Greg Hibbard Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 My my, how the times have changed. I'll say it now: I'm not sure whether I was a total buffoon back then, but I want everyone here to know that I just printed out this email, got out my plastic knife and fork and I'm tying a napkin around my neck as we speak.... > It doesn't matter if you thought the trades were good > for the White Sox when they occured, because the > General Manager has to ultimately be responsible for > the bottom line. > > And the bottom line is, Ken Williams is a failure as a > General Manager. > > In his 3 years as General Manager, I count two good > moves, namely Damaso Marte and Esteban Loaiza, and > several, several bad ones. > > He has emptied the farm system on a couple of > high-risk gambles (David Wells in 2001, Bartolo Colon > in 2003) and also made some outright stupid moves (an > overpriced Royce Clayton, Keith Foulke for Billy Koch) > and now he is, for the first time, doing the > impossible. > > This general manager is actually succeeding in > ultimately estranging me from my beloved team. > > I want to throw this monitor out the window every time > I hear another offseason boffo. The fact that Colon > wasn't coming back was one thing. We all pretty much > knew that wasn't more than a 50/50 chance. > > However, this assertion that the White Sox "need to > trim payroll" is ultimately absurd and I'm f***ing > tired of hearing it. > > Jerry Reinsdorf does not care to compete in the major > leagues. If he did, he would, like other owners > committed to winning, spend the necessary resources to > bring home a winner. Jerry Reinsdorf only cares that > his product is profitable. > > I don't know how much longer I can support this > lunacy: > > Example one: Today's announcement that Robbie Alomar > could not be signed by the White Sox for any more than > the f***ing 1 million dollars for 1 season that the > Diamondbacks put up. > > Example two: Ken Williams having Cliff Politte ride in > on his White Stallion to save the bullpen today. > > Example three: Trying to move Valentin, and if they > can't move him (I don't think they will now), he will > be relegated to his 2001 of occasional error man at 6 > different positions while Juan Uribe will start at > short and Willie Harris will man second. > > Example four: Still stuck with two first basemen who > are both kind of lost, and now nobody wants either > after we sat on both too long. > > Example five: A pitching staff that > post-farm-system-gutting can only be described as > "questionable at best" and a bunch of disgruntled > almost traded outfielders who know they are not wanted > by a second rate organization. Let me ask you > optimists this: Is Esteban Loaiza closer to a Mark > Buerhle phenomenon or a James Baldwin phenomenon? > > What about this am I supposed to feel good about? > > The more I think about this coming season, the more I > am filled with a singular feeling: rage. I am enraged > at the White Sox for their ineptitude, for their > mismanagement, for the atmosphere of half-assed effort > they continue to engender. That's right, I said the > WHITE SOX are ENGENDERING it. When your owner doesn't > commit everything he's got to winning, how can you > expect your manager or players to play like they are > inspired? How can you expect Frank to bust his ass > when it's clear that all Reinsdorf and Williams want > to seemingly do is play a continual nickel and dime > game with their players, driving more and more of them > out of town in droves. > > The Reader ran an article about 6 years ago imploring > the White Sox to be sold to the public, a la the Green > Bay Packers. The article urged that if the public > owned the White Sox, the "ownership" group would > definitively agree to spend whatever was necessary to > win first, and then reap the benefits after they had > fielded a winning product. You know, the way that > business NORMALLY works? Build a successful product > and people will buy it. Not the other way around. > > I hope that if I ever have the chance of meeting > Reinsdorf, I can ask him this one question. > > When you look back on your tenure as White Sox owner, > with the sheer lack of postseason success, the botched > ballpark and the bleak outlook for the future, how can > anyone characterize it as a success and why do you > keep doing it if you are a failure? > > Meanwhile, they are courting Greg Maddux as a f***ing > fifth starter on the North Side. At least they know > how to spend money. At least they've been to a > championship series in the last ten seasons. > > I'm sickened by the White Sox. If things don't improve > this year, I may be very close to finished with > actively following them. I never thought a single > owner or general manager would sicken me to the point > of partially losing my fandom, but it's honestly > happening, and I don't know that that will change. > > I hate Kenny Williams. No matter what you thought of > whatever at the time, he is a FAILURE. He has emptied > the farm and mortgaged the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lefty Of Love Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 I bet you got some good stock tips? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Hibbard Posted October 24, 2005 Author Share Posted October 24, 2005 and yeah, there's a lot on there that you can feel free to fire on me about. I severely overreacted and used poor judgement when responding to a pie-in-the-sky fellow fan and good friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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