Sox Populi - A Chicago White Sox podcast

In the fifth episode of the Ladies’ Night podcast Hannah LaMotta, Delia Ritchie, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, and Allie Wesel discuss several topics related to our beloved — or despised, depending on the day — South Siders. Whether you’re a die-hard White Sox fan or not, there’s something for everyone. So, sit back, relax, and grab your favorite beverage because the girls hit a home run chatting about all things baseball, including: The automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system. What do we think of the two different approaches, and how would it change the game The AL Central teams are actually killing it this year. How did this happen, and will the Sox ever be relevant again A glimpse around the Chicago minor league system. The Birmingham Barons starting rotation is impressive, but does it really mean anything A walk down memory lane regarding players from other teams who absolutely crushed our White Sox souls The podcast will air bi-monthly, with the next episode dropping in June. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fresh off a sweep dealt by the first-place Yankees, the White Sox hope to recover in Toronto against the Blue Jays. Both the Sox and Jays sit at the bottom of their divisions, and will likely be sellers at the trade deadline. The teams are similar, with All-Star players in contract years, and inconsistent offense. Thankfully for my wonderful guest, Ruth Kapelus, Toronto’s pitching rotation and team in general might have a little more fight in them. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: Toronto Centre updates Grading the offseason Contract years and dark times as a fan It’s a good year to get to Oakland Confidence going into 2024 Pitching matchups Using our voices to call out abuse Mickey Mouse Cy-Young winner Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series The up-and-down Astros Ruth takes on Chicago soon You can follow Ruth on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White Sox head to the Bronx to face off against a good Yankees team. Nick Stellini joined the podcast to discuss the first-place team and the red-hot Aaron Judge. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: What’s new in the Bronx? Does anyone know about Juan Soto? Gerrit Cole’s timeline, and how hilarious he is Grading the offseason How to stay in first place Are Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson freaks of nature? Confidence going into 2024 Pitching matchups, and Carlos Rodón Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Thoughts for the 2024 season The downfall of the Astros It’s time for Jerry Reinsdorf to pay some therapy bills You can follow Nick on Twitter and check out his work at SportsLine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s Brett Ballantini’s favorite week of the month, when he gets to again call on president and GM of the first-place Birmingham Barons, Jonathan Nelson. Even after a tightly-fought series in Pensacola didn’t go Birmingham’s way, the club is still tops in the Southern League. Despite losing five of six to the Blue Wahoos, the Barons have won five of their last 10 and remain a half-game better than their fellow division-leading counterparts, Pensacola How manager Sergio Santos has handled the first tough turn of the season Inside baseball: How Jonathan works hand-in-hand with this field manager A preview of this week’s home series hosting the Chattanooga Lookouts, worst in the Southern League Bryan Ramos’ call-up and delightful character Will Brooks Baldwin ever stop hitting The phenom, Wilfred Veras The most terrifying offensive weapon in Birmingham? It could very well be a healthy Duke Ellis and his speed demonry How is catcher Edgar Quero shaping up as a leader and game-caller? Three quick speed-round questions with Jonathan off-the-field Is Mason Adams the surprise ace of the Barons? Eric Adler arrives in town to give Birmingham another late-inning killer The southpaw starting pair of Jake Eder and Ky Bush How the Barons brass on the ground in Birmingham plays into any promotion/demotion decisions Do these podcasts provide the good luck for the team, meaning that soon Brett may need to be packing his bags for Birmingham? Follow Jonathan Nelson on Twitter @JonathanN_Bham, the Barons @BhamBarons, and find tickets to an upcoming Barons game by clicking this link. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the first time ever, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan has missed an episode of Sharing Sox. But his son and west coast correspondent, Will, took to the microphone in what amounted to a The Big Blurt reunion, with Rob Colletti and Bill Meincke. And the timing was pretty good, given they trio talked on the heels of the only good week of baseball we’ve enjoyed with the White Sox this season. Naturally, such sunshine was not quite reflected in the podcast itself. The podcast kicks off with general introductions, plus the traditional singing hello from Rob to Bill Is it better to be historically bad, or to see good performances/wins that will yield improvements to the system and improve the next wave of White Sox talent? As it comes up in the podcast, Rob wrote a very popular piece on South Side Sox last month, addressing the horribleness of the organization Rob, and the rest of the crew, are hyped about ... the Double-A Birmingham Barons A sober assessment of Andrew Vaughn and his future in Chicago Loss predictions for the 2024 season A broader assessment of the MLB season will play out Weighing in on John Schriffen as our new play-by-play guy, and seeing it turn into a rough assessment of Hawk Harrelson Will has the only proper read on generosity toward the Cubs and Cubs fans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White Sox will see the Nationals again this year thanks to the balanced MLB schedule, so I have another chance to chat with the brilliant Davy Andrews. In a fun episode, we discussed the sister teams and their desire to pick up Some Guys from MLB’s clearance rack. Both teams seem to be proceeding with a “don’t call it a rebuild” rebuild by firing the front office and acquiring veteran players on one-year contracts in hopes of trade bait, but one team is at least winning games. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: What’s new in the nation’s capital? If we stop the season right now Grading the offseason Hockey? Confidence going into 2024 Commonalities and old friends Black Friday bargain bin shopping Pitching matchups Trevor Williams, CJ Abrams, and other likable guys Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Thoughts for the 2024 season You can follow Davy on Twitter and check out his work at Baseball Prospectus and FanGraphs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the fourth episode of the Ladies’ Night podcast Hannah LaMotta, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach and Allie Wesel discuss several topics related to our beloved — or despised, depending on the day — South Siders. Whether you’re a die-hard White Sox fan or not, there’s something for everyone. So, sit back, relax, and grab your favorite beverage because the girls hit a home run chatting about all things baseball, including: Our favorite City Connect jerseys and most-anticipated new reveals. Plus, if we each had a gift card to buy just one, which one we would choose Who’s hot and who’s not around the league covering teams and players — and lament and celebrate the success of Dylan Cease with the San Diego Padres White Sux moments over the last few weeks. There is still plenty to complain about despite a few recent wins The trade of Robbie Grossman to the Texas Rangers for right-handed minor leaguer Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa The podcast will air bi-weekly, with the next episode dropping in late May. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff Ellis is back again this season to talk all things Cleveland Guardians. The division rivals face off in Chicago after a quick road trip down south. Cleveland sits in first place at the moment, while the White Sox sit comfortably at the bottom. The previous games against Cleveland were close, so perhaps the Sox can muster up the same energy they had against the Cardinals and Rays. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: What’s new in Cleveland? Injury woes Grading the offseason How to lead the division Confidence going into 2024 Pitching matchups Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Thoughts for the 2024 season Really bad owners How to make baseball fun again You can follow Jeff on Twitter, and follow along at Locked On Guardians. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, took to the microphones on May 3, the White Sox were 6-25, on pace for a modern-era, MLB-record 131 losses. So, naturally, we took a moment at the onset to shamelessly plug the Jerry Seinfeld movie Unfrosted, because Will is in it (both face and handwriting) and it opens on Netflix on that very day. The movie is more or less about the origin of Pop Tarts, which is a much more tasty subject than the White Sox, no matter how you feel about breakfast foods that fit in a toaster. But, unfortunately, it becomes necessary to return to the subject the podcast is supposed to be about, and to delve into the psychology of whether we fans now want the Sox to win games, or to keep up the bad work so we can all say we were there and watching when the record of the 1962 Mets was crushed. This naturally led to discussion of whether it’s better to play aged veterans who will be gone or of no use by the time the White Sox have a chance to be good (check the longevity charts for 88-year-olds named Jerry to see when that might be), or to flood the field with young players who are lousy now but have a chance to be better some day. Oh, sure, we also look at a bunch of statistics that confirm what we already know about how terrible this team is in every aspect of the game (hint: that light at the end of the tunnel is definitely a train). And there’s even a bit of chat about TV announcers, which isn’t nearly as harsh as you’d expect. Or, just a normal White Sox podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friend of the pod Taylor Streiff of Redbird Rants joins again to chat about the Cardinals ahead of the series against the White Sox. St. Louis made a lot of moves during the offseason, especially on the pitching side, resulting in an outstanding pitching rotation and bullpen. You thought the Royals-to-White Sox pipeline was bad? Just wait! We spent a lot of time chatting about the connections between the Sox and the Cards, with the likes of Lance Lynn, Tommy Pham, Dominic Leone, and many more. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: What’s new in St. Louis? Taylor’s hit tweet Grading the offseason Confidence going into 2024 Animal cameos Pitching matchups Cardinals to White Sox pipeline Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Predictions for 2024 Will Marmol be fired? You can follow Taylor on Twitter, read his work at Redbird Rants, and check out Ben’s Friends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

April is over, so it’s time for us to award, and talk about, our South Side Sox MiLB Players of the Month at each level. Joe Resis, writer of our story and deciding vote on the awards, occupies the expert’s chair as we summarize the April notables: An overview of the four affiliates, playing around .500 ball collectively and with one club (Birmingham) already pointed toward the postseason We spontaneously determined that 60 at-bats is enough to earn this award, so congratulations, Danny Mendick, you are Charlotte’s winner! Kudos to him, against all odds FORCING HIS WAY back onto the White Sox roster — leaving the team no other option, really Drew Thorpe wins a nail-biter in Birmingham, where any one of three starting pitchers could have earned the honors. We speculate a bit on possible call-up or MLB debut dates for Drew An award with an actual reward comes for Eric Adler, who was gem-perfect in Winston-Salem and got his call-up to Double-A at the end of the month In Kannapolis, it was more of a runaway choice, with Aldrin Batista crushing Low-A batters to earn April plaudits Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A month in, it’s our first Winston-Salem Dash podcast, and Joe Resis occupies the expert’s chair as we summarize the April notables: An introduction for Joe, taking on a bigger minors role than ever for South Side Sox Noah Schultz: Please with his first month, or no? A review of Dash Players of the Week on the pitching side, Juan Carela and Manuel Veloz Everyone’s favorite LHS Wildcat, Riley Gowens A closer already promoted to Birmingham, Eric Adler Glue guy José Ramírez The Dash hitting has been weaker, although Jacob Gonzalez has been performing as expected Wes Kath: resurgent Zavala superfan Joe explains hot prospect Samuel’s flat first month DJ Gladney’s struggles and frustrations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No, you’re not experiencing déjà vu. The White Sox are again facing the Twins this soon into the season. Last week the Twins executed a four-game sweep against the White Sox, each game feeling more devastating than the last. The wonderful Brandon Warne of Locked On Twins and Access Twins joined me to chat about the bottom-dwelling White Sox and the low-on-the-list but still way-better Twins. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: The Bucks are in the playoffs Grading the offseason Confidence going into 2024 A rundown of Twins’ pitching Pedro Grifol, sigh Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Are ballparks trying to give us diabetes? Predictions for 2024 The O’s are scary Lance Lynn on Father’s Day You can find Brandon on Twitter, and follow his work at Locked On Twins and Access Twins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a live YouTube/Twitter/Facebook event as the game got underway last night, a group of us (Dante Jones, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, Joe Resis, Malachi Hayes, Hannah LaMotta, Brett Ballantini) went watched the start of the game to see whether the White Sox start would end up even worse than that of the worst-ever Cleveland Spiders. Spoiler alert: It did. Watch as the game turns from a scoreless tie to an eventual loss immediately after we begin Impressions of the first month The inability to commit to a rebuild is not wearing well in the early going, with the major league club or the organization as a whole Pedro Grifol’s hand in all of the mess What are you looking forward to in the season’s final five months? Predictions you’re regretting (or, crowing over?) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s an early check-in with our friend and Charlotte mainstay Jonathan Lee on all things Knights, including intriguing bats and the predictable breakdown of the Triple-A rotation: Jonathan’s take on the 8-12 Charlotte start: .400 ball, he’ll take it! Danny Mendick’s amazing power stroke that forced him back onto the White Sox active roster Conversely, the jerking around of Lenyn Sosa and Oscar Colás, never truly able to settle in a spot or role Colson Montgomery’s bat has been flaccid, but his shortstop defense stout. Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Carlos Pérez, Chuckie Robinson, and the curious catching conundrum with the Knights until Edgar Quero arrives A rotation in shambles, but with brighter days (returns from injury, promotions from Birmingham) ahead Justin Jirschele: Next White Sox manager? (he learned a lot from losing in 2023!) How Nick Nastrini and Jonathan Cannon rank as valuable Charlotte starters and future MLB rotation arms Follow Jonathan Lee on Twitter @followmefor3. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The delightful Ben Jones of our sister site Twinkie Town joins the show to discuss the Minnesota Twins. Sitting just above the White Sox, the Twins are also riddled with injury and only rearranged their roster, aside from parting ways with Sonny Gray and Jorge Polanco in the offseason. But with heartthrobs like Joe Ryan pitching and a healthy Byron Buxton, the team might be able to contend this season. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: What’s new in Minnesota? The Twinkies are second-to-last, in front of the White Sox Everyone is injured and bats are cold (wait, that sounds familiar) Grading the offseason Confidence going into 2024 Pitching matchups Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Byron Buxton is pain-free and feeling good Predictions for 2024 Hot Twins takes You can find Ben on Twitter and follow his writing on Twinkie Town or podcast Twins Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yes, it’s been many months for our most, er, “exclusive” Sox Populi podcast. But Dugout Metrics is back, with a couple of pitching-themed programs ahead. First, it’s a deeper dive into the six players who are arguably (unquestionably) the future of the staff and rotation on the South Side. The upside is pretty phenomenal, and the down side is ... undecided? For a Chicago White Sox podcast, that is GLOWING positivity! Garrett Crochet: The source of his mysteriously-appearing cutter, his surprising dominance (yes, we recorded before last Friday’s challenging start) and his realistic workload going forward Malachi admits a change in philosophy when it comes to handling pitchers Michael Kopech is now in the pen, as de facto closer — is it the right move? For all the similarities, one key difference between Nick Nastrini and Jonathan Cannon Stepping down a level to the utterly dominant Drew Thorpe and Jairo Iriarte, who’s more quickly ticketed for the South Side? A bonus seventh pitcher: Noah Schultz, and his possible timeline to the South Side could be Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

[Er, uh, um, this was recorded before Friday’s night’s slaughter in Philadelphia, so the lavish praise for Garrett Crochet may need a tiny dab of correction. Nah, what the heck, he’s one of the only decent things to happen with this team, so let’s plow on.] This edition, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, disagree as to whether Garrett Crochet will have a higher WAR than number of wins. It’s close call either way, so here’s your chance to make a guess (hint: as of recording, his bWAR is 0.8, record 1-2): Since Sharing Sox was recorded on the same day The Athletic raised serious doubts the White Sox will have fewer losses than the 1962 Mets, who went 40-120 and inspired the famous Casey Stengel quote, “Can’t anyone here play this game?” So, what the heck, here’s another chance to vote. As for other matters, the duo discuss how the pitching is better than expected (though not great) and the two newbies did well, how the promise of defensive improvement was apparently meant as humor, and how the Mendoza Line is so far above the majority of the White Sox lineup that it’s barely visible up there. Of course, the billionaires seeking billions in handouts gets some discussion. Then there’s Tim Anderson coming to Chicago to play the Cubs and being quoted about Sox players not really caring about winning. We’d noticed, Tim. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White Sox head to Philadelphia to face the Phillies. Sitting dead last, the White Sox will deal with the pesky bats of multiple home run hitters, with a top three consisting of Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper. This series can also push the Phillies to first place in the National League East as they are just two games back (at the time of this episode being recorded) from Atlanta. Thankfully we won’t see Ranger Suárez in this series, who just tossed a complete game shutout. It was against the Rockies — but it still counts. This will be a tough series, and Nick Nastrini’s first real test as an MLB pitcher. Here’s what we talked about in this short but fun episode: What’s new in Philly? Grading the offseason So many home run hitters That one time we thought Bryce Harper to the White Sox was confirmed Deaths, national disasters, and drive into deep left field by Castellanos Confidence going into 2024 The new City Connect jerseys Pitching matchups Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Predictions for 2024 John Schriffen, a man of the people You can find Brett on Twitter and follow his writing at Sox on 35th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To keep the Sox Pop on the Farm Podcast canon taut, we went back in time to fill in the phantom podcast 49, and in doing so created a doozy of a look at the jewel of the system, the Birmingham Barons. And in doing so, Brett Ballantini again called on president and GM of the club, Jonathan Nelson, to get us up to date on this promising club: Congratulations to recent Barons grad Jonathan Cannon on his pending MLB debut! Birmingham paying tribute to the Negro Leagues with the No. 42 uniform honors The amazing pitching duo of San Diego acquisitions Drew Thorpe and Jairo Iriarte A peek at a player still finding his footing, starter-to-relief arm Jared Kelley Catcher Edgar Quero: Not only mashing to start the season, but commanding the field with his leadership and game-calling The bittersweet nature of sending players up to Charlotte or Chicago, never to see them again The (somewhat) surprise of Brooks Baldwin’s assignment to Double-A and the energy he brings to the club Extremely different players, but similar three-outcome mashers, Terrell Tatum and Wilfred Veras, and what makes them both so special as prospects The game-changing speed of Duke Ellis, back to health and out the gate hot Impressions of Sergio Santos in his first games managing at Double-A How to deal with an ump show (Or: Making sure the pregame food spread is delicious and fluffing those couch cushions in the umpire’s room) Follow Jonathan Nelson on Twitter @JonathanN_Bham, the Barons @BhamBarons, and find tickets to an upcoming Barons game by clicking this link. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the third episode of the Ladies’ Night podcast, Delia Ritchie, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, and Allie Wesel discuss several topics related to our beloved — or despised, depending on the day — South Siders. Whether you’re a die-hard White Sox fan or not, there’s something for everyone. So, sit back, relax, and grab your favorite beverage because the girls hit a home run chatting about all things baseball, including: The most recent chatter around the possible, but unlikely, new White Sox stadium deal — big Jerry getting told by Springfield AND Chicago where he can stick it The impending expiration of the NBC Sports Chicago contract and what might be around the corner by moving the broadcast to Stadium The good, bad, and ugly of the club’s historically terrible 2-14 start. Highlighting the impressive pitching, including Nick Nastrini’s MLB debut, and ripping on the anemic and absent offense The team’s signing of Tommy Pham and what, if anything, does it mean for the direction of the franchise The podcast will air bi-monthly, with the next episode dropping in May. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wick Terrell of Red Reporter is back this season to chat about the Reds, how fun Elly De La Cruz is, and what to expect from the opponent for this White Sox homestand. Cincinnati had a busy offseason and welcomed a slew of young players to the team, but have also faced the injury bug — just at a much slower pace than the White Sox. What’s new in Cincy? What’s it like to have lost the veteran presence of Joey Votto Grading the offseason Confidence going into 2024 Pitching matchups and breakdowns Is everyone injured? Let’s clone Chris Sale Bring back the dad bod Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Predictions for 2024 RIP Oakland Coliseum You can find Wick on Twitter and check out his work at Red Reporter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you up to speed on everything happening around Major League Baseball right now? Tune in to hear Bayleigh and Chrystal talk about the White Sox, Red Sox, and noteworthy topics from the week. Content warning: Around the 40-minute mark the show is about domestic abuse and assault. We understand if that is something you would prefer not to listen to. On this episode: The White Sox are down bad And so are the Red Sox, actually Shall we blame the pitch clock for all the pitching injuries? The Naylor brothers hit bombs in the same inning on National Siblings Day Welcome to the show, Jackson Holliday! The A’s have one thing to celebrate Jacob deGrom update Shohei Ohtani drama Julio Urías is in a lot of legal trouble Putting bad people on pedestals Breaking news — O.J. Simpson has died Be sure to follow their Twitter account Soxy Chicks. You can also find Bayleigh and Chrystal on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Imari McPherson is back this season to talk about the Cleveland Guardians and help preview their home opener against the White Sox. With Cleveland being in the path of totality, fans will be able to catch the solar eclipse in the ballpark. Will that eclipse turn the White Sox around, or will the Beibs and company make us wish we stared directly at it so we don’t have to watch this team anymore? What’s new in Cleveland? What’s it like to have so many players on the White Sox now? Can former catchers manage a team? Grading the offseason So many young guys and injured pitchers Confidence going into 2024 The Guardians starting rotation Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Who will fans taunt now that Tim Anderson is gone? Best White Sox offseason move: the milkshake Miami Marlins are winless but still good Predictions for 2024 You can find Imari on Twitter and check out his podcasts Rockin at the Jake and find his work at FearTheSword. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Unfortunately we ended up skipping Winston-Salem on the podcast dial, forever creating a phantom Podcast 49, but now it’s time for a look at the Low-A Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. Brett Ballantini welcomes in play-by-play broadcaster and Kanny jack-of-all-trades Dan Helotie in to talk about stars past and future, as well as the beautiful and still pretty-new ballpark there: Our 2023 review notes ... you may want to be sitting down for this ... there was a White Sox affiliate with a winning record ... the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers! Sure, let’s start with a player NOT on the Cannon Ballers any longer, Noah Schultz And one more, Colson Montgomery! Chat of a few players who will be with the CBs on Opening Day or soon thereafter: Ryan Burrowes, Ronny Hernandez and George Wolkow And one more might not be: Eddie Park The curious case of player-turned-bench coach, Daniel Millwee, and what he brings to the roster under manager Pat Leyland Gorgeous Atrium Health Ballpark, now in its fourth year, including the robust build-up in downtown Kannapolis Interests and promotions for the new season Follow Dan Helotie on Twitter @Dan_Helotie, the Cannon Ballers @KCannonBallers, and find tickets to an upcoming Cannon Ballers game by clicking this link. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sure, this White Sox season will be mostly gloom and doom, but SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, begin and end this session of Sharing Sox on high notes. Early on, they rave about the brilliant performance so far of Garrett Crochet, and, as a grand finale, wander into the one great new addition to the Sox this year, an addition that singlehandedly raised the White Sox from the absolute bottom of the annual ESPN team watchability list. OK, it was only up to 29th place, but it was still an accomplishment, and a very tasty one at that. In between, well, the mostly doom-and-gloom bit pretty much had to dominate, because that’s the reality. And looking at the Sox offense would make anyone doomier and gloomier, whether its being dead-last in team OBP or watching the team’s one star flail feebly at breaking pitches to the tune of a 50% strikeout rate. Much other ground is covered, including the mysterious small-sample-size stats of MIchael Kopech and Deivi García, where two numbers in each case show wild divergence in evaluation, to the most recent Sox acquisition, which is a giant middle finger in the face to much of the remaining White Sox fan base. Oh, yeah — there’s also a little chat about the recent vote in Kansas City, the A’s moving to Sacramento, and Jerry Reinsdorf’s current attempt to again rip off the people of Chicago and Illinois. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the first series in what feels like 87 this season, the White Sox travel to Kansas City to face the Royals — or what I consider, their future teammates. Michael Farina is back this season to preview the first series with the Royals. Michael hosts the Royal de Lux Pod and contributes to Farm to Fountains. What’s new in Kansas City? A lot, apparently! What’s it like to have so many players on the White Sox now? At one point, K.C. had faith in Pedro Grifol Grading the offseason It’s kind of sad being fans of these teams Confidence going into 2024 The Royals starting rotation Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Predictions for 2024 You can find Michael and his podcast Royal de Lux on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the second episode of the brand-new Ladies’ Night podcast, Kristina Airdo, Jacki Krestel, Hannah LaMotta, and Melissa Sage-Bollenbach discuss several topics related to our beloved — or despised, depending on the day — South Siders. Whether you’re a die-hard White Sox fan or not, there’s something for everyone. So, sit back, relax, and grab your favorite beverage because the girls hit a home run chatting about all things baseball, including: Who’s hot and who’s not around the league, including the Pittsburgh Pirates’ surprising 5-0 start. Unfortunately, they had to discuss the Yankees, too The good, bad, and ugly of the White Sox 1-4 start, highlighting the incredible pitching of Garrett Crochet and the immense disappointment of the $75 million-dollar man How the new milkshake at Guaranteed Rate is not widely available, as the franchise even dupes fans about the food offerings An in-podcast live reaction to the Pale Hose’s first win The podcast will air bi-monthly, with the next episode dropping in mid-April. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Next up for our affiliate previews, after a look at Charlotte (and a talk with our first Jonathan), is the Birmingham Barons. Team president and general manager, Jonathan Nelson, took a moment out of his club’s busy season prep for a read of the 2024 Barons season: Can the theme of affiliate experts named Jonathan extend through all four affiliates? Nelson gives us his amazing history in the sport, and specifically with the Barons, dating back to Michael Jordan Pouring out a 40 for the heartbreaking 1983 White Sox Sergio Santos, manager? Sergio Santos, manager! The immediate talent and immense potential of catcher Edgar Quero Colson Montgomery’s growth from Project Birmingham newbie to star on the rise, one year later Some behind the curtain thoughts on bringing new players into the system midseason, after trades, as well as coordinating his roster needs with the big club up north A look back at Project Brimingham, two years on Highlights of the 2020s so far Opening Day is on the horizon! Is anyone thirsty on Thursday? Follow Jonathan Nelson on Twitter @JonathanN_Bham, the Barons @BhamBarons, and find tickets to an upcoming Barons game by clicking this link. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pod guest extraordinaire and top-tier South Side Sox contributor Tommy Barbee returns to discuss the second series of 2024, vs. Atlanta. The White Sox face off against the Braves and a few old friends in Atlanta’s rotation. Just barely missing Chris Sale, the White Sox will likely see the likes of Reynaldo López and Aaron Bummer, now working with better pitching coaches. What’s new in Atlanta? Grading the offseason and Aaron Bummer Confidence going into 2024 with a chip on their shoulder Pitching matchups with old friends and aces Garrett Crochet: good at pitching Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Predictions for 2024 Tommy’s 90 matchup for the World Series Making baseball fun again with steroids Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bayleigh and Chrystal have brought their show Soxy Chicks to South Side Sox! Bayleigh, a Red Sox fan formerly at Pesky Report, and Chrystal, a White Sox fan and pillar of this site, bring their love of baseball and knowledge to a bi-weekly podcast. They’ll talk about everything happening in Major League Baseball, and a little of their thoughts about their respective teams. On this episode: Introduction and move to South Side Sox Thoughts and predictions on the 2024 season as fans Shohei Ohtani drama Pablo Sandoval’s career ... is it over or will he continue? Our least favorite disgraced pitcher, because unfortunately, we need to talk about him and move on All of the Reds are injured! Actually, a ton of people are injured The Orioles have been busy lately An ode to Tony Kemp Has Scott Boras lost his luster? Be sure to follow their twitter account Soxy Chicks. You can also find Bayleigh and Chrystal on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We kick off a new approach to our Farm podcasts by going straight to the source in Charlotte, veteran journalist and broadcaster Jonathan Lee, for a read of the 2024 season for the Knights: Brett, as a veteran of dubious MacGyvering of video and files all across American League ballparks, pays homage to Jonathan’s amazing job of it in getting his end of the podcast set up in the first place, from outside the press box One of the coolest offices to work out of in all of baseball, Charlotte’s Truist Field The around-the-batting-cage scuttlebutt from some of the newest Knights, including an impressed MLB vet, Brett Phillips The past two seasons have featured a preposterous number of openers/bullpen starts, but in 2024 Charlotte runs out a real, live, solid rotation Top prospect Colson Montgomery is in town, and Jonathan has a sneaky/subtle key to his presumed success this summer Middle infield woes for Lenyn Sosa and José Rodríguez, who find themselves still plying their wares in Triple-A while retread vets occupy real playing time on the South Side Justin Jirschele impressions, from his debut Triple-A season in 2023 to now Plenty of nuance of covering the minors from Jonathan, a veteran of Boston Red Sox World Series coverage Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brett Ballantini invites Melissa Sage-Bollenbach and Malachi Hayes to chat about what is looking to be a chilly Home Opener against the Tigers on Thursday: The upside and downside of Garrett Crochet, Opening Day starter Breaking down the relatively sunny season projections for the White Sox from FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus Why do the relatively similar Opening Day lineups in 2017 and 2024 feel so much worse this year? Zeroing in on what it will take from Eloy Jiménez and Yoán Moncada to force the White Sox to pick up their options for 2025 The best starter in the current White Sox rotation The next great right fielder on the South Side, if not Dominic Fletcher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back, friends! The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and the White Sox are, well, attempting to play baseball this season. The White Sox will host the Tigers for the first series of the season, and again about 70 times. I kid, but it certainly feels that way. Walker Kelly, new to the pod, joined to chat about the Motor City Kitties, the opening series, and how the team might fare in a pitiful American League Central. What’s going on in Tiger land these days? Grading the offseason acquisitions — is the best Jason Benetti? Confidence levels for the 2024 Tigers Pitching matchups The keys, the fears, and what player will have the most impact on the series Thoughts and predictions for 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s that time of year again, and Dante Jones, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, Chrystal O’Keefe and Hannah La Motta join Brett Ballantini to address the White Sox and Major League Baseball outlook for 2024: White Sox: Universal last-place club Diving into three-way battles to win the AL Central and AL East Largely avoiding the C-word but discussing the NL Central and the foregone conclusions of the NL East and West Not so fast on those Dodgers, sez Chrystal The challenge of picking an player and pitcher MVP for these White Sox Speed rounds: Grifol and Getz’s future, who is the true ALC rival to the White Sox, will the Chicago defense or offense be worse, and were we too optimistic or pessimistic predicting the White Sox record? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, record this edition the White Sox have the worst record in either spring training league, which normally would mean absolutely nothing, but this year, well, uh ... Just how important are preseason results? Well, we have to hope not at all in the case of Luis Robert Jr. and his .158 average, but totally meaningful in the case of Gavin Sheets’ .333. (If you believe either of those averages predict the regular season, I have a bridge over the Chicago River at Michigan Avenue you might be interested in purchasing.) We try to solve the mystery of why there has been no word from the White Sox on why Eloy Jiménez skipped four games and then forgot how to hit, after crushing the ball before ... but we can’t. Speaking of Sheets, he’s hitting waaaaay better than any other right field hopeful, so should the White Sox play him there, just for laughs — or should they upgrade the defense by drawing the name of a random fan at that day’s game out of a hat and letting him or her play right? And speaking of right field (and catcher) hopefuls, we delve into the question of why in the world you would even consider players well past their prime as starters on a team that faces a miserable season (or two, or three) instead of giving youngsters a chance to learn to compete in the big leagues. Despite such questions, we go through the outlook for the season for both pitchers and position players. There’s even praise for a few, whom we have to hope Sox mismanagment won’t destroy. And, finally, noting that ticket sales for Opening Day are terrible, we launch into attacks on the miserable treatment of fans by the White Sox (and other MLB teams, but especially the Sox) who seem hell bent to destroy any desire of kids to ever return to the park — wherever that park may be. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first episode of the brand new Ladies’ Night podcast, Kristina Airdo, Jacki Krestel, Hannah LaMotta, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, and Allie Wesel discuss several topics related to our beloved — or despised, depending on the day — South Siders. Whether you’re a die-hard White Sox fan or not, there’s something for everyone. So, sit back, relax, and grab your favorite beverage because the girls hit a home run chatting about all things baseball, including: What the hopes and dreams are for the podcast and the importance of building a community specific to women’s fans, for once ... or, in Jacki’s words, “you belong here, let’s go!” Fun facts about each of our guests — including four of five playing high-level softball or baseball! Thoughts on Garrett Crochet being announced as the Opening Day starter Opinions about Michael Kopech’s move to the bullpen Experiences of being a woman in a man’s sports world The podcast will air bi-monthly, with the next episode dropping in early April. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dante Jones, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach and Brian O’Neill join Brett Ballantini to address the formal surrender of the 2024 season, as the White Sox dealt Dylan Cease to San Diego for three prospects and a bullpen arm. Thoughts on that, and who might replace him in the rotation: Temperature check on the return for the team ace Dividing right along hairstyle sides, Brian and Dante are partial to Samuel Zavala, while Melissa and Brett think Drew Thorpe is the prize of the deal The strange smokescreen of GM Chris Getz predicting ill-prepared Jairo Iriarte will jump from Double-A to the majors this year The [redacted] rumors, to our universal dismay What will the White Sox have to do to erase this flirtation for fans? Brian turns virtue signaling on its ear and bemoans the insipid state of the world with its predilection for VICE signaling Updated win totals for the White Sox in 2024, including one more dire than Brett’s Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Baseball is back! Even if the sport is just a secondary thought where the White Sox are concerned. SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, actually manage to get in a lengthy chat about the team before turning to the main topic of the day (week, month, year, decade) and addressing the incredible, grasping greed of Jerry Reinsdorf (not that we harbor any dislike for him or anything). On the baseball front, there are congrats to Tim Anderson on signing with the Marlins, Liam Hendriks on signing with the Red Sox, and anybody else we can think of who escaped the White Sox. Then there is lengthy talk of what in the world should be done about Dylan Cease, both with regard to possible trades and with regard to possibly encouraging him to throw strikes; a look at the probable starting lineup as it stands now, with hopes there are now some fielders who can catch the damned ball; and careful avoidance of predicting the 2024 record. Then it is, of course, on to Reinsdorf’s desire that taxpayers stuff his pockets with more than a billion dollars, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s apparent openness to the scheme. The word is “no,” Mr. Mayor. To be followed by, “Never, ever a penny. Get out of my office you greedy, grasping jerk.” Not that we oppose the idea of bankrupting the city and state for the benefit of billionaires, of course. Listen below, on our built-in Megaphone player: or follow along with every episode at Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or wherever you consume your podcasts. Or, you can watch the podcast on the Sox Populi YouTube channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ready or not, Chrystal O’Keefe and Brian O’Neill join Brett Ballantini to address the official-unofficial start of the 2024 season, as spring training officially gets underway in Glendale, Ariz.: Where everyone is at with the White Sox on the Excitement-o-Meter™ Breaking down the 150 Games Guarantee™ from Eloy Jiménez, Yoán Moncada and Luis Robert Jr. Can having a preponderance of AAAA guys actually be a good thing aka Getz might be pretty good at this, part II? A breakdown of Brett Phillips’ middle name (sorry, either look it up or do the right thing and listen) making it all the easier to root for him Chrystal as Dr. Evil Brian reads T.S. Eliot The 78 update, now with B-I-I-I-I-I-G numbers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

South Side Sox progeny, or papa, Sox Machine is heading to press row, with James Fegan in tow. That’s much more interesting and inspiring than anything the White Sox have done this offseason, so it’s how Chrystal O’Keefe, Joe Resis, Brian O’Neill, Dante Jones, Malachi Hayes and Brett Ballantini open our latest podcast: A victory for all? Hat-tip to SM getting a seat at the table An assessment of Chris Getz’s two Saturday deals, shipping out Cristian Mena and Gregory Santos for a variety of useful pieces Has Getz already established himself as a different sort of general manager than Rick Hahn, rather than the photocopy we feared? Temperature check: Feeling better, worse, or the same about the coming season? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ah, The 78! No, that’s not how many games experts think the White Sox will win this year ... even if you include spring training. It is, of course, the proposal unveiled this week for a new Sox stadium on the south edge of the South Loop. SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, delve into the new concept, and then have a good laugh over the possibility Jerry Reinsdorf et al. would actually pay for it with their own money, rather than try to soak the taxpayers of Chicago and Illinois. But, that’s not all! Heck, no. There’s trying to cajole Hall of Fame voters to make sure Mark Buehrle stays on the ballot for another year. There’s reviewing all the incredible moves the White Sox have made this offseason to improve the team for 2024 and beyond (did you miss them?). There’s discussion of the immediate futures of Dylan Cease and Eloy Jiménez. There’s even an apology to the people of Kansas City for badmouthing the Sox for their dependency of the Royals for staff and players. We had previously wondered why the White Sox would want personnel from one of the only teams in MLB worse than themselves, which was totally unfair, because pretty much every prognosticator predicts the Royals will be better than the Sox in 2024. And probably beyond. Well beyond. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Accompanying our SSS Hall of Fame ballot on site comes our traditional, accompanying podcast discussing the candidates and sometimes arguing about Billy Wagner. In on the discussion are Malachi Hayes, Dante Jones, Joe Resis and Brett Ballantini: The understated, and should be understood, greatness of Adrián Beltré Joe Mauer support seemed to have come out of nowhere; how big a surprise is his likely first-year election? Apparently, Todd Helton’s time has finally come Three cusp candidates (Andruw Jones, Billy Wagner, Gary Sheffield), controversial in their own ways The ongoing Hall debate over steroids and cheating Mark Buerhle and his disappointing and apparent slide off of the Hall of Fame ballot What gives: Andy Pettitte v Buehrle? What gives: Bobby Abreu v Scott Rolen v Carlos Beltrán? How much stock do you put into WAR? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Launching into 2024, we decided to pick the one thing we must see from the White Sox in 2024, and while our companion piece to this podcast is available to read on site, four writers (Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, Dante Jones, Joe Resis and Brett Ballantini) also opted into discussion our choices: Melissa broke the rules right off, coming up with two resolutions that sound “easy” for the White Sox to accomplish — but will be nigh impossible to accomplish given this ramshackle roster Joe focuses on the strength of the farm system, something that will be essential to improve in order to fuel a run at a title later this decade Dante nearly begs for something that would seem so very simple from an entity that is not just a business, but a source of civic pride: Honesty in act and word from the White Sox franchise A brief discussion of how goofy the fake SoxFest at the Field Museum is going to be Brett strikes a familiar chord: The White Sox need to dramatically improve their sense of morality and conduct themselves with a greater sense of dignity and pride Joe admits his White Sox addiction, a malady Brett will aim to exploit during this woebegone 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our special early gift under the tree for Week 4 is the finale of our South Side Sox Soxivus Celebration: Soxivus Miracles! To wind things up, we predict the White Sox for 2024. (Our companion piece to this podcast is available to read, featuring some writers not appearing on this podcast.) Straightforward, right? Well, also, it wasn’t easy to come up with any! Tommy goes big, and says (hopes?) the rebuild works this time Brian chooses a fake miracle (Jake Eder becomes a guy) and a real one (Yoán Moncada stays healthy!) Brett stays off the field and chooses an SSS-centered miracle: The White Sox invite us to press row for nightly home coverage We kick off the second half of the podcast with Father Soxivus hiring on Brian as Soxivus Elf! In the second half, we freelanced up a series of predictions, some bordering on miracles ... take a listen And yes, this concludes our podcast year, so thank all of you for reading, listening and watching. We’ll be back soon into the new year Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A slightly-delayed Week 3 of the South Side Sox Soxivus Celebration rolls out, this time with Feats of Strength! This time, we predict who or what will prevail during the course of this latest don’t-call-it-a-rebuild rebuild of the White Sox. (Our companion piece to this podcast is available to read, featuring some writers not appearing on this podcast.) Tommy, bearish on the idea of either Dylan Cease or Luis Robert Jr. sticking around to see the end of next season, makes a sucker-punch of a choice: Tony La Russa Brian straddles on- and off-field, opting for perennial grinder Romy González as The Guest Who Wouldn’t Leave, but in reality it’s Roger Bossard who will be left standing at Sox Park, forever. Pray for him Brett’s heart hopes that Robert can be the Mike Trout of the White Sox, but the reality is far uglier. Go ahead and listen for the ugly details, but the winner of Feats of Strength is another MLB team entirely We touch on some of our other staff answers for Feats of Strength winner, including Michael Soroka, who perhaps wins because he won’t ever have to pitch for the White Sox In the second half of the podcast, we address the news of the week — namely, the price of SoxFest going up from a few hundred dollars (or whatever it was, it’s been like 25 years since the team held one) to several thousand, as The Fest Formerly Known as Sox is rebranded into some sort of Season Ticketholder Event brought to you by Bushwood Country Club A brief preview of our final event of the month, Soxivus Miracles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White Sox didn’t get Shohei Ohtani, but they did get Chuckie Robinson, so SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and far, far, far west correspondent Will , who’s coming live and in color direct from Honolulu where he’s doing an episode of NCIS: Hawaii, have plenty of good news to talk about. Well, OK, not necessarily good ... but news, anyway. What news? Well, there’s getting a bunch of players in trades and free agency, some of them even capable of pretending to have major league ability for days at a time, or at least innings at a time. Then it became holiday speculation time, from what may be reaped in trades of Dylan Cease or Eloy Jiménez or the beer guy that usually patrols left field seats. There’s also speculation about the next year and the next century and how many more centuries Jerry Reinsdorf will live and keep the White Sox from being any good. And after speaking of Scrooge, there’s much talk about players past, players present, and players future (see how I worked in A Christmas Carol there?), followed by a long lament on the loss of Jason Benetti, who was often the only reason to watch a Sox game on the tube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tommy Barbee, Chrystal O'Keefe, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, Dante Jones and Brett Ballantini gathered together during the Soxivus season to take on the biggest of our celebrations: The Airing of Grievances. Watch and participate, as we all drag out our pitchforks and stab the White Sox into swiss cheese. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Year 3 of the South Side Sox Soxivus Celebration! We kick off the festivities by looking within, to discover what it is about this team that holds our fandom. (Our companion piece to this podcast is available to read, featuring some writers not appearing on this podcast.) Brian kicks things off, with a Joycean paean about the tragic sensibility of fandom, inextricable from romantic optimism. If you haven’t read The Dubliners, that means in part that he’s surprised the White Sox still matter to him — but they do Chrystal is sunk too deep into baseball, writing 135 game stories a year, and is left with little choice Dante and Tommy both speak of the hope of personal history Malachi still feels that no one entity, even the owner of the team, can take his Sox fandom from him Brett, honestly, has lost the passion for the team, but not for South Side Sox Father Soxivus previews our coming events, which include a live program on December 10, the Airing of Grievances; December 17 (Feats of Strength); and December 22, Soxivus Miracles A quick speed round toward the end asks whether there is anything that could ever happen to cause any of us to completely lose our Sox fandom Chrystal’s crack research indicates that, yes, we are all members of the White Sox cult, and also coins a solid pocket schedule theme for 2024 ... White Sox: Please Be Mediocre And sorry, Papa Jones, Dante still ain’t crossing over to the north side Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the occasion of the holiday, and perhaps before everything is buried in football and turkey and drunken political arguments, Sox Pop 164 assembled with Joe Resis, Brian O’Neill, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach and Brett Ballantini to give thanks for our White Sox fandom. No, really. First and foremost, we all thank you, our wonderful readers and community here at South Side Sox. It’s said ad nauseam, but without you and your passion, there is no site. Thank you dearly for sticking it out with us, when it would be much easier not to And without all of us and our passion, collectively as fans, there is no White Sox (something, perhaps, to keep in mind this holiday season, White Sox) Brian is thankful that he still cares about the team, even when the emotions are usually anger, repulsion, disgust, shock or disappointment. There’s something about baseball, and the White Sox, that stirs him as no other sport does Melissa is taking advantage of the, um, pause in actual MLB competitiveness to learn and care more about the prospects in the system. Ah, youth, not spoiled by what has become the reality of 21st Century Soxdom Joe still sees the joy in the players, from the unlikely heights of Seby Zavala to the continued dominance and flair of Luis Robert Jr. Brett is happy, for the first time in his life, not to be a White Sox employee Bonus viewing note: See how visibly uncomfortable compliments make Brian. We should to it every podcast After the break, extended mawkishness toward the site and even the host, absolutely the hidden agenda for this Thanksgiving podcast We take the end of the podcast to discuss whether or not my contract has an out clause the offseason prospects for the White Sox, summed up by Melissa: meh Brian and Brett are willing to allow some sunshine to poke through the clouds, but realistically nothing will really move the needle; Joe and Melissa are too savvy even to allow for the possibility Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices