CSF

Maybe it's just me, but I didn't see any scowls. Only except for the media trying to portray Frank as a me-first player.

That could possibly be the most asanine post I've ever seen. :headshake

Maybe not. From the Sun-Times: Ventura announces retirement October 12, 2004 BY DOUG PADILLA Staff Reporter Advertisement In a career that spanned 16 seasons, Robin Ventura left his mark on more than just the playing field. "I think Robin Ventura was incredible to the [sox] franchise above and beyond his playing skills,'' said chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who granted a rare interview to talk about the former Sox third baseman. "He is a marvelous person and human being, and one of my four or five favorite White Sox players of all time.'' Ventura retired Sunday night after the Los Angeles Dodgers were eliminated from the playoffs. Ventura, 37, spent nine full seasons with the Sox after making his debut in 1989, a year after he was the 10th overall selection in the amateur draft out of Oklahoma State. Ventura batted .274 in 1,254 games with the Sox, adding 171 of his 294 career home runs. He had 741 RBI with the Sox along with 219 doubles among his 1,244 hits while on the South Side. "Physically, it gets tougher all the time,'' Ventura told the Los Angeles Daily News after Sunday's game. "It wouldn't have been fair to come back and not be able to play in the field as I should. It wouldn't be fair to [Dodgers manager Jim Tracy] to have to put up with that.'' Tracy said toward the end of the season that the door was open to Ventura returning as a player next season. Now that he has made his retirement official, Reinsdorf also has opened a door, this one to a front office or coaching position. "I'm sure we'll be in contact with him,'' Reinsdorf said. "If Robin Ventura picked up the phone today and said he would like to return, there would a job for him. Whatever he wanted to do, there would be a job for him.'' Before retiring, Ventura was the active leader in grand slams with 18, hitting two this season with Dodgers. He hit two in one game on Sept. 4, 1995 and is the only player to hit a slam during each game of a doubleheader when he did it May 20, 1999 while playing for the New York Mets. Only Lou Gehrig (23) and Eddie Murray (19) have hit more. Although Ventura had announced to his teammates after the final regular-season game that he was finished, he waited until his team was eliminated by the St. Louis Cardinals to make his decision public. Ventura played in 102 games with the Dodgers this season and batted .243 with five home runs and 28 RBI. He made his fifth postseason appearance, going 0-for-3 while pinch hitting three times against the Cardinals. His final at-bat came in the eighth inning Sunday when he he was thrown out on a slow roller in front of home plate. Ventura, a Southern California native, reportedly is open to the idea of returning to the game in some capacity in a few years, but for now will spend time with his family. The Sox have made it a priority in recent years to bring former players back to the organization. Ozzie Guillen was named manager this season, while Harold Baines took over as his bench coach. The team also has hitting coach Greg Walker and third-base coach Joey Cora. "He has everything that is good about a baseball player,'' said Walker, who was at the tail end of his Sox career when Ventura was starting out. "You want those guys to pass it on to the new guys. We need a guy like that. He would be great.'' The Sox are likely to have two open coaching positions for next season, but getting Ventura to fill one would be a long shot. First-base coach Rafael Santana is not expected to return next season and Baines said late in the season that his job as bench coach was not fulfilling. While Ventura was an All-Star twice (1992 and 2002) and won six Gold Glove Awards, he might best be known nationally for his "brawl'' with Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan in 1993. After getting hit by a Ryan fastball, Ventura charged the mound only to find himself in a headlock while taking blows to the head from Ryan. Ventura's top two Sox seasons came in 1991 and 1996. In '91 he batted .284 with 23 home runs and 100 RBI, while in '96 he hit .287 with a career-high 34 home runs and 105 RBI. He was voted by Sox fans onto the organization's 27-player "Team of the Century,'' which was announced Sept. 30, 2000. Still, the best season of his career might have been the year after he left Chicago to sign as a free agent with the New York Mets. In '99, Ventura batted .301 with 32 home runs and a career-high 120 RBI and finished sixth in the National League MVP voting. Ventura never won a World Series, reaching the Fall Classic once in 2000 with the Mets. He was 3-for-20 with a home run in that series against the New York Yankees. He was traded to the Yankees the next season, but they were defeated in the 2001 division series by the eventual champion Anaheim Angels. Ventura was a late-season acquisition by the Dodgers in 2003 and was used as a role player this season, getting in most of his time at first base and as a pinch hitter. "Baines, Walker and Robin, I would say would be in my top five White Sox guys,'' Reinsdorf said, keeping the rest of his top five private. "There is a common thread that runs through them. They are classy guys that work hard and there is no b.s. about them. They played for the love of the game and not for the love of money.'' That would be awesome if Robin came back as a member of the coaching staff. Ventura, Pudge, & Black Jack would also be excellent additions, though I don't think relations are too good with the latter 2. Well, one can dream, can't they?

Nah, I'm with you on that one. Hawk and Don Drysdale weren't too bad either.

Ditto.

Over the great Brian McRae? Surely you jest!

Yeah, but he can't be better than Kerry Wood. I mean, Wood strikes out 250 batters a year. Seriously, 69 wins in 4 1/2 seasons. Congrats #56.

Just one this year. Started a new job working late hours and weekends. I'll definitely tweak the schedule next year to get to at least 15-20. At least the one game was a White Sox winner (Sunday game vs the Braves featuring homers by Frank & Crede and another brilliant performance by Buerhle ).

Speaking of rookie hazing, the pitcher on the Indians that was shot in the calf yesterday was wearing a USC Cheerleaders uniform, and was probably saved by the white boots that's part of the uni.

JHood has pissed me off this entire year of his constant slamming of Sox fans, all the while polishing the knob of the Cubs organization. He gets mad because Sox fans don't flood the lines to talk about the Sox, but gets pissed because a Sox fan called in to gloat, saying he doesn't like the "smell" of a Sox fan. Screw him and his Cubbie love.

From Chicagosports.com: WHITE SOX BITS Williams optimistic after Ordonez talk By Fred Mitchell Tribune staff reporter September 22, 2004, 10:58 PM CDT Ken Williams made a preemptive phone call to Magglio Ordonez on Wednesday, assuring the ailing slugger he still considers the free-agent-to-be a member of the "White Sox family." Williams told the Tribune on Tuesday that he was uncertain of the health status of the veteran right fielder, who was placed on the disabled list July 22 with bone marrow edema in his left knee. Williams referred to the condition as "a very rare injury that he has. The blood flow into the bone still is not coming around well enough." That medical uncertainty has made it difficult to negotiate a fair deal. A phone call to Ordonez Wednesday apparently made the Sox general manager significantly more optimistic about his recovery. "They've obviously sought out the opinions of a number of top doctors and have gotten to the point where he's now starting to feel some healing with the injury," Williams said Wednesday when asked about Ordonez, who is represented by agent Tom Reich. "The optimism that they expressed to me today gives me some optimism moving into the off-season. Whether or not we're able to come to an agreement and bring him back or not, he's going to forever be part of the White Sox family. [Ordonez] told me how good he was starting to feel and his rehab will start shortly here. "We were dealing with kind of an unknown up until recent events. … Even more information needs to be gathered as to the prognosis from here on out." Reports that Ordonez's leg is not healing properly obviously could hurt his value on the open market. Williams says that has not been his intention. "I remember him sitting on the bench and wondering whether he was going to get out of A-ball or not, and having to offer him some words of encouragement," Williams said. "My feelings for the man won't allow me to hope that his value has been suppressed in any way." Ordonez is being paid $14 million in the final year of his contract. He turned down a long-term contract offer from the Sox earlier this year and the injury could make him more affordable to the club. Extra innings Left fielder Carlos Lee was scratched from the starting lineup Wednesday night for "personal, family-related reasons," according to White Sox officials. Ross Gload started in place of Lee. … Shortstop Jose Valentín has been named the club's recipient of the 2004 Roberto Clemente Award. With the nomination, Valentín becomes one of 30 finalists for the national award, which recognizes the players who best exemplify the game of baseball through sportsmanship, community involvement and positive contributions to their teams. Copyright © 2004, The Chicago Tribune

Me and Z is the best show on the Score. Too bad they're only on once a week (Saturday nights, mostly), and now they've been bumped for Sporting News radio due to college football. Boers and Bernstein are decent, when they're not belittling callers and slamming Hawk and the Sox (which as of the past couple of months have been often). North is horrible, but if it's either him or the jackass on ESPN 1000 that starts at 9am, give me the hot dog vendor. J Hood is also pretty good, though he too, has been highly critical of the Sox (not that they deserve any leniency I guess).

To quote a line from a classic "Who" song: "Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss." :headshake

Welcome aboard. Good to hear about Billy Simas. I always thought he was pretty decent in that setup role. Hope he makes it back to the Show.

I'm being shallow? Look, if you want to go become a fan of the Minnesota Twins, you go on ahead and do so. Hell, I'll even take up a collection to buy you a lovely Twinkies hat. Why should Sox fans who have seen this 2nd half of a season be nothing short of a train wreck be subjected further disappointment by seeing a bitter rival celebrate their division title in front of their eyes. So what, we can hear more lovely comments about the team or the fanbase from the book of Torii? Or maybe Jacques Jones will chime in this time? If trying to avoid adding insult to injury is the case, then yep, I'm shallow. :rolly

Because it would be like rubbing an entire carton of Morton's Salt in a laceration. The pain wouldn't go away for a loooooooooong time.

Nice article and good to see some Sox players getting some pub, but again, devotion to accuracy please: Didn't know he could give up a game winning hit when that series resulted in a sweep by the Sox. :rolly

That would be horrible if they clinch it playing the Sox. The last thing I want to see is those bastards celebrating, especially if it's at the Cell. :fyou

72% said the Sox. 28% said the Twins. Now I love this team and am not abandoning ship despite no playoffs again ( :headshake ), but this was absurd. Outside of Paulie, no one from this infield has even been close to have been consistent this year (maybe Uribe, but that's sort of a stretch). The Twins have interchangeable parts these past couple of years and find a way to make it work. Even with Mientkiewicz in Boston, & Koskie/Rivas in and out of the lineup, they continue to stick other guys in that infield who field their positions well, and still know how to come up with the clutch hit. I understand some people who want to show their unending loyalty to this team, or just their hatred for all things Twinkies, but for crying out loud, be realistic. Overall at this point, the Twins have a far better infield than the Sox do. I hope that is different in 2005, but we'll just wait and see.

Can someone tell me the short, abbreviated version?

Does he still post here?

The short version: 2 errors that led to 3 unearned runs.......all with 2 outs

Maybe he imagined himself as the right handed version of Valentin.

I'm still a Crede fan, but don't argue with the ump about interference on that one. He just threw the ball away, plain and simple.

From the Sun-Times: Well, I have no problem with this. After all, I love ESPN.