Jose Abreu on time with Sox, moving forward...Scott Merkin

[caulfield12]

Before he took questions, Abreu shook my hand and exchanged a few pleasantries. He did the same with James Fegan of The Athletic, LaMond Pope of the Chicago Tribune and Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. One national reporter commented to me how cool it was for Abreu to make that sort of gesture to the people who covered him daily for so long, but it was of no surprise.

 

That’s Abreu: Pure class every step of the way. 

 

“We just appreciate all he did for us,” White Sox executive vice president Ken Williams told me of Abreu. “Not only on the field, but on the buses and the airplanes and all the things we talked about how much of an asset he’s been for us, was for us, all those years.

 

 

General manager Rick Hahn compared seeing Abreu in an Astros uniform to being as strange as Michael Jordan wearing a Wizards jersey as opposed to his six-time championship association with the Bulls. Abreu smiled an appreciative smile, shook his head and responded with an overwhelmed but amused “Ooof” when that question was brought up to him in the press conference.

 

(On Hahn's comparisons of seeing Abreu in a different uniform to MJ going to the Wizards)

 

“Jordan is Jordan,” said Abreu through an interpreter. “I have the utmost respect but I’m entering a new stage of my life and new stage of my career.”

 

There will be much hoopla again on May 12 to 14 when Houston visits Chicago and White Sox fans get to celebrate Abreu. It wouldn’t stun me to see an announcement of his No. 79 jersey being retired, at that point, although it’s just a guess.

 

Nobody will be inclined to wear No. 79 again for the White Sox, and nobody should.

 

“I try to live in peace with everything I do every single day,” Abreu said. “I was grateful for the time I spent there, for all of you who were there from the first day you met me. … The guys over there I respect, and they treat me with respect as well. The only thing I can hope for is they were healthy all season.” 

 

“Always respect. He taught me a lot,” Anderson said of Abreu. “Hopefully he has a great season but not against us.”

[joejoesox]

I feel like getting an old Abreu Sox jersey now more than I ever did when he was here

I feel like that old saying ring's true

"You don't know what you've got until it's gone" 

ugh gonna miss that dude

 

[caulfield12]

I guess buying an Abreu jersey (Astros or Sox) and wearing it to the park would be a more effective protest than those faux billboards.

[Lip Man 1]

18 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

I guess buying an Abreu jersey (Astros or Sox) and wearing it to the park would be a more effective protest than those faux billboards.

The money raised also allowed the person behind the billboards to donate 1,200 to charity. 600 (if I recall) to a Chicago food bank and 600 to the charity set up in Liam's name for cancer research. Nothing wrong with that. 

[caulfield12]

1 hour ago, Lip Man 1 said:

The money raised also allowed the person behind the billboards to donate 1,200 to charity. 600 (if I recall) to a Chicago food bank and 600 to the charity set up in Liam's name for cancer research. Nothing wrong with that. 

Opportunity cost-wise, it would have been better to just skip the billboard and raise more (ditectly) donations for charity...of course that would not garner much or any attention from a PR standpoint.

[Lip Man 1]

11 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Opportunity cost-wise, it would have been better to just skip the billboard and raise more (ditectly) donations for charity...of course that would not garner much or any attention from a PR standpoint.

Don't know the guy but the sense I get is that he just wanted a release for how bad this organization has screwed up the rebuild and angered the fan base. And that fact that enough money was raised to do this in the first place shows he was correct in that assumption.
 

Full disclosure: I donated a few dollars myself and I'd do it again.

[ChiSox59]

I cannot see a single post on this thread.  Bliss.  

[caulfield12]

13 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

I cannot see a single post on this thread.  Bliss.  

So the point of coming to the thread to bring attention to yourself is what exactly?

[ScootsMcGoots]

1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

So the point of coming to the thread to bring attention to yourself is what exactly?

Dang you went there lol

[Tnetennba]

2 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

So the point of coming to the thread to bring attention to yourself is what exactly?

Pot meet kettle?

[caulfield12]

37 minutes ago, Tnetennba said:

Pot meet kettle?

If you now feel self-enlightened...more power to you, I guess.

[Tnetennba]

32 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

If you now feel self-enlightened...more power to you, I guess.

For someone who loves to post long winded nonsensical posts often not at all related to the subject at hand, you sure seem to lack self awareness. 

 

 

 

[greg775]

Seems odd Jose still speaks thru an interpreter. I'd think like Ozzie he could make a lot of money as a commentator in Chicago after he retires. I love me some Jose Abreu. Star.

Edited April 4, 2023 by greg775

[joejoesox]

44 minutes ago, Tnetennba said:

For someone who loves to post long winded nonsensical posts often not at all related to the subject at hand, you sure seem to lack self awareness. 

 

 

 

doesn't mean he was wrong. 

[caulfield12]

41 minutes ago, Tnetennba said:

For someone who loves to post long winded nonsensical posts often not at all related to the subject at hand, you sure seem to lack self awareness. 

 

 

 

You don't like them...block them, don't read them, doesn't matter whatsoever to me.

If I was paid to write, then your comments might actually matter to me.  

Retiring soon at 53/54 due to investments...not writing skill, lol.  I learned an invaluable lesson from my father not to work so hard you have a heart attack at age 63 and never get to fully enjoy life.

I definitely won't be thinking of you when I am in Thailand and Japan this summer...

[caulfield12]

4 minutes ago, joejoesox said:

doesn't mean he was wrong. 

I might be wrong about LOTS of things...but evaluations of baseball players/teams is probably not near the top of that particular list.

(Unless it was unnecessary hyperbole in comparing Yasiel Puig to Roberto Clemente in his first two seasons, lol.)