10 Years Ago Tomorrow (tomorrow...tomorrow...tomorrow)

by 67WMAQ on Jul 5, 2009 12:33 PM CDT Comment 16 comments

A look back at the Summer of '99.

July 6, 1999

"The Kids Can Play" era in full swing. The 11 thousand or so in the stands at Comiskey Park got to see a bunch of future superstars, a World Series MVP, and two Sox broadcasters on the field that night.

The 1999 Sox are viewed, by some, as a nadir for the franchise. That lineup was pretty damn solid. If they had a pitching staff, that team probably would have made some noise.

The White Sox were the second worst draw in the American League that year (1.3 million). Barring some disaster, I'm pretty sure attendance will never be that bad again.

Look at this year. The team got off to a slow start, and there have been some poorly attended ballgames. But at mid-season the Sox are only 300 thousand fans away from outdrawing 1999.

Why? Us. I'm pretty sure most of us on this site are in our late 20's or early 30's. We're out of college and we have the time and money to go to Sox games. And you've got to admit Sox fandom has been all right. We grew up with Frank Thomas, Ozzie, and Robin Ventura. We got to see a World Series championship, several division titles, and a couple of entertaining pennant races.

But back in '99, there were still a lot of hard feelings among the ticket buying public - about Old Comiskey, the design of the new ballpark, the threatened move to Florida, the white flag trade, etc. Those fans took their grudges and never came back...at least until we took their place.

Listen to sports radio or read newspaper comment threads - the relexively pessemistic and pissed off fans are the ones who say they've been following the team for "30/40/50 years."

1999 was the end of a decade, the end of a century, and the beginning of a new era in Sox fandom.

SouthSideSox is a community driven site. As such, users are able to express their thoughts and opinions in a FanPost, such as this one, which represents the views of this particular fan, but not necessarily the entire community or SouthSideSox editors.

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don't forget the return of guys like wu and chiburb, who felt alienated in their childhood watching the infamous black sox.

Cashing checks and having sex.

by MarketMaker on Jul 5, 2009 1:42 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Forget the Black Sox - those dudes are still bitter that the Federal League folded

by Sox-35th on Jul 5, 2009 3:03 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

hahha

No one goes there anymore, it's too crowded. - Yogi Berra

by trademan56 on Jul 5, 2009 3:33 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

They still refer to the American League as the Western League.

by 67WMAQ on Jul 5, 2009 4:09 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

haha

No one goes there anymore, it's too crowded. - Yogi Berra

by trademan56 on Jul 6, 2009 12:34 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The only true Chicago team

EVERYBODY PICK US FOR 3RD OR 4TH SO I DINK WE DOIN POOTY GOO
Sox Machine

by Sox Machine on Jul 5, 2009 7:05 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nicely put.

And I couldn’t agree more, however you left off what I think is the biggest gripe- the strike of ‘94. The Sox were rock solid with a chance at the series, and our very own chairman seemingly orchestrated the whole she-bang.

No World Series. Brutal.

Sure the Yankees would’ve been in the way, and the Pedro and Vlad led Expos would’ve likely been waiting in the NL, but the old farts in my family were furious and never came back. I think my grandpa has been to about three games since then.

The strike was bad for this franchise and set the one in Montreal on the path of a slow and painful death.

I love this team again. I know they’re bad for me.
They’ll probably get drunk again and beat me… but I just can’t help myself.
by ReservoirDog on Jul 3, 2009 10:18 PM CDT

by e-gus on Jul 5, 2009 7:47 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

All true.

But – the Strike did delay the ascendancy of the Cleveland Indians. They were nipping at the heels at the time. The Strike merely delayed the inevitable.

The Sox were in the Wild Card hunt in 1996, and Jerry did pull the trigger on the Albert Belle deal in 1997.

From a purely baseball standpoint – the biggest mistake was replacing Gene Lamont with Terry Bevington.

If the Sox had a decent manager with solid organizational input – they probably would have made a playoff appearance in the late ’90’s.

by 67WMAQ on Jul 5, 2009 7:59 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

94 was painful

I didn’t watch baseball regularly again until 2000. Of course, I wasn’t in Chicago during those years either, and things like mlb.tv didn’t exist, so it was difficult to follow a team from afar.

Is it still the fourth inning?

by vince_ on Jul 6, 2009 10:10 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

One more thing

I also forgot to consider the Internet. It allowed fans to have access to the hard-core numbers crunchers that was only available to those who knew who were able to

A) know who the numbers cruncher were
B) knew how to subscribe to their publications

Just imagine if this blog, or Sox Machine, were around in 1999. More fans would have known that Carlos Lee, Paul Konerko, and Magglio were going to develop into Major League talent.

The conventional wisdom would have shifted from “The White Sox are cheap” to “The White Sox are smart.”

Still doesn’t excuse the pitching staff, though.

by 67WMAQ on Jul 5, 2009 8:12 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

c'mon jim parque

had moxie

Always bet on black!

by onlysoxfaninboston on Jul 6, 2009 11:14 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just imagine if this blog, or Sox Machine, were around in 1999. More fans would have known that Carlos Lee, Paul Konerko, and Magglio were going to develop into Major League talent.

Cashing checks and having sex.

by MarketMaker on Jul 6, 2009 11:52 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs