Two often repeated statements/ arguments on this board that now seem silly:

[chitownsportsfan]

Back when I was a wee lad of 21 or so back in 2005 there was this place and WSI. WSI rejected almost all sabermetrics and seemed rather stuffy in general. This place was more accepting of new stats and philosophies so I joined up here. Not sure I ever posted on WSI, lurking was enough.

Crazy that I have accounts in various places for bulls, sox and UM football for going on 20 years now. Literally went from a kid to a middle aged person on them.

[Bonerko4Konerko]

I still occasionally post on WSI. Probably out of habit more than anything since there really is only 15-20 active posters there these days. I joined that site in 2004 when a new coworker found out I was a Sox fan. Even back then though the mods were ban happy and there was always a weird invisible line that you better not cross or you'd be banned. And depending on who the mod was you never knew what might happen. 

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

On 6/22/2025 at 9:34 AM, 77 Hitmen said:

 

I'll add MarySwiss to one of the great posters there in addition to those already mentioned.  She was always kind, friendly, and had interesting things to say.  Sadly, I saw that Fenway posted on a Facebook site a couple of years ago that she has passed away.   

I have no idea why Fenway was permanently banned.  He was always courteous and insightful.  He was a huge BoSox fan and talked about them often, so maybe that's why the mods hated him so much and ultimately banned him.  Kind of par for the course for that site, unfortunately.  

Doublem23 sure was opinionated.  I have no idea what happened to him.  He was perhaps the most prolific poster there and then suddenly one day......poof - his posts came to a sudden stop and no one ever mentioned him again.  

Voodoo, Dumpjerry, and Nellie Fox are good guys and good mods. There were some other good mods, too.  They weren't the problem.  I'd say FarWest and Daver were a big part of the problem.  West never failed to remind everyone that he was smarter than everyone else and Daver never failed to remind everyone that he was tougher than everyone else.  And yes, I realize West was the one who keep the board running until his untimely death.  I thought Brian26 was a total d-bag and was part of the problem after he became a mod.  I cut back on my participation there after he became a mod and continued being a total condescending smartass to people.  What a jerk.

 We had an older woman here for a while.Cant remember her screen name. Loved left handed hitters and I couldn't blame her since the Sox are historically bad with LHH stats. 

I miss our Pick to Click guy too, elrockinMT. Haven't seen him since his last PTC post Aug 20 ,2023. At that point he was the only one participating in it. 

Edited June 23 by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

[T R U]

6 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

 We had an older woman here for a while.Cant remember her screen name. Loved left handed hitters and I couldn't blame her since the Sox are historically bad with LHH stats. 

I miss our Pick to Click guy too. 

The only old woman I can remember from Soxtalk was Steff and oh boy did she hate me. 

[Kyyle23]

13 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

 We had an older woman here for a while.Cant remember her screen name. Loved left handed hitters and I couldn't blame her since the Sox are historically bad with LHH stats. 

I miss our Pick to Click guy too. 

That would be Lillian.  She was Grady Sizemores biggest fan

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

8 minutes ago, T R U said:

The only old woman I can remember from Soxtalk was Steff and oh boy did she hate me. 

She wasn't very tolerable of newbies. I incurred her wrath too . I think I said something about Frank Thomas being steroid free but I might have said it in a way that confused her and she got very pissed. Many many years ago since I've been around here over 20 years. 

[Bob Sacamano]

9 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

That would be Lillian.  She was Grady Sizemores biggest fan

That was it. I was just trying to remember.

[WhiteSox2023]

3 hours ago, Kyyle23 said:

That would be Lillian.  She was Grady Sizemores biggest fan

Absolutely obsessed with left-handed hitters.  Right-handed hitters were da debil.

[77 Hitmen]

6 hours ago, Bonerko4Konerko said:

I still occasionally post on WSI. Probably out of habit more than anything since there really is only 15-20 active posters there these days. I joined that site in 2004 when a new coworker found out I was a Sox fan. Even back then though the mods were ban happy and there was always a weird invisible line that you better not cross or you'd be banned. And depending on who the mod was you never knew what might happen. 

Some bans were justified IMO.  There were a few bad apples back in the day who were pretty obnoxious or constantly hijacking thread after thread derailing lots of discussions who deserved to get the boot, but they definitely took it too far.  And you're right about the weird invisible line.  I remember several times where posters were legitimately puzzled as to why they were banned.  I also remember them having some strange issue with people talking about their post counts and accusing people of being "armchair mods".  I know being a mod is a thankless task on any site, but it seemed like a power trip to some of those guys.        

[77 Hitmen]

4 hours ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

 We had an older woman here for a while.Cant remember her screen name. Loved left handed hitters and I couldn't blame her since the Sox are historically bad with LHH stats. 

I miss our Pick to Click guy too, elrockinMT. Haven't seen him since his last PTC post Aug 20 ,2023. At that point he was the only one participating in it. 

 

4 hours ago, T R U said:

The only old woman I can remember from Soxtalk was Steff and oh boy did she hate me. 

I remember Lillian.  She was posting here when I was lurking and before I officially signed up.  Looks like her last post was almost 2 years ago (Aug. 2023).  Sorry to see that she's no longer here.

And Steff - LOL - same name and same description of someone who was on WSI maybe 20 years ago.  She was often angry at other posters there too.  Not a very pleasant person from what I remember.  I'm pretty sure she got banned from that site- probably an example of where it was actually justified.  

[FloydBannister1983]

4 hours ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

 We had an older woman here for a while.Cant remember her screen name. Loved left handed hitters and I couldn't blame her since the Sox are historically bad with LHH stats. 

I miss our Pick to Click guy too, elrockinMT. Haven't seen him since his last PTC post Aug 20 ,2023. At that point he was the only one participating in it. 

Lillie something…

[Sox guy]

On 6/23/2025 at 10:53 AM, 77 Hitmen said:

JR and EE certainly made bad PR moves almost right off the bat - the first being insulting and alienating Bill Veeck.  Bill Veeck certainly had his faults, but this got them off on the wrong foot with the Sox fan base and with Chicagoans in general not long after the ink dried on their team purchase.  Not long after that was the whole SportsVision debacle and letting Harry Caray get away to the Cubs.  And again, Harry certainly had his faults, but there was no denying that he was a fan favorite on the South Side and that he quickly became a Cubs legend after he left.  And then a whole string of PR disasters that we all know too well and don't need repeating.

At least they did quickly breathe new life into the team by bringing in Fisk, Luzinski, Bannister and almost winning the pennant in 1983 after being a laughingstock team in Veeck's final couple of years.  Then it was quickly downhill for the rest of the 80s bottoming out with the near-move to St. Pete in 1988.

You know, people have been saying 2024 was the lowest point ever, but IMO, 1989 was even lower, with 1999 being the lowest ever.  Sure, we didn't lose 121, but the vibes were in the crapper for the reasons you said, which is worse than any loss total.

 

Comiskey was crumbling, empty and truly depressing.  The only hope was the upcoming new stadium, but there was little else besides that.  We wore the bland Campbell's Soup unis, which stupidly replaced the 83s.  Plus, the flubs were having another "magical year".  1989 was so sad and painful, worse than 2024, many don't realise this.  2005 has softened all blows since then, but that may have an expiration date.

 

1990-1994 was a great rejuvenation, but then the strike set us right back on an even worse downward spiral, with the nadir being 1999, the absolute lowest point ever, which hopefully won't be matched.  This time, we didn't have the hope of a new stadium to fall back on, we were already in it, and it was unremarkable and hated by many.  Sure, we had Frank and Mags, but they were afterthoughts to Shammy and Wood.  Simply put, in 1999, we had absolutely nothing.  an empty, soulless blue bowl, media irrelevance, and no hope for the future at all.  2000 and 2005 weren't just good moments, there were lifesavers for a franchise on the brink.  Would we even still be here if it wasn't for that.

 

all the complainers of the current era need to remember 1999.  We weren't even a blip on the radar by that point.  We were nothing.

On 6/23/2025 at 11:29 AM, chitownsportsfan said:

Back when I was a wee lad of 21 or so back in 2005 there was this place and WSI. WSI rejected almost all sabermetrics and seemed rather stuffy in general. This place was more accepting of new stats and philosophies so I joined up here. Not sure I ever posted on WSI, lurking was enough.

Crazy that I have accounts in various places for bulls, sox and UM football for going on 20 years now. Literally went from a kid to a middle aged person on them.

I made so many accts at so many sites that I've forgotten about.  Baseball board, football board, sci fi, heavy metal, a Superman board, and some others I don't recall fully.  I even tried to join northsidebaseball once, don't know if it went thru, it might have, but I never posted.  Basically, if I surfed the web and found a discussion I wanted to get into, I'd make an acct there, then maybe never return again.  Weird stuff.

 

I did suggest to WSI to synergise with other baseball boards, unaware that reddit already did that with all their subs.  I don't recall personalities of too many posters there, but I do remember creative handles like LoveYourSuit, 21towin, GetOnBackThere, CubFansareDrunk, IWantMagsBack, StillMissOssie, ExplodingScoreboard and FoulkYou.  Love the creativity.

 

 

[Lip Man 1]

14 minutes ago, Sox guy said:

You know, people have been saying 2024 was the lowest point ever, but IMO, 1989 was even lower, with 1999 being the lowest ever.  Sure, we didn't lose 121, but the vibes were in the crapper for the reasons you said, which is worse than any loss total.

 

Comiskey was crumbling, empty and truly depressing.  The only hope was the upcoming new stadium, but there was little else besides that.  We wore the bland Campbell's Soup unis, which stupidly replaced the 83s.  Plus, the flubs were having another "magical year".  1989 was so sad and painful, worse than 2024, many don't realise this.  2005 has softened all blows since then, but that may have an expiration date.

 

1990-1994 was a great rejuvenation, but then the strike set us right back on an even worse downward spiral, with the nadir being 1999, the absolute lowest point ever, which hopefully won't be matched.  This time, we didn't have the hope of a new stadium to fall back on, we were already in it, and it was unremarkable and hated by many.  Sure, we had Frank and Mags, but they were afterthoughts to Shammy and Wood.  Simply put, in 1999, we had absolutely nothing.  an empty, soulless blue bowl, media irrelevance, and no hope for the future at all.  2000 and 2005 weren't just good moments, there were lifesavers for a franchise on the brink.  Would we even still be here if it wasn't for that.

 

all the complainers of the current era need to remember 1999.  We weren't even a blip on the radar by that point.  We were nothing.

I made so many accts at so many sites that I've forgotten about.  Baseball board, football board, sci fi, heavy metal, a Superman board, and some others I don't recall fully.  I even tried to join northsidebaseball once, don't know if it went thru, it might have, but I never posted.  Basically, if I surfed the web and found a discussion I wanted to get into, I'd make an acct there, then maybe never return again.  Weird stuff.

 

I did suggest to WSI to synergise with other baseball boards, unaware that reddit already did that with all their subs.  I don't recall personalities of too many posters there, but I do remember creative handles like LoveYourSuit, 21towin, GetOnBackThere, CubFansareDrunk, IWantMagsBack, StillMissOssie, ExplodingScoreboard and FoulkYou.  Love the creativity.

 

 

With all due respect 1999 has nothing on the past few seasons and how this franchise with a future that looked so promising went absolutely right down the toilet because of the owner who seemingly simply doesn't care anymore and who's ego and arrogance are unmatched.  

[WhiteSox2023]

1 hour ago, Lip Man 1 said:

With all due respect 1999 has nothing on the past few seasons and how this franchise with a future that looked so promising went absolutely right down the toilet because of the owner who seemingly simply doesn't care anymore and who's ego and arrogance are unmatched.  

Agreed, and 1999 preceded a fun 2000 season, even though they were steamrolled by the Mariners in the playoffs.  I doubt this awful season will precede a 95 win season next year.

Edited June 25 by WhiteSox2023

[Sox guy]

25 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Agreed, and 1999 preceded a fun 2000 season, even though they were steamrolled by the Mariners in the playoffs.  I doubt this awful season will precede a 95 win season next year.

We had no idea what 2000 was gonna bring.  I'm talking about during the actual year, without hindsight.  2000 was a pleasant surprise, but no one was expecting that a year prior.  It was misery, Comiskey was dead, no energy. The few fans that showed up were just showing up out of obligation, but there was no excitement there or anything.

 

Not saying that last year was full of excitement or anything, but I will stand by what I said about 1999 being worse.  Yall may disagree at first, but I ask that you search deep into your internal memory banks to recall what it was like to be a fan back then.  It wasn't fun.

 

2005 softened last year's blows, there simply isn't such a high level of hopelessness anymore thanks to the title we all experienced.  

 

again, no one during 99 was saying "Don't worry, we'll win the division next year, #1 seed and break the record for runs scored!".  No one.  It was more like "Welp, no one's here again, but I have nothing else to do."  Just apathetically going thru the motions.  

[Dick Allen]

With the trade deadline and pitchers innings adding up, they still have a small shot of outdoing 2024.

[champagne030]

8 hours ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Agreed, and 1999 preceded a fun 2000 season, even though they were steamrolled by the Mariners in the playoffs.  I doubt this awful season will precede a 95 win season next year.

The under on 95 wins next season is something Greg SHOULD bet his last house on.

[southsider2k5]

11 hours ago, Sox guy said:

You know, people have been saying 2024 was the lowest point ever, but IMO, 1989 was even lower, with 1999 being the lowest ever.  Sure, we didn't lose 121, but the vibes were in the crapper for the reasons you said, which is worse than any loss total.

 

Comiskey was crumbling, empty and truly depressing.  The only hope was the upcoming new stadium, but there was little else besides that.  We wore the bland Campbell's Soup unis, which stupidly replaced the 83s.  Plus, the flubs were having another "magical year".  1989 was so sad and painful, worse than 2024, many don't realise this.  2005 has softened all blows since then, but that may have an expiration date.

 

1990-1994 was a great rejuvenation, but then the strike set us right back on an even worse downward spiral, with the nadir being 1999, the absolute lowest point ever, which hopefully won't be matched.  This time, we didn't have the hope of a new stadium to fall back on, we were already in it, and it was unremarkable and hated by many.  Sure, we had Frank and Mags, but they were afterthoughts to Shammy and Wood.  Simply put, in 1999, we had absolutely nothing.  an empty, soulless blue bowl, media irrelevance, and no hope for the future at all.  2000 and 2005 weren't just good moments, there were lifesavers for a franchise on the brink.  Would we even still be here if it wasn't for that.

 

all the complainers of the current era need to remember 1999.  We weren't even a blip on the radar by that point.  We were nothing.

I made so many accts at so many sites that I've forgotten about.  Baseball board, football board, sci fi, heavy metal, a Superman board, and some others I don't recall fully.  I even tried to join northsidebaseball once, don't know if it went thru, it might have, but I never posted.  Basically, if I surfed the web and found a discussion I wanted to get into, I'd make an acct there, then maybe never return again.  Weird stuff.

 

I did suggest to WSI to synergise with other baseball boards, unaware that reddit already did that with all their subs.  I don't recall personalities of too many posters there, but I do remember creative handles like LoveYourSuit, 21towin, GetOnBackThere, CubFansareDrunk, IWantMagsBack, StillMissOssie, ExplodingScoreboard and FoulkYou.  Love the creativity.

 

 

 Nothing will ever out do 1994.  I didn't go to a game for years after that, and only started going when they offered half price (so $4 UD reserved tickets) before they didn't stop you from going to the lower deck.

[77 Hitmen]

10 hours ago, Sox guy said:

We had no idea what 2000 was gonna bring.  I'm talking about during the actual year, without hindsight.  2000 was a pleasant surprise, but no one was expecting that a year prior.  It was misery, Comiskey was dead, no energy. The few fans that showed up were just showing up out of obligation, but there was no excitement there or anything.

 

Not saying that last year was full of excitement or anything, but I will stand by what I said about 1999 being worse.  Yall may disagree at first, but I ask that you search deep into your internal memory banks to recall what it was like to be a fan back then.  It wasn't fun.

 

2005 softened last year's blows, there simply isn't such a high level of hopelessness anymore thanks to the title we all experienced.  

 

again, no one during 99 was saying "Don't worry, we'll win the division next year, #1 seed and break the record for runs scored!".  No one.  It was more like "Welp, no one's here again, but I have nothing else to do."  Just apathetically going thru the motions.  

 

1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

 Nothing will ever out do 1994.  I didn't go to a game for years after that, and only started going when they offered half price (so $4 UD reserved tickets) before they didn't stop you from going to the lower deck.

So many "that's the last straw" moments to choose from for Sox fans under Jerry's ownership - the mid/late 80s bottoming out and threat to move to Florida, JR being a ring leader for the '94 strike as the Sox were serious pennant contenders, the White Flag trade, so many "unlikeable" teams over the last 15 years, and finally totally reaching rock bottom with 121 losses.  Whew - we've put up with a lot despite the 2005 glory.   It's no wonder the bad guys on the North Side of town are as dominant in the Chicago market as ever.

I'd say I totally tuned out the Sox around '86 to '88.  But, by mid-1989, I did start getting excited again with the young core of talent they were putting together.  Again I tuned them out after the '97 WF trade coming on the heels of the '94 strike.  But again by mid 99 I was getting excited again by young talent like Maggs and CLee.   Yeah, hindsight is 20/20, but I see no end in sight and no exciting new core coming now.  IMO, I just have to wait until ownership is finally passed from Jerry to Justin Ishbia.  Until then, I have little to no reason to be optimistic.  

[Sox guy]

On 6/25/2025 at 8:54 AM, southsider2k5 said:

 Nothing will ever out do 1994.  I didn't go to a game for years after that, and only started going when they offered half price (so $4 UD reserved tickets) before they didn't stop you from going to the lower deck.

Mondays and Pepsi Tuesdays.  I wouldn't even buy a Pepsi product, just grab one out of the garbage can to show the ticket seller.  Then pass it to whoever was behind me so they can use it too.

 

Me and friends would literally stuff our pants with beer bought outside Comiskey, then walk in all awkwardly, and still not get caught.  Literally walking bow legged like Lou Ferigno to keep the beers from falling.  Smart or shameful, who knows.

 

I was at the game that was the last straw for letting any1 into the lower deck, the game with 3 pitch invaders leading to the cub fan attacking Las Dias.  Of course, at the time, I didn't have the maturity to realise how idiotic they were, so I cheered them on, yelling "Welcome to the South Side, MFer!!".  Not smart, only shameful.

 

That incident stopped the free seat upgrades cold turkey.  It was weird to actually have to sit in the UD now, but I embraced it since UD fans tend to be rowdier anyway.  

 

I still wish they didn't lop off the 6 rows, then add the Wrigley wannabe roof, the older setup was better IMO.  Imagine having those extra seats in 05.  The outfield renovations were unnecessary too.  Only the color change was good, the rest of the cash shoulda been spent on players.