77 Hitmen

Sweaty Freddy!

Or Michael Kopech?

To be fair, I could have sworn I read at least one post here on Soxtalk that made that same suggestion.

Detroitttt Stannnnd Uppp!!!!

A few more interesting tidbits from the Crain's article, including a little more detail about the $1.8B loan mentioned in a previous post: Ishbia is investing more than $125 million toward the development of a purpose-built Amtrak maintenance facility on Union Pacific’s Canal Yard. An Ishbia-led entity called Canal Edge will lead the project, which is expected to begin construction this fall and take 18 months to complete, according to a press release. .. A separate Ishbia-led entity, City River Holdings, is seeking a $1.8 billion loan for a future redevelopment of the 14th Street yard, according to federal records. The debt would come through a federal loan program known as Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing, or RRIF, which offers friendlier lending terms than the private market. .. The South Branch Bridge will be rehabbed with $37.3 million in funding, part of a plan to renovate the 110-year old bridge to extend its life while planning to replace it entirely continues.

I have no idea. But according to Brooks Boyer a couple of month ago, they're still pursuing a ballpark on the 78 while we keep getting these reports about what Ishbia is doing to buy the Amtrak site. I don't have an explanation other than to observe that this is what appears to be going on. Also, how do you know that Ishbia abandoned his Twins purchase because he wanted to design and construct a new ballpark? Are there any links to articles that give this as a reason why he dropped out when Jerry presented him with an opportunity to eventually buy the Sox?

Don't jinx it for us!

I have no idea, but that appears to be the case. Maybe Jerry hopes to secure a stadium deal before he sells as that would give a huge boost to the franchise's valuation while Ishbia is laying the groundwork for his own stadium plans in the (likely) event that Reinsdorf doesn't get a stadium deal done? Just a wild guess.

Is that really a general consensus of Target Field? When I hear people talking about ballparks, I really haven't heard a lot of negative remarks about it.

Yep, they'll almost certainly be at the Rate beyond the end of the current lease. The Crain's article says construction for the new Amtrak facility could start this fall and take 18 months to complete. So, that takes us to spring 2028 as the earliest they could even begin clearing the current rail yard for redevelopment.....and a stadium isn't even the first thing that would be built as their first plan is to build the medical campus. Also, none of this is a done deal. There's still many ways this could be delayed or (for lack of a better term) derailed. The article says Ishbia is unlikely to unveil plans for his own stadium while he doesn't control the team. So, that could be another reason why a ballpark isn't at the top of the list of things to be built at this site - he might not even gain control of the team until 2034 and in the meantime Jerry is apparently working on his own stadium pursuit (at the 78).

Yeah, it's not cheap but I coughed up for a subscription to Crain's a few months ago. I'd imagine they'd have to re-route the active tracks to the western edge of the property where the BNSF/Metra maintenance building is now. I wonder where they'd move that maintenance yard too? Perhaps along the tracks somewhere between Halsted and Western? And yes, adding the BNSF property resolves the space constraint questions for a ballpark on part of the site.

Some really interesting stuff in that Crain's article: "Amtrak’s real estate team is negotiating the purchase of the two trapezoidal Union Pacific yards on over 60 acres of land. Ishbia offered to design and construct all of Amtrak’s maintenance facilities on both the southern tip of its current site and the Union Pacific yard. A new indoor facility would be large enough to accommodate six trains to be serviced simultaneously. Amtrak’s current location only allows for one." and this one was really noteworthy to me: "Ishbia is also in advanced talks to purchase a roughly 20-acre rail yard owned by railroad operator BNSF adjacent to Amtrak’s 14th Street yard, giving him greater control to reshape the industrial tract while preserving active tracks into Union Station. Metra has a maintenance facility at the BNSF yard and is planning its own move, according to sources familiar with the project." This seems to answer the question of how they'd be able to squeeze a ballpark into the rather narrow Amtrak property. It still sounds like any stadium development would come later, with the initial development being focused on the medical campus on the property. But the fact that he's also planning to buy the BNSF/Metra land suggests to me that they really do envision a ballpark eventually being part of the development.

Editorial: Bears, call us when you have a stadium deal. https://www.chicagobusiness.com/opinion/editorials/ccb-chicago-bears-stadium-editorial-20260814/ Pretty good criticism of McCaskey and Warren in this Crain's editorial. What is harder to swallow is the organization’s apparent conviction that it has handled all of this just about perfectly. Asked whether the Bears had made mistakes along the way, Warren offered a remarkable answer: “I don’t think we’ve made any mistakes.” After years of effort, multiple stadium visions and no deal, no groundbreaking and no definitive timetable, Warren can’t think of anything the Bears might have done differently.

Thanks for the deeper dive. That's helpful because when it comes to Bonemer, I hardly know him.

I suspect that many people here on Soxtalk would agree with the criticisms and concerns of what private equity firms have done. We are all aware of companies that PE groups have ruined. The problem is the bizarre, incessant insistence by one poster that Justin Ishbia is uniquely diabolical compared to other MLB owners and that his ulterior motive is to buy the team from the benevolent Jerry Reinsdorf and somehow bleed the White Sox franchise dry before flipping it for a profit - casting it aside as yet another PE conquest for him. There's no room for rational debate, just constant lashing out and personal insults at everyone while claiming that he doesn't care about the issue. My guess is that the irrational anger at Ishbia centers around the fact that he is uniquely qualified, due to his personal wealth, to make new stadium happen - most likely in the South Loop. Ishbia suddenly dropping his Twins bid and emerging as the likely next Sox owner last year has changed the South Loop proposal from an unlikely Jerry pipe dream to a decent chance of actually happening. This might be why we keep hearing about PE malfeasance, Winnetka mansions, unsolvable ingress/egress issues, unstable infill land, polluted waterways that magically go from a river to a highly toxic canal once you go south of Roosevelt and then back to a river with water taxi service when you get to Ping Tom Park. Is Ishbia's mansion in Winnetka worthy of criticism? Arguably yes from other Winnetka residents, but I don't see how it affects someone's rooting for the White Sox. Are there broader concerns about the actions of private equity firms in general. Yes, but again, this really shouldn't be much of a hot topic relating to the future ownership of the Sox.

I still think vanity is still a factor in their decision to buy a pro sports team. I think one other thing that has changed is that it's no longer simply about owning the franchise itself, it's just as much about the real estate around the ballpark in a way that didn't really exist a couple of decades ago. Teams are now scrambling to replicate the Battery in Atlanta. Ricketts spent a ton of money not just renovating Wrigley, but buying up property around the stadium.

Bears Turn Up the Volume on Hammond Stadium Push https://www.chicagobusiness.com/sports-recreation/ccb-chicago-bears-hammond-stadium-20260813/ "Warren today also rejected the idea that the team has had any missteps in its Illinois stadium search, which has included multiple pivots from looking at sites both downtown and outside the city." Bwahahahahahaha! So, first Arlington Heights was their "sole focus" and then Chicago was and then Arlington Heights was again and now it's Hammond? Oh, and how about those secret meetings with the Mayor's office this spring that helped Brandon Johnson successfully derail any legislation IL lawmakers were working on. Does anyone believe Warren made no missteps in this multi-year debacle? Say what you want about Jerry's brazen request for taxpayer money for another new Sox stadium, but at least he showed up in Springfield to meet with lawmakers in person unlike George and Kevin. Just move next to the refineries already, soak the IN taxpayers, and put a stop to this bullshit.

Game start time moved up to 12:10 CDT because of anticipated rain later in the afternoon.

.....and attack gators in the moat?

24k attendance - pretty good for a middle of the week game against an opponent that isn't a big draw (Dodgers, Yankees, division rival, etc.). They might make it to 2M attendance this year barring a total collapse by the team, though I'm sure the weeknight attendance numbers will take a hit once school starts.

If you have a NY Times subscription, the Athletic is part of them now. I cancelled The Athletic when they cut the Sox coverage, but now get it again through the NYT.

McCaskey can go f*** off. I hope Lake and Porter County residents enjoy the extra taxes and tolls they’ll be paying to give the Bears $1B for a stadium. Hopefully the Sox stadium plans go more like Manseuto’s than McCaskey’s.