O, what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive!
Sir Walter Scott penned those lines more than two hundred years ago. If I hadn’t learned that already, I would’ve thought he was writing about Tom Ricketts and his courtiers in the office tower looming over Clark Street. You know the place: 125,000 square feet of corporate glitz at Waveland and Clark on the former site of a coal yard. And it faces the $200 million hotel across the street that was previously a McDonald’s parking lot.
Add to that the new commercial building on Addison that replaced a string of locally owned storefronts. And don’t forget the acquisition of most of those three-flats behind the outfield that serve now as party rooms. If Chuck E. Cheese adopted a baseball theme, you’d have the model for “Wrigleyville.” Quotation marks are appropriate because there’s no neighborhood by that name – it’s more like Brigadoon or Camelot: not a place, but a state of mind.
All this avarice brought to mind those lines from Scott’s poem. The Cubs aren’t a ballclub as much as they are an ATM for the owners. The team pulled off a World Series win, boasted of a dynasty, and when the team’s fortunes waned the owners focused on their other fortunes. Instead of putting money on the field, they’re fielding money in a sportsbook building while cutting the team payroll in a series of disemboweling trades.
I have to admit it’s fun to watch air leak out of the Cubs’ hubris balloon. We’re Sox fans and we lived through several years of a rebuild, which to Rick Hahn’s credit he never tried to deny, unlike Jed Hoyer’s double-talk about it being different now. Yeah, it’s different, all right.
As I write this, the White Sox are decisively winning the interleague series against the Cubs. Steve Greenberg wrote in the Sun-Times, “There are ships passing in the night, and then there are the Sox and Cubs. One team an ocean liner steaming for the deep...
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Bart Johnson interview...
Saturday night I put up on the main page another one of my interviews with members of the White Sox family. This time it is with former pitcher Bart Johnson... -
*OFFICIAL* 6-10-21 Hit Homers; Win Game SOX 5 TOR 2 Postgamer
Grandal and Engel hit the big flies.
Keuchel and bullpen handle the Jays. -
Really good article on Moncada and his Cowboy Bebop skills
While we wait for word on Madrigal, you can kill time with this analysis of Moncada's elite BABIP skills, and how's he's able to get all those extra hits.... -
*Official* 6/9 Eighth Wasn't Great Postgamer
Obviously, potentially losing Madrigal for a while is the bigger story, but the way the whole team came undone in that eighth inning was frustrating beyond... -
Sox Degrees Podcast
The inaugural episode of the Sox Degrees Podcast, with Jason Benetti and Len Kasper, dropped today. They interviewed Rick Hahn. However one feels about... -
*Official* Kan't Win If You Kan't Make Kontact Postgamer
The offense had a bad day. Giolito deserved a better fate. Take the series tomorrow afternoon. -
At what point does Yermin Mercedes get sent to Charlotte
I drove all the way from the northwest side to Bridgeport to eat a Yerminator burger back in April, but apart from that one home run Mercedes has not... -
Sox 2021 Game Thread #4
TA gets the day off with Mendick at SS. Collins is catching.
https://twitter.com/whitesox/status/...544137/photo/1 -
Potential Trade Targets
Back in Spring Training, who would have guessed the starting rotation would be the strength of the team? The rotation ought not to be wasted, so it’s... -
The statistics like the White Sox
White Sox #1 in the MLB power rankings
https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-power-r...s-after-week-6
White Sox #1 in the Fangraphs power rankings... -
*OFFICIAL* 4-29 DH Game 1 Rodon Rides Again SOX DET 1 Postgamer
I think Rodon might be the real deal. -
Article on Several Sox pitchers
Article on Kopech, Cease, the bullpen and Keuchel regarding their progress this season. As expected Heuer, Hendricks and Bummer were not available yesterday.... -
*Official 4/12 Cleveland Throws It Away*
Bizarre night, from Len on the TV call to Keuchel starting to the wild walkoff ending..
What in the hell was with the flashing lights after... -
Sox Roster Moves Thread
Bernardo Flores was apparently put on waivers and was claimed by the Cardinals.
https://twitter.com/JRFegan/status/1...819126274?s=20...
