WHY IS REINSDORF INTACT WHEN MANFRED IS FORCING OUT TAMPA BAY’S OWNER?
The future of the White Sox is more important, yet the commissioner might attach the Rays and the DeBartolo family — which should have bought the Sox when Reinsdorf purchased for 44 regrettable years
To watch baseball’s Worst Team Ever, a fan can get drunk at a whiskey-que, snatch a 1907 replica jersey or wear a Minecraft Creeper hat. What the fan also should know: The family that could have purchased the White Sox in 1981 — headed by Edward DeBartolo — was undercut by American League owners. And that his people are prepared to buy the Tampa Bay Rays now in a deal pushed hard by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.
Can you possibly envision son Ed DeBartolo Jr., who won five Super Bowls in 14 years as owner of the San Francisco 49ers, obtaining the Rays when he and his father could have bought the Sox? In 44 mostly regrettable seasons, Jerry Reinsdorf has reached the postseason only seven times — failing to win a series on six occasions — before winning the championship by a quirky form of fate in 2005. Based on how Ed Jr. threw big salaries to NFL superstars, imagine the constant playoffs and championships on the South Side.
Never, ever would we be discussing 90 losses, much less 121. What Manfred didn’t explain to The Athletic about Ed Jr., whose sister remains the controlling owner of the 49ers as son Jed York serves as CEO, is how he and other owners want to rub out Rays bossman Stu Sternberg — without also eliminating Reinsdorf, more importantly.
He has no stadium deal as his Rate Field lease begins to fade after a season of agony. You can risk bleachers gunfire or an assault by a passing car on 35th Street, but those hoping for a victory in America’s No. 3 city are watching kids in minor-league uniforms. Again, the $77 million Winnetka mansion of minority owner Justin Ishbia is worth more than any contract ever given to a Sox player — that would be Andrew Benintendi, whose $75 million is a skunk compared to Juan Soto’s $765 million. With John Fisher prepared for three seasons in Sacramento and the rest of his Athletics life in Las Vegas, Reinsdorf should be dead-center on Manfred’s list.
Why not offer the Sox to DeBartolo Jr.? He is based in Tampa and wants to keep the Rays in the area, which might include a new ballpark in the Ybor City neighborhood to replace hurricane-trashed Tropicana Field. But Chicago is supposed to be an “anchor city” — Manfred’s word — and should be viewed in the same zip code as the Yankees and Mets in New York. They spend. Tom Ricketts sort of spends in Cubdom. Reinsdorf is a cheapo who shouldn’t be in the business at 89, with futile baseball and basketball teams and a 1980s-antenna-required TV stinker.
When Ishbia made it clear that he wants more Sox shares — and an eventual deal to take control — Manfred and other owners should have forced a change. Ishbia is 47 and could be Reinsdorf’s grandchild. He would save the franchise, presumably help build a stadium and keep the team in Chicago — a city he adores. Instead, Manfred lets Jerry slumber near 90. The future of the Sox is more important than the future of the Rays.
MLB lets Reinsdorf shriek and bully when he should be with older folks in a home. The Tribune’s Paul Sullivan claims he’s in good health. In truth, Manfred should take a closer medical look and determine if this owner also should be pressured to sell. Media people in Chicago sit back and wait for Reinsdorf to go away in his mid-90s.
It’s a sleepy town because he’s dormant. We have a new owner. Make it happen, commissioner. Manfred is finding a way to lift Pete Rose’s permanent ban. Rig Jerry, too.
There was a time when DeBartolo Jr. was persona non grata. He eventually gave the 49ers to his sister, Denise DeBartolo York, after failing to report a felony when paying $400,000 to Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards for a riverboat gambling license. Today? Manfred has deals with DraftKings and FanDuel, and in 2020, President Donald Trump granted him a presidential pardon. He has $3.5 billion in net worth and will be helped by Joe Molloy, a former minority owner of the Yankees.
Clearly, Sternberg must leave after waiting 17 years for a stadium. Hurricane Milton did more than ravage Florida’s west coast. It gave new life to the Rays. “It is no accident this got leaked how and when it did,” said Pinellas County commissioner Chris Latvala in a social media post. “And there should be no question what side MLB is on. Stu is on an island and has been for a few months.”
The real island, now that the Athletics are moving, is beside the Dan Ryan Expressway. Reinsdorf is using children who shouldn’t be watched with your money or your TV time. You should shut down the Sox and pretend they don’t exist, until one day, they won’t.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.