Lip Man 1

Nice to see a win from someone other than Sale for a change. At least they didn't get swept. Offense is still in the toilet five straight game three runs or less and for the season it's 21 times in 44 games (48%) Not good. Badly need at least a split tomorrow. It would be nice if Latos can keep them in it since Johnson is very, very iffy. It's a win at least. Mark

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 22, 2016 -> 03:39 AM) The White Sox are in a terrible position to get a multi-billion dollar t.v. deal at the moment. Obviously, it's three years in the future, but the White Sox are going to be lucky to get something in the same vicinity as the ROOT Sports deal for the Mariners in Seattle. Nobody knows how long the bubble will last with these deals, for one thing. There's lots of concern about the economy going into a period of flat/lower growth, higher interest rates, less corporate profits, credit/loans much harder to come by. Houston had all kinds of problems. Or look at LA, where they overbid by so much and tried to pass the costs onto consumers and none of the service providers were willing to go for it, with so many non-sports fans already cutting the cord (the last time a month or so ago there were attempted re-negotiations they rejected a 30-35% discount from the prior asking price). Point #2 is the Cubs are getting 80% of the attention and that means the lion's share of the marketing/advertising dollars in Chicago. Unless something changes dramatically in that dynamic (the Cubs' current young core) it doesn't make any sense to project a huge tv contract for the White Sox. Where's the profit going to come by paying the White Sox $120 million per season when they haven't made the playoffs (potentially) in over a decade at/by that time? We are well aware how bad the tv and radio ratings have been the last couple of years, in the bottom 3 of the major leagues, if not #30. This assumption that the new tv rights deal is going to "save" the White Sox somehow is pretty ludicrous unless they dramatically change the way they evaluate and procure talent. Agreed. And when the Cubs announce their own TV station / network that's going to suck up a lot of the advertising dollars. Sully had a column today in the Tribune which has been running a number of stories on the 25 years of U.S. Cellular Field and he had an interesting line in it: "One longtime Sox employee told me Saturday they would have been better off if they had built the ballpark in the suburbs." That's the first time that I know of somebody with the Sox has made a comment like that. Of course they had no choice as Mayor Washington said the ONLY location that he would support (as well as his cronies on the Sports Stadium Authority Board) would be across the street from the original Comiskey Park.) Mark

Jim Thome was a very, very good player for the White Sox. The issues that came because Kenny traded for him were not his fault and he should not be blamed for one damn thing that happened afterwards. The problem with the Thome trade was that it changed the dynamic of the White Sox. In 2005 the White Sox were among the top five teams in the league in the following categories: Home Runs Stolen Bases Sacrifice Flys Sacrifice Bunts Infield Hits They had a balanced offense that could beat you with a three run bomb, a bloop into short center or a bunt. It wasn't just "home run or nothing." Thome's acquisition made them basically a station to station offense as other have pointed out often it took three (sometimes) four hits to score a run because they simply didn't have speed with Thome, Konerko, Dye et al in the middle of the line up. Plus you lost a good center fielder in Aaron Roward in the process. The Sox thought they had his replacement in Brian Anderson. History shows they didn't. The large part of that goes to Anderson himself who enjoyed the night life and didn't take his job seriously. I was told by Gonzo Gonzales of the time in Cleveland when the Sox were getting ready to play the Indians. They had a tape going in the locker room of the pitcher for the players to watch. Gonzo said there were two players who were off watching cartoons. One of them was Anderson. Again Thome did nothing wrong, a gentleman, a credit to the game and in the near future a Hall of Famer. But it was his acquisition that caused a major shift in the Sox fortunes and ultimately a few years later led to an open break between Ozzie and Kenny over his services and the DH position. Mark

Keep this in mind about the future. Jerry Reinsdorf has publicly said more than once that he will recommend that his family sell the White Sox when he dies and told Bob Sirott on Chicago Tonight in May 2004 that he believes his family has no interest in owning the White Sox after he's dead. Plus I've been told by a very good source who was a part of the organization that Jerry's wife has been urging him for years to sell the team and get out but he's refused. That says something I think about how the family feels about all this. Mark

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ May 21, 2016 -> 08:42 PM) The series in Texas (more specifically, the 8th inning of the 13-11 loss) was as profound a face-plant as I could imagine. If you're an offense that puts up 11 runs going into the bottom of the 8th (up 11-6), only to watch your bullpen fail as utterly as they did- 7 runs and a blown lead and you get 3 measly outs for any sort of rebuttal it after that half inning comes to a merciful end, it's no surprise that things haven't felt right since. The White Sox bullpen ambushed the White Sox that night. One game can completely turn a season around one way or the other...I've seen it happen before especially if it impacts the players mentally. Mark

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ May 21, 2016 -> 07:29 PM) Greg. Deep breath and then seek help. The season us young and we are still kn first place The question is will they still be there after next weekend? Mark

QUOTE (aryzner @ May 21, 2016 -> 03:26 PM) I don't give a s*** about the NFL. I want to see good baseball. Then you'll probably want to watch some other team them because odds are you aren't going to see it on the South Side (although I still have hope then can win 82 games and have a "winning season" to crow abaout.) Mark

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 21, 2016 -> 03:25 PM) Is anyone really excited about the Bears this year? What else are you going to watch to pass the time? White Sox baseball? If so, you my friend must be a masochist. Seven runs in the past four games. Nice. Royals will sweep the s*** out of them tomorrow. Mark

Typical White Sox garbage. How many days until the Bears open training camp? Mark

Ten years ago May 20, 2005. The "Punch A.J." moment. You know it, you love it as the Sox blew out the Cubs 7-0. It was quite the afternoon. We've got the audio AND video for you right here. Announcers: Thom Brennaman and Darrin Jackson. Courtesy: Fox Sports. http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/05/t...story-punch-aj/ Mark

This does not appear to be going to turn out well for the Sox but you play the game and keep your fingers crossed. I'm thinking Kansas City scores seven runs today though, that's what my gut is telling me. We'll see. Mark

Ventura is now 28-48 in his career against the Royals. LET'S GIVE HIM A CONTRACT EXTENSION!!!!!! LOL. Mark

Flav: Thanks for pointing that out. Just proves my point doesn't it? LOL. Mark

2-7 since that Texas Two-Step Night. You have the feeling it's going to be a very long weekend. Back to the same s*** for Q...no run support. You get handled easily by the Danny Gee's of the world there isn't much more to say is there? Mark

Just FYI Sports Illustrated has a story on Chris Sale in this week's edition. It starts on page 32 by Ben Reiter titled "Sale's Force." Mark

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 20, 2016 -> 03:14 PM) I have yet to see Joe Maddon asked about the White Sox, nor have I seen Jake Arrieta asked about Chris Sale. Even if this were going on, it would legitimize this a little bit more in my eyes. Just a few weeks ago the Tribune had a story quoting Maddon talking about the White Sox success and how "cool" it was. Mark

The good news: A. They won B. Sale is incredible The bad news: A. Offense almost shut down by a pitcher with an ERA of about five and a half. B. Had scoring chances (man on third - no out and get...nothing!) and wasted every one of them. Still it's a win for a change. Now let's see if someone OTHER than Sale can win a baseball game this weekend. Q needs to pitch well and getting him some offense would be nice...(especially since Gonzales goes Saturday, that could get ugly..) Q by the way is 1-6 against Kansas City in his career. Mark

Just FYI, according to Comcast Sports Chicago this afternoon Beck who was a possible candidate to start in that DH has been placed on the DL in the minor leagues. They didn't say why. Mark

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 18, 2016 -> 09:39 PM) At any rate, it was difficult for the White Sox to react so late to both the LaRoche and Danks situations catching them off guard. That said, they probably didn't expect to be in the position which they are now in...just hoping to be in the mix. Desmond/Alvarez/Jackson would have dealt with two pressing issues (SS production and LH power). It still would leave us potentially two starters short, as counting on Danks/Erik Johnson was probably the most foolhardy part of the off-season. They kind of lucked out with Latos' first three starts, but that mirage disappeared. Now we have holes at SS, CF (offensively), catcher, LH power, bench speed, bullpen and 2 starting pitchers (assuming Rodon will recover and be an above .500 pitcher the rest of the way). And the jury's still out on Lawrie and Avisail Garcia. Having the "real" Jose Abreu show up would be a huge lift. The Danks situation was pretty obviously going back to last season. Everyone (but the Sox) knew he'd lost it. They had plenty of time to solve or potentially solve his issue. LaRoche I understand your point but not Danks. The only reason he was around as long as he was, was because of his contract. The same reason Dunn was kept around and the same reason LaRoche would still be playing if he hadn't quit regardless of how bad he was. Mark

At least they didn't allow any two out runs. LOL Other than that complete garbage just like we've seen the past three years. Latos has officially returned to Earth. 1-6 since the Texas Tuesday Two-Step. It was fun while it lasted anyway. Mark

QUOTE (captain54 @ May 18, 2016 -> 12:25 PM) This Reinsdorf outfit has had 36 yrs to try to put asses in the seats. Still haven't been able to figure it out Maybe more wacky promotions? They've got Bring your Pooch day/night. Then there's Elvis night. How about combining them and having fans bring their pets, dressed as Elvis, Night? Sound like a winner to me. Or maybe Don Cooper dressed as Elvis for home games, the remainder of the season? Now THAT's funny! Mark

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 17, 2016 -> 10:17 PM) Fans still on the fence about this team, 13,481 in attendance. True but according to the box score it was also a "balmy" 52 degrees at game time and I assume it got colder as the game wore on. Weather has at times really stuck it to the White Sox, can't blame fans for not coming out when the weather remains lousy. Mark

By the way FOUR MORE runs scored with two outs. That's 25 total in the last six games. Mark

Not the best way to start an important home stand is it? Bullpen loses another game...team allows another unearned run (which turned out to be important). Third one run loss in the past eight days. You knew it was going to be tough enough without Frazier in the lineup. That didn't help matters. 1-5 now since the give away game in Texas. This is not the same team since then....maybe one game can make that big of a difference. I've seen it happen before to the Sox. Mark

Now another item out of my library. In fact it’s the oldest recording that I have of the White Sox. It’s May 16, 1953. The place is Yankee Stadium and Tommy Byrne, a pitcher, is coming up to bat as a pinch hitter in a game situation. What happened is the only time something like this has happened in the history of the White Sox franchise. Announcer: Bob Elson. Courtesy: WCFL Radio. http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/05/t...s-a-grand-slam/ Mark