Lip Man 1

Here's Ventura's speech: "Guys thank you for everything. I've resigned. Effective immediately." Mark

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Jul 19, 2016 -> 07:15 AM) Has JR ever fired a GM other than Hawk Harrelson? Seriously, Hahn and KW aren't going anywhere until he passes away and someone else assumes the role as majority owner. So sad and morbid we have to wait for that to finally see changes within upper management and correct all of this mess. It may be a technicality but Hawk wasn't fired, he resigned and then later JR apologized for putting him in that position in the first place. Mark

Sixth game this year the Sox have lost when leading in the 7th inning or later. Two games were lost in the 9th...Robertson blew both of them. Mark

And this my friends is why pitch counts are ruining baseball. No justification, none... for pulling Sale unless he was hurt in some way. Sale is like Jack McDowell was with that 'bulldog' mentality, the odds are very good he wanted to finish the game and possibly throw his second career one-hitter. Are we having fun yet? Mark

"I say one thing, it’s not going to last forever. Nobody needs to stand at their locker and say ‘hey we haven’t scored in as many innings’ but what is there left to do but to go grind your at-bat out and take your chances at it?"---hitting coach Todd Steverson to the Sun-Times. Inspiring words no? LOL. Mark

QUOTE (VAfan @ Jul 18, 2016 -> 08:45 AM) Losing the last series before the break to Atlanta, including a Sale loss when we scored 8 runs, was bad enough. But losing 3 in Anaheim after the break by scoring 1 run in 3 games is really the death knell. There is no hope for this version of the White Sox to compete for anything in 2016. No hope for playoffs. No hope for even a .500 record. Glad I am not in Rick Hahn shoes. He has no good options. They might finish a game or two over .500 but you're right this team isn't going anywhere in October but to a golf course. Mark

As the noted philosopher Kenny Williams has said, "it is what it is..." LOL. Why should we be surprised the Sox play well against teams like Boston, Toronto and Houston then roll over and die against garbage teams and pitchers? Been happening for years. Mark

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Jul 17, 2016 -> 03:23 PM) For all we know Hahn wants to sell and JR won't let him. The organization is a mess regardless of whose most incompetent. There were actually some reports / rumors that Hahn did want to sell at the deadline last year but was over ruled. Again I don't know if that's true or not. Mark

Thad: I'd very much like to interview any of them. I'd be perfectly willing to do so at their convenience as long as no areas were 'off limits.' JR has been known to set boundaries before willing to do interviews in the past from what I've been told by others. Mark

Greg: To add to your post Torborg at least got his feet wet in the major leagues as a manager with a bad Indians team. At least he came into the Sox job with an understanding of things and how to do it at the big league level. Robin had zero experience, never coached or managed a day in his life before he took the Sox on the field opening day, 2012. Mark

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Jul 17, 2016 -> 01:14 AM) I don't see Hahn doing to much different than what KW did. It makes me think that's the only way Reinsdorf wants it. Unfortunately probably a lot of truth to your comment...and you see the results the last nine years. It's simply not working. Mark

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 16, 2016 -> 11:02 PM) He's definitely not going to get an extension. JR is gonna have to give him the bad news after the season. He can get reassigned somewhere if he wants to stay in baseball. Logically you should be right...but these are the White Sox remember. And even if he is let go, what makes you think JR will approve spending big money to bring in a competent manager with a track record? Hasn't happened since Jeff Torborg in 1989. Knowing this organization it'll be another former player trying to "learn on the job." Paging Jim Thome...paging Jim Thome. Mark

Anybody who thinks this team can catch anybody for a wild card is crazy. 11th game lost this year when they allowed the opponent three runs or less. BLOW IT UP (starting with the front office...) Mark

The odds of the Sox making the playoffs this year are either slim or none. Don't trade anybody! Mark

Sox have been shut out twice in a row against last place teams and have been shut out four times in the last 10 games. Fool's errand to "go for it." They have little to no chance yet again. Mark

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Jul 14, 2016 -> 09:58 PM) Standing pat is just a gutless move. Pick a direction and roll with it. We're wasting the careers of our core. This team is f***ed at the deadline because Hahn can't fill in the pieces around this core and has to trade assets each offseason just to make this team halfway competitive; this leaves us without the necessary assets to go get pieces we need at the deadline the past couple seasons. Exactly. Mark

Jose has hurt the team but keep in mind he's still on pace for around 22 home runs and over 100 RBI's. That's not bad. Personally I'll take it. Garcia isn't even producing minor league numbers that are worth a damn and he's still killing the team on the bases and at times in the field. He's a bigger problem than Jose' in my opinion. Mark

Can't believe he's still in the organization. Mark

Two items can be found for July 12 we've got both audio AND video. The first item that has video is a recap of the events from July 12, 1979 - the infamous "Disco Demolition" night at Comiskey Park. It's courtesy of ESPN. Also tied to that item are comments from my interviews with Sox pitcher Donn Pall who was there and Mike Veeck, Bill's son was staged the promotion. The other item from the same link further down the page, is audio from the Home Run hitting contest from July 11-12, 1994 connected with the All Star Game from Pittsburgh. Frank Thomas hit some of the longest shots ever seen reaching the upper, upper deck at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium. Again it's from ESPN with Chris Berman and Joe Morgan announcing: http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/07/t...sco-demolition/ Mark

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 11, 2016 -> 05:35 PM) Wow, never heard about that potential deal. Why is that we always seem to get the best of the Yankees in trades, but very few other teams? Straight from Jeff's mouth: ML: Before we talk about that miraculous 1990 season you were telling me about a trade that Larry Himes said no to before the season began. Had it gone through you wonder what might have happened to the White Sox and the Yankees who offered the deal? What was the trade? JT: “The Yankees wanted to send us Bernie Williams and Hal Morris for Eric King and Steve Lyons. Now think about what would have happened to our team. Morris was a line drive hitter and a good glove man at first, we had Robin at third. Williams and Lance Johnson would have covered a lot of ground in the outfield and Frank would have been the DH. Think we would have won a few games?” Mark

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 11, 2016 -> 04:49 PM) You also have to consider that the Rangers were one of the first teams to enjoy the boom in exploding regional network broadcast deals. Not bad, considering they went from near-bankruptcy due to Hicks' shenanigans around the globe. The Cardinals are a "decent example" because of their limited local market/tv deal, but they've had the best fan/attendance of any team in baseball over the last 20-30 years out of all the "mid/small" market teams. "Best fans in baseball," etc. Cardinals' Way/Cardinals' Nation. Of course, they earned that by being a consistently winning franchise over many generations of players. Right up there with the Yankees on the NL side. Just FYI, the Cardinals signed a deal last year as I recall with Fox Sports Midwest for 15 years at a billion dollars. Not Dodger-like but pretty damn good. Mark

QUOTE (chisoxt @ Jul 11, 2016 -> 03:59 PM) Great Post. We forget how 1990-1994 happened didn't we?. Lip: Wasn't Himes axed because Jerry was up set for him not mortgaging the farms system to improve the 1990 club late in the year? That was part of it. He was pissed off that Larry wouldn't trade any kids for players like Mike Scott who was mentioned as potentially going to the Sox and after the A's claimed both Baines and McGee at the waiver deadline when the Sox could have blocked the move by claiming them, he called jeff Torborg in his hotel room and asked "what's going on?" (Jeff told me that himself. Add in the trade that Himes nixed before the 1990 season opened (Yankess wanted to send Hal Morris and Bernie Williams to the Sox for Steve Lyons and Eric King) and his refusal to let Frank Thomas open the season with the big club plus the personality differences between the two men and a breakup was bound to happen, which it did in mid September. Mark

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 11, 2016 -> 12:18 PM) The main thing about what the Sox are doing—IMO—is little to foul up the long term. I continue to strongly doubt the benefits of a full-on, let's be the worst team style of rebuild, especially for a franchise like the Sox that would seriously lose revenue without at least a little bit of hope. The payroll is in good shape looking forward, you have some nice core pieces and your veterans aren't particularly expensive. Tim Anderson, Carson Fulmer, and Zack Collins are all guys to get excited about. We've been conservatively building the team and I don't see anything wrong with that. I think if there was a big, bold move to make that would really take the team a big step ahead, they'd make it. But I sure haven't seen it available. Heyward? Upton? Alex Gordon? Cespedes seemed to be the worst fit in the offseason but is the only one hitting in the actual season. In the end, it turned out a CF would have been the best fit in the first place. We brought on Frazier and Lawrie at very little expense and nobody is stopping us from flipping them at the deadline a year from now if things aren't looking up. To me, this is the kind of approach we had when we won the WS. The 2005 team was filled with question marks and the direction of the franchise was unclear. But we kept those core guys around and tried to bring on extra talent without mortgaging the franchise. It worked out. Maybe that was just a fluke and it shouldn't be a model for the future, I can't say. Jake: Just my opinion but 2005 was a fluke. Also just my opinion, if the Sox went into a full rebuild mode and lost revenue I don't honestly think that would make much of an impact. I assume you are talking about attendance. With the revenue streams MLB now has, paid attendance isn't that big of a deal. It certainly has a place and it's very nice to have but I don't think it's 'make or break' anymore...not like back say in the 1940's before TV hit it big. Mark

QUOTE (Dunt @ Jul 11, 2016 -> 11:23 AM) I think every Sox fan needs to read this article for some perspective right now. Barring a complete tear after the break, I hope the FO realizes they can't waste the primes of another wave of young talent. Time is now to pick a direction and go 100% in that direction. http://southside.locals.baseballprospectus..._medium=twitter A lot of fans have been telling the Sox to do this, i.e. pick a lane for years. The Sox though have different ideas. "Contend while rebuild" and clap trap like that. I personally don't care what they do rip it up or go for it but if your are going to do either of them you need competent people making the decisions, signing the free agents and making the trades. Many (most?) Sox fans have lost faith that Kenny Hahn are capable of pulling it off. Plus unless the Sox are willing to significantly raise the payroll they aren't going to get the top shelf free agents when they hit the market. The organization is between the rock and a hard place with no real or easy way out. Mark

Well deserved for Chris. Lip