Lip Man 1

Can't argue with that especially with the labor situation coming up starting in December although you could make the case JR's philosophy of "fiscal responsibility" (his words) dates back to the mid 1980's.

When was the last time you read, saw or heard JR saying he screwed up was my point.

Well..."viable" may be to strong of a word! 😄

Eight factoids for today. April 9, 1963 - The start of the season found the Sox in Detroit and it was a highlight game for third baseman Pete Ward. Ward smacked a seventh inning, three run home run off Jim Bunning to push the Sox into the lead after trailing 5-4 and he also made a barehanded pick up and throw out of a slow roller hit by Al Kaline for the defensive play of the game in the ninth inning. The Sox would win 7-5 and it would be the start of Ward’s Co-American League Rookie of the Year campaign. That year he’d hit .295 with 22 home runs, 84 RBI’s, 34 doubles and six triples. April 9, 1971 - It was the largest home opener in years as 43,253 fans poured into Comiskey Park to see the “New Look” White Sox under new player personnel director Roland Hemond and manager Chuck Tanner. Ownership was completely caught with their pants down when that many fans showed up. Concession stands and vendors ran out of items by the middle of the game. The Sox wouldn’t disappoint as Rich McKinney’s two out ninth inning single to left field scored Rich Morales with the game winning run in the 3-2 victory over Minnesota. Morales led off the inning with a single off Twins relief ace Ron Perranoski. April 9, 1976 – Owner Bill Veeck was back and 40,318 fans turned out to say welcome home Bill on opening day. They got their money’s worth, as in a tribute to the Bicentennial, Veeck, manager Paul Richards and front office executive Rudy Schaffer presented the colors dressed as the fife player, drummer and flag bearer of the Revolutionary War. The stunt was unannounced and came as a last-minute brainstorm by Veeck who along with G.M. Roland Hemond had to convince Richards to dress up. As far as the game itself Wilbur Wood tossed a complete game six-hitter and Jim Spencer had a two-run home run in the 4-0 win against Kansas City. April 9, 1977 - The White Sox defeated the Blue Jays 3-2 in Toronto for the franchise’s first ever regular season win outside of the United States. Oscar Gamble’s home run in the fourth put the Sox on top to stay and the team added two more in the fifth. Chris Knapp got the win and Lerrin LaGrow earned his first save in what would be the best season of his career. He’d end 1977 with 25 of them and a 2.46 ERA. April 9, 1985 - For future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver, it was his record 14th opening day start. For Ozzie Guillen, it was his debut in the Major Leagues. The two of them combined to help the Sox beat Milwaukee 4-2 at County Stadium. Guillen would get his first hit in the big leagues that day, a bunt single off future Sox pitcher Ray Searage in the ninth inning. Seaver would pick up the win going almost seven innings, allowing five hits. April 9, 1990 – It was the last home opener at the original Comiskey Park and the Sox made it a good one beating the Brewers 2-1 before over 40-thousand fans who waited out a rain delay. Scott Fletcher’s sacrifice fly scored Sammy Sosa with what turned out to be the winning run in the seventh inning. Barry Jones got the win with Bobby Thigpen picking up the first of what would be his then record setting 57 saves in a season. April 9, 1993 - During the home opener with the Yankees, “Bo” Jackson showed that the human spirit is simply amazing. Jackson, playing with an artificial hip, hammered a Neal Heaton pitch into the right field seats for a home run. It was Jackson’s first at bat since the hip surgery, caused by an injury he suffered during his days as an All-Pro running back for the Raiders. In 1993 “Bo” would hit 16 home runs including one in late September against Seattle that would provide the margin to win the game and the Western Division title. He was the first athlete to have had this type of surgery and be able to return and play at the highest level. As far as the baseball hit off Heaton, a fan returned it to him and he later had it encased and welded to his mother’s headstone. April 9, 2024 – When the White Sox sacrificed three seasons and underwent a rebuild, the hope was that of the players acquired through various means, Eloy Jimenez, Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert would be the key pieces to lead the franchise into a sustained period of success. If there were any doubts about how that hope was foolish, 10 days at the start of the 2024 campaign ended any illusions. Jimenez suffered a strained abductor muscle running to first and was put on the injured list, Robert suffered a badly strained hip flexor muscle running to first, was put on the injured list and was out months and then on this day, in Cleveland, Moncada suffered a badly strained abductor muscle running to first and was out for the vast majority of the year. The “Bust Brothers” as some fans called them simply could not stay healthy for any sustained period of time.

Well played sir...typo on my part.

They all looked like beer league softball uniforms.

I think it would tie the American League record. The Washington Senators if I remember right in the early 60's?

Can you imagine his Dad doing or even saying anything like this????? https://chicago.suntimes.com/bulls/2026/04/08/bulls-team-president-michael-reinsdorf-boxes-checked-next-hire

There is no way with labor unrest on the horizon that JR is going to do anything drastic at this point. Meanwhile the Titanic will keep sailing towards the iceberg.

They may not be even playing in 2027.

The only way Venable gets fired is if he's found guilty of a crime. He's not going anywhere.

Speaking of K.C. how many have they lost in a row there? I know they were winless last season but think they lost a few more the season before.

😆 All you can do is laugh.

Getz's biggest accomplishment was convincing JR he was the person for the job.

So really nothing has changed from the last few seasons. I had hoped the Sox would play some meaningful games after June 1. Looks like that hope may be misplaced. 8th time in the 12 games played they've scored three runs or less. Obviously that's a problem.

'He's in the best shape of his life' 😄 (Well it is a Merkin story/tweet right?)

And the "fun" is just beginning! 😠

Gio has had severe injury issues the last few years.

For what this is worth I was told by an individual in the front office that a lot of the financial issues were caused by the banks refusing to loan JR any more money. As I was told JR was borrowing from banks who were happy to loan it to him because they assumed that when the team was sold they'd get their money back plus interest. But given JR's reluctance to sell and the on and off the field issues they stopped doing so. That put him in a real bind and he had to go outside the organization and bring in Ishbia. I wasn't told specific numbers so I can't tell you how much or if JR was losing money only that he like many owners was borrowing money but that was stopped.

Sox Machine with the demotion impact: White Sox option Shane Smith to make room for Tyler Schwe...The White Sox roster will be in a healthier place when they can make it through an entire 162-game schedule without optioning their Opening Day starter. For the second straight season, the top of the

Two factoids for today: April 8, 1963 – On this date, one of the biggest ‘what if’s’ in franchise history took place. As per the rules at the time, the White Sox had to choose between two pitchers signed to “bonus baby” contracts. The rules stated that only one player signed to a deal for over a certain amount of money could remain in the organization. The other would have to be waived. With that in mind rookies Bruce Howard and Denny McLain squared off in an intra-squad game to see who would be released and who got promoted to Double A Lynchburg. Howard won 2-1. McLain got his walking papers and was claimed by Detroit the following week. He’d go on to win 131 big league games including 31 in 1968. April 8, 1991 - It was always a “House of Horrors” for the Sox but on this day, they got the last laugh. The Sox spoiled the last home opener in old Memorial Stadium by ripping the Orioles 9-1. Sammy Sosa clubbed two home runs to lead the rout. His homers came in the second and eighth innings. He’d knock in five RBI’s on the afternoon. Jack McDowell went the distance striking out 10 which set the team mark for most strikeouts by a pitcher on opening day… that was later tied by Dylan Cease in 2023 at Houston.

Again I ask those who are in the camp of 'defending' him, at what point does everyone admit his promotion was a failure and should never have been done? Even given JR's limitations, should a team be this bad for this long? I mean how long should we have to wait for progress? Four years? Six? I'm just looking for a benchmark.

Saw this in Merkin's recap: "The Orioles improved to 14-1 against the White Sox since 2024 and extended their winning streak at the Rate to 10 straight."

And all because of one individual.

Just a bad day today with the usual issues that have been dogging this franchise for several years now. Bullpen coughs up another lead after the 7th inning, team scores less then three runs and they make two more errors. As Kenny said at one time, "it is what it is..." Not much more you can say or do.