With Apologies to Dale Carnegie

If White Sox fans think they have it tough, they should be happy they don’t play for the team. The powers that be aren’t in the habit of doing right by their employees, never have been and never will be, I guess. Ted Lyons pitched forever, went off to war, and came back to manage some terrible teams. He was fired three years before the Sox entered their Go-Go ascendency. Billy Pierce was judged unworthy of a World Series start in 1959, this after anchoring the starting rotation for eleven seasons. Pierce’s reward for thirteen years’ service on the South Side? He was traded to the Giants, who started the 35-year old lefty twice in the 1962 Series. Minnie Minoso, Pierce’s teammate on many of those teams from the ’50s, was traded or released by management in 1958, 1962 and 1964. Talk about love-hate. That’s the ancient history. Things haven’t been any better in more recent times. Consider Alex Fernandez; Ozzie Guillen; Jack McDowell; Magglio Ordonez; Frank Thomas; and Robin Ventura. They were all deemed expendable and sent on their way. My God, management figured it made more sense to go with John Danks over Mark Buehrle. Letting Buehrle walk probably cost one of the franchise’s best players thirty-forty wins that would put him in the conversation for induction into Cooperstown. So, am I surprised GM Rick Hahn is talking his special brand of gibber now that Lucas Giolito has expressed his frustration over the two sides going to arbitration? No. Where Hahn and company live, $50,000 saved is $50,000…I don’t know exactly, but it’s obviously money Hahn wants to keep in the team’s pocket. Maybe he’s starting a rainy-day fund for when Giolito walks after the 2023 season. And, am I surprised the Sox can announce five bobblehead giveaway dates while not saying a word about the passing of infielder Pete Ward, who played seven seasons on the South Side, 1963-1969? Not in the least.