77 Hitmen

I don't know about crime, but I remember that Hillside area being kind of dumpy even ~30 years ago. Further south are nicer areas. I'm thinking of the Western Springs/LaGrange area as being rather pleasant.

Schriffen is a perfect reflection of this organization. This includes how it hires unqualified people for top positions and how it has given Sox fans an utterly crappy product.

Until someone builds something permanent (surface lots don't count) on the south end of the 78, the door isn't closed on the Sox building a stadium there. Interesting that the Fire's plan shows not much development south of their stadium other than surface lots. That could indicate that they and Related Midwest are aware the Sox are still an option for that end of the property.

It means Sox ownership (present and future) better get a move on if they really want to build a stadium at the 78. We know Jerry isn't going to pay for a new stadium and the state certainly won't. It's all up to what the Ishbias want to do with the franchise going forward as JR eventually hands off ownership to them and they haven't said a word on the issue. It could very well be that their plan is to stay at 35th St and make major changes there. We'll see.

This. Think about the last time you (not you specifically, Kyyle) accidently bumped into someone out in public. Did you shoot them a dirty look in response? I know it was all spur of the moment, but it makes Rosenthal look like a douche. The camera man had a job to do too, it's not like he was some rando sneaking onto the field snapping photos for fun.

"Schriffen is excessively positive and makes outlandish statements. It’s as though he’s trying to sell you something." ....and this is why I don't expect that he's going anywhere next season. This is exactly what Jerry wants - a guy who tirelessly tries to polish the turd of a team the Sox are fielding.

If I'm looking at the right spot on Google Maps, part of the old Hillside Shopping Center is now a CarMax and part of it is a vacant lot. No offense to anyone who lives in or near Hillside, but why in the world would the Sox leave 35th and Shields only to build a new stadium there? I don't see how by any stretch of the imagination it would be an improvement over the current location. And like I said, no offense to people who live around there, but that area doesn't seem that appealing. Hillside, Bellwood, Berkeley, etc. aren't exactly top suburbs. What is there to do around there to draw fans before and after games? Sure, there are some very nice cemeteries just to the south of that area and on the north side of the Ike, there's a pretty big landfill which I remember smelling sometimes as I drove past on 290, but those aren't exactly huge draws for entertainment dollars. No train stations within a several of miles of that site as far as I can tell either. Too far from the end of the Blue Line and not even close to the Metra lines to the north and south. I can't imagine it's a good candidate for developing a successful "stadium district". The era of MLB teams building ballparks in locations that are only accessible to almost all fans by car with nothing else much around them is long over by more than three decades. And no, The Battery in Atlanta isn't comparable. Very different dynamics in the Atlanta metro area than in Chicagoland.

Amen. The team might not be 100+ losses bad over the next couple of seasons, but until Jerry's no longer running the show, we'll be treading water at best.

Oak Brook Mall is still around and is thriving as far as I can tell. They are NOT going to get rid of it to build a Sox stadium on that site to cater to the segment of the fanbase who are afraid of the city. It's not even close to any train stations, either. So, it's not a transit-friendly location except for being right off the tollway. https://oakbrookmagazine.com/still-going-strong-oakbrook-center-continues-to-thrive-as-more-malls-close/ https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/07/22/oak-brook-center-ranked-4th/ https://hinsdalemag.com/oakbrook-center/

It'll either the current site (renovated current stadium or maybe a new stadium on the north side of 35th) or the 78. IMO, any other location is much, much worse. For all the flaws of the 35th and Shields location, why would Arlington Heights or NW Indiana be any better? AH will work great for the Bears and their once a week, 10x a year mostly on Sunday afternoons schedule and their massive fan base, but good luck trying to get enough Sox fans to drive out to Arlington Park 81x year such that they draw at least 2.5M people there year in and year out. A suburban baseball village seems to be working for the Braves, but Atlanta is perhaps the most-sprawled city in America. I don't see it as a template for success for the Sox, especially since the NW suburbs is predominantly Cubs fans.

Each MLB team has exclusive territorial rights to certain metro areas. The Rangers would never in a million years allow a 2nd team in the DFW metro area. While I agree that the NYC area (perhaps in NJ) could support a 3rd team, the Yankees and Mets own the rights to that area and would never allow it. The A's tried to get a stadium built in San Jose, but the Giants own the rights to that area and blocked that attempt. Ironically, a couple of decades ago the A's ceded the San Jose rights to the Giants when they were looking for a new ballpark.

Fans can't wait to pay something like $10 in tolls to get there via the Skyway or deal with all that awful traffic (including lots of huge trucks) on the Borman Expressway! Say hello to Miami Marlins-level attendance numbers.

Cal Raleigh with #55 and #56 tonight. He breaks Mantle's switch hitter HR record and ties Ken Griffey Jr's all-time Mariners record for HRs in a season as the M's win their 10th straight game. https://www.mlb.com/news/cal-raleigh-passes-mickey-mantle-for-most-homers-by-switch-hitter I'd be thrilled to see a Seattle vs. Milwaukee World Series this year....two teams that have never won a WS title and two teams that started out in Seattle. And no, that match-up wouldn't disprove MLB's competitive balance problem. The Padres, who are playoff-bound, have also never won a WS title (along with the Rays and Rockies).

Yep, and they promised the owners of McCuddy's that they'd get a new bar across from the new stadium but I think they ended up trying to shove them off somewhere blocks away and it was never rebuilt. Reinsdorf wanted people to spend all their money inside the stadium and didn't want other businesses on the site siphoning off his profits. Just like how he pushed the upper deck above 3 levels of suites/premium seating (the Club level was initially a premium seating area) to maximize his profits. The ways they screwed up New Comiskey was just astonishing and it had Jerry Reinsdorf written all over it.

Yes, it would be difficult for the incoming new owners to operate the franchise worse than Jerry has over the last 18 or so years. And we've discussed it many times previously, it's not just major league payroll but investing in the rest of the organization and hiring personnel based on competence and not based on being a loyalist. But winning is tough and not guaranteed. There's at least a dozen other teams out there who in decent sized markets and who are trying to win.

Despite what I just said in my last post, this is a valid concern. Could they just build a so-called entertainment district at the current location and have it attract enough people the 280 days a year the Sox aren't playing at home to support the businesses there? I have no idea. I just think something has to give. The economics of sports franchises has changed and many teams are rushing to develop areas around their stadium. I'd be surprised if the Ishbias are spending close to $2B for the Sox franchise just to keep the current park and parking lot arrangement and struggle with stagnant market share and attendance for the next 30 years. And for those who think they can "just win" and everything will be wonderful. Easier said than done. Cohen has thrown a ton of money into the Mets payroll and how's that working out for them? They'll barely make the playoffs thanks to the 3rd wild card spot. I doubt that kind of success on the South Side would be enough to turn the tide of the Sox attendance woes. And how has throwing money at payroll worked out for the Ishbias own Phoenix Suns? Are they ready to raise any championship banners?

Well, he's certainly not getting money from the state other than infrastructure funds. But, it's still possible that he got Ishbia lined up as the next owner so that the Ishbias could privately finance a new stadium. That could explain the timing of the ownership transfer announcement and the long-term time frame, which has options kick in the same year the Sox stadium lease is up. I just think that staying at the current park with renovations and parking lot redevelopment is the path of least resistance and the most likely outcome. But we'll see what the Ishbias decide to do with their billions.

Cal Raleigh hits HR #54 (on Sunday) and ties Mickey Mantle's record for most HRs in a season by a switch hitter. The Mariners are now in 1st place. https://www.mlb.com/news/cal-raleigh-mickey-mantle-s-switch-hitting-home-run-record

IMO, this is the most likely outcome to the Sox stadium saga.

MLB wouldn't approve a Sox move before expansion as it would unnecessarily take a potential expansion market off the board and, despite my criticism of Rate Field, the Sox don't have a serious stadium problem anywhere close to what the A's had in Oakland and the Rays currently have. I also don't expect MLB to expand beyond 32 teams - perhaps in my lifetime. For more than a half century, MLB hasn't moved any teams unless their current stadium situation became totally unacceptable - Olympic Stadium, Oakland Coliseum, and a Rays move is still possible if they don't get a replacement for Tropicana Field approved. This goes back all the way to 1972. It's been the most stable of the 4 major sports leagues in that regard.

I think the chances of this happening before expansion are basically zero. MLB wants two prime markets available who will build them a publicly-funded new stadium. They won't be eager for the White Sox to take one of those cities off the board like the A's did with Las Vegas. I'm not sure how eager Nashville will be to fork over nearly $1B in taxpayer money for a baseball stadium either as they're spending a fortune on the new Titans stadium. After expansion? Mayyyybe. It depends on how the dust settles after expansion and realignment. I'm still doubtful that Ishbia, who is based in Chicago, will want to move the team out of state. But at that point, MLB wouldn't care because they'll likely have imploded the AL and NL, putting the Sox and Cubs in the same division and "conference" and thus making the Sox presence in the Chicago market seem superfluous. Still a longshot, but at that point, I could see a series of events that maybe leads to their departure - perhaps the city blocks the team from building a privately-funded ballpark at the 78 because of neighborhood objections and some other city ends up getting spurned by MLB in expansion and is ready to make a generous stadium offer. Maybe. But we're a long way from that point. Most likely, if their only option is to stay at the current stadium and they won't or can't turn the area into a thriving "stadium district", then I don't expect them to move the team, but expect another 30 years of stagnant market share and arguing that Sox fans aren't fair weather even though they will only show up to games if they're winning and making deep playoff runs for an extended number of years.

94 wins in 2013 and 98 wins in 2015...wow, I forgot that they were actually that good for a few years. It looks like their attendance bottomed out in 2018 and 2019 and has been a little higher post-Covid. But then again, it looks like MLB overall attendance also bottomed out in 2018-19 and has rebounded post-Covid. https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/misc.shtml This year's league-wide average has ticked down a little from last year so far, but 2 teams are playing in minor league stadiums.

Here's is Marc Ganis's response to this request:

I'm pretty sure I read once that city/county/state governments cannot own MLB teams based on league rules. If all billionaires got that way by being unethical, where does that leave us Sox fans? Are we hoping the next owners have modest resources and need to operate the team on a shoestring budget for the next 3 decades? It's fair to suggest that billionaires for the most part suck and got that way by inheritance or by exploiting others, but I'd rather have some filthy rich dude owning the team than someone who can't play with the big boys in terms of MLB payroll. And it's not like such a new owner is going to be raking in the dough solely from a team playing at a half empty, unpopular stadium that is surrounded by parking lots such that he can spend like a big market team.

The Denver Broncos intend to build a privately-funded, retractable roof new stadium and develop the land around the new stadium into a mixed-use entertainment district. Their current stadium, Empower Field at Mile High, was built in 2001. https://www.denverpost.com/2025/09/09/broncos-stadium-burnham-yard/ https://www.denverbroncos.com/news/broncos-announce-historic-burnham-yard-as-preferred-site-for-privately-funded-retractable-roof-stadium-mixed-use-district