Sox Populi - A Chicago White Sox podcast

The Killer B’s are back, baby! Tommy Barbee and Keelin Billue reunite and welcome very special guest and fellow South Side Sox writer, Chrystal O’Keefe as “The Third B.” In this episode, Chrystal, Tommy, and Keelin discuss: The Journey to White Sox Fandom: How did we get here? Enjoy three very different stories about the common threads woven together to make up the Pale Hose. Spoiler: All journeys...

On this week’s episode of The Big Blurt, Rob Colletti and Bill Meincke talk about the offseason in retrospect, spring training, drunk Sox fans, and more! Tune in and get excited because the Sox actually are No. 1 at something! (consuming alcohol, according to a study) On tap for today: It’s almost shorts weather in Chicago! Do the White Sox did enough in the offseason? Is Lucas Giolito already out...

Yea! Baseball! Well, sorta, if you think baseball is when you just stop an inning whenever you feel like it. Which, admittedly, requires its own sort of strategy. This week, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and son and west coast corespondent, Will, have fun lashing into the incredible stupidity of a multi-billion dollar organization so incompetent it can’t decide what rules and lineups half of its mem...

South Side Sox Podcast 25 features Brett Ballantini and Joe Resis. Aside from Joe’s recent study program and Brett’s harrowing past internship, what was the scuttlebutt? The early bright spots of White Sox gameplay, featuring Andrew Vaughn The surprising twist in the Garrett Crochet-Michael Kopech 2021 story Will there ever be another nine-inning Cactus League game? The second base extras rule, co...

We at North Side Sox are so excited about this team. Tim Anderson’s comments on the Parkins & Spiegel show about the White Sox being the best team in the American League included a spicy expletive, and as a result, we wanna run through a brick wall for this man. (As if we needed another reason!) To share in our excitement (and perhaps to distract us from some recent drama), the effervescent Josh N...

As the great American philosopher Pogo once put it: Spring has sprung, the grass has riz, I wonder where the flowers is. Pogo was referring not to the one-time White Sox catcher who remains unwanted by any team this spring, but by the giddiness about all things blooming, a giddiness present in any all statements by White Sox players, coaches, managers, front officers and, no doubt, batboys and clu...

South Side Sox Podcast 24 features Brett Ballantini and Chrystal O’Keefe, together again and not talking about the Hall of Fame. What did they talk about, then? The early bright spots of White Sox camp, including Dylan Cease and Michael Kopech The palpable impact of new pitching coach Ethan Katz Concern about right field Why it’s important to address the Tony La Russa hiring revelations of the pas...

Spring Training is here! And no one could be more excited about it than us. Well, maybe there is one person. So we asked him to come on our podcast. Our guest, Jim Callis of MLB.com, has been covering the draft and prospects since 1988, and graciously shared his thoughts on the White Sox, and where he sees some of the names we’ve been watching, and what we can expect for the club’s future. In this...

Luke “The Truth” Null hops on with Rob Colletti and Bill Meincke to provide that necessary Cincinnati Reds perspective to the offseason proceedings. But, Skyline Chili aside, the trio brought the heat: The sad-sack story of young Luke’s miserable sports existence, tied to Cincinnati sports. The Reds and Bengals can’t even concoct a strong lovable loser narrative, like Cleveland Living in Wrigleyvi...

South Side Sox Podcast 23 is our first-time crossover event, as the boys from Sharing Sox wander over to the mothership podcast to chat on some coverage esoterica. The role that entertainment plays in sportswriting How the White Sox see their fans, and the media that covers the team The insular nature of how the White Sox approach anyone outside of 35th & Shields Jerry Reinsdorf’s disinterest in t...

“You say PECOTA and I say PECOTA ... On this week’s episode of The Big Blurt, Rob Colletti (School of Rock, The Book of Mormon) and Bill Meincke (NBC, TruTV) talk about Jerry Reinsdorf’s legacy (which big, bad Bobby Colletti wrote on earlier this week), and the new Chicago White Sox PECOTA projections. Looking for 2021 season predictions? Bill and Rob put theirs on the board. And of course, there’...

SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and son and west coast correspondent, Will, have a ball this week — a brand-new, marginally-lighter, allegedly possibly, claimedly, we’ll-believe-it-when-we-see-it-ably, fractionally dejuiced ball. They then wonder why free baseball is such a horrible thing that MLB is obsessed with getting rid of extra innings. After that, it’s on to all the 2021 projections now out (B...

South Side Sox Podcast 22 marks the return of Leonard Gore, South Side Hit Pen podcast vet and victim of “technical difficulties” that scuttled his SSS Podcast 15 weeks ago. No matter, Lenny is back to talk about his take on the 2021 White Sox schedule, and much more: The stretch between the Super Bowl and the first burbles of Spring Training may be the deadest and blackest sports whole all year l...

Hot dish is on the Hot Stove! The Minnesota Twins remain the final boss fight in the South Side’s quest to take the AL Central. With the offseason additions made by the Twins, how has their team dynamic shifted, and will the White Sox have to grasp for power-ups? To provide us with an inside look (cheat codes?) at the Twins, we’re graciously joined by The Athletic’s Dan Hayes. We were big Nelson C...

Sadly, Sharing Sox was recorded moments too early to include the huge Chris Getz announcement, so it’s all about current players instead. Well, that and the failed MLB attempt to connive the players into major concessions for 2021. SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, delve into their own preferred playoff sizes — oddly, they disagree — before moving on to Mi...

South Side Sox Podcast 21 is a bit of a heavier sort, exploring the latest news in which women in baseball are treated as object and second-class citizens. Colleen Sullivan hops on the podcast to discuss her Tuesday article addressing creepy Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway in greater detail. Also, on the docket: Baseball’s problem with catering primarily, if not exclusively, to white males T...

Rob Colletti (School of Rock, The Book of Mormon) and Bill Meincke (Chicago PD, Second City) aren’t just a tag-team acting duo. They’re two old friends who love the Chicago White Sox, and have gotten together to talk about the team on a new South Side Sox podcast, The Big Blurt. The program will feature in-depth analysis, engaging segments, plenty of humor — and some special guests. The premiere,...

SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, delve into a pleasant surprise in Hall of Fame voting for nice guy Mark Buehrle, and a wonderful failure for total jerk Curt Schilling; then move on: MLB vs. MLBPA battles on schedules, DH’s and such White Sox starting pitching projections and needs An Eddie Rosario plug sighting (complete with Eloy Jiménez defensive strug...

South Side Sox Podcast 20 takes a look back the SSS Cooperstown vote, and ahead to the White Sox Hall of Fame results, which you can vote on right now. Brett Ballantini hosted Chrystal “OK” O’Keefe and “Pretty Good” Joe Resis for all sorts of Hall talk: Chrystal roasts Brett rather well for his past Curt Schilling support; worth the price of admission alone Mark Buehrle safely advanced to next yea...

Episode 5 of the Killer B’s podcast takes a on a different tone than past Killer B’s podcasts: What is the place of character in the Baseball Hall of Fame? The recent death of baseball legend Hank Aaron put a spotlight on how sports fans and society talk about our sports heroes who are also people of color. Tommy and Keelin build a conversation around this idea to discuss: Avoiding Erasure: How do...

On this very special seventh episode of North Side Sox, Sam and Janice welcome the pod’s first-ever guest: Herb Lawrence! Right about now, we would have been organizing our SoxFest schedules: Budgeting some time to wait in line for a Liam Hendriks photo op, then later hitting up the pop-up Sports Depot for some midwinter deals. Though gatherings are not in our cards at the moment, there’s been som...

South Side Sox Podcast 19 takes on Cooperstown and the 2021 Hall of Fame contenders. Brett Ballantini and Chrystal O’Keefe discuss the ins and outs of this year’s election, including the possibility that no candidates reach immortality. Topics tackled by the duo: Exactly how identical are Brett’s and Chrystal’s ballots, anyhow? Support for Sammy Sosa Separation between the Barry Bonds/Roger Clemen...

Well, a month after the premiere was not an ideal lag. But Dugout Metrics, which features South Side Sox college ballplayers/metrics mavens Trevor Lines and Luke Smailes breaking down the news of the day, is back, on the heels of the Liam Hendriks signing. In this Hendriks-plus episode: What has made Hendriks so good in 2019-20? Why not just keep former White Sox closer Alex Colomé? Closer mystiqu...

SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, are joined by Liam Hendricks whisperer Eric Loughlin, who analyzes the latest Sox signing and all the ramifications thereof — or at least a bunch of them. From there, the conversation expands, as they look at additional relievers, other actions the White Sox could (or should) take this offseason, Lucas Giolito arbitration...

South Side Sox Podcast 18 is our Liam Hendriks signing, breaking-news podcast, and as usual with such things, Brett Ballantini turned to our White Sox Insider, James Fox, who had a large hand in breaking the story. Questions tackled during this commercial-free podcast: Smarter choice in divining White Sox breaking news: Magic 8-Ball, I Ching sticks, D&D dice, or the @JamesFox917 Twitter account? W...