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  • A Conversation...with Bart Johnson

    • Created by: Lipman 1
    • Published: 06-26-2021, 11:20 PM
    • 0 comments

    A Conversation...with Bart Johnson



    By Mark Liptak
    White Sox Historian

    Time and circumstances often make one forget about certain players, they tend to fall through the cracks as it were. Bart Johnson, White Sox pitcher was one of those guys. Possibly the greatest athlete to ever play for the franchise he along with teammates Terry Forster and "Goose" Gossage were the "kiddie relief corps" for the Sox in the late 60's and early 70's and those guys literally put fear in opposing hitters because of how hard they threw and because sometimes even they didn't know where the ball was going to go.

    I had the pleasure of meeting Bart twice in person. The first time was when I returned to Chicago and spoke with him as part of my historical story on the White Sox relationship with the media through the years. The second time was when I co-hosted the 40th anniversary celebration, with Richard Roeper for the 1972 club, Dick Allen's M.V.P. year. They were the club that in Roland Hemond's words, 'saved' the franchise.

    I knew Bart had back issues from his injury when playing for the Sox, he told me he couldn't stand for more than a few minutes at a time but I had no idea, as it was disclosed, when he passed away in April 2020, that he also suffered from complications from Parkinson's Disease. Bart was 70 when he died.

    His career had numerous twists and turns, triumphs and tragedy's most of them because of Bart's decisions and who he was...but one thing's for sure...it was never boring.

    One quick story on him that wasn't included in the interview I did with him in 2006, at the end of the three day celebration for the 1972 club everyone went back to the Drake Hotel in Chicago where all the out-of-town participants stayed. I was in the corner having a beer with Gossage and fellow Sox pitcher Tom Bradley. We were talking pitching and I asked them who threw the hardest among that staff. (And keep in mind Bradley was no...
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  • A Conversation...with Tony LaRussa

    • Created by: Lipman 1
    • Published: 06-13-2021, 07:02 PM
    • 3 comments

    A Conversation...with Tony LaRussa


    LaRussa waves to crowd after becoming
    second winningest manager in history.
    6-6-21

    By Mark Liptak
    White Sox Historian

    I had gotten to know Tony in the early 1980's, in fact, one of my most prized possessions is a seven page handwritten letter on White Sox stationary from Tony from early 1983. At the end of the 1982 year I wrote both Tony and Roland Hemond with my thoughts and suggestions. Tony being the lawyer that he is, reviewed and commented on every single point I mentioned (one of which was trading Britt Burns to the Braves for Bob Horner).

    That April I was on the field at Arlington Stadium for opening night and Tony consented to a radio interview with me during pregame batting practice.

    We stayed in touch occasionally over the years and when he retired from St. Louis, I put him on my list of "White Sox family" members I'd like to do an in-depth interview with, some others on the list were Jerry Reinsdorf, Eddie Einhorn, Dick Allen and Carlton Fisk.

    Working through the Cardinals and Tony's agent we were finally able to arrange a phone conversation from his home in Oakland shortly after Christmas in 2014.

    To that end here is that interview for your enjoyment...and if you read it all the way through to the end, you'll find the first possible hints of what was to come in the winter of 2021...Tony's return as White Sox manager.

    ------------------------- ...
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  • Playoffs!!!

    • Created by: voodoochile
    • Published: 09-17-2020, 04:21 PM
    • 0 comments

    Playoffs!!!



    Sox fans have been waiting twelve years for today - twelve long frustrating years. Along the way we've seen our share of bad baseball. We've had to endure so many bad players, partial rebuilds and finally a full tear down to start from scratch with a bunch of kids. Last year we started to see some of the fruits as young players came on to show promise and help give a glimpse of the future and then everything got put on hold. The whole world got put on hold and all we could do is scratch our heads and say, "what now?" As Bill Veeck once quipped ""If there is any justice in this world, to be a White Sox fan frees a man from any other form of penance."

    But the season finally got going in late July and after a slow start and a lot of hand wringing and questions, much of it brought on by our nemesis from Minnesota in the first week of the season, the Sox took off. The young kids started hitting and the defense looked solid and they had not one but two or even three MVP candidates at various times. Entering these final two weeks against much tougher competition the Sox were the #1 team in the American League, but standing in our way was that very same Twinkies team. Some were convinced this would be the moment the Sox proved to be pretenders, getting fat on weak competition and now the butchers bill was due. Monday they won a squeaker. Tuesday was easier as rookie Pitcher Dane Dunning in only his 5th start rose up and led the team to victory. Wednesday our ace let us down a bit and the offense couldn't get anything going and the Sox took a painful loss, more so with the match-up coming Thursday day with Minnesota sending an ace to the mound as the Sox went with Renaldo "Mr. Wishy-Washy" Lopez. ...
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  • I said No No No No

    • Created by: voodoochile
    • Published: 08-25-2020, 09:38 PM
    • 0 comments

    I said No No No No

    The No No Song
    (For Lucas Giolito 8-25-2020)
    By Voodoochile
    With apologies to Ringo Starr

    A Pitcher that I know from South Chicago
    Smiled because no one understands
    Then He threw his first pitch and we said ho ho
    And we knew he was the best in all the land

    And I said:
    No no no no, the Bucs can’t hit it no more
    They tried but they just bounced them off the floor
    Yeah they’re all, stiffs, who had lots of whiffs
    And Lucas showed them all right to the door

    A Player that I know from Pittsburgh town
    Frowned because he did not understand.
    Then he checked his swing, but the ump said gone
    He knows Lucas is the best in all the land

    And I said:
    No no no no, the Bucs can’t hit it no more
    They tried but they just bounced them off the floor
    Yeah they’re all, stiffs, who had lots of whiffs
    And Lucas showed them all right to the door

    A bunch of Sox fans let out a big scream
    We smile because now you understand
    Lucas and McCann and the White Sox team
    Simply are the best in all the land

    And I said:
    No no no no, the Bucs can’t hit it no more
    They tried but they just bounced them off the floor
    Yeah they’re all, stiffs, who had lots of whiffs
    And Lucas showed them all right to the door...
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  • Welcome to the new WSI Forums

    • Created by: voodoochile
    • Published: 04-29-2020, 11:35 PM
    • 2 comments

    Welcome to the new WSI Forums

    Welcome to the new WSI Forums. Sadly, due to the passing of FarWestChicago we had to let the old site fade away. Honestly this is fitting. West was the driving force behind the old site and with his passing, his work should go with him. We were unable to transfer the old content due to major tweaks that were made to the code on the old site that would have led to a lot of broken code and no functionality if we had tried. Some of the moderators remain and we ask that you continue to treat them with the respect you have in the past.

    While the content is lost, the spirit lives on. You will find this site very similar to the old one in functionality and BONUS! the smilies work again. We were even able to rescue most of the old tags and smilies from the old forums so hopefully it will feel like home. Yes the language filters still exist and we still ask you not to try to evade them. We want to be a home for anyone, even younger members who want to talk Sox Baseball. Politics is still not allowed other than in the special hidden forum you have to ask to join. ...
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  • Hope Springs Eternal
    by voodoochile
    And so it begins..

    First pitchers and catchers then skill position players all reported for Spring Training this past week. Once again Sox players and fans are gearing up for a season of baseball on the Southside of Chicago. The offseason wasn't as active as some would like, but the Sox managed to sign Andrew Benintendi to play LF and Mike Clevinger to fill the void at 5th starter. On the surface these would be solid moves, but the controversy surrounding Clevinger makes it questionable whether he will ever play a game for the good guys wearing black. The investigation is ongoing and only time will tell. Late in the off season they also re-signed Elvis Andrus to play 2B. It's not a huge move, but it's cheap and it gives the team a floor of competency at a position of need without having to rely on Romy Gonzalez or Lenyn Sosa to be MLB ready right out of the gate.

    Aside from that the Sox parted ways with longtime team stalwart Jose Abreu to clear up playing time for Andrew Vaughn, Eloy Jimenez (DH) and Gavin Sheets all of whom would have been struggling to find at bats if they kept Abreu and signed Benintendi also.

    The Sox are counting on bounceback seasons from several players who regressed or struggled with injuries last year to find out if this "core" is as good as promised. Will guys like Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez and Yoan Moncada stay healthy and live up to their hype? Will Lucas Giolito return to the form he showed prior to his major regression last year?

    In addition, the Sox are looking for production from some young players looking to prove themselves. Oscar Colas is going to have a lot riding on is massive shoulders as it appears he will be the starting RF to open the season. He has some past professional experience, but only one season of minor league baseball here in the states. He's got the ability to be at least league average but there are questions about his plate discipline and whether he's...
    02-22-2023, 05:40 PM
  • The State of the Sox...
    by Lipman 1
    “The State of the Sox”
    To say the 2022 season for the White Sox was a disappointment would be an understatement. But its more than that, this was a franchise supposedly in the middle of a window of contention, six years after a needed rebuild was begun. To see how the White Sox played this season… uninspired, badly lacking in fundamentals, poorly constructed and injury prone suggests deeper issues than just “one of those years.”

    White Sox fans wish that was the case… that it was just an outlier, “one of those years.”

    Since the organization as usual isn’t saying much and with the cancellation of Sox Fest this coming winter which deprives fans of asking questions to the front office, I canvassed my sources that I’ve gotten to know over the years, individuals who have a professional connection in various ways to the White Sox, sometimes for decades, to get a sense of what they think, what they know and what bothered them not only about the 2022 season but about the organization as a whole…from the front office, to the medical, training and conditioning staffs, to the broadcasters and of course the entire Tony LaRussa experiment.

    In order to get honest opinions, without fear of repercussions I told them that no names would be used, no titles would be revealed.

    Their beliefs suggest that the organization now is in a state where inept, dysfunctional and incompetent adjectives aren’t far-fetched in describing the state of the Sox.

    The readers of course can judge for themselves.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------

    Thoughts on this past season

    “We really thought we were going to have a great year, maybe not win it but go deep in the playoffs.”

    “The problem with this team is there was no real leadership, nobody to hold guys accountable. No red-asses like the Sox had in the past… Carlton Fisk, Jack McDowell, A.J. Pierzynski....
    11-01-2022, 07:36 PM
  • A Conversation With Ed Herrmann...
    by Lipman 1

    By Mark Liptak
    White Sox Historian

    I had the chance to get to know Ed before he passed away from cancer in 2013 right before Christmas. And I was glad I did. Ed had a great sense of humor and a great sense of timing being called up to the Sox in 1967, the greatest pennant race in baseball history then being a part of the “Outhouse to Penthouse” White Sox of 1972.

    Today it’s still hard to imagine a player of Ed’s caliber, playing one of the toughest positions in baseball being traded, because he wanted a 2,000 (thousand) dollar raise but that was the financial situation with the Sox at the time. In fact in the recently released book, “Chili Dog M.V.P.” the author’s wrote that the money the Sox got from the Yankees in the deal was used to help pay off the White Sox spring training hotel expenses!!

    This interview with Ed took place in 2003. Again I really enjoyed getting to know him and I hope you’ll enjoy his memories.

    --------------------

    His nickname was "Fort" as in "Fort Herrmann."

    True, Ed Herrmann wasn’t a Johnny Bench, a Carlton Fisk or a Thurman Munson... but then none of those highly regarded catchers was as good at blocking the plate as Herrmann who used a football player’s mentality when it came to the art of knocking down and blocking off runners at home plate.

    While Ed overall wasn’t on par with those three contemporaries of his, he still was better than 75 per cent of the catchers in the Major Leagues and reversed the White Sox trend of having great fielding, no-hit catchers. Ed averaged in double figures in home runs for the Sox between 1970 and 1974 while providing stellar defense. He was good enough to make the 1974 All-Star team although he couldn’t play because of an injury. Herrmann was a small part of the 1967 club that almost won the pennant and then played a major part in the South Side revival that took place in 1971...
    04-07-2022, 04:17 PM
  • A Conversation With Donn Pall...
    by Lipman 1

    By Mark Liptak
    White Sox Historian

    He’s the ultimate headline “Local kid makes good…plays for hometown team”

    Yes, sometimes dreams DO come true as it did for Evergreen Park native Donn Pall who came from the South Side went to the University of Illinois and then somehow beat the odds to play for and pitch for the White Sox, a team he followed growing up.

    Cinderella? Maybe not quite… after all he did have to have the talent to actually get into that position in the first place but it is a remarkable story. I first spoke with Donn about that story and his career in 2003. We’ve stayed friends ever since.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    You wonder how many Sox fans dreamed "the dream." The dream being the chance that someday, somehow you could wind up on that field. Not only on that field, but wearing a White Sox uniform... playing for the team that you grew up rooting for.

    The odds have to be a million to one to get to the Major Leagues and perhaps a billion to one of growing up in Chicago and playing for the White Sox when you do.

    Any wonder Donn Pall always seems to have a smile on his face? This is a guy who beat those impossible odds. Pall grew up in Evergreen Park and when he wasn’t playing baseball, he was watching it. Often in a seat at the original Comiskey Park.

    Like the song says, "And the seasons, they go round and round..." and before you knew it, young Donn Pall was now 26 and on the same pitching mound where he watched Wilbur Wood, "Goose" Gossage, Steve Stone, LaMarr Hoyt and Britt Burns do their thing.

    Pall played 10 years in the Major Leagues, six with the Sox and was there for the 1990 and 1993 seasons that grow sweeter with time. Donn still lives and works in the Chicago area as a financial consultant for Morgan Stanley, which is where I...
    02-03-2022, 02:13 PM
  • Roland Hemond R.I.P...
    by Lipman 1

    By Mark Liptak
    White Sox Historian

    Word came to me on Monday afternoon that Roland Hemond, a friend and former executive with the White Sox had passed away at the age of 92. I knew Roland had been ill for the past few years but still to actually find out that he had passed was jarring and sad.

    Roland and I had spoken a lot over the years and as I explain later in this tribute to him, he was always a man of his word.

    The role of a general manager cannot be understated. He is the person directly responsible for acquiring and evaluating talent needed to win games at the big-league level. He also has to balance in his head the roles of economics, baseball rules, the player’s union, dealing with the media and thousands of other things on a daily basis. It is not a job for the faint of heart or for those who don’t have the experience of upper management.

    In my opinion Roland was the best G.M. in the history of the organization and I mean no disrespect to others who also deserve consideration for that title…men like Frank “Trader” Lane, Ed Short, Ron Schueler or Kenny Williams.
    When Hemond took over the organization the franchise was literally in shambles. He faced challenges no other individual who held the position of player personnel director/G.M. ever faced.

    The Sox were on their way to a franchise record 106 loss season in 1970. Comiskey Park was falling apart from disrepair. Fans were staying away in droves because the area was supposedly in a bad neighborhood. In 1969 for example the team drew, for the season, only 589,000... even that would fall to a paltry 495,000 in 1970. In 1968 and 1969, owner Art Allyn was playing a portion of his home games in Milwaukee trying the market to see if it would accept a move of the franchise from the South Side. The Sox would even lose their radio station and have to broadcast games starting in 1971 on two small outlets in LaGrange and Evanston, Illinois....
    12-13-2021, 09:21 PM
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