This afternoon, some White Sox bloggers got to speak with Brooks Boyer. As we’ve all become aware, the White Sox are honoring the 1983 “Winning Ugly” team this season by wearing the 1983 uniforms on Sundays like they did last year for the 1972 team. Like last year, there will be Retro Racers on Sundays. This year’s 1983 racers will be Harold Baines, Ron Kittle and Carlton Fisk. Many of this year’s giveaways will be centered around the 1983 team, including the Harold Baines and Ron Kittle bobbleheads.

Boyer said that with the vast history of the White Sox and the use of some cool and some not-so-cool uniforms of the paste, the Sox are using the throwback jerseys as a way to not only honor great teams of the past but also to teach younger generations about the history of the team. The Sox would like to continue wearing throwback jerseys, and Boyer said they don’t need a milestone to celebrate to wear a jersey

Boyer was asked some specifics about the uniforms the players will be wearing on Sundays. They will be wearing the 1983 caps and helmets, and the uniforms will feature the All-Star Game patch. The players won’t be required to wear red shoes to go along with the 1983 uniforms. Most players wore red shoes with the pinstripes last season, so it’s possible that many players will wear red shoes this season. Boyer said they could wear ballet shoes for all he cares, as long as they go out and play well.

» Continue reading “Chatting with Brooks Boyer”

SoxFest begins tomorrow night and I saw the schedule of events. Missing is a marketing panel which has really turned into a Sox fan festivus. During that session, fans got the opportunity to air grievances with the occasional suggestion for making things better as an experience at the ballpark. One of the questions that was asked last year by a fan got me thinking about rooting for the team versus rooting for the players.

The fan asked Brooks Boyer why he should root for  Alex Rios when Alex couldn’t even be bothered to show up for SoxFest. If you recall, Rios had an absolutely horrible 2011 and fans were rightly upset with his play. Brooks had the perfect response to the fan: you should root for Rios because he wears the White Sox uniform! And that exchange leads me to thinking about what exactly as fans are we rooting for?

A lot of times when we become fans of a team, it might be due to a particular player. Jen, who writes on this site is an example of someone who became a Sox fan because she was following a player. A friend’s brother became a fan because he liked the team colors and I became a fan because I just started watching the team and enjoyed their play compared to other teams I saw. All of us are White Sox fans rooting for that team. Hopefully, the players on the team follow, but sometimes it gets really hard to do. » Continue reading “The Name On The Jersey”

This afternoon, White Sox sales and marketing VP Brooks Boyer held a conference call with some White Sox bloggers. Boyer briefly addressed the announcement last week that the Sox were lowering season ticket prices. He said it was the first step toward many announcements this offseason.

The White Sox want to connect with fans, Boyer said. They created a great atmosphere, and the Sox want an even better atmosphere next season. He said the Sox want to reconnect with fans whose circumstances have changed over the past few seasons while also creating new fans by getting more kids to come to the games. » Continue reading “Conference Call with Brooks Boyer”

I mentioned in my recap of the conference call with Dan Fabian and Brooks Boyer that I emailed Brooks a follow-up question. My question was regarding the sports and marketing fair being held on May 24. I asked Brooks what participants could expect and how they can get involved.

Brooks emailed me back Thursday morning and gave me some details on the event. » Continue reading “Brooks Boyer Follow Up”

I was able to attend another conference call on Cheryl’s behalf again today, and this time we were able to speak with Dan Fabian, the director of baseball operations, and Brooks Boyer, senior vice president of marketing and sales.

The call started off with Fabian, and he was first asked what his typical day looks like as the director of baseball operations. During the season, he has a daily chart of things he has to do, and he reads it much like a box score. He also spends a lot of his day working with the pro scouts. The Sox have eight of them, and Fabian will organize their reports with them and schedule where to send them next. Those are the two biggest things that take up his time, but various projects come up that he will have to attend to as well.

Fabian was asked what kind of prep work was done during the offseason with the new staff. He said that he is there to provide the staff with what they need. He will tell them what has been done in the past, the coaches will ask for things that they may have gotten in the past, and they work from there. Fabian said it’s still an evolving process, and once the season gets started, things will fall into place better.

Several questions were asked about the trade deadline. Fabian’s job around the deadline is very busy. Before the buying deadline and selling deadlines come around, he has already run material and has player info at hand. He will usually compile the top ten players from a team so Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn have that information to facilitate conversation. » Continue reading “Conference Call Time Again! Featuring Dan Fabian and Brooks Boyer”

Camp is under way! we finally will get to see what this team will soon look like for the season. Sure, it will take a bit, but in the interim, we will soon enough know about what to potentially expect. As the season draws closer, I will be looking for your help and there will even be some bobbleheads and statues involved for the best ideas to help me out.

On Monday I will be posting about a few contests to get us fired up for spring training. Who knows, you could definitely win a Roger Bossard, Mark Buehrle or Nancy Faust bobblehead or even a Frank Thomas Statue.

And on to news of note. Are you one who suffers from peanut allergies? Have friends who suffer from them and because of that, you can’t attend baseball games with them because of all the peanuts? » Continue reading “Happenings at 35th & Shields: Spring Has Sprung”

This afternoon, the White Sox held a conference call for season ticket holders with new bench coach Mark Parent and senior VP of sales and marketing, Brooks Boyer. Cheryl is a season ticket holder, but since she was unable to attend, I had the honor of listening in.

Before I get into the actual conference call and the questions asked by season ticket holders, let me say that I think if every franchise is not already doing this, they should. A lot of media members can’t or won’t ask the questions that fans have. As a journalism major, I have learned that I can’t ask questions of athletes that come from my heart. I would never be able to get and/or keep a job that way. So as a fan, it’s a great way to get your questions heard and a great way to get them answered.

And if you have a site like this one where at least one writer is a season ticket holder, all non-season ticket holders get a chance to hear from the coaches and front office too.

Now to the actual call.

» Continue reading “White Sox Season Ticket Holders Speak with Mark Parent and Brooks Boyer”

Now that SoxFest is over, I feel like I can finally start to decide what I think of this team as it stands now. There seemed to be an overall feeling of trying to make fans feel good about what could potentially be a not great season. This hit me immediately in seeing some of the molds of Joe Crede and Juan Uribe that are in the monument plaza. I was also vividly reminded of the 1985 Bears team. Mainly because the way the 2005 was being celebrated.

Don’t get me wrong, they should be celebrated. When they won game four in Houston, I was beyond ecstatic and love that they did it. But now I am worried that 20, 30 years down the road at SoxFest, guys from that team will continue to be trotted out in a feel-good moment. » Continue reading “Final Thoughts On SoxFest 2012″