Lip Man 1 Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 (edited) 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. Edited January 2, 2023 by Lip Man 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Side Fireworks Man Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 I was against moving the Sox to Seattle and moving the A's to Chicago at the time, but in retrospect it would have probably been for the better for South Side Chicago Baseball fans. I wonder if they could have let the name "White Sox" stick with Finley's Chicago franchise and let Seattle either use the A's name or come up with another name they could choose. If they could have kept the name "Chicago White Sox" it would have been good. At least there would have been no Einhorn and Reinsdorf s%*# show here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThirdGen Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 1 hour ago, South Side Fireworks Man said: I was against moving the Sox to Seattle and moving the A's to Chicago at the time, but in retrospect it would have probably been for the better for South Side Chicago Baseball fans. I wonder if they could have let the name "White Sox" stick with Finley's Chicago franchise and let Seattle either use the A's name or come up with another name they could choose. If they could have kept the name "Chicago White Sox" it would have been good. At least there would have been no Einhorn and Reinsdorf s%*# show here. It would have been interesting, as Charlie Finley would have been here and he only held on a few more years as owner. He was negotiating a deal to move the team to Denver with Marvin Davis, same as Veeck was rumored to be considering at the end of his ownership of the Sox. As Finley was trying to sell earlier than Veeck, wonder if the Tribune would have ended up owning the Chicago Athletics instead of the Cubs, and how that partnership would have changed history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lip Man 1 Posted January 2, 2023 Author Share Posted January 2, 2023 1 hour ago, South Side Fireworks Man said: I was against moving the Sox to Seattle and moving the A's to Chicago at the time, but in retrospect it would have probably been for the better for South Side Chicago Baseball fans. I wonder if they could have let the name "White Sox" stick with Finley's Chicago franchise and let Seattle either use the A's name or come up with another name they could choose. If they could have kept the name "Chicago White Sox" it would have been good. At least there would have been no Einhorn and Reinsdorf s%*# show here. 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lip Man 1 Posted January 2, 2023 Author Share Posted January 2, 2023 (edited) On 1/2/2023 at 11:43 AM, ThirdGen said: It would have been interesting, as Charlie Finley would have been here and he only held on a few more years as owner. He was negotiating a deal to move the team to Denver with Marvin Davis, same as Veeck was rumored to be considering at the end of his ownership of the Sox. As Finley was trying to sell earlier than Veeck, wonder if the Tribune would have ended up owning the Chicago Athletics instead of the Cubs, and how that partnership would have changed history. 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. Edited January 3, 2023 by Lip Man 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 36 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said: 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. He had 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. Wasn't Finley the one who tried to sell off all of his good players in the early 70s to the point where MLB stepped in and voided deals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NO!!MARY!!! Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 2 hours ago, South Side Fireworks Man said: I was against moving the Sox to Seattle and moving the A's to Chicago at the time, but in retrospect it would have probably been for the better for South Side Chicago Baseball fans. I wonder if they could have let the name "White Sox" stick with Finley's Chicago franchise and let Seattle either use the A's name or come up with another name they could choose. If they could have kept the name "Chicago White Sox" it would have been good. At least there would have been no Einhorn and Reinsdorf s%*# show here. OH. Brother. I guess a post like this predictable. There is no telling how history would have played out had the switch happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NO!!MARY!!! Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 33 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said: Wasn't Finley the one who tried to sell off all of his good players in the early 70s to the point where MLB stepped in and voided deals? Yes. By 1979 the A’s were broken up and went 54-108. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NO!!MARY!!! Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 1 minute ago, NO!!MARY!!! said: OH. Brother. I guess a post like this predictable. There is no telling how history would have played out had the switch happened. 2 hours ago, South Side Fireworks Man said: I was against moving the Sox to Seattle and moving the A's to Chicago at the time, but in retrospect it would have probably been for the better for South Side Chicago Baseball fans. I wonder if they could have let the name "White Sox" stick with Finley's Chicago franchise and let Seattle either use the A's name or come up with another name they could choose. If they could have kept the name "Chicago White Sox" it would have been good. At least there would have been no Einhorn and Reinsdorf s%*# show here. You think current ownership is cheap? Ever read about Finley? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 1 minute ago, NO!!MARY!!! said: You think current ownership is cheap? Ever read about Finley? Finley sold about the same time Veeck did. Decent chance JR would have owned the A’s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lip Man 1 Posted January 2, 2023 Author Share Posted January 2, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said: Wasn't Finley the one who tried to sell off all of his good players in the early 70s to the point where MLB stepped in and voided deals? 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. Edited January 2, 2023 by Lip Man 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Grinder Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 IRRC didnt Charlie also own the California Golden Seals NHL team as well? And their colors were same as the A's too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lip Man 1 Posted January 3, 2023 Author Share Posted January 3, 2023 10 minutes ago, The Grinder said: IRRC didnt Charlie also own the California Golden Seals NHL team as well? And their colors were same as the A's too He did and he also owned the Memphis franchise of the ABA. And yes, they had the same colors as the A's and Seals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WBWSF Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 On 1/2/2023 at 12:51 PM, Lip Man 1 said: 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. He had 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. Looking back at the 1959 sale of the White Sox, I wish Finley had bought the team instead of Veeck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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