NWINFan

Had to leave after the top of the seventh. Had a sinking feeling it was going to be nine in a row. Glad they let Cease finish out the sixth. Too bad he didn't get the win, but a win is a win.

There really isn't much here, and I wouldn't expect Hahn to say much at this point. If things don't turn around, it will be harder to soft peddle stuff.

I will settle for a well-played game, win or lose. It would be nice to see no errors, no dumb baserunning, and some timely hitting. It would also be nice to see no strange decisions coming out of the dugout. Let's take some baby steps here and have the team get out of the mindset it is in.

JR doesn't like firing people, and he still felt bad the 1986 sacking of LaRussa. That is also why the Guillen departure in 2011 turned into a side show, and why he couldn't pull the trigger on Ventura. We can only hope things will improve as injured players return. But as much as I didn't like the LaRussa hiring, he can't be blamed for everything. Perhaps. we will have to face up to the fact that this team isn't as good as we thought. We have 140 games to find out.

How about tomorrow?

In a way, we really don't know who would have done a better job, because the organization didn't bother to do a real search. Maybe they should try interviewing a few candidates next time. Maybe that would be the first time the organization would do that.

The fact remains LaRussa was not popular when he was in Chicago during his first tenure. He got a great deal of sympathy with the clownish way his firing was handled. I really don't think that JR wanted Hawk to fire LaRussa. That is where his guilt comes in. After all, Hawk was hired as GM with the condition that LaRussa would stay on as manager. All of this is not a reason that LaRussa should have been hired the second time around. Now LaRussa does have a challenge in turning this team around. We will see what he does with it.

What some fans should understand is that LaRussa wasn't hired for his "hall of fame credentials." He was hired because he's a friend of the CEO and that CEO had a weird reason for hiring him. I don't see LaRussa quitting. And JR will only dig his heels in more as we fans call fora new manager. We can only hope that the hitting picks up, and things will otherwise improve as injured players return. But LaRussa is here to stay unless he gets fed up and leaves on his own.

I don't know if Hendricks is tipping his pitches, but his fast ball doesn't look that overpowering and he has little command of his breaking pitches. I don't know why he was pitching in the 10th today. In the ninth, he gave up two hits and was lucky he didn't give up a third and lose the game right there. If Hendricks is the closer, this team is in bigger trouble than we already think.

If Jerry would hire anyone right now, it would be Ozzie. It is a matter of personal comfort. JR will not bring in someone from outside the organization if he would bring on anyone at all. Normally, I wiuld say no to Ozzie but these are not ordinary times.

Get ready to be shocked, because the Sox will not win the division if LaRussa remains at the helm. BTW, the team really doesn't have a closer right now.

I don't want to hear the BS it's too early. It's not too early. Something dramatic has to be done or this team is going south and staying there. I can't believe I am saying this again but put Ozzie in there. And tell him to get rid of the coaching staff while he's at it.

They tried to give the game away in the eighth. If the Twins get that bunt down, it never goes into extras. They were lucky to survive a walk and a two- base error.

Hendricks has nothing. That pitch to Buxton was an absolute joke.

I am no fan of Ozzie, but give him the damn job already. And find a real closer. At this rate, should have kept Kimbrel.

Why was Hendricks out for the 10th when he stunk in the ninth?

Obviously one bad week and one losing streak will not define a season. And, yes, it's early. But I don't think it's too early to be concerned. What we have seen is some real bad baseball. Additionally, the offense, except for one game against the Tigers, hasn't really been there. Not to mention an old manager who says and does weird things. In cases like this, most organizations would at least think of firing the manager. A change at manager sometimes motivates a team. But I don't think the FO will fire LaRussa. Not Tony LaRussa. The division is not going to get away from the Sox, at least not yet. But I don't think this last week can be rationalized or laughed off. If the FO has no urgency, I would hope the players would have some. The Sox have just lost five straight to division rivals.

Eloy needed to be healthy and play regular if he was going to continue his development. And, obviously, the Sox needed a productive Eloy if the team was going to truly contend this year. This is just bad news for the team and Eloy. You might be right. This could be a lost season for him. Just like Kopech lost a season to Tommy John surgery. It is tough for a rebuild to work when young players miss this much time.

Are you sure? Has it been that many? Did Leury hit a home run on that 3-0 pitch?

I know Tim needs to be Tim, but I don't like some things the modern player does. The hand signals, the pointing to the sky, whatever. Just play and skip the stupid bull shit.

Tim needs to mature. Quit the bat-flinging, quit flipping the bird. Then become the star major leaguer he should be.

Not "perhaps," they are injury prone as are so many others. And they miss large blocks of time. You can't develop into a solid major league player sitting on the IL all the time.

The fairweather fan accusation is a phony one. Regardless, there are all kinds of fans. Die-hard, fairweather, and casual. The White Sox need all of them because their fan base is, in a relative sense, a small one. And there are many reasons for that which include the franchise alienating the fan base with bad teams, bad PR, strikes, lockouts, and White Flag Trades. There is plenty of time for the 2022 team to right the ship and win the division like they should. But that Cleveland series was one of the strangest things I've seen in all my years as a Sox fan. I hope we don't see any repeats soon. That series was almost enough to turn anyone into a fairweather fan.

Exactly my point.

You are no doubt right about that. We fans have been hoping for some kind of change for years, and we have been hoping in vain. Change still needs to happen.