The Chicago White Sox should have been celebrating a successful weekend of SoxFest Live and getting fans stoked about the upcoming \u201cMeaningful Step Forward\u201d campaign in 2026 on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Instead, the Sox were fending off another controversy by not commenting on the dumbest mistake since waiting for the end of a 21-game losing streak in 2024 to decide that Pedro Grifol wasn\u2019t the right guy to manage the team.<\/p>\n
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This one was a social media-related error that should\u2019ve been easy to rectify. But nothing is easy for Sox upper management.<\/p>\n
It started when the social media department posted on X<\/a> to celebrate the start of Black History Month that included mentions of the first Negro League All-Star Game at old Comiskey Park, former vice president Ken Williams being one of only two Black general managers to build a World Series champion, and Minnie Mi\u00f1oso<\/a> breaking the color barrier on the South Side.<\/p>\n All in all, there were 16 different items listed on the post\u2019s timeline, boasting of the Sox\u2019s rich history of prominent Black players, managers and executives (or executive in this case). Williams even gets two mentions.<\/p>\n What the list did not highlight was the career of Frank Thomas, the two-time Sox MVP who should\u2019ve won a third, but finished runner-up to a juiced-up Jason Giambi in 2000.<\/a> Thomas is the greatest player in Sox history and holds most of their significant offensive records. His No. 35 was retired and he had a statue erected of him<\/a> in the bleachers.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n He\u2019s a hard guy to miss.<\/p>\n But somehow the Sox did indeed miss him. He\u2019s only mentioned at the end of an item on Dick Allen<\/a>, the first Black Sox player to win an MVP in 1972. The Sox even inserted an item for Danny Goodwin, who was the first Black player selected No. 1 in the draft. But Goodwin didn\u2019t even sign with the Sox and had an undistinguished seven-year career in which he batted .236 with 13 home runs.<\/p>\n Why would the Sox include Goodwin and not the Big Hurt? Is anyone paying attention?<\/p>\n Thomas wasn\u2019t the only Black player slighted. Jermaine Dye, the 2005 World Series MVP,<\/a> also went unmentioned, as did Tommie Agee, the 1966 American League Rookie of the Year, and Tim Anderson<\/a>, who won a batting title and was one of eight players and coaches who took a knee during the national anthem before a 2020 game to protest racial injustice against Black Americans.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n It\u2019s not easy making these kinds of lists. But certainly someone in the organization should\u2019ve looked at it before posting and told the social media department try again. They had months to figure it out.<\/p>\n Thomas, who quietly has been separated from the organization since ending his gig as a pre- and postgame analyst for Sox broadcasts in 2024, was obviously miffed Sunday when he saw the tweet. Thomas responded to the post<\/a>: \u201cI Guess the black player who made you rich over there and holds all your records is forgettable! Don\u2019t worry I\u2019m taking Receipts!\u201d<\/p>\n Someone replied to Thomas\u2019 remark by writing he should not let the Sox\u2019s X account get to him, suggesting it was probably written by \u201ca young kid who doesn\u2019t know much about Sox history.\u201d Thomas responded with a profanity to indicate that theory was nonsense.<\/p>\n Naturally, many fans supported Thomas and agreed that downplaying his career was insulting and unnecessary.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n I\u2019ve known Thomas for over 35 years now, having covered him during most of his prime with the White Sox. He\u2019s a proud man, a stubborn man and a sensitive man. Sometimes he goes overboard when he feels he\u2019s been slighted, but he\u2019s never been afraid to speak his mind.<\/p>\n Thomas declined to add fuel to the fire when we spoke Sunday, saying the social media post speaks for itself. He confirmed that he no longer has a relationship with the organization and didn\u2019t have any regrets. Right now, he\u2019s focusing on his family and particularly the future of his son, Frankie Thomas III, a high school star at IMG Academy in Sarasota, Fla.<\/p>\n Frankie, a left-handed hitting first baseman and outfielder, is currently a junior and committed to Auburn, his dad\u2019s alma mater. But Frankie figures to be a high draft pick in 2027, and several teams, including the Cubs, have already shown interest. Frankie is aiming high<\/a>, saying he wants to be better than his dad.<\/p>\n Frank Thomas and I have a long and complicated relationship. We had some conflicts when I covered him as a beat writer for the Tribune, usually because he was in some sort of controversy that I had to report and write about<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n I was gone by the time Thomas got into his well-chronicled fights with Williams<\/a> near the end of his Sox playing days, when it looked like he would forever be separated from the organization. \u201cHe better stay out of White Sox business,\u201d was Williams\u2019 most memorable line about Thomas.<\/p>\n Fortunately, the Sox made amends with Thomas after his career ended and he was welcomed back, like most Hall of Famers are with their old teams.<\/p>\n But I\u2019m afraid this separation is going to lead to a bitter divorce. It obviously began long before the post, which might have been the final straw for Thomas.<\/p>\n Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who turns 90 next month<\/a>, is probably the only one who could step in and make things right. But he doesn\u2019t seem interested<\/a>, nor do the Sox, who could\u2019ve simply apologized to Thomas on social media for the omission and ended it there. A Sox spokesman reached out to Thomas, sources said, but it didn\u2019t help matters.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The Sox declined to comment Sunday when contacted by the Tribune, which is not surprising. With the start of spring training next week, they\u2019d prefer to focus on the future \u2014 and Thomas is part of the past. I\u2019m guessing they think the story will go away with the next news cycle, as it usually does.<\/p>\n The buck really stops at executive vice president Brooks Boyer, who is the ultimate boss of the social media department. Despite the team\u2019s attendance woes, Boyer has managed to survive due to Reinsdorf\u2019s well-known loyalty to his longtime employees. Loyalists Williams and former General Manager Rick Hahn were ultimately blamed for the Sox\u2019s downfall in 2023 and let go, but Boyer and advisor Tony La Russa remain the last of the untouchables.<\/p>\n Boyer was last seen taking a victory lap at the mini-SoxFest, where he was interviewed in a fan video on X<\/a> and talked about how the Bulls \u201ckeep losing games they should be winning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know how they fix it,\u201d Boyer said. \u201cLet\u2019s go. Figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n You\u2019d think he\u2019d worry more about the Sox\u2019s problems, but whatever.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know how the Sox can mend their relationship with Thomas, but it\u2019s up to Reinsdorf and Boyer to figure it out quickly.<\/p>\n