Highland

Let's hope you are right. But what ex-Sox player will be named as manager?

Hahn is a symptom of the problem. Big changes should have been made in this organization back in 2011, and it didn't happen. Instead, we got Robin Ventura and then Tony LaRussa. We know who is in charge. The wagons are circling. All we can hope for at the moment is that the team finally starts hitting. But, even with that, the long-term future doesn't look good.

This year the Sox have had one long losing streak, and one long winning streak. Other than that, it has been a losing struggle to get over .500. I don't think this club is now capable of an 8-2 or 9-1 run. Even if they win today, they let the Twins come into their ballpark and take the series. At this point, I don't know how the Sox are going to turn things around.

All I hope from Eloy is for him is to play the rest of the season without injury and work at becoming a real major league hitter. If he ignites the team with some power, good. But I don't expect it. I expect little from him and this team at the moment.

My wife, a very casual baseball fan, watched the post-game show with me after the second Twins loss. Like everyone else, she noticed that LaRussa was slurring and mumbling his words during his press conference. She also had the impression that Ozzie really wants his old job back. Regardless, the press conference was so bad, she speculated that LaRussa might have had a recent stroke. Putting Harrison in to pitch was a joke. No, it wasn't at likely the Sox were going to come back from an 8-2 hole. But this was giving up. Maybe giving up on the season as well? Like with the 1997 White Flag Trade. This is pathetic. While the White Sox are burning, JR and his enablers are playing the fiddle. This team is going nowhere. Not now, or in the near future.

You are right about the Sox being baseball stupid. And they have been that for a long time. But when JR only hires managers and coaches who are his friends, it is not shocking that this continues to happen.

If the Sox are not in first at the end of the stretch, they will not be going anywhere this year. It's no longer early. The weather is fine. No more excuses.

Paul "sully" Sullivan had another whiny column on the Fourth. He was offended by an analysis of Wrigley Field by Red Sox rookie pitcher Josh Winckowski. Winckowksi said: "A little underwhelming. Fenway has a presence to it. I really didn't get that here, to be honest. I said to my mom last night, this place was very stock standard." By the end of the column, Sullivan threw a personal insult at Winckowksi. For a minute there, I thought the Tribune Company still owned the Cubs.

If the White Sox think they are the best team in the AL Central, now is the time to show it.

I am happy with the wins in San Francisco, but the offense is still struggling to get into double digits in hits. Banks did look very good. Kelly and Graverman did not.

You know things are not going well when organization in-fighting makes into the media. Makes me wonder how powerful LaRussa is if Hahn is saying is frustrated by LaRussa's in-game decisions. It would be informative if there was a political-type leak from someone in the organization. While fans are calling for LaRussa's head, maybe Hahn is the one who ends up going.

In reality, the White Sox have been an organization that has provided little access to the press. Jerry Reinsdorf stopped giving interviews a long time ago, and when he did, he put tough restrictions on them. From the start, he has felt that the media didn't treat him fairly. Tough questions can be asked, but they won't be answered. Ask too many, and you will be a reporter with next to no access. Instead, JR tries to control information through his TV and radio people. He never releases any statements himself in any form. As a result, during the 80s and 90s, the Tribune saturated the market with Cub propaganda, and it was like Chicago didn't have another baseball team. All we heard was that Wrigley Field was a shrine, and what great fans the Cubs had. The Cub fan base grew; the Sox fan base shrunk. Nothing has really changed.

I am not even going to speculate on what needs to be done. I have no faith in this organization. We can only hope injured players can get well and start producing. This franchise stopped caring a long time ago.

In reality, the product on the field has always been secondary. The Tribune Company used its massive media presence to market and sell this team on a constant basis. Up until about 2015 this team didn't do anything, and they have returned to that form. Some, not many, but some Cub fans have caught on to the scam.

I went to my first Sox game in 1960. Things are tough for long-time fans now. The Rebuild is a last chance to get this franchise truly on its feet, and it isn't working. Switching to another team will never work, but watching this stuff is hard.

True, it is not shocking that JR doesn't understand working class people. I don't regard him as a sociopath. He lives in a different world, and, even after all these years, he still doesn't get certain things. The Yes people around him only make things worse. My point is that he alienates some of the most loyal Sox fans. And people like Hawk, Ed Farmer, and Steve Stone have been his enablers. His supporters say he loves baseball. Might be true. But from day one, he never had any idea what motivated Sox fans, and that has nothing to to do with money or class. He just doesn't get it.

Here are the ages of men sitting on the White Sox Board of Directors: Robert Judelson 83 Judd Malkin 85 Allan Muchin 86 Jay Pinsky 73 Lee Stern 95 Burton Ury 95 Front office man Howard Pizer 82 Don't get me wrong. All of these men have had successful careers. But these ages speak for themselves. It is really hard to expect much from this organization with a situation like this. Change and growth just does not happen. And we cannot expect change in the near future.

TexSox- One thing I will say is that, from the very beginning, JR never understood the White Sox fan. One of the first things that was done after the team was purchased in 1981 was tearing out the center field shower. That shower was a symbol of a loved team and one of the few bright spots during a very bad decade. But out it came. He also had a thing about Bill Veeck. Veeck was not loved by everyone, but many fans felt that Veeck at least understood what fans wanted out of their team and what they wanted when they came to the ball park. He still can't understand how Veeck appealed to fans. Somethings were changing when the JR group bought the team, and he had nothing to do with somethings. Free TV was going to go, the stadium had to be replaced, and the corporate fan became even more important. JR didn't understand human nature in that people are hostile to change at first. Then the wagons circled. If the franchise is ever going to build its fan base, these rebuild has to work. I don't know if JR cares or understands that.

After watching those last two innings, I don't get the feeling the Sox are going on a roll. How about driving in a run or two when getting the bases loaded?

To tell you the truth, I don't care about the All-Star game. The game means nothing. It would be our luck that a Sox player would get hurt. Take the days off.

Cease again showed how great he is. On the post-game show, they were saying the offense showed up today. I didn't see the early part of the game. In the last innings, I saw two bloop hits and no runs scored with bases loaded. (as usual) The offense didn't exactly wow me. Robert still hobbling out there. Glad he was able to get to the ninth inning drive.

I don't know what the mindset of the FO is right now but blaming the fans for this mess is not the answer. They've done that over 40 seasons, and it hasn't worked. They can save face by letting LaRussa finish out this season, but he can't be back for the 2023 season. They cannot remain in denial about this. I have a real concern with Robert and Eloy, two young and talented players that can't stay on the field. Eloy is on another extended stay on the IL. In the third Baltimore game, Robert should have caught that bases clearing double but he physically couldn't get to it. He looked like he was hobbling when he chased the ball by the wall. Credibility is a big issue now. The FO sold the tanking and the rebuild. It has now stalled. The franchise must show it recognizes the problem and take steps to fix it. Recognizing there is a real problem would be a great start. Arguing with fans on Twitter is a waste of time.

Baltimore isn't half as bad as some thought. Sox have a chance with Cease but still have to bring some kind of offense. If Cease leaves after six, and the game is tight, things will look bad for the home team. Although I don't know if the outcome will make any difference.

This sums up things well. At the moment, I don't have faith that this organization can turn things around. It started with the LaRussa hiring and has snowballed. Some big things will have to happen this upcoming off season, and I am not counting on those big things happening.

At the moment JR is a recluse, and that is a big concern. He is closer to 90 than 80, and we really don't know if he is in sound enough mind to run a major league baseball franchise. The rest of the ownership group cashed it in a long time ago. Their basic philosophy is to let Jerry handle everything. Well, he is handling everything, and we have to wonder if he knows what day of the week it is. Or maybe Stoney keeps him informed.