WhiteSox GM lashes out at Thomas
Here's the meat and potatoes:
"We don't miss him, by the way," Williams said. "If you go out there and ask any one of my players or staff members, we don't miss him.
"We don't miss his attitude. We don't miss the whining. We don't miss it. Good riddance. See you later," he said.
What did we get ourselves into? Is there something to this? I remember hearing some stuff about Thomas being a bad clubhouse guy in the past, but in the last few years I haven't heard anything. Is he the real cancer, not Bradley? Are they both? I'm worried about the team chemistry here. Anyone else?
Here's the story in question:
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Also...
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dssports/pro/261sd1.htm
It's a pretty interesting read, I recommend it.
by FireballerHARDEN on Feb 26, 2006 4:01 PM PST reply actions
Wow
But...
by secret ASian man on Feb 27, 2006 11:53 AM PST up reply actions
Sounds like a bitter divorce
Think about your own relationships,
That's not just me, right?
It wasn't just you.
Ahhh yes,
Kenny Williams, Ozzie Guillen, and Frank Thomas...
Something I noticed while reading their recent quotes is that each one thinks that he's taking the high road.
This quote from Guillen is ridiculous:
"I won't put my nose in something above me," Guillen said. "He never mentioned my name and if you don't mention my name, I try to stay away from every part of the conversation."
Here's what Williams actually said:
Thhat's "holding back"? Once again, there's been bad blood there for a long time. Williams has done his fair share of taking dirty laundry to the media.
And how long is Thomas going keep referencing how the White Sox organization has slighted him? Taken from fireballHARDEN's link above:
There's a lot of blame to be shared by all three men. This is very pathetic.
Great post
by rubin sierra on Feb 26, 2006 6:16 PM PST up reply actions
Jeepers is staying out of this one
exactly
Feh.
Williams does this crap all the time. Anyone remember what he said about Billy Beane not long ago? The guy is an A-grade asshole, but that seems to be the requirements for employment at the White Sox front office.
not just the white sox front office
I think it's pretty obvious
This is the third time he's spoken out against the White Sox about the split. The first was when he was released. The second was during the pc after he signed with the A's. I can understand being questioned and wanting to answer honestly. So I'll forget about those two. But now, he's stretching the limits of just being honest. It's coming off as whining, and I think that it's disrespectful.
I agree that KW loks like an ass, but that doesn't absolve Thomas of blame. Both are acting like children.
Headline tomorrow:
Chicken Jennifer?
Here's your SouthSideSox take, if you care.
Though I must agree with Sharon in that this is extremely pathetic, and I'm going to agree with The Cheat as well, that this is only going to get uglier.
Kind of sad. It's almost the height thread with grown men in the public eye. Not quite, but close.
They both look terrible
Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to have Frank Thomas and I hope he makes the White Sox look dumb. However, I don't think they'll miss him, and I think Williams is right. They did it without him essentially, and they're fine without him. They've moved on and he's an A now, so he really should just leave it at that.
He's a risk for us, a risk that we perhaps needed to take. They didn't need to take that risk. He looks equally bad in my eyes to be complaining about how they treated him, because it's still very possible that he won't be a huge impact player again (though I hope like heck that's not true).
by nycfan @ Athletics Nation on Feb 26, 2006 4:27 PM PST reply actions
Instead of the current pissing match...
by Mission1929 on Feb 26, 2006 4:41 PM PST reply actions
sure everyone looks terrible
and GMs, i've never heard a GM talk like that to the media before.
hopefully comments like this just motivates Thomas...
"Play two or three games in a row first before you start popping off."
I've heard a GM talk like that to the media before
Surely you're not badmouthing
a good sign?
from the Thomas i-view, let's hope for a repeat...
Arvia: This I do know about you. Every time you've been (ticked) off about something, felt slighted about something, you've had a monster year because of it. Not making an All-Star Game, not making the Olympic team ...
Thomas: I've always been a highly emotional ballplayer. I care about playing. Yeah, it's OK to turn up the heat. It shows you when players are really locked in. Turn that heat up on them.
by vk on Feb 26, 2006 5:41 PM PST up reply actions
absolutely
And if Frank is motivated, it almost invariably means he perceives he's been slighted by the media, the fans, the front office, etc..
What's great about Kenny Williams' comments...
Just wanted to weigh in...
It seems that the genesis of his anger is that he received only one phone call, a voice-mail really, to inform him that he wouldn't be back with the Sox. -- Now you have to know Frank's relationship with the Sox to understand why even that solitary phone call was overkill. -- In 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and so on, Frank would walk out the door on October 1st and not answer a single phone call, message, media inquiry, anything, until he showed up his usual week late to spring training. He would then complain about 'not wanting to be bothered.' The fact is, if the Sox had come to him every step of the way and told him his current situation with the team, he would have found something else to spout off about. Or he would have still spouted off about the way they handled it.
Frank somehow isn't able to grasp that this isn't about his ability to hit a baseball. It's about minimizing risk, and optimizing the Sox line-up not just for 2006, but for 2007 and beyond. It's really hard to think about multiple years down the line while including a guy who has his 3rd foot injury in 3 years, weighs as much as Frank does, and has only had 345 ABs in the last two years.
My favorite comment from Frank was about Carl Everett and how Everett wasn't brought in as insurance on Frank's foot, but that Kenny had brought in "too many good players."
Now onto Kenny's response. Should he have responded like he did? Absolutely not. But that's the way we handle things on the southside. We fire back with the truth and add a little venom.
Any player who wins a World Series, thanks in large part to the foresight of a GM to acquire 'too many guys', then complains about 'too many guys,' is quite obviously thinking of only himself. Everything Williams spoke was the truth. I just wish he could have done it without resorting to name calling.
All that being said, and with Frank due to fire back at the Sox in t-minus 24 hours, I'll still be at USCF along with 38K of my closest friends on May 22nd to give Frank a huge standing ovation in his return to the southside. That is if Frank is healthy enough to step into the batter's box.
Good post
Also BTW cheat, I enjoy your insight and posts as you are always brutally honest and genuinely unbiased.
by pickinmachine on Feb 26, 2006 6:23 PM PST up reply actions
ugh
It would be nice if everyone could keep their mouths shut. I think both men are acting childish. And it bothers me that this drama is going to continue.
oops...this was in response to The Cheat.
Don't worry folks,
<throws chair>
Classless
I can't imagine Beane or Macha saying crap like this publicly. Unprofessional.
I guess when you win, you can be a jackass publicly but this kind of thing always comes back to you when you're down ...
See: RED SOX
by haren4prez on Feb 27, 2006 12:38 AM PST up reply actions
Beane said some pretty nasty things about T-Long
by Nick86 on Feb 26, 2006 8:17 PM PST reply actions
Interesting though
Didn't work
I'll tell you the real blow, though. I just got banned from Halos Heaven.
I saw you messing
I guess
Troll?
by haren4prez on Feb 27, 2006 1:12 AM PST up reply actions
Now you know you've made it
by pickinmachine on Feb 26, 2006 9:21 PM PST up reply actions
The sad part...
by pickinmachine on Feb 26, 2006 9:25 PM PST up reply actions
And I just noticed the
oh man...
Can you list the posts he made that compelled you to ban him? I went back to find some, and none of the ones I read were near the threshhold of exile. Frankly, I would enjoy some healthy debate on our turf. Either I'm missing some truly evil posts, or this action reflects poorly on halosheaven.
by Angels95 on Mon Feb 27, 2006 at 12:54:14 AM EST
I thought that Grover
I also thought grover was very appropriate
Bottom line is that the Rev and his groupies aren't interested in any points of view that question or criticize anything about the Angels (even if the "criticism" was only invented in their own minds, as was the case with grover's comments). I also would like to hear more about other teams from the people who follow those teams, but Halos Heaven is really a disgrace to SB Nation. That's why I don't think the Angels fan whose comment I quoted above is going to be very happy there; he/she seems too bright & reasonable for that lot.
Spot on
Absolutely!
by AgentProvocateur @ Athletics Nation on Feb 27, 2006 7:39 AM PST up reply actions
What took you so long?
by AgentProvocateur @ Athletics Nation on Feb 27, 2006 7:34 AM PST up reply actions
Read all of it.
FIRE REV NOW.
If you thought that was bad
His last comment on it
"I ain't fucking Grover's dad."
I'm sure your Dad will be happy to hear that :-).
Irrational fear?
Sadly, I'm not sure
He and Rashad have something in common: they both really need to grow another foot.
Without knowing who Rashad is
Oh man
Enjoy!
by pickinmachine on Feb 26, 2006 9:35 PM PST up reply actions
yes, memories.
Rashad = Huston123
What about
Kenny Williams is an idiot ...
On the other hand, imagine hanging out in the same room day after day with Jerry Reinsdorf, Kenny Williams, Ozzie Guillen, AJ Pierzynski, Bobby Jenks, Carl Everett, and Frank Thomas. What an enjoyable bunch they must be together!
Frank took High Road
retro kenny williams drama
GM's BEANE, WILLIAMS TALK TO CLEAR AIR
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2003/05/07/SP168316.DTL
and i also happened upon this, which really makes me want to win it all to silence all haters:
ANTI-MONEYBALL
http://www.chicagosportsreview.com/news/newsview.asp?c=169267
"...what makes a winning team - winning 92 games a year, or winning the World Series? The answer, at least as far as the public is concerned, is the latter. When was the last time you attended a parade for a division winner? And the other answer intrinsic is that a team that wins 90+ games a year should also be the type of team that can win a few games when it really needs to.
The best part about this whole thing, for me anyway, is that it's fun. It's unbelievable to watch a sort of misguided and crazed experiment work out. It's exciting to see someone stare conventional wisdom in the face, ignore it, and then be more successful than anyone else.
It re-arranges the way that we look at the world; at least the baseball world.
It's ironic, at the end of the day. Kenny Williams, and his conventional wisdom, anti-Moneyball philosophy taught us more about flying in the face of conventional wisdom than Billy Beane ever has. And he got us a ring, too.
So we've got that going for us, which is nice. -CSR"
by slipperyfrog on Feb 27, 2006 4:23 PM PST reply actions
That article is somewhat
Its hard to imagine how bad sportswriting
Those are both great reads...
Williams:
"If I would have written that book, I would have started out by giving thanks to my directors of scouts and that staff for drafting people like Mark Mulder, Barry Zito, Tim Hudson, Eric Chavez and Miguel Tejada."
Does K-Dub think Micheal Lewis's (the author of Moneyball) staff does the scouting and drafting for the A's?
by blueconversechucks on Feb 28, 2006 12:51 PM PST up reply actions
Kenny Williams might be as stupid as Joe Morgan
-He couldn't manage to keep the cursing and insults out of his tirade
-He thinks Billy Beane wrote Moneyball
-He's given the Big Hurt (and the A's) all the motivation he needs (if he needed any more) to beat the crap out of the White Sox and help the A's match ChiSox's achievements of last year.
by blueconversechucks on Feb 28, 2006 12:56 PM PST up reply actions
Thomas v. Williams
by twopups on Feb 27, 2006 7:19 PM PST reply actions
True, and it will likely resurface
BAD MOVE
his foots ok right?
oh, and the part about him and everett becoming good buddies. that is very encouraging (think milton bradley).

by jester1176 on 
























