Lip Man 1

First off they may not even make the playoffs, second given the labor situation and JR's "fiscal philosophy" when it comes to pitching I wouldn't be shocked in the least if they didn't do a damned thing this off season, if there is even one, regarding the starting pitching situation.

They have now won five in a row.

Twins winning...Cleveland winning. Not a good night.

He's lost right now. Home run or nothing. He's still young and may get better with more experience but man does he have a long swing.

He's done more by himself than all four of Getz's acquisitions combined.

TEN factoids today: August 25, 1913 - The Sox purchased the contract of future Hall of Famer, pitcher, Urban “Red” Faber from Des Moines for 3,500 dollars. Faber would go on to win 254 games with four seasons of 20 or more wins with the team. In the 1917 World Series win over the Giants he’d go 3-1, throwing 27 innings with two complete games and an ERA of 2.33 August 25, 1959 - The Sox claimed first baseman Ted Kluszewski off waivers from the Pirates. “Big Klu” helped provide hitting down the stretch for the pennant and would hit three home runs and drive in 10 RBI’s in the six game World Series versus the Dodgers, five of those RBI’s came in the first game, an 11-0 Sox win. August 25, 1967 – After criticizing A’s owner Charlie Finley, power hitter Ken “Hawk” Harrelson was waived by the team. He became a free agent. With the White Sox in the middle of a four-team race for the pennant, later that same day Sox G.M. Ed Short called Harrelson in his Baltimore hotel room and offered him a one-time contract for 100,000 thousand dollars. Short said it was a ‘take it or leave it’ offer since he did not want to get into a bidding war. Sox manager Eddie Stanky also got on the phone trying to talk Harrelson into agreeing to join the club. Harrelson turned down the offer saying in his biography he just wanted more time to consider his situation. He would later agree to a deal with the Red Sox for 118,000 thousand dollars and officially signed with them on August 28. Boston would go on to win the pennant and lose the World Series in seven games to the Cardinals. It was another in a series of misses as the franchise kept trying to get that elusive power bat for the middle of the order. In past years they unsuccessfully tried to get hitters like Carl Yastrzemski and Frank Robinson. Harrelson eventually did make his way to the White Sox joining their broadcasting team for the 1982 campaign. August 25, 1968 - The tensions surrounding the Democratic National Convention in Chicago spilled over to Comiskey Park. During a game against the Twins, supporters of Alabama Governor George Wallace and Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy got into an altercation in the lower left field seats after some of the Wallace supporters were accused of making racial remarks to Sox left fielder Tommy Davis. Security quickly separated the groups and averted a larger brawl. August 25, 1981 - Sox pitcher Dennis Lamp carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Brewers in Milwaukee. Robin Yount led off that inning with a bloop double to left field breaking it up. The Sox won the game though 5-1. Lamp struck out six and walked one in the night game. August 25, 1986 – Jack Perconte was a solid second baseman/utility player for six years before coming to the White Sox in the 1986 season. His debut with the team came on this August night at Comiskey Park in a 2-0 loss to the Royals. It was a memorable one in one respect…the name on the back of his jersey was spelled wrong! His jersey had “Preconte” instead of the proper spelling. Jack went 0 for 2 on the night with a walk. For the year he hit .219 in 24 games before being released at seasons end. August 25, 2013 - It was a feat that hadn’t been achieved since 1947: Jordan Danks homered in a game his brother, John, won. John went six innings in a 5-2 win over the Rangers to improve his record to 4-10 on the season. Younger by just 16 months, Jordan cracked his third home run of the season, in the fourth inning of the win. It wasn’t even intended to happen this way. Avisaíl García started the game in right field, but was injured crashing into the wall as he tracked Jeff Baker’s home run in the fourth inning. Jordan entered the game as a defensive sub, and in the bottom half of the same frame, cracked a massive home run to right. In his next at-bat, Jordan singled, and finished the day 2 for 3 with bragging rights, for once, over John. August 25, 2020 - In surreal surroundings, no fans at Guaranteed Rate Field due to the pandemic, Sox pitcher, Lucas Giolito no-hit the Pirates winning 4-0. Giolito allowed only one base runner on a walk in the fourth inning. He struck out 13 hitters on 101 pitches, one of the most dominating performances in baseball no-hitter history. Tim Anderson and Adam Engel made terrific defensive plays to save the no-hitter in the seventh and with two outs in the ninth inning respectively. It was the 19th no-hitter in franchise history making them the all-time American League leader in that category. August 25, 2022 – Over the decades the most incredible, strange, bizarre things seem to happen to the White Sox in Baltimore. Games that are ready to be won, are lost in the most astonishing ways, ways that only seem to happen once in a decade except to the White Sox. Case in point, a night game in Baltimore on this date. The Sox led the Orioles 3-2 with two out, no one on in the last of the ninth inning. Sox closer Liam Hendriks was working on his 20th consecutive save. Baltimore outfielder Kyle Stowers sliced a fly ball that drifted into foul ground in left field. Sox outfielder Adam Engel ran to the area, put his glove up…and dropped the ball. The error gave Stowers a second chance and he promptly hammered a flat curve ball from Hendriks into the seats for the game tying home run. Baltimore would wind up winning the game 4-3 in 11 innings. August 25, 2024 – A 9-4 loss to the Tigers at Guaranteed Rate Field gave the White Sox 100 losses for the 2024 campaign. It marked the first time in franchise history the Sox lost 100 or more games in consecutive seasons. In 2023 the Sox lost 101 times.

Exactly. Pitching has no depth, having to start two 'openers' every five days and the big hitters are all hitting less than .250. Not an ideal situation. This division is still wide open in my opinion.

I tend to agree given the labor uncertainty and all the unknowns for next year. Plus we know JR's philosophy towards pitching.

As I've posted in the past, the Sox had great balance that season. They could beat you with a blast, a bloop, a bunt or a stolen base.

Jeff asks some good questions, makes some good points and is brutally honest about Mulligan and Haugh (and Payton): "Which begs the question: Why not replace “Mully and Haugh” completely? The Score made the right move in finally ending Mulligan’s reign of revolting radio – meandering questions, unfinished thoughts, inaudible words. Why not blow it up and start over?" https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports-media/2026/08/24/jarrett-payton-david-haugh-the-score-sports-radio-chicago-morning-show-mike-mulligan-brian-hanley-dan-bernstein-danny-parkins-jason-goff-patrick-kane-caleb-wilson

That would be nice but given the state of the pitching staff to me, this is a longshot.

Two factoids today... August 24, 1910 - It was a noteworthy publicity stunt. With the White Sox in Washington D.C., catcher Billy Sullivan caught a ball tossed off the top of the Washington Monument from pitcher “Big” Ed Walsh. He caught three balls in 11 attempts. The ball was traveling at well over 100 MPH. The ball fell 555 feet. Two months later, Sullivan opted out of a challenge to catch a baseball tossed from an airplane flying at a thousand feet. According to a comment from the Associated Press Sullivan said, “I might as well try to stop a bullet as be on the receiving end of one from an airplane.” August 24, 2008 – One thing White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski had going for him was his brain. A.J. was always thinking, always trying to get into the heads of the opposition and always willing to try something to gain an advantage. On this day his quick thinking directly led to the Sox winning a game, in the middle of a pennant race, that perhaps they shouldn’t have. The Sox were tied with Tampa Bay 5-5 in extra innings when A.J. led off with a single. He was on second when Jermaine Dye hit a ground ball to the Rays Jason Bartlett. Pierzynski broke on contact and was caught in a run down. However obstruction would wind up being called on third baseman Willy Aybar by umpire Doug Eddings when A.J. stuck his arm out and made contact with Aybar after he had already made a throw. The ruling was that even though Pierzynski initiated the contact it was the responsibility of Aybar to get out of the way. A.J. was awarded third base and eventually scored the winning run on a single by Alexei Ramirez.

Sox have six left with the Twins, three left with Cleveland, three left with Kansas City and four left with Detroit.

Story I read recently said they were let go because of poor ratings. Not because Mully was a Sox fan. Sorry WBWSF.

Fair. But it's also true that if you at least can put the ball in play good things can happen. If you have a lot of strike outs, well...nothing can happen except maybe a dropped third strike. The batting averages of Vargas, Muni and Colson are now .246, .223 and .213 respectively...I mean that's not good at all. Makes you appreciate even more what guys like Thomas, Konerko, Ordonez, Lee and Valentin did in the early 00's. They hit a ton of home runs and also had good batting averages.

From Fegan's Sun-Times story this afternoon: Whither Shane Smith? How has Shane Smith gone from opening day starter to a 5.56 ERA in Triple-A? A hangover from a career-high 146 1/3 innings last year, which he had never previously approached, is part of it. But the Sox don’t think the offseason alterations he made to simplify his delivery have served him well. “He made some compensations that felt good to him, but I think took away some of the kind of magic elements he had in his delivery, and the variance in his movement, and a lot of the things that allowed him to have that All-Star season last year,” said Sox senior advisor to pitching Brian Bannister. “We were starting to get back to that, and then he was dealing with the shoulder stuff.” After issuing five free passes on Sunday, Smith has 22 walks in 31 2/3 innings with the Charlotte Knights since returning from a rotation cuff strain last month.

Sox finish the season with them. Three at the Rate.

Excellent win. As far as the hitting issues, you're best guys strike out a ton, they have low batting averages. That combination almost results in a 'home run or nothing' situation. That's not good. I don't have an answer except maybe with time they'll get better as they get more experience at the big league level.

HIPPA laws may prevent the Sox releasing that info without Carlson's OK.

Agreed, fingers crossed.

A fan posted this at another Sox web site. The numbers don't lie: "Castillo's White Sox numbers after 4 starts: 5.89 ERA, 1.53 WHIP. And that was WITH 7 innings of shutout, 1 hit ball. So he's been complete DFA level crap for 3 of 4 starts, and they're on the hook to pay him 22 million next year. Getz is a genius." Well...could Castillo turn into James Shields version 2.0?

From the Sun-Times recap tonight: "Castillo will be around longer and figure much more into how this season plays out. If he can recapture some of the form that made him a three-time All-Star, the Sox could have something. If not, then the rotation will still be short." https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/08/22/luis-castillo-struggles-again-luis-robert-jr-hits-two-home-runs-in-white-sox-10-5-loss-to-mets

All you can do is look at the results and they have not been good to say the least. Can they get better? Sure. Getz, the organization and the fan base damn well better hope so. A division title may be riding on it because the pitching staff is short handed and running on fumes.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/08/22/white-sox-prospects-roch-cholowsky-billy-carlson-done-for-2026

NINE factoids today: August 23, 1906 - The Sox beat Washington 4-1 for their 19th straight win, a franchise record that still stands. Roy Patterson picked up the win. This was the streak that propelled the Sox into a position to take the A.L. pennant and eventually the World Series crown beating the Cubs in the only all-Chicago World Series. During the run the Sox beat Boston six times, Philadelphia five times, New York seven times and Washington once. When the streak started on August 2 the Sox were seven and a half games behind Philadelphia, when it ended on August 25 at Washington, the team was in first place by four games over the A’s. August 23, 1956 – In a double header sweep at Yankee Stadium, Sox second baseman Nellie Fox recorded seven consecutive hits, six singles and a triple in the 8-3 and 6-4 wins. Fox went 5 for 5 in game one with four RBI’s then recorded two hits in his first two at-bats in the nightcap game. For the day Nellie went 7 for 10 with two runs scored and those four RBI’s. August 23, 1958 – Nellie Fox pops right up again, with another momentous feat. On this day, Fox struck out, in the first inning of a 7-1 win at Yankee Stadium, vs. Whitey Ford. A strike out doesn’t sound like much until you realize it was the first time Nellie struck out in 98 games setting a Major League record! The streak started back on May 17, in a 3-2 win over Cleveland. He logged 451 plate appearances and 356 official at-bats during those 98 games, leading the White Sox to a 54-43 record. Fox struck out only 216 times in his 21-year career. For the 1958 season he’d finish with a .300 batting average and only fan 11 times leading the league with 187 hits. August 23, 1972 - Sox slugger Dick Allen would make history again on this day. He slammed a pitch from the Yankees Lindy McDaniel into the center field bleachers directly under the scoreboard at Comiskey Park, becoming the first Sox player to ever do this. It came in the seventh inning with a man on base. Sox announcer Harry Caray, who was broadcasting the game from that area, nearly caught the ball in his fishing net which he kept with him for just such an occasion. The Sox would win it 5-2. August 23, 1983 - Normally a first baseman, manager Tony LaRussa moved Mike Squires to third base in the eighth inning of a 10-2 loss to the Royals. Squires was left-handed! Squires faced three batters from that spot without handling any chances. Twice Mike also caught an inning left-handed as well. During the 1983 and 1984 seasons Squires was moved to third base a total of 14 times by manager Tony LaRussa the most ever for a left hander in big league history. August 23, 2002 - Sox third baseman Joe Crede hit the 1,000th home run at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) when he put one into the seats off former Sox pitcher Tanyon Sturtze during the 8-2 loss to the Devil Rays. His home run came in the ninth inning. August 23, 2005 - In an excruciating game in Minnesota, the Sox Freddy Garcia tossed a complete game one-hitter and lost 1-0. The only mistake he made was allowing a home run to Jacque Jones leading off the eighth inning. August 23, 2011 - Sox first baseman Paul Konerko, a mainstay for the team since being acquired in a trade before the start of the 1999 season, collected his 2,000th career hit in a 5-4 loss to the Angels in Anaheim. The hit was a single that tied the game at four all. All but 48 of those 2,000 hits came with the White Sox. He’d finish with 2,340 of them over 18 years. August 23, 2026 – It’s a painful way to set a record but he’ll take it. Sox rookie Sam Antonacci set the franchise record when he was hit by a pitch for the 24th time during the 2026 season, in the 2-1 win over the Mets at Rate Field. He broke the record originally shared by “Minnie” Minoso in 1956 and Carlos Quentin in 2011. He was hit in the fifth inning of the game.