Lip Man 1

It's a push. Neither was very good for different reasons. At least I guess, Robin never waived in a bullpen pitcher when there wasn't any warming up or got into a fist fight with an umpire at a steakhouse. LOL. Mark

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 22, 2016 -> 12:21 PM) Those years the team didn't win, they didn't win because we had one of the worst strings of 5th starting carousels that I can ever remember (and in general, relatively lousy pitching). Offense was streaky at times, but the bigger theme was we had 5th starters who didn't win for what seemed like 2 years (because they stunk...not because we didn't generate runs) and when you had a pretty much guaranteed probability of losing every 5th game, the club was in a tough spot to overcome that. There is truth in that comment as well...see 2003 and 2004 respectively in addition don't forget about 1996. I guess the point is like I said in my last sentence getting a good balance is very hard to do. Mark

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Sep 22, 2016 -> 10:39 AM) Sneed is a woman. Thank you...didn't know that. Mark

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Sep 22, 2016 -> 11:02 AM) I was watching Ken Harrelson drool all over Kansas City the other night, as he is wont to do, and like stopped clocks that are always right twice a day, he actually stumbled upon an excellent point. He said that at some point the KC "grinderball" Royals had won because they had designed their team for their ballpark (just like the 2000-2005 Minnesota "grinderball" Twins that got a bunch of skinny, fast dudes that Harrelson ALSO LOVED to beat the ball into that astroturf as hard as possible to fly down the first base line in hopes of singles, had the staff turn on the AC in the ninth, and hope the lead held). That ballpark in Kansas City is NOT a park where you can hit home runs, which is why the stadium has been a House of Horrors for the Sox over the years. But this got me to thinking - the Sox don't actually hit homers. And then, it got me to more thinking. It has been beaten into our skulls over the past umpteen years that US Cellular is a home run hitter's wet dream of a ballpark. And Guaranteed-to-Not-Call-It-Guaranteed-Rate Field in 2017 is still gonna be....you guessed it....a home run hitters ballpark. It used to be that we made sure we got a few dudes who could hit these things. Used to be. These days? No. So my question is....when the hell did this team lose this mantra? And why did we stop doing this? Because whenever the White Sox HAVE succeeded, it is because their lineup HIT HOME RUNS. A LOT OF HOME RUNS. I think there is this pervasive myth that the successful teams from the last 15 years were built on pitching and a good mix of power, speed and bench. I would say that it's much more simple than that. It's about home runs. The 2008 Blackout Sox won their division largely because they led MLB in home runs in a home run hitting ballpark. That lineup hit 235 of them. If you divide 235 by 9, that's as if every single of the 9 regular slots of that lineup was responsible for 26 home runs. Every single slot hit a home run every six games. Can you imagine that with this team? I sure can't. Yes, it was nice to win that blackout game with some pitching. But we got there because men hit balls out of the park with runners on base with one swing. The home run. The 2005 World Series winners with 5th in homers in MLB. Yes, they had great pitching, and yes, they had the emergence of a genuine flash-in-the-pan phenom closer. But that lineup still hit 200 home runs. Again, this is as if every single slot was responsible for 22+ home runs. Oh and by the way, the best white sox hitter of all time, Frank Edward Thomas, was severly limited in the number of games he played due to injury. Remember that 2000 team that won the division? There's a reason why Cal Eldred looked like a world beater until June and James Baldwin started 7-0 and it had NOTHING to do with their pitching skills. It had to do with the lineup hitting the cover off of the ball. Future $100,000,000 man Carlos Lee hit SEVENTH in that lineup. 216 home runs for that team. This current team? Does not hit home runs. They are 23rd in homers. If pace holds, they will hit approximately 165 of them total. That's atrocious considering our stadium, considering the number of homers our opponents hit against us, and considering the history of this team. Does it get better next year? Not if we sport this lineup again. Because: 1) Tim Anderson, at first glance, seems like a great little player. A little-known rookie with no expectations hitting .279 with a bit a pop and some wheels, the future seems bright. However, like many, many other players in this lineup - the looks are deceiving. Because: a) He has a .279 average and a .300 OBP. This is a worse OBP than Todd Frazier, who hits roughly 60 points worse than Anderson. b) He has a 10 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio. That's an absurdly bad statistic. c) He has a .702 OPS. d) He does not hit home runs. e) He does not hit home runs. f) HE DOES NOT HIT HOME RUNS. 2) Melky Cabrera and Adam Eaton are good players - who do not hit nearly enough home runs. Can this team acquire an outfielder who can have an OPS north of .800? Apparently not! Note: I am not complaining about these players. However, they are symptomatic of the White Sox building a team that has great stats for the ballpark they do not play in - and many of the wrong strengths for the ballpark that they do. It is wonderful that Eaton has ostensibly transformed into a gold glove defender. It is commendable that he gets on base at a nice little clip. However, The third best home run hitter on this team CANNOT have less than 15 home runs for a season, so if these guys are NOT going to hit home runs, we need another Beefcake slugger to pick up the slack. Normally, this would be a designated hitter, but the White Sox have also decided to have a year long joke with the fans that they now play in the National League and their Designated Hitter should actually hit like a pitcher, which is why Avisail Garcia cannot maintain an OPS north of SEVEN HUNDRED and you get people like JB Shuck and Jerry Sands laughing all the way to the occasional start. I don't even know that those guys should be called AAAA players. 3) Brett Lawrie and Tyler Saladino are nice little players - who do not hit enough home runs. Again, if your outfield cannot hit homers, the rest of our infield besides Abreu and Frazier better. Abreu and Frazier only come up so many times in a game, and without power protection why wouldn't teams just pitch around them? 4) Our catchers cannot do apparently anything at a major league level, and I don't know that there's a remedy for this. Our best offensive player, Jose Abreu, is ranked 43rd in MLB in OPS. The next best offensive player, Adam Eaton, is like 86th. Yeah, 86 for 86 this offense, I guess. There's a reason why James "Big Game" Shields has NINE QUALITY STARTS as a member of the White Sox and is only 3-3 in those 9 games. There's a reason why the bullpen comes up so many times in the 6th, 7th, 8th inning protecting small leads that we have no hope of retaking if we lose them (and we do with the likes of Cat Albers holding so many games in his fat little hands) There's a reason why mediocre starters have no chance to recover if they get touched for say 4 runs in 6 innings. There's a reason why Jose Quintana has "bad luck" and can't win games. WE CANNOT HIT HOME RUNS. Fix the home runs, fix the OPS. We need to remedy this, stat. How the hell has this organization lost this simple fact? I think your comments are certainly a part of the problem but not all of it. Remember the Sox have also had many years since the start of the new century where they hit a lot of home runs but also went into prolonged slumps and losing streaks because of the "home run or nothing" approach. To me the solution can be summed up in one word...balance. A team that can beat you by stealing a base, by dropping down a bunt with a man on third, by getting enough on a pitch to bloop it into short right field or by hitting a three run home run. The Sox haven't had that balance since the 2005 season. It's very difficult to do. Mark

Well there is some good news anyway... According to Sneed in the Sun-Times today the Sox are in negotiations with the Guaranteed Loan Company to make some changes to the company logo that will be adoring the main entrance to the park. Seems they are concerned about the "downward pointing arrow" and the implications for a baseball team according to Sneed. It will just be around the front / main entrance according to his story. Mark

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 21, 2016 -> 08:56 PM) I may be done with baseball if it's Buddy Bell. I think it'll be Renteria though. My choices ... a.) La Russa. b.) Leyland. c.) Whoever Maddon's bench coach is with the Cubs. d.) Gene Lamont. I'm assuming this is being sarcastic right? If not..... Mark

I know who'd I'd like it to be but in all probability it will be an inexperienced guy with some ties to the White Sox simply happy to have a job. As Ozzie once said, "that's the way we roll..." Mark

Pretty bad when the Phillies can beat you three out of four played this season. Oh well. Update: Here's how irrelevant the Sox are becoming. Just caught CSN Chicago's Sports report to see the highlights. When they were done the anchor said, "the Sox will try to avoid the sweep tomorrow..." The Sox are off tomorrow according to my schedule and the Sox web site. Mark

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Sep 20, 2016 -> 08:42 PM) I seriously hope it's a physical issue. Back problem that heals with rest and he is good to go next year If Shields was 24 or so, I'd say maybe....but he's 35. With ten years worth of over 200 innings pitched I believe. He's done. The Sox replaced a bad deal with Danks with another one with Shields. Simply amazing. Mark

I wonder how, if at all, this miscalculation by Hahn may impact the "trust" factor between him and JR in the future. Given the stories that JR had to be talked into this by Hahn you wonder now if this means Kenny assumes a bigger role again going forward...that maybe JR has doubts about Hahn's judgment. Just speculation on my part but this did cross my mind tonight. Mark

QUOTE (Donaldo @ Sep 19, 2016 -> 07:47 PM) In years past, I'd be afraid of Kenny trading each one of these guys away. Well Kenny still has a say in things...so we'll see. Mark

Nice to see Jose comment the way that he did. Sox haven't had any vocal leaders on this team in a long time and I think that's badly needed. They need a Jim Landis-type or Wynn or McDowell or Fisk who won't be afraid to get in someone's face when needed or bust up a toilet. But I agree it does start with the manager and a team takes on the attitude of him or her (depending on the sport...) "It's time" for the Sox to get a real, experienced manager not someone learning on the job or who is just happy to have the chance. We'll see what happens. Mark

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Sep 18, 2016 -> 12:20 PM) Something Liptak and the author fail to mention is that the Bess Armour Field design was NOT an official design submitted to the Sox or ISFA. It was a SABR project that was published AFTER groundbreaking for what is now known as Guaranteed Rate Field. I hate to link WSI, but they spell it out in the first paragraphs. http://whitesoxinteractive.com/FixComiskey...nversation1.htm Never mind that the Field House for Armour Square park is now under landmark protection, or that you would be displacing a public park that is continually used by residents. Or that you have to buy even more land to build parking for the stadium and surrounding development. But hey, f*** jerry and the city and state for approving a design that was actually submitted for bid review. Ewok: Just to be clear the story at the Chicago Baseball Museum was not written by me. Didn't even know it was coming until I saw it published last week. It is a fact though as the authors wrote in "Ballpark, the Building of Camden Yards" quoting the original architectural designers that they did offer JR directly the option of a Camden Yards design and he rejected it. And they wrote that it was not an associate or someone else in the organization...it was him personally. I don't think you can necessarily hold that against him. No one knew at the time that "retro-parks" would come into vogue however he did have an opportunity to do something unique and different and rejected the idea. I have heard basically the same thing from a number of folks, he wanted basically an in-house way to keep as much revenue as possible and honestly thought the Sox were going to be a "hot item" so he wanted an additional level of suites. Someone perhaps can check this but I don't think the Sox have ever sold out all of their luxury boxes have they? Mark

QUOTE (WBWSF @ Sep 18, 2016 -> 05:16 PM) Most fans seem to think that Ventura won't be back next year managing the White Sox. Everybody seems to think he won't ever be a MLB manager again. I watched the game today and i couldn't help but wonder. In todays game the White Sox had A. Garcia, Sanchez. L. Garcia, Smith, Schuck and Turner in the game. I wouldn't be surprised if these players were no longer with the White Sox next year. I also wouldn't be surprised if these players were no longer in MLB after this season. If any of these players are on a 2017 Opening day MLB roster I would be surprised. We've said that the past few years about a number of guys on the Sox roster...yet the following season, some of them are always still around. They simply don't have quality talent or depth at all levels of the organization yet. Maybe they will some day but not right now. Of the players you specifically mentioned it wouldn't surprise me at all if A. Garcia, L. Garcia, Smith and Sanchez are still in the organization next spring training. Mark

At least it was over early. Beck and Turner...not good. Mark

Just got back late Saturday night from a road game broadcast at Oregon State so I apologize that these are a touch late. (And thanks to Dan Shapiro for his help!) Mid-September was a important time in White Sox history and we've got a number of audio AND video highlights for you to enjoy. We start with September 15, 1983 as the White Sox are closing in on winning the Western Division title. They'd set the team record for the most runs scored in the 6th inning of a game as they got 11 in a 12-0 win over the Mariners that cut their 'magic number' to two. Harold Baines capped that inning off with a grand slam. Announcers are Ken "Hawk" Harrelson and Don Drysdale. Courtesy: WMAQ Radio. http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/09/t...nes-grand-slam/ For September 16, it's now 2007. A bad season at least ends with an impressive accomplishment as Jim Thome blasted his 500th career home run. A game winner as the Sox came back to beat the Angels 9-7. We've got the audio AND video for this one. Ken "Hawk" Harrelson calls it. Courtesy: Comcast Sports Chicago. http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/09/t...r-is-a-walkoff/ And then for September 17, we've got a couple clips for your listening pleasure. Thanks to a sacrifice fly from Harold Baines in the 9th inning the Sox took down Seattle 4-3 to win the Western Division and make the playoffs for the first time in 24 seasons. Quite a night...quite a season! It's Early Wynn and Lorn Brown calling it from Comiskey Park. Courtesy: WMAQ Radio. In the locker room afterwards which was pure chaos, manager Tony LaRussa talked about the title with both Brown and Wynn. Courtesy: WMAQ Radio. Both of those audio clips can be found here: http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/09/t...west-was-won-2/ Mark

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Sep 16, 2016 -> 03:15 PM) But Beck and Kahnle may be good enough to fill middle relief by next year. Please no to both. Mark

QUOTE (Donaldo @ Sep 16, 2016 -> 06:16 PM) Definitely not subsequent, but the upper deck at the old Yankee Stadium always looked very steep to me. I always thought the 300 (Club) Level was kinda pointless. IIRC, the first row of seats in the upper deck is higher up than the light towers at the old park... not much of a selling point to me. I think it's actually the last row of seats in the upper deck of the original Comiskey Park was closer to the field than the first row of seats in the upper deck of the new stadium. Mark

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 15, 2016 -> 03:03 PM) I believe Toronto accused us of knowing Sirotka was injured. But anyway, I agree, you don't allow teams to purposely mislead. Unfair to player/league/fans. Correct. Toronto claimed Williams knew Sirotka was hurt. Williams told Selig in his investigation that he told Toronto there may be something wrong with him and offered Parque instead (who ironically was also hurt! Don't know if Kenny knew that or not though). Selig felt that was important as it basically was the old business law rule of "let the buyer beware..." and said the Sox did nothing wrong. Mark

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 15, 2016 -> 01:52 PM) I understand this is frowned upon but we do get a chance to give physical so we should be more upset with ourselves. Bmags: I understand the Sox team doctors did have an MRI on his right shoulder and supposedly expressed some slight concerns. Mark

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Sep 14, 2016 -> 01:35 PM) Yes, shortly after Baines was traded in '89 they retired his number, which was a bit strange at the time because not only was he still an active player, but at that point in his career he hadn't done nearly enough to warrant having his number retired. Then of course they unretired the number when he came back in '96, and then re-retired it after he finally hung 'em up in '01. The bouncing ball of retired numbers, you might say! August 20, 1989 - After Sox star Harold Baines was traded to Texas on July 29, the team retired his uniform number #3 when the Rangers came to Chicago. He was only the third active player to have his uniform number retired by a club, joining Frank Robinson and Phil Niekro. Mark

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Sep 14, 2016 -> 09:24 AM) Terrific article, Lip, and thank you again for yet another great contribution to this site. I very much appreciate and enjoy things like this article and the video/audio links you send. Great stuff! Quick question for you on this article that I'm wondering if you know about. The reference to the 35 degree angle of the infamous upper deck - do you have any insight as to how that compares to the upper decks in the other ballparks built subsequent to the new Comiskey? I've always wondered if the more critical problem with the design of the upper deck was the fact they built the opening at the base, versus in the middle of the deck as you see in many other stadiums. But obviously the 35 degrees was quite steep, but just wondering if that's also the case in other places. I haven't ever seen an actual study done but I have read reports that there are a few other stadiums with an upper deck angle as steep. I even saw one if I remember right that said the upper deck angle was actually steeper than at U.S. Cellular Field. Also thank you for the kind words. Mark

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Sep 14, 2016 -> 09:15 AM) Interesting read. Who's this George Castle guy? Sounds like another Bad Fan. George has been in the Chicago media for a number of years beginning in the 1970's when he worked for the Tribune. He's a Chicago Baseball Historian. I work with him writing for the CBM and he's an interesting guy. We often disagree on things but I respect his thoroughness when doing stories along the lines of this one on U.S. Cellular Field. Mark

At the Chicago Baseball Museum site there is a terrific story on the history of U.S. Cellular Field including quotes from the architect who unveiled the design for the original Armour Field back in the late 1980's. Thoroughly researched, it sheds some light on the political maneuverings, how and why the Sox placed the park where they did and what could happen in the future. Here is the link if anyone is interested: http://www.chicagobaseballmuseum.org/files...ss-20160913.pdf Mark

QUOTE (gatnom @ Sep 14, 2016 -> 07:14 AM) Man, the attendance argument is really tired. Are there even that many fans to lose? What does losing a couple thousand fans per game really matter if it puts the team on a path to actually being a winning baseball team? The pocket change that the team loses in the short term pales in comparison to the revenue they would generate if they would go on a sustained run of winning. Obviously, people disagree on whether or not there should be a rebuild, but the amount of fans that show up next year is the dumbest argument I've heard, for or against it. Well said. Mark