Lip Man 1

What took them so long? Mark

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 15, 2015 -> 10:45 PM) DJ better watch it. If anybody notices he could get the boot. It doesn't work except for announcers that are legends. Harry Caray had a Sox sidekick fired once cause he and the guy spent a rain delay trashing the team. They didn't blame Harry; they canned the sidekick after the season. Kudos to DJ but DJs are a dime a dozen. If the team gets mad he'll be shown the door. Maybe DJ already knows. His contract like Stone's is up after this season. And if you're referring to Bob Waller that's incorrect. Waller was fired because of his pre game show with Chuck Tanner on the last day of the 1974 season. Chuck (God rest his soul) was talking about all the positive things the Sox did and Waller simply got tired of the spin and asked him why weren't they winning then? Tanner got so mad he walked off the field in the middle of the live pregame show. Waller spent the rest of the time asking questions and giving "truthful" answers to them. Ownership was not amused. The only partner Harry had (and he was a mentor to me) that he didn't like and made no bones about it was J.C. Martin. Harry felt he had no business being in a broadcast booth. I know J.C. have interviewed him, an extremely nice guy but Harry was right. J.C. was brutal. Mark

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 15, 2015 -> 09:19 PM) Hahn supposedly was ready to fold in mid to late June. KW was the "all in" one again. Do you have any facts behind this? Newspaper stories...anything? Not a rip at you, I just never heard / read anything along these lines. Mark

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 15, 2015 -> 08:56 PM) I know the White Sox under Robin have been the cool, calm, collected, never break a sweat type team whose motto every season seems to be, "It's still early; there's plenty of time left," before finally time runs out, but .... I would think the owner of this team would be flat out embarrassed by tonight's game. If this were a regular business there'd be hell to pay after playing such a s*** game tonight against one's in-town rivals. Oh wait, the Sox players I'm sure don't consider the Cubs a rival, just like the Royals aren't a rival, the Tigers aren't a rival. Sox never get "up" for any team. They're too cool for that. I wish Jerry would throw a fit publicly about this miserable, effortless team. Historically from as far back as April 18, 1981 10th inning show, EE and JR have not considered the Cubs a 'rival'. That's been a huge mistake in my opinion. Mark

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Aug 15, 2015 -> 08:54 PM) All I have to look forward to is a Bears season that is shaping up to be 3-13. Just f***ing shoot me. Well the Hawks aren't really contending this year either regardless of how Kane's situation turns out...plus the Bulls have talent but they just can't stay healthy. I suggest you break out the tapes / DVD's from better times are start watching them a lot. Mark

QUOTE (daa84 @ Aug 15, 2015 -> 08:43 PM) lol there are so many players on this roster that don't belong on a big league roster. Bonifacio, beckham, Sanchez, saladino, probably flowers, probably Thompson. Laroche and Ramirez have a track record but certainly don't belonig in the everyday lineup. Speaks loads about our utter lack of depth in the org I agree with this a lot. The talent just isn't there. Makes you realize how bad off they were in the 2013 season. It's still going to take two / three years of bringing it in to get out of the hole. That is if Kenny 'allows' it. Mark

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Aug 15, 2015 -> 08:33 PM) KW and Hahn never mentioned the 3 year plan nonsense till they were sucking into late July. Cover your ass 101. To be fair I think Hahn briefly mentioned it at Sox Fest. Mark

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 15, 2015 -> 08:25 PM) I can't see how he is brought back next year. Something's going to have to happen. I can...it's called 12 million dollars. The Sox don't "eat" that kind of money (see Dunn, Adam) and LaRoche probably isn't stupid enough to retire so he doesn't collect it. Mark

To me it's not a question of 'love' or 'hate' Hawk. It's the realization that he's 73 and simply not the same broadcaster that he was 20 years ago. Plus for right or wrong, he's a symbol of the ever unchanging Sox organization that has grown stale and set in their ways as far as how to run a baseball opearation. New blood is needed on the baseball side of things and that includes the broadcasting booths in my opinion. Mark

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 15, 2015 -> 09:29 AM) And the end result is going to be...we paid $9 million for him this season, the A's paid $1.5 million, the A's will have those guys for 4-5 more years, and we will keep seeing comments here about how the White Sox minor leagues has no depth while wondering how that could possibly have happened. The White Sox have called up several players this year from their minors and just by having them be non-terrible, they've helped this team to winning streaks (Tyler, Trayce). Depth can be nice too. Counting the draft picks...we gave up 6 players from our minor leagues for the privilege of the 2015 season and we'll be lucky to get 1 back next summer. That's what happens when you have that "go for it" attitude (right Kenny??????) LOL. Mark

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Aug 12, 2015 -> 09:10 PM) When it happens game after game it shows staff not working enough with players to know what to do in easy baseball 101 situations. Remember though Mark Parent told the media "these are major leaguers" it's not up to the coaches to work with them every day...LOL Mark

QUOTE (LDF @ Aug 12, 2015 -> 10:24 AM) ok i will acknowledge your snark. but if the sox really cared, they should have continue the rebuild in the off season instead of stopping. yet jr went on and lambasted the fans for not buying more season tickets.... that is money he was talking about..... more profit. Never saw or heard anything like that. I know Cooper and Kenny at three times this year questioned where the fans were or their baseball knowledge. Mark

Lot happened on this day August 11th....including a no-hitter in 1991. Have two audio cuts as part of TDISH for you to enjoy. On the first audio cut by the way, the actual audio starts :10 seconds into it. Enjoy. http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2015/08/t...rezs-no-hitter/ Mark

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 11, 2015 -> 02:08 PM) If they don't fire him I expect he will get at least 1 more year. If you're not firing him you have to - don't want to have him become a "free agent manager" if the team overperforms next year. No disrespect but even if somehow the Sox over perform next year, what team would really want Ventura? Mark

Why? LOL. Mark

QUOTE (Baron @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 06:01 PM) I put embarrassed So did I. Mark

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 05:19 PM) I tried, but it crashed for me. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Mark

I'd encourage fans to take a few minutes, answer the questions and pass along your thoughts. I'm not saying it will make any difference but I do know if fans don't tell management how they feel, NOTHING will certainly change. http://www.baseballfanconversations.com/a/...77520-824375113 Mark

Given the way people rarely leave the organization let along get outright fired job security should be the thing they should be least concerned over. Marl

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 01:44 PM) As a White Sox fan I found his opening campaigning for a contract extension with a year left on his deal and his team collapsing, then opening courting another job during the season WAY more troubling then any of his personal political views. His political views don't concern me nearly as much as his penchant for putting his own self in front of the team. Very true. Mark

QUOTE (LDF @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 12:25 PM) great stuff. a question.... how much of a factor was ozzie's kid being involved. You mean "kids". Let's put it this way...they didn't help the dynamic. Mark

Nice story by Dan. Here's a little more historical info on Ozzie and his "situation": He was considered “the face of the franchise” for eight seasons but on this night (September 26, 2011) after a 4-3 win over Toronto, manager Ozzie Guillen announced he was leaving after owner Jerry Reinsdorf agreed to let him out of the final year of his contract. Guillen, who was the 1985 A.L. Rookie of the Year with the White Sox, won the World Series in 2005 and also got the club into the playoffs in 2008. He had five winning seasons in the eight years as manager and was named Manager of the Year for his work in 2005. In that magical season of 2005, “Ozzie-ball” resulted in the Sox getting off to the best start in their history and with a perfect blend of pitching, speed, power and the ability to execute the fundamentals the Sox were in first place from wire to wire. Then they blitzed through the post season putting together an 11-1 record that was the third best post season record in baseball history. Guillen’s passion and enthusiasm for the franchise was unparalleled but at times he was his own worst enemy. Over his final years in Chicago he became increasingly thin-skinned and defensive when criticism was directed his way and he lashed out at Sox fans on more than one occasion. Among his famous rants against the fans were one where he said that they could ‘‘turn off their TVs and stop watching the game if they don’t like the [bleep]ing lineup’’ and another in May 2011 where he claimed Sox fans would not remember him “as soon as you leave the ballpark they don’t care about you. They don’t. The monuments, the statues…they pee on them when they get drunk.” On the afternoon of the day he left the team Guillen told reporters that he would not want to return to fulfill his 2012 contract unless he got an extension and more money. Ozzie’s relationship with G.M. Kenny Williams also deteriorated over the final few years because the two men appeared to have different viewpoints over how the roster should be constructed and the style to which the Sox should play. Guillen’s family didn’t help the situation with social media comments derogatory to Williams. Many felt when Ozzie was hired in November 2003 that he was the right man for the right team at the right time and for a few years he was. Unfortunately the manager with the longest tenure since Al Lopez let some personal foibles override a good situation and it was best for all that a parting of the ways took place. Mark

I wouldn't be surprised if two / thirds of the crowd this weekend for the Cubs series are made up of Cub fans. And I wouldn't blame Sox fans for staying away given the franchises performance certainly since September 2012. Something else I've noticed which should be troubling to the organization. On the on-line version of the Tribune the past two mornings, not one word, one story is about the Sox on the page that first comes up on the screen. As bad as the Sox are you'd think the "badness" would get some mention. It isn't. The Sox are becoming totally irrelevant in their own city. Not blaming the papers in one sense (although from a journalistic standpoint it shouldn't matter what the team's record is). My guess is that the majority of the season ticket holders who signed up this year after the off season spending spree on veterans in their 30's won't be back. Mark

QUOTE (Saufley @ Aug 9, 2015 -> 04:28 PM) Let's be real and let's be honest now. Really, how does Ventura not deserve to be let go? This is big business and this team is losing the fan base. How can the management and the ownership not be aware of this? I'm totally dumbfounded!!! You have to take into account that with the enormous sums of money flowing into MLB I seriously doubt any team is losing money now. And that's not even taking into account "revenue sharing." Unfortunately under those circumstances "winning" and "losing" may not be impacting the bottom line like in decades past. Unless an owner has the mentality of George Steinbrenner where the only thing that mattered was winning, it simply may no longer be an issue. Save for as I said, personal pride...maybe. Mark

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Aug 9, 2015 -> 03:36 PM) Too have Hahn sit there with a straight face and say, he did not want to mess with the teams chemistry was it for me. This team was not even .500 WTF! To be fair and from a devil's advocate standpoint the team was playing very well heading into the break and Hahn may also have been saying what he did because no other team wanted what he was offering. (If that's true that speaks volumes about how MLB views the Sox "talent". Personally I think there's some truth to the last part of my statement. Honestly who wants a lot of the s*** we put out there day after day? Mark