The Mighty Mite

I can’t remember exactly how many extra inning games we played against the A’s in Oakland in 1972 but it seemed like a lot as I stayed up late losing a lot of sleep watching or listening to those games, they were really exciting games and a good pennant race which maybe could have been won by the Sox if Melton hadn’t hurt his back in June as he was out for the rest of the year.

Not the ones we have now except for maybe Clevinger who when pitching is busting his butt, Andrus cares and I wouldn’t mind keeping him but only as a utility guy. I’m hoping for a bunch of new guys with a culture of hustling and winning. The first thing Getz has to do is find those kind of players and I hope he can trade for them or sign some free agents with those same attributes.

I knew that but as I stated before was irate along with thousands of retirees who wanted to live out the rest of their lives being able to see their favorite team in Spring Training in Sarasota. At least we get to see them on their annual series in Tropicana Field which BTW will be replaced in 2028 by a new stadium a few blocks away, an announcement is being made today and with from what I just read in the paper the Rays will pick up half of the billion dollar cost.

It is a mystery because Tampa and St. Pete have a great history of Spring Training going back many decades. Sox trained in Tampa before their move to Sarasota in the early 60s. Still pisses me off and the thousands of Chicago retirees who moved to Sarasota to see the Sox in ST but JR being the jerk he is moves ST to AZ.

He’s right in a way as they can’t compete with the current cast of characters. I would be ecstatic if they could get close to .500 next year with guys that hustled and cared.

And no team has taken fewer walks or has a lower OBP than the Sox.

Rays owner Strernberg has always wanted a stadium near downtown Tampa but has never been able to strike a deal.

I’m almost to the point of not worrying about anything White Sox related.

The Lightning and the Bucs draw very well as they are located in Tampa which is where the majority of the people in the metro area live, that and St. Pete is a ghost town from May through the holidays. There’s also a populated area east of St. Pete which if people want to go to Rays games either going north or especially south have to go pretty far out of the way what with the Bay itself in the way. Bottom line is that geography does play a big part with the Rays attendance problems.

Pretty sure you hit the nail on the head.

Big mistake building almost next door the The Trop, residents who live in Tampa and the suburbs and towns north of the city for the most part won’t make the trip down to which is basically south St. Pete.

Bring us a winner, hope your son becomes a Sox fan for life. I took my son to many games in the 70s, 80s and a few in the 90s before we moved to Florida but he never cared like I did. My first game was July 15, 1955 with my Cub Scout Pack and we sat right behind Minnie Minoso in left field and saw the Sox beat the old Washington Senators 5-4.

Right now it’s one of the worst trades in Sox history.

What AJ has going for him is that he was a catcher which is like a manager on the field. I always thought that Fisk and AJ would have been good managers. Honest, yes, honest to a fault, maybe but I’d rather have honesty than the s%*# coming out of Grifol’s mouth.

Then we’re screwed.

Agree on that.

It’s a tie.

Do you think any of them really care? They still get to cash their paychecks whether they win 100 games or lose 100 games.

The 1970 106 loss team improved by 23 games in 1971 but there is no way we will see a repeat of that unless our illustrious owner opens up the checkbook and signs a bunch of premier free agents and Getz is able to get someone of value in trading Anderson, Moncada and Eloy.

Except for a few games once this team gets behind in a game they just about quit.

We’ve seen some bad teams but I don’t ever remember a team so utterly uncaring and disengaged as this bunch, with their lack of hustle they are a disgrace to the game of baseball, that’s not just me talking, just about every game the opposing teams announcers are saying the same thing along with pundits in the press. There are absolutely no untouchables on this team and that includes Robert. There are so many guys I never want to see in a White Sox uniform again with Anderson, Moncada and Jimenez at the top of the list. Another thing as Getz said, the team needs to be more athletic, not a bunch of DHs, a perfect team in that regard are the Rays with no set DH, every game they have a different DH as sort of a rest day.

What a genius.

Hate to see them get off to another bad start but if means getting rid of this clown of a manager, so be it.

Makes you wonder if Abreu was really the team leader, sounds like he was just the leader of the Latinos, makes me wonder why he decided to leave the Sox and sign with the Astros. One thing bothered me about Abreu, he was with the Sox nine years and as far as I know he never learned the English language, I never heard him being interviewed, sort of strange. As I said, this is not good and how you rectify it remains to be seen.

Another article to get more depressed over the White Sox, it’s going to take more than a miracle to fix everything that is wrong with the team and the franchise. I don’t like hearing that there might be problems with dissension along racial lines. I don’t envy Getz as he has a monumental job ahead of him especially when he has to answer to a jerk of an owner. As far as Sheets goes, I always liked him but he has struggled and it makes you wonder if he would have been better with better coaching at both the Minor and Major league levels.