitable franchise. With the different deals the White Sox have Forbes magazine has said the White Sox franchise is 14th in total revenue of the 30 MLB teams. Anybody who thinks the White Sox are not making money is definitely misreading the situation. THe BAD:1) 5 Playoff appearances in 35 years is nothing to write home about. 2) The Sportsvision fiasco. Having Sportsvision before the Chicagoland area was wired for cable was nuts. If the area had been wired for cable it probably would of succeeded. It wasn't and Sportsvision flopped. 3) The New Comiskey Park 2/ Cell. I'm convinced the new stadium has to be the biggest mistake in the history of the franchise. When JR was looking for a new stadium for the White Sox in the 1980's the City of Chicago wanted to build a baseball stadium in the South Loop at Roosevelt + Clark. JR turned down the offer and wanted the new stadium to be built in Addison on land he owned. When that didn't work out the City of Chicago South Loop stadium offer was off the table. The White Sox wound up at its present location. JR should of taking the initial offer by the City of Chicago with the South Loop stadium. Everybody would of been better off with a South Loop stadium. By everybody I mean the White Sox franchise. White Sox fans and the City of Chicago. Instead they're located in a area that is not popular. The entire perception of the White Sox franchise would of been better in the South Loop. It's bad enough the stadium was built where it was but they built a stadium where nobody wants to sit in the upper deck. I've read numerous times where the upper deck was JRs doing entirely. He wanted more suites which made the upper deck what it is today. Sometime, somewhere someday the White Sox will have a new owner. The new owner will inherit this bad stadium situation. I think the current lease runs through 2027. I'm expecting the next owner sometime around the year 2025 to start looking for a new stadium for the White Sox in a better location. Like I said earlier I don't think JR cares what his legacy is. From what I can see his legacy with the White Sox is not a good one.

I'm surprised the White Sox will be wearing those uniforms again. They have to be the worse looking uniforms in White Sox history. After JR bought the team in 1981 he said that he had the most mail from fans requesting the White Sox get new uniforms. They were not only ugly uniforms, they were worn in one of the worse eras in White Sox history, 1976-1980. The only good year of that era was 1977. The rest of the years were HORRIBLE.

Maybe the White Sox don't think he's good enough to succeed in the Big Leagues. If he's not brought up in September I'm expecting him to be moved in a trade this off season.

They had over 34,000 last night against NY. I think this is the first time they won a game this year at home that had a big crowd.

I'm not close to the Phillies situation. Cole Hamels was traded to Texas for not much of anything that I can see. I don't know if Hamels wanted to be traded. I do know if I was a Phillies fan, I wouldn't be happy with what the Phillies received in the trade. Two of the so called top prospects the Phillies received are having mediocre seasons this year. With all the talk of the White Sox trading Shark, I hope that if Hahn does trade him they get a better return for him than what the Phillies received for Hamels.

I read where the White Sox TV ratings have gone up a great deal on this winning road trip. I'm just wondering if the White Sox fans will turn out for this upcoming homestand. There are a ton of unsold tickets for this series against the first place Yankees on WhiteSox.com. I'm hoping for some good crowds this weekend which is shaping up as a big series for the White Sox.

Juston Upton is there for the taking. He would look good as the White Sox DH.

Somebody posted that the Orange line didn't have a stop at Roosevelt until years later. When the City of Chicago wanted to build the stadium for the White Sox in the South Loop, one of the things involved in the negociations was the adding of a el station at that location. The White Sox would have had to contribute to the cost of the station. JR refused to help pay for that train station. That helped break down the talks between the City and JR. Never made any sense to me what JR did. Every marketing study I have ever seen has shown that 20% of White Sox attendance comes via public transportation. I'm convinced more and more that no matter what the City offered JR he was going to refuse their offers because he wanted to have the stadium built in Addison on land that he owned. If the stadium had been built in Addison I don't know if JR would of owned the stadium. But I do know he owned that land. He wound up selling that land for $9 million dollars. My final comment on this subject is that for most of my life the White Sox ownerships were always talking about a new stadium for the White Sox going back as far as 1967. I never ever thought the new stadium would be built in the same area as the old stadium. I think JR screwed up big time, and the franchise and White Sox fan base has suffered because of it. No tears will be shed on my part when he is no longer running the White Sox. He had a stadium built where it should not have been built and he built a stadium where nobody wants to sit in the upper deck.

Dick Allen: I still can't believe to this day that JR had the opportunity to have a stadium built in the South Loop and instead wanted to go to Dupage County. They would have drawn alot more people in the South Loop as opposed to their present location OR Dupage County. It has to be the biggest mistake in the history of the franchise. I will shed no tears when JR no longer owns the team. The bad thing is the next owner will have the same problem with the Cells location.

I was driving home from the game last night and I heard Les Grobstein talking about Kris Bryant of the bad guys on the Northside. He pointed out that Bryants batting average is in free fall.( He's now hitting .256) Grobstein said now that the scouts have seen Bryant they now know how to pitch to him. The reason why I'm bringing this up is because maybe the AL teams have figured out how to pitch to Abreu. Jose simply is not the same hitter this year as he was in 2014. People seem to speculate that he's hurt now. I don't know that for a fact, but I wish he would start resembling the hitter he was in 2014.

Keep in mind this offer by the City of Chicago in the South Loop was made in the late 1980's. From what I know the White Sox refused the South Loop offer and the City of Chicago went in another direction. To the best of my knowledge there's a Target store there now with other retail. It was a much more desirable location for a stadium then where the Cell is now. Ironically former White Sox owner Art Allyn wanted to build a stadium for the White Sox at that South Loop location with PRIVATE funds in 1967. Mayor Daley wouldn't give Allyn the permits to build the stadium. After Daley wouldn't allow him to build the stadium that's when Allyn tinkered with moving the team to Milwaukee. Bruce Levine had a column on this subject last year.

I have thought that not moving the White Sox into the South Loop has to be the biggest mistake in the history of the franchise. I think JR made a blunder of historic proportion. The franchise would of been much better off in the South Loop than its present location. I can't wait until JR is no longer running the team. I think his overall legacy with the White Sox is not a good one.

All the White Sox have to do is sweep the Cardinals and then go on the road and sweep Cleveland and Boston and everybody will be happy. We'll all be talking 2015 Playoffs again.

I would like to think that the White Sox will get a decent return for the Shark. I can't imagine get much of anything for LaRoche, Beckham, Flowers, Ramirez, Soto, Sanchez and Danks.

I have a What If that rarely gets mentioned. Charley Finley wanted to buy the White Sox after the 1958 season. The Comiskey family sold the team to Veeck instead. If Finley would of bought the team just think how the White Sox franchise would of been. Finley started building his Oakland A's championship teams in the mid 1960's. He signed Rudi, Jackson, Hunter and a number of other players. Those World Champion teams from 72-74 could of been on the Southside of Chicago instead of Oakland. Finley was a White Sox fan who loved Chicago. I don't see how the franchise was better off under Veeck than what it would of been under Finley. With the teams Finley had during the late 60's and 70's the White Sox would of had a dynasty here on the great Southside of Chicago. I had no use of Veeck. He traded off our young talent after the 59 season and when he bought the White Sox in 1976, he had 4 of the worse teams here in the history of the franchise. If Finley would of bought the White Sox in 1959 the franchise would of been better off.

I'm surprised that WMVP-ESPN 1000 didn't bid on the rights of the White Sox+Bulls. Their ratings are very low and I'm beginning to wonder if they are going to change their format soon.

My Sox Summer; Glad I read your article about White Sox bobbleheads. I save them also. I have 85 different White Sox bobbleheads. Keep us informed if you hear anything back from the White Sox about some of your ideas.

One of the posters mentioned the stadium JR tried to get built in Addison. We're never going to find out because the stadium wasn't built there, but does anybody think they would of drawn more people in Addison? I've seen a number of White Sox surveys where they claim that 20% of White Sox attendance comes via public transportation. There's no public transportation anywhere near that Addison location. There's a Metra station in Wooddale, which isn't close to that stadium site. JR doesn't like to talk about it but when the White Sox were looking for a new stadium back in the 1980's the City of Chicago wanted to build a stadium for the White Sox in the South Loop at Roosevelt and Clark. JR turned down the offer and instead tried to get the stadium built in Addison. When Addison didn't work out the offer from the City was off the table and the White Sox got stuck at the present location. Everybody I have ever met always thought the White Sox would of been better off in the South Loop than their present location or Addison. In other words I think JR screwed up by not having the White Sox stadium built in the south Loop.

It seems like this subject of White Sox attendance brings out a big response. I've often wondered does anybody who works for the White Sox read any of these comments?

THE TEAM CAN'T HIT.

I've said it before and I will say it again: Bad Team+Bad Stadium Location+Bad Stadium Upper Deck= BAD ATTENDANCE.

Gillaspie has really been bad this 2015 season. He hasn't hit and is simply a bad fielder. The White Sox must really have a low opinion of Matt Davidson. If he can't play third base on this team he must not figure into the White Sox future plans.

I was at the game and it was certainly a good game to watch and win. Still, Adam Eaton has to be the biggest disappointment this 2015 White Sox season. He looks terrible at the plate. He hit .300 in 2014 and I think everybody was expecting big things from him in 2015. I don't know why he hasn't been good this season but this team would have alot more success if he was performing better this year. He looks lost at the plate.

Does anybody know what the radio ratings are for the baseball teams in Chicago this year? Are radio ratings high most years? I've always been led to believe that the radio is a after thought with teams. TV is considered the important thing to the owners.