Lip Man 1

Sox Machine with a deep dive into Sox bullpen acquisitions the past few years. (Hint: Cover your eyes...): https://soxmachine.com/2026/01/with-seranthony-dominguez-white-sox-return-to-investing-in-relievers

January 27, 1953 - It was one of those deals that was too good to be true and unfortunately that turned out to be the case, as the Sox acquired two-time A.L. batting champ Ferris “Burrhead” Fain from the Philadelphia A’s as part of a five-player deal. Fain never approached those numbers in Chicago, was a distraction off the field, got hurt himself, and was rumored to have gotten into a fight with second baseman Nellie Fox that resulted in injuries. Lockers were supposedly pushed on Fox during the altercation and he was pinned under them. The fight was thought to have taken place after a game in Washington D.C. against the Senators. In 1953 Fain walked 108 times and in 1954 he hit .308 but despite those numbers and two All-Star appearances he was sent to Detroit after the 1954 campaign. January 27, 2005 - So who needs scouts? (Just joking...) Sox G.M. Ken Williams signed Japanese second baseman Tadahito Iguchi after watching video tape on him. Iguchi turned into a very solid second baseman and second hitter in the lineup… delivering defense, home runs and RBI’s to a team that would go on to take the World Series. Iguchi's three run home run in game #2 of the 2005 A.L.D.S. turned that game around and gave the Sox a commanding two game lead in the best of five series and then the following year in 2006, his single in the 19th inning on July 9 beat the Red Sox 6-5. That game was tied for the fifth longest in franchise history. His best offensive game came a few weeks earlier in a 10-9 extra inning loss to the Astros. Iguchi drove in seven runs, five scoring on home runs in both the eighth and ninth innings at U.S. Cellular Field. On April 15 of that same year he turned in one of the most incredible defensive plays in Major League history throwing out the Blue Jays Bengie Molina in the ninth inning of a 4-2 White Sox win. Iguchi threw the ball to first base sailing horizontally off the ground and from a most unusual throwing angle.

Teams regularly give medical updates in spring training or right before it. (Now spring training may not be in your definition of "off season" but it is in mine)

I've said it before and I'll say it again you need another drink or six.

True, the White Sox don't give out a lot of injury info and when they do it tends to be on the optimistic side (which lately has proven to be very wrong...)

I hope they don't lose 100+ games again this year but the starting pitching is poor, the injury history since 2018 has been brutal, they are going to be playing a lot of relatively unproven kids and JR is still running the show. It certainly possible they continue to bottom out again.

January 26, 1983 - The Sox and G. M. Roland Hemond embarrassed the Cubs by hinting through the media that they might select pitcher Fergie Jenkins after the Cubs left him unprotected in the free agent draft. Jenkins, the future Hall of Famer, was getting close to the magical 300-win mark in his career. The Sox were entitled to compensation after losing outfielder Steve Kemp to the Yankees. The Cubs were forced to trade Scott Fletcher, Dick “Dirt” Tidrow, Randy Martz and Pat Tabler to the Sox for a promise not to take Jenkins, along with pitchers Steve Trout and Warren Brusstar. The Sox then traded Tabler for Jerry Dybzinski. After it was all said and done, Cub G.M. Dallas Green was quoted as saying, “To say I’m relieved probably would be an understatement.” Fletcher would be a part of the 1983 divisional champion but his bigger impact perhaps came in 1990, for the “Doin' the Little Things” White Sox, who shocked baseball by winning 94 games. Fletcher was a defensive rock at second base and executed small things like bunting, hitting behind a runner and to the opposite field and driving in key runs exceptionally well. Tidrow did just about everything a relief pitcher could do in 1983 and Dybzinski stabilized a shaky infield in the early part of that same season. Unfortunately, his base running error in game #4 of the A.L.C.S. is what he is best remembered for. The Sox starting staff was so deep in 1983, with seven pitchers on the roster who all won at least 10 games in a Major League season, that Martz never really got a chance. He only made one emergency start that year in a game at Detroit. Those other pitchers who won at least 10 games were LaMarr Hoyt, Rich Dotson, Floyd Bannister, Britt Burns, Jerry Koosman and Steve Mura.

I get your point but this is a professional media organization. What an individual owner does or does not do has no bearing on the preparation and job they are supposed to be doing.

The ultimate say will be the voters and if they decide politicians sticking their necks out for the McCaskey family is in their best interests. Time will tell. "Politically, it’s imperative that the state not be seen as giving the billionaire Bears ownership a taxpayer-funded stadium. If they can give themselves enough cover, then maybe they might possibly find enough votes for this. But it’s still a straight uphill climb even after Indiana has begun putting its cards on the table."

Exactly correct, I wrote a story about this back in the day. One example, remember back in 2006 when ESPN was running a poll for each professional city asking who was the most popular franchise in it. For Chicago where the Sox had just won the World Series and the Blackhawks were not very good they listed four teams you could vote for: Cubs, Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks. That cause Scott Reifert, Sox VP to say, "ESPN is just mad because we eliminated their Red Sox..." And Berman after the 2003 All-Star Game ripped Sox fans for booing Cub, Twins and Indians representatives, he did it during an interview with a Connecticut TV station (he appeared to be drunk at the time). He said Sox fans were the worst in baseball. Yet next year in Houston when Astro fans were booing including their own manager who was there, he said nothing. I'll have to pull that column I did from the files to find the other examples.

https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/jeff-passan-2005-white-sox-overlooked.html

January 24, 2003 - Sometimes luck plays a part in things...sometimes a very big part. On this date, Sox G.M. Kenny Williams signed free agent pitcher Esteban Loaiza to a contract. Loaiza was expected to round out the back end of the rotation...he did more than that. By season’s end he had won 21 games, started the All-Star Game and led the A.L. in strikeouts with 207. His ERA was 2.90. He could have won the Cy Young Award but a pair of 1-0 losses to Detroit appeared to be the difference in doing so. He ended up second in the voting. The next year he was traded to the Yankees at midseason, for pitcher Jose Contreras…another deal that worked out to the White Sox advantage! He was reacquired off of waivers by the Sox on June 4, 2008 and appeared in three games before being given his release and retiring.

As Ralph Kramden once said, "Let me have what your drinking, I want to get loaded too..."

Not unless the offense gets a whole lot better to pick up a pretty weak starting staff.

Very true. The Sox bullpen has been an unmitigated disaster and this guy could help. I guess it also depends on your definition of "enjoyable." The Sox "only" losing 93 games say instead of 100 doesn't move the needle much for me at this time. And he'll probably get traded for prospects at the deadline if he does well. Like I said Sox fans will "dance" when JR is gone and Ishbia is running things.

Define "good." Losing less than 100 games would be an improvement but hardly good. Sox fans will be dancing when Ishbia takes over. Until then? Probably not.

Interesting signing although his walks could be a problem.

April 23, 1990 - It was an unusual event even though it happened in an exhibition game. Utility player Steve “Psycho” Lyons played all nine positions for the Sox during the annual “Crosstown Classic” game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Manager Jeff Torborg moved him all over the field during the contest won by the Sox 6-5. Outfielder Dave Gallagher threw out the potential tying run at home plate to end the game

January 22, 1960 - The White Sox introduced the first Major League baseball jersey that had a player’s name on the back. It was the brain child of owner Bill Veeck. At first the name was only on the road jersey but starting in 1961 names were also on the backs of the home jerseys. The White Sox then removed the player names in 1971 before bringing them back in 1976. Names were removed again from 1987 to 1990, but were added only on the road uniform midway through 1990. Their alternate black uniform would have player names when first introduced in 1991. Player names would return to the home uniform in 1997. January 22, 1996 - The Sox dealt two minor leaguers to Oakland for slugger Danny Tartabull. The enigmatic Tartabull who had as much talent as anyone, but often didn’t show it, put together a very good season on the South Side, with 27 home runs and 101 RBI’s. The two minor leaguers sent to the A’s were never heard from again. Danny then signed a free agent deal with the Phillies the following year. His best game for the White Sox came in Boston on September 14 that season when he drove in six runs in a 13-5 win at Fenway Park. He went 2 for 4 with two runs scored. Four of his RBI’s came on an eighth inning grand slam.

Sox Machine reviews the deal and Roberts time in Chicago: "Does trading Robert officially end the cycle of tearing down thinly-built would-be contending rosters, or simply reset it? Ideally, the new players and staff on hand get to determine that answer, even if Getz's first line of touting Acuña's merits began in a familiar way. "We're talking about a player that's five-plus years of control." https://soxmachine.com/2026/01/couldve-been-worse-couldve-been-better-white-sox-trade-of-luis-robert-jr-matches-his-tenure

Hard to argue with your timeline. It's good that Getz got something at all for him (and JR is VERY happy the Mets took on the entire salary) but it is a fact the Sox were going nowhere but to stinktown right after Robert had his very good year. Why Getz decided to keep him given the state of the franchise/organization is a real mystery to me.

The money will be spent!!! 😆

I am too which is why I hope to still be around when Ishbia takes over. Because until then, especially with the lockout coming, a "successful" season for the Sox will be if they don't lose 100 games.

https://soxmachine.com/2026/01/white-sox-trade-luis-robert-jr-to-mets-for-luisangel-acuna-truman-pauley

Tribune with a very nice follow up story on Wilbur speaking with Jim Kaat and Steve Stone: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/19/chicago-white-sox-wilbur-wood-steve-stone-jim-kaat/