Lip Man 1

March 15, 1976 - After stepping in at the last minute to buy the franchise and prevent them from being moved to Seattle, Bill Veeck appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The caption said, “Baseball Couldn’t Shut Him Out. Bill Veeck of the White Sox.” Veeck would own the team from 1976 through 1980 in his second stint. Then Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, a big Sox fan, was instrumental in contacting Veeck to see if he would get involved since Daley did not want to see the club relocated. The original plan by baseball was to move the Sox to Seattle thus ending the lawsuits filed by that city, King County and the state. Then Charlie Finley would move his Oakland A’s to the South Side. Originally the other owners voted down Veeck’s bid, demanding that he change financial ownership terms in it. Amazingly Veeck somehow got it done and the other owners reluctantly voted to let him have the franchise.

You'd think somehow, someway he'd get better. He's actually getting worse.

Like it or not when Ishbia takes over as is the case the vast majority of the time, highly successful people want their own individuals that they have hired and who are loyal to them in place. Unless Getz, Boyer et al do something miraculous in the next two-three seasons odds are they and most, if not all, of the Sox organization on the baseball side will be unemployed. And if they continue to lose 90-100 games for the next two-three seasons you can bet your life that is exactly what is going to happen.

The issue with the White Sox over the past several years is the "next man up" usually isn't very good. Again in the grand scheme of things I guess it doesn't matter much, they aren't going anyplace even if every person stays healthy for the entire season (although that could certainly help with the younger players who may be a part of the future.) Here is the story on Baldwin by the way: https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/03/13/white-sox-outfielder-brooks-baldwin-sidelined-by-right-elbow-inflammation

Do they even allow fans to enter early enough to watch BP and fielding practice anymore? Back in the day they'd open the gates two hours before game time so fans could watch. I'd always go early, sometimes only a handful of fans would be in Comiskey Park. I'd always try to get a baseball hit into the stands but never could snag one.

The next rebuild won't take place until Ishbia is in charge so you'll be waiting a few more years. And given what we've seen generally over the past 45 years certainly since 2007 I'll take my chances with his judgement regarding the baseball side of the operations. I mean, in all seriousness, how much worse can he be than what is going on lately?

Time will tell. They don't seem to have a lot of depth, injuries are going to play a part and the pitching overall is not very reassuring.

This may be the worst group of outfielders in the entire Major Leagues. The injuries which are starting yet again certainly bother me but I don't think as much as when this team was supposed to be a "contender." I mean honestly, they aren't going anywhere and there's not much difference between losing 90 games or losing 100. It is what it is until Ishbia takes over and cleans house.

Always nice to see/hear Nancy around the organization even in a limited capacity.

March 14, 1994 - Sports Illustrated took issue with former NBA superstar Michael Jordan and his attempt to play Major League Baseball. Jordan was on the cover of the magazine again but in a far different light. The caption read, “Bag It Michael! Jordan and the White Sox are Embarrassing Baseball.” From that day on, Jordan, who was always very cooperative with that magazine, would never speak to them again. His biggest objection to the story was that they never talked with him as part of it. During the documentary “The Last Dance” the writer of the story, Steve Wulf, said that after Jordan showed some potential and a sincere desire to play the game, he wrote another piece apologizing but the magazine never published it. No reason was ever given. March 14, 2022 - After the White Sox failed to even attempt to keep him with an 18.4-million-dollar qualifying offer, Carlos Rodon signed a two-year, 44-million-dollar deal with the Giants. Rodon was coming off of a tremendous season with the White Sox, pushing himself into Cy Young favorite status before running out of gas and being sidelined for a month late in the White Sox’s 2021 playoff season. But a combination of foolhardy overconfidence in his thin rotation depth and sheer frugality prevented G.M. Rick Hahn from extending any offer. The decision blew up in the White Sox’s faces, as the wildly-disappointing, 81-81 team could certainly have used what Rodon gave the Giants that season, 14 wins, a 2.88 ERA and 237 strike outs in 178 innings.

Thank you for your effort to get things back to normal.

March 13, 1954 - Think today’s streaming madness has made baseball too hard to watch, or the MLB’s blackout rules are an anachronism? On this day, ABC made an ill-fated effort to televise a Spring Training game featuring the White Sox at the Phillies in Clearwater, Fla. ABC intended the game as a national Game of the Week presentation, while G.M. Frank Lane of the White Sox felt it would not be shown in MLB cities and the Phillies believed the game was only going to be broadcast back to Chicago. ABC proceeded with its broadcast prep, which would feature just a single camera, in the stands behind home plate. A hole was cut in the protective screen and the sole cameraman, from a local affiliate in Ft. Lauderdale, donned full catcher’s protective gear in case of foul balls getting through the opening. The resulting chaos — during the game broadcast, mind you — forced ABC to cut its broadcast off after the third inning, without any explanation for viewers. The White Sox won the game, 6-3. March 13, 2000 - Sox slugger Frank Thomas was again featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. A lengthy story talked about his career, the controversies and his desire to return to the top of the game. The caption stated, “Don’t Question My Desire. Frank Thomas Comes Out Swinging.” Thomas would have a spectacular season losing out on his third A.L. M.V.P. Award to the A’s Jason Giambi, who’d later admit to using steroids in grand jury testimony. Frank’s numbers in 2000 included a .328 batting average, 43 home runs, 143 RBI’s, 112 walks and a slugging percentage of .625. Despite those gaudy figures he didn’t lead the league in any single category that year.

Saw a story on him in I think it was the Sun-Times and they weren't sure when he'd be back. He's got elbow soreness and was just starting to throw again.

Assuming he need to go back and get a rehab start in the minor leagues you are looking at May 1...maybe.

Teel, Baldwin, Vasil and who knows who else is going to be hurt.

And the beat goes on...and on...and on...and on.

A parent is not the same as the player itself.

I confess I'm not fond of the WBC just for the reason of injury potential as well as guys having to play hard (in theory) for something totally meaningless but over and above that what bothers me are these rosters. You've got guys who weren't born in a particular country playing for it because their grandmother on their step-mothers side had a distant cousin who lived in said country for a year or two. (I know that doesn't make sense but just trying to make a point). If you are going to have this exhibition series at least make the rule to play for a nation you have to be born there and be a citizen of it. Stop stretching things to try to field a roster. If you don't have enough legit players from your country you don't play, aren't invited.

Do you mean Brooks Robinson?

Will White Sox work to keep prospects who make it or sell them off? With Jerry Reinsdorf about to begin his 46th season as team owner, the big question for loyal Sox fans is: Where is this all going long term? https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/03/10/white-sox-prospects-chris-getz-will-venable-jerry-reinsdorf-munetaka-murakami-justin-mat-ishbia

Jerry Reinsdorf decides he's had enough and turns the franchise over to Justin ishbia. All remaining White Sox fans have a day of unfettered joy and celebration.

My dad used to say, 'wish in one hand, piss in the other, see which fills up first...'

It’s a staff without substance and texture. “That’s a big thing for us: not to care about what people are thinking outside of this clubhouse,” Martin said. “Face it, our staff is going to look different, than like say, the Dodgers. It’s not going to be as much copy and paste like other organizations because of where we’re at.” But it shouldn’t be worse than, say, the Rockies for that matter, either. Watch this space. https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/03/06/will-venable-white-sox-pitching-staff-seranthony-dominguez-shane-smith-anthony-kay-sean-newcomb-sean-burke-davis-martin

I understand but that doesn't change the fact like Dr. House was fond of saying, "everybody lies" especially when it comes to owners and their books. That fact of life hasn't changed be it 1994 or 2026.

I'm sure that these millionaires and billionaires and Fortune 500 companies that are involved can easily take on debt and do so for a very, very long time. Reminds me of when Lamar Hunt owned the Chiefs in the early days, it was reported he lost a million dollars one year. His father H.L. Hunt, who was extremely rich from oil and gas, was asked about this and he said, (paraphrasing). 'That means he can only lose that amount of money for another hundred years...' And again as was documented in the book The Lords of the Realm by John Helyar it's hard to take any numbers owners produce seriously given the way they and their accountants can manipulate them. Only one team has to produce and open their books, the Braves, which they recently did, and those numbers showed they were making a fortune. I'll have more sympathy for owners when they allow their books to be examined by certified independent forensic accountants and their like. If those people say they are losing money and badly then absolutely I'll have to rethink my position.