Lip Man 1

Brett Ballantini of South Side Sox just sent me this factoid: "I counted up all the 10+ losing streaks ever, I think the total count in MLB history is 102. 98 seasons didn’t even have three 10+ streaks across THE ENTIRE LEAGUE. Only one other team, ever, had done what the White Sox did today, the 1962 Mets, with three 10-game+ losing streaks."

That's a fair point in my opinion.

It is written into his contract that he has complete control over the franchise. For example if all the minority owners wanted to sell and JR said "no" (and he has at least twice) there is no sale. This is what I was told by sources for a story I did in November 2022: “In October 2005 some investors asked JR to sell and get out while the going was good, but he wouldn’t.” “Andrew Berlin, twice tried to buy the Sox around 2008 but wasn’t successful.” (Author’s Note: Berlin, grew up a Sox fan and is now the owner of the Cubs farm team in South Bend, Indiana.) “I heard that JR owns 12% of the team but with some of the original investors passing away that has probably gone up to 18%” (Author’s Note: Even though he only owns a small percentage of the franchise Jerry Reinsdorf has absolute authority to run the team as he sees fit. It is written into his contract. That includes selling or not selling the club despite what the other investors wish. The only way he can be removed from his position is if he has done something illegal, appears to be losing his mental faculties or is being financially irresponsible.)

The latest entry for the This Day In White Sox History folder: September 1, 2024 – It was a record setting day for the White Sox and not in a good way. The Mets shut out the Sox 2-0 at Guaranteed Rate Field and handed the South Siders their 107th loss of the season breaking the franchise record of 106 losses set in 1970. In addition the loss was the 10th straight marking three times the team produced double-digit losing streaks that year. They lost 14 in a row from May 22 through June 6 and they lost 21 straight from July 10 through August 5. They also went 0-10 on the homestand, the first time in franchise history that ever happened.

It actually was lowest one season of the first "rebuild."

If they knew and let him pitch anyway that's as bad as mismanaging Robert to the point he was swinging with one hand.

Don't know if this is related to the dreaded "forearm soreness" or not. If it is, this is actually good news, because it means TJS isn't in the short term forecast. But it is interesting that the MRI's they did, and the Sox publicly stated there was nothing wrong with the UCL, how could they not see a bone spur? And why did it take them weeks to find it? Perhaps the trainers/doctors on the site can explain this.

That would be hard to do according to the terms of his contract and as long as they are making money (and they are) the minority owners wouldn't have a leg to stand on in court and you can bet JR would immediately go to court. When Jerry passes his family will sell the team as per his instructions.

My advice since we are all loyal Sox fans is to stop following THIS team but keep watching those past games from better seasons be it on You Tube or in your own personal collection of VHS tapes and DVD's.

Incidents of the season: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/09/01/chicago-white-sox-record-losses/ Pham by the way was just claimed by the Royals.

August 1, 1982 - With the White Sox up, 3-0, in the top of the sixth at Comiskey Park, Ron LeFlore committed the worst error of his career. Catcher Gary Allenson lofted a soft liner to center field, and the ball struck LeFlore on his forehead as he drifted back to make the catch. A crazy bounce aided Allenson’s romp around the bases for an inside the park home run, to trim starter Jerry Koosman’s lead to 3-1. LeFlore, however, had a great day at the plate, leading off and going 2-for-3 with two RBIs. It was his double in the third inning that game the White Sox a 1-0 lead that they would not relinquish.

It's already been published in the Sun-Times, the Sox are cutting payroll again next year down to around 100 million. You'll get nothing and like it! (But be sure to get that money in for season tickets now!) 😆

Met fans took over the bleachers:

That's his M.O. And to think he actually said this at one time: “Eddie and I never discussed how to talk to reporters. We’ve just been ourselves. I always thought Jack Kennedy was the kind of person I looked up to in that regard. He always gave the media a fair shake and understood you guys have a job to do. Without responsible people willing to divulge some accurate information, it’s hard to do it right. It was a much better approach then Nixon, who figured the media, was his enemy. Doing it Kennedy’s way just makes a lot more sense to me. After all, nobody can buy the kind of advertising Chicago teams get. What other line of work finds newspapers assigning people to follow you around and write about how the business is doing every day? At Balcor, we have to hire a public relations firm to get our names in the paper. When baseball teams get that for free, it makes sense to cooperate.” – Jerry Reinsdorf to Bob Logan. From the book ‘Miracle On 35th Street.’ Pg. 154. Published 1983.

As of today Cubs have a 5% chance of making the post season. That's UP from 3% at the end of July. They'll finish with a winning record but they aren't going to the postseason. (Fingers crossed)

“One of the things I owe the fans is to get better as fast as we can possibly get better. Speed is of the essence. I don’t want this to be a long-term proposition. I would hope — and I expect — that next year is going to be a lot better than this year. How much better? I don’t know.”-- Jerry Reinsdorf, August 31, 2023. 😆🤡😆🤡😆

The only good news I get out of any of this is, this keeps screwing over the Cubs who are red hot, beating up on garbage teams, but can't gain any ground in the Wild Card race.

Luis Aparicio even at his age is probably better than any of the stiffs on the roster.

Tomorrow they'll set the franchise record for losses AND record their third double-digit losing streak of the season AND go 0-10 on the homestand. That's called a triple crown of ineptitude!

https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2024/08/31/white-sox-record-tying-106th-loss-marks-grim-first-anniversary-of-jerry-reinsdorf-hiring-chris-getz-as-gm "One year after Reinsdorf promoted Getz and said he didn’t want any remodel to be a “long-term proposition,” the rebuilding Sox tied the 1970 team’s franchise record for defeats in a season with a 5-3 loss to the Mets." 😆

You never know...new ownership could arrive before then.

To answer your question as to why Chet was traded. He talked about it with me: ML: You hit .302 in the strike shortened season and played your usual solid defense but on November 27, 1981 you were shipped to Detroit for Steve Kemp. The reasoning as I remember it was that the Sox wanted more balance in the lineup and Kemp was left handed. (Author’s Note: Harold Baines was basically the only power threat from the left side as opposed to having guys like Fisk, Luzinski and the newly acquired Tom Paciorek who were all right handed hitters.) Were you ever told by the Sox why they let you go? CL: "That may have been part of it but there was another reason." "In spring training 1981 I had verbally agreed to a five year contract that would have made me the highest paid player on the team. It was a great negotiation. Eddie Einhorn, Jerry Reinsdorf, Roland Hemond, my agent and I all sat around a table one day and worked everything out including some deferred compensation. For some reason I hadn’t gotten around to actually signing the document though. A few weeks later they signed Carlton Fisk and his numbers came out. When I saw those I told my agent “hmmmm maybe we need to renegotiate.” Everything that I did in five years, I did in Chicago and now I wasn’t going to be the highest paid player anymore? I know it was childish on my part but that’s the way I felt at the time." "It created some problems. After a period of time I said that I’d just play my next year out (1982) and then see what happens in that off season. I guess the Sox thought that I was automatically going to go the free agent route and that wasn’t necessarily the case. However I did know that other clubs were interested, I knew that Earl Weaver of the Orioles wanted me badly and that the Sox were close to trading me to them at one time." "It was weird how some things happened. I mean "Bull" Luzinski, whom I respected, and thought did a great job for us by supplying power, came out and said something like ‘if he’s not going to sign then we need to get somebody for him.’ After the trade I did play out my option but Detroit re-signed me to a 10 year deal which gave me security. I had some no trade clauses in it so I had some control if I was going to be uprooted again."

Depends on how you look at it, there have been other terrible franchises recently aka Kansas City, for years Tampa Bay immediately come to mind. I never heard or read anyone crying about how their ineptitude was impacting other teams financially. MLB is now a 10 billion dollar a year business, that from Manfred himself. I think the sport will survive with the Sox being atrocious and embarrassing. (I wish they were a top flight operation myself though...)

It still does matter but significantly not as much. This isn't 1959, 1964 or 1977 anymore. Attendance doesn't drive the car anymore, it is the TV deals and the domestic and international revenue streams.

From my sources for a story I did in November 2022: “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.”