His number 35 may have been retired on Sunday, but the many stories of “The Big Hurt” Frank Thomas, the greatest hitter in White Sox history, will live on forever.
As evident by the sellout crowd at U.S. Cellular Field, who lined up outside as early as 8:00 a.m. to get a bobble head in his likeness and see his induction into White Sox immortality, the name Frank Thomas and the Chicago White Sox go hand in hand. Here we examine why.
By: Soxman
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When the Chicago White Sox brought up Chris Sale, their first round pick from this past June, it was a chance for Sale to dive right into the pool head first instead of slowly getting used to the water, gently dipping his toe in and go from there. Because his first Major League experience comes in the heat of a pennant race.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better situation,” Sale said when I spoke with him earlier this week.
The White Sox selected left-handed pitcher out of Florida Gulf Coast University with their first-round pick (13th overall) June’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Sale, a 21-year-old junior, went 11-0 with a 2.01 ERA (23 ER/103.0 IP), 14 walks and 146 strikeouts in 17 games (15 starts) with the Eagles in 2010. He leads all Division I pitchers in strikeouts, ranks fifth in wins and 10th in ERA. That’s right, just a couple months ago he was a college junior, and now he’s pitching in the big leagues.
Across two levels of the minors, the “lanky” Sale impressed White Sox brass, pitching 10 1/3 innings of relief, posting a 2.61 ERA with 19 strikeouts. He was certainly “fast-tracked” to the Majors; where he’s assumed bullpen duty.
“I been all over the place, living out of hotels, being the new guy on three different teams with three different coaches, and at each place I’ve taken something from somebody [More …]
Elliott Harris has been a columnist for the Chicago Sun Times for 31 years. He has covered the Bulls, Cubs, and White Sox, and has been writing his Quick hits columns for 12 years which can be found here:
Elliott was nice enough to stop by The Backdoor Cut and in the first part of this interview he talks about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Cubs from the Bartman incident to the present day version.
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With All-Star set-up man Matt Thornton and part-time closer/key reliever J.J. Putz now headed to the 15 day DL, the Chicago White Sox clearly have some deficiencies in the bullpen. And even before the injuries occurred, the bullpen had been the team’s Achilles heel the past couple weeks.
Sox GM Kenny Williams addressed the media on Tuesday, and mostly fielded questions about the Manny Ramirez rumors, but he also had a lot to say about what the team needs to fix internally; before filling gaps with additional players.
“I think more than anything what we’ve needed the last couple of weeks is just consistency out of our bullpen,” Williams said.
“They’ve fought to get ahead, they’ve fought to climb back in games and then take the lead only to lose it, I think more than anything that’s been the problem,” he continued.
By Paul M. Banks
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If you follow baseball at all, and you’ve been paying attention today, then you’ve heard the rumors that the Chicago White Sox are interested in signing MLB superstar Manny Ramirez from the Los Angeles Dodgers. No news on this deal is even close to official yet, but here’s what the respective leaders (General Manager, Field Manager, and Team Captain) of the White Sox had to say about it.
One factor you should consider if you believe the rumors are true: Sox leadoff hitter Juan Pierre, Manny has followed Pierre to a couple of ballclubs lately.
By Paul M. Banks
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The Sports Bank and The Backdoor Cut were proud to host Fred Mitchell, columnist of 36 years for the Chicago Tribune, who was nice enough to join me to talk Cubs, White Sox, and the season to come for the Chicago Bears, in that order.
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As we creep ever closer to the September 1st waiver trade deadline, the Chicago White Sox have some tough decisions to make. They sit 4.5 games in back of the Twins, with arguably a tougher schedule remaining: ten games alone against the Yankees and Red Sox and another west coast road trip that historically has poor results. With the offense sputtering, is it time for GM Kenny Williams to take a chance on an offensive spark? If so, is there any spark bigger than Manny Ramirez?
By: Soxman
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The Minnesota Twins stretched their lead in the AL Central to five games Wednesday, before the Chicago White Sox struck back Thursday with an 11-0 mauling of Minnesota.
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If you’re a Chicago White Sox fan, football season may have just started for you this past weekend. If it hasn’t yet, I’m sure you took another step in that direction after last night’s soul-crushing and nausea-inducing last-inning loss. Just in case you didn’t get enough amebic dysentery in baseball form versus Detroit, Tuesday night’s blown save at Target Field made you even queasier about 2010 season.
I said coming into this series that the Sox needed a sweep, just to get back into this thing. That’s because
1.) Justin Mourneau, a former AL MVP is coming back to the first place Minnesota Twins at some point.
2.) The Twins have a vast/mental psychological edge over the White Sox
3.) The Twins have a much easier schedule remaining than the Sox
4.) The Sox have already imploded because of the Domino Theory at work in their bullpen.
Ready to “write off” the Sox in 2010? Or I guess “blog off” the Sox season?
By Paul M. Banks
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The Minnesota Twins have seen what this before. But this time, Minnesota welcomed it with open arms. Rewind to Game 163 for the Twins and White Sox in the 2008 season after they finished the regular season tied at the top of the AL Central.
Nick Blackburn and Tuesday’s starter, John Danks, battled to a 0-0 tie through six, proving how evenly matched the two teams were.
All it took to eliminate the Minnesota Twins from the playoffs that night was one swing in the bottom of the seventh by the man who has the most home runs against them in club history.
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Following tonight’s loss (and yielding of first place in the AL Central) to the Minnesota Twins, the Chicago White Sox optioned infielder Dayan Viciedo to Class AAA Charlotte.
So “Cuba Libre!” is called off; for the time being at least. This move is obviously to make room for Mark Teahen, the versatile infielder who has been out since late May with a fractured finger. He’s expected to be activated from the disabled list on Friday. This second move has not been officially announced but will be sometime prior to tomorrow’s game vs. Detroit.
By Paul M. Banks
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The 2010 MLB trade deadline has passed and while the Chicago White Sox may have landed another diamond(back) in the rough in Edwin Jackson, the August waiver trade process will define whether or not the White Sox get their much coveted left-handed power bat. Even if the Sox don’t make a trade they could get a boost from an often over-looked source: September roster expansion.
For those who don’t follow the Sox farm system closely, this article has you covered, introducing you to names you might hear as Hawk Harrelson’s “pick to click” soon.
By: Soxman
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When I visit U.S. Cellular Field for fun; and not business (i.e. seeing my Chicago White Sox as a ticketed fan,and not as a credentialed member of the media) one of my favorite places to stop is outside section 143 (pretty close to where Soxman and Batboy sit in 148) for a “Cuban Comet” sandwich.
It’s the tastiest new specialty food item at the Cell, and I’m sure you can figure out one (well, two actually) of the reasons it’s here- Shortstop Alexei Ramirez and rookie third baseman Dayan Viciedo.
The two Cuban infielder defectors are one of the main reasons the Sox have been on fire since Early June.
In today’s increasingly global economy, Major League Baseball franchises put more effort into investing in foreign countries than ever before. And if Che Guevara were alive today, his favorite baseball team might be the Chicago White Sox, who get around the U.S. government’s trade embargo on Cuba by signing defectors.
By Paul M. Banks
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With a turf toe injury to reliever LHP Eric Threets, and few better options to assume a left-handed specialist role in the bullpen, the first place Chicago White Sox will call upon LHP Chris Sale, their top pick from this year’s amateur draft for assistance.
Will the move be permanent or just cup of coffee for the young hurler? Will he head back to the minors quickly? As GM Kenny Williams said on a recent episode of MLB network’s The Club, “he will not hesitate to make a move that he thinks will help his team improve.”
After the draft, he told Sale that “he envisions him making the majors quickly.”
By: Soxman
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Despite White Sox GM Kenny Williams “Manny” attempts to land a slugger in their quest to win another World Series, no deal filling this need was made by the July 31st non-waiver deadline. However, fans thinking the southsiders still need hitting help should not worry; plenty of hitters who were otherwise not available may become available as teams fall out of contention and look to dump payroll.
Here’s a look at possible candidates, depending of course on what certain teams ahead of the Sox in the waiver order do.
By: Soxman
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The Chicago White Sox minor league system is stocked with prospects, some of which are names that you might not know. Let the Sports Bank and Sox Minor League Hitting Coordinator Jeff Manto, who was gracious enough to do a conference call for Sox bloggers last week fill you in.
By Paul M. Banks
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Since early June, we’ve seen a resurgence on offense from the Chicago White Sox. Super-prospect Dayan Viciedo has gotten his MLB career off to a great start. In the brief time he’s been with the parent club he’s producing numbers like these: .318 BA, .318 OBP, .500 SLG, .818 OPS.
There’s a couple spots in the Sox lineup where the current incumbents are aging veterans, so it’s time to think about which position players in the minors are next in line to fill those spots. Giving us insight into this is Jeff Manto, the White Sox Minor League Hitting Coordinator. Joining me on conference call were Jim Margalus of Sox Machine, Anthony Mazzuca from Future Sox, and South Side Sox.
For more on the Sox pitching prospects, with Minor League Pitching Coordinator Kirk Champion, go here and here.
Before we begin analyzing the prospects, I’d like to thank Marty Maloney, Coordinator of Public Relations for the White Sox for setting this up, and Manto for taking the time to answer our questions.
By Paul M. Banks
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Despite a frenzy of activity and a ton of “possibilities” the 2010 MLB non-waiver trade deadline passed with the Chicago White Sox making only one trade.
While I’m an optimist that Edwin Jackson’s career will be revived under the guidance of Don Cooper, was his acquisition enough to help the White Sox win the AL Central?
World Series Contenders?
If GM Kenny Williams’ trade attempts are any indication of needs, he still thinks they need more hitting. Let’s examine the top trades that didn’t happen.
By: Soxman
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Chicago White Sox starter Gavin Floyd (7-8) made quick work of the Oakland Athletics on Sunday. He took a perfect game into the sixth inning before allowing just one run and four hits in seven-plus innings, improving to 5-2 with a 1.06 ERA in his last 11 starts. All in under 2.5 hours. The 6-foot-6 right-hander hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in a game since a loss to Texas on June 2.
And Floyd is like many of the other Sox pitchers, and Sox system pitchers- developed to work with speed and efficiency. I recently was on conference call with Sox minor league pitching coordinator Kirk Champion (for more on Champion’s insights into the Sox organization’s top pitching prospects go here) and he discussed the organizational practices regarding this trait.
By Paul M. Banks
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Before Sunday’s series finale with the Oakland Athletics, Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen addressed the media just like he does before every game. But this time, he had a lot to say about some serious issues that transcend baseball. His take on Major League double standards relating to Asian and Latino players touches on topics that resonate all over the globe.
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