Lip Man 1

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Aug 4, 2016 -> 10:58 AM) Where do you see us having the lowest rating? Both FanGraphs and ESPN.com had stories and numbers showing the Sox were the least watched MLB team on a regional cable network. And apparently they are near the bottom again this year. Mark

It only took 12 tries but nice to see them finally get a road win against either Cleveland, Detroit or Kansas City. Seems like Q is finally getting some run support...that jinx has apparently shifted to Sale. Mark

QUOTE (Black_Jack29 @ Aug 4, 2016 -> 11:23 AM) Shut him down for the season. Thanks for the update. No problem! May be the best thing to do with all these injured guys...I mean its not like the team is going anyplace anyway...save for the golf course come early October. Mark

Didn't see this posted, just wanted to pass it along: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daryl Van Schouwen ‏@CST_soxvan 16m16 minutes ago Brett Lawrie is on DL with left hamstring strain, but knee also an issue. "There's fluid in there; he doesn't feel right," Ventura said. Mark

August 4 was an impactful day in Sox history to be sure for a few different reasons and we've got the audio AND video to prove it. Start with August 4, 1985 in New York where Tom Seaver picked up his 300th career win beating the Yankees 4-1 before a packed house. We've got the final out of his gem. Announcer: Lorn Brown. Courtesy: WMAQ Radio. Then we go to August 4, 1993 for some audio and video... a hot night in Texas when Robin Ventura snapped after getting drilled by a Nolan Ryan pitch. Ryan had been throwing at Sox hitters for years but things started to get ugly in 1990. Robin finally said enough. Announcers: Ken "Hawk" Harrelson. Courtesy: SportsChannel-Chicago. Both items can be found here: http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/08/t...n-robins-brawl/ Mark

Simply amazing... Sox are now 8-22 this year vs. Cleveland / Detroit / Kansas City. Sox are 0-11 ON THE ROAD this season against those three teams. Sox have now lost 14 games where they allowed an opponent three runs or less. Sox have scored three runs or less in 51 out of 107 games (48%). Brutal...just brutal. And Sale won't win 20 this year despite having 14 by the middle of July. Mark

The biggest issue over and above the health of the kid is the realization the Sox will have no idea heading into the off season if he can produce or not. That impacts if they feel they need to get a center fielder. When it rains, it pours. Mark

QUOTE (Black_Jack29 @ Aug 3, 2016 -> 12:43 PM) I agree that there's a good chance that it's JR that doesn't want to do a full or partial rebuild going into next season. I may be proven wrong, but that's where I'd put my money. Two sources recently told me that you would be correct if you placed your bet in JR's direction. He does not want a rebuild so unless something drastically changes there will not be. Mark

QUOTE (captain54 @ Aug 2, 2016 -> 11:03 PM) A switch in GM and Manager brought a 92 win season in 1972. Captain: Slight correction. It was 87 wins, not 92. Still a tremendous record considering it was a shortened season due to the labor impasse over the pension fund. If memory serves that was the second best record in the A.L. and third best in all of baseball. Naturally though it was the Sox luck to have the team with the best record in the league in the same division. Mark

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Aug 2, 2016 -> 04:20 PM) Lip I think there were some pretty good years between 1968-1980. 72-73-74 with Dick Allen and the Winnning Ugly of 77 were exciting years. People were charged up El: Between 1968 and 1980 the Sox had two winning seasons (72 & 77), one .500 season and 10 losing ones. If the Sox go on to have a losing record this year, it will be the seventh losing season in ten years. You have to go back to 68-80 to find a streak that had the same amount at least of losing years is the point I was trying to make. 1972 and 1977 were fabulous seasons...lived out at the park those summers but the rest was pretty bad on the field, in the stands and with all the rumors of moving. Not a good time or stretch at all. Mark

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 2, 2016 -> 04:01 PM) Seeing as you are venting, your last line is misleading, at best. But again, this is a message board, so people are able to respond to that. I thought my comment was reasonable...not snarky, not insulting, not condescending. Wasn't venting at all as a matter of fact. Unlike others who feel the almost pathological need to show themselves to be "right" and come across arrogantly. Mark

QUOTE (Policiious @ Aug 2, 2016 -> 07:39 PM) Rare to see a team with such bad injury luck as the Sox this year "Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey. Mark

The baseball gods look down on the White Sox and laugh. Or as John Lennon once sang, "Instant Karma's gonna get you...gonna knock you right in the head..." The season can't end soon enough. Mark

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 2, 2016 -> 01:27 PM) Cool, I like forward to many more seasons of ~78 wins. re: the bolded, identical post could have been made last year. Year before. Year before that. etc. As long as JR is in the camp of no rebuilding (and as of right now he is) there will not be one. It's that simple. Mark

QUOTE (Black_Jack29 @ Aug 2, 2016 -> 03:49 PM) And that'll totally fix everything! A friend of mine is a huge Mets fan, but doesn't spend his time on message boards b****ing about how the Wilpons screwed his team by getting into bed with Madoff. He's had to focus his energy on the adult aspects of life, such as getting laid off and dealing with a child who has vision problems due to a birth defect. Some fans are more fortunate then your friend so they are able to focus their energies on something they are passionate about...the Chicago White Sox. Different strokes for different folks. Sweeping generalizations are rarely correct or accurate in my opinion. If fans aren't able to vent, or post opinions why is this web site available? Mark

Just heard from a second source who was told the same thing, JR does not want a rebuild and unless that changes it simply won't happen. Mark

QUOTE (miracleon35th @ Aug 2, 2016 -> 11:13 AM) The Sox are one of the oldest franchises in major league baseball, a team that defeated the Cubs in the World Series in 1906, and has won the World Series twice sionce then including one 11 years ago. Never forget, the last time we heard this kind of talk about the Cubs taking over the entire Chicago metro area was in the Fall of 2003, just before the NLCS. LOL! And how did the Cubs do in the Mets series in last years NLCS? Swept! O for 4. Yes, indeed, things can turn around rather quickly in sports. Does anyone think the Yankees and Dodgers or the Giants and Cardinals will ever stay down for very long? Stop all the hand wringing, finger pointing and worst of all the false outrage from pseudo Sox fans (aka Cub fans). Go to a game with friends, tail gate and have a good time. If you are a fair weather fan, , take your s---- to the Northside and leave Sox fans alone. Enough of the piling on. This has gotten way old. Get a life and move the ____ on. I agree with one thing you wrote...yes it has gotten old. The losing, the mismanagement the failing to make the postseason. All of that is true in my opinion. Mark

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 2, 2016 -> 11:21 AM) This is the big thing. This is the worst free agent market in history, and we have a TON of pieces that could go. Take this for what it may be worth to you, regarding Buster Olney's comments this morning about the Sox and the possibility of moves this winter / rebuild. Just heard from a source who said to not discount JR in everything that happens this off season. That he DOES NOT WANT to rebuild....and JR has 51% of the vote as it turns out in anything that takes place with the franchise. Meaning his vote/voice is the final one. Mark

We go to August 2, 1990. In the first game of a double header first baseman Frank Thomas made his major league debut in Milwaukee. The greatest hitter in franchise history went 0-4 in his first game. The next night Frank narrowly missed a home run in the seventh inning when his line shot hit the top of the wall in right field and went for a triple. It would be his first major league hit. The Sox would sweep five games from the Brewers that weekend. A bit of trivia; when Thomas came up with the Sox he did not wear #35. His first number was #15. We've got the audio from Thomas' first major league hit. Announcers are Jim Durham and Tom Paciorek. Courtesy: WGN-TV. http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/08/t...frank-comes-up/ The audio clip can be found about halfway down the page. And yes I've already contacted the folks about the headline which is wrong. LaRussa wasn't "canned" on this day...he was hired. Mark

QUOTE (shipps @ Aug 2, 2016 -> 08:57 AM) Ever since the team completely fell on their face once the 2015 season began a year and a half ago it seems Hahn has lost a lot of, if not all, the confidence and trust from the fan base and it appears it isn't repairable. The public sees a FO that doesnt seem to be in line with one another. There is no synergy throughout the organization (Phil Emery reference:)). The moves that have been made have rarely panned out which were questioned by many at the time they were made. Admittedly some of the moves many of us liked, but because of the trust that we had in them that they were doing the right thing and that they were going according to plan (2-3 year window which they spoke of). They give constant mixed signals in the media, whether it be different directions of philosophy from KW and Hahn or what they are thinking one week being different from what they just said the week before. They build up ideas through the media to the fans that they dont quite follow through with and it leaves the fans in an outrage because they did not meet the expectations that THEY PUT IN OUR HEADS. When they talk about going for it they strike out on all the big FA's that were available. They talk about identifying that this team isnt good enough and they have to get better before the trade deadline only to trade a bullpen arm in Duke which is one of the last guys you would think we needed to move. They have a 12 year old leader spark a revolt in the locker room during spring training. They have the best player cutting up jerseys on game day. No one shows respect for their manager publicly. They all do a terrible job of building a good relationship with the media and fans. There is no confidence in the team currently or for the future, nobody shows up to games, poor TV ratings and the core fan base (Us) which has always been strong is straying away from having any interest or respect for the organization whatsoever. Could the Sox be a team that relocates in the next decade? I dont see the support waiting to be there for them even if they do come around and have a surprise season next year or the year after. It wont come until they change from the top down. Well things aren't going well on a number of fronts for this organization including the worst stretch of sustained bad baseball since the period from 1968-1980 if they have their seventh losing season in ten years this year...but moving? Just can't see it because of the good stadium lease and the money the franchise is making. And make no bones about it, they are in good shape financially. Mark

From David Haugh's column tonight. As I mentioned earlier part of the theme was that he simply didn't trust the front office but he also wrote this: "For all intents and purposes, any suspense Monday marked the end of real drama in the Sox season. Nobody expects a spurt. A team Hahn said was mired in mediocrity has shown every indication it will stay there. Let the next movement begin, whatever it is. Reinsdorf should make no small plans unless he enjoys being average. Sox fans deserve better than average." Mark

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 1, 2016 -> 09:10 PM) If it didn't bother you, you wouldn't have posted this thread, nor responded like this. It is a message board, which means that other people can, and will respond to your posts. Thanks for playing though. Southside: I simply was curious how others felt. That's all pure and simple. As others have posted in the past there's no need to offer snarky reply's to honest questions. That's simply common courtesy. We're not in grade school anymore playing a game of who can cut somebody up better right? There was no ulterior motive on my part. Period. Is that so hard to understand? And if anyone assumes there was I'll get pissed off. I know what my intentions were... nobody else. Mark

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 1, 2016 -> 08:09 PM) Yep. If it bothers you that bad, don't do it. Southside: It doesn't bother me a tinker's cuss either way. I simply wanted to get some feedback. This is a message board correct or am I hallucinating? Thanks for playing though. Jesus. Mark

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Aug 1, 2016 -> 06:51 PM) How many of these threads do we need? Excuse me. I didn't know there were any others. Mark

Thought this deserved its own thread for discussion purposes. Why watch / listen / care the final two months especially since an influx of young talent isn't coming in and these guys are out of the pennant race? I'm curious to read what others think. I can think of only two possible reasons: 1. Chris Sale - Can he win 20 games, can he win the Cy Young. A month ago I would have said both are slam dunk's...now? I don't know. 2. Can the Sox finish with a winning season for the first time since 2012? Three under right now and another tough stretch of games coming up. I don't think they can. In fact they may win fewer games then in 2015 when all is said and done. I think they'll finish six to eight under. Fourth straight losing year and seventh in the last 10. So...why watch / listen / care? Mark