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”

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 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”

Happy Super Bowl Sunday. I can’t say I really have a team I am rooting for as my team failed to make a repeat performance. No matter as I am sure I will tune in for some time before I decide I just HAVE to watch my latest British obsession, Downton Abbey. If you haven’t been sucked into this British Drama, you are lucky. I find myself having to watch each episode twice because it is that good.

In any event, there is still not much going on at 35th & Shields this off season. THANK GOODNESS the 23rd is coming up soon. At least then we will have thing to discuss. In the meantime, here are a few stories worth your time to read so you stay on top of the Sox. Sure, the off season has been mostly uneventful, but there are a few things to take notice of. » Continue reading “South Side Hits: February 5, 2012″

(l-r) Jeff Manto, Brent Lillibridge, Ken "Hawk" Harrelson, Adam Dunn

Yesterday was day two of SoxFest. It was another fun day. There were moments of testiness as well as some questions that were asked that left me scratching my head. Below are the tweets of the day. There are a couple of gaps. For the first time ever, I ended up in Twitter Jail for tweeting too much in an hour. Fortunately, it only lasted for an hour. If it had gone longer, I am not sure what I would have done. Maybe create an account just for the jail time. In any event, enjoy. I will bring you day three today as well on twitter. As always, if you have any questions, please ask. I know the spelling gets wonky at times so some of the tweets might not make a ton of sense. (Like Ichiro turning into i crap!)

Day Two Tweets: » Continue reading “SoxFest Day Two. A Bit Of Drama”