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Reactions
White Sox fans remember the heartbreakersCNNSI.com looked at a few of the transactions that made White Sox fans shout, "Say It Ain't So." Then we opened the mailbag and let users vent on those and other dirty deals from over the years. Here is a sampling of your reactions:
My Sox have gone through a lot of sadness through the years. Letting Robin Ventura go was a mistake that has cost them, he gave them leadership, glory, skill, and competitiveness. He was a proven player and should not have been let go. Sosa was a mistake but back then no one knew what he would become. Alverez, Hernandez, and that trade was a mistake because the Sox were so close to the division leaders. These players were in the high point of their careers and also proved their value. I will always stick as a Sox fan despite their poor decision in trading. Maybe the tide will turn and we will receive a reward that has been needed for years.
I am a die-hard South-Sider. I love my White Sox to death. I can honestly say that I was happy about the "White Flag Trade". People really blow that out of proportion. The Sox had no chance of winning the World Series that year. Even if they would have been lucky and made the playoffs, the other teams rosters were much more stacked than ours. Alvarez & Hernandez were good, but not untouchable. Darwin was done. Foulke is worth that trade by himself. The amount of games that he impacts is incredible. In Chicago it is win it all or nothing! In every sport. Second place is the first loser. Unfortunately this city has gone too long without a World Series champ. Thankfully, we are much much closer than the lovable losers to the north. Go Sox!
You guys just watch, the trade of Sirotka and Simmons is gonna go down [badly], too. Look for Wells to be on the DL by mid-July and out of baseball with no ring in Chicago. Sirotka, the best pitcher on the Sox staff, and at the time of the trade the best lefty in the AL and second-best in the league, will drop his ERA down near 3.00 in the following years with Toronto's improved defense behind him, and it wouldn't surprise me to see Mondesi become expendable after Simmons shines on his first inevitable trip to the DL.
I still do not believe the Sosa for George Bell trade was bad. At the time, the Sox were trying to get into the playoffs and needed an RBI man. At that point in Sosa's career he was a small man with a very small bat. The Sox needed someone that had a history of getting the job done, that man was not Sosa. Unfortunately it wasn't Bell either, but that was a wild card, no one knew what Bell was going to do, but everyone knew that Sosa was not the guy. Today, that trade hurts a little, but look at the Sox last year, they won over 90 games without Sosa. Do they really need Sosa now when they have one of the best young outfields in the majors?
While the rest of your report on the White Sox has brought back some truly bitter memories, I don't know anyone who wants Sam-ME back, even with the dingers. Besides, I doubt he'd have as many if he wasn't playing in that smelly old bandbox up north.
The day when the '94 World Series was officially cancelled. That was "the night Chicago died" for me. It was finally supposed to be our year. It was finally the White Sox time to claim Chicago and Chicago to claim the White Sox. It never happened. The Sox had the experience and talent to win it all. Everything was in place for a World Championship. I never blamed Reinsdorf, I knew what he was trying to do. Still, that wasn't the time to do it. The Baseball Gods didn't want the Sox to win, so they cancelled the rest of the season and used the White Sox owner to lead the way. Cubs fans and Red Sox have always been blessed when compared when compared with White Sox fans.
The transaction that bothered me the most was the abrupt dismissal of Carlton Fisk by the White Sox shortly after he broke the record for most games caught. Shortly after the record broke, "Pudge" was unceremoniously released. Worse still, when the Sox made the playoffs in 1993, Fisk was thrown out of the clubhouse by security (on orders of management) when he stopped to which his old teammates good luck. Carlton Fisk was a model of professionalism and a hero to Sox fans, both Red and White. Once, I saw him bawl out Deion Sanders (who played for the Yankees) for not running out a foul out. That's the kind of character he had, and he deserved much better from the White Sox then the way his career ended.
No wonder he chose to wear a Red Sox cap when he went to the Hall of Fame.
The most heartbreaking trade was when the White Sox gave up on Sammy Sosa, and gave him to the Cubs -- of all teams -- for George Bell, in the hopes that the old pro had 1 or 2 good years left and could put them over the top and finally win another championship. They had the best record in baseball when the strike killed the World Series, and George Bell retired soon thereafter, Sammy finally blossomed on the north side of town, and the Sox have never been the same. Jerry Krause is clearly an evil plague sent to test Chicago sports fans.
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Though billed as "Robin" to Frank Thomas' "Batman," many felt 