Lip Man 1

Four factoids today: May 30, 1951 - The Sox blasted the St. Louis Browns 8-1 to win their 14th consecutive game. It’s the second longest winning streak in franchise history. After returning to Chicago, Mayor Martin Kennelly presented vice president Chuck Comiskey III, manager Paul Richards and the White Sox, the keys to the city in a ceremony. The Sox would go from “Rags to Richards” in 1951 ending their string of desultory seasons and pointing the way to the “Go-Go” 1950's. That year the Sox went 81-73-1 good for fourth place and their first winning season since 1943. May 30, 1960 - Outfielder Jimmy Piersall, who would become a Sox announcer in the 1970's and early 1980's, went on a rampage against the scoreboard and Comiskey Park. Piersall started by throwing the contents of the Cleveland dugout on to the field after he was ejected by umpire Cal Drummond for calling balls and strikes while standing on second base. He then went into the Sox dugout, grabbed a bucket of groundskeeper Gene Bossard’s sand and dumped that on the field. In the other game, Piersall didn’t move when a ball hit by “Minnie” Minoso came right at him. It went over his head for a double and adding insult to injury, the Sox thought it was a home run and set off the scoreboard! Finally, Piersall caught the last out of the game, then turned and threw the ball at the scoreboard which he hated. All in a day’s work, as Cleveland took a twin bill 4-1 and 9-4. May 30, 1966 - Sox pitcher Jack Lamabe fired a one-hitter at Comiskey Park beating the Red Sox 11-0. Lamabe didn’t allow a hit until Joe Foy singled leading off the eighth inning after he shook off catcher J.C. Martin. He faced 30 batters, striking out six and walking two. It was a sweep on the night for the Sox who shut out Boston in both games. The Sox won the opener 1-0 behind pitcher Johnny Buzhardt who only allowed five hits. In addition, this was the club’s third consecutive shutout, since the day before Tommy John blanked the Yankees 2-0. May 30, 1985 - In a night game at Comiskey Park, Carlton Fisk belted a rooftop home run off the Royals Charlie Leibrandt in the fourth inning with a man on base. It helped Tom Seaver and the Sox win 4-3. The shot went over the roof in left field. It was the start of a four-game sweep of the Royals and a week in which Fisk would hit five home runs and drive in 12 RBI’s. That season Carlton would set career highs with 37 home runs and a 107 RBI’s.

They been derailing Sox seasons for a lot longer than this year. Although a better comp would be 'soft tissue' injuries.

Because JR still owns the club.

See you after the All-Star break...(maybe...)

https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/05/29/sox-reliever-jordan-leasure-will-be-shut-down-for-at-least-eight-weeks

8th time this year the Sox trailed in the 7th inning or later and won.

Well stranger things have happened but the killer part of the schedule is coming up right around the corner. Terrible time for this to happen.

Sox machine saying Gonzales will be called up. 8th time this year the Sox trailed in the 7th inning or later and won.

Just when things are starting to go well, the 'soft tissue injury' curse strikes again. What can you say? Sox fans can't have nice things.

I understand but I was specifically talking about the Sox. He has called Cub games on WGN the year Harry Caray was out recovering from the heart attack. That really was a brilliant move on their part, they had just about every big broadcasting name taking a turn to help, Brent Musberger, Vin Scully, Jack Buck, Costas, Pat Summerall immediately come to mind.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/fran-spielman-show/2026/05/29/state-rep-kam-buckner-bears-stadium-megaprojects-bill-arlington-heights-northwest-indiana-illinois-general-assembly

Assuming this is a legit injury it explains some things. Of course if it is a legit injury that's cause for concern. Sox don't need another pitcher with serious arm issues.

To the best of my knowledge this will be the first time Bob has called a Sox game not connected to a national broadcast network.

He and Tony Kubek of course did the NBC broadcast of the 1983 A.L.C.S.: Awful AnnouncingBob Costas joins CHSN booth for White Sox 1980s throwback...CHSN announced Bob Costas will join Steve Stone in the booth for a 1980s-themed White Sox-Braves broadcast on June 9.

Three factoids today: May 29, 1922 - Continuing to rebuild in the wake of the “Black Sox” scandal, owner Charles Comiskey spent 100,000 thousand dollars and purchased the contract of third baseman Willie Kamm from San Francisco of the Pacific Coast League. Comiskey also threw in three players. Kamm would lead the A.L. in fielding percentage for six straight seasons. In his eight full years with the Sox, he had 80 or more RBI’s four times in a season and in 1925, he not “Babe” Ruth led the league with 90 walks. May 29, 1982 - LaMarr Hoyt was beaten by the Indians 5-2 at Cleveland. Hoyt had won his first nine decisions of the season and coupled with five straight wins to end 1981, meant he had won 14 consecutive decisions. It was the longest win streak over multiple seasons in franchise history at that time. Hoyt hadn’t lost a game since August 15, 1981 at (where else?) Baltimore. Cleveland got to Hoyt for four early runs and never looked back. May 29, 2024 – The absolutely horrific season of 2024 saw the team seemingly set a new low every other day. After a 3-1 loss to the Blue Jays, the White Sox set the franchise record, losing all seven games on a homestand for the first time ever. Never before had they dropped every single game at home playing at least seven contests. They were swept in four by Baltimore and then swept in three by Toronto. On the homestand they scored a paltry 18 runs.

Ken Rosenthal’s article on this from the Athletic today: “The league wants both a hard cap and floor, insisting in a statement that ‘fans in too many markets have too little hope their team has a fair chance to win.’ That’s what this is all about, the league keeps telling us. Bowing to the wishes of fans who ‘overwhelmingly’ support a cap, out of the goodness of the owners’ hearts. “Please. “I’m sure fans want lower ticket prices and lower beer prices, too, but the owners aren’t about to introduce those, are they? No, the owners act only when it’s in their financial interests. “A cap that fixes costs and enhances franchise values is most definitely in the owners’ interests. Missing games, the possible cost of all this, is not. How about asking fans if they want that?”

Indeed it will. And based on everything that I've read or heard ballparks are going to be locked up for a lot longer than three weeks. In past is prologue the owners will crack eventually.

60 million divided by how many MLB players is literally peanuts. Players are not going to agree to have their earning potential capped, you wouldn't in your profession...why should they be any different? And as the Athletic pointed out this isn't about competitive balance it's about owners wanting the value of their franchises to increase to the level of the NBA and NFL.

Twelve teams would be required to increase payroll by a total of $617 million based on 2026 numbers: Miami ($81.8 million), Cleveland ($95.7 million), Tampa Bay ($108.2 million), the White Sox ($108.6 million), St. Louis ($114.4 million), Washington ($119.1 million), Pittsburgh ($122.6 million), Minnesota ($125.6 million), Milwaukee ($130.9 million), the Athletics ($139.2 million), Colorado ($142.2 million) and Cincinnati ($148.8 million). Union interim executive director Bruce Meyer, in a post on the social media platform X, criticized the owners’ proposal: “For generations, our members have fought against cap systems because they harm players at all levels, erode or eliminate contractual guarantees, pit player against player, lead to more work stoppages, not less, and get worse for players over time. Caps don’t lower ticket prices for fans, eliminate tanking or ensure teams are run with equal competence. They suffocate competition by offering owners an all-purpose excuse for inaction and mediocrity.” https://chicago.suntimes.com/mlb/2026/05/28/mlb-proposes-salary-cap-for-the-first-time-since-1994-95-players-strike

If the owners remain focused on having a salary cap it's going to be a long, winter spring and possibly summer next year. Because a salary cap is a no-go with the MLBPA, especially with the Athletic story out a few days ago on the real reason the owners want a cap.

To answer the question which I assume was posed retoricly, the answer is, 'who knows after ONE start.'

To say nothing of the Phillies and Yankees on the road.

Nice effort today. Now let's see if the Sox can finally get to three games over .500 Friday. With the schedule getting measurably tougher the Sox need as many wins as they can get in the next seven games.

Five factoids today: May 28, 1956 - The Sox purchased pitcher Gerry Staley from the Yankees. Staley would become one of the top relief pitchers in the league by 1959 helping the Sox win the pennant. That season he went 8-5 with a 2.24 ERA and a league leading 15 saves. He came into a bases loaded one out situation in the ninth inning at Cleveland on September 22 with the Sox clinging to a 4-2 lead. He threw one pitch to Vic Power who rapped into a double play and the Sox won the pennant for the first time in 40 years. His teammate Omar “Turk” Lown also had 15 saves. In 1960 Staley would make the All-Star team. May 28, 1973 – It was a night Wilbur Wood did something that rarely happens in baseball. Two days earlier the game between Cleveland and the White Sox was suspended by curfew at Comiskey Park, tied at two after 16 innings. Rain washed out action on May 27 so when the suspended game was resumed the next day, it was Wood’s turn to pitch. He went out and threw five innings before the Sox would win it 6-3 in 21 innings. 30 minutes later Wood went out and started the regularly scheduled game. He would toss a complete game, four-hitter, winning 4-0. Two wins in one evening! His line for the night, 14 innings pitched, one run, six hits, nine strikeouts, two wins. Wilbur was now 13-3 on the season and it wasn’t even June. May 28, 1986 - In a game against the Rangers in Arlington, Texas, Sox pitcher Joe Cowley struck out the first seven men he faced which set an American League record. He fanned Oddibe McDowell, former Sox infielder Scott Fletcher, Pete O’Brien, Pete Incaviglia, Gary Ward, George Wright and Steve Buechele in order. However, Cowley wound up pitching only four plus innings giving up six runs, five earned, and took the loss in a 6-3 defeat. May 28, 1995 - At Tiger Stadium, Detroit jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one inning and 7-1 after two, but the White Sox rallied to win, 14-12. The game set an MLB record with 12 combined home runs, seven by the Tigers and five by the White Sox. Frank Thomas, Ray Durham, Craig Grebeck, and Ron Karkovice (twice) hit home runs for the Sox with Durham, Karkovice and Grebeck going back-to-back-to-back in the fourth inning. For all the home runs, it was a Mike Devereaux ground out in the eighth inning that provided the eventual game-winner, giving the White Sox a 12-11 lead. May 28, 1999 - Sox infielder Greg Norton hit two home runs in a game for the second consecutive game. He was the first Sox player to pull that off since Zeke Bonura did it in 1935. All four of his home runs came in Detroit against the Tigers. The home runs accounted for six RBI’s.

Speaking of Robert: May 27, 2017 – The White Sox scored a coup and surprised the baseball world by announcing the signing of 19-year-old Cuban outfield prospect Luis Robert to a minor league contract. Robert’s deal included a stunning 26 million dollar signing bonus. Robert was on the radar of Major League teams since he was 15 years old because of his speed, power and compact swing. He was considered one of the top amateur players in the world and represented a significant addition as the White Sox were rebuilding a franchise that had grown stale and had limited success on the field and in the stands. He had a tremendous 2019 minor league season and then signed a long-term contract extension with the Sox before making his big-league debut in 2020 where he won a Gold Glove and finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting. Injuries slowed his development in both 2021 and 2022 but he had a breakout year in 2023 with 38 home runs, 36 doubles, 80 RBI’s and 20 stolen bases. Unfortunately injuries in the following seasons returned which hampered his production. He was eventually traded to the Mets before the 2026 season began…and promptly suffered a herniated disc in his back which landed him on the injured list yet again.