Paul Sullivan: Jerry Reinsdorf’s about-face on White Sox possibly leaving Chicago is history — and hypocrisy — repeating itself

CHICAGO — The good news for Chicago White Sox fans is the team eventually will be up for sale, according to Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.

The bad news is it won’t happen as long as Reinsdorf is alive.

Before he does go, Reinsdorf — who turns 88 Sunday — wants to leave Chicago with a special gift: a shiny, new ballpark for the Sox that would anchor the redevelopment of The 78 site in the South Loop. Sox fans would enjoy the gift long after he’s gone, and Reinsdorf believes the city and state would benefit as well.

The funny thing about this particular gift is Reinsdorf doesn’t intend to pay for it with his own billions, preferring public funding of more than $1 billion.

Swell guy.

After stiffing reporters in Springfield on Tuesday, when he went begging politicians for funding, Reinsdorf and his son Michael, the president of the Chicago Bulls, sat down with Crain’s Chicago Business for lunch and an interview.

Michael, according to the report, said nothing. But Jerry had a lot to say, especially about the new park. According to Crain’s, he noted his age and said “when I’m gone,” Michael will be obligated to “do what’s best” for the other investors.

“That likely means putting the team up for sale. … The team will be worth more out of town,” Reinsdorf said.

A brief history of the Sox is in order before getting to the hypocrisy of this statement.

Sox fans have worried about the team leaving town since Crain’s first reported back in August that Reinsdorf is seeking a new ballpark.

Reinsdorf and the late Eddie Einhorn, then controlling general partners of the team, threatened to move it to St. Petersburg, Fla., in the late 1980s if they didn’t get public funding for a ballpark to replace Comiskey Park. Florida had offered the Sox a new, rent-free stadium for 10 years and a $10 million low-interest loan to move into what is now called Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays and one of the most despised parks in baseball.

The threat to move worked then, so why wouldn’t Reinsdorf try again?

When the Crain’s report that mentioned Nashville, Tenn., as a possible new home appeared, Reinsdorf was busy looking for a new general manager to replace longtime GM Rick Hahn. During a meeting with a select group of reporters on the day Chris Getz was hired as GM, Reinsdorf denied the Nashville rumor.

“Somebody at Crain’s decided he wanted to write that you’re looking at the Bears (stadium options) and the White Sox lease has six or seven years left to go and the White Sox have some options, they might move out of the city, they might move out of town, they might go to Nashville,” Reinsdorf said in his office at Guaranteed Rate Field. “That wasn’t us. That was a (reporter) at Crain’s.

“And ever since the article came out, I’ve been reading about that I’ve been threatening to move to Nashville. That article didn’t come from me. But it’s obvious, if we have six years left … we’ve got to decide: ‘What’s the future going to be?’ We’ll get to it, but I never threatened to move out. We haven’t even begun to have discussions with the (Illinois Sports Facility Authority), which we’ll have to do soon.”

The next time Reinsdorf was available to the media was in December at the winter meetings in Nashville. After telling stories about his friend and newly elected Hall of Famer Jim Leyland, he asked if there was anything else. But he actually meant anything about his friend.

Reinsdorf declined to talk about the possibility of moving from Bridgeport, or the state of his team, or the gunshot mystery at the park, or any topic except Leyland. He claimed the media liked to take his quotes “out of context” and that he was “too honest” and got himself in trouble by talking.

The next day Reinsdorf met with the mayor of Nashville. The Sox said not to read anything into the meeting.

After a brief lull, a Chicago Sun-Times report in mid-January said “serious” discussions were underway for a new ballpark on the South Loop property known as The 78. Reinsdorf clammed up again, but the Sox and Mayor Brandon Johnson released a statement saying Johnson and Reinsdorf met to discuss “the team’s ideas for remaining competitive in Chicago for perpetuity,” as if the Sox were anywhere near competitive now.

Renderings of the proposed new park soon were leaked, which excited fans looking for a state-of-the-art ballpark. After seeing the renderings, Sox pitcher Dylan Cease told me, “It would be hard to argue that it would not be an upgrade on ours.”

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, who rarely steps foot in Guaranteed Rate Field, told Crain’s “a new facility could be a game changer for the White Sox.”

All along, the question of how the park would be paid for was ignored.

But Crain’s reported last week that the Sox would ask for about $1 billion in public funding. Then came Tuesday’s episode of “Mr. Reinsdorf goes to Springfield,” which included the sight of Reinsdorf wearing a leather jacket while strolling through the Capitol between meetings with lawmakers. No one told him there is an age where wearing leather jackets is no longer cool, unless you’re in a motorcycle gang. That age is 30.

Asked for specifics of his request to lawmakers, Reinsdorf told a gaggle of reporters: “Come on, fellas, that’s enough. I don’t mean to be evasive. Everybody’s been cordial.”

Nothing to see here. Move along.

Naturally, it didn’t take long for Reinsdorf to start talking to Crain’s, his best friend other than Tony La Russa, in which he provided a few details of what he said would be the “first phase” of the 78 project — which would cost about $4 billion, including $1.8 billion to $2 billion for the ballpark and infrastructure. Reinsdorf’s plan, if approved, would be financed by the ISFA and the TIF district, the report said.

Notably, Reinsdorf finally gave a reason for why the Sox would have to abandon Guaranteed Rate Field after three-plus decades: the combo platter of Bridgeport and exorbitant player salaries.

“At the location we’re at now, we cannot generate the revenue needed to pay those salaries,” he said, blaming the neighborhood for his reluctance to pay free agents, including his own stars. The Sox are one of two teams that never have given out a nine-figure contract. Thanks, Bridgeport.

Of course, the Sox didn’t want development there when new Comiskey was built because bars and restaurants might have cut into their revenues. When the Florida threat happened, Gov. Jim Thompson promised during negotiations to have a new McCuddy’s Tavern built. He even promised to buy the first round.

That never happened, although Thompson was memorialized with a bronze bust outside Guaranteed Rate Field during a ceremony in 2022, reminding fans of his role in getting the park built. No word on whether the bust would be transferred to the South Loop ballpark or if current Gov. J.B. Pritzker would get his own bust if he helps Reinsdorf get funding.

So what would happen to the current ballpark if the Sox leave? Reinsdorf told Crain’s he wasn’t sure, though he mentioned the possibility of turning it into a home for the Chicago Fire, a team most Chicagoans ignore unless Lionel Messi might be coming to town.

Reinsdorf disputed that lousy Sox teams have been the real issue in drawing fans to Bridgeport. He reminded Crain’s that the Sox “didn’t crack the 3 million (attendance) mark” in 2006, the season after their World Series championship. The developer, Related Midwest, envisions the new ballpark drawing 5 million fans annually, a prediction so laughable Reinsdorf apparently wasn’t asked about it.

There will be more to come as Reinsdorf continues to court politicians and the Sox season begins, but get used to hearing the words “Nashville White Sox” over the next several months.

It’s deja vu all over again.