Lip Man 1

I was told Robin hired Parent. Don't know who fired him though. Mark

For what it's worth I was told by someone who knows both Robin and the coaches personally last Friday that Parent "wanted Robin's job" and was giving him bad advice during the season. This person also told me that Parent was a very "negative" person on the bench and with the team. To say nothing of his comment back in May about coaches shouldn't have to work with players "every day" as they are "major leagues" (this at a time when according to Fan Graphs the Sox were on pace to have the worst defense and base running numbers since the late 60's...) If what I was told is true (and I believe the person) this is a good move, but as everyone knows much more is needed...and that's not happening. Mark

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Oct 2, 2015 -> 07:30 AM) Really? When has opening day ever been under 30,000? I write code: My comment was meant to be sarcastic I'm pretty sure you understood my overall meaning given the numerous issues with this organization at this point in history. Mark

Right after his surgery Tyler Flowers needs to be released, pitch framing be damned. (But he won't of course...he probably be returning yet again next year in year two of the "plan...") Mark

Can't say it's unexpected with this organization. Remember loyalty is more important than accountability. Not saying it's all Robin's fault, it's not, but he's made enough boneheaded decisions just this year (remember Eaton bunting with two strikes in Cleveland, the Detroit replay debacle and of course the Zach Duke being announced affair in Milwaukee before the pinch hitter was, to make you wonder just what he is thinking during games. Don't know if I shared this here but last Friday I spoke with someone who knows Robin well and his coaches and was told Parent wasn't giving him good advice this year because "he wants his job." Was also told Parent is a "negative person" on the bench and with the team. So it looks like (as many predicted back in July) at best maybe one or two coaches are changed out. That's it. An organization in serious trouble and that's their idea of fixing the brain-trust, not bringing in new people from outside the organization to look at the number of problems with new ideas. So be it. Basically they have reached the level where they "hope" to be good next year. And hey, it's baseball, it could happen....but I wouldn't bet on it. Mark

And the new boards are just a part of the overall offseason stadium renovations, although Boyer declined to discuss any of those other plans at this time. "Come Opening Day next year, it's going to look a lot different," Boyer said. --From White Sox.com Mark

I mean really the friggin' nerve of some people. Actually COMPLAINING about five , count em' FIVE World Series appearances in 115 years! Can you believe them!!!!!!!!!!! (LOL) I mean they won three of them right? All is well in the world!!! Look at the bright side, they are still ahead of the Marlins in World Series titles!!!!!!!!!!!!! If only those dead beat, lazy fans would come out and pack the park, regardless of 30 degree sleet in April, despite the fact kids are in school to June, despite the fact the franchise is at its lowest point since the late 60's / mid 70's in terms of dung on the field...IF ONLY THOSE FANS WOULD COME OUT, we could take all that money and maybe, maybe...just maybe...make the postseason in consecutive seasons. To funny! Mark

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Oct 1, 2015 -> 09:38 PM) As long as we are in the top 10 and get that 1st round pick protected, then I am happy. And that my friends is what White Sox baseball has come to. (Not blaming the fans...you take solace with what you can get...) Mark

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Oct 1, 2015 -> 09:38 PM) As long as we are in the top 10 and get that 1st round pick protected, then I am happy. And that my friends is what White Sox baseball has come to. (Not blaming the fans...you take solace with what you can get...) Mark

Brooks tonight said those dimensions reported by Crain's are wrong. Said boards will be much bigger perhaps the 3rd biggest in MLB. Also hinted about other big changes coming to U.S. Cellular Field. Maybe the big change will be that there's more than 10 thousand folks in the stands for opening day. Mark

QUOTE (Saufley @ Oct 1, 2015 -> 06:54 PM) So, do we need two or three more train wreck years in a row? Don't need um'...don't want um'...but we're probably going to get em. Mark

Congrats to Jose. One of the few players on offense to earn his money. Mark

If they had expanded playoffs in the 50's and 60's the Sox are in 1955, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1964 and 1965. But as per the Sox "luck" they didn't. Despite averaging 94 wins in that three years stretch in the 60's they went nowhere. People today don't realize how damn good those clubs were then. Mark

Found this at another location and wanted to share it. This will be the 7th year in a row the White Sox have missed the postseason. Out of the 122 professional franchises in the 4 major North American sports, here are the only teams that now have longer postseason droughts than the White Sox: 1.) Buffalo Bills, 15 years 2.) Seattle Mariners, 14 years 3.) Oakland Raiders, 12 years 4.) Cleveland Browns, 12 years 5.) Miami Marlins, 12 years 6.) Minnesota Timberwolves, 11 years 7.) St. Louis Rams, 10 years 8.) Edmonton Oilers, 9 years 9.) Sacramento Kings, 9 years 10.) San Diego Padres, 9 years 11.) Houston Astros*, 9 years (still alive this year.) Solid company. And as yet another poster pointed out a lot of the teams on this list play in smaller markets than Chicago. The 3rd largest market in the U.S. This franchise is in as bad of a shape as the late 60's / mid 70's. Obviously that's not good. Mark

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 30, 2015 -> 04:48 PM) While it will annoy me as much as you when they make no organizational changes, I have no problem with the radio and TV teams not changing as they have presumably little effect on the quality of product on the field. Unless the front office really is listening to Hawk's ideas on how to build a team. There are enough fans who think time has passed most of those guys by and refuse to listen / watch. That is part of the overall product produced by this organization. It all factors in. No it doesn't impact what happens on the field...it does impact what happens off it and that is part of the issues which the franchise refuses to improve. And again JR has the final call on broadcasters. There were folks in the organization pushing for Dave Willis at one time, they could never get JR to say yes so Dave went off to Tampa where he is very happy. Again JR values loyalty over a good product. The fact is Hawk is 73 years old and has lost his edge (as I broadcaster I know what this is...), Stone can't work with him, Farmer is a great color analyst but is brutal as a play by play guy and DJ is the nicest person on Earth. He's just not very good in the booth. These guys are the fans immediate connection to the franchise, having poor broadcasters hurts the overall marketability of things and God knows this franchise needs all the help they can get. Yet nothing changes. Save for bad baseball. Mark

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Sep 30, 2015 -> 10:14 PM) If you're trading Q then trade Abreu, Robertson, Sale, Danks, Flowers, Lexi, Duke and that guy who supposedly is the DH. Start over with a BOATLOAD of young talent + Rodon and Fulmer as your key pitching pieces. And hire a manager who can work with young talent, who knows how to teach the game. Q, Sale and Abreu would bring you riches. Or do very little, hope for the best and be prepared for another season of below average and very frustrating baseball. Sox are going to do the latter of course. They have now reached the point where 'hope' is all they have. Mark

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 30, 2015 -> 09:30 PM) From throwing way too many cutters... Hahn set the MLB record for worst trade deadline performance. Not dealing Shark. Keeping Robertson pointlessly when that money should have been invested into a starting position player. Not getting anything for Albers, Putnam, Petricka, Duke, etc. There were reports (some from this site as I recall) that Hahn wanted to deal, Kenny as usual wanted to 'go for it' and add pieces. A stalemate took place and nothing happened. Which if true is a prime example of why someone has to go...it just doesn't work having two people trying to run the show. Mark

Just the start of little to no change with an organization that has had three straight losing years, six out of nine and are becoming more and more irrelevant each day. Mark

Not his fault but the kid can't stay healthy. If he's not healthy, he can't play... simple as that. Mark

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Sep 30, 2015 -> 06:09 AM) I'm sorry, but in what other industry does management come out and blame the fans for their inferior product? It's complete bulls*** to blame attendence for our lack of resources. Almost all successful organations had to invest in the quality of their product before building a strong customer base. Here we get the "I can't spend a dollar if I have 50 cents" crap. Any other company would have gone out of business a long time ago with that mindset, but since this is baseball us loyal fans have no choice but to accept management's shortcomings and support the team. However, those who simply view White Sox baseball as another form entertainment can weigh their alternatives and spend their limited disposal income elsewhere. And until our ownership group decides to commit their own resources (not just what the P&L allows) towards building a premier White Sox product, there is no reason to expect fan support from anything but the most hardcore of fans. Very well stated. Mark

WOO HOO! The Sox are better than last year. Ummmmm woo...hoo??? Mark

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 29, 2015 -> 08:17 PM) Of course that is what you took from all of that. Please feel free to educate me then on what I was supposed to take from it. Seriously...I've just been here two months and have read enough of your comments to get a sense of your philosophy. It's the fans fault, they should pack the place and hope the Sox can figure out a way to spend that money and win. History shows this organization though had trouble spending any kind of money in a productive way more often then not. 2005 being the exception when they actually had less money for Kenny to play around with. Until the front office gets a badly needed shake up, it's just more of the same mediocrity at best regardless of if they draw 300,000 or 3 million for a season, Mark

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Sep 29, 2015 -> 08:57 PM) Guy can run, play defense and take a walk. I definitely would put him ahead of Avi. I haven't completely given up on Avi yet though. Would like to see him DH to get him out of the outfield and out of the 3-5 spots (hit him 6 or 7, hopefully a new 3B can hit in the middle of the order with Cabrera back in the 2-spot and Abreu third). If the Sox change the staff, maybe...if the Sox keep the same staff (and Robin tonight told the media he hopes the entire staff returns for 2016 LOL) he'll be a fourth outfielder. Mark

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 29, 2015 -> 06:48 PM) I actually laughed out loud at that statement. I am not quite sure what an economist would do with financial statements, but it would be entertaining to watch. Also the idea of demanding that a sports franchise should have to be subject to an audit just for the sake of the fans is laugh out loud funny. I won't even get into the false dichotomy of being worth a lot of money meaning that you automatically have the ability to spend it on something else. My point is there is plenty of evidence showing the Sox could actually spend a lot more money if they wanted to both at the major league level and the minor league system. I've heard from two individuals over the years with connections to the Sox Board of Directors. They have told me on separate occasions the Sox haven't lost money in years. But feel free to keep blaming the fans who pays the freight instead of the millionairs with all the financial advantages. That's your choice and I laugh out loud at anyone who takes that approach. Mark

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 29, 2015 -> 01:07 PM) Again, take Edwin Jackson from the Cubs. They make a mistake, no big deal, they just go out and sign Jon Lester instead. For us, John Danks arm falls off and we hope he can rebuild his value enough to be able to deal him without losing too much more money. For the White Sox historically it has been EITHER fund the farm system OR add players to the major league team. For the Sox to fund the minors at that sort of level, it requires less money spent at the major league level. Teams with higher resources do both. And who is to say what those resource limits are? Until an independent economist gets to take a look at Sox finances we'll never know what they could or could not do. Circumstantial evidence over a number of years (to go along with the revenue being generated by MLB) points to the possibility of the Sox being able to spend more and do both if they chose to. It was like when Veeck owned the team the second time, conventional thinking was he had no money. That was far from the truth, you look at the names on the Sox Board of Directors under Veeck and you found some of the richest people in America like the guy who owned Pizer Chemicals. It was a matter if pride with Veeck that he refused to go back and ask them for more money and promised them a profit every season. The reality was the Sox could have spent like the Yankees if they wanted to...they chose not to do so. I get the sense that at times that same philosophy was in place with the Sox and may still be. Just don't know for sure. But I go back to my original point. Given the tax payer funded stadium, given the lease advantages from the state, given the improvements made to the ballpark (and not by JR's money) the White Sox have the first, second, third obligation to field a good competitive club on a consistent basis BEFORE having the right (or the gall) to call out their fan base in any way shape or form. And that goes for their supporters wherever they may be. The ownership group has done some very good things...they've also done some really stupid things which have put them in the position they are in. The fans didn't sign Adam LaRoche, the fans didn't trade for Nick Swisher, the fans didn't sign Adam Dunn just to name a few examples or give a big contract to a stiff like Jeff Keppinger. That was ownership / front office. Period. Just my opinion. Mark