Cubs and White Sox fans heading down to Arizona for spring training baseball may have to extend their vacation a few extra days.

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1 WHITE SOX HEADLINES OF OCTOBER 26, 2017 Top prospect Jimenez raking in winter ball Scott Merkin, MLB.com Inaugural Innings Festival mixes music with spring training baseball Scott Krinch, NBC Sports Chicago Why White Sox would be best served to remain patient with Eloy Jimenez and Michael Kopech Dan Hayes, NBC Sports Chicago White Sox will face Triple-A affiliate in final tuneup before 2018 season Chris Kuc, Chicago Tribune Ian Clarkin insists he's better than ever James Fegan, The Athletic Book excerpt: The 1919 World Series: The Fix Was On Associated Press Frank Thomas Laughs About ESPN Forgetting White Sox Won 2005 World Series: Disrespectful, But Attention Is On Cubs CBS Chicago Top prospect Jimenez raking in winter ball By Scott Merkin / MLB.com Oct. 25, 2017 CHICAGO -- Eloy Jimenez, the No. 4 prospect overall per MLBPipeline.com and the No. 1 White Sox prospect, has to be happy with his start for Gigantes del Cibao in the current Liga de Beisbol Dominicano. Through eight games and 35 at-bats, the right-handed hitting outfielder is batting.400 with two home runs, eight RBIs, six runs scored, three doubles and one triple. "Playing here has been something incredible for me and the experience has been great," said Jimenez through interpreter Billy Russo. "The atmosphere here is very good. The fans support you, cheer for you, and it is crazy because they say all kinds of things. "They don't stop for anything. The pitchers here have quality stuff. Right now, my purpose is to keep working hard, finish strong here and start or end the next season in the United States in the Major Leagues." Jimenez already has earned Player of the Week honors in his short time in the Dominican Winter League. Acquired from the Cubs as part of a five-player deal sending Jose Quintana to the North Side, Jimenez hit.312 with 19 homers and 65 RBIs over his 2017 Minor League season. "It was something I visualized a long time ago, even before the season started," said Jimenez of his Player of the Week nod. "It is a dream come true and I'm confident this one is the first one of many to come, with God's will. I'll keep working hard." Inaugural Innings Festival mixes music with spring training baseball By Scott Krinch / NBC Sports Chicago Oct. 25, 2017 Cubs and White Sox fans heading down to Arizona for spring training baseball may have to extend their vacation a few extra days. The inaugural Innings Festival, produced by C3 Presents, will take place from March at Tempe Beach Park & Arts Park in Arizona. Chris Stapleton, Queens of the Stone Age and The Avett Brothers will headline the three-day event. The lineup for the Innings Festival includes Counting Crows, Young the Giant, Dispatch, Cold War Kids, Citizen Cope and Gin Blossoms. In addition to musical performances, the event also features culinary demos by chef Beau MacMillan and professional baseball players, food vendors and family activities. "The Innings Festival is the perfect combination of music, baseball and the amazing location of Tempe Town Lake and downtown Tempe," Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell said in a press release. "Thousands of Cactus League fans locals and

2 visitors alike will be able to come to experience the gorgeous weather, beautiful setting, great food and awesome music. We are excited to welcome performers of this caliber and their fans to celebrate this first ever Innings Fest and we look forward to making this an annual event." For more information and to purchase tickets which go on sale Friday, visit Why White Sox would be best served to remain patient with Eloy Jimenez and Michael Kopech By Dan Hayes / NBC Sports Chicago Oct. 25, 2017 White Sox farmhand Eloy Jimenez made it very clear he intends to land on the South Side sometime next season. The current Dominican League player of the week and MLBPipeline.com s No. 4 overall prospect in baseball said Wednesday his top priority is to either start or finish the 2018 campaign in the big leagues with the White Sox. Since he was acquired in the Jose Quintana trade last July, Jimenez, who finished the season at Double-A Birmingham, has been an offensive juggernaut. He hasn t slowed down in winter ball, either, as he s hitting.400/.405/.714 with two home runs and eight RBIs in his first eight games for the Gigantes del Cibao. The outfielder s outstanding production is certain to draw many calls for Jimenez s arrival to be expedited next season. How the White Sox handle Jimenez and Michael Kopech, who both appear to be on the cusp of reaching the majors, could be significant in what kind of fruit the club s rebuild ultimately bares. Right now my purpose is to keep working hard, finish strong here and start or end the next season in the United States in the Major Leagues, Jimenez told the team. While the top prospect s latest statement is sure to fire up White Sox fans waiting for his big league debut yet again, it s also certain to test the will of the front office. Last month, general manager Rick Hahn said the White Sox are in a tricky position. Similar to their thirsty fans, the team s brain trust is encouraged by what took place in They d love to hit the fast forward button and are just as eager as anyone to snap a lengthy postseason drought that extends all the way back to But that s the difficult part as Hahn knows the White Sox must remain vigilant when it comes to the long-term plan and not rush any prospects. Jimenez and Kopech are likely in 2018 to test Hahn, who often says that the good ones have a way of forcing the issue. When he visited the White Sox in September, Kopech realized he s only one step away after a dominant 2017 season. What the White Sox must do is find the balance in between and afford their top minor leaguers enough time to accomplish everything they need before they arrive in the big leagues. That means giving Kopech sufficient time to further hone his fastball command and work on secondary pitches and allowing Jimenez who only has 73 plate appearances above Single-A more time against advanced pitchers to have an idea what awaits him in the bigs. The White Sox did a good job of staying patient in 2017 with second baseman Yoan Moncada and pitchers Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito and Carson Fulmer. Unlike years past when prospects were rushed to the majors to fill holes for an organization that hoped to be competitive, the White Sox reversed course in 2017 and let them further develop at Triple-A Charlotte. The new philosophy paid dividends for Giolito and Fulmer, who both shrugged off midsummer slumps and performed well on the mound in September. It also gave Moncada and Lopez time to adapt to a new organization after the massive trades that brought them to the White Sox last December. Moncada responded by producing 1.7 b-wins Above Replacement in 54 games and Lopez showed plenty of signs he s a middle of the rotation pitcher during his eight starts. Kopech and Jimenez should push the White Sox the same way Moncada and Lopez did in The team would be best served to handle them in a similar fashion. White Sox will face Triple-A affiliate in final tuneup before 2018 season By Chris Kuc / Chicago Tribune Oct. 25, 2017 Before they embark on their 2018 regular season, the White Sox will get a last look at their long-term future. The Sox will face their Triple-A affiliate, the Charlotte Knights, in their final exhibition game March 26 at BB&T Ballpark in Uptown Charlotte. The game will be part of the Knights' celebration marking their 20th season as the Sox's top minorleague affiliate.

3 It will be the Sox's final exhibition contest following their spring training slate in Arizona. The Sox will open the regular season against the Royals on March 29 in Kansas City. We are extremely excited to have the White Sox finish their 2018 exhibition schedule with a visit to BB&T Ballpark in Charlotte, one of the finest facilities in Minor League Baseball, Chris Getz, White Sox Director of Player Development, said in a statement. We are extremely proud of our relationship with the Knights, who have served as a fantastic partner for our organization. We are looking forward to visiting Uptown Charlotte next March to show the Knights fans how instrumental their team has been in the success of many of our young players. A total of 22 players were promoted from Charlotte to the Sox in Ian Clarkin insists he's better than ever By James Fegan / The Athletic Oct. 26, 2017 GLENDALE, Ariz. White Sox lefty Ian Clarkin is in a tough spot. He's trying to find the words to describe how over-themoon excited he is to be where he is now, without bagging on the Yankees and the situation he was in roughly three months ago. These guys know what they're talking about here, Clarkin said, before doubling back. They did with the Yankees too, they're geniuses, I loved it too. I love working with [minor league pitching coordinator Richard Dotson] and [pitching assistant J.R. Perdew]. They really have a good idea of what they want you to be and what you want to be. They help you with what you want to be. Clarkin was selected out of high school with the No. 33 overall pick in He can touch 95 mph from the left side and he's as sharp as anyone in the locker room and not afraid to show it. His view of who he is certainly doesn't align with having spent parts of three straight years in High-A, or being beset by nagging elbow troubles and other injuries. This past season alone he dealt with ankle and oblique setbacks, but he's probably OK with the 2.60 ERA he posted. It's just instructional league, but October found Clarkin ready to work, finally with a steady and healthy leg base underneath him. As a result, the 22-year-old might have been the most motivated player in Arizona. We've worked on balls down and away to right-handers, being able to get opposite arm side in. He's done a pretty good job with that, Dotson said. He pays attention to detail. He's really engaged with the game. He'll talk about it. He'll talk about what he's feeling and I think that's always good. We all think we're pretty smart, but sometimes we've got to have somebody to help us be smart. He's the kind of guy I think he can help you because he has communication. I like talking to him. You ask him questions and he'll give you an answer. They've already got the answer but they don't know it yet. I'm looking forward to him. When Clarkin was first traded, as the second-biggest piece in a package from the Yankees alongside Blake Rutherford, the seemingly lesser-known prospect insisted he was throwing and feeling the best that he ever had in his life. When I checked in on this boast at the end of his wave of instructional league side sessions, he had only grown bolder. I think I'm better now than I was then, Clarkin said. I threw a bullpen where I was frustrated about throwing three balls in a 35-pitch bullpen. I'm getting to the point where I can throw every pitch for a strike so I just keep continuing that. That's why I say I wish spring training could go tomorrow because I feel really good. The biggest thing for me is now continuing this into spring training, writing in a notepad what you are doing correctly right now so you don't forget it when you have two months off from throwing. Clarkin views note-taking as an essential part of his routine, something he picked up from Clayton Kershaw and Zach Greinke that helps him avoid starting over after the offseason. For someone who has missed as much time as he has, Clarkin is pretty sick of feeling like he's just working to get back where he was in the past, so he wants to leave himself a roadmap to follow when he starts tossing again. On top of that, he spent September and October trying to build his arsenal, which is where the Sox letting him be what he wants comes into play. It probably helps that what Clarkin wanted was to add a two-seamer/cutter the Sox are an organization that would never stop anyone from trying to generate more ground balls. Clarkin tested out the new pitch during his last two outings of the year after he returned from his oblique injury a pair of three-inning starts with one

4 earned run allowed, three walks and just one strikeout combined. The starts don't look like domination from the stat line, but they gave him plenty of confidence that he has a new weapon. It's night and day. At the end of the season when I just started throwing it, I didn't even command it yet, Clarkin said. In the three innings I had [in his final start], eight of them were ground-ball outs, out of my nine outs I got that game. Just a ground-ball machine. Clarkin hasn't posted big strikeout numbers since 2014, and his cutter progress provided the first hints of a sterling ground-ball rate this season. So a new way to generate weak contact could be the bridge between his raw talent and stuff, and the sustainable production he needs to provide confidence in his future as a starter. If the 2018 season for the White Sox means a lot of assessing the talent of their own system and figuring where they will need to fill gaps from the outside, part of that will be watching Clarkin and determining whether his adjustments unlock the ability the Yankees saw back in It s going to be an important year. I think it s going to be a difficult year in some ways, general manager Rick Hahn said. Not just with the players that are pushing against the big leagues that you hear mostly about Eloy [Jimenez] and [Michael] Kopech and the expectations when they are going to be in Chicago and have an impact in Chicago. But also with some of the players [like Clarkin] who are at the A-ball level and go through growing pains as they make these adjustments and become the player we ultimately hope they will be. It s going to require patience in both elements. We have to let all these players go through their growing pains to make the adjustments that are required to maximize their ability. Book excerpt: The 1919 World Series: The Fix Was On An excerpt from Hal Bock s book on banned baseball players By Associated Press Oct. 24, 2017 Each October, the baseball season concludes with the sport's most prestigious event - the World Series. There was one Series, however, that is etched in history, not for the glory of the game but for a sad and sorry legacy. The 1919 World Series between the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox was fixed, the outcome arranged to benefit gamblers who hovered over the sport like vultures. Eight White Sox players were implicated in the event, the ugliest episode in baseball history. The story is told by former AP Sports Writer Hal Bock in his book, "Banned: Baseball's Blacklist of All-Stars and Also- Rans." The White Sox fit into category of All-Stars. They had the game's best hitter, Shoeless Joe Jackson, whose.356 career batting average is the second highest in history. They had one of the game's best pitchers in Eddie Cicotte, who threw a baffling knuckleball. And they were ripe pickings for the gamblers because they played for a penurious owner, Charles Comiskey. Like most owners of the era, Comiskey was not exactly generous with salaries. His players groused about their tightwad owner. One example was Cicotte, whose contract called for a $10,000 bonus if he won 30 games. When he got to 29 wins in 1919, Comiskey ordered him shut down. There would be no 30 wins and no bonus for Cicotte. There were rumors all around baseball during this period about the legitimacy of the games and the White Sox World Series plot began in a meeting between first baseman Chick Gandil and Sport Sullivan, a professional gambler. Might the Sox be interested in doing some business on the Series, Sullivan wondered. Gandil said he would find out and before too long, the fix was hatched. In the end, it had expanded to eight Chicago players - Gandil, shortstop Swede Risberg, outfielder Happy Felsch, pitchers Lefty Williams and Cicotte, third baseman Buck Weaver, infielder Fred McMullen and Jackson. The gamblers included Sullivan, Sleepy Bill Burns, Billy Maharg, former featherweight boxing champion Abe Attel, who served as a bagman delivering payoffs, and the man credited with creating the scheme, New York gambler Arnold Rothstein. Weaver wanted no part of the fix. Jackson, too, was an innocent bystander, just trying to be a good teammate. Both, however, were swept into the web. Right up until the first pitch of the opening game, there was some question that the players would go through with the scheme. This was, after all, the World Series, the crown jewel of their sport. But when Cicotte hit Cincinnati's leadoff batter, Morrie Rath, with his second pitch, it was a signal to the gamblers.

5 The fix was on. The Reds, with considerable help from the White Sox, won four of the first five games of the Series and needed one more win. But the slow pace of payoffs angered the fixers and Chicago won the next two contests. The gamblers were not amused by this flip-flop and threatened the lives of some players' families before the eighth game. The Sox folded and the Reds were World Series champions, if somewhat tainted. The fix remained baseball's dirty little secret until the following August when a grand jury, investigating rumors of another fixed game, stumbled on to the World Series story. By October, eight players had been indicted for the fix, including Jackson, who had played flawlessly and led all hitters with a.375 average in the Series. Confessions of several players mysteriously disappeared and the following June, the eight White Sox were found innocent. Perhaps, the court system had exonerated them but baseball would not. Kenesaw Mountain Landis, a former federal court judge hired as baseball's first commissioner, threw the eight players out of baseball, punished permanently for their involvement in baseball's most scandalous episode. Frank Thomas Laughs About ESPN Forgetting White Sox Won 2005 World Series: Disrespectful, But Attention Is On Cubs By CBS Chicago Oct. 25, 2017 (CBS) It was an honest mistake, for the second time in as many years, to the exact date. And it really riled up White Sox fans. On Tuesday evening, ESPN posted a statistical note on Twitter that claimed the 1998 Yankees were the only World Series champion in the wild-card era to roll through the postseason with one loss, pointing out that The trouble was that the 2005 White Sox also did that with an 11-1 mark in the postseason, and it took fans mere seconds to start letting ESPN know. ESPN took the tweet down. That mistake came exactly one year after an ESPN television graphic leading up to the start of the World Series between the Cubs and Indians in 2016 proclaimed the city of Chicago had seen 10 championships since 1965 six from the Bulls, three from the Blackhawks and one from the Bears. The correct number was 11. On Wednesday, the most recent snafu was brought the to the attention of former White Sox slugger Frank Thomas, who was a member of the 2005 champions, though he only played 34 games due to injury. Thomas wasn t worked up but did All the noise is about the Cubs, Thomas said with a laugh on the Spiegel and Parkins Show on Wednesday. It was easy for them to forget about the White Sox. It was disrespectful, we all know. They tried to clear it up later. But we know what we did in It was a great run. We swept the World Series. But last year was all about the Cubs. Those guys paid a lot of bills for a lot of networks, and it was easy to forget the White Sox. It just is what it is.