1 hour ago, Harry Chappas said:

Like Bobby Bonilla. 

Larry Himes rebuilt it nicely after Hemond so there was never really any missing of Hemond in the 90's 

Larry Himes/Jeff Torborg era is among my favorite White Sox eras...just a fun time once Himes got it going in the right direction!  Torborg was the perfect manager for that era!  Wish both would have stuck around longer than they were allowed to!

1 hour ago, GreenSox said:

This is probably the wrong thread, but here's an analysis of Hawk's term as GM.  Not that bad.
And it included Ivan Calderon, an important transitional player for the 90s teams.

http://blackbetsy.blogspot.com/2004_12_01_archive.html

 

 

Wasn't there a 25 man deal he tried to get done with maybe Texas, like 16 for 9 players or something? There were stories about the things that didn't happen which were also a big part of the story

4 hours ago, WBWSF said:

I've always wondered what made JR replace Hemond with Ken Harrelson  as the White Sox GM.

My understanding was that JR wasn't planning on firing Hemond but wasn't happy with the state of the organization.  Hawk, completely on his own, drew up his vision of the organization that was completely out of the box and presented it out of the blue to JR.  JR liked it and hired him to implement it.

22 hours ago, NWINFan said:

Hemond was the one who brought Dick Allen to Chicago. When he was GM, it was decided to make Wilbur Wood a starting pitcher and Wood had four twenty-game winning seasons in a row. I think if Hemond had more resources, he could have done even more with the Sox. But both John Allyn and Bill Veeck didn't have enough money to build a real winning tradition. He has to go down as one of the best Sox GMs.

When Hemond was GM the off-seasons were fun.  Trades happened like the ones you mention.

4 hours ago, GreenSox said:

This is probably the wrong thread, but here's an analysis of Hawk's term as GM.  Not that bad.
And it included Ivan Calderon, an important transitional player for the 90s teams.

http://blackbetsy.blogspot.com/2004_12_01_archive.html

 

 

Hawks actual player transactions when viewed in a vacuum were actually respectable.  Its Hawk's actual management of the day to day operations that was disastrous.  This article written during that period is pretty damning of the decision to replace Hemond with Hawk.  There's Nothing Major League About White Sox Circus - The Washington Post

31 minutes ago, ThirdGen said:

Hawks actual player transactions when viewed in a vacuum were actually respectable.  Its Hawk's actual management of the day to day operations that was disastrous.  This article written during that period is pretty damning of the decision to replace Hemond with Hawk.  There's Nothing Major League About White Sox Circus - The Washington Post

The funny thing is every team has multiple hitting and pitching coaches now, even LaRussa. Much like Einhorn with the PPV, Hawk’s thought was just too far ahead of its time. But it was a circus. Talking to Martin was fine, but it was pretty public. I remember they met with him at O’Hare, and there were TV crews there. This was before the Internet or it may have been even a bigger spectacle. I am not and never was a LaRussa guy, but publicly wooing Martin was so wrong.

 

 

3 hours ago, ThirdGen said:

My understanding was that JR wasn't planning on firing Hemond but wasn't happy with the state of the organization.  Hawk, completely on his own, drew up his vision of the organization that was completely out of the box and presented it out of the blue to JR.  JR liked it and hired him to implement it.

More than a grain or two of truth there, IMO.  Think of the effect Hawk's dynamic? personality had on the all-knowing? feel guy JR as opposed to the laid-back Hemond.  At least after his Peter Principle experience Hawk eventually dropped back to the broadcasting level where he was competent.

28 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

The funny thing is every team has multiple hitting and pitching coaches now, even LaRussa. Much like Einhorn with the PPV, Hawk’s thought was just too far ahead of its time. But it was a circus. Talking to Martin was fine, but it was pretty public. I remember they met with him at O’Hare, and there were TV crews there. This was before the Internet or it may have been even a bigger spectacle. I am not and never was a LaRussa guy, but publicly wooing Martin was so wrong.

 

Once Harrelson was named GM, he should have been allowed to pick his own manager. LaRussa should have been gone after the '85 season. If you're going to make changes, then really make them. Then, if Harrelson wanted to fire LaRussa in '86, he should have done that, named an interim manager and then go on with his own search. The LaRussa thing was completely mis-handled and the franchise looked like it was being run by a bunch of know-nothings. But JR didn't want to fire LaRussa and now we're stuck with him again.

Oh, how did that Fisk in left field thing work out? Ah, the memories.

I missed the news on Roland Hemond. He's one of those people nobody has a single bad thing to say. Rest in peace. By all accounts he was a gem as people wrote on this thread.