Lip Man 1

The other notable fan incident was this one: May 31, 1971- In the second game of a double header with the Orioles at Comiskey Park, former Sox infielder Don Buford charged pitcher Bart Johnson with his bat after Johnson drilled him with a pitch in his behind in the eighth inning. Cooler heads prevailed but in the ninth inning while standing in the on-deck circle lecturing a fan, Buford was attacked by a second fan from behind who ran across the field. Buford knocked him out with one punch then his Oriole teammates charged out of the dugout and did a bloody number on that fan who was led away by security. The teams split the double header that afternoon. When I interviewed Sox second baseman Mike Andrews he told me this about that incident: ML: With former Dodger catcher Johnny Roseboro passing away in August, I was reminded of the infamous fight he had with Giants pitcher Juan Marichal.. You personally saw almost another incident like that when Don Buford of the Orioles approached the mound with his bat against Sox pitcher Bart Johnson in 1971. What do you remember about that? MA: "I remember that vividly because I saw the whole thing from second base. It was a Memorial Day doubleheader and Bart threw a close one at Buford. Buford started out towards the mound with his bat. I don’t think Don intended using that bat though. It just happened that he started towards the mound and I don’t think he realized he still had the bat in his other hand. Don played football at USC. If he was going to do something, he didn’t even need a bat. Anyway nothing happened and Don went out to left field. The Sox fans in that lower deck just gave him hell. A few innings later he’s in the on deck circle watching the game when I see a fan jump over the wall and start towards him. This drunk was headed his way when a bunch of guys started yelling to Don to look out. Buford turned, saw the guy, and cold cocked him. Just dropped him with one punch. That’s when some of Don’s teammates from the Orioles headed out of the dugout and beat the guy. He was bloody from head to toe. I heard afterwards that when they took the guy into the medical room at the park to get worked on, the medics turned their back for a moment and the guy disappeared!"

Didn't see anything on the web site but apparently Sammy Esposito, one of the last surviving members of the 1959 team passed away yesterday according to the Sun-Times. He was 81. Pretty good utility infielder with the Sox. Then for many years was the A.D. at North Carolina State. Probably his biggest "historical" note in his Sox career was this one: September 7, 1960 - In a game at Comiskey Park infielder Sammy Esposito booted a cinch double play ball hit by future Sox infielder Bill “Moose” Skowron, with the Sox leading in the eighth inning, 4-2. That lead quickly evaporated as the Yankees rallied for four runs and a 6-4 win. Willie Harris and his friend, Jesse James (I swear I'm not making the names up) had a wager on the game. When Esposito blew the ground ball Harris took matters into his own hands. He jumped over the box seat railing, ran on to the field and before a startled team attacked Esposito. It took several uniformed police officers to pull Harris off of Esposito. Harris left the field shouting that he was “a real Sox fan.”

I feel your pain sir.

I would hope the organization will take a long hard look at the in season and off season training / conditioning program just to see if something is being missed that could be contributing to these injuries. perhaps bringing in an outside observer to look at the training / conditioning program with fresh eyes and new ideas could be helpful.

He's still on the DL I think which is going to set him back. Personally I hope he stays in Charlotte for the season now and keeps getting experience. No need to start his service time clock now.

At least in the Dodgers case they have the money and the will to spend / pick up contracts to bridge the injury gaps. Not sure what philosophy the Rangers will be having down the road. I'll be curious where they end up at the big league level this year I'm guessing it is going to be above the league average again in games missed.

I know according to the Sox media guide they were slightly above league average for times using the DL last season but way about the league average in games missed because of injury. If you look, the Sox have been getting a lot of injuries at the big league level for the past three seasons and everyone knows what has been going on this year down in the minors. Something just isn't right and it could be a major factor in this rebuild going forward.

Can't say I'm surprised. Guy can't stay healthy. One more year on his deal and I think the Sox let him go since they have a lot of solid outfield prospects. Never worked out overall for Hahn's first big acquisition.

If Avi is hurt again, I guess I can understand this. Otherwise why? He's more flotsam and jetsam.

Agreed. "Luck is the residue of design..." - HOF Baseball Executive Branch Rickey

Congrats to him.

Agreed. They played well. Don't know if I've ever seen a squeeze called on an 0-2 pitch before though. Gutsy call.

We aim to please! ?

Gio pitched very well. It's the White Sox...what can you do?

I hope you are right about 2020 but with all the injuries and all the missed developmental time by said kids it's looking more and more likely 2021 or 2022.

The good news is the bullpen couldn't blow the game tonight in the late innings because basically the game was already lost.

10th game this year the Sox lost when leading in the 7th inning or later. Fourth time they blown the lead in the 9th inning. Soria's done it himself three times now, Jones was the other time. Sigh.

Then that reflects to a certain extent on the front office doesn't it? I mean this has been going on since the last few years of Ozzie's reign. (i.e. being "baseball-stupid.") Absolutely the players deserve a big share of the blame for this but the organization apparently isn't teaching it very well either since some of these guys the last eight years or so came up through the system. Plus the manager does have one hammer in all this, playing time. If a guy consistently keeps screwing up simple things, like run down's or throwing to the wrong base from the outfield, he can always sit them. Plus a manager can order additional practice before games (which used to be a daily occurrence back in the day) I know Ventura actually did this a few times. It was quickly reported on by the media. The Sox seemed to play better fundamentally for a time if I remember right. Then Ventura stopped doing it for some reason.

If KW thinks that RR and his staff are doing an excellent job teaching the fundamentals then obviously the message isn't getting through to the guys on the field.

Correct. The power of the Tribune Company in owning the Tribune, plus WGN radio, plus WGN-TV, plus Superstation WGN plus Chicagoland cable TV (I think that's what it was called) clearly gave them a huge advantage. Now add in the Sox bizarre reluctant to even fight for their own share of their home market (i.e. "We're Chicago's American League team...") and the marketing brilliance of John McDonough in promoting Wrigley Field and the experience (even though the Cubs sucked on the field for many years) and it all added up to the situation where we are in now. Ironically Eddie Einhorn himself predicted this was going to happen the day the Sox were eliminated by Baltimore when he said (paraphrasing) 'As long as the Tribune Company holds all these media outlets the Sox will never get a fair shake...' (I've got the WLS broadcast from that night in my library which has the story and the quotes) Of course EE was partially responsible too because he was the biggest proponent of the 'We're Chicago's American League team' concept and then SportsVision which was a brilliant idea, but ahead of its time and a dismal failure which kept the Sox out of the eye of the public and turned a generation of fans to the Cubs because they could actually watch their games. It's a very complicated story but again the end result is the Sox find themselves in the position they are in clearly second fiddle in the market and from that standpoint facing some serious issues.

I just saw yesterday where the Dodgers are moving five games to "free-TV" because of the on-going issues with their regional sports network and cable operators in So. California.

Is this the same Yolmer with nine or 10 errors already? I think he's a decent player, a good sub playing once or twice a week on a solid team...nothing more in my opinion.

Maybe in 2021

Especially with Moncada the next hitter and he's done well the last few games. Makes no sense to me.

Don't know if anyone saw this but Friday a federal judge ruled that Dustin Fowler's case against the Sox and the state agency that runs Guaranteed Rate Field can proceed in circuit court. Fowler's lawsuit filed last December claims the Sox and the ISFA were negligent in not securing the unpadded electrical box he collided with along the right field line. Judge Gary Feinerman rejected the Sox motion to remove the case directly to federal court. Fowler is seeking an unspecified amount of money from the Sox and the ISFA.