Lip Man 1

On paper the moves the Sox made were well regarded by baseball people (not just fans) across the board. SOMETHING happens when those guys put on the uniform however and this has been happening for years...you can go all the way back to David Wells. There is something about the front office / culture of the franchise that is at least in some way responsible for this happening. Until that changes, until new people are brought in to the front office and individuals are held accountable for results by their jobs being on the line, you are going to see more of this stuff happening. The Sox have a historical baseline long enough now to tell me it's chronic under the individuals responsible for running the franchise. Just my thoughts. Mark

When discussing possible Sale trades everyone seems to leave out something. Namely what does Sale want? I've never heard or seen anything indicating he wants out...yet. But keep in mind when the season ends in two weeks he'll have five and a half years of service in the big leagues...and still won't have ever pitched in a post season game. That has got to be bothering a guy as competitive as he is. Sooner or later (probably sooner) if the Sox continue to look like buffoons on a baseball diamond Sale (or his agent) are going to cross a line and say "I'm leaving when my deal is up so trade me for what you can and get me out of here." Mark

Nice individually of course if he gets it, but I'm sure he'd trade a bunch of those strike outs for more consistency or at the very least a team that could allow him to showcase his talents in the post season. In two weeks Sale will have finished his fifth full major league season. He still hasn't pitched in a playoff game. And don't think that thought hasn't crossed his mind. Mark

56 years ago Tuesday night the Air Raid Sirens went off in Chicago as the White Sox won the pennant. Here is some of the 10th inning television postgame interviews with Lou Boudreau: http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2015/09/t...in-the-pennant/ Mark

Carlton respected the game and he was damn good at it for a very long time. Mark

Zach Duke...yet another off season mistake. And they've got him for two more years...he'll be 35 then. Sox have now scored three runs or less in six of their last seven games... And now have crossed the 50% threshold for the year. 151 games played, 76 times three runs of less...50.3% That's pretty bad. Once again feel lousy for Q. Wouldn't blame him if he told his agent to get him the hell out of town this winter. And this is interesting: Chuck Garfien ‏@ChuckGarfien 2m2 minutes ago In Jose Quintana's 117 career starts, the White Sox have scored 0 runs 17 times, one run 27 times and two runs 27 times. That's a total of 71 times three runs or less for Q. Almost 61% of his starts. Mark

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Sep 22, 2015 -> 03:50 PM) Really? So the White Sox ruined Samardzija? I understand we've had some bad luck with other players coming here and having bad years, but that's mostly been on the position player side. We do pretty well with pitchers for the most part, Jeff being an obvious exception. No they didn't ruin him But there has been a lot of comments and talk about Shark not getting along with Cooper. Mark

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Sep 22, 2015 -> 03:13 PM) A single late-season game assures jack squat. Any pitcher can have one really good game. Remember when Humber threw a perfect game? He's not pitching anywhere now. Agreed. However it does give teams the impression that if they can get Shark away from the clown college known as the White Sox, he could turn it around. The talent obviously is there. Mark

Have no idea what they'll be able to do. Free agent list isn't impressive in the areas they need. They'll probably have less money to work with given season tickets holders, many, won't be back. Still far to many black holes in the lineup. Starting pitching may be an issue as well if they trade Q. Yet they'll try to sell the fans on the notion of "contending" next year. Maybe the best thing they can do, maybe the only thing is to bring in an experienced manager who has won in the past and let him bring in his own coaching staff. Maybe they can get more out of what the Sox already have. That and removing Kenny completely from interfering. Mark

Nice to get some wins but this team has still scored three runs or less in five of their last six games (so what else is new?) Hadn't checked this in awhile so I took a look. Sox have played 150 games this year, in 75 of them (50%) they have scored three runs or less. Mark

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Sep 20, 2015 -> 09:23 AM) We are talking about the same Viciedo that we could not wait to get rid of just last winter, right? I take his AAA numbers with a grain of salt. If the Sox thought there was something there he would have been called up. Shows you how desperate things are. Mark

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 20, 2015 -> 02:07 PM) Oh I'm sure they won't do that. They'll spend some money and bring Alexei back and say that they're ready to go and they're going to compete for the wild card. Left unsaid will be the extra clause "We're ready to go to compete for the wild card.....just like we were in 2015". Remember it's a "three year plan" LOL. Mark

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 04:42 PM) They also have made some poor choices in terms of how guys would fit into the clubhouse/get along with coaches. Orlando Cabrera, Swisher, Samardzija are prime examples. At least Cabrera performed on the field. personally I think clubhouse chemistry is over rated. The "Swingin' A" of the early / mid 70's hated each other. yet they won three straight World Series. It's about talent, pure and simple. The Sox have very little of it. Mark

32 years ago tonight (back when the Sox were actually a good franchise) they won the West and went to the playoffs for the first time since 1959: http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2015/09/t...e-west-was-won/ Mark

Former Sox announcer Milo Hamilton passed away today at the age of 88. Called MLB games for 60 years, second longest to Scully. Here is a link to my interview with him: http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/rwas/in...=11&id=3133 Mark

By the Numbers: 10th time this year Sox lost a game when leading in the 7th inning or later (and the first time didn't happen until May 26th) Second time Robertson gave up a three run home run in the 9th inning to lose a game. 7th blown save this year for Robertson. It's simply the White Sox...no matter who they bring in the results are exactly the same. Mark

Jim Thome's 500th home run from September 16: http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2015/09/t...500th-home-run/ Mark

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 15, 2015 -> 08:13 PM) It really is remarkable how these acquisitions of stable consistent vets keep becoming the worst players in baseball as white sox. More bad luck I guess. Nothing we can do. Or maybe it has something to do with the manager and his coaching staff as well...luck only comes into play so much. Mark

Wish Ozzie the best as long as it's not with the Sox. Mark

In fairness to Robertson keep in mind Ventura hasn't used him well this year at all. He'll pitch him three days in a row than sit him for a week because the Sox can't consistently put him in a situation where he can pitch regularly. And I understand X-Rays are negative on Thompson...shoulder sprain, day to day (as are we all...) Mark

Sox thought they were facing Bob Gibson today apparently. Mark

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 11, 2015 -> 10:09 PM) Somebody at sox fest should ask KW or Hahn if they feel confident the Sox can survive that long road trip to start next season over .500. I mean I don't want to be a broken record (already) but are any of you confident the Sox can get through those first 13 games better than 5-8? or 4-9? That would immediately tell the fanbase and the world that .500 remains the best case scenario for the season. And those games aren't even full of Central teams, which normally mean tons of Losses. Maybe managers don't matter at all. But I have no confidence Robin's troops can even play .500 ball the first 2-3 weeks of April. That would fit right in with the franchise recent track record. They haven't had a "winning" month of April since 2009 and that was only one game over .500. Mark

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Sep 11, 2015 -> 11:25 AM) Absolutely agree DA and you make a great point about the money saved by Samardzija rejecting the Sox extension. Do you think this means the could extend the payroll some for next season? Imo, they should since, as you said, they had money allocated for the extension but since that money has not been spent and the Sox are in need of hitting, there should be some money available towards bringing in a positional player to help the offense. Not necessarily through FA but maybe acquire a player through trade. Keep in mind though some (perhaps most) of those who bought season ticket plans after last winter's spending spree may not be back after seeing this stinkfest. That's less money to work with since the Sox historically won't go much into the red if at all. Mark

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Sep 11, 2015 -> 05:16 PM) True, and the fans don't have to justify why they stay away from his ballpark in droves. It cuts both ways. Tell that to Kenny and Cooper who have had negative things to say about the fan base on at least four occasions this season. That's part of the Sox M.O. in my opinion. 1. Never admit you screwed up... 2. Blame Sox fans... Mark

QUOTE (harkness @ Sep 11, 2015 -> 09:13 PM) Another inspired home stand in September under ventura..no reason whatsoever to keep this guy around. . In JR's mind there's a big reason... probably a few million of them......it's called being under contract for next year. Mark