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  • Jerry Reinsdorf tells family to sell White Sox — but keep Bulls — after he dies

    Well, ain't that a kick in the teeth. At least Chicago White Sox fans have come to expect it.

    Club owner Jerry Reinsdorf reportedly told his family that, once he dies, the White Sox are to be sold — but the Chicago Bulls, which he also owns, should go to his heirs.

    But daddy, the White Sox came first!

    SportsBusiness Journal (via the Chicago Sun-Times) has the scoop:

    The publication interviewed Reinsdorf, 77, about his longtime sports ownerships in Chicago and noted that ‘‘the family succession plan calls for the Reinsdorfs to retain their stake in the Bulls while selling the White Sox. Michael Reinsdorf [Jerry’s son and current president of the Bulls] will take his father’s place [as chairman].’’

    While that might happen, Jerry Reinsdorf was clarifying things Tuesday.

    ‘‘Jerry has said that while it is his recommendation that the club be put up for sale once he is no longer with us, he acknowledges that his vote won’t count at that point in the discussion,’’ said Scott Reifert, the Sox’ senior vice president of communications and a longtime friend of the elder Reinsdorf. ‘‘Jerry appreciates all the care and concern about his future but is happy to still be going strong, and he plans to be around for quite a while longer.

    ‘‘As he said just today, he recognizes that he may be in the fourth quarter, but he’s playing for triple overtime.’’

    Note the basketball analogy. Hey, whatever happened to "extra innings"?

    So, Reinsdorf is not dying (at least any faster than the rest of us). That's a good thing. Despite some heinous decisions on his part — letting Harry Caray go to the Cubs, letting GM Hawk Harrelson (oy) fire Tony La Russa, holding up the state in order to fund construction of U.S. Cellular Field, trying to bust the players union which led to canceling the 1994 World Series — he's still the best owner the White Sox have ever had. Results on the field say so.

    However: White Sox fans collectively, a perception goes, feel their team has played second fiddle in the city for as long as they can remember. Second fiddle to the Chicago Cubs — even second-fiddle to Reinsdorf's other team.

    Reinsdorf's dying wish just confirms it again: Daddy doesn't love Sox fans enough.

    The negative feelings about the Cubs are seated deeper than Reinsdorf. No matter that the Sox won a World Series during this millennium, and also fare well against the Cubs in head-to-head play, an irrational dislike exists. Call it jealousy of the attention, or envy of Wrigley Field, or just a plain-old inferiority complex, many White Sox fans feel like an afterthought.

    And that doesn't even account for the ambivalence regarding Reinsdorf's relationship with the Bulls, whom he purchased four years after he and Eddie Einhorn bought the Sox from Bill Veeck before the 1981 season. The same Bulls who won six championships in the 1990s compared to the White Sox's lone title in 2005. The same Bulls who had Michael Jordan, who already was there when Reinsdorf bought the team, and the same M.J. who only played baseball with the Sox because Reinsdorf owned them, too. Sox fans saw through the gimmick, but probably just were relieved that Jordan wasn't playing for the Cubs. That would have been too much to take.

    Regardless, the next owner of the Sox might love them with all of his or her heart and wallet. But there's a strong chance they won't be owned as well as when the Sox were owned by Jerry Reinsdorf.

    Baseball is in full swing! Interact with @AnswerDave, @MikeOz, @Townie813and@bigleaguestew on Twitter, along with the BLS Facebook page!

  • Wife douses husband with beer in Wrigley Field bleachers after he tries to protect her from homer

    It started with a chivalrous act gone wrong, was followed by a beer bath and ended with a high-five.

    A couple caught the attention of baseball fans at Wrigley Field on Sunday and the ones watching at home on TV. Why? His-and-her beer baths!

    It happened when Chicago Cubs pitcher Travis Wood hit a home run to left field in the fifth inning. A husband in the bleachers tried to protect his wife from the ball, but in the process spilled his beer on her. So, in return, she dumped her beer on his head.

    This was not a cheap lovers spat. The Cubs have one of the highest beer prices in the league — $7.25 for a small beer, so that's $14.50, minus whatever they had already gulped down.

    [Related: Another Cubs fan shows great hands while reeling in a foul ball]

    MLB.com caught up with the couple afterward and the wife explained herself:

    "I just got livid," she said. "And took my beer and splooshed it in his face. I figured if I'm wet, he might as well be wet too."

    They both were in good spirits, laughing along.

    The wife agreed she got her payback, and the husband was happy to hear they were even. Then they high-fived. No beer was dropped in the process.

    Baseball is back. Don't miss anything.
    Follow @MikeOz and @bigleaguestew, on Twitter, along with the BLS Facebook page.

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