Thad Bosley

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 08:28 PM) The vast majority of fans go in for the fame, and then leave after the game. Does the neighborhood really matter? Because it's by a super highway with 4-8 lanes each direction, I will be home in less than 30 minutes. And if I was taking the cta or metra, not much longer. I don't see how Addison or the south loop make a difference. Maybe some day when we have a new owner, a new management team, a different philosophy and approach on how to run this organization leading to better on-the-field results, an invigorated fan base and much better attendance, these logistical advantages will be optimally leveraged. Until the aforementioned happens, however, expect more of the same that we've seen over the past 35 years.

Year 1 of the Great 3 Year Plan.

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 08:34 PM) There is a reason Jim Thompson made the deal with Harold Washington that cemented this location as the sox home. Other "sexier" locations had major problems. And a lot had to do with the Bears flat out refusing to get a stadium with the sox. Soldier field has probably the nicest location, but is a war zone on game days traffic wise. the south loop has major access problems TODAY, let alone with a ballpark on Clark st. It's still not a desirable location, and the test for that is how well the Sox draw in seasons when they don't win. Sadly, the Sox have put their fans to that test way too many times throughout the years, as the paltry 5 playoff appearances in the last 55 years would attest. So lo those many years when the Sox weren't good enough to get into the playoffs, and the myriad dismal attendance years to go with that, tells you loudly and clearly there is nothing about that location, absolutely nothing, outside a winning product on the field, that interests people. Period.

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 08:12 PM) The top ten attendance year for the sox are at 333 w 35th st. They only drew 2 million or more fans twice at the old park. Stop. Just stop. Even remotely suggesting this location is ideal is beyond silly. That dog won't hunt. Having ideal "logistics", as you correctly point out, and a desirable location are two very different things. Our routine abysmal attendance with all of those ideal logistics in place bears that out.

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 07:00 PM) As good as it can given the crap on the field. I meant for the 115 years we've been here.

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 06:39 PM) No. Other. Site. In. Chicago. Or. The. Burbs. Offers. The. Logistical. Advantages. That. 35th. And. The. Dan. Ryan. Offers. Superhighway. THREE rail lines. 7 THOUSAND parking spaces. Find me a spot that can do all that. And. How. Has. This. Spot. Been. Working. Out. For. Us.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Jul 21, 2015 -> 09:49 PM) Maybe Jerry will learn something from the Bears if they manage to start turning things around. Going outside to bring in help was never their strong suit but pressure finally forced their hand. It's been 35 years. If he hasn't learned it by now....

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Jul 21, 2015 -> 03:57 PM) I got the impression that the article was suggesting a wholesale sea-change as an organization, not a hatchet job on Kenny. The facts illustrated don't lie: drop in attendance, inability to produce a consistent winner and a lack of accountability due to a misguided sense of loyalty. Sure, Kenny sits near the top. But the guy who's really responsible is Jerry Reinsdorf. And if he's anything like the old people in my family, the older they are the more difficult change becomes. Great read, Lip Bingo! The buck stops on the Chairman's desk.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Jul 17, 2015 -> 02:26 PM) Personally I think the bigger "what if?" was what would have happened to the Sox had Edward DeBartolo been allowed to buy the team from Veeck. That's who Bill had a deal with until MLB refused to approve it. Reinsdorf and Einhorn weren't Bill's first choice and he always felt they were forced on him. DeBartolo wound up buying the 49'ers where they won four Super Bowls. Mark A HUGE "what if?" for this franchise. If not for the petty politics of the MLB owners back then who simply didn't want Mr. DeBartolo to be a member in their little club, we would have actually had the kind of owner these past 35 years worthy of a large market team. The kind of owner who wouldn't subject his fan base to the "Can't spend a dollar when you only have fifty cents" mentality. He had the resources to run this organization the way a large market team ought to be run, and based on his results with the 49ers, I think it's pretty certain the results of the past 35 years would have been far greater than those under the Reinsdorf ownership group. They certainly couldn't have been much worse.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jul 18, 2015 -> 10:29 PM) Greg, I'm pretty sure you are going to be disappointed. Samardzija will get traded. Maybe even Alexei. I'd be shocked if Robertson, Melky, or LaRoche go anywhere though. Chairman wants to win in 2016 Lol - as opposed to what? Not wanting to win in 2016? Give me a break. Not to mention, but if "Chairman" is hanging his hat on the likes of Melky and LaRoche (one year older, btw) to fulfill this yearning of his next year, well, how's that working out for him so far in 2015?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 16, 2015 -> 01:39 PM) Given that the Cubs are seeing a big surge in ratings this year after low numbers last year, I think we can point to a much more effective way to get those ratings up. Ha! Good point!

All of this on the heels of that article the other day showing the Sox essentially last in baseball in TV ratings. As much as I personally love Hawk & Stoney together (and I think they've made great strides in the past couple of years to come together to produce a quality broadcast), there have got to be changes in the TV booth coming down the pike with horrible ratings like these to shake things up a bit.

JB = "J"ust "B"eautiful!!

Wait, you can be a manager on the Cubs without being...an ex-Cub and/or...a personal favorite of Tom Ricketts? Wow - how radical!

QUOTE (Julius @ Jul 8, 2015 -> 08:37 PM) If the Marketing Department is reading this, then here is my Open Letter to Brooks Boyer…. "Brooks - at the end of the day, The Cell is in a terrible location relative to your fan base. Your challenge is to get people to show up on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday….and even Friday. Unfortunately, you couldn't give away enough tickets (heck, even enough t-shirts) to get people to suffer through Chicago traffic. My friends in Cary and Arlington Heights only go to games on Saturday and Sunday. Imagine the people that would show up if you had a ballpark in the burbs. The sox had that opportunity but JR failed to see the genius in moving to Addison. Relocation won't happen because JR has a sweetheart deal with the State of Illinois. What's the solution? Remove JR and his cronies and get people who know how to build a sustainable winner." I am as big a critic of Jerry Reinsdorf as anyone on this site, primarily because of his failure during his 35 years as owner to deliver sustainable winning baseball, as evidenced through exciting postseason action. Only one season in 35 has met that threshold. Failure! He's also made a host of bungling decisions along the way that have had lasting, negative effects on the franchise. And oh, how I look forward to the day when this team gets a new owner! However, I'm in a generous mood after our nice walk-off win last night, so why don't I give the 'ol boy his just due and refute the bolded. Reinsdorf did see the genius in moving the team to Addison. Addison was by far his first choice for location of the new ballpark. He even purchased the tract of land upon which the park would have been built (we're talking mid 80s here). The reason you and your friends from Cary and Arlington Heights are not traveling to Addison today to watch White Sox baseball is because the construction of a new ballpark in that town was put up for voter referendum - and it was defeated by 30 votes. Just 30 votes! If a mere 16 people in Addison had voted differently that one fateful day, the entire state of the franchise would look very different today. The Sox would have been playing in the suburbs for the past 25 years instead of at that crummy location in Bridgeport. I obviously can't say if the results since 1991 would have been better or worse, but they certainly would have been different.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 8, 2015 -> 01:39 PM) Yet Cubs fans kept going to Wrigley Field in droves long before there was any hope or improvement. The only "nonsense" trotting out whatever the excuse du jour is, while people in the same town do the exact opposite of said excuse. Forget about the Cubs. It's almost like comparing apples to oranges. In the '80s, due primarily to the combination of the ultimate salesman in Harry Caray and the power of WGN, they very successfully marketed the Wrigley Field/Wrigleyville experience. The popularity skyrocketed in the mid 80s and has carried to this very day. People go there primarily to experience the ballpark and neighborhood. The Sox have neither of those two things working for them. If the Cubs had neither, they'd have attendance issues, too, given their poor track record for winning. But they do have those two advantages, and therefore you cannot compare the two teams fairly on the attendance front. As for this "excuse du jour", your argument continues to be upside down on all of this. Do you think Sox attendance is what it is this year because Sox fans wake up every day and make a different excuse for not going out to the ballpark? That's ridiculous. They are not going because Reinsdorf, Williams, and Hahn have given them no compelling reason to do so because the team they've given us is about as dreadful as it could get. Sox fans don't need to make an excuse - the team being awful is enough to keep them away. And with no other draw in the form of an amazing ballpark and/or great neighborhood experience, then the low attendance is no surprise.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 8, 2015 -> 12:41 PM) What it boils down to is White Sox fans have all the excuses in the world. Less on the lame fans' excuses nonsense and more on the dire need for this incompetent management team to substantially improve the product they are trying to sell to the fans.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Jul 7, 2015 -> 03:58 PM) From 2009 to now - since the cutoff is evidently 2008 - there are 12 teams in baseball with a worse win% than the Sox. 6 of them have had no playoff appearances in that time. 5 more have won a total of 6 playoff games in 7 appearances between them. The remaining team is KC, who was a laughing stock until 2014. So as far as "one of the worst franchises," maybe. Depends how large a clump you want to make "the worst" (I'd say bottom 6, I guess, to match the number of divisions) and how much stock you put into short playoff runs (I'd say some). Let's go crazy and look at the last 55 years: just FIVE playoff appearances for this franchise since 1960! Noodle on that for a few moments! And then we wonder how a team that has been around as long as the Chicago White Sox has been unable to build a robust fan base.

QUOTE (dpd9189 @ Jul 7, 2015 -> 10:19 PM) The problem is I think if Hahn had his way, he'd go young and rebuild like so many other teams have done the past few years (Astros, Cubs, Twins) but the Sox have always had a mindset under KW (and perhaps by orders of JR) to never go that route. The Sox will always try to put the most competitive team on the field which is good however when you get to the point where they are now and you're dishing out contracts to 35 and 36 year old players and the result is always the same, it's time to try something new. Hahn IS getting his way. His way IS Kenny's way, it IS Reinsdorf's way. This idea that Hahn has some philosophy or point of view different than that of his two bosses which is somehow being suppressed is pure fantasy. One of the moderators here will tell you over and over and over again how Hahn chose to stay with the White Sox over a myriad of other GM job opportunities out there. Doesn't sound like that decision came from a man unhappy about not getting his way, now does it. No, the White Sox "way" has been, is, and will continue to be co-developed by Jerry, Kenny, and Rick, and Hahn is perfectly fine with that.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jul 7, 2015 -> 03:29 PM) Neither. Just stating that since he won a world series for JR, he will be with the organization aslong as he wants. So no "What have you done for me lately?" managing of this organization by JR? That's strange. I mean, ask Kenny and Rick yourself, and they'll gush about Reinsdorf's "competitive spirit" - you know, that same spirit that compelled him to go above and beyond this winter to sign the Great Melky Cabrera. The two of them couldn't shut up about it at the time of the signing. However, if JR is as competitive as those two say, then your assertion that Williams stays as long as he wants, results be damned, cannot be true. He should be demanding and expecting better results than he's been receiving for quite some time now. If he is content with that one championship and therefore prioritizes his loyalty to those who brought him that one championship, then yes, your assertion is most definitely true.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Jul 7, 2015 -> 08:35 AM) More than half of the starting lineup is hitting below .228. What a sad state for this offense. Worst in the league in multiple offensive categories. 5. Adam LaRoche .228 6. Alexei Ramirez .226 7. Gordon Beckham .203 8. Tyler Flowers .224 9. Carlos Sanchez .162 This is the bottom half of the lineup. I think it's safe to say this is the worst offensive White Sox team of my lifetime. The defense is pretty bad also. Well, don't worry about any of this. If you haven't heard, Kenny's taking responsibility for all of this, so we're good.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jul 7, 2015 -> 02:16 PM) Especially when you are the most successful executive the team has ever had. Is this meant to be a compliment to Kenny or a very damning (yet deserved) critique of all of his predecessors?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 7, 2015 -> 09:47 AM) Then you get a part of the fan base who swears he never takes responsibility for anything. Pretty easy to always stand up and take responsibility for continuous failures when it is seemingly clear at this point that there will be no ramifications whatsoever from above.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jul 6, 2015 -> 09:24 AM) This is consistent with what I've been saying all along. We need to realize that the league is changing -- the polarity of competing vs. rebuilding is becoming a thing of the past. Yes, the White Sox were trying to put a winner on the field this year, but it was NOT an all-in, do or die plan. I know, Balta, you are concerned about the financials, and I think what you bring up makes sense if we assume a static payroll and a new big ticket pitcher -- but it IS possible for the payroll to increase, and if the FO is stating that they are on pace for a three year plan, it's safe to assume that they have the resources they need. I don't think that's true at all. Williams says this is Year 1 of a 3 year plan to maximize the window of opportunity with this current core. I think this past offseason absolutely resembled the team trying to do just that: signing an elite closer, trading for an ace starting pitcher, signing a slugger to bat 4th in the lineup - if those aren't "all in" type moves to try and win with this core, I don't know what is. In fact, both Williams and Hahn practically said as much after the Cabrera signing when they were gushing over Reinsdorf's so-called "competitive spirit" after he approved going over budget to sign the guy. They were as "all in" as they could get. I think when they say three year plan, they actually do mean "do or die" in each year. What else could it mean if you are trying to "maximize" the window of opportunity with this core? The problem is that for the first half of Year 1, it's pretty much been all "die", unfortunately. They are going to have to work hard to find a whole bunch of better players with whom to supplement this core if they hope to win during this window of opportunity.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jul 3, 2015 -> 07:21 AM) Doesn't matter what we want. It's probably going to be Thome or Konerko. Team needs a new owner. Very much so! Can't say it enough! The Reinsdorf way of doing things has proven to be more disastrous than not during his 35 year reign of terror. The sooner this franchise receives a new and fresh vision and strategy from the top, the better the team's chances of improving it's overall results, which have not been very good under Reinsdorf. Just five trips to the postseason during these past 35 years? Absolutely and undeniably pathetic!