Heartburn in the Church of Baseball

By Annie Savoy

July 12, 2023

 

“Baseball may be a religion full of magic, cosmic truth, and the fundamental on-tological riddles of our time, but it’s also a job.”
— Annie Savoy, in Bull Durham (1988)

Last weekend my beloved White Sox lost to the worst team in Major League Baseball, two nights in a row. They lost to a team that is so bad, many sports-writers say it doesn’t even belong in the MLB. In fact, the Oakland Athletics may be on pace to be the worst team ever, but they still beat the Sox two games out of three.

I’m not your typical fan. I am a mother of grown children, a longtime TV journalist, and a former softball player with little talent but lots of baseball attitude. I spent years in the bleachers of Little League and travel ball games. I listen to sports-talk radio even though it’s dominated by juvenile man-boys, because sometimes they have the inside scoop from the clubhouse or the front office, and I want the latest information.

And I’m here to tell you, this is not OK.

The Oakland series was a perfect storm of this season’s maddening cascade of close calls, missed opportunities, injuries and head-smacking failure. Game after game, a spark of offense or the glimmer of a rally have been dashed when the wheels come off in late innings.

Next, in their own ballpark hosting the Toronto Blue Jays, three Sox players struck out swinging on a total of nine pitches — none of them in the zone — on their way to a 4-3 loss. The Jays swept the series in particularly brutal fashion, one game decided in the 11th when they scored 6 runs after ten innings of one-hit ball.

A thrilling comeback win against the Cardinals Friday night broke up the litany of despair, but the struggling Cards still ended up taking two out of three to send the Sox staggering into the All-Star break with another series loss.

With our season at the halfway mark, the White Sox are 38-54, a stunning 16 games under .500. They are 8 games behind the Guardians, who are leading the mediocre AL Central with a 45-45 record. Those of us who were energized by the promise of White Sox talent during spring training never saw this coming.

In his post-game show Sunday, Ozzie Guillen threw in the towel: “The window is closed,” he declared. His broadcast partner, Chuck Garfien, said, “You know who I see in the air? Vultures.”

Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson stares at the umpire in disbelief after a strikeout.

As awful as the season has been so far, we’ve had some bright spots. Our starting pitchers have often gutted it out to keep us in games when nobody can buy a hit. Some baseball fans may take solace in those bright spots, however few and far between.

But we are not like our north-side neighbors, happy to celebrate Lovable Losers.
No. Here on the south side, we want and expect good pitching, clutch hitting, savvy base-running, and lights-out defense. We want a clubhouse culture that fosters hard work, teamwork, and success on the field. We want players who appreciate each other, the gifts they have, and the big money they are paid to play the game on the south side of Chicago, the best baseball town in the country.

Our family has been here with them from Carlton Fisk, through AJ Pierzynski and the glory days of 2005, when we thought the White Sox would keep on winning. We felt like our heroes could never grow old and weary.

Now we fans are the weary ones, exhausted by heartburn in the Church of Baseball and yearning for somebody to do something about it. Heading into the All-Star break, are there any reasons to hope the White Sox can turn things around?

To diehard fans, it seems possible that a spurt of wins, a few key players stay-ing healthy, and some timely losses by the Guardians and Twins could give the Sox a shot at winning in a terrible division. And if you’re still playing baseball in October, true fans will agree, anything can happen.

Young talent just up from Triple-A, Zach Remillard and Oscar Colas, are playing as if they have something to prove, and of course, they do. Our lone All-Star this year, the red-hot Luis Robert Jr., is finally healthy and playing some of the best baseball in the Majors. If Dylan Cease, Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn can keep their focus, our starters can give the team a chance in any game.

We have talent on this team. But I’d like to offer a few basic reminders of how games are won. Pitchers, stop walking guys. Challenge the hitter, and trust your team to get in front of the ball if it’s put in play. Outfielders, hit your cutoff man. Hitters, stop swinging at balls outside the zone and advance the runner, even if you have to sacrifice to do it. Learn how to lay down a bunt, and use it at the right time.

Tough decisions are being made now by the front office, with the trade deadline three weeks away. A lot can happen between now and then, but it’s looking like our team is planning to sell off its best players. Will it be a fire sale, or some key acquisitions? The long-haul strategy to start over, or an infusion of skill and talent to change things up now?

Many fans have never forgiven White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf for the infamous White Flag Trade of 1997, when he gave up on a team that was only three and a half games out of first place in the division by selling off three top pitch-ers.

This is not that. As much as we want to believe in our guys, and the juju of baseball miracles, a hard reality is three weeks away.

In the Church of Baseball, just like any other church, prayers are sometimes answered in unexpected ways.

-30-

Annie Savoy, the patron saint of female baseball fans from the iconic movie Bull Durham, is a pen name. The author of this column shares Annie’s devotion to baseball, but not her methods of mentoring players.

Comments 42

  1. Talent evaluation, solid coaching, and accountability. When you think about it, they really haven’t had great scouting since Ron Schuyler left. To be a successful organization, scouting and good coaching are vital. This is why the Braves, Cardinals, and Tampa Rays are always good, despite spending less than NY, LA, Boston.

    Younger players are more hungry, eager to please, and are more easily moldable into a coherent unit. The Indians spend far less than the Chisox, and usually have a better record.

    Self scouting is equally important as you must know who to move and when to move them in order to extract maximum return for your talent.

    The White Sox are a stagnant organization, and it emanates from the top. If profit is the only measure, they’ve performed spectacularly. I’m certain the ownership group has reaped a great return on their investment. They’ve put minimum dollars in and grown the value of the franchise into the billions.

    Jim Thompson and Mike Madigan helped them get a subsidized deal on the land, stadium, and the rent that virtually guarantees a yearly profit. We, the taxpayers are subsidizing this mediocre team we see day in and day out.

    If the Sox truly cared about winning, they’d clean house in the front office and up and down the minor leagues. They’d hire a top executive like Alex Anthopolous, or Ben Cherington, or Brian Cashman, someone who has a track record of finding and assembling talent.

    The Tampa Rays are a strat o matic team, ran by computer geeks, they churn their roster yearly, but put perform the majority of the teams out there for very little money.

    The Braves are a more traditional model. They scout and draft young players and have talent constantly coming through. They make good trades and occasionally spend when they need to.

    Say what you want about the Yankees. Cashman has made some errors, like trading for Stanton, but Yankees are good year in and year out.

    The White Sox don’t know what type of team they want to be. They don’t bring up young guys, they don’t coach up the guys they have, they don’t know when to cut bait on a player, they don’t emphasize strong defense, good pitching and timely hitting.

    They are a softball team and their best players cannot stay on the field.

    They are paying Yoan Moncada 25 million next year, for what? They overspent on Grandahl, and Lance Lynn.

    They should absolutely be sellers at the trade deadline. They need to start with the ownership though as the penny pinching and lack of clarity starts at the top.

    They seemingly don’t trust Rick Hahn to do the job he needs to. They do not give him the freedom to make moves and change direction as he sees fit. Kenny Williams is always lurking in the background.

    Jerry Reinsdorf is like Hyman Roth, he always makes money for his partners. Don’t expect winning to be a priority though.

    It’s the same thing with the Bulls. They’ve spent money, but have no vision, take little risk and haven’t been able to crack the top tier of teams.

    But if you go by return on investment, Reinsdorf has outperformed most owners in sports. He has little overhead and makes money every year.

    The Sox probably would have been better served to move to the suburbs, but Sox fans will support a scrappy team that plays hard and plays to win.

    Sell the team Jerry. It’s time to go.

      3. John, John, John… Swearing loyalty to the sox is like voting for joe biden because you are a loyal democrat… “You” are all “loyal” but you never go to the games and the best you can come up with is to claim the northsiders don’t care about winning… Neither statement is true! 🙂

    3. Excellent analysis Bob. As long as they keep the inept Kenny Williams they are going nowhere. Rick Hahn can’t do anything without that loser Williams permission.
      Why is it that teams put former players in top positions when they themselves couldn’t hit, run, or throw? Sox play like Williams played: TERRIBLE. Shouldn’t managers have been great players? How can losers instill the knowledge of what makes a good/great player. How does being a flop/loser as a player make you a good/great player. Al Lopez was the last decent manager we had. Good catcher for many years in major leagues. Knew the game! Now we have an unknown wimp/loser of a manager. Can you imagine what would happen to our current bunch of babyed (sp?) losers if we had Stanky, Tanner or Ozzie as manager now. Or Fisk in the dugout. Letting Abreu leave was a big mistake.
      I’d trade any and or all of them including our centerfielder!
      I’m old enough to be one of the few Chicagoans to have attended the last 2 Sox world series. 2005 was a fluke but 1959 was a team put together for pitching, defense and speed in most positions (except pathetically slow Sherm Lollar and big Klu) and that’s what’s wins games. They were ALWAYS in contention in the decade of the 1950s and early 1960s. ALWAYS! Plus today’s Sox players have attitude problems and are lackadaisical, ie Moncada. Please oh please get rid of this slug. Every time he goes on IL I cheer so I don’t have to watch him.
      Baseball changed and not for the best with the Curt Flood decision where players got to leave their teams when contracts run out. That maybe the best for the players but most players are making millions for many years yet can’t hit over 250 or win ten games a year. Plus as a kid I never went to summer camp, etc but lived at the ball parks, Sox and Cub days games. Bleachers were 75 cents, unreserved grandstand $1.75. Today you can’t get in for less than $50 in lower deck. Forget upper deck, better off watching it on TV. When I went to the parks it was mostly kids there without adult chaperones. That’s when baseball was great. It was for the kids and not the shareholders, tv ratings, etc. Now to go to a game you better have money or don’t bother coming. Our moms would give us $5 (after busting our butts cleaning something around the house) and take the bus (25 cents each way), splurge on $1.75 unreserved admission, and then sneak into the $3.25 box seats. Ushers knew we didn’t belong but let us near the stars because they knew it made us fans forever. That left us $2.75 to eat with top price item being ice cream cup at 50 or 60 cents. Dogs were 25 cents. Now you spend more at the park than at Francos or at a good steak joint.
      Baseball has abandoned the kids and the average fan, if there are any anymore.
      And i say to Sox baseball: Good riddance to you!

      1. Excellent analysis Bob. As long as they keep the inept Kenny Williams they are going nowhere. Rick Hahn can’t do anything without that loser Williams permission.
        Why is it that teams put former players in top positions when they themselves couldn’t hit, run, or throw? Sox play like Williams played: TERRIBLE. Shouldn’t managers have been great managers? How can losers instill the knowledge of what makes a good/great player. How does being a flop/loser as a player make you a good/great player. Al Lopez was the last decent manager we had. Good catcher for many years in major leagues. Knew the game! Now we have an unknown wimp/loser of a manager. Can you imagine what would happen to our current bunch of babyed (sp?) losers if we had Stanky, Tanner or Ozzie as manager now. Or Fisk in the dugout. Letting Abreu leave was a big mistake.
        I’d trade any and or all of them including our centerfielder!
        I’m old enough to be one of the few Chicagoans to have attended the last 2 Sox world series. 2005 was a fluke but 1959 was a team put together for pitching, defense and speed in most positions (except pathetically slow Sherm Lollar and big Klu) and that’s what’s wins games. They were ALWAYS in contention in the decade of the 1950s and early 1960s. ALWAYS! Plus today’s Sox players have attitude problems and are lackadaisical, ie Moncada. Please oh please get rid of this slug. Every time he goes on IL I cheer so I don’t have to watch him.
        Baseball changed and not for the best with the Curt Flood decision where players got to leave their teams when contracts run out. That maybe the best for the players but most players are making millions for many years yet can’t hit over 250 or win ten games a year. Plus as a kid I never went to summer camp, etc but lived at the ball parks, Sox and Cub days games. Bleachers were 75 cents, unreserved grandstand $1.75. Today you can’t get in for less than $50 in lower deck. Forget upper deck, better off watching it on TV. When I went to the parks it was mostly kids there without adult chaperones. That’s when baseball was great. It was for the kids and not the shareholders, tv ratings, etc. Now to go to a game you better have money or don’t bother coming. Our moms would give us $5 (after busting our butts cleaning something around the house) and take the bus (25 cents each way), splurge on $1.75 unreserved admission, and then sneak into the $3.25 box seats. Ushers knew we didn’t belong but let us near the stars because they knew it made us fans forever. That left us $2.75 to eat with top price item being ice cream cup at 50 or 60 cents. Dogs were 25 cents. Now you spend more at the park than at Francos or at a good steak joint.
        Baseball has abandoned the kids and the average fan, if there are any anymore.
        And i say to Sox baseball: Good riddance to you!

        1. It’s the corporatization of sports that’s inflated the prices and driven the common man out of it. Profit, profit, profit, has decimated sports, medicine, education, you name it.

          Curt Flood was a warrior and gave up 100,000 salary back when that was real money. People pay to see the players, not Jerry Reinsdorf or Jimmy Jones. The players should get a nice piece of the revenue, it’s just that the revenue is out of whack, it’s too high.

          A big problem as far as the quality of play and the lack of fundamentals is the lack of reps the athletes get. Your point on the lack of kids in the parks is true. The kids are busy playing video games or at one organized activity or another. Childhood has been monetized and turned into a for profit enterprise as well.

          Bob Feller said in an interview years ago that he thought weightlifting was causing many of the injuries and that pitchers did not throw enough to build up arm strength. I’m inclined to agree. Feller said he grew up on a farm and worked all day outside and when he had spare time, he would throw against the barn.

          Weight lifting tightens your muscles, and these guys might work out for an hour or two in an air conditioned gym, but it’s not the same as sweating out in the hot sun all day. I think Feller was on to something. These guys look great getting off the bus, but cannot stay on the field.

          Kids used to play a lot of ball on their own. The parks used to have kids playing are now largely empty, the teams used to have robust minor league systems and the players used to play hundreds of games in the minors before they got to the “show”.

          How many games did Eloy, or Moncada, or Robert play before they got to the show? These guys are ripped, but their muscles are so tight they cannot stay on the field.

          As the shooter Rod Beck once said, “You can’t pull fat”.

      2. Thomas Rudd you are spot on. I remember taking the Austin Blvd bus and transferring to the Addison Avenue bus to sit in $0.60 Bleacher Seats to watch Cubs Games in the 50’s.

        I also remember the Great White Sox teams of the late 50’s and in ’59’ in spite of the Yankees who won the American Pennant and advanced to the World Series against The Dodgers. And who can forget the 2005 White Sox who won the Series against the Astro’s.

        All I can say is my Uncle Ed Barrett, who was the White Sox Assistant Ticket Manager after retiring from the Chicago Tribune, is probably rolling over in his grave about the sad play of the White Sox.

    4. I love the Jerry Reinsdorf / Hyman Roth comp. I should also point out that as frustrating as Moncadas various ailments are, he really can’t be blamed for having had Long Covid and now a bulging disc. I had the less serious protruding disc problems and needed epidural shots to function. I applaud him for trying to play through all this. If I thought he was dogging it I would be calling for him being sent packing. I hope he eventually heals and becomes the player he was when he first arrived here

  3. Annie, sadly spot on.
    Let’s not forget the absence of a competent major league manager though.
    Last year I recall the masses calling for the ouster of Tony LaRussa. Where are they this year? This team is pathetically overpaid and undisciplined without a quality bullpen let alone an healthy closer and someone who knows how to manage it. What a disaster.

  4. “Annie”‘s assessment reminds me of the late 60s/early 70s White Sox, Wilbur Wood on the mound, Luis Aparicio at Short, Bill Melton slugging away, Chuck Tanner in the dugout, trying to recapture the magic of the 1959 march to The Series.

    I had not reached my first birthday when that series was played, but knowing it was possible kept my youthful hope alive.

  5. The young vibe of the White Sox was killed a few years ago when Tony LaRussa insisted they play the game the right way. I am convinced that he slowly put that team to sleep. The new manager this year was supposed to revitalize the team, yet they still can’t catch, run or throw properly. Minor league stuff continues and we fans suffer. Sad.

  7. It’s a very sad state of affairs. It’s another rebuild, or the previously failed plan of bringing in cheap free agents in a hope of catching lightning in a bottle. And Roberts tweaked something in the HR Derby. No surprise there. Time to rebuild the front office!

  8. You’d have a lot more fun if you enjoyed Annie’s way of mentoring players!

    I actually am not a baseball fan, but I love your statement regarding how Sox fans differ from Cubs fans. Sox fans are not into “lovable losers.” South Siders are the blue collar, callused hands who are proud of earning what they have. North Siders, not so much. They could care less if the Cubs win. They just want to be seen.

  9. the eternal brilliance of Annie Savoy on the juvenile man-boys of sports talk radio :
    “I spent years in the bleachers of Little League and travel ball games. I listen to sports-talk radio even though it’s dominated by juvenile man-boys, because sometimes they have the inside scoop from the clubhouse or the front office, and I want the latest information.”

    1. They are ‘juvenile man boys’ because the audience is made up of like minded ‘juvenile man boys.’ They can relate. Would you not agree that your own audience is made up of men with a similar grievance fueled world views?? At the heart of all professional sports is a kid who fell in love with the game and wants to talk with other kids, even after he grows up.

  10. The post rebuild ‘dynasty’ lasted from the covid shortened 2020 season to Tim Anderson’s walk off in the Field of Dreams game, and included two play off appearances and a single win. The last two seasons have been heartbreaking, frustrating and embarrassing. My question is why, given the current state of the team, Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams get to be the architects of ‘ReBuild 2.0?’ Why haven’t they been held accountable? How bad do you have to be at your job to lose it?? Jerry Reinsdorf is baseball’s version of Dollar Bill Wirtz, who threw a moldy weight over the Blackhawks and held them down for decades, nothing will change for the White Sox as long as the owner has little regard for the fans, and don’t get me started about cancelling Sox Fest last year.

  12. Don’t forget the TV broadcast booth. Jason Benetti and Steve Stone are fun to listen to IMO with all the kidding back and forth, and Steve’s stories from yesteryear are great. Even when the Sox are losing, which is all the time, they make the game watchable. But you rarely hear Steve anymore. Gordon Beckham is so monotone and uninteresting, and has absolutely no chemistry with Jason.
    Add this to the pathetic play on the field, the constant useless analytics they bombard us with during the broadcast, we rarely watch a game anymore.

  14. Excellent article but can we stop with the tired old myth about Sox fans being the true baseball fans. Real Cub fans (not corporate skybox types) don’t like losing teams any more than Sports x fans.

    1. Kevin, I could not agree more…I enjoyed the article but absolutely take issue with the statement, “But we are not like our north-side neighbors, happy to celebrate Lovable Losers.” It definitely feels like a cheap shot, I just don’t believe it’s true, and there is plenty of evidence to back my contention.

  15. I have to laugh when I hear the old nonsense that White Sox are “real” baseball fans, not like the Cubs, the “loveable losers”. The ususal dig from Annie whiny Sox fans. Let’s face it. There just aren’t that many of you and you don’t bother to show up to see your team anyway. But I guess not attending is what being a “real” baseball fan is all about.

    1. The perception that there are “few White Sox fans”‘ and that we “don’t show up anyway” is as much a tired cliche as “lovable losers.” One doesn’t validate the other.

  16. If I had to choose White Sox co-MVPs for the first half of the season for exceeding expectations, being consistent game after game as well as being entertaining while they do their jobs, it goes to Benetti and Stone. If not for them I wouldn’t tune into the games. Reinsdorf is only loyal to his investors. I sure hope there’s a “Rocky Wirtz” waiting in the wings.

  17. Nice article, “Annie,” even though the White Sox subject strikes me as the second-most-painful public debacle these days (right after liberal folk song singers turning into leftist authoritarians).

    This White Sox fan is failing as well. I should have walked away after this season’s defining moment. Remember former hard-playing Tim Anderson being doubled off first base on a shallow foul pop fly —- FOUL?? I knew then that I should stop paying attention, should move on with my loyalties. But I never do. Hey, there are decent people staying in Chicago who still think the Democrat public sector parasites will not continue their destruction of Chicago.

    So I still follow White Sox games and still hope their baseball self-destruction will bottom out. Good luck with that. Maybe Chicago’s Democrat self-destruction will bottom out. Sentiment against reality.

  18. The comments are great. Some sound goofy and over the top, yet ALL seem to make a valid point (even nit with Riga-Tony) ! I used to love sports…ALL SPORTS with baseball being top dog. The memories of the 30 cent hot dogs, quarter cokes and 50 cent admissions will never go away. We shouldn’t forget “Ladies Day” or “Senior Citizen Day” when the object was to get fannies into the seats and promote the product by encouraging people of all ages to come out. Quite frankly I think Rob Manfred has destroyed the game with silly designated runners, pitch clocks and the hurry up and let’s get the hell out of here attitude that way too many people support. I hate it and because of it I don’t watch or attend anymore. That’s 15-20 games per year plus hours on tv. The league or advertisers don’t get my dinero. I’d like to say Pedro Grifol is a lousy manager but that would make me a hypocrite since other than his name I couldn’t tell you how he manages or if he is the problem. It’s a possibility given the so-called expectations. But I am sure as much of the blame could and should go up the food chain. Sports have gotten to money hungry, too political and too righteous. It’s any sport, you name it. Some worse and baseball is no exception (say pride nights and all the grief and go no farther, for
    example). It’s a sad state of affairs. Yep, the story is sport on, and so are the responses…all of em !

    Oh for the old days of civility and innocence, when sport was an escape not the headache it’s become. Where has it all gone ?

    1. Wise and gracious comment, Ken — thanks. I’ve been thinking about your final paragraph. Of course, “innocence” has always been overtaken and replaced by new innocent young people. But the stamping out of civility is something new, something painfully 21st century. Civil behavior — responsibility and respect for positive traditional values — is being attacked by shallow people educated by senior shallow people. When authoritarian correctness is demanded, civility becomes an endangered virtue.

      That’s especially obvious in sports. Jerks holding the hammer hand are hard to watch in sports. They’re downright scary in ruling us from the swamp.

  19. While watching Chicago’s pathetic representation at last night’s All-Star game, it occurred to me that a city with TWO teams followed by millions of fans should be able to produce more than ONE guy who played for half an inning. I could have told you Robert would get hurt in Home Run Derby, as someone seems to every year and today’s White Sox players are made of glass.

    Why are ALL of our pro sports teams so crappy? EVERY one of our teams can be found at the bottom of the standings EVERY year. Occasionally one or the other will win a title but in my 72 years these add up to two in baseball, two in football (only one Super Bowl though), four in hockey, six in basketball. That’s one title every five years. I don’t follow soccer, but our men’s (one title in 25 years) and women’s teams (no titles in 10 years) are also terrible. The women’s basketball team won one title in 17 years and promptly disbanded the team lest they win another.

    I’ve come to the inescapable conclusion that our teams stink because we continue to support them. The Cubs fans started this with that “lovable losers” nonsense and the other teams assumed it would be okay for them to stink as well. It’s time Chicago sports fans stop supporting not just mediocrity, but the outright garbage being shoved down our throats. Stop going to games, stop watching them on TV, stop following them in what passes for newspaper these days. Apathy should be the reward these teams reap in return for the apathetic performances they display on the field.

  20. The Bears won the Super Bowl in 1985 and got rid of Ditka. The Sox won the World Series in 2006 and got rid of Ozzie..What”s wrong with this picture. Afraid to win?

  21. How about the 2 wasted years Reinsdorf sidelined the team by installing old man LaRussa as manager? No better analogy for this team and ownership than him sleeping in the dugout during a game. And the team keeps getting worse with stupid field play. And they swing like they’ve never seen a splitter before!!! Are you kidding me??? Heart burn? For sure. Please pass the Maalox!!!

  22. Dear John and Annie,

    I must first indicate that I am not a White Sox fan. Having said that, my family is pretty much 50-50 between Sox and Cubs fans….and that is healthy.
    Annie, it tears me up also along the same lines in watching baseball games having my Cubs or your Sox “play ball”… As you, I also kind of fit into that mold you have shown for your self and it tears at me what is happening to our Chicago baseball teams….the ugliest thing is watching them swing at pitches that they should not have and allowing the hittable ones slide on by. I can remember when I saw my first curve ball in high school ball…wow. I asked the pitcher, Ducky Hughes to do that again…he did and I was still awed as I struck out. But, yup, it was a learning moment and I enjoyed seeing that first curve ball…….this is not what our “professional” players get paid for.
    Team play has always sparkled when you observe it. I guess you have not seen much on the south side, but don’t give up….there is always next year… I am saying that as i am approaching 90 and will not give up on enjoying baseball…Keep on keeping on Annie. Let it all hang out and perhaps it might float up to the ears of the owners and personnel who make trades….
    Pssst, from an old guy, I really don’t believe that, but you just have to take that in stride.
    God bless you Annie and John.
    Tom Adams

  23. Re: Wailing and teeth-gnashing from the White Sox crowd.
    Can’t laugh too loudly, since the Tigers aren’t doing a whole lot better. But, at least right now, they *are* doing better.
    Anyway, there was an old sports writer in Detroit who decades ago basically said something specific to the Lions, but it could apply to almost any losing franchise anywhere these days: “They don’t have to do well, to do well”.

  24. Major League baseball is primarily a business not a sport and Jerry Reinsdorf is a businessman above all. Perhaps there are enough fans attending games and watching on TV and listening on the radio that the White Sox are a very profitable business. And don’t forget the value of the franchise probably increases substantially every year. Of course Reinsdorf could invest in better front office personnel and players and in revamping the farm system so that it produces more quality prospects but perhaps he is afraid that the increased revenue that would result from a winning team would not match the expenditures he would have to make. He was once reported to have said that finishing in second place was ideal for the owners of the team because they would receive all of the revenue from an exciting season but not have to increase expenditures the next season to reward winning personnel. Possibly he has calculated that a mediocre baseball team is the most profitable team from a business point of view in Chicago (and basketball team as well.) If you want a consistent winning major league home baseball team, move to Tampa Bay, Houston or Los Angeles

  25. Ms Savoy, I understand your frustration with your South Side team, but must you besmirch the loyalty of those us who grew up in The Friendly Confines? Comments that we support our “Lovable Losers” while you bellyache about your South Side team’s crummy season seems a bit disingenuous.

    The Cubs did, after all, finally take the World Series just a few years ago. And we Cubs fans are happy with that.

    Why?

    Because we’re LOYAL, that’s why. Win or lose, we support our team.

    Sure, we’ve had some pretty craptastic years. Okay, craptastic decades. But the Cubs are still our team, and we love them.

    Pity that your team is having a lousy year. BTDT. But when my team does poorly, I don’t bellyache and kvetch. I just say what you’re going to have to say:

    “Wait until next year.”

  26. Nit Wit Tony is a fan and has some good takes on sports, politics, life, as does Kass, as do most of you out there. The interwebs, the media, our corrupt pols, what passes for education, have all contributed to dumbing down the discourse.

    Gas lighting, scapegoating, vilifying, it’s all a sleight oh hand to distract us.

    I submit it’s all by design. They want us to argue. The only things for certain in this world is death and maybe taxes.

    We’ve allowed ourselves to be forced to cheer on oligarchs who race and pillage our country and our world and we cheer on soulless pols whose only reason for seeking office is self aggrandizement and self enrichment.

    Look what we’ve become.

  27. Kenny Williams lost me when he traded Aaron Rowand for an aging Jim Thome after winning the World Series in 2005. Thome is a genuinely nice man and was a very good player for Cleveland for many years, but Rowand was the spark of that championship team. Sadly, Brian Anderson did not come close to replacing Rowand.

    Given Williams’ ineptitude in evaluating talent the question is, how has he lasted for so long ?

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