Lip Man 1

Two factoids today: May 27, 1994 - Wilson Alvarez was masterful in extending his winning streak to a then club-record tying 15 games. The Venezuelan left-hander fired a six-hit shutout at the Baltimore Orioles in the White Sox 3-0 win at Comiskey Park. The win was the last in Alvarez’s streak which began on August 24, 1993. Darrin Jackson doubled in a run in the first, Tim Raines sacrifice fly brought home a run in the seventh and Frank Thomas homered in the eighth. Alverez’s streak would end on June 7 at Comiskey Park when he was bombed by the Blue Jays in a 9-5 loss only going three innings giving up six runs. May 27, 2017 – The White Sox scored a coup and surprised the baseball world by announcing the signing of 19-year-old Cuban outfield prospect Luis Robert to a minor league contract. Robert’s deal included a stunning 26 million dollar signing bonus. Robert was on the radar of Major League teams since he was 15 years old because of his speed, power and compact swing. He was considered one of the top amateur players in the world and represented a significant addition as the White Sox were rebuilding a franchise that had grown stale and had limited success on the field and in the stands. He had a tremendous 2019 minor league season and then signed a long-term contract extension with the Sox before making his big-league debut in 2020 where he won a Gold Glove and finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting. Injuries slowed his development in both 2021 and 2022 but he had a breakout year in 2023 with 38 home runs, 36 doubles, 80 RBI’s and 20 stolen bases. Unfortunately injuries in the following seasons returned which hampered his production. He was eventually traded to the Mets before the 2026 season began…and promptly suffered a herniated disc in his back which landed him on the injured list yet again.

Wasn't sure where to put this, decided here was the best place because it included Schultz going to the IL. From Sox Machine: "Speaking of pain, the White Sox announced that last year's first-round pick Billy Carlson will need four-to-six weeks to heal a non-displaced (that's better than displaced) fracture in the tip of his left thumb, suffered while scoring in a game with Low-A Kannapolis on Saturday." And... Hays was scratched from Charlotte's game on Tuesday because of continuing soreness in his hamstring/leg.

Yes, especially when it concerned Ramirez.

Yep...obviously time hasn't solved this for him. Too bad, Sox had high hopes that eventually he could become a key piece. He may have to change some things with his delivery which is always dicey.

Five factoids today: May 26, 1959 – Sox owner Bill Veeck was always good for a crazy stunt but this one topped the cake. Before a game against the Indians, little people dressed up as Martians ‘landed’ at Comiskey Park (via helicopter) and ‘captured’ Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio. One of the midgets was Eddie Gaedel. Terms were discussed for releasing the two Sox players when the Martian leader, (Gaedel) said "Don’t bother taking me to your leader (Veeck), I’ve already met him." Gaedel, of course, came up to bat for Veeck’s St. Louis Browns in 1951. May 26, 1968 - In an effort to jump start a stagnant offense, Sox manager Eddie Stanky batted pitcher Gary Peters in the #6 slot in a game in New York. Peters who had 19 career home runs, was listed in the order ahead of Luis Aparicio, Duane Josephson and Tim Cullen. The move didn’t help though as the Sox lost 5-1 to Mel Stottlemyre. Peters went 0 for 2 in the contest as the Sox only managed four hits. May 26, 1976 - Recently acquired pitcher Ken Brett nearly threw a perfect game and then a no-hitter, only to lose it on a controversial ruling by the official scorer. In a night game in Anaheim, Brett had a perfect game for almost eight complete innings before walking Leroy Stanton. Then with two out in the ninth inning of a scoreless game, Jerry Remy hit a ground ball that Sox third baseman George Orta badly misplayed, with the ball going under his glove. Official scorer Don Merry of the Long Beach Independent Telegram called it a hit. Other writers disagreed with the ruling, the Sox players were incensed and radio broadcaster Harry Caray went crazy on the air but the decision stood. Former Sox player Bill Melton would get a clean single with one gone in the 10th inning ending the controversy. The Sox would finally win it 1-0 in 11 innings on a single by Russell “Bucky” Dent. It was their 10th straight victory. May 26, 1996 - For the first time in franchise history the Sox hit four home runs in an inning. It happened in a 12-1 rout over the Brewers at Comiskey Park. In the eighth inning Frank Thomas, Harold Baines, Robin Ventura and Chad Kreuter all found the seats. Thomas, Baines and Ventura went back-to-back to back. The first three home runs were hit off Mike Potts, Kreuter went deep off former Sox pitcher Ramon Garcia. May 26, 2025 – Needing starting pitching, the White Sox picked up Adrian Houser who was released by the Mets earlier in the month. On this day Houser etched his name in the Sox record book by becoming only the fourth hurler in team history to allow no runs and pitch at least six innings in his first two starts with the club. He joined Frank Baumann (1960), Jack Lamabe (1966) and Johnny Cueto (2022) to do this. His teammates weren’t giving him a lot of help either, in the two starts they scored a total of two runs and he was fortunate to come out of it with a win at least.

Meanwhile regarding the Bears: https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears-stadium/2026/05/26/bears-stadium-megaproject-bill-cook-county-treasurer-analysis

https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/05/25/i-dont-feel-like-im-a-major-leaguer-rikuu-nishida-humble-despite-successful-debut

A solid win to cap a nice holiday weekend. It wasn't easy but then again it usually isn't with these guys.

Offered without comment, from my November 2022 story on the State of the Sox where I spoke with a half dozen sources connected to the organization in various ways: On the constant injuries “Alan Thomas (Author’s Note: Thomas was the Director of Strength and Conditioning) was let go because his son was draft eligible and he was told the Sox no longer wanted to draft sons of members of the organization. Turns out his kid is playing center field for the Diamondbacks. I’m not saying he’d be playing center field for us but he’s good enough to be in the Major Leagues. I don’t know the new guy they brought in, but guys are getting hurt left and right.” (Author’s Note: I had heard Thomas disagreed with the results of the Sox injury study conducted last winter which was never released to the media or public. I was told he felt the Sox issues were only caused by the COVID restrictions. “The Sox play checkers where others teams play chess” when it comes to injury prevention, conditioning, nutrition, sleep schedules is a phrase I had heard mentioned.) “The White Sox playing shorthanded started in 2007 when Jermaine Dye got hurt and Kenny Williams refused to call up Brian Anderson or Ryan Sweeney. Maybe they were cheap, maybe they wanted to protect Herm’s record of keeping guys off the DL.” (Author’s Note: Herm Schneider was the Sox longtime head trainer and for years the Sox were among the league leaders in keeping players healthy.) “Jake Peavy made the comment one time, ‘They have no reservations about playing shorthanded.” “You know about Mike Reinold right? (Author’s Note: Reinold is the White Sox Senior Medical Advisor) He was fired by the Red Sox because he was injecting players with Toradol.” (Author’s Note: Bleacher Report had a story on this situation published in February 2013. Here is the link to that story: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1530943-ex-red-sox-trainer-mike-reinold-injected-players-with-controversial-substance) “Given the inordinate amount of soft-tissue injuries they have had you’d think that they would do a complete change in the training, conditioning and nutritional areas.” I'll let others again reiterate their comments about guys being rushed back, Robert playing with basically one arm et al.

Five factoids today: May 25, 1924 - In a game at Washington which the Sox won 10-9, future Hall of Famer Ray “Cracker” Schalk caught his 1,500th career game. At the time of his retirement in 1929, Schalk had the third-most games caught all-time and second-most games caught in A.L. history. May 25, 1952 - Sox pitchers Joe Dobson and Marv Grissom both fired complete game shutouts in beating the Tigers in a double header at Comiskey Park. The Sox won the games by the scores of 3-0 and 1-0. For the afternoon Detroit only had eight total hits. Grissom would later become the White Sox pitching coach under manager Eddie Stanky. May 25, 1957 - Sox pitcher Dick Donovan hurled a one-hitter at Cleveland striking out four. Donovan allowed only a second inning double to right field from former Sox infielder Eddie Robinson in winning 4-0. He beat future teammate Early Wynn. May 25, 1973 – It was the beginning of the end for what was expected to be a stellar season. In the second inning of a game with the Indians, Sox outfielder Ken Henderson tore up his knee in a collision at home plate trying to slide through future Sox pitching coach Dave Duncan. The Sox at the time were 10 games over .500 at 24-14 with a two and a half game lead in the division. This injury started a run that saw the Sox use the injured list 38 times in 1973. Making matters worse, is that for some reason, the Sox refused to allow Henderson to have it operated on until September, meaning he was lost for the season, not that it would have made much difference considering all the other injuries that happened. The Sox would end 1973 with a record of 77-85. Remarkably he came back to play all 162 games in 1974 though and blasted 20 home runs with 95 RBI’s. May 25, 2009 – In a 17-3 blowout over the Angels, shortstop Alexei Ramirez recorded four hits in the first four innings of the game! He became the first Sox player to do that since catcher Sherm Lollar back on June 26, 1960 against Boston. Ramirez went 4 for 7, with three runs scored and three RBI’s in the night game in Anaheim.

This didn't really "fit" anywhere but I thought it was interesting and may be a possible outcome when Ishbia takes control: Awful AnnouncingSuns owner Mat Ishbia defends keeping local broadcasts ov...Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia defended keeping local game broadcasts on free, over-the-air television rather than cable.Perhaps the Ishbia's aren't as 'bad' as some seem to think they are?

From the feature I did on the history of SportsVision: One Man Remembers Mike Leiderman came to Chicago in the late 70’s working at WMAQ-TV doing sports then went on to host “PM Magazine”. But his heart was still in sports and when the opportunity came to go to SportsVision as the main anchor (Duane Dow, formerly of WLS-TV sports, worked weekends) he jumped at it. “I was talking with a station in Cleveland about hosting a morning show along the lines of what Phil Donahue was doing when SportsVision became an option,” he told me. “Merle Harmon, who did the Milwaukee Brewers for years, was the first anchor but he left and they wanted a replacement. They were paying real money and offered me a good deal so I signed up with them. I was contracted to work 200 days a year for them so that left me opportunities to do play by play and other things. My family and I loved Chicago and we wanted to stay here. It also gave me an opportunity to keep doing what I loved, which was sports. Even though it was new we just didn’t think about not making it. Everyone who worked there realized it was going to be a slow growth process.” But ownership apparently did not and on December 31, 1983 the plug was pulled on it. It was a group decision to sell back the rights among the owners of SportsVision which included Einhorn, Reinsdorf, Chicago Sting owner Lee Stern and Bill and Arthur Wirtz of the Blackhawks. Leiderman was asked when employees began to suspect something wasn’t right and issues were developing. “It was about the time we starting seeing ads in newspapers for decoder boxes!” he said laughingly. “Instead of paying for the converter box and the hook- up fees people were just buying those boxes for like 10 dollars and watching at home. It was problematic for us.” The fact that people were buying those boxes did provide perhaps the most memorable line in the entire SportsVision experience. It came on December 31, 1983 during the final show. Leiderman was hosting with Sox co-owner Eddie Einhorn as his guest. Mike looked into the camera and said, “Those who are watching us in the piracy of their homes…” as Einhorn started to laugh. “To this day when I see Eddie he’ll bring up that line”, Mike told me. Leiderman also was the last person to be on a TV set with Sox announcer Jimmy Piersall who was fired after his on-air comments after the Sox lost opening night in Texas back on April 4, 1983, by the score of 5-3. “Greg Walker started at first that night. He was a rookie then. Texas’ infield was as hard as concrete and he made a few errors and didn’t handle a few other balls that were generously scored as hits. Jimmy and I were back in the studio and we went live between innings. I was setting Jimmy up for his analysis and he was just merciless with his comments. He was ripping Walker, Jerry Reinsdorf, and the Sox organization. I actually went back to the control room and asked ‘what should I do? Should I challenge him? What?’ They said ‘just let him go.’ He was fired the next day.” Asked if he had any regrets Leiderman said, “No, I don’t regret it. We were the first station in the country devoted totally to our teams, we weren’t at the mercy of anything else, we were different, unique and you look around today and you realize all the regional sports channels started with us. I enjoyed it, worked with great people and it enabled me to stay in Chicago. I’m thankful for that.” How to sum up the experiment known as SportsVision? Well you could do a lot worse than to say, ‘a brilliant idea that simply was ahead of its time.’

Update on possible future call up's/help: https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/05/24/white-sox-prospects-jacob-gonzalez-braden-montgomery

Another lost bullpen season it appears.

You completely lost me on this one.

Unless the pitching somehow gets much better (being healthy would be a good start) it's hard to see how they can actually stay in the race even in the mediocre Central Division. On paper the Phillies, Braves, Dodgers and Yankees should have field days against them.

SIX factoids today: May 24, 1929 - In one of the greatest pitching performances in the history of baseball, Sox starter Ted Lyons threw all 21 innings in a heartbreaking 6-5 loss to the Tigers. He allowed 24 hits in the 21 innings and faced an incredible 85 hitters. His opponent that day, George Uhle, pitched 20 innings and faced 79 batters himself. Only five other pitchers ever threw more innings in a game, none by Sox pitchers. May 24, 1946 - Sox manager Jimmy Dykes was fired by the organization. Dykes was in charge for 12 years, 13 days, the longest tenure in franchise history. His White Sox record was 899-940. The 899 wins is the franchise’s most ever by a manager. He also was involved in a footnote that could have changed White Sox and baseball history. In March 1938, the White Sox played a benefit exhibition against the Pasadena Sox, a group of young players from that California city. Holding forth on the local team was a 19-year-old black youth who made several brilliant plays. Dykes said, “Geez, if that kid was white, I’d sign him right now.” In March of 1942, Dykes allowed the phenom and another black baseball player, Nate Moreland, to try out for the White Sox. He sent them away without an offer. Perhaps he allowed the tryouts only to deflect racial criticism, since no Major League team had yet expressed any positive attitude toward integration. In any event, nothing came of it. How history might have changed if he had been able to offer a contract to that phenom, a lad named Jackie Robinson! May 24, 1961 - For the first time since the 1950 season the Sox dropped into last place in the American League for a time after they lost a double header in Baltimore 5-3 and 6-4. The plight of the Sox actually caused some Chicago aldermen in city council session to publicly ask what was going on. The Sox would rebound though to end the year in fourth place with 86 wins. May 24, 1967 - Sox first baseman Tommy McCraw had his career day. In a game at Minnesota, McCraw slammed three home runs and knocked in eight RBI’s as the Sox pounded the Twins 14-1. On the day he went 3 for 6, with three runs scored. The eight RBI’s, tied a franchise record. May 24, 1983 - The 1983 season turned around completely on this evening as the White Sox destroyed Boston and pitcher Doug Bird 12-4. Bird, who hadn’t lost a game in two years, was roughed up as the Sox blasted five home runs on the night. Greg Luzinski hit one of them which was his fifth shot in five games. It was the start of the drive that would lead, four months later, to the Western Division championship and 99 wins. May 24, 2011 - Sox outfielder Carlos Quentin wrote his name in the franchise record book when he hit three home runs in a game against the Rangers. Quentin hit them before and after a rain/high wind delay of almost three hours which caused the game to end at 1:27AM local time. He went 3 for 5 on the night with five RBI’s in the Sox 8-6 win.

From Sox Machine's recap: *Fedde in May: 16 IP, 28 H, 18 R, 18 ER, 7 HR, 9 BB, 9 K. It'd look a lot more like the end if there were an obvious candidate to replace him.

The problem is there really aren't any good answers. The guys who had TJS last year still aren't ready or they are hurt yet again. Smith is hurt, McDougal is hurt, it's only May so you probably can't trade for anybody and remember JR is still running the show and doesn't want to spend money. Sox are between a rock and a hard place. So what else is new?

Fedde and Leasure have not been good.

Two factoids today: May 23, 1954 - The Sox quest to find a competent third baseman appeared to be at an end as G.M. Frank Lane sent infielder Grady Hatton and $100,000 dollars to Boston for All-Star George Kell. It was the first time the Red Sox had sold a player outright since the “Babe” Ruth deal. Kell’s best year was 1955 when he hit .312 with 81 RBI’s. However, he had a bad back which limited his playing time and he was traded to the Orioles early in 1956 as part of a six-player deal. May 23, 2024 – Over the decades when it came to the White Sox facing the Orioles you could almost always count on something strange, bizarre or unusual taking place at some point with the result usually costing the Sox an opportunity to win. On this night at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Sox had scored four runs in the ninth inning and had the tying runs on base, trailing 8-6 when the game ended in one of the strangest ways possible. Andrew Benintendi hit a pop up in the infield. Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson drifted over to make the play when base runner Andrew Vaughn was called for interference even though Henderson had plenty of time to make the catch. It ended the game as Henderson was credited with an unassisted double play!

Cleveland doing Cleveland things yet again, they really have a solid organization.

In Giants BP he was hit in the back by a ball and has a bruise.

Four factoids today: May 22, 1928 - Sox center fielder Johnny Mostil tied former center fielder Oscar “Happy” Felsch with an A.L. record 12 chances in a 4-3 win over the Indians. Mostil took advantage of a cavernous Comiskey Park center field to grab 10 fly balls (including all three outs in the top of the third) among all the chances. Mostil also initiated an inning-ending double play in the top of the sixth, snagging a liner off the bat of future Sox player Luke Sewell. As if scampering deep to center and into left and right field for fly balls wasn’t enough of a testament to Mostil’s speed and quickness, he also scored the eventual winning run on a wild pitch by George Uhle — from second base! Mostil also had three hits on the day, scoring two runs. May 22, 1977 - Richie Zisk became only the second Sox player in franchise history to hit a home run into the center field bleachers under the exploding scoreboard at Comiskey Park. He joined Dick Allen (1972) as the only Sox players to ever accomplish it. Zisk’s blast off the Tigers Dave Rozema in the eighth inning didn’t help the Sox win however. They got beat 14-3 despite recording 12 hits on the day. May 22, 1990 - Sox catcher Carlton Fisk struck a blow for baseball traditionalists. Fisk got into a verbal exchange with Yankee outfielder Deion Sanders after the two-sport star drew a dollar sign in the batter’s box before an at bat at Yankee Stadium, and then failed to run out a pop up. Fisk followed Sanders back to the Yankee dugout while shouting, “Run the ball out you piece of s%*#.” The next time Sanders came up to bat he said something to Fisk. Carlton started to go after him when John Hirschbeck, the home plate umpire intervened. Fisk was asked after the game what else he told Sanders. "There is a right way and a wrong way to play this game. You're playing it the wrong way. And the rest of us don't like it. Someday, you're going to get this game shoved right down your throat." May 22, 2019 – It was a night of firsts for the White Sox in a 9-4 win over the Astros. Things started off in the third inning when Houston had runners on first and second with no out. Future Sox player Jake Marisnick hit a shot down to third base. Yoan Moncada fielded it and stepped on the bag for the out, fired to second baseman Yolmer Sanchez for out number two, who relayed the ball to first baseman Jose Abreu just in time to nip Marisnick for a triple play. Then with the Sox up 4-3 in the sixth inning, outfielder Charlie Tilson launched a grand slam into the right field seats. It was Tilson’s first big-league home run. It was the first time in franchise history the Sox had both a grand slam and a triple play in the same game and only the fourth time in 40 years that had happened in baseball.

Harry wasn't on the Sox announcing staff in 1983, he left after the 81 year to join the Cubs even though the Sox offered him more money to stay. Harry in his biography later said he left because of the SportsVision experiment and because he couldn't stand the new owners.