Lip Man 1

Five factoids today: May 2, 1901 - The White Sox were part of the first forfeit in American League history. After the Tigers took the lead with five runs in the top of the ninth, rain began. White Sox players began stalling, hoping to have the game wash out and be called as of the top of the eighth, with the White Sox getting the win. Umpire Tom Connolly caught on to the scheme and forfeited the game to Detroit, as soggy Sox fans stormed the field in protest. Connolly had to be given a police escort to get out of the ballpark. The final score was 7-5 Tigers. May 2, 1983 - It isn’t often that one of the all-time greats in a different sport comes to town to help present an award to a member of the White Sox but such was the case on this night as Wayne Gretzky, “The Great One” came to Comiskey Park to help honor Ron Kittle by handing him the 1982 Minor League Player of the Year Award. That season, Kittle, playing in Edmonton, smashed 50 home runs and drove in 144 RBI’s. He led all minor league players in home runs, RBI’s and slugging percentage. Kittle became friends with Gretzky who was the superstar center for the Oilers and used to throw batting practice to him when he’d come out to the Edmonton ballpark to work out with the team. May 2, 1984 - It was the finest regular season performance by LaMarr Hoyt as he one-hit the Yankees winning 3-0 at Comiskey Park. The reigning Cy Young Award winner lost his no-hitter on a single by Don Mattingly with one out in the seventh inning. Mattingly’s hit was a bloop that got caught in the wind and fell in between shortstop Jerry Dybzinski and left fielder Ron Kittle. Hoyt only threw 101 pitches on the night and faced the minimum 27 batters. May 2, 2021 – Seasons can change in a heartbeat and on this day the high expectations for the White Sox took a stunning turn for the worse. Five tool outfielder Luis Robert, the Gold Glove outfielder and runner up in the 2020 Rookie of the Year voting completely tore his right hip flexor when beating out a ground ball in the first inning in a 5-0 loss to the Indians. The White Sox were already without the services of Robert’s teammate Eloy Jimenez, one of the top young sluggers in the game, because of an injury that happened late in spring training. Robert wasn’t even able to try to resume baseball activities for a period of a few months. His loss left a gaping hole both offensively and defensively in the White Sox lineup but remarkably after a grueling rehab he returned to the team on August 9 in Minnesota and helped contribute to the club winning the Central Division with a total of 93 victories. His injury-luck though continued into the 2022 season when he missed time with vertigo, blurred vision and worst of all, a sprained left wrist that never properly healed and was so bad at times he was swinging a bat one-handed. And then in 2024 he would hurt that same hip again running to first base. Injuries would just hamper his career and limit his potential. He was traded to the Mets before the 2026 season and promptly suffered a herniated disc with them. May 2, 2022 – Dylan Cease became the second White Sox pitcher ever with a start of at least seven innings, with 11 or more strikeouts and just one hit allowed, with no runs or walks. The Angels Taylor Ward got the only hit off Cease, a double in the fourth inning. He went seven innings in the Sox 3-0 win at home. Gary Peters was the first White Sox hurler to accomplish this feat, on July 15, 1963 in a 4-0 win over the Orioles at Comiskey Park.

I'll start to believe at the trade deadline if they are within striking distance and JR allows Getz to get upgraded talent and not trade players away for prospects and 'magic beans...'

Detailed story in the Tribune today breaking down the bears proposals and bringing up to date what is being offered or was offered with other stadiums in the area. "Another lesson in taxpayer costs has come from the home of the Chicago White Sox baseball team, Rate Field. After the team threatened to move out of state, that stadium cost about $137 million to build when it opened in 1991. But after people were alarmed by the height of the upper deck, it cost another $118 million in renovations in the 2000s — all of it paid by taxpayers. The public still owes another $45 million for the ball field — even as the White Sox are looking to build a new stadium again on a better site, closer to downtown." https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/02/ghosts-of-stadiums-past-haunt-chicago-bears-quest-for-a-new-stadium-deal/

Nice game tonight, except for Bido.

What you say is true the Sox need to keep stockpiling they also, in my opinion, need to fortify what they have by aggressively looking at all avenues to get pitching. But as long as JR is in control that won't happen because he refuses to pay the going rate for top pitchers who do hit the market. He simply will not take that risk. It is what it is. Hopefully it changes with Ishbia.

After the labor impasse of 93/94 players were given service time for the missed days. That's how they wound up losing Alex Fernandez: December 9, 1996 - Pitcher Alex Fernandez signed a free agent deal with Florida. It was the culmination of misunderstandings and pettiness. Sox ownership felt Fernandez was going to remain contractually bound to them for another season but that belief was torpedoed when the players union and the owners agreed to give players service time during the time missed in 1994 because of the labor impasse. Fernandez became a free agent and the Sox hastily made a late offer which was rebuffed. He won 79 games in four full and three partial seasons with the club. Without him to anchor the rotation the Sox were forced to try to fill the void. The choice to do so, Jamie Navarro was a complete disaster.

Unfortunately it is what it is. I'm guessing DoUEverShift's initial comment is going to prove to be accurate.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/01/minnie-minoso-chicago-white-sox-anniversary/

NINE factoids today... May 1, 1909 - In a game at South Side Park, the White Sox buried the Tigers 19-9 banging out 16 hits. Detroit made 10 errors in the game. Their starting pitcher, Joe Yeager, allowed 12 runs but only five were earned in three innings of work. There was one other notable incident in the game, the Sox Herm McFarland hit the first grand slam in American League history when he connected off Yeager in the second inning. May 1, 1924 - In a game at Cleveland, Sox outfielder Bill Barrett banged out four hits and stole home twice in a 13-7 win. Barrett went 4 for 5 with three runs scored and two RBI’s for the afternoon. His steals of home came in the first and ninth innings. May 1, 1936 - The Sox purchased the contract of Fred “Dixie” Walker from the Yankees. Alas this was a big one who eventually got away as the Sox traded him in a deal with the Tigers after only one season. In 1937, with the Sox, Walker drove in 95 RBI’s while hitting .302. Walker would achieve stardom in Brooklyn winning a batting title and playing in four All-Star games. May 1, 1951 - Recently acquired Orestes “Minnie” Minoso made his White Sox debut. The “Cuban Comet” became the first black player in team history. In his first at bat as a member of the Sox he hit a home run into the center field bull pen at Comiskey Park off Vic Raschi. The drive went an estimated 425 feet and drove in a pair of runs. Later in the same game, won by the Yankees 8-3, Mickey Mantle would hit the first of his 536 home runs. May 1, 1954 - Sox pitcher Virgil “Fire” Trucks tossed a one-hitter in beating the Red Sox 3-0 at Fenway Park. The only hit he allowed came in the sixth inning, a single by future White Sox player Billy Goodman. He struck out eight Boston batters in the game. It was the first of his pair of one-hitters for the 1954 season. He’d end the year going 19-12 with a 2.79 ERA making the All-Star team and saving the win for the American League. May 1, 1959 - Early Wynn had one of the greatest days ever by a pitcher when he did it all in the 1-0 Sox win over Boston. Wynn tossed a one-hit complete game striking out 14. In addition, he slammed a home run in the last of the eighth inning to account for the game’s only run. His drive bounced off the glove of Boston’s Bill Renna into the first row of seats at Comiskey Park. The only hit he allowed came to Pete Runnels in the first inning. It was a single to center field just to the left of shortstop Luis Aparicio. Ironically seconds before the hit Wynn moved Aparicio over a few steps to his right and he wasn’t able to reach the ball. Wynn’s control wasn’t the best as he walked seven batters but he was always able to get out of trouble. May 1, 1960 - Al Smith connected on a Jim Bunning pitch and set off owner Bill Veeck’s new exploding scoreboard for the first time. The blast came in the third inning with Jim Landis on base. The Sox would win the game 6-3, and then swept the Tigers taking game two by the score of 5-2. The scoreboard was 130 feet wide and cost 300,000 thousand dollars. There was a firing platform in back that went into action when a White Sox player hit a home run. There were noises of varying tones and intensities. Among the noises were the sounds of horses running, thunder and the collision of locomotives. The eight small ladders atop the scoreboard flashed into electrical patterns. Strobe lights were atop the two higher ladders. Bombs and fireworks also were exploded from the firing platform. May 1, 1973 - Dick Allen hit a lot of long home runs in his time with the White Sox but this may have been his longest. On a cool, damp night at Comiskey Park, Allen deposited a pitch from the Orioles Mike Cuellar on to the roof in left center field. The pitch was unusual as it approached home plate and many speculated that what Allen hit was a ‘Cuban Forkball’ (i.e. spitball) that failed to break downwards. Allen would hit two home runs on the night in the Sox 6-5 win. For many years afterwards the Sox hung a sign on the roof in left center field indicating where his ball passed over. Former teammate and Sox broadcaster Steve Stone told the story how on that night, Allen told him if Cuellar threw him an off-speed pitch he was going to hit it out for a home run. May 1, 1991 - The Sox lost one of the longest games in their history 10-9 to the Brewers in Milwaukee. The Sox blew leads of 5-0 and 9-6 in this one. The game went 19 innings and ran 6:05. The game went so long that WGN-TV sports director Dan Roan, who was covering the game, had to do his evening sportscast from a parking lot at a bar just inside the state line on Route 41. He couldn’t get back to the studio in downtown Chicago in time!

Ummm.... Lance Johnson was ANYTHING but a light bat. For one thing he led the league in triples four years straight as I recall.

That involves either surgery or a very long rehab process with no guarantees.

Three factoids today: April 30, 1922 - Sox pitcher Charlie Robertson fired a perfect game beating the Tigers 2-0. The game was at Detroit. Robertson never had a winning record in eight seasons with the club finishing 49-80 with an ERA of 4.44. His perfect game only took one hour and 55 minutes to complete. Earl Sheely drove in both Sox runs in the second inning with a single. As a sample of Robertson’s effectiveness, only seven balls were hit on the ground. Fourteen were slammed into the air, and six of the 27 batters struck out. Only six balls were driven into the outfield. During the game the Tigers Ty Cobb accused Robertson of putting oil or grease on the ball. April 30, 1951 – Orestes “Minnie” Minoso was acquired by the White Sox as part of a three-team deal involving the Athletics and Indians. The seven-player deal resulted in Minoso becoming the team’s first black ballplayer. Minoso used his blinding speed and power to become the American League Rookie of the Year for 1951 from The Sporting News by hitting .324 with 10 home runs, 76 RBI’s and 31 stolen bases. He’d be named to the All-Star team six times representing the Sox. His #9 would be retired by the club in 1983. April 30, 1962 - Sox shortstop Luis Aparicio was shown sliding into a base on the cover for Sports Illustrated. The caption said, “The Players With Magic. Luis Aparicio of the White Sox.” The Hall of Fame player would lead the American League in steals nine consecutive years for the White Sox and later Orioles, while playing remarkable defense.

Sox Machine with a long piece on him and Nightengale's comments: 2026 MLB Draft Report: Are the White Sox not sold on Roch...2026 MLB Draft is still a couple of months away but would the Chicago White Sox pivot from selecting Roch Cholowsky first overall? Sox Machine's Josh Nelson explores the possibilities.

This is all the Sun-Times had to say about it in the postgame: "Separately, and perhaps more ominously, right-handed pitching prospect Tanner McDougal exited his start for the Knights with right forearm tightness on Wednesday. Further tests were underway for the 6-5 hurler, who has fanned 27 across six starts with a 3.00 ERA, and figured to be part of the parade of rookies making their debuts with the Sox this season." In a bizarre sort of way though if the worst case scenario takes place he may not miss much time given the labor unrest next season potentially wiping out some (all?) of the season.

Why should anybody be surprised. Built like a Greek god but made entirely of glass.

A regular staple of the "Garfield Goose and Friends" show on WGN in the afternoons after school.

Also the 4th time this year the Sox trailed in the 7th inning or later and won. They are now equal to the number of games where they took a lead into the 7th inning or later and lost.

A rare extra inning win. Nicely done.

It's the White Sox way.

That's assuming they play next season. That remains to be seen how it plays out.

Three factoids today: April 29, 1901 - Sox shortstop Frank Shugart hit the first home run in White Sox history. It came in a 3-2 loss to Detroit. It came in the eighth inning off future Sox pitcher Frank “Yip” Owen at South Side Park. Ironically the 1901 season was the only one Shugart would play in, he was banned from the sport after the year ended for punching an umpire in the face on August 21. April 29, 1985 - A new yearly tradition was established in the first annual "Crosstown Classic" charity game matching the Sox and Cubs. Down through the years both teams played each other on and off in spring training or during an open date in the regular season. From the late 40’s through the early 70’s, the “Boys Benefit Game” was played helping raise funds for youth baseball. There was also a post season “City Series” that was eventually stopped by request of Major League Baseball. They felt it was taking away interest from the World Series. This was the first time though both teams agreed to play on a yearly basis with a corporate sponsor (Busch Beer). The game alternated between Comiskey Park and Wrigley Field and was played every year through 1995. Because of the labor impasse the teams played two games that season. The Sox won the opener at Comiskey Park 7-4 but it was only the start of a remarkable run. The two teams played a total of 12 games and the Sox never lost one. They’d go 10-0-2 during that time period. After 1995, the series was dropped. It was never publicly explained why, but reports persisted that the cancellation of the series was at the Cubs request. Plus, interleague play was on the horizon and it may have been felt that the game was now meaningless April 29, 2023 – Before the start of the 2017 season the White Sox announced they were starting a rebuild that would lead to years when they had legitimate chances to compete for championships. Most fans embraced the badly needed change and hoped it would lead to the type of success the Astros and Cubs saw after they tore down and rebuilt their teams. On this date that dream officially died as the Sox suffered their 10th straight loss to fall to 7-21 on the season. After leading Tampa 3-0 going into the seventh inning the Rays scored 10 runs and wound up winning 12-3. It was the team’s first 10 game losing streak since 2013. Two first round playoff exits were all the rebuild was able to produce as bad trades, mismanagement of a limited budget, poor minor league development, constant injuries to key core players and bad free agent signings all contributed to blowing apart the front offices best laid plans. Fans took to wearing bags over their heads at Guaranteed Rate Field and the Chicago media for the first time began openly calling for the firing of G.M. Rick Hahn. It was another shattering low point for a franchise owned since 1981 by the Chairman of the Board Jerry Reinsdorf.

I was curious and looked in the Sox media guide, it was the 12th time in franchise history a player homered from both sides of the plate in the same game and the first since Leury Garcia did it in 2020 vs. Minnesota. Jose Valentin did this three times and Nick Swisher twice.

That was one of their better games this year. As far as Leasure, someone on the opposition at some point is going to yell at him from across the diamond, "Hey Jordan, how do you hold your gopher ball?"

That's the M.O. until Ishbia takes over.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears-stadium/2026/04/28/chicago-bears-hammond-hams-escalating-rhetoric-hoosiers-hope-bears-stadium