Photo by Amy Swenson

This afternoon, White Sox season ticket holders got a chance to chat with Steve Stone and Adam Dunn. As you may have learned from the last two conference calls I covered for Cheryl, I kind of love them and think it’s a great idea. I also love that Cheryl is a season ticket holder and lets me participate.

First to join the call was Steve Stone. Gene Honda moderated the call, and he asked Stoney whether he was surprised at Robin Ventura being named manager this year like a national columnist was. Stone was surprised but for a different reason. Most people were surprised because Robin had never managed at any level prior to this position.

Stone said this is not a negative for Robin. He gets the respect of every player in that clubhouse, but he doesn’t command it. It goes beyond being a good player back in his playing days because he understands the players today. Stone also said that just like a first-year player, a first-year manager is going to make mistakes. Robin has to deal with 25 different egos and work with his coaching staff as well.

» Continue reading “Conference Call with Steve Stone and Adam Dunn”

Seen in the Cleveland series!

Oh off days! Later in the season when we’ve been overwhelmed by so many games (hopefully nail biters in a good way), we come to appreciate them. Early in the season, not so much.

Tomorrow, our guys in black will be home for a seven-game home stand. Those first three games could be quite tough. And hopefully you haven’t decided it is hopeless and the Sox should just roll over for the Tigers. In the meantime, here is some reading to catch up on happenings with the Sox.

 Newsflash: Robin is a different person that Ozzie Guillen! *Eye Roll at stating the obvious* Here is an article on how the clubhouse and team has a different atmosphere and attitude under Robin.  » Continue reading “Off Day White Sox Reading”

Another win for the White Sox yesterday. And another sip of the Kool-Aid for me. The Sox are 11-13 on the spring and still have a few more chances to get themselves to .500 or even above before the games really count.

Do I think spring really matters all that much when it comes to success for the season? No, but this team is doing some of the little things that makes me think they could be a dark horse in the AL Central this year. What makes me think this?

Big Donkey is being rather “unexpected” this spring. I know there was NO WAY he could be as awful as he was last season. But he only has three strikeouts this spring. He’s also walking a lot. Even Baseball Prospectus is predicting big things for him this season and they are the ultimate in skepticism when it comes to small sample size. » Continue reading “White Sox Please Stop Me From Drinking The Kool-Aid”

Still not much happening in White Sox land, but pitchers and catchers report soon. Baseball will be back before we know it. I, for one, am ecstatic. Until then, here are some interesting stories that have popped up recently.

 Robin Ventura and Ozzie Guillen wish each other well this season.

 Scott Merkin answers more fan questions in the latest Inbox on WhiteSox.com.

 Dan Fabian, the Director of Baseball Operations for the White Sox, was on MLB Network’s “Baseball IQ” on Tuesday night. For a spoiler, check out the ninth inning to see how he did.

 Want to be on TV? Shoot a commercial that is representative of the “Appreciate the Game” campaign, and the Sox might pay you $7,500 for it!

 Nancy Faust will be a guest organist for the Kane County Cougars for 10 games this season.

 For $5,000 you can propose to your significant other on U.S. Cellular Field on a non-game day.

Have a great day, Sox fans. We’re one day closer to new baseball!

Happy Tuesday! I am going to assume you are recovered from the super bowl weekend and whatever indulgences you partook in on Sunday. With that sporting event out of the say, it can officially be time for baseball season.

Since today is the 7th, that means we are just days away from pitchers and catchers reporting, which will happen on Thursday the 23rd. Still not much happening in White Sox land, but that might be a good thing. Perhaps, the lack of stuff going on is a sign that the upcoming season will be drama-free. In any event, here are a few stories to start your day off in the know about the Sox.

 The Cuban Missile and The Cuban Tank are hoping things change with comings and goings for ballplayers in Cuba. They understand the situation Yoensis Cespedes is going through at the moment. » Continue reading “South Side Hits: February 7, 2012 White Sox Links”

(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”

Wouldn't it be awesome to see this sort of thing all season?

Hello lovelies! Hope you had a great weekend. If you are in the Chicago area, hopefully the weather over the weekend (beginning last Thursday) didn’t stress you out. And if you are in other parts of the country dealing with rain and snow, sorry. I hope it wasn’t too much of a hassle for you and didn’t ruin your weekend.

We are now just a few days away from SoxFest 2012! It should be a good time this weekend. If you will be there, be sure to come find me as I will be there both Saturday and Sunday. If you can’t attend, check out my twitter both days as I plan to live-tweet the happenings. » Continue reading “South Side Hits: January 23, 2012 White Sox Links”

A site fans want to see after every game

Happy Monday and MLK Day! If you have the day off, great. If not, sorry  you can’t extend the weekend a little bit longer. Hopefully the weekend was good for you. If you are a football fan, I hope you got what you wanted out of the games. Sadly, I did not, but that just means i can focus on getting ready for baseball season now.

As for news with the Sox, not a lot going on, except a certain Dirt Bag did make some news with an interview he gave with Chris Rongey on White Sox Weekly. If you didn’t get a chance to listen, you really should. Actually, you HAVE to listen to this interview. » Continue reading “South Side Hits: January 16, 2012 White Sox Links”

Happy Friday! You are almost back to the weekend, which is a great thing. At least I think it is. There still isn’t a ton happening at 35th & Shields with our favorite team, but there are a few news nuggets you should know about.

 In news of my favorite pitcher of late, Mark Buehrle isn’t welcome in Miami-Dade County. At least one of his dog’s isn’t welcome.

 I know some of you pick your games to attend based upon the promo item. Fear not as the 2012 Promotional Schedule is out now.

 I’m am sure you have heard that Carlos “Big Z” Zambrano has been traded to the Miami Marlins. He will now be coached by former Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. That should be entertaining. South Side Sox says the rivalry with the Cubs now has lot a bit of the spice. » Continue reading “South Side Hits: January 6, 2012 White Sox Links & News”

Good luck playing at home!

I am sure by now you have heard that the White Sox traded The Carlos Quentin for two pitching prospects to the San Diego Padres. What to think of the move? Well, most fans, including me were expecting for TCQ to get moved this off season. It was only a matter of when. This especially since John Danks was recently signed to an extension. KW has kind of made it clear, salary needed to be dumped and if JD was going to be back, someone’s money had to go. That left TCQ with his expected pay increase coming in his final arbitration year.

This trade does solve a couple of “problems” the Sox were going to deal with. First, there was the relatively crowded outfield. Before the trade, the outfielders consisted of Dayan Viciedo, Alejandro De Aza, Alex Rios and TCQ. Since The Cuban Tank was brought up last season, most were expecting that he’d see some playing time significantly in 2012. Because, why on earth wouldn’t you play him. And many would love to see Alex Rios’ playing time cut down drastically given how abysmal he was last season. Not just at the plate, but more importantly in the field. » Continue reading “Come On Down, Dayan Viciedo! Right Field Is All Yours”