Lip Man 1

I know this has been discussed here, along the lines of would you give up on the Sox? Could anything drive you away? Etc. I thought this was very well written trying to describe the emotions of the fan base after last season and why things may be different now: https://www.southsidesox.com/2022/12/29/23529472/2022-the-year-that-broke-chicago-white-sox-fans

Just wondering, why can't you be a fan BOTH of winning and of a particular team? Other fan bases seem to have both...why can't White Sox fans?

The arrogance of this organization under his ownership knows no bounds. "Who are you to criticize us? We know better than you. WE know what we are doing and we're smarter than you! (History shows they don't however...)

It won't.

The Sox will be put on the market in a reasonable amount of time right after JR passes. https://www.southsidesox.com/2022/8/29/23325369/jerry-reinsdorf-selling-chicago-white-sox-not-on-his-life

https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/mark-buehrle-hall-of-fame-case

I'm looking forward to outliving current ownership and seeing what a new beginning brings.

The window is half closing. The Sox can't compete with the Yankees, Astros maybe the Rays, Blue Jays but....BUT if they can actually stay healthy they should post a winning season and maybe have a shot for the divisional title. Sorry, until this ownership changes and the front office on the baseball side is fired that's about the best you can hope for.

DVS of the Sun-Times today had a story that basically said second base will be filled by "internal" options.

https://www.mlb.com/news/trevor-bauer-reinstated-after-suspension MLB's response.

This is from my interview with one of several sources regarding the State of the Sox: Broadcast announcer issues “It’s happened a lot, even to guys like Ed Farmer, where they thought they had a deal with the Sox only to be told it was changed. There were screaming matches in the hallway at the stadium with guys yelling at Sox officials because they were so angry over what happened.” “I remember hearing Ed Farmer say, I work for Jerry Reinsdorf not the White Sox.” “Jason Benetti’s deal with the Sox is up, the Sox hold the option for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He went to Fox to negotiate that deal with them after he was told to do it and then come back to the Sox and they’d work something out. Jason wanted to get the deal done with the Sox first and then go to Fox or ESPN or whoever. Turns out when he came back to the Sox and said that he needs 40 days off so he can do the Fox work he was told, ‘no, that’s not happening.’ So I don’t know what’s going to happen to him or Steve Stone.” “The radio guys would b**** about the TV guys; the TV guys would b**** about the radio guys. Steve Stone was not well liked.” “The broadcasters would go to JR and talk with him about what was going on and it finally got to the point where JR said he doesn’t want to hear about this anymore.” “The folks in charge of broadcasting at the MLB offices can’t stand to work with some of the Sox officials.”

That was the 2007 season, they all threw hard, got behind in the count, fired a 98 MPH straight fastball and it usually got wacked.

Considering the number of significant injuries it was a miracle they won 93 games.

Martin suffered the dreaded "forearm soreness" in his last start, the Sox haven't said one word about his condition...until we see him on the mound pitching who knows what to expect from him.

Apparently in the Athletic today Keith Law isn't particularly fond of the Sox signing him. Says he won't hit home runs.

DVS with the story in the Sun-Times: https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2022/12/16/23513332/white-sox-land-free-agent-outfielder-andrew-benintendi

At least not under this ownership...in the future? Who knows.

Kaplan has sources true but he's also been wrong...a lot. Remember him saying the Cubs were going to sign Pujois? Or that they would not be outbid for Tanaka? Or that Joe Girardi will be the Cubs next manager?

True...but loyalty without accountability (in other words blind loyalty) is usually counter productive and sometime dangerous.

This actually has been floated from time to time. The last time I remember was when the Expos were ready to move.

JR had an interesting comment along these lines. His "philosophy" hasn't changed has it? “Would you ever not be able to honor a contract like that? (i.e. a multi-year, big money deal) If people stopped coming to the games. If the television money went away. That’s why I don’t like to sign long term contracts with pitchers. It’s one thing to pay a pitcher five million dollars a year, but what if the guy can’t play?”–Jerry Reinsdorf, March 1994, to Bob Greene. From the book ‘Rebound, The Odyssey of Michael Jordan’ by Bob Greene. Pg. 65. Published 1995.

Speaking of selling, didn't see this posted. Yesterday some Sox fans started a Go Fund Me page wanting to put up a billboard near U.S. Cellular Field telling JR to sell the Sox. They hoped to raise enough money to have the billboard up for two months. In six hours not only did they raise enough for the billboard but now they are thinking about either having a second billboard put up or extending the original billboard from two months to four months. Full disclosure: I gave five dollars. Highest contribution so far is 100 dollars from a Sox fan.

Cuban has said that if he were to buy a baseball team it would be the Pirates, that's the team he said he grew up rooting for.

JR has the authority to keep the team or sell it as he chooses. The minority owners have no say in the matter it is part of his contract. After the Sox won the World series, some of the minority owners wanted him to sell but he refused. In 2008, Andrew Berlin, who grew up a Sox fan twice made offers for the team. JR turned him down twice. Berlin now owns the Cubs South Bend affiliate. And as I wrote in this story, because of the tax hit that would come into play if he sold the club while he was alive, it doesn't make sense financially for him to do so. https://www.southsidesox.com/2022/8/29/23325369/jerry-reinsdorf-selling-chicago-white-sox-not-on-his-life

With the White Sox luck Velasquez will actually stay healthy and have a good season.