Sox Populi - A Chicago White Sox podcast

The Low-A Kannapolis Cannon Ballers were given a mandate from South Side Sox: No more podcasts until first place. The good news is that we only had to wait two months to get there, so Brett Ballantini welcomed back play-by-play broadcaster and Kanny jack-of-all-trades Dan Helotie in to talk about the potent club brewing down there, plus highlight some of the stars that have pushed the team nearly...

When SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan headed off for a cruise in Europe, the White Sox started winning, or at least not losing so much, so he had visions of a team payout for him to stay on the other side of the Atlantic. Alas, before the payoff could come, the Sox returned to their abysmal ways, so a bribe won’t be forthcoming. Instead, this edition of Sharing Sox with the geezer and his son and west...

Two big departures from Winston-Salem dominate each half of our podcast this time around, as Joe Resis analyzes the Dash roster along with Brett Ballantini. The advantages and hazards of promoting Noah Schultz before he’s ever thrown five innings in one pro outing Tyler Schweitzer is back on the scene, bigtime. If Birmingham ever matriculates one of their six starting aces, the lefty might be head...

Dream is back on the podcast to preview the upcoming series with the Orioles, who sit just behind the first-place Yankees. The Orioles have plenty of young talent and a tough pitching rotation, the White Sox will need to bring their A-game to come away with even a single win in the series, especially while dealing with Corbin Burnes and the great defensive shortstop, Gunnar Henderson. Here’s what...

In the fifth episode of the Ladies’ Night podcast Hannah LaMotta, Delia Ritchie, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, and Allie Wesel discuss several topics related to our beloved — or despised, depending on the day — South Siders. Whether you’re a die-hard White Sox fan or not, there’s something for everyone. So, sit back, relax, and grab your favorite beverage because the girls hit a home run chatting about...

Fresh off a sweep dealt by the first-place Yankees, the White Sox hope to recover in Toronto against the Blue Jays. Both the Sox and Jays sit at the bottom of their divisions, and will likely be sellers at the trade deadline. The teams are similar, with All-Star players in contract years, and inconsistent offense. Thankfully for my wonderful guest, Ruth Kapelus, Toronto’s pitching rotation and tea...

The White Sox head to the Bronx to face off against a good Yankees team. Nick Stellini joined the podcast to discuss the first-place team and the red-hot Aaron Judge. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: What’s new in the Bronx? Does anyone know about Juan Soto? Gerrit Cole’s timeline, and how hilarious he is Grading the offseason How to stay in first place Are Adley Rutschman and Gunnar H...

It’s Brett Ballantini’s favorite week of the month, when he gets to again call on president and GM of the first-place Birmingham Barons, Jonathan Nelson. Even after a tightly-fought series in Pensacola didn’t go Birmingham’s way, the club is still tops in the Southern League. Despite losing five of six to the Blue Wahoos, the Barons have won five of their last 10 and remain a half-game better than...

For the first time ever, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan has missed an episode of Sharing Sox. But his son and west coast correspondent, Will, took to the microphone in what amounted to a The Big Blurt reunion, with Rob Colletti and Bill Meincke. And the timing was pretty good, given they trio talked on the heels of the only good week of baseball we’ve enjoyed with the White Sox this season. Naturally...

The White Sox will see the Nationals again this year thanks to the balanced MLB schedule, so I have another chance to chat with the brilliant Davy Andrews. In a fun episode, we discussed the sister teams and their desire to pick up Some Guys from MLB’s clearance rack. Both teams seem to be proceeding with a “don’t call it a rebuild” rebuild by firing the front office and acquiring veteran players...

In the fourth episode of the Ladies’ Night podcast Hannah LaMotta, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach and Allie Wesel discuss several topics related to our beloved — or despised, depending on the day — South Siders. Whether you’re a die-hard White Sox fan or not, there’s something for everyone. So, sit back, relax, and grab your favorite beverage because the girls hit a home run chatting about all things bas...

Jeff Ellis is back again this season to talk all things Cleveland Guardians. The division rivals face off in Chicago after a quick road trip down south. Cleveland sits in first place at the moment, while the White Sox sit comfortably at the bottom. The previous games against Cleveland were close, so perhaps the Sox can muster up the same energy they had against the Cardinals and Rays. Here’s what...

As SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, took to the microphones on May 3, the White Sox were 6-25, on pace for a modern-era, MLB-record 131 losses. So, naturally, we took a moment at the onset to shamelessly plug the Jerry Seinfeld movie Unfrosted, because Will is in it (both face and handwriting) and it opens on Netflix on that very day. The movie is more or...

Friend of the pod Taylor Streiff of Redbird Rants joins again to chat about the Cardinals ahead of the series against the White Sox. St. Louis made a lot of moves during the offseason, especially on the pitching side, resulting in an outstanding pitching rotation and bullpen. You thought the Royals-to-White Sox pipeline was bad? Just wait! We spent a lot of time chatting about the connections betw...

April is over, so it’s time for us to award, and talk about, our South Side Sox MiLB Players of the Month at each level. Joe Resis, writer of our story and deciding vote on the awards, occupies the expert’s chair as we summarize the April notables: An overview of the four affiliates, playing around .500 ball collectively and with one club (Birmingham) already pointed toward the postseason We spont...

A month in, it’s our first Winston-Salem Dash podcast, and Joe Resis occupies the expert’s chair as we summarize the April notables: An introduction for Joe, taking on a bigger minors role than ever for South Side Sox Noah Schultz: Please with his first month, or no? A review of Dash Players of the Week on the pitching side, Juan Carela and Manuel Veloz Everyone’s favorite LHS Wildcat, Riley Gowen...

No, you’re not experiencing déjà vu. The White Sox are again facing the Twins this soon into the season. Last week the Twins executed a four-game sweep against the White Sox, each game feeling more devastating than the last. The wonderful Brandon Warne of Locked On Twins and Access Twins joined me to chat about the bottom-dwelling White Sox and the low-on-the-list but still way-better Twins. Here’...

In a live YouTube/Twitter/Facebook event as the game got underway last night, a group of us (Dante Jones, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, Joe Resis, Malachi Hayes, Hannah LaMotta, Brett Ballantini) went watched the start of the game to see whether the White Sox start would end up even worse than that of the worst-ever Cleveland Spiders. Spoiler alert: It did. Watch as the game turns from a scoreless tie...

It’s an early check-in with our friend and Charlotte mainstay Jonathan Lee on all things Knights, including intriguing bats and the predictable breakdown of the Triple-A rotation: Jonathan’s take on the 8-12 Charlotte start: .400 ball, he’ll take it! Danny Mendick’s amazing power stroke that forced him back onto the White Sox active roster Conversely, the jerking around of Lenyn Sosa and Oscar Col...

The delightful Ben Jones of our sister site Twinkie Town joins the show to discuss the Minnesota Twins. Sitting just above the White Sox, the Twins are also riddled with injury and only rearranged their roster, aside from parting ways with Sonny Gray and Jorge Polanco in the offseason. But with heartthrobs like Joe Ryan pitching and a healthy Byron Buxton, the team might be able to contend this se...

Yes, it’s been many months for our most, er, “exclusive” Sox Populi podcast. But Dugout Metrics is back, with a couple of pitching-themed programs ahead. First, it’s a deeper dive into the six players who are arguably (unquestionably) the future of the staff and rotation on the South Side. The upside is pretty phenomenal, and the down side is ... undecided? For a Chicago White Sox podcast, that is...

[Er, uh, um, this was recorded before Friday’s night’s slaughter in Philadelphia, so the lavish praise for Garrett Crochet may need a tiny dab of correction. Nah, what the heck, he’s one of the only decent things to happen with this team, so let’s plow on.] This edition, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, disagree as to whether Garrett Crochet will have a h...

The White Sox head to Philadelphia to face the Phillies. Sitting dead last, the White Sox will deal with the pesky bats of multiple home run hitters, with a top three consisting of Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper. This series can also push the Phillies to first place in the National League East as they are just two games back (at the time of this episode being recorded) from Atlanta....

To keep the Sox Pop on the Farm Podcast canon taut, we went back in time to fill in the phantom podcast 49, and in doing so created a doozy of a look at the jewel of the system, the Birmingham Barons. And in doing so, Brett Ballantini again called on president and GM of the club, Jonathan Nelson, to get us up to date on this promising club: Congratulations to recent Barons grad Jonathan Cannon on...

In the third episode of the Ladies’ Night podcast, Delia Ritchie, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, and Allie Wesel discuss several topics related to our beloved — or despised, depending on the day — South Siders. Whether you’re a die-hard White Sox fan or not, there’s something for everyone. So, sit back, relax, and grab your favorite beverage because the girls hit a home run chatting about all things bas...