SI1020

Aparacio was on the 59 pennant winner. He got traded to Baltimore for the 63 season and came back to the Sox 68-70. He ended his career in Boston. Dick Allen helped save the franchise after some rough years in the late 60's early 70's. He played first for us and was AL MVP in 1972, a very exciting year for the Sox. Bob Lemon was a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cleveland Indians during their glory years in the late 40's and 50's. He managed for us in 77 and part of 78 got fired, then took over in NY and lead the Yanks to the WS championship.

Thanks Roman. Shame of me for not mentioning Bill Melton at third. First Sox player to hit over 30 homers IIRC. It's great when a younger fan shows an interest in his teams history, or any kind of history for that matter.

No Looie Aparacio either. Sportswriter Jerome Holtzman once rated Aparacio over Luke Appling. Obviously ss and 2b are two real strong postions in Sox history. Minnie Minoso is a major omission too. Shoeless Joe was the Ted Williams of his era, but nobody loved playing the game like Minnie. Don't forget Minnie won a Gold Glove in 1957 when they only gave one award per position for both leagues. Hall of Fame catcher Ray Schalk and 50's early 60's star Sherm Lollar deserve a mention too. Willie Kamm at 3b was the slickest fielder at his position in the 20's and early 30's and Buck Weaver of the Black Sox was one of the better 3bman of his era. Weaver is the most tragic figure of all the Black Sox IMO. He is the one player that truly got the shaft. Despite our lack of WS championships we have intense competition at ss, 2b, 3b,c and lf. Thanks for posting this. Did they do this for all the teams?

Bud Lite and his wrecking crew. What a bunch of idiots.

Pierce also had 39+ consecutive shutout innings in August. He lead the league in strikeouts with 186 and was second in shutouts with 7. Billy never did get the run support he needed. "Jungle" Jim Rivera, a real fan favorite and a first class character lead the league in triples with 16 and Minnie Minoso lead in SB with 25. Teams didn't run very much in the 50's. A certain HOF shortstop from Venezuela was to change that in the late 50's. The problem with the Sox that year is they didn't have their customary depth in starters. Saul Rogovin and Joe Dobson slumped badly. Eight pitchers had 10 or more starts but only Pierce and Trucks were consistently effective. The 1953 team had the best record of any Sox team since 1920.

He was a major disappointment in Pittsburgh. What did they do for him in SF I wonder? In Pittsburgh he would invariably be cruising along until he'd have that one bad inning and the bottom would fall out. He'd get an almost pathetic look on his face like he wanted rescued by his manager. Now when he gets in a jam he tries real hard to tough it out. Someone in SF helped him get mentally tough which he definitely was not when he was with the Pirates.

Like I said, I'd be happy to be wrong here. I've seen some good White Sox CFers in my lifetime. We need another in the tradition of Landis, Berry and Lemon. The sooner the better.

Have you ever met the man? Have you ever really listened t what he has said? Have you ever talked to his teammates, past and present, for their real feelings? Even Konerko said Thomas "carried the team on his back", and "we need him". Have you ever been in the clubhouse, or even near it? Thomas is no cancer, he's the cure and has been. But when he's been injured, people like you bail out on him. Stay off the band wagon, Frank and his fans don't need two faced assholes to back him up only when he's hitting. f*** you, frontrunner. Oh well, like I said this topic can get out of hand in a hurry.

Frank has tried my patience many times over the years. People who have actually met him have told me that he can come across as a really nice guy, the kind that would put himself out for you if you needed it. Whatever he has done wrong, Frank has paid a much higher price in the court of public opinion than you know who on the north side. I do know that we never ever had a hitter like him in the history of the White Sox. Put a vintage Frank Thomas on some of those really good Sox teams in the go go era and the Sox rewrite baseball history. Put Frank in his prime on the 55, 64, and 67 teams and you definitely make the Sox pennant winners and not just near misses. As for now, I hope he continues doing what he's been doing. Lastly, I'm not trying to reignite the controversy, or diss anybody here, just giving my opinion.

Oh Boy!! I really like you Rex, you're one of many many reasons I basically stick to this board and have left the others. Just warning you though in cyber friendship. This topic has literally gone nuclear on other boards with pro Frank and anti Frank people going at each other.

I was one of those yelling for him to be brought up early in the year. Then I saw him play at home for the Knights. Our seats were great and as I watched him I realized that this guy is never going to hit major league pitching unless he seriously modifies his swing. I don't think he's ever going to do it, but would be more than glad to be wrong.

This is 4 years before I started following the Sox. Billy Pierce and Virgil Trucks were a formidable 1-2 punch. Pierce started the All Star game for the American League and pitched 3 scoreless innings. The Yanks as usual, were too much for everybody. Keep it coming Josh.

Congratulations. You're a real fine Granpa. I know how excited I would have been at that age to experience something like that.

Didn't he play Buck Weaver in Eight Men Out?

How come that guy never gets tired? He could go 12 rounds easy.

I agree with Brando Fan, BMR, Rex and others who say Borchard is not ready. And to others yes it seems we are screwed big time in CF at the moment. My question is why can't someone work with Joe on his swing. It was critiqued perfectly on this thread. Someone has to tell the guy that the swing has to change or else there is NO future for him in the bigs. Is he set in his ways and uncoachable?

I'll be rooting for the Gamecocks. I know Fullerton has a great baseball program and are not to be taken lightly.

I was in the 4th grade when the Sox played the Dodgers in the WS. This wasn't the WS, but I'll take it. It's a little bit of very sweet payback and it couldn't come at a better time. The Sox did things in the last two games we've been looking for all season. This year has been such a downer but I'm going to hang on to this, and hope it's a sign of things to come. Now we get our 1917 WS opponent.

Sox hitting woes Gary Wards handiwork? He loved hitting for home runs. Even if you are a power hitter that is not the way to go. Try to hit the ball hard, the home runs will come. Doubles in the gap are great too, especially with men on base.

Woo Hoo Carlos!

They did become way too one dimensional. You can't win games consistently that way.

I'm stunned by the failure of our hitters so far this year.

I knew he could do this for Oakland. I just hoped Koch would do the same for us.

For the first time since the early 70's I live in a town without major league baseball. On the talk shows here Sammy has a saintly reputation with most of the callers. The cubs are "lovable losers" and have their share of fans although most folks here seem to root for the Braves (it's SC). The White Sox do not seem to exist. In Pittsburgh, they were Chicago's other team and the focus was mainly on the cubs because of the long NL rivalry with the Pirates. Some of the callers here made me want to gag. I've got to get on the air and dispense a little truth to these people. Yesterday the Fox announcer said that Sosa was "everything that's right about baseball" on the cubs- yanks telecast. Lincoln once said "you can't fool all the people all the time." It's pretty close to that when it comes to Sammy.

Wish I was there. The weather was great and the Sox were beautiful. Can we hope that this is the beginning of a turnaround?