Lip Man 1

I've never seen a season like the Cubs are having. A pair of 10 game win streaks, then lose 18 of 24, now about to win 11 of 13. With everybody and his brother on the injured list. How the hell are they doing it????????????????????????????

Sorry, that's not happening at least with this individual. Screw them all.

Well the fact that they are in a race where every game could matter even more significantly over time...they may want to rethink that philosophy. Third straight series they had a chance for the sweep and could not close it out. Very frustrating.

SEVEN factoids today: July 1, 1905 - Sox pitcher Frank Owen won both games of a double header at St. Louis. The scores were 3-2 and 2-0. In both games he went the distance and only allowed the Browns seven total hits for the afternoon. He is one of only 47 pitchers in baseball history to accomplish this feat, (i.e. two complete game wins in a single day) which generally happened in the early part of the 20th century. July 1, 1910 - The Sox opened the original Comiskey Park and lost 2-0 to the St. Louis Browns. Within three days of the first game, three Sox players were sidelined with injuries thus beginning, in the minds of some, a “Curse of the Comiskey’s” or “White Sox Curse.” Sox owner Charles Comiskey felt he had cursed his club because he broke a traditional Irish belief of 'never on Friday' which was the day of the week the stadium opened. Infielder Lena Blackburne stroked the first two Sox hits in their new stadium; both were singles off of Barney Pelty. July 1, 1920 - Future Hall of Fame catcher Ray “Cracker” Schalk was honored with his own day. The ceremony took place before a double header with the St. Louis Browns. The Sox split the two games winning the opener 3-2 in 11 innings, losing the second 4-1. Schalk officially went 1 for 4 in the twin bill with an RBI. July 1, 1962 - The Sox set the A.L. record for sacrifice flies in an inning as they got three in the fifth inning as part of a 7-6 win over the Indians at Comiskey Park. It was the second game of a double header with the Sox winning both contests. Juan Pizarro, Nellie Fox and Al Smith did the honors. The Sox were able to accomplish this feat because Indian’s outfielder Gene Green committed errors on two of the fly balls. They took the first game 5-4. July 1, 1990 - On the 80th anniversary of the opening of Comiskey Park, the Yankees Andy Hawkins threw a no-hitter. Except for one small problem....he LOST the game 4-0! The Sox got all their runs thanks to back-to-back fly ball errors courtesy of Jim Leyritz and Jesse Barfield in the eighth inning. Leyritz’s error was the back breaker as it came on a fly ball off the bat of Robin Ventura with the bases loaded with two out enabling three runs to come home. The Sox Greg Hibbard matched Hawkins pitch for pitch in the early going as he also had a no-hitter through the first five and a third innings. July 1, 1991 – Thanks to a Carlton Fisk home run in the 10th inning the Sox beat Minnesota at the Metrodome 5-4. It was the franchises 7,000th win. Bobby Thigpen, the fifth Sox pitcher of the game picked up the win. July 1, 2006 – Just six weeks after Cub catcher Michael Barrett sucker punched him at home plate in a White Sox dominant win, A.J. Pierzynski struck again. With the White Sox trailing, 6-5, with two runners on and down to their last out, Pierzynski clubbed a home run onto Sheffield Avenue to put the White Sox up, 8-6. It came off of Ryan Dempster. Bobby Jenks closed it out with a 1-2-3 ninth for his 25th save. Immediately after the home run Cub fans in the outfield bleachers delayed the game by tossing garbage onto the field which caused numerous members of the grounds crew to have to come out and clean the warning track area up.

When the bottom two hitters in your lineup drive in six runs, you're having a good night!

Four factoids today: June 30, 1978 – Former Sox outfielder Larry Doby was named manager replacing Bob Lemon. Doby became the second minority manager in Major League history after Frank Robinson. His tenure would be short. He was fired at the end of the season, replaced with Don Kessinger. The Sox record under him was 37-50. June 30, 1988 - After years of saying that the original Comiskey Park was outdated, Sox owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn came very close to moving the team to the Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg, Florida area. At the stroke of midnight, the Illinois General Assembly passed a bill allowing the construction of a new stadium, thus saving the Sox. Technically it was past midnight but Illinois Governor Jim Thompson actually stopped the clock in the meeting room since no bills could be passed after that time period and when the final vote was taken it was past the witching hour. But it was a close call. Minutes before House and Senate members walked into their chambers late that Thursday, leaders from both parties predicted that the 150-million-dollar Sox stadium bill would fail, leaving the Sox no choice but to leave the South Side for St. Petersburg, Florida. House Republicans left their caucuses, saying they had only five votes for the package. Their Democratic counterparts said only 50 votes could be mustered. And Senate Democrats said they had only 10 votes in favor of the deal. But a few minutes before midnight, Senate Democrats ratified the measure by gathering 30 votes. The House then passed the measure by a 60-55 vote. Meanwhile Florida baseball fans were stunned as they realized they had been used as a pawn to get a new facility by the power brokers and politicians of Chicago. The new stadium built with taxpayer money would open its doors on April 18, 1991. June 30, 2008 - White Sox outfielder Nick Swisher became only the second player in franchise history to homer from both sides of the plate, twice in the same season, when he hit two in a 9-7 win over Cleveland. Swisher did it the first time a few weeks earlier in a game against the Twins. Only Jose Valentin had ever done that before and he did it three times between 2000 and 2003. One of Swisher’s home runs was a grand slam as he drove in five runs on the night. June 30, 2015 – When Chris Sale struck out the Cardinals Jhonny Peralta in the sixth inning of a game the Sox would eventually win 2-1 in 11 innings at St. Louis; it marked the eighth consecutive start that he fanned 10 or more hitters. That tied Sale with Pedro Martinez for the longest streak in baseball history. The stretch for Sale started on May 23 against the Twins and he fanned 97 batters. Even though Sale was overpowering, the White Sox offense was so weak that his record in those eight starts was three wins, three losses and two no-decisions.

Maybe...and he may also be thinking 'I want to continue to leave as much money possible for my family because I am 90 and won't be around forever...' I hope your version is right but again this is JR so who knows?

First win against the Orioles in a long time. Great way to start an important road trip.

A rarity for today, just one factoid: June 29, 1995 – With a 22-hit barrage, the White Sox ran their winning streak to seven games in a 17-13 slugfest at County Stadium over the Brewers. Robin Ventura led the way, going 5 for 6 by starting with four singles, then adding a solo shot in the top of the ninth for Chicago’s 17th run. The third baseman scored four times and drove in three. Things got heated in the middle of the game; remember, the Phil Garner Brewers and Terry Bevington White Sox detested one another. After Ray Durham hit a three-run homer in the top of the sixth to put the White Sox up, 13-6, Bill Wegman drilled Ron Karkovice in the ribs with a 3-0 pitch. Wegman was ejected immediately, and Garner got the boot for whining about it, as the benches emptied. But it only got weirder from there. In the bottom of the ninth, up 17-10, Bevington inserted absolutely wild (two walks per inning) Rob Dibble into the game in garbage time. Dibble whistled his first pitch right under pinch-hitter Pat Listach’s chin, igniting an all-out brawl and the ejections of both Dibble and Listach.

It seems like since the Yankee series the Sox have been getting hurt by a lot of bloop hits. Pitchers making good pitches but the hitters are just getting enough of a piece to put the ball in play and they are falling in.

Fair enough. Then the fact that they have struggled on the road having lost 13 of their last 18 games comes into the equation. Let's hope they turn that around this week. This stretch of seven games is important.

Because money spent this year coupled with who knows how much lost revenue next year is an issue, possibly for JR. And when he set the payroll number for this year over last winter, it was rumored that a lockout was a possibility, now it's almost a certainty, That could, notice I said could, change his thinking. Remember with JR the three rules are: money, money and money. I hope the Sox do something but my guess is, it won't be a game changer.

Rentals mean additional salary for this year and with the lockout coming JR may say "no, period" to any salary increases for this season because of the ramifications the lockout will have on next year and his operating income. I'd hope he'd allow something if the Sox are still in it but this is JR remember.

The official Sox website has no update on him since May 24. They posted that Bush had a setback updated on May 24. Berroa hasn't had any updates since May 17 with his new injury. Frankly I'm not counting on any of those guys for this season.

Yes, next week is going to be big. Remember last year they didn't win a single game all season either in Baltimore or Cleveland. Winning at least three on the road trip would be fine by me. The question is can they do that?

We'll find out soon enough. The wild card of course is the labor situation and probable loss of significant income next year, if there is one.

Four notations today: June 28, 1941 - White Sox infielder Don Kolloway became the only White Sox player to steal second, third and home in the same inning. Kolloway pulled this off in Cleveland as part of a 6-4 Sox win. His base-stealing feat took place in the ninth inning. He also homered twice — his first two career Major League home runs — and is the only Major Leaguer in history to have two homers and four steals in a game. He also scored four times in the afternoon contest. June 28, 1973 - The ill fortunes of the team really came into focus, as by the time the summer ended, a team that was in first place for two months, wound up placing 38 names on the injured list. Among the key injuries were Ken Henderson tearing up his knee sliding into home plate, Bill Melton suffering a groin injury, Carlos May had a bad hamstring, Brian Downing wrenched his knee on his first Major League play and was lost until August diving to catch a foul pop up and Pat Kelly having a bad back. But the most damming injury occurred in Anaheim on the day listed above with the Sox a game out of first place. Dick Allen suffered a broken leg when Mike Epstein crashed into him on a play at first. Allen was stretching to grab a wild throw from third baseman Bill Melton in the sixth inning of a game the Sox would win 2-0. Here’s where it really got strange.....the injury took place just a little over 10 years after Sox first baseman Joe Cunningham suffered a broken collarbone against the same team on the same type of play (a wild throw) with the Sox in first place! June 28, 1993 - In the first of what would become a series of major public relations disasters, the White Sox released Carlton Fisk on the road in Cleveland. Fisk accompanied the team to Ohio only to be told of his release before the game. No question, Fisk was finished as a player, but the fans and media were outraged at the way the Sox handled the situation. In fact, the Sox sent faxes to the media announcing the move, not even having the courtesy to hold a press conference. Fisk, the future Hall of Famer, had to say his goodbyes to his former teammates from the stands at Municipal Stadium during that evening’s game before returning to Chicago. June 28, 2003 - In front of the biggest regular season crowd (46,027) ever to see a game at new Comiskey Park (and thus the biggest regular season crowd in Chicago in the 21st Century), the White Sox exacted some revenge. The South Siders had dropped two of three games a couple of weeks earlier at Wrigley Field, and turned it around for a 12-9 win to open the second Crosstown Classic series at U.S. Cellular Field. The game was marked by the fifth-biggest comeback in White Sox history, having fallen behind, 8-0, before mounting a comeback. The Cubs mauled starter Dan Wright for eight runs (seven earned), bouncing the righthander from the game with two outs in the third. From there, however, the White Sox bullpen locked the Cubs down while the offense went to work on Cubs hurler Kerry Wood. A two-run homer by Paul Konerko with two outs in the fifth had halved the lead to 8-4 — and it got even worse for the Cubs in the sixth. With Wood bumped from the game, Ray Durham had a run-scoring single and Frank Thomas a sac fly, with Magglio Ordonez tying the game at 8-8 with a two-run single. The capper? Konerko drove home Ordonez with a second two-run homer, putting the White Sox up for good, 10-8. Konerko’s performance was an all-time best in Crosstown play, getting on base five times (two homers, double, single, hit-by-pitch) and never being retired.

Breaks everything down: Doubling the 2026 White Sox's numbers at the halfway poin...At the mathematical halfway point, the 2026 White Sox are on pace to finish 86-76. An entire half of work remains, but as long as they sit in a postseason spot, they’re free to play the “nobody believ

Notation in the Sun-Times today that Pereira still hasn't begun baseball activities yet.

12th time the Sox trailed in the 7th inning or later and won the game.

I go back to a comment Mike Ditka once said, "If you can score 40 on us, go ahead. It's our fault because we let you do it."

Five factoids today: June 27, 1910 – The White Sox lost the final game played at their original ballpark, South Side Park III (39th Street Grounds). Cleveland knocked them off, 7-2, in front of just 4,300 fans. Fred Olmstead started the last game for the Sox but only lasted one inning giving up four runs. In fact the Sox didn’t score at all until the last inning in the original park getting two home in the ninth. Just four days later, the White Sox returned home and unveiled “The Baseball Palace of the World,” Comiskey Park. They lost that game as well, 2-0, to the St. Louis Browns, in front of 24,900 fans. June 27, 1922 - Catcher and future Hall of Famer, Ray “Cracker” Schalk became the first White Sox player to hit for the cycle when he did it against the Tigers in Detroit at Navin Field. The Sox would win 9-5 with Ray going 4 for 4 with two runs and two RBI’s. The hits were a home run in the third, triple in the fourth, single in the seventh and double in the ninth inning in that order. June 27, 1958 - He came so close to perfection. Sox left hander Billy Pierce fired four one-hitters in his brilliant career, but he never came closer than on this night to baseball immortality. With two out in the ninth inning, Pierce lost a perfect game as the Senators Ed Fitz Gerald, a pinch hitter, doubled down the first base line on the first pitch thrown. The hit was fair by a foot off a low outside breaking ball just past Ray Boone. The crowd at Comiskey Park stared in disbelief. The Sox won 3-0 but Pierce never came closer to pitching the ultimate masterpiece. On the night the Senators only hit six balls out of the infield. Pierce struck out nine and only went to a three-ball count on two hitters. The game took 1:46 to play and was Billy’s third straight shutout. He was looking to become the first left-handed pitcher to throw a perfect game in the modern era. Another historical oddity… Fitz Gerald’s grandfather was an important businessman in Milwaukee, including the shipping industry. Years later a ship would be named after him. The name of the ship? The Edmund Fitz Gerald. (Cue the song from Gordon Lightfoot!) June 27, 1967 - It was one of the most bizarre individual plays in White Sox history. The Sox were at Baltimore and in the last of the fourth inning of a scoreless game the O’s Frank Robinson slid hard into second baseman Al Weis trying to break up a potential double play on a ball hit by Brooks Robinson. Robinson’s head slammed into Weis’s knee briefly knocking him out. The next day he woke up with double vision and missed a month. Weis meanwhile had his knee torn up and his season ended because of the contact. While both players were lying on the ground Sox right fielder Ken Berry noticed that time had never been called and Frank wasn’t on the base! He ran in, picked up the baseball and tagged him with it. Second base umpire Nestor Chylak called Robinson out. Officially it went into the books as a force out; third to second to first to right field. The Sox behind Joe Horlen would win the game 5-0. June 27, 2004 - The first of the on-field steps that would eventually lead to a World Series title took place on this day as the Sox acquired starting pitcher Freddy Garcia from the Mariners for catcher Miguel Olivo and outfielder Jeremy Reed. Some fans anguished over the loss of five tool prospect Reed, but no one was complaining after Garcia helped close out the Astros the following October to clinch the first championship in 88 seasons. Freddy would go on to win 55 games for the Sox in two different stints. In each of his three full years with the team, 2005, 2006 and 2010 he’d win at least 12 games.

That's generally how it seems to work. Hope they saved a few things for tomorrow! LOL This was fun tonight though, nice to see a laugher.

Correct. And JR has made it very clear he expects his family to keep the Bulls (because the NBA has a salary cap...BIG surprise eh?) and sell the Sox.

It was announced on Friday that Lukas and Samantha Walton have acquired a minority interest in both the Bulls and the United Center, but it will change nothing as far as the controlling interest the Reinsdorfs have in the team.https://chicago.suntimes.com/bulls/2026/06/26/reinsdorfs-new-investors-bulls-and-united-center