Sox Populi - A Chicago White Sox podcast

Welcome to the Mothership Podcast, pirated by Chrystal O’Keefe and friends. Chrystal, Allie Wesel, Dante Jones, Joe Resis, Jordan Haas, and Zach Hayes mourn the loss of a bad season: Positive moments with the recently deceased: DFAs, almost no-nos, surprise acquisitions, and putting Josh Donaldson in his place Guardians social media: Did the White Sox deserve the trolling? (And: Is Dante a jinx?)...

SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, took a pass on maintaining hope for the 1/1,000 chance computer algorithms give the White Sox to win the AAAL Central (maybe we shouldn’t call it that any more, since Cleveland appears to be an actual major league team), did some of the mandatory lamenting about the horrible quality of baseball and spirit the White Sox sho...

No. 120 (honestly, for real, it’s podcast 120) has the tone of a wake, naturally. But a fun wake? An unbelievable wake? A wake, with some facts sprinkled in? Attendees Brett Ballantini, Allie Wesel, Dante Jones, Joe Resis and Melissa Sage-Bollenbach invite you to mourn along with us: A review of the impossibly-disappointing Cleveland sweep this week Was this the Worst Case Scenario for the 2022 Wh...

It’s a podcast today that boasts the best of both worlds. First, it’s some away ballpark talk with Brett Ballantini, Chrystal O’Keefe and Elizabeth Gonzales, the latter two being SSS writers who were at this past weekend’s series at Comerica Park in Detroit. One of these people is old enough to remember Tiger Stadium. And next, the playoffs have come two weeks early, because the White Sox have to...

As promised, it’s Monday morning, and you’ve got a fresh SSS podcast to squeeze tight all day long, with no White Sox baseball. Anticipating the off-day, Brett Ballantini sat in with Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, Joe Resis and Jordan Hass to talk about, what else, the White Sox and their playoff chances. It’s more upbeat than you might think! Brett runs down the records and sees two pitching rotations,...

With the strange starting pitcher decision of Terry Francona providing the White Sox with at least some hope of winning the AAAL Central, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, thank the Cleveland manager and look forward to the next series, with the Guardians and Twins facing off five times and the Sox getting a weekend in Detroit to hopefully enjoy, even thou...

Well lookee here, someone other than the White Sox, or Rick Hahn, or Tony La Russa made a boo-boo. The launching point for No. 116 is Terry Francona’s odd choice to take Cleveland’s knee off of our chest by pulling Triston McKenzie from Thursday’s start, handing the ball to a far, far lesser call-up and breathing some life into the White Sox. We review that decision, its ramifications, and more: S...

It’s been a while since we’ve brought you a new podcast, and Planet White Sox sees Brett Ballantini hosting longtime commenter-turned-writer Trooper Galactus. As you might imagine, there are opinions: The Tony La Russa conundrum, which is played out just how we imagined The incredible (dumb) luck that saw GM Rick Hahn acquire his two marquee free agent signings. The new market inefficiency is dump...

The White Sox completed a 5-2 West Coast road trip — and lost a half-game on division-leading Cleveland. Brett Ballantini and SSS writes Jordan Hass, Dante Jones, Allie Wesel, Joe Resis, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach and Adrian Serrano got together postgame to discuss whether it’s too little, too late — and much else: Now seven games behind in the wild card race, that ship has definitively sailed. Howev...

We joined forces with Elizabeth Gonzales at exactly the right time, after her road trip to Cleveland and now, onto Seattle and Oakland. Lucky us, she’s reporting on the White Sox action on-site, and will be writing up a de facto ballpark review/guide for both. It’s been just a few days since she checked in from Seattle, so now it’s time to talk about the smoking-hot team she’s watched take five of...

SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, revel in the White Sox scoring two touchdowns in a game, even if it was against a minor league team. But then, they worry considerably that the era of Miguel Cairo and the success and spirit it has brought is about to end, with the HOFBP saying he’ll be back with the team next week. Only with the White Sox would such a thi...

We joined forces with Elizabeth Gonzales at exactly the right time, in-between road trips to Cleveland and now, onto Seattle and Oakland. Lucky us, she’s reporting on the White Sox action on-site, and will be writing up a de facto ballpark review/guide for both. Bonus! Postgame reaction to a Lance Lynn masterpiece, and Elvis Andrus contributing all over the field Getting the first game on this roa...

While we had several SSS staff members at Saturday’s one-hitter by Dylan Cease, only Allie Wesel was available to break down the experience postgame. Of course, she was the only one of our group to be celebrating a birthday at the ballpark on Saturday as well, so it’s fitting we get her insights on a very special game: Allie brings us right to the moment Luis Arráez slapped that base hit, keeping...

Sure, the White Sox are playing baseball every day, but it’s impossible to ignore the giant vortex sucking all the air out of the room. So SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, spend plenty of time making wild guesses about what the heck is going on with the HOFBP, whilst, with most of the fan base, wishing him well — but a recovery somewhere besides the dugou...

It’s been a while since we’ve met some SSS players, and this time around, we’re introducing four at once — new writers Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, Allie Wesel, Marj Raguso and Elizabeth (mysoxarewhite). Our newest injection of talent into the site sat down with Brett Ballantini to talk bout their path to the White Sox — and about the club we are surfing through the 2022 season with. Grandfathers and...

Honestly, Scott Reichard’s regular theme music cover of Don’t Stop Believin’ just didn’t feel right for this one, so it’s a dry open for Brett Ballantini, Chrystal O’Keefe, Joe Resis and Jordan Hass. This podcast crew came together for a little broader, or higher minded, discussion of White Sox fandom: Expanding on a question that circled the podcast table last week, the vibe check here spoke of o...

Is the slimness-challenged person of the female persuasion merely in her dressing room rehearsing? Is she in the wings, getting ready to come on stage? Or is she in full voice, belting out her signature song for the judges of White Sox Got Talent? Such is the sad discussion all around White Sox fandom land, and especially for SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and (back to) west coast corresp...

Outrageous acts demand outrageous podcasts, and six splendid South Side Sox writers (Brett Ballantini, Chrystal O’Keefe, Joe Resis, Zach Hayes, Dante Jones and Jordan Hass) came together in the aftermath of the Michael Kopech Start to discuss our Chicago White Sox: Vibe check — not of the team and its prospects, but of your gut feeling as a White Sox fan Yes, in fact, shit show is two words Where...

Hard to delve into White Soxery with a straight face after the 21-5 debacle on Thursday, but SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and current next room correspondent, Will, give it a try. First up, of course, the Houston series, with its decent 2-2 split and indecent finish, leading to the big question of what can be so wrong with Lucas Giolito. The duo wonders whether Gio bulked up too much ov...

This extend-o-matic, fantastic blast of a mothership podcast features Trevor Lines, Joe Resis, Brett Ballantini, Jordan Hass, Dante Jones and Adrian Serrano. On the heels of a four-game series loss to the Royals, and with only three games left in the so-called “easiest” part of the 2022 schedule, it’s time to check back in with the club and its future fortunes. And, in the second half of the show,...

The White Sox continue to be mired in mediocrity as they struggle with a part of the schedule a good Triple-A team could cruise through, but SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and current next-room correspondent, Will, dive into the biggest and worst news of the week: The injury to Tim Anderson that will keep the All-Star shortstop off of the field for most, and possibly all, of the 2022 seas...

It’s another mothership podcast, featuring the dynamic Indy duo of Chrystal O’Keefe and Joe Resis, undynamic Brett Ballantini and debut podcaster Jordan Hass. Given the lukewarm water-space the White Sox are occupying these days (and have occupied all year), it is a bit of a challenge to bring even a half-hour of excitement and analysis to you. But, as always, we’ve tried. Buck up, White Sox, shee...

There was a trade deadline? Some teams improved their rosters? SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and current next-room correspondent, Will, find that an unusual thing to do, just as the White Sox front office does. It’s not like the Sox did absolutely nothing — they got a 35-year-old reliever who had walked 30 batters in 38 innings in 2022 in exchange for a catcher who was one of only two pl...

Was Leury García getting picked off third by the catcher on ball four of a walk the quintessential White Sox play of the year? Quite possibly, but SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and currently next room correspondent, Will, heartily agree that it was at the very least symbolic of the way the team plays under the HOFBP. Two games into a 19-game stretch against terrible teams the record is 1...

Despite missing draft coverage (pfft, slacker) this year and being fined an undisclosed amount in South Side Sox bux, Darren Black allows Brett Ballantini to revive the farm podcast and drag it into July with a top-to-bottom review of last week’s proceedings: The heretofore unseen (limited assets) logic of taking a gamble on a prep lottery pick in the first round Themes and trends of this White So...