Lip Man 1

Sounds like they played pretty well today overall. Error didn't cost them and the bullpen did OK generally today.

The Sox used to have a franchise Hall of Fame exhibit/area behind home plate at the rate but that was removed a few years ago for renovations. I don't know where it is located now, if in fact it is still there.

The Washington Post editorial board has a column today (I don't have access to the story itself) with this headline: Never subsidize a sports stadium. And definitely not like this.The subheadline then says "Jacksonville fans are getting fleeced"

April 4, 1960 - Shortly before the season opened, the Sox ended their decimation of the young players on their roster, by shipping future All-Star and power hitting catcher Earl Battey along with future power hitting All-Star first baseman Don Mincher to the Senators for power hitting first baseman Roy Sievers. Sievers gave the Sox some good years, averaging 27 home runs, 92 RBI’s and a .295 batting average in two seasons. He had a 21-game hitting streak in 1960 and made the All-Star team in 1961. But Battey, who cried when he was told he was traded, may have won the Sox the pennant in 1964, 1967 or both just by himself (to say nothing of other players shipped out that off season like Johnny Romano, Norm Cash and Johnny Callison.) Battey would go on to make four All-Star appearances and win three Gold Gloves at catcher along with helping the Twins get to the World Series in 1965. Mincher would become a two-time All-Star and help the Twins get to the World Series in 1965 and the A’s in 1972. April 4, 1982 - One of the most highly anticipated opening days in franchise history got snowed out. The Sox were set to host Boston and the organization was expecting a crowd of around 50,000 much like they got for opening day 1981. That got torpedoed when a blizzard hammered the entire Midwest cancelling games for days. 10 inches of snow were recorded at Comiskey Park! The season didn’t begin until April 11 as the Sox took a double-header from the Yankees in New York. April 4, 1983 - The same night North Carolina State upset Houston in the men’s NCAA basketball championship; the Sox opened their Western Division Championship season dropping a 5-3 game at Texas. The Sox scored three times in the top of the first but were handcuffed after that. Errors by rookies Scott Fletcher and Greg Walker were costly to pitcher LaMarr Hoyt. The Sox would drop all three games to the Rangers but rebounded to win 99 games and take the division by a record 20 games. In addition to the game itself White Sox broadcaster and analyst Jimmy Piersall would be fired by the club the next day for his acerbic studio comments concerning the team’s performance on opening night. April 4, 1988 - It was a moment in the sun for Kenny Williams. On opening day, Williams belted a two run fifth inning home run off the Angels Mike Witt to help the Sox to an 8-5 win. Williams would drive in three RBI’s on the afternoon. His other hit that afternoon was a double. April 4, 1994 - The bittersweet shortened season started in Canada with a rematch of the 1993 A.L.C.S. It was Toronto winning this opening day 7-3 beating Jack McDowell, the reigning Cy Young Award winner, just as they did twice in the post season the year before. But by August 11 the Sox were rolling on all cylinders. That’s when the season came to a staggering end because of the labor impasse between the MLBPA and the owners. At the time of the shutdown, the Sox were leading the division and had the fourth best record in baseball at 67-46. April 4, 2005 - The World Championship season got off to a great start as a packed house saw Mark Buehrle and Shingo Takatsu shut out Cleveland 1-0 in a game that took less than two hours! That season the Sox would roar out of the gate at 26-9, the best 35 game start in franchise history. The only run came in the seventh inning when Paul Konerko scored on Aaron Rowand’s hard shot ground ball that was misplayed by the Indians Jhonny Peralta. Over 38 thousand fans were on hand for the game. The Indians only got two hits on the day and Sox pitchers only faced 28 batters, one over the minimum.

I don't think Dick Allen's #15 is retired and you can make a case for him given his impact on and off the field for the franchise.

From the Sun-Times game recap from Friday: "Reinsdorf has not done interviews in years, but he chatted briefly with an ink-stained acquaintance who said he last had spoken with him in a champagne-soaked clubhouse in 2005, when the Sox won the World Series, ‘‘A long time ago,’’ Reinsdorf said. ‘‘But it seems like yesterday. We need better pitching. The rest of the ballclub is OK, but we need pitching. And we need some wins.’’ And the South Side congregation said, ‘‘Amen.’’

That's probably part of it.

Ego and arrogance.

The White Sox know very, very well what "forearm soreness" usually evolves into.

Sox fans have hope and tell JR to "sell the team..." https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/04/03/white-sox-fans-optimistic-on-opening-day-despite-seasons-rocky-start-hope-never-dies

And Horton left in the second inning with forearm soreness.

Always nice to win the home opener. First game this year the Sox won when trailing in the 7th inning or later. Bullpen and fielding are still works in progress.

Can't blame the fans given the state of the franchise.

If I remember right this was being done in the early 90's and then those teams that were in warm weather and or dome sites started complaining about all these April home games while school was still in session so MLB stopped it. My response was "that's too bad" pay those teams x millions of dollars for the "inconvenience." It's better for the game, the athletes and most of all the fans who are paying the freight. Baseball shouldn't be played in 30-40 degree weather. That's insane.

I think JR actually does appreciate it. The problem is that appreciation is focused only on the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Awful AnnouncingJohn Schriffen reportedly in trouble with White Sox over...Embattled White Sox announcer John Schriffen did not please his bosses with his nickname for Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami.

April 3, 1991 – The White Sox signed former two-sport All-Star Vincent “Bo” Jackson to an incentive-loaded contract, with a 700,000-dollar base salary. Division rival Kansas City had released Jackson two weeks earlier, citing a hip injury suffered playing in the NFL with the Raiders that was likely to end his career in both sports. Jackson would have hip replacement surgery and not make a real impact until 1993, when he hit 16 home runs, but the move was a masterful stroke from a public relations standpoint. “Bo” was the first pro athlete to have the type of surgery he did and come back to play at the highest level. April 3, 2000 - The unexpected Central Divisional Championship season didn’t start off promising. The Sox were buried in Texas 10-4. They’d lose the next day as well 12-8. In the two games the Sox would allow 23 hits and commit five errors. But by the end of the month the Sox set the Major League record for the most runs ever scored in April and ‘‘The Kids Can Play,’’ were on their way to a league leading 95 wins and a post season appearance. April 3, 2021 - After going 5 for 5 in his first game of the year (April 2), Yermin Mercedes started his day against the Angels by going 3 for 3, including his first career homer. His eight straight hits to start a season set a modern record (dating back to at least 1900), besting Chris Stynes’ 7-7 start in 1997. Finally, in the eighth inning of the April 3 game, Mercedes was retired, snapping his incredible start. April 3, 2023 – It was the home opener and it turned into a disaster for the White Sox who were hammered by the Giants 12-3 on a cool afternoon before almost 35-thousand fans. San Francisco blasted seven home runs in the game, one short of the all-time record against the White Sox set by the Yankees on July 31, 2007. Michael Kopech became only the third Sox pitcher to ever allow five home runs in a game with four of them coming in the fifth inning. The other Sox pitchers to allow five home runs were Eddie Lopat at Detroit on April 23, 1947 and Reynaldo Lopez on July 27, 2018 against the Blue Jays.

The service time still begins is my point and eventually that translates to free agency. Especially if JR is still walking around.

It always comes down to ownership and money. That's been the bane of this franchise going back to Comiskey.

There could be truth in this. He couldn't possibly ask for what someone with experience or who was coming from another MLB broadcasting team would be able to ask for regarding salary.

I've been thinking about this myself and I'd keep those guys in the minors through the rest of the season. Why start their service clock for another lost season? And what really are they going to learn being in an environment where losing is the norm and the team is basically composed of a number of has-been's, stiffs and retreads? Anything can happen over the winter, you never know Ishbia may be taking over, but over and above this, with the distinct probability of a lockout/shutdown extending into the regular season in 2027, again why bring these guys up, only have them have to sit out part or all of next year? They need experience and the minor leagues at least can keep giving them that in the event a portion or large portion of 2027 is lost. If they play some next year you can bring them up then. Until then, play it safe, keep then in the minor leagues.

Schriffen just wasn't meant for this position. I honestly would like to know what Brooks and JR saw in him when they offered him the job. I spoke with a person in the front office who was involved in these areas and was told a number of more qualified candidates were very interested in the Sox opening. Yet they gave the job to a guy with little to no baseball experience. The decisions these folks make sometimes makes you stop and ask 'what were they possibly thinking?'

https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/white-sox-prospects-team-assignments-to-start-2026-season?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

Here is what every team has available to spend this year on draft picks. Three teams have spent more than they were alloted every season. One of which was the Cubs if I read this properly: https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/mlb-draft-2026-bonus-pool-pick-values?t=mlb-draft-coverage

April 2, 1900 - The White Sox played their first ever game. It would be an exhibition win over the University of Illinois baseball team. The final score was 10-9. That season the American League wasn’t considered a part of Major League Baseball. That would happen the following year. However the Sox would take the pennant on September 12 when they beat the Cleveland Blues 12-4 and 9-1. April 2, 2021 – Now this is how you make a debut! Sox catcher/DH Yermin Mercedes had over two thousand minor league at-bats before finally making the team’s opening day roster. On this night in Anaheim, he had a sensational debut going 5 for 5, with four RBI’s in the 12-8 win. Mercedes had four singles and a double in the game. The last time a rookie had five hits in their first game in the big leagues was in 1933 when Cecil Travis of the Senators did it. Mercedes would go on to have 12 hits in his first four games setting the modern Major League record and be named the American League Player of the Week. April 2, 2023 – As the White Sox were splitting an opening four game series in Houston, the starting pitchers each struck out at least six Astro batters. That was the first time in franchise history that took place. The individual breakdown saw Dylan Cease with 10, Lance Lynn and Lucas Giolito with six each and Mike Clevinger fanned eight. April 2, 2024 – Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet wrote his name in the team record book after throwing seven innings allowing one run and striking out eight in beating Atlanta 3-2 on a raw night at Guaranteed Rate Field. This came off his start against Detroit on opening day where he allowed a single run in six innings striking out eight. It was his first two Major League starts and the 16 total strikeouts were the most ever for a Sox pitcher in the first two starts of his career. He also joined Jack McDowell (1991) and Juan Pizarro (1963) as throwing at least six innings with one or fewer runs and at least six strikeouts in their first two starts of the season.