Lip Man 1

I'll be real curious to see if the league addresses the confusion where Reid was apparently told it was 4th down and two yards (even the CBS graphic showed that) when it reality it was closer to 4th down and a half a yard. The broadcasters talked about it and how Reid was pissed. K.C. punted, Denver got the ball back and the rest is history, instead of the Chiefs potentially going for it, getting the first down and running more time off the clock.

One factoid today: November 2, 1993 - Sox pitcher “Black” Jack McDowell easily captured the American League Cy Young Award. He beat out Randy Johnson. McDowell went 22-10 with a 3.37 ERA. He led the league in wins and shutouts. He was second in innings pitched and third in complete games. Jack got 124 points to Johnson’s 75. From 1990 through 1994 Jack won more games than any pitcher in the American League, 83 to be exact.

You're late to the party, Houston hired someone else a few days ago Randy Flores from the Cardinals.

A few weeks ago I posted comments from a long time source with connections to the organization for decades. That person had lunch with JR and they told me that JR told them baseball would not be played in 2027. Take it for what it may be worth to you.

According to a story in the Phoenix newspaper from back in the day Schilling said JR said something to him so personal and insulting that he vowed under no circumstances would he play for any team he owned. In 2000 he was one of the names being rumored that the Sox were interested in, Mike Mussina was the other, but neither of those came to pass.

Had the chance to speak with him a lot, last time was about two months ago. Great guy, played a big part in the Sox success in the early 1980's. And as Dick Allen mentioned the Sox trading him for Ron Reed really disrupted the chemistry of that 1984 team. Even JR admitted that was a mistake.

Two factoids today: November 1, 1950 - All-time great and career White Sox standout Luke Appling officially announced his retirement after 20 years with the franchise. He was undoubtedly the greatest player in franchise history at the time, boasting a career average of .310 with 2,749 hits. He won two batting titles and in 1936 drove in 128 runs. Later he would manager in the White Sox minor league system and also returned as a coach for the Sox in the 1970 and 1971 seasons. November 1, 2016 - A name change went into effect at the stadium formerly known as U.S. Cellular Field. The Guaranteed Rate mortgage company, based in Chicago, signed a 13-year agreement with the team for naming rights. The stadium would be called Guaranteed Rate Field. The announcement was met with a storm of ridicule by many including the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cubs who tweeted out negative comments. The downward arrow logo for the company also was met with criticism by many Sox fans who felt that was not an appropriate connection with a baseball team, particularly one who had been struggling for several seasons. According to reports the White Sox asked the company to change the logo’s direction but were refused. There were also reports another company made a better offer to the Sox for naming rights but wanted the stadium name changed back to Comiskey Park which Jerry Reinsdorf, White Sox owner objected to. Currently the name has been changed again to simply The Rate.

And this is why ownership saying this needs to be done because of "competition" is outright lying, as Ken Rosenthal reported months ago this is about making even more money for those in charge of teams.

Two factoids today: October 31, 2005 - Happy Halloween! As the White Sox were winning their first championship in 88 years, Sports Illustrated put Scott Podsednik and his winning home run from the second game on the cover. The long caption read, “World Series. In a Match Up of Two Title Hungry Teams, The White Sox Struck First, Dramatically Downing the Astros in Games 1 And 2.” Sports Illustrated then basically ignored the White Sox winning the series by only putting a small circle shot of the team celebrating in the corner of the following week’s cover, breaking a long-standing tradition. The cover that week was Peyton Manning and Tom Brady as the magazine previewed a regular season NFL game….not a Super Bowl matchup, not a playoff contest…but a regular season meeting. October 31, 2024 - The White Sox officially announced the hiring of Will Venable as the 44th field manager in franchise history. Venable came from the Rangers organization where he was the associate manager and helped win a World Series. He also coached in the Red Sox and Cubs organizations after an almost 10-year playing career as an outfielder. He was considered an up-and-comer in the baseball world and many reviews were positive regarding his hiring. He stepped into what many were also considering the most difficult job in the Major Leagues, working with an organization that lost a record 121 games in the 2024 season, had an owner who was at an advanced age, with speculation regarding a new stadium or potentially selling and moving the club and a fan base that, if it wasn’t angry, had simply become apathetic given the state of the club.

Memorial Day weekend when the 60 game clauses in the national TV deals automatically kick in and the owners lose negotiating power regarding their desire to lock in new deals.

Staying healthy instead of blowing out their arms would be a great start.

Another road loss because these stiffs simply can't score goals.

Four factoids today: October 30, 1959 - He was acquired before the start of the 1958 season and part of the cost was trading the popular “Minnie” Minoso. Pitcher Early Wynn didn’t start out on the right side of things with a lot of Sox fans. Compounding the issue was a mediocre season. In 1959 however Wynn turned back the clock leading the Major Leagues with 22 wins and he had an ERA of 3.17. That won him the Cy Young Award. He got 13 of the 16 votes. This was a time when only one award was given to the best pitcher in baseball as opposed to now when the award is given to a pitcher from each league. Sam Jones of the Giants got two votes with Bob Shaw of the White Sox getting the final one. Wynn also led the league in starts, innings pitched and batters faced. October 30, 1967 - The White Sox announced that nine regular season games in 1968 would be moved from Comiskey Park to County Stadium in Milwaukee. In nine dates in Milwaukee, the White Sox drew 265,552 fans, averaging 29,506. Meanwhile, attendance was just 538,203 in 72 games at Comiskey Park averaging 7,475. In 1969, the second and last year of the experiment, the White Sox drew 196,784 over 11 dates at County Stadium, averaging 17,889. At Comiskey Park in 70 games, the White Sox averaged just 5,611. A franchise hadn’t played home games outside of its home park in the American League since 1905. What was suspected at the time of the experiment, and later shown to be true, was that Sox owner Art Allyn was testing the Milwaukee market speaking frequently with Allen “Bud” Selig who was attempting to get another Major League franchise to relocate to Milwaukee which lost the Braves after the 1965 season. Selig thought he was close to getting the White Sox after getting a handshake to move but Art Allyn decided to sell the club in September 1969 to his brother John thwarting Selig’s efforts and John kept the team in Chicago. October 30, 1990 – White Sox manager Jeff Torborg was named the Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America after guiding the team to a record of 94-68. The Sox shocked the baseball world after being picked to finish no higher than fourth place. Instead, they challenged the eventual A.L. champion Oakland A’s right into September and were the only club in the league to have won the season series from them. Only the A’s and the Pittsburgh Pirates had better records during the season than the White Sox. Torborg got 23 of 28 first place votes for 128 points. The A’s Tony LaRussa, the former Sox skipper, picked up the other four first place votes and finished up with 72 points. Joe Morgan of the Red Sox got the final first place vote finishing third with 28 points. Jeff was the only manager to be named on every ballot. October 30, 2005 – Literally days after the White Sox won their first World Series since 1917, Al Lopez, arguably the greatest manager in team history died at the age of 97. Lopez took over for Marty Marion before the start of the 1957 season and through 1965 led the club to nine straight winning seasons, five of them with 90+ victories and the 1959 American League pennant. He returned to the team in the managers capacity for parts of the 1968 and 1969 years. Lopez was a fundamentalist and as a former All-Star catcher knew the game. He worked through his assistant coaches as a game progressed but wasn’t shy about calling players out if he felt they weren’t giving a best effort or were constantly doing something wrong. Among Sox players who felt his wrath at times were All-Stars Nellie Fox and Jim Landis. But under Lopez the team got results and because he got along well with the media, positive publicity even at times when things weren’t going as well as could be on the field. Lopez, “The Senor” won 840 games with the Sox and had a winning percentage of .564.

"Lee is determined to convince Reinsdorf to stay in Bridgeport at a new stadium on the site of Rate Field." Chicago Sun-TimesAld. Nicole Lee wants full-fledged environmental review o...Earlier this week, the Federal Railroad Administration responded to a political firestorm of protests against Amtrak's plans for a maintenance facility in Bridgeport by promising a federal environment

I thought it was an exciting World Series. Any series that doesn't include the Cubs, Red Sox or Yankees is fine by me.

I'm always in favor of hiring as many excellent, intelligent baseball people from winning organizations as possible. White Sox hiring Matt Roffe from Brewers to lead scouting...The White Sox have cited the Brewers as an organization to emulate, and their actions are backing up their words. The morning after the Brewers won their first World Series title in franchise history,https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/10/29/white-sox-hiring-matt-roffe-away-from-brewers-to-fill-open-amateur-scouting-director-role

Congrats to Milwaukee. Hell of a team, terrific organization. Now we'll see when baseball returns after the lockout.

Four factoids today: October 29, 1956 - Al Lopez replaced Marty Marion as field manager. Marion who did a fine job in replacing Paul Richards had missed an important board meeting to be with his family at an event. It was all the excuse the Sox needed to let him go despite third place finishes and winning records in 1955 and 1956. “The Senor” though would prove to be a most able replacement. Lopez had nine straight winning seasons with the club and copped the 1959 American League pennant. Many say he was the finest manager in team history. He holds the franchise record for the highest winning percentage for any manager who lasted at least five full seasons at .562 Lopez eventually won 840 games over nine full seasons and two partial ones with the Sox. October 29, 1986 - Larry Himes was hired to replace Ken Harrelson as White Sox G.M. Himes, almost inarguably one of the best White Sox G.M.’s in history (albeit four years’ worth), helmed by far the best stretch of draft picks in team history: Jack McDowell (1987), Robin Ventura (1988), Frank Thomas (1989) and Alex Fernandez (1990). Yes, all four were Top 10 picks, but if the late 2010s told you anything it was that Top 10 picks came with no assurances. The four players ended up creating 149.6 WAR in their White Sox careers and include Thomas as a Hall-of-Famer. In addition, Himes struck one of the most brilliant trades in team history in 1989 when he swapped Harold Baines to the Rangers for Sammy Sosa and Wilson Alvarez. He also hired manager Jeff Torborg. He would be fired in September 1990 after philosophical differences between him and ownership, in particular Jerry Reinsdorf, made working together impossible. At the press conference announcing Himes’ firing Reinsdorf let his feelings be known loud and clear. "Larry Himes took us from point A to point B. He was very successful in getting us to point B. We need to get to point C. It’s our opinion that Larry Himes is not the best person to get us to point C — a world’s championship." October 29, 2013 - After weeks of rumors and leaks, the White Sox officially announced the signing of Cuban first baseman Jose Abreu to a record-breaking international deal of six years, 68 million dollars. The White Sox uncharacteristically outbid more free-spending teams like the Red Sox, Astros, Rangers, and Giants, necessitating a deal that topped the previous record of 42 million for an international free agent (Yasiel Puig by the Dodgers). Abreu, given reservations about his all-around play and even his hitting ability in the majors, had been projected as a 54-million-dollar player by MLB Trade Rumors. As we know now, Abreu proved a bargain in nearly every one of his nine White Sox seasons, totaling 31.8 WAR for the club. That places him as the second-best first baseman in franchise history, 11th-best hitter, and 19th-best overall player. Abreu also received M.V.P. votes in seven of his nine seasons, and won the award outright in 2020. October 29, 2020 – In a move that stunned the baseball world and angered many White Sox fans, Hall of Famer Tony LaRussa was announced as the new manager signing a multi-year contract. LaRussa began his career with the Sox from 1979 to 1986 posting four winning seasons and taking the 1983 Western Division championship. But he hadn’t managed since retiring at the end of the 2011 season with the Cardinals and his age was a concern to many given the global pandemic. LaRussa though was at the forefront of the analytical revolution in baseball, was the first manager to set up a bullpen to bridge things to a closer, and won World Series titles in Oakland and St. Louis. Since 2011 he worked in the front offices for Arizona, Boston and the Angels. With the White Sox feeling they had moved into serious contention for championships with a young, talented team, LaRussa appeared to be, in their minds, the man to take them to the next level. At 76 he became the third oldest person to manage a Major League team behind “Connie” Mack and Jack McKeon. And under his guidance the Sox, despite crippling injuries, won 93 games and the Central Division title in the 2021 season before losing to the Astros in the A.L.D.S. The 2022 season though was another story as he was heavily criticized for some bizarre managerial decisions, unusual line up combinations and his awkward rambling press conferences. It culminated with him having to leave the club before the game on August 30 due to health concerns and retiring for good.

Pham thought Schriffen was acting like he was one of the players in the locker room and basically told him to get the f#$% out.

Trolling again I see? 😘

Could it be any worse?

https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears-stadium/2026/10/28/bridgeport-bears-domed-stadium-proposal-sox-rate-field

Awful AnnouncingChicago sports radio personalities not sad to see John Sc...In the wake of the news that the Chicago White Sox are moving on from play-by-play voice John Schiffren, the sports radio scene didn't seem to mind.

True given that JR is still running things.

One factoid today: October 28, 2005 – It was one of the largest turnouts for a championship celebration in Chicago sports history as nearly two million people lined the parade route, according to the Chicago Police Department, in the downtown area/South Side to honor the World Series champions. White Sox players and management addressed the crowd and Paul Konerko presented the last out/game ball to owner Jerry Reinsdorf.