Lip Man 1

Just like so many Sox players this guy has been stealing his money, just an injury waiting to happen. He's had an entire off season to get better and yet the issue is still apparently there. The Sox "crack" medical, training and conditioning staffs strike again. LOL. 🤡

February 28, 1966 - Sox manager Eddie Stanky was part of the cover for Sports Illustrated along with Cubs manager Leo Durocher. The caption read, “The Lip and The Brat Invade Chicago.” Stanky who played for Durocher in New York both with the Dodgers and Giants, would have solid years in his two complete seasons as manager almost winning the pennant in 1967 and he was considered a tactical genius when it came to the game. But his shortcomings as far as his temperament, his ability to deal with the media and some of his players led to his undoing. He was fired 79 games into the 1968 season replaced by the man he originally replaced, Al Lopez.

I think it was Joe McEwing who did those.

February 27, 1973 - Coming off of his 1972 M.V.P. season, Dick Allen signed a three-year, $750,000 contract with the White Sox, making him the highest-paid player in baseball. While contract details for early baseball are sketchy, this is believed to be the first time a White Sox player had been the highest-paid in the game. Allen earned his deal by leading the A.L. in homers (37), RBIs (113), on-base percentage (.420), slugging percentage (.603) and OPS (1.023). It would be 24 years before the White Sox would boast the highest-paid player in the game again, when Albert Belle signed a deal that paid him $11 million for the 1997 season.

How difficult is it to catch a pop up? Double A, Triple A or on the 40 man roster for the big club we're talking about simple fundamental pop up's here. Why do the Sox seem to have issues with something basically any high school or college player does easily? The Sox have been brutal for decades, not just the past few years at fundamentals, it has cost them a lot of games. Fans have seen enough of it so they are sensitive to this area of the game. I use the term "baseball stupid" when talking about the Sox players in general...I mean who else has ever run themselves in an 8-5 triple play before? Compounding things is we've heard for years the same pap nonsense from the organization on 'how defense is important,' 'we're working on stuff in spring training' et al. Yet nothing ever seems to change. Pedro has already talked a lot about how it has to improve. OK...we'll see if it in fact does. So far it looks like more of the same.

DVS of the Sun-Times recaps the first two days and the numerous mistakes: https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2023/2/26/23615871/careful-what-you-wish-for-white-sox-off-to-sloppy-start-in-cactus-league-play

Original lineup had both Moncada and Robert hitting one/two. Both have now been replaced. Don't know why. Manager says Benintendi and Andrus will play Monday.

Paul Sullivan of the Tribune has a column on this documentary, speaking with the guy who put it together and providing a link to the "teaser": https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/white-sox/ct-chicago-white-sox-comiskey-park-documentary-20230226-4tngjenrjnarpfgqg5apgltysy-story.html

Because of the tax hit, he's not going to do so. His estate will sell the club after he passes.

To each his own but to me that's shortsighted. Making the playoffs 95% of the time means you had a hell of a season. This franchise isn't the Yankees, Dodgers, Cardinals or Braves who seemingly make the playoffs every year. The Sox make the post season about as often as Republicans gets elected Mayor of Chicago. When it happens you need to enjoy the hell out of it.

February 25, 1946 - The White Sox created what is regarded as the first media guide, handed out to beat writers. Now, clearly there were programs and even media guides published before 1946, even by the White Sox themselves. However, those were often (always?) Spring Training and/or player rosters-only. The guide, written by Marsh Samuel and running 17 pages, actually just triggered a deeper, more interesting story ... that the White Sox were once forerunners of the metrics revolution! According to researcher Alan Kornspan at Cleveland State, beginning in 1946 and following in the footsteps of some other innovative figures (Branch Rickey, for one), Samuel began tracking advanced statistics, likely of his own creation but resembling some of what we see in the metrics world today. Cleveland owner Bill Veeck got wind of what Samuel was doing — and hired him away! At that point, Sox successor Ward Stevens took the reins and continued the work, which was still merely siloed in the P.R. department — not player evaluation. However, once Frank Lane was hired as G.M. he added Earl Flora as both publicity director but also statistician. Lane’s pet stat, tracked as a child rooting for the Cincinnati Reds, was RBI with RISP. Under Lane’s direction, Flora started tracking reach percentage (i.e. on-base percentage), base runs (both bases advanced by runners, as well as bases a batter’s hit moved runners) and GWRBI. In fact, Lane felt so strongly that RBIs were an overblown stat that he created his own offshoot: OBR (Opportunities to Bat in Runs), the percentage of time batters drove in RISP. Without extending this too long, Flora returned to sports editing, to be replaced by future White Sox G.M. Ed Short, a tireless worker who drove statistical analysis on the South Side to new heights.

Rick is good at engaging with fans who reach out to him.

Interesting that yesterday on the MLB Network talking about the White Sox he was not mentioned at all even under the graphic of significant transactions. Maybe they know something?

health is the #1 issue with the team this year because they have very little depth.

From my State of the Sox story released November 1, this from sources: “The White Sox playing shorthanded started in 2007 when Jermaine Dye got hurt and Kenny Williams refused to call up Brian Anderson or Ryan Sweeney. Maybe they were cheap, maybe they wanted to protect Herm’s record of keeping guys off the DL.” (Author’s Note: Herm Schneider was the Sox longtime head trainer and for years the Sox were among the league leaders in keeping players healthy.) “Jake Peavy made the comment one time, ‘They have no reservations about playing shorthanded.”

https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2023/2/24/23613765/its-clear-that-tim-anderson-doesnt-understand-white-sox-fans-at-all-tony-larussa-jerry-reinsdorf

February 24, 1948 - Sox G.M. Les O’Connor sent pitcher Eddie Lopat to the Yankees for three players. Lopat, was a soft tossing, off speed pitcher who won 50 games in four years with the Sox, twice having an ERA under three. He would quickly develop into one of the aces on the Yankees dynasty clubs of the 1950's winning 113 games in seven and a half years. He also went 4-1 in World Series play. Of the players the Sox got in return, only pitcher Bill Wight had any success on the South Side winning 34 games in three seasons. Another one of the players acquired, catcher Aaron Robinson, would be sent that November to the Tigers for a youngster named Billy Pierce. Pierce would win 186 games in a Sox uniform pitching for them from 1950 through 1961.

I understand what you are saying and there is some truth to it that when a team is going south it is difficult on the players however most players get millions and millions of reasons to deal with it. Fans don't have that luxury.

From the White Sox media guide (these are only the times he was hurt bad enough to be placed on the disabled/injured list, not counting other times he missed games but didn't go on it) Sprained right ankle (6/26-7/29 2019) Strained right groin (8/1-8/10 2020) Strained left hamstring (4/5-4/21 2021) Strained left hamstring (8/29-9/13 2021) Torn finger ligament (8/9-10/5 2022) And we haven't even gotten into his suspensions and fines that have caused him to miss games.

WSCR responds to Clevinger threat: https://awfulannouncing.com/mlb/danny-parkins-matt-spiegel-defend-interview-mike-clevinger-accuser.html

He can't even stay healthy for a season going on the DL multiple times in some years.

My "State of the Sox" story released on November 1 with information from six sources: https://www.wsiforumstoo.com/74118-the-state-of-the-sox

Had the chance to speak with the driving force behind the documentary, put together a little story on how he put this together: https://www.southsidesox.com/2023/2/22/23609890/1990-white-sox-last-comiskey-documentary-is-on-its-way

This was in the Tribune today explaining why only six Sox spring training games are being televised (while the Cubs are televising 29): "The disparity is jarring, but according to sources at NBC Sports Chicago, there just isn’t a big enough demand for Sox spring training games. So the station prefers to give Sox fans a taste of the action to whet their appetites instead of a daily serving."

Both Sox Machine and Garfein think Garcia is not a sure thing this year, that the Sox may cut him. Here is the Sox Machine story: https://soxmachine.com/2023/02/white-sox-not-treating-leury-garcia-as-a-given/