Lip Man 1

My first reaction was the same as many, no real changes. OK...maybe there will be much needed changes with the players we'll see. I also got an interesting e-mail this afternoon while on the bus from a prominent media member in Chicago commenting on a certain aspect of the coaching staff: "Kenny's spies - Boston and Steverson stay" Take it for what it may be worth. Mark

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Oct 14, 2016 -> 02:25 PM) Don't worry, I won't, but thanks for checking in. No, I was simply reacting to Lip's post where he mentioned that Reinsdorf said as much. If it's untrue and he never claimed that trading Koosman was one of his "biggest mistakes as owner", that would be encouraging, given there are many far more franchise-crippling mistakes he's made as owner over the years that make that trade look like nothing at all in comparison. I'm in Flagstaff, Arizona after an all day bus ride for a game Saturday and I can assure you Thad, JR said that publicly. And I understand where he was coming from. Koosman made a HUGE impact on that team at that time. I've talked to guys like Kittle, Law, Paciorek, Fletcher, LaRussa and they have all said the same thing. Mark

Ron Kittle told me the team outright quit in the second half of 1984. Remember they had won seven straight and were in first place at the break. The big difference between 83 and 84 was Jerry Koosman. I had so many guys tell me off that club him not being there was a difference maker. Even JR admitted that was one of his biggest mistakes as owner, letting the Sox trade him for Ron Reed. Koosman was like a second pitching coach, kept players in line and acted as a reassuring voice in the clubhouse when things got tight. Tony LaRussa told me a big part of the reason Bull had a bad 84 and retired was because Kooz wasn't around. They were tight and would drive to the ballpark together. But back to the point, the 84 team had nothing to do with my comment that the 83 team was in my opinion much more talented than the 03 club as the poster originally suggested (i.e. the most talented in franchise history...) But carry on with whatever you are suggesting. Mark

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Oct 13, 2016 -> 11:22 AM) I get goosebumps watching/listening to this. Every single time. That was one of those "am I really seeing this" moments. Mark

It's October 12, 2005 and one of the strangest, most bizarre ways to end a baseball is ready to take place. Yes...it's the A.J. "dropped third strike" game. We've got the audio AND the video of that surreal moment. Announcers are Joe Buck, Tim McCarver and Lou Piniella. Courtesy: Fox Sports. http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/10/t...lls-a-fast-one/ Mark

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Oct 13, 2016 -> 09:46 AM) Was the '03 team really that good? I didn't follow baseball then. They were good but in my opinion not great, certainly not the most talented team in Sox franchise history in my opinion. Mark

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 12, 2016 -> 05:58 PM) The 2006 team won 90 games. The 1984 team is one that absolutely bombed. Who said anything about the 1984 team? And the discussion centered around "on paper" the amount of talent on hand according to the original poster...not on actual results. To wit, here is Buehrle > Wood's original comment: "That team on paper has to be the best team in franchise history." Mark

Frankly no big loss. Mark

A little out of order so I apologize. It is October 7, 2005, the Sox are in Boston and Orlando Hernandez throws perhaps the single most significant inning in Sox post season history as he gets out of a bases loaded, no out jam to help preserve the Sox lead. They'd win the game, sweep the Red Sox in the A.L.D.S. and move on to face the Angels. We've got the audio AND video. Chris berman is the announcer. Courtesy: ESPN2. http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/10/t...es-masterpiece/ Mark

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 12, 2016 -> 06:32 AM) Then name one better. You simply can't come close finding a White Sox roster with the star power they had. Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordonez, Paul Konerko, Carlos Lee, Robbie Alomar, Carl Everett, Jose Valentin and Joe Crede in one lineup is insane. The bench was amazing too. Then you had Colon, Buehrle, Garland and Loaiza during his run for the Cy Young. The bullpen wasn't deep but you had Flash Gordon and Marte pitching in every other game while he was a top 3 reliever in the league. Everyone is aware of the 5th starter struggles but what probably hurt them equally as much was Konerko and Buehrle having really down years. If those two have normal years, the division probably looks a lot different. 2006 team just off the top of my head. I'd also include the 1917 team, the 1964 and 1983 clubs. Again that's off the top of my head without a serious examination. Mark

October 8, 1993 - With the Sox down two games to none in the A.L.C.S. Wilson Alvarez pitched a gem and beat the Blue Jays 6-1. The Sox scored five runs in the third inning which gave him some breathing room. The complete game victory was badly needed and gave Sox fans a reason to keep hoping. We've got the final out of the game as Robbie Alomar popped out. Announcer: Greg Gumbel. Courtesy: CBS Sports. http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/10/t...y-alvarezs-gem/ Mark

Destiny's children friends and neighbors. Oh by the way, this is at least the sixth time, the sixth time since September 1 the Giants took a lead into the 9th inning and lost the game. Their bullpen is worse than the Sox. If Washington wins Thursday I'd feel better about their chances if Strasburg and Ramos were healthy. Giants could have won game #1 if not for Posey's base running blunder and they should have won game #4 but to me the biggest mistake was running Shark out there to start game #2 at Wrigley. There was no way that stiff was going to do well under those circumstances. Mark

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 11, 2016 -> 06:09 PM) That team on paper has to be the best team in franchise history. How they only managed to win 86 games is pretty amazing. Not even close to being on paper the best team in franchise history. And the reason they won only 86 games was because these were the guys the Sox used that year in the back end of the rotation: Dan Wright, 15 games started, 1-7, 6.15 ERA Josh Stewart, 5 games started, 1-2, 5.96 ERA Mike Porzio, 3 games started, 1-1, 6.43 ERA Neal Cotts, 4 games started, 1-1, 8.10 ERA This was the season where Kenny Rogers was a free agent and the Sox were interested in him but when he asked for one million dollars to pitch for them, Kenny thought that was to much and said no. Rogers signed with the Twins, went 13-8, threw 195 innings and I think was the pitcher of record the night Minnesota clinched the division in Chicago. Mark

QUOTE (dpd9189 @ Oct 9, 2016 -> 10:14 PM) There will be many suitors for both guys, Sox should be able to get a nice haul for each guy. Unless of course the Sox "go for it" again and at this point I'd be very surprised if they didn't. JR is not willing to wait five years during a rebuild and last I looked he still owns the team. Mark

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Oct 9, 2016 -> 11:34 PM) I love that Cooper calls out the fans, it shows that he cares about the org. Business 101 says it's never wise to rip on the people paying the freight. Mark

QUOTE (Reddy @ Oct 8, 2016 -> 06:05 PM) Personally I don't think the Sox's problem is superstars. We've got enough of those. Our problem is that below the elite tier, we have NOTHING. Our regulars who aren't stars are practically sub-replacement-level. Where our money needs to be invested is not more older, expensive superstars, but in developing the damn farm, drafting well, and signing decent mid tier guys. I know that's what we've tried to do a lot of, but they keep failing. Is it our scouting dept? I dunno. But whatever it is it needs to get fixed, because we'll never win just by throwing more big money for another superstar, if it means another year of 5 replacement level bats in the lineup. I think you are pretty much on target here. The top seven or eight Sox guys can stack up to most other teams but what absolutely kills them is the crap they run out there at the other positions and when a guy goes down say a mediocre player like Austin Jackson they can't even replace that. The bench is brutal and they have no one on the farm it seems who can come up and help out when a mediocre player goes down...he's just replaced by another minor league mediocre player if that. Yet the Sox have supposedly been developing the farm for the last several years. It's not rock bottom bad anymore but it's still not ready to prdice talent in quantity. How in the hell long does it take and why can other teams seemingly do it overnight (relatively speaking) and the Sox keep spinning their wheels acting like the Keystone Kops? I'll wait for an answer from Buddy Bell for that one! LOL. Mark

QUOTE (Scoots @ Oct 8, 2016 -> 09:52 PM) Jeff Samardzija is so overrated and overpaid. Didn't make it through 3 innings against the cubs...his shortest start ever and his first postseason start. In other words he did exactly what he did in his short stay with the Sox. Mark

QUOTE (Sockin @ Oct 7, 2016 -> 04:00 PM) Buried in Heyman's notes from today is the Sox have offered an extension to Cooper. http://www.todaysknuckleball.com/inside-ba...b-playoff-teams No surprise, he's here as long as JR owns the team (as is most if not all of the front office...) Mark

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 7, 2016 -> 03:29 PM) Wasn't Flowers also terrible throwing out runners this year? He's had trouble for the last few years throwing guys out in addition to the high number of passed balls. He's bad, period. Don't even want the Sox to consider ever bringing him back. Mark

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Oct 7, 2016 -> 11:44 AM) These are just terrific, Lip. Thanks for making the effort to bring these clips to the forum. Always great to go back in time and hear the voices of Sox baseball from years gone by. I really enjoyed Joe McConnell myself, and so it's always nice to get a chance to hear his voice describing an exciting Sox moment from the past. No worries. Glad you enjoy them. Still have a few more weeks of audio clips before calling it a year. Mark

It's October 6, 1959 the Sox are playing the Dodgers in a football stadium transformed to play baseball games in, the L.A. Coliseum. L.A. is a game away from winning the World Series and has Sandy Koufax on the mound. But the Sox stayed alive winning 1-0 in Game #5. The game was saved by a spectacular catch from "Jungle" Jim Rivera in the 7th inning. Rivera made an over the shoulder catch on a blast hit by Charlie Neal with two men on, looking into a murderous background of white shirts. It was one of the greatest catches in World Series history. It's Mel Allen on the call, courtesy: NBC Radio Network. http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/10/t...against-koufax/ Mark

October 5, 1983 - The White Sox are in the playoffs for the first time in 24 years and open the A.L.C.S. in Baltimore beating the Birds 2-1 behind the brilliant pitching from LaMarr Hoyt. Hoyt went the distance on a five hitter and nearly had himself a shutout save for a soft bloop hit by Cal Ripken in the 9th inning. We've got the final out as Hoyt retired Eddie Murray to get the win. Announcer is Joe McConnell. Courtesy: WMAQ Radio. http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/10/t...yts-brilliance/ Mark

Sox get a second chance...we'll see what happens. Mark

Good start but I wish he was outright released. To much temptation if he is still around to bring this stiff back up to pitch terribly in 2017. Mark

QUOTE (Deadpool @ Oct 4, 2016 -> 09:26 PM) Hahn admitted this morning going for it every year isn't working and free agent additions haven't lead to winning. Even if they don't completely blow it up, they're going to do closer to that then "go for it" Maybe...anything's possible. But Kenny Hahn would have to do a tremendous selling job on JR to change his mind. That's not easy but again we'll see. Mark