Lip Man 1

If KW thinks that RR and his staff are doing an excellent job teaching the fundamentals then obviously the message isn't getting through to the guys on the field.

Correct. The power of the Tribune Company in owning the Tribune, plus WGN radio, plus WGN-TV, plus Superstation WGN plus Chicagoland cable TV (I think that's what it was called) clearly gave them a huge advantage. Now add in the Sox bizarre reluctant to even fight for their own share of their home market (i.e. "We're Chicago's American League team...") and the marketing brilliance of John McDonough in promoting Wrigley Field and the experience (even though the Cubs sucked on the field for many years) and it all added up to the situation where we are in now. Ironically Eddie Einhorn himself predicted this was going to happen the day the Sox were eliminated by Baltimore when he said (paraphrasing) 'As long as the Tribune Company holds all these media outlets the Sox will never get a fair shake...' (I've got the WLS broadcast from that night in my library which has the story and the quotes) Of course EE was partially responsible too because he was the biggest proponent of the 'We're Chicago's American League team' concept and then SportsVision which was a brilliant idea, but ahead of its time and a dismal failure which kept the Sox out of the eye of the public and turned a generation of fans to the Cubs because they could actually watch their games. It's a very complicated story but again the end result is the Sox find themselves in the position they are in clearly second fiddle in the market and from that standpoint facing some serious issues.

I just saw yesterday where the Dodgers are moving five games to "free-TV" because of the on-going issues with their regional sports network and cable operators in So. California.

Is this the same Yolmer with nine or 10 errors already? I think he's a decent player, a good sub playing once or twice a week on a solid team...nothing more in my opinion.

Maybe in 2021

Especially with Moncada the next hitter and he's done well the last few games. Makes no sense to me.

Don't know if anyone saw this but Friday a federal judge ruled that Dustin Fowler's case against the Sox and the state agency that runs Guaranteed Rate Field can proceed in circuit court. Fowler's lawsuit filed last December claims the Sox and the ISFA were negligent in not securing the unpadded electrical box he collided with along the right field line. Judge Gary Feinerman rejected the Sox motion to remove the case directly to federal court. Fowler is seeking an unspecified amount of money from the Sox and the ISFA.

Don't want any part of Avi long term. None what so ever.

9th game the Sox have lost when leading in the 7th inning or later.

Personally given the number of injuries, the time not playing, the inconsistent performances of some guys and the youth of others I hope the Sox don't call anybody up this year. Let the guys heal, maybe Hansen, Dunning, Robert can play in the Arizona Fall League and then see everyone in February.

Here you go gang: Robert out another four to eight weeks with another injury to that thumb. Assuming the middle ground (four weeks), that'll run his total time missed to 16 weeks (four months) of time because of two injuries to the same thumb. Eloy out two weeks with a strained left adductor muscle. So the total for the prospects is: Robert (two serious injuries), Eloy, Dunning, Burger (two serious injuries), Burdi, Cordell, Hansen and Adolfo. The "baseball-gods" keep giving the middle finger to the Sox. Unbelievable.

He fired him because it became personal between him and Himes. To wit: On the firing of G.M. Larry Himes in September 1990: “The fact is, Larry Himes cannot get along with anybody. You can hardly find anybody in the Sox organization that wasn’t happy when Larry Himes left.” – Jerry Reinsdorf to radio talk show host Chet Coppock. September 1990. “The past is gone. The fact we did reach Point C this year doesn’t mean Larry (Himes) wouldn’t have reached it. It does mean we guessed right with Ron (Schueler). I just felt at the time a change was necessary, so let’s not think about anything but the future. We all have a good relationship now.” – Jerry Reinsdorf to the Chicago Sun - Times’ Joe Goddard and Tony Ginnetti. September 28, 1993. Pg. 92. Also I've been told that down the stretch in 1990 JR and his people were pushing Himes to acquire some vets to help, Himes refused. (Pitcher Mike Scott was the name I was told) Plus you've got this from my interview with then manager Jeff Torborg: ML: At the trade deadline the Sox were only three games behind the A’s yet the only thing the organization did was get reserve outfielder Phil Bradley from the Orioles. Were you disappointed especially since there was a lot of talk about the Sox getting guys like pitcher Mike Scott? JT: “Sure we were disappointed especially since that same day the A’s picked up Harold Baines and Willie McGee. I was sitting in my hotel room when I saw the news come across the TV and I thought ‘how did that happen?’ because we were behind Oakland, we could have put in a claim. At almost the same time I was thinking this I got a call from Jerry Reinsdorf and he asked me “what’s going on?” All I could tell him was that I didn’t know.” “And you mentioned Mike Scott…this is the first time I’ve ever heard anything like that. If that’s true that just goes to show you that I wasn’t involved in everything that may have been going on. (Author’s Note: ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight’s” lead anchor Dave Marash reported when Larry Himes was fired in mid-September, that part of the reason was, that he wasn’t interested in trading any of his minor league talent for more highly regarded players for the stretch drive. This apparently caused a wedge between him and ownership.)

Apparently Robert is back on the DL with a thumb injury. I don't know if it is the same one he hurt in spring training or not. Eloy left the game today after he hurt himself on a swing. Garfein thinks it may be a leg injury. They keep dropping like flies the past three seasons.

A number of bad starts and an ERA of around 5.5 I think.

I understand where you are coming from and there is some truth in your comment but JR isn't selling. He didn't sell yesterday, he isn't today and he's not tomorrow. Just not happening and he's not going to fire the baseball side of his front office like John Allyn did in September 1970. He probably should, but he won't. As Kenny said many time. "it is what it is..." All we can do is hope it works out.

From Sunday's Sun-Times: Manager Rick Renteria said Moncada didn’t go all-out to the plate, thinking Andrus, fielding Jose Abreu’s sharp grounder to his right, was conceding the run and throwing to first. “If you’re asking me if he gave his best effort, no he did not,” Renteria said.

What is going to be the important part for the Sox is what do they get money-wise for the new TV deal? Considering the past 11 years and the fact they are rebuilding, that could depress the market for them (as well as not potentially having multiple suitors. Seattle, Arizona and St. Louis all got billion(s) dollar deals when their rights were up. I don't know if the Sox can get that in a split market but we'll see.

They still own I think 40% combined between the Sox and Bulls since they are owned by the same group / individual.

I think it's 55 games but I could be wrong.

Don't think they show the Pacers in St. Louis do they? That's not Indiana's market and they don't show the Royals in the St. Louis area obviously. As far as soccer that doesn't move the needle much either way.

Well let's all hope the Sox get good.

Basically Fox Sports Midwest out of St. Louis, only other pro team on it is the Blues. They have no competition during baseball season and are affiliated with a major broadcast organization.

Just a guess, I haven't spoken with anyone on this but I think the Cubs are going to try to go solo. That's been their wish for a long time. I think the other three teams are going to return to NBC Sports Chicago. In the Sox case I think they'll still have some games (maybe 35 or so) on "free" TV, one of the other channels (not 2,5,7, or 9)

Apparently he's back in Chicago now. Guy is done.

I think you mean channel 32? And this is from my interview with Bob Grim, the Sox Director of Broadcast Operations: ML: Have you thought about starting a regional type network for example like the St. Louis Cardinals have? BG: “The issue there is that a lot of the area cable operations just don’t want to take on a channel that’s just going to show ballgames especially if they have to charge a premium rate for it.” “And the issue we have with a regional radio network is that a lot of the “mom and pop” stations that used to be around and aired Sox games in the past just don’t exist anymore. They’ve all been bought up by national corporations and they simply program via satellite from Dallas or Chicago or someplace. The stations simply don’t want to have to pay someone even though it’s probably not a lot, to run the board and insert commercials between innings and such.” (Author's Note: At one time during the 1950's & 1960's the Sox radio network was around 100 stations...one of the largest in baseball stretching all across the Midwest and into the deep South including places like Jackson, Mississippi, Atlanta, before they got the Braves and most of the state of Florida since they trained in Tampa and then Sarasota in the spring) ML: Well taking it a step further have the Sox ever had any discussions about starting their own TV network a la the Yankees YES Network? I mean Jerry Reinsdorf owns the Sox, he owns the Bulls and he has a good relationship with the Wirtz Family, they both built the United Center. That gives you three major sports and you don’t have to play second fiddle to the Cubs anymore. BG: “I’ve never personally been involved in any discussions like that but I think it probably has been talked about. Even with those three teams that you mentioned Mark, we’d still have an awful lot of time to fill. You’re talking about 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” “Right now to be honest the Sox simply don’t have the amount of video, classic games and stuff that could be used to do something like that. We’re getting closer though, Major League Baseball now requires all teams to tape every game and send the copy to New York where they archive it for us. So as time goes on we’ll be getting more and more material that we could use if something like this happens but now unlike the Yankees, we just don’t have material from the 20’s or 30’s that we could use say as a documentary to help fill time. When Jerry and his group took over in January 1981, they looked and any material that the Sox may have had was gone. No one knows where it went or who got it.” Just can't ever see the Sox having their own network.