Lip Man 1

I admire your optimism. The season hasn't even started yet and they are getting hit with news that obviously has a major impact on the team.

January 8, 2014 – White Sox legend Frank Thomas, was elected to the Hall of Fame on his first try, with 83.7 per cent support. Thomas played the first 16 years of his career on the South Side, and was a five-time All-Star and two-time M.V.P. He also was the largest person both in height and weight to win a batting championship when he hit .347 in 1997. He also was the only player in history to hit over .300 with at least 100 runs, 100 RBI’s, 20 home runs and 100 walks in each of his first seven seasons.

I think the Mariners are owned or were at one time by Nintendo of Japan. I remember JR was so vocal against the sale some were accusing him of racism.

Very unfortunate news for Liam, his family and the organization both on and off the field. Scott Radinsky of the White Sox had this and missed the entire 1994 season. He eventually did return although I don't remember if he was as effective as before the illness. I think Mario Lemieux of the Penguins also had this (don't remember for sure) and he returned. Moving forward we'll see what if anything Rick does since now this has a major impact of course

January 7, 1985 - Former White Sox reliever Hoyt Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, garnering 83.8 per cent of the vote in his eighth year on the ballot. In the previous election of 1984, Wilhelm had fallen just 13 votes shy of enshrinement, with 72 per cent of the vote. Wilhelm pitched six full seasons for the White Sox, the most time logged with any of the knuckleballer’s nine franchises. He had a career White Sox ERA of 1.97, 41 wins and 99 saves. The ERA, considering the unpredictability of the pitch he threw, was truly remarkable.

Just got an update this afternoon: "The contract has been signed! The two billboards are set to go up in Late March! Thank you all again for donating, this has been CRAZY!"

March 21, 1997 - The Sox suffered a major blow to their hopes for a championship when star third baseman Robin Ventura destroyed his ankle and lower leg on a slide at home plate in a spring game against the Red Sox. The injury was so horrific that a woman sitting in the stands passed out when she saw the result. It was caused because his spikes caught in the wet, muddy, ground. The result was that Ventura’s foot was pointed 180 degrees opposite of the way a foot is supposed to be. The injury took place only 10 days before the season opener and the Sox were left in a state of shock. G. M. Ron Schueler announced to the media the team would be looking for a replacement, and then did nothing to fill the void staying in-house with Greg Norton and Chris Snopek. They combined for five home runs and 36 RBI’s in 105 games. Thankfully after a rigorous rehabilitation process, Robin would be back to play in 54 games that season and continue to have an outstanding Major League career after he left the Sox as a free agent.

January 6, 2005 - Needing catching help, Sox G.M. Ken Williams took a gamble and inked catcher A.J. Pierzynski to a free agent contract. A.J., who had a reputation as a ‘clubhouse cancer’ turned out to be a model teammate and his contributions to the 2005 World Series champs, would be incalculable. Sox announcer Ken “Hawk” Harrelson pitched A.J. to the front office since he knew him for a number of years (both lived in Florida) and got the organization to take the chance. Two of the most memorable A.J. moments took place in 2005. The first came on June 18 when he hit an opposite field home run to cap a four run ninth inning as the Sox beat the Dodgers 5-3. The Sox were wearing 1959 replica uniforms for the game. The second and far more important moment, came on October 12, the second game of the A.L.C.S. With the Sox down a game to the Angels and tied in the ninth, Pierzynski struck out then started running to first base as former Sox player Josh Paul, the Angels catcher, rolled the ball back towards the mound thinking the inning was over. A.J. thought the ball hit the dirt and was trapped which required a put out at first base. Umpire Doug Eddings agreed and Pierzynski got the base. The play led to the eventual winning run, evening the best of seven series which the Sox went on to win in five games to get to their first World Series since 1959. Another 'classic' A.J. moment came on May 20, 2006 during a Cubs/Sox game at U.S. Cellular Field. Scoring the first run in an eventual 7-0 Sox win, A.J. got tangled up with catcher Michael Barrett and went back to touch home plate. As he was doing so, he bumped Barrett which resulted in the Cub player losing it and sucker punching him. Four players wound up being ejected in the fight.

I think Fisk and his wife still live in suburban Chicago.

He stole two bases according to the record in the game you are talking about June 26, 1992. Sox won 2-1 in new York.

Jeff Torborg told me the best bunter on the team was Karkovice and that Torborg had no issues with using him on squeeze bunts or suicide squeeze bunts.

As long as JR owned the club if TLR was healthy, he'd be the manager.

Thank you, it always fascinates me since I'm a history guy anyway.

I guess the question is has he ever played defense before? 🤣

I don't take anything he says seriously anymore and haven't for the last few years. He has zero credibility. I wish he just wouldn't say anything then insult the fan base with his inane comments.

January 4, 1993 - The Sox signed oft-injured outfielder Ellis Burks to a one-year contract. Burks would have a breakout season in 1993 and finally stop the revolving door in right field (at least for that season.) Burks would produce 17 homers, 71 RBI’s and hit .275 in the divisional championship season. He’d catch the final out to clinch the division title that season as well. In the six game A.L.C.S. he’d hit .304 with seven hits including a double and a home run and drive in three RBI’s. He also walked four times. Unfortunately, then G.M. Ron Schueler, wouldn't give Burks the multi-year deal he was looking for when the season ended and he left for Colorado where he became an All-Star.

He did and he also owned the Memphis franchise of the ABA. And yes, they had the same colors as the A's and Seals.

January 3, 2005 - As part of a plan to add more depth to the rotation, the Sox signed veteran hurler Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez. “The Duke” started strong in 2005, faded somewhat down the stretch but pitched perhaps the most historic inning in franchise history when he came in to a bases loaded, no out situation at Boston in game #3 of the A.L.D.S. with the Sox only leading 4-3 in the sixth inning. He proceeded to get two pop outs and a strike out as the Sox held on to win 5-3 and advance to the A.L.C.S. He was traded that off season as part of a deal bringing Javier Vasquez to the White Sox. January 3, 2007 – The White Sox were looking for another solid hitter to join the lineup and G.M. Kenny Williams thought he had found him as he made a deal with Oakland and acquired outfielder/first baseman Nick “Dirty 30” Swisher for Ryan Sweeney, Fautino De Los Santos and Gio Gonzales. Unfortunately the deal fell far short. In 2008 Swisher put up decent numbers 21 doubles, 24 home runs and 69 RBI’s but he turned into a distracting presence in the clubhouse, was benched by manager Ozzie Guillen towards the end of the year and was then traded to the Yankees…where he promptly regained his Oakland form in four solid seasons. Sweeney hit higher than .286 in three of his four years with the A’s while Gonzales blossomed into a solid starting pitcher for the A’s and then later the Nationals where he won 21 games in 2012. The Sox signed him as a free agent for the 2020 season but he was injured and only started four games in the 60-game pandemic shortened year.

With free agency coming into play for 1976 and with Finley knowing there was no way he was going to be able to re-sign Blue, Fingers, Rudi, Tenace, Bando et al, yes at the trade deadline in June 1975 (when the A's were at Comiskey Park ironically) he began to sell his stars off in return for young players. The Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers were all involved in going after his players. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn stepped in and voided all the sales, saying it was bad for baseball. Finley's argument (and factually he had a case) was that he built the club (and he did a lot of his own scouting) that enabled the A's to win back-to-back-to-back World Series titles in 72,73,74 and if given the resources he could do it again. Oakland won the division in 72,73,74 and 75 (even with all the turmoil) and in 76 with a bunch of his stars gone still won 87 games and finished 21/2 games behind the Royals for the division again.

Keep in mind though Finley was from LaPorte, Indiana and his insurance company was located downtown in Chicago. He had been wanting to buy the White Sox as far back as 1959, when he offered 500,000 dollars (a gigantic sum at the time) to Dorothy Comiskey for the club. He almost got it too. Had he got the Chicago market by moving the A's to the South Side before the 1976 season it's a reasonable guess that he would have held on to the team longer than he did with the club in Oakland because he was from the area as well as his business interests.

In that scenario a deal would have to be reached between the White Sox (now Seattle) and the A's as far as naming rights, team colors, records etc. As a fairly recent example when the Expos moved to Washington the owners wanted to call them the Senators but the Texas Rangers (the original Senators) held all the rights to the name, team colors, records and so forth. A deal couldn't be reached so the new owners went in a different direction and called the franchise the Nationals. In the NFL though when the Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore, then commissioner Paul Tagliabue stepped in and brokered a deal promising the city of Cleveland first dibs on a new expansion club and ordered that the "new" Browns would retain the rights to the name, team colors and records, that they would not be transferred with the team moving to Baltimore.

For over 15 years I've been compiling news, notes, facts and factoids on the Sox franchise from a historical perspective. I call it, "This Day In Sox History." I thought this would be something fans would enjoy so I'll be posting my notations on a daily basis. I don't have something for all 365 days of the year, but I'd guess for over 300 of them. I hope you will enjoy this. Feel free to comment on any of the events, players etc. this brings to mind for you. Maybe some of you were even at the games when the events took place? And with that, here we go: January 2, 1986 – Former two-time owner of the White Sox, Bill Veeck died at the age of 71. Veeck owned the club from March 1959 through June 1961 and then again from December 1975 to January 1981 when he sold it to the group headed up by Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn. Veeck buying the team the second time, with considerable help from then Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, a big Sox fan, saved the franchise from being moved to Seattle with the Oakland A’s relocating to the South Side. Major League Baseball was trying to settle the lawsuits filed by Washington state, the city of Seattle and King County over the Pilots being relocated to Milwaukee in 1970. Moving the financially strapped White Sox to the Pacific Northwest would have ended the legal issues. Veeck saved the team but never really had the financial resources to make them competitive especially with the advent of free agency. Part of his syndicate included some of the richest people in America but he had made a promise to never go to them for additional funds and to always turn them a profit. He was however known for his promotions, stunts and off-the-wall ideas which ranged from installing a shower in the center field bleachers at Comiskey Park, to broadcaster Harry Caray leading the crowd in singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” in the seventh inning to the infamous “Disco Demolition” night. Veeck was voted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. January 2, 2020 – The White Sox signed Luis Robert to a multiyear contract without him having played a single Major League game. The future Gold Glove winner agreed to $50 million for six years, with team options worth 38 million more over two final seasons. Robert showcased five-tool talent and the ability to impact a game in many ways but his inconsistencies and the injury issues he’s faced caused him not to progress as far or as fast as the team and fans hoped.

Unfortunately that's not happening. Just take care of yourself and hope to outlive current ownership.

The White Sox fan motto should be: "Hope for the best...expect the worst."

True but he's got what 18 million reasons to 'put up' with it.