Lip Man 1

One factoid today: November 15, 1972 - After accomplishing one of the greatest individual seasons in franchise history and barely missing the Triple Crown, Sox first baseman Dick Allen was named the M.V.P. of the American League by the Baseball Writers Association of America. He led the league with 37 home runs, 113 RBI’s, a .603 slugging percentage and 99 walks. He led the Sox with a .308 batting average, drove in 19 game winning runs, stole 19 bases, scored 90 runs and was only .0005 points shy of leading all A.L. first basemen in fielding. He was the leading vote getter for the All-Star team regardless of league. Allen garnered 21 of 24 first place votes for 321 points. Joe Rudi was second with 164 points.

And once again the Hawks blow a late lead and lose in a shoot out. All you can do is laugh.

One factoid today: November 14, 2024 - White Sox All-Star left-hander Garrett Crochet was named the American League Comeback Player of the Year. Crochet, 25, was 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA and 209 strikeouts in 32 starts and 146 innings in 2024, his first season as a starter after missing most of 2023 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Among pitchers with at least 140 innings, Crochet led the A.L. in strikeouts with 12.88 per nine innings and was second in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.33). Crochet became the third Sox player to win the award, joining right-hander Liam Hendriks in 2023 and designated hitter Jim Thome in 2006.

From the Athletic: Today's Number   49 The Blackhawks' point pace after last night's 3-2 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres ended a six-game losing skid with just their fifth victory of the season. Chicago has the NHL's worst record over the past seven seasons but hasn't had a points percentage this low (.289) since 1953-54.

According to MLB.com here are the White Sox prospects who need to be protected ahead of Tuesday's 40 man deadline: Chicago White Sox William Bergolla Jr., SS/2B (No. 9) Mathias LaCombe, RHP (No. 17) Ryan Burrowes, INF/OF (No. 22) Alexander Albertus, 3B/1B (No. 27)

https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/11/12/after-breakthrough-2026-white-sox-want-to-avoid-a-letdown-in-2027

The 72-73 Sixers went 9-73 which is the all-time worst record for an NBA season. The Bulls have something to shoot for!

https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears-stadium/2026/11/12/michael-reese-hospital-developers-10-billion-stadium-bears

Remember who still owns the team?

Two factoids today: November 12, 1959 - He helped lead the White Sox to their first pennant in 40 years and because of his contributions on the field and in the clubhouse, Nellie Fox became the first member of the franchise to be named American League M.V.P. Fox hit .306 that year with 191 hits, 34 doubles, 70 RBI’s and 71 walks (as compared to only 13 strike outs!) Fox also led the league in put outs, assists, total chances and fielding percentage for all second basemen. He also was named to the All-Star team that season. Nellie would get 16 first place votes by the Baseball Writers Association of America and beat out teammate, shortstop Luis Aparicio, 295 points to 255. Pitcher Early Wynn, who’d win the Cy Young Award that season, would finish third giving the Sox the top three spots in the final voting. November 12, 2020 – It was a very strange baseball season but one thing that didn’t change was the excellence of Sox first baseman Jose Abreu. From start to finish of the abbreviated 60 game season the big slugger produced and because of that he was named the American League M.V.P. by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Abreu finished with 374 total points beating out the Indians Jose Ramirez. He became the fourth White Sox player to win M.V.P. honors, joining Frank Thomas (1993-94), Dick Allen ('72) and Nellie Fox ('59). Abreu's 60 RBIs over 60 games led the A.L. for a second consecutive season. He finished second with 19 home runs and fourth with a .317 batting average. He also ranked fifth with a .987 OPS and was the only A.L. player to rank in the Top 5 in hits (76, first), RBIs, slugging percentage (.617, first), extra-base hits (34, first), total bases (148, first), home runs, average and OPS. A highlight of his season was six home runs in a three-game series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field including four straight over two games.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2026/11/11/blackhawks-kyle-davidson-trades-mark-eaton-jeff-blashill

First signing that I know of goes to the Tigers: https://www.mlb.com/news/emilio-pagan-contract-with-tigers

Two factoids today: November 11, 1998 - Perhaps the finest deal ever made by then Sox G.M. Ron Schueler. On this date the Sox gave up promising center fielder Mike Cameron to the Reds for infielder Paul Konerko. Konerko would eventually blossom into a consistent power hitting first baseman. Konerko hit 432 home runs with the White Sox and drove in 1,383 RBI’s. He was a six-time All-Star, a World Series champion, the 2005 A.L.C.S. M.V.P. and the 2002 Comeback Player of the Year. November 11, 2005 – They never made it on the cover of Sports Illustrated for winning the World Series, but the Sox did make the cover of The Sporting News for the accomplishment. The caption was short and to the point, “Sweep!”

I assume this was the Baseball Writers Association of America voting on it.

They have to work on the assumption it will be in order to get your money. Anything is possible but I wouldn't bet on the Sox moving to Nashville 😄that all 162 games will be played.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/11/10/white-sox-remain-set-on-adding-impact-starting-pitching-even-after-shifting-grant-taylor-to-rotation

https://soxmachine.com/2026/11/after-successful-season-in-bullpen-white-sox-moving-grant-taylor-into-rotation

Five factoids today: November 10, 1948 - New Sox G.M. Frank “Trader” Lane made his first deal and it was a beauty. Lane traded backup catcher Aaron Robinson to the Tigers for a young left-handed pitcher named Billy Pierce and 10,000 thousand dollars. Pierce would become arguably the finest left hander in White Sox history. He won 186 games in a Sox uniform with two 20-win seasons, seven All-Star selections, starting three games and four one-hitters. He led the A.L. at various times in wins, complete games, ERA and strikeouts. He was the first Chicago athlete to be put on the cover of Sports Illustrated which happened in May 1957. He also was on the cover of Sport Magazine later that same year. By WAR Billy was considered one of the best pitchers in baseball for the decade of the 1950’s. November 10, 1966 – The White Sox officially announced they had signed a deal to leave WGN-TV to start showing their games on WFLD-TV, channel 32, starting in 1968. The deal’s base payout was a million dollars annually to the Sox for five years for a minimum of 123 games televised, including games from Anaheim and Oakland, which had never been shown on WGN. Much like the SportsVision decision made by the club in 1982, in theory it was a sound business idea but in reality the technical limitations and the fact that most of Chicago couldn’t even receive the UHF signal turned the move into a disaster as the Cubs, still on WGN, expanded the number of games they were showing and with the financial backing to go along with a talented team in the time period from the late 60’s through the early 70’s made the White Sox almost invisible in the market. November 10, 1993 - Frank Thomas won his first M.V.P. award on the strength of a .317 batting average with 41 home runs and 128 RBI’s. The “Big Hurt” was a large reason the Sox would win the Western Division championship. Even rarer, his winning the award was by a unanimous vote of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Thomas grabbed 392 points in the voting. Paul Molitor of the Blue Jays was a distant second with 209 points. The award netted Thomas a $100 thousand dollar bonus. Thomas would repeat winning the award in 1994. November 10, 2014 – White Sox slugger Jose Abreu was named the unanimous winner by the Baseball Writers Association of America as the A.L. Rookie of the Year for 2014. He got all 30 votes on the basis of a spectacular first season in the Major Leagues…a .317 average with 36 home runs and 107 RBI’s. He led the Major Leagues in slugging percentage as well. Pitcher Matt Shoemaker of the Angels was second. November 10, 2021 – Liam Hendriks was named the winner of the American League Reliever of the Year Award. The 31-year-old Hendriks signed with the White Sox as a free agent after the pandemic shortened 2020 season coming from the Oakland A’s and more than lived up to his contract in 2021. He had a 2.54 ERA and an incredible 113 strikeouts against only seven walks in 71 innings. He led the league with 38 saves in 44 attempts. Hendriks was the first Sox pitcher to win this award which began in 2014 but former players like Eddie Fisher, Terry Forster, Rich “Goose” Gossage and Bobby Thigpen were also relief pitcher award winners while they were playing.

Here you go, since you are reaching out to him you may as well apply for the G.M. position right? 🙂 Justin Ishbia Managing Partner phone (312) 348-7580 Suite 2900 Chicago, IL 60601 Nashville: 1600 West End Ave. Suite 1950 Nashville, TN. 37203 phone (615) 551-7001

It's the mark of a good team when they can play badly and still get themselves a win. They found a way, that's all that matters. Now get more help at the trade deadline Tuesday and get some needed rest with the break.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2026/11/08/blackhawks-jeff-blashill-no-coaching-changes-adjustments

Two factoids today: November 9, 2005 – After a season that saw the White Sox win their first World Series title since 1917, the Baseball Writers Association of America awarded the Manager of the Year award to Ozzie Guillen. Guillen, the former Sox All-Star shortstop, guided the team to a wire-to-wire Central Division title with 99 wins; they then went 11-1 in the postseason capping it off with a four-game sweep of Houston for the championship. Ozzie picked up 17 first place votes and 105 total points to beat out Cleveland’s Eric Wedge. Wedge got six first place votes and 71 points while the Yankees Joe Torre was third with 43 points. November 9, 2023 – After eight years working his dream job as a lifelong White Sox fan, TV play-by-play broadcaster Jason Benetti left the club, taking the same role for division rival Detroit. He was allowed to leave with one year remaining on his contract. A popular broadcaster, it became known that owner Jerry Reinsdorf disliked Benetti’s jovial style, peppered with pop culture references and heavy with analytics. But most damning was the disrespect shown Benetti by marketing head Brooks Boyer, who left the impression the Homewood native was a diva. Benetti did national work for both ESPN and later Fox in his career and his missing games appeared to cause friction between him and Boyer. In Benetti’s first season in Detroit, the Tigers went on an incredible hot streak to end the season and made it to the A.L.D.S. The White Sox meanwhile lost a modern-record 121 games.

That's my guess because of the network TV deal clauses that kick in around that time. Get ready for a quiet spring.

If people aren't fired after what Carolina did to the Hawks today, nothing will do so.

The meetings start Monday in Vegas if I remember right.