Lip Man 1

Back in 2002 I originally did an article on SportsVision and the history of that network. With the stories in Fan Graphs and ESPN.com this past summer on White Sox viewership as well as the recent hiring of new Sox play by play TV announcer Jason Benetti I thought it was time to take a fresh look at the subject. In addition I was able to track down and have a talk with one of the original SportsVision announcers, Mike Leiderman to get his memories and opinions on the network. I hope you'll enjoy reading the story and will learn a little bit about the history of that network, which was the first of its kind in the country. Here is the link to it: http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/2016/01/t...f-sportsvision/ Thanks as well to Dan Shapiro for his help with this. Mark

With the way money is literally pouring in to all MLB teams...ANY team that says they 'can't afford' to do something is total unmitigated BS. Period. End of story. The points about ticket sales not being as important today are correct. TV money drives the train (and given the Sox dismal ratings they damn well need to do something and fast before their deal expires in 2019). Just my opinion. Time for the Sox to show some flexibility and tell Cespedes agent "we'll go four years" maybe even include an out clause after two. With Davis signing now is the time to move. Not when it's to late. If you are "all in" (yet again) fine...BE all in. Mark

Guess Davis and Boras weren't so 'stupid' after all given that he's now got a reported 161 million dollar deal. Hope this helps the Sox but we'll see. Mark

QUOTE (ronkark @ Jan 15, 2016 -> 12:05 AM) What I will miss about Alexei: Rifle arm, turning double play, stolen bases. Occasional clutch home run (more in his early years.) The Eaton fives. What I won't miss about Alexei: Inability to draw a walk, zero plate discipline, baserunning blunder, the slow starts. And the Sox continues insistence in trying him in the 2 hole even though he doesn't take pitches, bunt, hit behind runners or do anything befitting a #2 hitter. His 10 million dollar salary. Better spent elsewhere. Well stated. Mark

Story in the Sun-Times today quoted Hawk as saying that 2016 may be his last year as a broadcaster even though he signed the contract extension. Hawk said he told Jerry that and also added that if the Sox have another year like in 2015, he's probably done. Mark

QUOTE (Saufley @ Jan 13, 2016 -> 10:46 AM) Oh yea, with all the talk about the new TV guy I forgot about how bad the radio side is! Have Farmer and DJ been resigned or is a decision on the radio guys still in the works? There are rumors going around that both will be back on the radio side but I've also heard (and I find this a little hard to believe) that it is only on a one year contract though. Mark

Think this will turn out to be a good hire. Growing up a Sox fan will help. He understands the franchise and how the fans feel about it. It was time for new blood to enter into the equation in my opinion. Mark

Orioles can have him. Mark

Speaking of Davis, I found this, this morning on CBS Sportsline. The story is trying to determine which teams may be in on him. This is part of a much larger story as his agent Scott Boras is supposedly saying Davis can play a corner outfield spot:: "A left fielder makes a lot of sense here. The White Sox have a revamped infield around superstar Jose Abreu and the makings of a good rotation around ace Chris Sale. Swinging Melky Cabrera into a platoon with Avisail Garcia puts both players in great position to succeed. Check out last season's numbers: Melky vs. RHP: .286/.331/.417 Garcia vs. LHP: .293/.353/.407 Sure, Upton and Cespedes make more sense, but we'll again go back to Boras selling Davis as a corner outfielder. If that's the case, he makes sense here. And that middle of the order ... 3. Abreu ® 4. Davis (L) 5. Todd Frazier ® ... is pretty scary." Mark

MLB is swimming in revenue. They are a money making machine right now. As Tom Verducci pointed out in S.I. MLB's revenue is up 102% from 15 years ago. Before he left 'Proud to be your Bud' Selig said MLB was now a nine Billion dollar a year industry. Any team crying "poor" is lying through their teeth. Mark

Hopefully this is simply Triple A fodder and nothing more. Sounds like another version of Jordan Danks to me. Also hope this isn't implying anything regarding future plans. Mark

Rosenthal tweeted his sources told him the Sox were not willing to go four years for Gordon. Maybe then will with someone else who is younger? Mark

QUOTE (mmmmmbeeer @ Jan 5, 2016 -> 02:42 PM) God I remember that game....awful. I'm one of the dummies who do think that that game started a slide and JM lost some of his team's confidence. I believe not long after is when JM started rookie Neal Cotts in his first MLB start, at Yankee Stadium against a stacked Yankee lineup while Mark Buerhle, whose turn in the rotation it was, watched from the bench. We lost, badly. And then Buehrle lost the next day against I think an awful Tigers team. Just one of the many "great" decisions by Manager Gandhi (aka Jerry Manuel). Three other notations about 2003 the Twins and the collapse by the Sox. Remember the night before that game Twins coach Ron Washington collapsed and had a serious illness situation. The Twins liked him a lot and all said that was part of their motivation. Take this with a grain of salt because it came from noted Sox hater Justin Morneu but he claimed that in the first game of the do-or die-series in Minnesota a Sox base runner told him, "congratulations on winning the division..." The Sox still had a reasonable chance at that point but again remember who said it. Finally in the series at home the week before Manager Gandhi decided to start Loaiza in the fourth an final game even through he had strep throat and was really sick. Wasn't the best decision unfortunately. Ultimately what cost the Sox in 2003 was the lack of a fifth starter, guys like Mike Porzia, Danny Wright, Neal Cotts and Josh Stewart went a combined 4-11. Kenny wouldn't or couldn't shore up that spot and it cost him and the team dearly. Mark

With the new year having begun I just wanted to remind everyone that over at Sox Net / Chicago Now / Chicago Tribune we are continuing to add new historical notes on the franchise and their history. Dan Shapiro is helping with this and I wanted to give him a shout out. Having been going back to my original notes on the historic dates in franchise history as well as the weird, wacky and wild events that have happened and am trying to provide even more background, quotes and stats for them. There isn't a mention for every day of the year, but close. January and particularly February are the slowest months for this endeavor but things really pick up in March. So I hope you'll take a look (often) and make Daniel and I happy! First historical note for the new year came out on January 4 regarding Ellis Burks. Please feel free to use this thread if you have any comments or memories on any of the events and notes or if you feel something should be added to a date and why. By the way here is the link to the historical page(s): http://www.chicagonow.com/soxnet/ Mark

QUOTE (flavum @ Dec 30, 2015 -> 03:54 PM) When it comes to PEDs, I draw the line at the Mitchell Report. Before that, MLB practically wanted players to take PEDs. I don't condone them, but it was going to happen without a real testing program and putting a stigma on taking them. After the Mitchell Report, there should be Zero Tolerance...just short of a lifetime ban. The party should be over as much as possible. So for Bonds and Clemens, yeah, I'd hold my nose and vote for them. Guys like Sosa and McGwire, I can use my common sense and say they wouldn't have Hall-like numbers without PEDs. Obviously there are tougher calls since we don't know one way or the other (Piazza and Bagwell), but the Steroid Era existed, and they might as well put the best-of-the-best from that era in, and move on. What will be interesting is what happens with David Ortiz? Remember the New York Times named him (and Sammy Sosa) as having failed his 2003 drug test which did not 'count' at the time for punishment by MLB. Mark

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Dec 30, 2015 -> 01:28 PM) Agreeing with Kyle and Bmags. The Hall is dumb. There are probably roiders in the HoF. People used drugs to enhance peformance when it was greenies. And you know what? Who's worse for the game - Barry Bonds or Ty Cobb? One used roids and went from a Hall of Famer to possibly the best ever and the other was a racist that beat up a crippled fan. In fairness to Cobb, it should be noted, that fan had a condition which caused him to spit uncontrollably. Cobb didn't know this and when the guy spit on him because of his condition Cobb reacted as he did. Mark

Which means if he has another good season in 2016 the Sox better be prepared to give him a MAJOR raise because he'll certainly opt out and force the Sox to renegotiate. Something to keep in mind regarding the payroll for 2017 even though Danks and LaRoche will be off the books. Mark

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseba...-source-recants Mark

ESPN has already released a report showing the claim by the individual is false. Completely fabricated apparently. Why anyone would do that is beyond me but you are dealing with people and people do bizarre things. Mark

QUOTE (WBWSF @ Dec 23, 2015 -> 11:30 AM) When the bad guys on the Northside start their own TV station in 2019/2020 this could help (not hurt) the White Sox. From what I know the Cubs are going to have all of their games on their TV station. There won't be any Cubs games on free TV. To the best of my knowledge both the Yankees and Mets don't have any of their games on free TV. I'm told the Cubs are going to go the same route. We'll have to wait and see if this actually happens because if it does it has to hurt the Cubs franchise. The White Sox would be smart to keep some of their games on free TV like they do now. They would be the only baseball team in Chicago on free TV which would be a good thing for the franchise. I would like to think that this could shift some of the balance in fan popularity back to the White Sox. That's interesting and a good point in my opinion. However it would be even nicer if the current CEO of the Tribune was fired and replaced by someone who actually brought back Chicago sports to the Superstation. THAT would increase the Sox nationally and potentially help with their recognition. I got a great laugh out of the fact that the Tribune doofus (who is a Mets fan by the way...) actually pulled the plug on Chicago sports the season the Cubs caught fire. Wonder how much money that cost the Tribune Company? LOL. Mark

Am in the process of editing the final game before the June labor impasse that shut down baseball for two months in 1981. Sox beat the Yankees 3-2. Excellently played game and Harry and Jimmy were at their best. Includes an interview with George Steinbrenner who praised what was going on with the Sox and numerous biting references by Harry and Jimmy about the quality of the equipment they were using from WGN. They also said a few times about how they thought the best equipment was at Wrigley Field because the Cubs played earlier that day and it was also shown on WGN. Just a classic game from a good time to be a Sox fan in Chicago. Mark

The Sox have done a very good job keeping players off the DL. Unfortunately that doesn't mean they haven't had seasons gutted and ruined when the injuries have happened. Think back to 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2010 just to name four of them. The lack of talent over that time period in the farm system and the inability to replace guys when they have gotten hurt cost them dearly so while the numbers are excellent and should be noted, in my opinion, they are somewhat misleading when it comes to the season results. Mark

Anything's possible but to start it would require new ownership with an attitude of actually deciding to 'take on' the Cubs. The current ownership from as far back as when they got control of the team has publicly said time and time again that is not part of their operating philosophy. A lot would have to change (including the Sox actually getting to the playoffs more often then five times in 35 years) for things to begin to turn. The Sox dominated the city from a fan, media and (I assume in this case) advertising standpoint during the "Golden Age" from 1951-1967 but that was a long time ago and I don't think that will return at least in my lifetime. And when the Cubs start their own TV station possibly as soon as 2019, that won't help matters. Mark

Folk: The Sox are looking for a real play by play man not a former player trying to do that. Big difference between play by play and color. Of the names mentioned in one of the most recent posts, Black Jack has fallen out of favor with the organization due to his blog criticisms of how they handled Gordon Beckham's development, Frank has been doing a lot of work for Fox and I don't know if he could fit the Sox in his schedule. Tom is almost as old as Hawk and had recent hip surgery. Huff I can't speak with any knowledge of. Mark

QUOTE (Lillian @ Dec 21, 2015 -> 02:38 PM) I think that is probably true, but once again that is not what I'm saying. I am talking about a general increasing interest in the city's baseball, which is bound to increase interest and attendance on both sides of town, even if disproportionately on the North Side. Please forget about persuading people to switch allegiances. I understand that we are all accustomed to thinking about being a baseball fan, from our passionate perspective. Think about a young person who has no allegiance and no prior interest in baseball. Now, they are curious to experience what all of the excitement is about, in Chicago. If both teams are playing well, and in their respective races, some of these new fans could certainly be Sox fans. To that person, they might look at any number of seemingly irrelevant factors in choosing their team. Maybe their cousin roots for the Sox, or maybe they like the idea of being able to get tickets to the games, or maybe they just like the uniforms better. (Hey, could you blame them?) It's really very simple, and shouldn't touch off any big debate. Having the town get caught up in baseball fever should be a good thing. Management just has to be sure that, in that favorable environment, the team is good enough to be in the conversation. Lillian: We'll see but I don't think what you propose is going to happen. Simply because again, my opinion, there aren't that many of the people you describe around in Chicago, i.e. "young people, no prior interest." And based on the demographics if there are young people like that more than likely they'll be attracted to the "yuppie / up scale / party atmosphere" around Wrigleyville and probably wouldn't be caught dead on the South Side. But we'll see what happens because barring a run of serious major injuries the Cubs are going to be favored at least to win their division and more than likely will. Pittsburgh may be the only team that can challenge them in the near future. Mark