Years later I have a different perspective on the matter than I used to:

 

 

1) he had an interview during the 2005 Wolrd Series indicating how he was jealous to be sitting at home watching his former teammates, and felt like he should've been there. That's like finding out She had a crush on you after all, except now you're off at separate colleges. So in that respect, I'm good

 

2) for all the things we have hated over the years about our organization, we cant turn around and blame him when...after years...he got sick of the same sort of stuff. We around here have lifelong contracts with the name on the uniform. Players are not nearly so unlucky. If they want out, then it's best for them and the team/fans that a parting occur. To bind the fan favorites to the team in a rigid way is something the Cubs Corp would do years on end with Grace/Dunston. Have to be more creative to win. Which leads me to #3...

 

3) the money savings led to some great '05 FA pickups

 

4) he's one of the (near)great players in Sox history. years down the line we'll remember those real solid years he had here, before the bad stuff. Maybe not yet but later on down the line.

 

 

Edited April 4, 201015 yr by Princess Dye

OK Mods, I am going to dance around this as much as I can and if one of you think it's against the rules please delete immediately... I think, looking back, especially at his upper body in his first year with the Tigers, Maggs might have been getting some help that many of us rip other players for using

It's Boras' fault (as it always is).

 

We offered Maggs good money just before he got injured and he and Boras said no.

Edited April 4, 201015 yr by chw42

OK Mods, I am going to dance around this as much as I can and if one of you think it's against the rules please delete immediately... I think, looking back, especially at his upper body in his first year with the Tigers, Maggs might have been getting some help that many of us rip other players for using

 

I dont think it is unreasonable to think that there is a possibility that Maggs has used PEDs over the course of his career. he was in the middle of the era where it happened, everyone is under suspicion

 

And PD, I dont understand why you think everyone is still expending energy hating the guy. Its been 6 years, he is gone. I dont recall threads coming up bashing him everytime he comes into town, he may get a slight boo from the crowd when he comes into town, but nothing out of the norm for any former player playing for a team within the division.

I dont think it is unreasonable to think that there is a possibility that Maggs has used PEDs over the course of his career. he was in the middle of the era where it happened, everyone is under suspicion

 

And PD, I dont understand why you think everyone is still expending energy hating the guy. Its been 6 years, he is gone. I dont recall threads coming up bashing him everytime he comes into town, he may get a slight boo from the crowd when he comes into town, but nothing out of the norm for any former player playing for a team within the division.

 

 

i didnt say anything about expending energy. I wanna know what people think about him today, even if--whatever it is--is now pushed to the back of their minds

 

and the further question, as i stated, is how he will be remembered as a Sox... whether he will be granted his perhaps rightful place as one of the franchise's best.

Edited April 4, 201015 yr by Princess Dye

KW's evil laugh when Bernstein asked him about Ordonez using PEDs is all you have to know about the situation.

I never disliked Maggs. He was my favorite player growing up (other than the obvious Frank Thomas), and I still like him.

KW's evil laugh when Bernstein asked him about Ordonez using PEDs is all you have to know about the situation.

Yeah I also think a certain "horse" might have been using something...However, as my screenname indicates, I still love maggs and he is still my third favorite White Sox of all-time after Frank and Mark.

Edited April 4, 201015 yr by maggsmaggs

Nope. I'll continue to jump into a chant that will remain unsaid every time he's in town.

KW's evil laugh when Bernstein asked him about Ordonez using PEDs is all you have to know about the situation.

When did this happen?

 

As far as Maggs leaving goes, he was my favorite player for a long time. Him leaving for Detroit wasn't what upset me, it was the fact that he hired Boras even though he knew the sox have a tough time with Boras. Looking back at the whole situtation, Maggs probably wasn't planning on staying which is why he hired Boras. Another thing that I didn't like about the whole situation was him refusing to have the sox doctors examine him before offering/signing a new contract. I was never bitter about it at all even when he came back from the injury with the Tigers and started raking again. His money was well spent in 05 and had he still been here, we probably wouldn't have been able to sign the important pieces to that championship team.

The Ordonez conversation between KW and Bernstein happened at the beginning of the 2005 season. Bernstein said to KW "I didn't know that knee problems cause your forearms to get twice as big". KW had one of his evil laughs.

And I'm sure KW was really discouraging him from using PEDs. Lets not even get into the silent complicity of management that was pervasive in the entire league during the roids era.

 

I loved Mags but he kind of gave us the bird on his way out of town. I was very happy when he fell short of getting a ring in 06.

I will always be thankful for what Maggs gave to us while he was here.

With that being said... I have enjoyed seeing his regressed play and huge contract devastate the Tigers.

Here's how much I loved Maggs when I was 12.

 

When he signed away, I renounced the White Sox and said I would root for Maggs.

 

Until I realized he had turned down their offer, not the Sox not wanting him, in which case, I quickly despised Maggs.

 

Only recently have I rediscovered my not-Hate of Maggs.

I think I just got bored of hating him

He plays for the Tigers and keeps helping them win ballgames. There's no reason to not dislike him. Except for the fact that his contract really hurts them. We can thank him for that.

Mike still hates him.

Mike still hates him.

 

Word.

 

I loved the guy until he lied to the fans and the organization, both about himself, and what had gone on. Its one thing to want more money, it is another to be a total lowlife about it.

Even before the weird debacle with the knee surgery in Austria, I thought it was a forgone conclusion that Kenny wouldn't sign a guy recovering from a major injury to a massive contract and that Maggs would hit the FA market and sign with the highest bidder. I was a lot angrier about Carlos Lee being dealt. Detroit had Maggs in his best year (2007), but he's hit below his career OPS otherwise. Predictably, they over-paid for him and I'm glad that Kenny spent that money elsewhere.

 

On a personal level, I'm fine with not having a guy who lied to the Sox front office and has since done TV spots for Hugo Chavez while sporting a bad Euro-trash haircut on my team.

 

Edited April 5, 201015 yr by WCSox

When did this happen?

it was very early in his first season with the Tigers, basically B & B were at a remote, a Tigers game was on ESPN, B & B made a crack about how they didn't know that knee surgery would cause your forearms to shrink and they had KW on either that show or quickly after it.

he had some nice numbers.

That's pretty telling that you said KW made a face when asked about Maggs n steroids.

The current Maggs is so skinny.

I loved him as a Sox; it's been a while so now I'm totally neutral on him. I don't think we should boo any ex-Sox, however.

Years later I have a different perspective on the matter than I used to:

 

 

1) he had an interview during the 2005 Wolrd Series indicating how he was jealous to be sitting at home watching his former teammates, and felt like he should've been there. That's like finding out She had a crush on you after all, except now you're off at separate colleges. So in that respect, I'm good

 

2) for all the things we have hated over the years about our organization, we cant turn around and blame him when...after years...he got sick of the same sort of stuff. We around here have lifelong contracts with the name on the uniform. Players are not nearly so unlucky. If they want out, then it's best for them and the team/fans that a parting occur. To bind the fan favorites to the team in a rigid way is something the Cubs Corp would do years on end with Grace/Dunston. Have to be more creative to win. Which leads me to #3...

 

3) the money savings led to some great '05 FA pickups

 

4) he's one of the (near)great players in Sox history. years down the line we'll remember those real solid years he had here, before the bad stuff. Maybe not yet but later on down the line.

 

 

The only thing I'll add is that my recollection was that his salary really skyrocketed in the last years of his White Sox contract.

 

I think his final payroll number was around $14.5 million. It seemed with all of his injuries (particularly the sports hernia and the mystery surgery in Europe) that there was no way that KW was ever going to think of keeping him around at those numbers (for another long-term deal), certainly not with the lingering concerns about his return to form, his age, and the fact he was getting a little heavier and not so nimble in the OF.

 

Clearly, it was the right decision, even though Magglio won a batting title and played much better in Detroit than I ever expected before becoming something of a lead anchor on the roster and payroll flexibility in 2009/10.

Edited April 5, 201015 yr by caulfield12

Who is this guy we're talking about?

Edited April 5, 201015 yr by Y2HH

That's pretty telling that you said KW made a face when asked about Maggs n steroids.

The current Maggs is so skinny.

I loved him as a Sox; it's been a while so now I'm totally neutral on him. I don't think we should boo any ex-Sox, however.

 

Each guy is on their own merits. There are plenty of guys who don't deserve it, in fact the vast majority of them. Maggs is an exception.