Lip Man 1

Thank you please DM me with your name and physical address so I can send you a check for the bet.

Well Castillo has it within his power to shut up all the critics. We'll see what happens.

The Sox need to thank their lucky stars that Cleveland and Minnesota are losing but don't write off Detroit is all I'm saying. Eighth time this season they have been shut out.

Tell me about it. ☹️ They may catch Milwaukee after all.

As Joe Madden used to say, 'Try not to suck..."

That was the case in 1981 and 1994 to be sure. At least they had a good season in 1982 after the collapse in 81 when play resumed in August. 1995 was a season to forget.

Never in a million years!

We'll see if disrupting culture turns out to be of lesser value than acquiring more talent: https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/chris-getz-maintains-white-sox-culture-at-trade-deadline

All depends on when they agree to a new CBA and set parameters. Plus what JR allows him to do.

Five factoids today: August 9, 1972 - This comes under the heading of ‘who would have thought?’ In a matchup of two of the best pitchers in baseball, with completely different styles, Wilbur Wood hooked up in a pitcher’s duel with Nolan Ryan in a night game in Anaheim. The game lived up to the billing as the Sox were able to get a 1-0 win. They only had four hits on the night with Wood himself driving in the winning run in the seventh inning on a single to right scoring pinch runner Charles “Buddy” Bradford. Wood fired a complete game six-hitter with six strikeouts. August 9, 1977 - In a game at Comiskey Park, the Sox crushed Seattle 13-3. In the game the “South Side Hit Men” clouted six home runs, three in the third inning alone. Third baseman Eric Soderholm had two of the long balls. August 9, 2000 - The Sox had one of their highest scoring games in history as they buried the Mariners 19-3 at Comiskey Park. Pitcher Mike Sirotka was the recipient of the onslaught and got the easy win. Frank Thomas went 3 for 4 on the night with two home runs and five RBI’s. August 9, 2021 – One night after Sox outfielder/DH Eloy Jimenez homered twice and drove in five runs at Wrigley Field, he did it again at Target Field in Minnesota as part of the Sox 11-1 win. He became the first player in franchise history to have two home runs and five RBI’s in consecutive games. The pair of long balls also brought Jimenez to 50 in his career in just 187 games, which was the fastest in team history. August 9, 2022 – The White Sox injury situation which had gutted the organization at all levels since around 2016 turned from the sublime to the ridiculous as between games of a double header in Kansas City, the Sox announced that All-Star shortstop Tim Anderson would miss six weeks, in the middle of a divisional race, after he suffered a sagittal band tear on the middle finger of his left (non-throwing) hand and would need surgery. He suffered the injury on a checked swing in Texas a few days before, in his last at-bat, in an 8-0 blowout loss. Anderson, who was one of the most talented players in the game, like many of the White Sox players, just hadn’t been able to escape injuries, going on the injured list every season he had been with the team, often times more than once in a season.

Six factoids today: August 8, 1914 - The Sox purchased the contract of outfielder Oscar “Happy” Felsch from Milwaukee for 19 thousand dollars. Felsch, an outstanding glove man and hitter, would become part of history by his participation in the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal which ended his career when he was banned for life due to his involvement in it. August 8, 1976 - With the Sox in last place and going nowhere owner Bill Veeck pulled out another wacky promotion. For the first time a Major League team played a game wearing shorts as the Sox beat the Royals 5-2 at Comiskey Park in the first game of a double header. The Sox would wear shorts two other times, both against the Orioles on August 21 and 22. The Sox record in the three games was 2-1; maybe they should have worn them more often since they finished the season with 97 losses! No other big-league team has worn them since. August 8, 1977 – He was arguably the best manager in the history of the franchise. Al Lopez took his place in the Hall of Fame on this day. Lopez managed the Sox from 1957 to 1965 coming over after the Indians fired him. He also managed in parts of the 1968 and 1969 seasons. Lopez compiled 840 wins and a win percentage of .564. He won the 1959 A.L. pennant, had three consecutive seasons from 1963 to 1965 where the Sox averaged 96 wins and had five second place finishes. He worked a game through his assistant coaches and emphasized fundamentals and if a player didn’t perform… he didn’t play… period. August 8, 1994 - With time running out for labor peace, Sports Illustrated put Frank Thomas on the cover along with future Sox outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. The caption stated, “Top Guns. Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr. Two powerful reasons to keep playing ball.” Their plea would fall on deaf ears as the following week, baseball shut down ending the season. August 8, 2021 – The White Sox put on a show for a national TV audience on ABC Sunday Night Baseball by pounding the Cubs 9-3 and sweeping the weekend series at Wrigley Field. The game marked the first regular season baseball broadcast by that network since August 1995. The Sox jumped out early hammering three first inning home runs by Tim Anderson, Eloy Jimenez and Andrew Vaughn. It was the first time the Sox hit three first inning home runs on the road in franchise history. Jimenez would go 3 for 4 with two runs scored, five RBI’s and a pair of home runs against his old organization. August 8, 2024 – Coming off a stretch of 22 losses in 23 games and on pace for the worst season ever in franchise history the White Sox fired manager Pedro Grifol after less than two seasons in charge. His overall record of 89-190 is the worst in White Sox history. Coming from the Royals organization Grifol talked big from the start about being prepared to “kick ass” every night and play sound fundamental baseball. His teams did neither and his strange on-field decisions left Sox fans scratching their heads quite often. It was clear he was in over his head as a manager. The Sox announced they would begin looking for his replacement but that individual would not be named until after the season.

SEVEN factoids today: August 7, 1910 - Sox pitcher “Big” Ed Walsh fired the first shutout in the original Comiskey Park when he blanked the Washington Senators 4-0. He allowed only two hits and struck out 10 in the game. Senators outfielder William “Wid” Conroy got both of the hits off Walsh that afternoon. August 7, 1970 - In the midst of the worst season in franchise history to that time, some smiles were seen after the Sox unveiled the “Big White Machine,” at Comiskey Park. The car was a 1929 Ford, rebuilt and put together by Sox players Ed Herrmann, Bill Melton, Syd O’Brien and the folks at Hawkinson Ford (now known as Hawk Ford). It circled the Comiskey Park warning track every time the Sox won a home game (which wasn’t often!) August 7, 1972 – He played in the big leagues for 23 seasons, five with the White Sox and his 300 lifetime wins allowed Early Wynn to be inducted into the Hall of Fame on this date. Wynn pitched five seasons for the Sox winning 64 games. He led the American League in innings pitched, games started, strikeouts and wins at various times between 1958 and 1962 when he was in Chicago. He averaged 38 starts a year during that time period. His signature season was the pennant winning year of 1959 when he won the Cy Young Award with 22 wins and an ERA of 3.17. (There was only one award in those days instead of each league having a recipient.) Later he became a White Sox broadcaster in the early 1980’s. August 7, 1974 - Comiskey Park was the site for one of the most exciting games of the early 1970’s and it involved Nolan Ryan. The flamethrower took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Sox and led 1-0 thanks to a Frank Robinson home run. After getting the first out in the inning however it all fell apart for him. Dick Allen beat out an infield hit spoiling the no-hitter and Carlos May reached on an error. Ken Henderson ripped a single to center to tie the game and then with two out, Billy Sharp singled to right to win it. The Sox beat the Angels 2-1 getting all three of their hits in the final inning. Sox pitcher Jim Kaat was brilliant as well and the late rally saved him from a tough loss. August 7, 1994 - In a game in Anaheim, Frank Thomas drove in two RBI’s in the Sox 10-5 win in 12 innings over the Angels. The RBI’s were his 100th and 101st on the season. They’d come in the team’s 110th game which set the franchise mark for fastest to 100 RBI’s. Thomas held the old mark set the year before, when he collected his 100th RBI in the team’s 118th contest. August 7, 2005 - Before a 3-1 win over Seattle, a concourse statue of Carlton Fisk was unveiled, the third-ever at the park after Charles Comiskey and Orestes “Minnie” Minoso. Fisk had his No. 72 retired by the White Sox eight years earlier, in 1997. He signed with the club as a free agent before the 1981 season and played with them through June 1993. Four times he represented the White Sox in the All-Star Game. In his South Side career, the future Hall of Famer would hit 196 home runs and drive in 762 RBI’s. August 7, 2025 – With a steal of second base in a game in Seattle Luis Robert became only the fourth member of the franchise to log at least 100 home runs and 100 steals while in a White Sox uniform. Robert joined “Minnie” Minoso, Ray Durham and Alexei Ramirez in that select club.

First off a personal note. Some of you know I'll be having surgery Thursday 8/6 to repair a torn rotator cuff on my left (dominant) shoulder. This means I'll be in a sling for roughly six weeks with rehab taking a couple months. It was just something that built up over time from playing sports, working out and a lot of work around the yard and house. The cuff finally snapped just before Memorial Day. At first they thought I was going to have to have more extensive reverse shoulder creation/surgery but because the main tear is behind the shoulder and not on the top, that won't be needed. Still it's going to be a challenge for the next several weeks at least. Anyway...I wanted to post the daily White Sox historical factoids for the rest of this week. Moving forward because these are in a file on my computer I should be able to just 'cut and paste' them even though I won't really be able to write or type for a while. I'll be able to read comments and check in on the daily threads/posts but probably won't be able to contribute much. Hope the Sox are able to keep this surprising seasons going with two months remaining. We'll see. Now on with the show! Two factoids today: August 6, 1949 - Luke Appling played his 2,154th game at shortstop, passing Walt “Rabbit” Maranville for most in MLB history. He would play another 42 games there in the 1949 season and 20 in 1950, at age 43, before retiring. Appling played all but one of his seasons (1948) as a primary shortstop, and 94 per cent of his career games there. Today, Appling sits at eighth all-time in games played at shortstop, his all-time record broken 20 years later by another White Sox shortstop, Luis Aparicio, on September 25, 1970, his last game played that season. August 6, 1959 – It was the third and final marathon game of the 1959 season. The Sox battled the Orioles in Baltimore and played for 18 innings before curfew stopped the night game tied at one all. The game lasted only four hours. The most significant item to come out of it was the incredible performance by the Sox starter, Billy Pierce. Pierce pitched 16 innings! Let me repeat that...16 innings allowing one run. Billy faced 61 hitters, struck out seven and gave up 11 hits, 10 of them singles.

Agreed.

Ken Rosenthal, on the big picture: “The dirty little secret of a salary cap and floor system is that it would not guarantee small-market teams success. Many would need to develop more of a killer instinct, an instinct the Dodgers demonstrate time and again.”

The question is "when" does it happen?

Four factoids today: August 5, 1977 - In the first game of a key series with the Royals, Sox pitcher Bart Johnson and Royals catcher Darrell Porter got into a shoving match along the first base line in the third inning after Porter slammed into Johnson’s back while he was covering first base. In the sixth inning when Porter was coming up to bat, Johnson stepped off the mound and yelled out "Do you want it now?" and a brawl took place. Both players were ejected. After the game both Porter and George Brett came to the Sox locker room to apologize. Johnson had back surgery a few years before and didn’t appreciate being deliberately run into that area by Porter. August 5, 2022 – It was the continuation of one of the most dominant stretches of pitching in baseball history. The White Sox Dylan Cease held the Rangers to one run in six innings of work in a 2-1 win. That meant he broke the record he shared with Jacob deGrom for allowing one earned run or less in 13 consecutive starts. They shared the mark at 12 starts. It was the longest streak in baseball since earned runs became an official statistic in 1913. August 5, 2023 – Maybe it was the frustration of an atrocious season coming to a head. In the sixth inning of a game the Sox would win 7-4 in Cleveland, Jose Ramirez and Tim Anderson got tangled up at second base. Ramirez had laced a double down the line and when he slid between Anderson’s legs appeared to slightly push one of them. Anderson had already suffered a strained knee earlier in the season and reacted especially after Ramirez pointed a finger in his face. Anderson dropped his fielders glove and the two went at it. Anderson scored with a couple of punches before Ramirez dropped him with a right. Well after the benched cleared Sox manager Pedro Grifol and Guardians manager, and former Sox minor league manager, Terry Francona exchanged words and then Grifol and third base coach Mike Sarbaugh appeared to raise their hands to each other in the midst of a second flurry. Anderson and Grifol were the only Sox people ejected while four Guardian players and coaches were tossed. Suspensions were then handed out by the league after reviewing the video. August 5, 2024 – The most miserable season in the history of the franchise reached a new low as the White Sox were beaten 5-1 by the A’s in Oakland. It marked their 21st straight defeat, tying the 1988 Baltimore Orioles for the longest losing streak in American League history. The modern baseball record for the longest losing streak belonged to the 1961 Phillies who dropped 23 in a row. Fortunately the White Sox were able to snap the losing streak with a 5-1 win the next night in Oakland meaning the Phillies record would still stand. Small consolation for a franchise that had become the laughingstock of the Major Leagues.

Cleveland and Minnesota lost but the Tigers are winning and can climb to only four out. They may not be done yet. If they close it out that will be seven wins in their last 11 games.

Agreed. Just try not to get swept.

That and no injuries.

Deep dive by Fegan on the trade deadline: Did the White Sox thread the needle at the deadline, or w...The White Sox entered the trade deadline hunting for a controllable starting pitcher to fortify a rotation that’s thrown the fewest innings in Major League Baseball, an addition to their bullpen’s hig

From MLB.com today, under the heading of biggest surprises: 2. The White Sox swap for Luis Castillo With six healthy starters and top pitching prospect Kade Anderson waiting in the wings, the Mariners were prime candidates to trade a starter. Surprisingly, they moved Luis Castillo, who was having a career-worst year with a 5.06 ERA and 78 ERA+, without having to eat a single cent of his contract ($24.2 million salary through next season, plus a $25 million vesting option for 2028). Chicago offset some costs by sending back reliever Seranthony Domínguez ($10 million owed next year), but the White Sox are still taking on a massive financial risk. They gain a proven veteran leader, but one who hasn't pitched significantly above league average in years.

Owners want a cap to increase value of their franchises: Awful AnnouncingMedia rights won't be enough to bring MLB owners to negot...Losing media rights revenue will not be enough to bring MLB owners to the negotiating table during a lockout.

Four factoids today; August 4, 1985 - On the same day Rod Carew got his 3,000th hit in Anaheim, Sox pitcher Tom Seaver won his 300th career game. Seaver beat the Yankees 4-1 at Yankee Stadium. The Sox scored four times in the sixth inning to put Seaver in a position to get the milestone win. He got late inning defensive help when Harold Baines climbed the right field wall to rob Willie Randolph of an extra base hit with men on base. Seaver retired Don Baylor, on a fly to left for the final out of the game. The ball was caught by Reid Nichols as the capacity crowd at Yankee Stadium (many of whom were Mets fans) gave Seaver a standing ovation. August 4, 1992 - The White Sox set the franchise record for the most runs ever scored in the third inning of a game. Nine men crossed the plate against the Twins in Chicago. Wilson Alvarez got the win as the Sox won the slugfest 19-11. DH George Bell had five RBI’s in the game for the Sox. 13 men batted in the big third inning and nine straight reached base. August 4, 1993 - After years of getting brush back pitches thrown at Sox hitters from Nolan Ryan, Robin Ventura snapped in the third inning of a game in Texas and charged the mound. Ryan got the better of the fight but Ventura and his teammates found strength from the brawl and used it during the stretch run which would lead to a divisional title and keep the Rangers in second place by eight games. August 4, 2000 - Catcher Carlton Fisk was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Even though Fisk played more games and for more years with the White Sox, he went in wearing the colors of the Red Sox. Fisk explained to the Chicago media, that his choice in no way reflected any animosity towards White Sox fans but was based in part on his treatment by the organization and ownership over the years.