Seems weird to have a retirement game so soon. As others have said, maybe honor him in a few years. For sure, TA was something special, for a short period of time. His walk-off HR in the Field of Dreams game will always be one of the best White Sox highlights.

The injuries, to go along with the off field drama, killed a promising career. Starting a fight and promptly getting KO'd didn't help matters.

1 hour ago, bmags said:

I got the marketing email for Tim Anderson retirement day and was kinda like...almost anti-. Kinda curious how you all feel.

Prior to the year maybe a game which reminded us of a team were we used to know some of the players names was exciting.

There was a time where Tim Anderson was remarkable to me. I'd often point out that the sox player development strategy in 2010-2022 was like mr. glass in unbreakable where you just keep blowing up trains and seeing who can survive. Tim was drafted in a pretty terrible draft as a longshot, had a bad hitting profile but extraordinary hands. Was often times horrible at short and then sometimes brilliant. The kind of player who never puts it together for us and then he probably hit his 99th percentile outcome. And then it came screeching to a halt.

But he was also the poster child of a truly miserable era for me. 2022 I went to many games amazed at how the park was trying to will that team out of its lethargy and they just couldn't do it. They were all rich, lazy and injured.

When TA did TA stuff and tried to start a fight with Jose Ramirez and got knocked out cold in one punch and never could get up...I mean was there ever a better metaphor for that white sox group?

This team seems to be the opposite. They were not crowned early, they were not paid early. Many looked down and dusted, and they've kept coming back.

TA was the one guy in all of that group that rose to heights not dreamed of. Him and Abreu definitely deserve celebration from that era...but I just don't really want to remember that era at all right now.

This seems silly. Everyone from that crew i feel had no passion, and just didn't care. I don't understand why we are celebrating them in any way.

10 minutes ago, Bonemer, I Hardly Know Her said:

poor Jose

I almost went to 2014 but then i'd have to remember checked out paul konerko and 2013. Best to cut off too early than too late and remember being excited on christmas we may sign Alex Gordon.

57 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Feels like at least 3-5 years away...

Did they ever recognize Ray Durham, for example?

Why would they? That's a random name. Tim Anderson is still a fan favorite. Guy I'm replying to "can't stand him" but was all for signing Trevor Bauer a few months ago. Again, couldn't imagine why.

Seems like i'm in the minority here but I love it.

Watching him hit the walk off in Iowa will be an all time memory I take to the grave. Fall off aside, there's a reason why he got a standing ovation when he came back to Chicago and YoYo was booed. There are few I like from that era but TA is one of them.

F the haters!

Are they retiring number 7? If they are I think that’s too far.

1 minute ago, AntMan26 said:

Are they retiring number 7? If they are I think that’s too far.

Not without permission from Sox legend Brenton Doyle

4 minutes ago, AntMan26 said:

Are they retiring number 7? If they are I think that’s too far.

Multiple players have worn it since he left (heck, multiple this year) so I would say no

I was surprised like others when I saw the news on my twitter feed this morning. Others have said most of my thoughts. He was a fun player for awhile that unfortunately had a short prime and battled off the field issues. We'll never know if the drama with his wife, mistresses and what not contributed, but it probably didn't help on top of the injuries and physical decline.

When he was healthy he was an electric, borderline star player, but this is just too soon for fans that ultimately are looking to move on from that era. In 5 years, hopefully after a few more playoff appearances? Sure.

Man some of you guys are just no fun at all. TA was incredible for 4 years here and has one of the greatest moments in franchise history. If I still lived in Chicago I'd 100% be at that celebration game.

Will his side pieces be on the stage?

I think it's weird that people blame the baby mama stuff. He was never the same after he got that hand injury in late 2022

1 hour ago, WestEddy said:

I have no idea what happened with Ramirez, or why TA felt compelled to fight. The famous Ventura/Nolan Ryan dustup has been fully explained. The team decided first guy hit charges the mound. That was Robin. TA wasn't a fighter, either. We've all been taught to box in one form or another. Dad, gym class, park district, CYO. TA's right-handed, and he came at Ramirez backwards, leading with his right. That just all probably sprung out of such a deep frustration with where he was, and all. He also got it a bit from other teams, calling him Jackie, and all. He made some mistakes, and had to carry the weight of that, too.

To me it felt like TA Believed that needed to happen to fire everyone up, and in his head it did not have the same ending lol.

1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

I loved TA. Dude made himself into an all-star SS after primarily growing up as a PG. The off of the field stuff was sad, but his legs and the perpetual injuries just killed his biggest asset.

The Field of Dreams game is one of my all time baseball moments. Still remember exactly where I was.

Anderson had a great series against the Athletics in 2020 playoffs leading off but no one got the job done driving him in. TA went 9-14 that series.

8 minutes ago, Road Mrs. Colon said:

I think it's weird that people blame the baby mama stuff. He was never the same after he got that hand injury in late 2022

Pretty sure the knee went bad from an on field collision then the baby mama stuff started and he never recovered.

14 minutes ago, Road Mrs. Colon said:

I think it's weird that people blame the baby mama stuff. He was never the same after he got that hand injury in late 2022

My wife thought it was karma biting him in the ass.

I just figured the baby mama stuff ended pasta night when he hit a home run and he loved his wife's pasta.

1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

I loved TA. Dude made himself into an all-star SS after primarily growing up as a PG. The off of the field stuff was sad, but his legs and the perpetual injuries just killed his biggest asset.

The Field of Dreams game is one of my all time baseball moments. Still remember exactly where I was.

I was sitting on my house stairs watching the game -- can't remember why I was on the stairs but I was. My dad and I were on the phone for the last inning, his broadcast was ahead by a few seconds because I was streaming it (thanks blackouts!).

I heard him start celebrating a bit and said "let me guess, TA hit a walkoff?" and he responded "how did you know?"

Cause TA was a dude built for big moments. Him shushing Yankees Stadium is another all-timer.

Seems odd to have a game marking his retirement, but whatever. It's nothing to get all bent out of shape over like some people here seem to be doing. It's not like they're hiring him as a coach or anything. If JR, Brooks, & Co. want to honor him, then that's their choice and it's not going to affect this team on and off the field either way.

He definitely had a huge fall from grace both on and off the field, but I hope he has gotten his life together and will have a happy retirement.

Again - my main thing is just I don't really want to remember or honor the decade preceding this year.

It's not really TAs fault, but they are all wrapped together as a team that led to the dark ages.

Worst of all they were all just poseurs. Hahn was a poseur GM, capable of reading the same things we were and saying that he was doing the same things as the smart GMs, but not actually being as smart or talented. That's why he had so many leaks, he needed amateurs to flatter him that his decision making was interesting when it wasn't.

We had to believe this GM doing the same moves as the successful franchises would be successful. He wasn't though, he was just a poseur. So many of the players, we believed because they were highly ranked and looked the part would dominate. They did too, but they didn't put in the work of those real baseball players. They fell off. That's the Jose ramirez metaphor. They go up against a real baseball player even in non baseball and they crumble.

Their Instagrams were full of them lifting rocks to get ripped but not like, for baseball activities.

When it failed it all was so obvious they were a potemkin village of a baseball franchise. Now we have a team that, even if they don't make the playoffs, certainly feels like an mlb baseball team playing mlb baseball like the rest.

I don't want a reminder of where we came from. No bringing ex girlfriends on the friend trip.

37 minutes ago, AntMan26 said:

Are they retiring number 7? If they are I think that’s too far.

No, but as an aside, I wish the Sox created a team "Hall of Fame" like many other teams have that honor impactful players who don't rise to the level of having their number retired. There are lots of players that could be inducted - AJ, Dick Allen, Ventura, Kittle, Black Jack......I could go on and on. I was at Busch Stadium and they do a great job of commemorating such people who don't rise the the level of retired number status.

4 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

No, but as an aside, I wish the Sox created a team "Hall of Fame" like many other teams have that honor impactful players who don't rise to the level of having their number retired. There are lots of players that could be inducted - AJ, Dick Allen, Ventura, Kittle, Black Jack......I could go on and on. I was at Busch Stadium and they do a great job of commemorating such people who don't rise the the level of retired number status.

I was at the ballpark picking up my Pope jersey last week and it was at a part of the ballpark where they had all the all-stars for each position listed like all the 3B, CF, C etc. That was cool to see but yes they definitely need to do more.

He had a good 4-yr stretch in which he played 68% of the games. It’s completely bizarre they are doing anything for him.

10 minutes ago, wegner said:

I was at the ballpark picking up my Pope jersey last week and it was at a part of the ballpark where they had all the all-stars for each position listed like all the 3B, CF, C etc. That was cool to see but yes they definitely need to do more.

I think next stadium will be a good time to coordinate a bit better. They have a lot of statues, they are awesome (i mean that). They have the decals on the walls - they seem half-assed. I don't want a yankees museum but I would like it be a bigger deal to have your jersey retired

1 hour ago, Tony said:

Yeah, way too early for something like this. He just turned 33. He was an All-Star for the Sox in 2022. If things went as everyone expected, he'd still be playing for the Sox. He was a teammate of Davis Martin.

Him having a "retirement night" in 2026 is basically celebrating the failure that was the last rebuild. Way too soon.

Yeah, seems like strange timing.

34 minutes ago, bmags said:

Again - my main thing is just I don't really want to remember or honor the decade preceding this year.

It's not really TAs fault, but they are all wrapped together as a team that led to the dark ages.

Worst of all they were all just poseurs. Hahn was a poseur GM, capable of reading the same things we were and saying that he was doing the same things as the smart GMs, but not actually being as smart or talented. That's why he had so many leaks, he needed amateurs to flatter him that his decision making was interesting when it wasn't.

We had to believe this GM doing the same moves as the successful franchises would be successful. He wasn't though, he was just a poseur. So many of the players, we believed because they were highly ranked and looked the part would dominate. They did too, but they didn't put in the work of those real baseball players. They fell off. That's the Jose ramirez metaphor. They go up against a real baseball player even in non baseball and they crumble.

Their Instagrams were full of them lifting rocks to get ripped but not like, for baseball activities.

When it failed it all was so obvious they were a potemkin village of a baseball franchise. Now we have a team that, even if they don't make the playoffs, certainly feels like an mlb baseball team playing mlb baseball like the rest.

I don't want a reminder of where we came from. No bringing ex girlfriends on the friend trip.

Agreed all around. That's why I'm against a Jose Abreu celebration or retirement as well. No thanks.