Yossarian

I think the owner and GM have something to do with this.

Wow! I'm coming into this late and haven't read the whole thing. Reminds me of the old movie Cool Hand Luke "what we have here is failure to communicate". Hey, I'm just trying to be a peacemaker here, but it seems to me things that smack of disrespect are taken much more seriously in Latin America. Couple that with the fact that many in Latin America see the US as a big bully rather than a nice big brother and we have this bruhaha. So we have a double insult as far as Rafa is concerned and Americans with our tradition of flipping the bird at authority any time we want are insulted that he's insulted. I don't know all the details of the new US policy that the Brazilians thought they had to recriprocate in order to preserve their dignity. Tit for tat. You fingerprint ours so we do the same to yours. It's too bad because terror is real and everybody needs to be on the same page with this. No country is immune, not Brazil a very multi racial, multi cultural country. Hope everybody cools down and this doesn't turn out to be one of THOSE threads.

Bravo! I couldn't agree more. Some of the greatest managers of all time were "hunch" players. They didn't have or need computer printouts to guide them.

More evidence of a badly run business. Still, I can't quit being a Sox fan any more than I can change my ancestry. What's wrong with me?

I agree. I'm starting to really dread the coming baseball season.

Pekin HS, IHSA Basketball champs in 1964 and 1967. I guess folks there go to Peoria for a "hot time in the old town."

Willie Kamm and Floyd Robinson. I like a lot of the other choices here. In a way, just to be a White Sox player or a fan is to be unsung. We are the red haired stepchildren of the sports world.

Highly excellent post.

That sums up Sox trading as well as anybody can. Lane got Billy Pierce, Nellie Fox, Minnie Minoso and Sherm Lollar for next to nothing. In recent years KW has managed to make the worst trade of the year two years running. Todd Ritchie followed up by Billy Koch. That's badder than bad. And I don't mean good. I also totally agree on the Sosa thing. He did next to nothing for us. Fate and karma or whatever you want to call it mean for him to be a cub. I don't miss him and his bunny hop one damn bit. In time he and some other "superstars" of his era will be remembered in infamy. Sammy better have the state of the art designer roids now, because the heat is finally on.

Some are optimistic here. The Sox don't look like anything even close to a contending team to me.

As of now we're low on pitching, both starting and relieving. If you're excited about Willie Harris at 2B and Aaron Rowand at CF then I don't know what to tell you. Miguel Olivo hasn't proved he can hit. Will Konerko bounce back? Will Frank sulk all year because he doesn't like Ozzie? Did ELO have his Steve Stone type of year or will he remain effective? The Sox are thin at too many positions and iffy at some others. They look like a .500 or slightly or below team to me. Yes, the games have yet to be played and if they prove me wrong then great.

I always get a kick out of these surveys. Do they go around with a scale and weigh a cross section of the population? I guess Tex-Mex, Barbeque and Whataburger have had a big affect on the physiques of the Lone Star State.

I'm with you. Nomar is lousy outside of Fenway and what's more he wants to go to a West Coast team. If he's shipped to LA I don't like what I'm hearing we're going to get. We'll have to see how it shakes down but as of now I'm not real thrilled.

Instant gratification? Try 86 years and counting. This franchise is getting close to running out of chances.

He's not mine either.

When I hear KW and trade in the same sentence I begin to hyperventilate. Not excited happy, excited scared. He should be happy to know he has plenty of friends here. I wonder what Todd Ritchie or Billy Koch he has up his sleeve this year?

I feel sorry for women in that situation. I love to talk and I'm even better at listening. Maybe I should have been a psychiatrist.

Unfortunately for Battey, when he came up the Sox had an All Star caliber catcher Sherm Lollar, who was also slower than a tired turtle, but that's another story. In any case by 59 Lollar was winding down a nice career and Battey, whose style was similar to Lollar, plus he could run a little, was ready to step in. Battey was one of the mainstays of the Twins 65 pennant winning team, along with Don Mincher the first baseman traded with him. The Sox got Roy Sievers a power hitting first baseman that Veeck was crazy about. He did give the Sox a couple of decent seasons before fading out. Veeck went for the short term fix after the 59 pennant. Earl Battey, Don Mincher, Norm Cash, Johnny Callison and Johnny Romano were good players traded for veterans who were at the end of the line. Johnny Callison for Gene Freese was the worst trade. The White Sox actually had a pretty good farm system back then and Callison was their showcase player. He had a nice career with the Phillies, winning the All Star MVP in 64 I believe. The Cubs got him late in his career. Battey was from LA, which at that time was a major supplier of African American talent to the ML. He ranks in the all time top 20 for fielding percentage and chances per game at the catching position.

Guess I'm invisible.

Is the movie Red Heat?

So much for promoting minority hiring. This guy is very bright with a good track record. What the story doesn't tell you is that he was shown the door because his bosses have no commitment to winning and he refused to be a flunky. I give the guy a lot of credit and hope he lands on his feet somewhere and sticks it to the Brewers. This story is so shameful on so many levels and the story linked is oblivious to all of them, although I do thank SS2K4 for the link.

You're letting the owner off way too easy here. The Sox could draw as well as the Cubs and things would be pretty much the same. JR has said as much on many occasions. He's said that he runs things the way he sees fit, regardless of what the Cubs do, or what the fans think. If the Sox don't field a competitive team in 04, and that is looking more and more likely, then watch attendance plummet. What then?

You're absolutely right. In time this is going to come out and the Lords of Baseball are not going to be happy. I think it may turn out to be the worst thing in baseball, and all of sports for that matter since 1919. Everybody who believes todays athletes are so damn much better than ever should think about this. What would players in all sports who starred in the past have done on the juice? Mickey Mantle once hit a home run in old Griffith park (DC) measured at 565 feet. We all know the only kind of "juice" he was on. Back when I was young I knew a guy who trained real hard and actually benched 550 pounds at a body weight of about 275. No steroids whatsover involved. It took intensive daily workouts over a long period of time. Today guys have the magic potion.

Pat O'Connor Vs Dick Hoover, Pat O'Connor v Buddy Rogers, Buddy Rogers v Bruno Sammartino, Lou Thesz v anybody. Those were the days.

Congratulations. You said it the way I wish I would have said it. You understand exactly the way us long time Sox fans feel.