Sox Populi - A Chicago White Sox podcast

Chrystal O’Keefe hosts Allie Wesel, Brian O’Neill, Dante Jones, Jordan Hass, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach and Tommy Barbee for a little group therapy session. Yes, the South Side Sox staff eulogized José Abreu in writing, but sometimes that is just not cathartic enough. Initial reactions to the news that Pito was leaving town, for real Many of us are used to losing our favorite players, but others are...

Happy Soxivus! We are following up our first year celebrating Soxivus in 2021 with a full two months of festivities in 2022. This week, our companion piece to this podcast is the Soxivus Miracles story that much of this podcast refers to. We’re overjoyed to have Father Soxivus, Tommy Barbee — the man who conceived of our Soxivus celebration last year — with us on these podcasts. Joining Tommy to d...

In the spirit of the holiday season, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, raise glasses high to José Abreu, reportedly at the top of the San Diego Padres wish list, thanking him for all of his years of being about the only player on the White Sox worth watching and, often, the only one who seemed to be trying. If the reports are true, José finally has a real...

Happy Soxivus! We are following up our first year celebrating Soxivus in 2021 with a full two months of festivities in 2022. This week, our companion piece to this podcast is the Best Games of 2022 story that much of this podcast refers to. We’re overjoyed to have Father Soxivus, Tommy Barbee — the man who hatched the Soxivus plan last year — with us on these podcasts. Joining Tommy to discuss wor...

Alas, Jim Click is already gone as GM of the Astros, making the hope of trading Rick Hahn (who would be willing to do whatever dumb thing any jerk owner wants) for a GM who knows what he’s doing and can’t be browbeaten a mere fleeting dream. So, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, move on to talking about players. First, the news the White Sox are interested...

Happy Soxivus! We are following up our first year celebrating Soxivus in 2021 with a full two months of festivities in 2022. This week, our companion piece to this podcast is the Worst Games of 2022 story that much of this podcast refers to. We’re overjoyed to have Father Soxivus, Tommy Barbee — the man who hatched the Soxivus plan last year — with us on these podcasts. Joining Tommy to discuss wo...

SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, shake off their initial “huh?” reaction to the new White Sox manager and join the mob of fans inspired by Pedro Grifol’s first press conference, whilst quietly hoping he really meant it when he said there would be consequences for players who don’t give full effort. True, there is disappointment there wasn’t a new general...

With the (still unofficial) news breaking early on Tuesday that Pedro Grifol was the new White Sox manager, members of the crack SSS Breaking News crew saw the Sox logo beamed up into the night sky and assembled to digest the news. Tommy Barbee, Jordan Hass, Allie Wesel, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, Joe Resis, Dante Jones and Brian O’Neill circled the Zoom table, with a discussion by sometimes-hatted,...

Happy Soxivus! We are following up our first year celebrating Soxivus in 2021 with a full two months of festivities in 2022. Last year, we picked managers who could dethrone Tony La Russa in running the White Sox. This week, our Feats of Strength take the form of programming a SoxFest, after the White Sox cancelled their official one for the third straight season. We’re overjoyed to have Father So...

Trying to stay awake during what seems like a 5 1⁄2 -year break between LCSs and the World Series, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, indulge in a little nostalgia. That nostalgia ranges from the prospect of the return of Ozzieball to the new book that casts Frank Thomas as much more Big Jerk than Big Hurt in his playing days (bringing on discussion of othe...

Happy Soxivus! We are following up our first year celebrating Soxivus in 2021 with a full two months of celebrating in 2022. Ready or not, here we come. We’re overjoyed to have Father Soxivus — the man who hatched the plan last year — Tommy Barbee with us on these podcasts. Joining Tommy to start the festivities is host Brett Ballantini and Jordan Hass, Allie Wesel, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, Joe Re...

Strap in, it’s a bumpy right and rough visit to Planet White Sox these days — but Trooper Galactus sees a possible sunrise on the horizon. He and Brett Ballantini discuss all things South Side in our second episode: An introduction to Trooper’s Should I Stay or Should I Go series, which indeed promises to point to GO when the budget insists STAY It’s not the injuries (that led to the 2022 team’s d...

Recording at a time when each league has played two LCS games, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, delve into playoff baseball, with the added touch that one of Will’s softball teammates works in the Dodgers’ office and could report on the dirge-like atmosphere after the Padres beat the allegedly best team in the game. Of course, that loss took some heat off...

Happy Soxivus! We plan on following up our first year celebrating Soxivus in 2021 (Airing of Grievances, Feats of Strength, Miracles, etc.) with a full two months of celebrating in 2022. Ready or not, here we come. We’re overjoyed to have Father Soxivus, the man who hatched the plan last year, Tommy Barbee with us on these podcasts. Joining Tommy to start the festivities is host Brett Ballantini a...

Recording on the day three of the division series would end, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, admire some of the playoff performances, especially by superstars not named Judge. That’s even more especially true for José Ramírez, whose full-out dash to first and second, then third, on a blooper to left in the 10th inning Friday should be shown over and over...

Darren Black chats with Brett Ballantini about the highs and lows of the 2022 Charlotte Knights. Hey, did you know that in approximately 95 of 150 games, the Knights used an opener rather than a proper starting pitcher? Now THAT is some terrific planning from the White Sox front office. See? You’ll learn some stuff! How legit a catching prospect is Carlos Pérez? He certainly has developed a power...

SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, lament the probable departure of José Abreu, celebrate the departure of the HOFBP, and fervently wish for (futilely, they know) the departures of Ken Williams and Rick Hahn. They give credit to the HOFBP for overcoming his natural arrogance to make a nice departure speech, but no credit to Hahn for a pathetic set of excuse...

Somehow, GM Rick Hahn took a press conference dedicated to Tony La Russa’s surprisingly graceful bow from active managing and turn it into a season-in-review shitshow of tone-deaf proclamations and empty promises. Brett Ballantini is joined by Jordan Hass, Allie Wesel, Dante Jones, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach and Joe Resis to discuss the turn, which we all knew was coming — just perhaps not today, of...

Brett Ballantini had no idea this podcast would be so much fun, not after penning a recap as dark as he can remember reading on these pages. It’s a tribute to such a good cast — Chrystal O’Keefe, Joe Resis, Adrian Serrano, Dante Jones, Allie Wesel and Melissa Sage-Bollenbach — that we could all laugh through the tears stomach pains. The main topic was, what else, Tony La Russa’s rumored retirement...

Darren Black chats with Brett Ballantini about the highs and lows of the 2022 Birmingham Barons. Hey, did you know the Barons had a better record without all those blue-chip prospects added as part of Project Birmingham? See, you’ll learn some stuff: How José Rodríguez went from 98-pound weakling to Charles Atlas superman in the course of a couple of months! Davis Martin has lost his potent put-aw...

Darren Black chats with Brett Ballantini about the highs and lows of the 2022 Winston Salem-Dash. Hey, did you know the Dash had a .500 first half of the season, in spite of that ugly final record? See, you’ll learn some stuff: Bryan Ramos: most exciting hitter in the system? Luis Mieses continues his re-ascendance, from bottoming out with a demotion early in 2021 to holding his own at Project Bir...

SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and current next room correspondent, Will, give the player of the week crown to Mark Payton because, who else is there for this past week, and, besides, he actually hustled. Beyond that, it’s a look back at the badness, including some horrible numbers for the whole season, a debate on whether it would be a perfect ending to show total mediocrity by ending up...

Welcome to Mothership Podcast, starring Brett Ballantini, Chrystal O’Keefe and Joe Resis. The trio that has brought SSS seven separate podcasts — you might know them from Episode 105 (“Steve Stone”), Episode 38 (“Lynnsanity”), Episode 48 (“Fattening Up”) or even Postgame Podcast 2 (“Rodón No-No”) — have many, many things still to cover this season: Hustle — specifically, do the White Sox have any...

Darren Black chats with Brett Ballantini about the highs and lows of the 2022 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. Hey, did you know Kanny was a lot better in the second half with the 2022 draft class, after losing some players to Project Birmingham and Winston-Salem? See, you’ll learn some stuff: Lead story: 2021 second-rounder Wes Kath, and what is imperative to see from him in 2023 This Wilfred Veras guy...

Darren Black teams back up with Brett Ballantini to list out the highs and lows of the 2022 rookie league seasons. Hey, did you know the DSL team was the only affiliate with a better than .500 record? See, you’ll learn some stuff: The unmitigated awesomeness of Loidel Chapelli Jr., and why he won’t return Brett’s phone calls What happened with DSL bonus baby Erick Hernández? Wait, there’s a player...