Chicago White Sox

Central Division Rant #1

2009-01-14T17:19:00.002-06:00

The Cleveland Indians have been a pretty active team this off season. They signed free agent reliever Kerry Wood to a contract and then made another deal involving the Cubs, this time bringing super-utility player Mark DeRosa to Cleveland. DeRosa can play virtually anywhere on the field but pitcher and catcher -- and will.

A thing I'm afraid of is having to play against him 20 times a year rather than the three or four if he was still on the Cubs. Living in Chicago all I'd hear about every day is the flashy defense of DeRosa and his bat suddenly igniting to push the Cubs into a win. Now that he's playing for the Indians all of that will be in their favor. I'll check mlb.com every day and read about how amazing Mark DeRosa was for the Indians! Then I'll check the standings and notice they're 1.5 games back, waiting for us to fall apart and then they'll jump ahead.

This looming thought is something that's really going to bug me. The addition of Kerry Wood and, recently, Carl Pavano somewhat bolsters their pitching staff. They're already dominant with 22-game winner Cliff Lee, but they're getting better.

Rafael Perez and Rafael Betancourt are two powerhouse arms out of the bullpen. Betancourt, though sporting a 5.04 ERA, struck out 64 batters in 71 innings last year. Perez worked 76.1 innings and struck 86 batters! Those are the kind of overpowering numbers that the San Diego bullpen had a few years ago when Meredith, Linebrink and Hoffman were at the top of their games.

I'm always going to be afraid of the Twins, I'll admit it. They scare me! They're always the most underrated team in the division then surprise everyone at the end of the year by doing something ridiculously unexpected! Look at our final series with the Twins last year. Jason Kubel hit 3 home runs against us in two games' worth of play. That kind of consistent production against a team is something you want to have on your side!

Carlos Gomez was the most annoying hitter in that three-game series, to me, because he has the ability to "hit 'em where they ain't." Just like I hate Grady Sizemore because he's nothing short of Superman against the Sox, I hate almost all of the Twins offense for the very same reason.

TO BE CONTINUED... in Central Division Rant #2

AL Central Trade Talks

2009-01-14T17:19:00.001-06:00

The Tigers and the Red Sox are deep in trade discussion involving one of each of the teams' key needs. The Tigers are inquiring about a starting short stop, while Boston is requesting a starting pitcher to cushion Matsuzaka and Beckett. Each has what the other needs, and both seem fit to go to the other team.

Detroit is asking for Julio Lugo, a veteran middle infielder with some talent left in his tank, to bolster their low-end defense. Renteria underperformed for the Tigers in 2008, thus their searching for a new shortstop. Lugo fits the defensive side of the spectrum just fine, but his offense is a little worse for ware. He played in 82 games last year, batting .268 with one homer and 22 batted in -- usual Lugo numbers, but not up to par for the high powered Boston offense.

Boston, it's rumored, would pick up Dontrelle Willis on their end of the deal. I'm not sure if this deal involves prospects or if it's a straight up one-for-one trade, but I would think Boston is getting the better end in this deal. Their shortstop position hasn't really been the same since Orlando Cabrera left after 2004, the year he missed out on a historic World Series win, for Montreal. Their minor league system is chock full of future shortstops, so they aren't losing much.

But they are gaining a whole lot! If Willis can remain healthy for the 2009 season, assuming this deal goes through, and stays in his normal form, he'll be nothing short of dominant. There's nothing worse than stepping into a batters box against a Dontrelle Willis when he's at the top of his game. The Boston rotation would jump forward and would feature an almost deadly 1-2-3 punch with Beckett, Matsuzaka and Willis (in no particular order).

The thing I'd be most worried about is for Dontrelle's health. D-Train only pitched in eight games last season and compiled an amazing 0-2 record. His ERA was a jaw dropping 9.38, not even close to what Detroit was expecting when they sent Maybin and some prospects to Florida for Willis and Cabrera.

Lugo at this moment is fit for the aging, with some specs of young thrown in, Detroit Tigers team, and Willis, if he can keep his name off the DL, will fit into the Boston game plan.

As a fan of an AL Central team, this deal is half and half on my radar. Lugo won't add much to the Tigers' offense but will greatly improve their defense while on the other hand they're losing a pitcher who, (here comes the hot topic once again) if healthy, could easily win 18 games.

I'm not really sure how to react to the rumors of this trade, but I know that Boston will eventually come out on top.

Starting Rotation

2009-01-14T17:18:00.003-06:00

As I clicked on the depth chart for the White Sox, as of November 15th, I saw what I was aiming to look at: our starting staff. It still lists Javier Vazquez as one of our pitchers, which is inaccurate as he filed for free agency and is now on the market. Clayton Richard, in my mind, is more suitable out of the bullpen -- so that opens up a free spot to fill with whomever we want.

There are some prospects in the system we could look at, such as Lance Broadway, Wes Whisler and possibly the glorious return of one knuckle balling Charlie Haeger. These are all great options to be analyzed further, but that isn't the purpose of this particular post.

It could be; but it isn't.

No, this post is going to mainly focus on the current free agent market. With names out there such as Ben Sheets, Derek Lowe, Jake Peavy, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, there are about twenty possibilities I can conjure up. Burnett isn't really the big, enforcing name out there but he will get the job done. The man was 18-10 last season with an impressive 231 strike outs! His ERA was at 4.01, which is horrific considering the great run support Toronto gives (end sarcasm), but under Cooper I believe that could easily be bumped down to a 2.20.

Sheets and Lowe will probably demand a pretty penny for their service, no matter the longevity of their contract obligations. My only worry with Sheets is his attraction to the disabled list. He pitched 198.1 innings last year, going 13-10 with a 3.09 ERA! If I had a vote, I'd give him comback player of the National League Central division, specific to the Brewers. But Lowe avoids Sheets' main problem as he can stay healthy for an entire year without people affiliating him with a season-ending injury. At 14-11, his record is not impressive. Though it is the same as Sheets', just a game up on either end!

Peavy and Sabathia seem to be the fantasies of my post, but they're featured as a wish-list desire to almost any blog that can be typed into a URL. Sabathia is a work hog that can go long periods of time without losing. Look at his beginning with Milwaukee! Eight straight wins, three of which happened to be complete game efforts. That's the kind of guy you want! Just like Doug Melvin said, on every fifth day, you wouldn't need a bullpen!

Jake Peavy quite in Peavy form during the 2008 season, going 10-11 yet maintaining a 2.85 ERA, something that show's how bad the Padres' offense was last year. If your ace can keep his ERA fifteen ticks below an even three, but is under a .500 winning percentage for a year, you know something is wrong with your offense. Say San Diego helped him out; he could've easily been 15-6 with the same, if not better, earned run average.

Like I said, Peavy and Sabathia seem out of reach for the team I'm blogging about, but I couldn't just leave them out of consideration.

I'll just sit back, watch and write!

Crede Leaves; Hello Fields

2009-01-14T17:18:00.001-06:00

The Joe Crede era at third base has come to an official close. As I mentioned in my Free Agency post about a week ago, I'm looking forward to having Josh Fields playing at third for us in the upcoming season. Fields hit for an average of .244 during his one hundred games in the 2007 season, while filling in for an injured (and now departed) Joe Crede. He needs a little tuning on the defensive spectrum of his game, but other than that it looks like all systems are go for him at third!

OTHER FREE AGENT TALK

I just read on the mlb.com home page that my cross town rivals are possibly interested in The Big Unit? What benefit would that deal have on the team!? Their starting rotation, if management chooses to put him there, would most likely take a step down from where it currently is. Randy Johnson, granted a good pitcher a few years ago, is dropping down a steep hill where no once-highly-touted pitcher wants to end up at the bottom of. His speed is still where it was in his hay day, but he can't control when he throws 100 and when he throws 92 as much as he could in, say, 2001.

The Yankee's are looking for starting pitching like a child looks for candy. According to reports given by mlb.com, they're pursuing CC Sabathia, Jake Peavy, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe! They've already made a $137 million offer to Sabathia, which is a heinous amount to any pitcher. Peavy and the Braves have halted signing talks, so there is a possibility of him talking with New York now. Let me just say that if they get any one of these guys, their starting rotation will jump twenty feet from where it was last season.

There's still a good three months until players report (and let me tell you, they aren't coming soon enough), so a lot can happen between now and then.

American League MVP Prediction

2009-01-14T17:16:00.001-06:00

There is no denying the fact that my strongest love, more than anything in this world, is for baseball. Writing about it, watching it, listening to it -- anything that has to do with America's greatest sport, I'm going be involved with. One of my favorite times of the year is when they hand out the awards after the playoffs.

Me and my best friend would argue for hours on end during the season on who we think deserves to win before we even get to arguing about who will win. One of the strongest candidates, in my mind, for the Most Valuable Player award in the American League is, without a doubt, Carlos Quentin.

Being the extreme Chicago White Sox fan that I am, I know it's probably the most obvious choice, but I'm not only a White Sox fan -- I'm a baseball fan in general.

The reason I would fight for Quentin to win the MVP award is because of what he did for the team over the course of our 163 game season, even though his temper got the best of him and he was out for the last quarter of the year. Hitting a team high 36 home runs and driving in exactly 100 runs, while missing 33 games is quite the admirable feat! Think of what he had been able to do, had he not slammed his wrist and broken it! He was well on his way to a good 120 driven in and possibly 45 home runs before the end of the year!

Sitting on the bench watching his team win three games in a row against three different teams (the first time in MLB history) will drive you mad any day. He sat it out, though, like a true sport and watched his team continue to the American League Division Series. His consistent performance, the opposite of what I often talk about on this blog, is something you should look for in an MVP. His defense was always up-to-par, he had an uncanny knack at making base coaches double-take at his extraordinary rocket launcher for an arm. "LEGO Hair" was a good teammate on the bench, even at his young age, and should be highlighted as one of the front runners for this award.

Another player I have in mind, though it pains me to an unimaginable depth to mention him, would be Justin Morneau. The man is a workhorse to the absolute pinnacle of the definition. He, like Quentin, played his butt off every day and was consistently doing his part to help the Minnesota Twins win each and every game he participated in. Though his team came down to the final game and eventually lost, this amazing player deserves to be noticed by a person who hates the Twins as much as I do.

Francisco Rodriguez. The man who broke a record that not only shows the ability to close out a game, but also shows the stamina of a pitcher. K-Rod saved 62 games for Los Angeles last season, possibly the most impressive performance I've seen since becoming a regular fan in 2003.

The Boston Red Sox have a pesky little second baseman who is about as professional as one is going to get. Dustin Pedroia is a slap hitter who can put the ball where no one can get it then capitalize on it and advance an extra base, if needed. His defense is also the best you're going to get from an American League second baseman by a name other than Alexei Ramirez.

Then finally, there's the Comeback Kid: Josh Hamilton. The Spiritual battle's this guy fought, overcoming drug addiction to return to Major League Baseball and eventually set the record in the home run derby, is strictly amazing! Hamilton hit 32 home runs and drove in 130 base runners while hitting for an average of .304! I can guarantee you with 100% confidence that nobody at the beginning of the year foresaw this awe inspiring return to the majors.

I feel comfortable locking in the obvious Carlos Quentin as my official prediction. I observed his maturation over the year, coming into his own in the power column around mid-May, and it was unbelievable how quickly he adjusted from Arizona to Chicago. Though it didn't happen immediately, he was clearly evolving as a player and was an absolute joy to watch since opening day.

Best of luck to all who are in the competition, and may Carlos Quentin bring home the gold next week!

Sox Notes - 4/26

2008-04-22T08:27:00.003-05:00

I haven't gotten around to updating this blog since early spring training. So much baseball has been played since then that I can't help but log on and rant for a little bit.

First, let me say that I am very impressed with the pitching of Gavin Floyd so far. He's 2-0 with a couple of no decisions through 4 starts this season. Thats already one more win than he had all last year! Hopefully he'll be able to keep this up all throughout the campaign. I have him winning at least twelve games if his momentum continues.

Joe Crede has shown people that there is nothing wrong with his back. He's made a handful of amazing plays at third in only our first month worth of games. The only problems I've noticed is his occasionally wild throws to first base; other than that I've seen a lot of good things defensively. Crede's offensive game is also in full speed. He's hit 6 home runs out of 22 hits and driven in 21 runs. He's helped this offense a lot.

At this point in the season I can comfortably say that Carlos Quentin was a steal for what we gave up. 5 homers and 17 RBI through 19 games? Those are well-known power hitter stats! Quentin and Thome lead our team in home runs right now (Thome has 6), which needs to continue through the rest of the year to keep this offense going strong.

That wraps up this "edition" of Sox notes.

Spring is Here

2008-03-01T16:37:00.003-06:00

The White Sox's spring has begun and we're actually looking lot better than I thought we would. Sure, we're only three games in and these games don't really count for anything, but I like how the team is preforming alltogether!

Nick Swisher is playing great ball. He's hitting well from both sides of the plate and he's contributing by driving in runs when we need them driven in. He's sporting Magg's old #30, which is good to see back is use, but isn't playing his right field.

The guy who is surprising me so far early on in the pre-season is Brain Anderson! He's actually playing very well right now. Batting .333 is a good sign, and he has 9 hits over the course of the last three games. He could very well play center field for us this coming season and I would have no problem with it whatsoever. He has three strike outs thus far, so that could be his only weakness going into the year.

Alexei Ramirez is also playing very well. He went 4-5 in his debut this spring and was thrown out on a steal attempt.

Yes, these are sorry notes to see but I do have some interesting facts!

Jim Thome has a stolen base.
Joe Crede is the only guy to hit a home run.

I'll write a little bit more this spring, then really get into the swing of things as soon as the season kicks off on March 31st.

Cover Your Ears

2008-01-07T22:02:00.000-06:00

According to mlb.com, which I always place 100 % trust in, the Angels are pursuing one Mr. Paul Konerko.

This could be a blockbuster trade for us if it goes through. Blockbuster, I say, because it could possibly be our worst since the Rowand deal.

The Angels are considering sending starting pitcher Ervin Santana and second baseman Howie Kendrick here for Paulie. If this deal goes through then Swishy could possibly be our starting first baseman (with Quentin playing left and Alexei Ramirez or Jerry Owens in center).

The Sox are in dire need of a starting pitcher for the #5 slot with three pitchers battling for the job in spring training. Ervin Santana is young still, but his 2007 season left a bitter taste in the mouths of Angels fans. He went 7-14 with an ERA of 5.76. He started 28 games, pitched 150 innings and struck out 126.

This would also leave a bit to be desired with White Sox fans.

Howie Kendrick, however, contributed to the Angels' success going into the 2007 playoffs. I know you could get stats anywhere else on the net, but I'll give 'em anyway. In 88 games (338 AB's) he hit .322, drove in 38 runs and hit 5 homers. He doesn't have Jose Reyes like speed (only 5 stolen bases) but he can swipe some bags when needed.

I see this trade as one sided in the Angels' favor. They would be getting a sure power hitter for their lineup and we would be getting two sub-par farm hands, fine Kendrick isn't a farmhand, in return.

This would also take a HUGE bat out of our lineup that we could possibly need to make a run for the playoffs this year. We would be replacing it with an equally big bat in the form of Nick Swisher, but I still would like to see him in left field.

Hopefully we will stop dumping off all of our good players to the Angels. We're starting to look a little red around the infield and I'm seeing a good bit of black in theirs...

A Swishy Situation

2008-01-04T11:01:00.000-06:00

Our left field problems are cleared thanks to a deal that brought switch-hitting Nick Swisher to the South Side.

The 27 year-old outfielder/infielder slammed 22 home runs this past season for Oakland and drove in 78 runs. Theres a little niche on his stat sheet that bothers me and thats the 131 strike outs. Hopefully (hitting coach) Greg Walker can help him stay away from those pitches.

Swisher has played a little first base as well as in the outfield, so that ca provide Konerko with a little rest when needed.

The lineup now is getting a little... awkward, for lack of a better word. We got Quentin who will most likely platoon with Owens in center and also play a little left field. Now that we got Swisher, he may become our everyday left fielder.

How is our batting order going to stack up?

Owens/Quentin - CF
Cabrera or Swisher - SS or LF
Thome - DH
Konerko - 1B
Dye - RF
Pierzynski/Hall - CF
Swisher or Cabrera - LF or SS
Fields - 3B
Richar - 2B

Now, an angle I didn't take into consideration was that Swisher could possibly DH at some point whenever Thome needs to sit. So that could become a possibility.

The talent we gave up to acquire Swishy, however, did not please me. We sent over Ryan Sweeney, Gio Gonzalez and Fautino De Los Santos. Gonzalez and De Los Santos are both pitchers while Sweeney is an outfielder.

I have mentioned before that I'd love to see Gonzalez somehow make it into the starting rotation but obviously that can't happen now.

I had never heard of De Los Santos before, which makes me a bad organizational scout, so I'll give him his dues when I write about the trade on my minor league blog.

Sweeney was supposed to play all three of the outfield positions this year, which I would've loved to have seen, but now is loving the opportunity for more playing time over in California.

Will Swisher possibly wear Rowand's lucky #33?

We'll have to see when he gets introduced at some point (Cabrera still hasn't been).

Welcome... Alexei Ramirez!

2007-12-21T21:01:00.000-06:00

Finally, we get something done about our second base woes.

Going in to 2008 it looked as tough our second baseman would either come from the minors, Danny Richar or some other major league team. Little did we know that he would be imported from Cuba of all places!

Mister Alexei Ramirez will, hopefully, be the starting second baseman come March 31st. According to mlb.com, Ramirez signed a 4-year 4.75 million contract (dirt cheap if you ask me) to play for the Sox.

The Cuban second baseman has hit 87 home runs over the past 7 years while compiling 391 RBI. Sounds like a pretty hot bat to me. If his speed is anything like Pods' was, we could have a serious import on our hands for practically no (baseball) money at all!

The one thing I am concerned about is... he comes from a country with Cub in it's name...

Team Grades - Starting Pitchers - Part One

2007-12-16T20:06:00.000-06:00

I'm a tad bit late in my season-ending player rankings but as long as the stats are still up, I can do it whenever.

Jose Contreras - #52
His 10-17 record is a statistical eyesore. To go along with that, he lost 7 games in a row from June 24th to August 8th. He did come back later on as he won a season high 2 straight starts. This is mostly contributed to our outfield troubles and our infield problems after we traded Iguchi. He worked out of the bullpen for a short stint then was back to the rotation, thank goodness. My grade: C+

Mark Buehrle - #56
After being smacked in the elbow by a line drive in his first start of the year, Mark rebounded amazingly well. He didn't miss his next scheduled start but instead he decided to no-hit the Rangers. On the last out of the ball game Paul Konerko said he was afraid Joe Crede would make a bad throw and it would be called a hit. The only base runner Buehrle allowed in the game was a walk to pesky Sammy Sosa. Ending the season with a 10-9 record, once again over the .500 mark, I can't wait to see how he does next year. My grade: B

Jon Garland - #20
Now of the Los Angeles Angels I won't spend much time on good 'ol Jon. He went 10-13 for the first losing season in his past 4 years. He had a terribly high ERA of 4.23 and struck out only 98 batters over the course of 32 starts.
My Grade: C- (Traitor)

Javy Vazquez - #33
In 32 starts Vazquez struck out 213 batters. His highest single game total from last year was 13 on September 17th against the Royals. This is a sign of even better things to come. I have shown my dislike towards Vazquez in my posts over the past few months and I believe I'm starting to lean in the direction of liking him. His 15-8 record was the best on the team which adds to his career record that now stands at 115-113. My Grade: A

John Danks - #50
Our equivalent of the Cardinals' Al Reyes, Danks was a measly 6-13 with an ERA of 5.50. I never liked our trade of McCarthy to the Rangers because I knew Brandon's place in the bullpen and he knew it, and Ozzie knew it, and Kenny knew it, but apparently that wasn't enough as we had to trade him for three minor league pitchers, one of them happening to be a mister John William Danks. Maybe I'll grow to like him as I have with Vazquez. But then again... maybe not... My Grade: D

In Starting Pitchers - Part Two, I'll evaluate the seasons of Lance Broadway, Gavin Floyd and Nick Masset.

Showing My Emotion

2007-12-09T20:25:00.000-06:00

I'm embarrassed that I have not yet mentioned the fact that we picked up releiver Scott Linebrink!

He signed a four year contract to be a part of our fantastic bullpen. I'd love to see him as a bridge to Jenks instead of Thornton. Linebrink has the kind of fire power that we need out of the bullpen. If we have him and Aardsma maybe as a one-two punch out of the 'pen I could see us holding teams for maybe two innings.

Linebrink's season last year was sub-par compared to his others but we should all hope that improves over time.

Carlos Quentin?

2007-12-05T21:12:00.000-06:00

When did we get him?

I'm happy now! We may have a player to put into left field then play Fields at third! I never heard any of this on The Score and I just found it out now when I was looking at the Sox's roster on whitesox.com.

Where would we bat him if he were to start?

Jerry Owens
Orlando Cabrera
Jim Thome
Paul Konerko
Jermaine Dye
A.J. Pierzynski
Carlos Quentin
Josh Fields
Danny Richar

I guess that could work but it all depends on what Ozzie and Kenny plan to do with him. Whether they keep him in the majors our send him down to Charlotte or Birmingham will probably be decided after spring training.

And thats 85 days away (yes I'm counting)!

Bullpen

2007-12-05T20:59:00.000-06:00

Now that our bullpen has been strengthened with the addition of Scott Linebrink what will we do with our rotation? Jon Garland is gone so that opens up a hole in the starting five.

Doc (which is pitching coach Don Cooper) has mentioned on 670 The Score this possible rotation...

Mark Buehrle
Jose Contreras
Javier Vazquez
John Danks
Gavin Floyd

As I mentioned a few posts ago I would love to see Lance Broadway somehow make it to the rotation for 2008. I know I'm planning ahead, yeah, but still.

Good Bye Pods...

2007-11-21T11:39:00.000-06:00

Sadly, our main lead off man has left the Chicago White Sox organization. He was designated for assignment yesterday and is now off the team.

He was out most of the season and when he came back he only batted in the seventh slot. This could open up the lead off spot for either Orlando Cabrera or Jerry Owens (depending on the Torii Hunter deal).

Now that Pods is gone, who will fill out left field spot? If Owens moves to left that would open up center for Hunter. But then what about Fields? I don't see him taking the job from Crede unless something happens in Spring Training or over the rest of the off season.

I'll keep you posted...

Christmas Garland or Christmas Cabrera?

2007-11-20T20:26:00.000-06:00

We have made our first "big" move of the off-season.

No longer will Jon Garland be on our pitching staff! He will be joining the staff of the Los Angeles Angels. Pitching alongside Bartolo Colon, Jered Weaver and Kelvim Escobar must be very tantalizing for Garland.

But, we got Orlando Cabrera in return! This coming just weeks after the Sox took Juan Uribe's option for the 2008 season. Where's Cabrera (nicknamed Cabby, by me) going to fit? He will either bat leadoff or second, but where will he go in the field. Uribe could back him up I suppose but that would cause a stir amongst Sox fans as to shy they picked up his option. I know Williams couldn't see into the future and know this deal was going to take place, but still it makes you wonder...

I, personally, would love to see "Cabby" there instead of Uribe. I know in the previous post I said he was a great player and all but I lied. He stinks.

Hopefully Cabrera will bring his gold gloves with him and win another next year.

Juan Uribe

2007-10-23T09:32:00.001-05:00

The White Sox have a choice: do they test the free agent market or pick up Juan Uribe's option for 2008?

I would personally like it if we got rid of Uribe. He hit 20 home runs, yes, but his defense started to go downhill last season. Like I mentioned before, I would love it if the Sox somehow acquired Miguel Tejada (who they almost got last year) from Baltimore. He plays gold glove defense, he can drive in runs and hit homers!

Not that I have anything against Uribe, he's a great player, I just think his time in Chicago has been spent.

Next stop: Short stop.

Fifth Rotation Slot

2007-10-21T21:49:00.000-05:00

Spring Training '08 will be a pitchers battle for the number five slot in the Sox's rotation. Some possible candidates for the spot include Lance Broadway, Gavin Floyd, Nick Masset and John Danks.

Personally, I would love to see Broadway climb into that spot. He showed great talent in his audition towards the end of this season. His record in 2007 for the White Sox was 1-1. He had a great ERA of 0.87, even though he only started one game. He struck out 14 and only walked 5.

There are other possibilities, but Broadway did the best out of all of our "starters" other than Buehrle this year! If he makes the rotation in the spring, I will be one happy Sox fan.

But, Broadway, like I said, isn't the only candidate! Gavin Floyd and Nick Masset are also in the running for Danks' number 5 spot.

Gavin Floyd showed some flashes of greatness in Freddy Garcia's #34! Though his 1-5 record doesn't show it, I think he did well last season. His sparkling 5.27 ERA has dazzled scouts and... oh wait...

I don't think the job will be going to Floyd. He was good in maybe 2 of his starts but the offenses just wasn't there to cushion him.

Here's a guy who looked great in Charlotte this year! Nick Masset (mister Gangster hat), baby! He is my second consideration for the fifth slot in the rotation. His record was only 2-3 with the Sox! Though his ERA at 7.09 wasn't all that great. If he could work out some of the kinks in his mechanics, I'm pretty sure Guillen and Kenny "I hate Frank Thomas" Williams would give him a good look for the starting rotation.

Still; not as good a chance as Broadway!

Off Season Hopes

2007-10-15T21:24:00.000-05:00

So the seasons over now and some things need to be done. Jon Garland has done wonderful, but I think it's time for him to be traded. He's won 18 games the last couple years, but it's time for him to go. Jose Contreras is another guy who needs to pack his bags and leave town.

Heres who I want us to pick up...

Miguel Tejada, SS Baltimore Orioles -- Juan Uribe, who hit 20 homers this year, needs to go. And I've found a suitable replacement! If we could somehow pick up Tejada, that would be another 25 homers, 90 RBI and possibly 200 hits!

Johnny Damon, LF New York Yankees -- If A-Rod ops out of his contract in New York, that would leave the Yanks without a third baseman. We send over Crede for Damon, that way we could keep Fields at third and not have to worry about our left field situation.

Torii Hunter, CF Free Agent -- If we could somehow lock up this guy, then we shouldn't have to worry about Jerry Owens anymore. He's a great defensive center fielder and can also hit the long ball. He can drive in runs, score runs, and hit the ball. Hunter would be a great addition to a Sox team in need.

So there you have it! Thats what needs to get done in the off season, according to my standards.

Clearing the Dust...

2007-06-27T11:12:00.000-05:00

What was once the most embarassing team in the MLB... is still the most embarassing team in the MLB. WIth the rumors floating in the air about getting rid of Gooch, Buehrle and Dye, I have yet to wonder of the possible outcome. Why would we trade Buehrle to the Brewers? Why would we accept Jim Hendry's (GM of the Cubs) offer of Jacque Jones for some prospects? Where in the world would Tadahito go? All of these will remain an inigma, as we sit, watch, and read what goes on in the sports world.

Lots of Work to do...

2007-06-10T18:42:00.000-05:00

The Sox have to blow off all the remains of the past few weeks and start fresh. We've been losing (6 straight), we haven't been hitting AT ALL, our bullpen has collapsed and we have no arm power in the outfield!

I don't know what has happened, but I don't like it.

Our base coaches have been a bit too aggressive, allowing runners to get out a home, or stopping them from an obvious scoring chance! I like them, but still... open your eyes.

I'll post again later, or maybe not...

FINALLY!!!

2007-05-06T06:54:00.000-05:00

I can rest easily tonight as I now know that the White Sox finally managed to pull off a victory and throw us out of our little skid.

I happend to miss the game on the radio because my batteries died... yeah... so I missed a great victory.

Notes
Jon Garland got his first win of the season.
Erstad stole his 5th base off former teammate Jose Molina.
Ryan Sweeney got his first double of the season.

Fianl score, Sox 6 -- Angels 3

You Know...

2007-05-05T10:22:00.000-05:00

Another loss to the Chicago White Sox comes the way of a Kelvim Escobar gem, and a score of 5-1.

I don't even feel like writing because we're so bad, but I want to since I have so many things to write about.

Why in the world can Rob Mackowiak not get the job done with runners on?
At this point, I could field better than Ryan Sweeney.
I need Podsednik back.
Erstad gets standing ovation in first AB back at the Big A.

That's really all I feel like writing. But on the flip side, Jose Contreras pitched well! When he dropped down sidearm he hit his spots, which is good. And I can tell A.J.'s defense behind the plate has vastly improved since last year. Joe Crede is still the #1 third baseman in the AL Central. He makes every play look easy and the only other contender would be Detroit's Brandon Inge.

I like the fact that our defense is playing well, but I would like to see more 'pen improvement. Other than that all I can say is

GO SOX!!!

Sox Lose!!! Sox Lose!!!

2007-05-03T18:27:00.000-05:00

Why is it that thats all the real news we're getting now? All thanks to nobody getting on base for John Danks. It's the fact that we don't have a legit leadoff hitter that may be the problem. Darrin Erstad is good, now don't get me wrong, but after my last post you can see how much I enjoyed having Pods at the top of my lineup.

I'm thinking of starting a new little updater for after the games. Something like...

Dye and Konerko both homer off of Mariners' righty, Batista
Danks KO's 4 in loss

And stuff like that.

But anyways,

[Game Info]

Tomorrow the sox will take on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, in LA. The game is set to start at 9:05 PM, so join Chris Rongey at 8:35 PM tomorrow night for the Sox pregame show. Then join Chris Singleton and Ed Farmer for the lineups, first pitch and the rest of the game starting at 9 eastern time on AM 670 The Score.

After Sox loss, Danks Going for Game 2

2007-05-02T13:46:00.000-05:00

John Danks needs to win a game! He's 0-3 but has pitched well enough to get the win in all 4 of his starts. The offense just hasn't performed well enough to back him up and win him a game. Come on guys! Get Danks a win!

Apparently my lineup idea went unnoticed. Mainly because no one really reads this. But I can still post! Luis Terrero played left field last night and hit a homer in his first Sox at bat. Congrats, Luis!

I've been hearing on ESPN 1000, actual names will go "not named" so lets just call them... Silvy and Waddell, ok? Anyways. They think that Jermaine Dye may be getting too old and is falling off the map offense wise. He still has a great arm and can roam right field with the best of them, but the fact that he has 5 home runs and 14 RBI proves them wrong.

We haven't yet gotten Scott Podsednik back to our leadoff slot. As soon as he gets back into our lineup I can see some more wins for the Sox. More stolen bases are needed. We need to get some runners on second and third via the SB, and thats what Pods brought to us! Erstad has contributed with a few swipes, but just the left handed presence at the top of our order is what we need again.

What if we put Erstad first? Ozuna could bat 7th or 8th...

Oh well!

Today's pitching match up: John Danks 0-3 against Miguel Batista 2-2.

Lineup Idea

2007-05-01T12:41:00.000-05:00

So, since everyone is freaking out on the Sox's lineup, I came up with an idea to fix it all.

Jim Thome is out with a leg injury. So what do we do with our DH spot? Heres what: We take Paulie and put him at DH, move Erstad (who has played at first in LA) to first base, then either call Anderson back up or put Ryan Sweeney in center! And there ya' go!

Erstad and Sweeney could switch time in center, and when Erstad is in center Paulie would be at first a Ryan (Sweeney) batting in DH.

Problems solved.

Sox fall to Angels, head to Seattle

2007-04-08T09:24:00.000-05:00

Over the past few days I have neglected my ability to write on this blog. I will try my hardest to write as much as I can.

Today, the Sox took a hard loss to the Angels with Mark Buehrle on the mound for us. The Angels sent Kelvim Escobar to the bump to face one of his former teammates in Darin Erstad. He repaid them by slamming a two-run shot off of Escobar in the 3rd inning. What a way to tell your team, "You made a mistake letting go of me."

Mark Buehrle's second no-hitter in the past three starts was broken up by a Macier Izturis homer, followed by a Vladamir Guerrero shot to the outfield. Not too much to hang onto as the Sox finish the game with a loss 5-2 to the Angels. Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez locked up his 8th save of the season. What a gamer he is.

Not too much to report on except the next game is on Tuesday against the Mariners, with Javier Vazquez going for us against the Mariners' Jarrod Washburn.

Vazquez Gets the Call Against Twins

2007-04-07T09:53:00.000-05:00

The pitcher I hate will take on the team I hate. We have a little streak going with one win in the end of the Indians series, we have one injury so far which is Mark Buehrle.

Vazquez needs to have a good game. You can never tell with Javy. He's an inconsistent starter who will strikeout a lot of hitters and win around 14 games a year. I don't really care for Vazquez and I would like it if Kenny could throw him into a trade so we can get a quality pitcher.

Our offense is doing great! We're getting hits from Crede, Iguchi, Pierzynski and Uribe. We're getting homers from Thome and Erstad, we're getting some stolen bases from Erstad and Pods. I like the way this team is shaping up. We may not do so well today against Carlos Silva depending on how our lineup looks.

I say if it's Pods, Erstad, Konerko, then Thome we may stand a chance in the first inning to put up some runs and come away with the victory if our bullpen holds up a lead.

[Game Info]

The game is going to be on AM 670 The Score, like always. But it will also be on FOX channel 32. Joe Buck and Tim McCarver probably for the Fox booth, but on the radio side we get Ed Farmer and Chris Singleton.

[Visiting The Central]

Minnesota - W-3, L-0

Cleveland - W-2, L-1

Kansas City W-2, L-2

Chicago ---- W-1, L-2

Detroit ---- W-1, L2

Ahh... what a surprise!

The Royals are in third, the World Series team is tied for last, and the Twinkies are in first playing 1.000 baseball! This is great. Early in the season and we're losing to the worst team in the league.

Sox Get First Win of Season

2007-04-06T13:59:00.000-05:00

CHICAGO -- With Mark Buehrle on the mound the Sox succeeded in doing something before the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals. And that is: Win a game. Though Grady Sizemore lead off the game with a homer... again... Buehrle did well!

Until the second inning when Ryan Garko hit a liner that went straight towards Buehrle's pitching hand and nailed him. Mark then went hopping off the mound in pain as he left the game with a hand injury. More news to come.

We did, however, pull off a win in the most unusual way I have ever seen... or... heard.

The bases are loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning after 3 straight walks by Roberto Hernandez of the Indians, with the score tied at 3 a piece. A.J. Pierzynski is batting and he gits hit by a pitch! A walk off HBP! I've never heard of that!

[Visiting The Central]

Minnesota - 3W, 0L

Cleveland -- 2W, 1L

Detroit ----- 1W, 1L

Chicago -- 1W, 2L

Kansas City 1W, 2L

Look at that! We're tied for last with Kansas City! The high school team!

We can still make a run for first in our upcoming series with the Twins, if we can pull off a sweep. Think it could happen?

Well lets put it this way: Johan Santana doesn't pitch until Sunday against Contreras. Francisco Liriano is injured so we don't have to worry about him. If Vazquez can get a win tomorrow against Silva, and by some miracle Contreras beats Santana we could be tied for first by Monday!

Buehrle to Make 1st Start of Season

2007-04-04T23:13:00.000-05:00

Finally, in Chicago, Mark Buhrle will make his first start of the season! He didn't start opening day for the first tim since I've been a Sox fan, which is crazy. Though Jose Contreras did fine on opening day (yeah right...) I would've considered Buehrle to have been a better choice.

Jeremy Sowers will oppose Buehrle as we hope to come away with our first win of the season.

[Game Info]

The game will be on at 1:05 PM CST on AM 670 The Score, if you live in the Chicago area. Join pre and post game host Chris Rongey at 12:35 for the beginning of the pregame show, then immediatly following will be Ed Farmer and Chris Singleton from the lovely U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois. Then after the game: the post game show with Rongey.

GO SOX!!!

Sox Lose Again

2007-04-04T21:31:00.000-05:00

CHICAGO -- Jon Garland took the hill 0-0, yet left it 0-0. Jim Thome hit his first homerun of the year in the first inning off of Westbrook, and I'm glad he did! We need some help on the offensive side of the game. Though our pitching needs a little work with Cooper, we can still pull off a winning record in Week One.

I don't really like the fact that Buehrle didn't go on opening day. He's never good unless he's pitching on opening day. Now granted he hasn't pitched too well in the past anyway he does have a better record when he starts on opening day.

Now... back to the actual game! Thome also hit a double, along with Tadahito Iguchi. Speaking of Iguchi, Tadahito hit a home run today! More of this should be expected from Tadahito.

Our pitching did well! Garland KO'd 5, MacDougal struckout 3, and David Aardsma punched out 5.

Final Score: Indians 8 - Sox 7

Sox Hitter of the Game: Jim Thome (1)

Sox Pitcher of the Game: David Aardsma (1)

[Visiting The Central]

Detroit beat the Blue Jays 10-9. The Twins won 7-2 against the Orioles with Ramon Ortiz getting the win. The Royals right now are losing to the Red Sox... 6-1.

Garland on the Bump for Game 2

2007-04-04T09:01:00.000-05:00

So now after our loss on Monday, Jon Garland will take the hill for us. We need a win from him and our offense needs to come through. Some good pitching from Garland and a great game from the bullpen, as well as some timely hitting from people who go without needing to be named, and we should have the win locked up.

Garland will be taking on the Indians' Jake Westbrook in today's game.

Contreras' loss on Monday was obviously a bad one, though we did find out that in 1917 Lefty Williams was taken out of his opening day start after giving up around 7 runs, then the Sox went on to win 100 games and beat the Giants in 6 games to win the World Series.

You know what that means: Another World Series victory is in the future for the Sox.

[Game Info]
The game, as always, will be broadcast on AM 670 The Score and will feature Chris Singleton, and returning from California: Ed Farmer. I think Steve Stone did a good job in the game on Monday and I'd like to have him as a 3rd broadcast man.

[Visiting the Central]
Another stop in the AL Central as this takes us to the land of game previews, standings, and division leaders.

Lets first take a look at the standings.
Minnesota - 2W -- 0L
Cleveland -- 1W -- 0L
Kansas City 1W -- 0L
Chicago -- 0W -- 1L
Detroit ---- 0W -- 1L

Kansas City surprised me in 3rd place. I thought we'd be there by now, but we're only 1 game into the season.

Todays Games: Orioles are in Minnesota to wrap up their series with Ramon Ortiz going for the Twins and Jaret Wright for the O's. Toronto and Detroit will also finish their series with Nate Robertson on the mound for the Tigers against A.J. Burnett for the Blue Jays. Josh Beckett will be pitching for the Red Sox as they take on Odalis Perez and the Royals in KC today.

And thus wraps up today's edition of:

-- Visiting the Central --

Sox Lose in Opening Day

2007-04-02T22:11:00.000-05:00

CHICAGO -- Everything was smooth... until the second pitch of the game was thrown. That is when Cleveland centerfielder Grady Sizemore hit a home run off of Jose Contreras to make the score 1-0. Then everything fell apart in the first ending up in a 5-run inning.

But that wasnt the end of the Sox! In the bottom of the first Pablo Ozuna led off the inning with a double then was driven in on a Darin Erstad 2-run shot.

The Indians scored 4 more in the top of the second, followed by one for the Sox in the bottom.

In the third inning is when things started to look up for the Sox when Paul Konerko blasted his first homer of the year to make the score 9-3.

The scoring stopped until the top of the eighth inning when the Indians scored one, the bottom of the 9th resulted in 2 more Sox runs, then the end of the game and the score came out to: 12-5, Indians.

Winning Pitcher: C.C. Sabathia, 1-0.
Losing Pitcher: Jose Contreras, 0-1.
Sox Player of the Game: Darin Erstad. 1/4, 2 RBI, HR. .250 AVG.

Todays Sox Lineup

2007-04-02T10:03:00.000-05:00

Please get your pencils and scorecards ready, here is the correct lineup for todays ballgame.

38 -- Pablo Ozuna ---- LF
17 -- Darin Erstad ---- CF
25 -- Jim Thome ----- DH
14 -- Paul Konerko ---- 1B
23 -- Jermaine Dye -- -RF
24 -- Joe Crede ------- 3B
15 -- Tadahito Iguchi - 2B
12 -- A.J. Pierzynski -- C
5 --- Juan Uribe ------ SS

And pitching
52 -- Jose Contreras -- RHP

Contreras to go Opening Day

2007-04-02T09:42:00.000-05:00

For the first time since I've been an official Sox fan, Mark Buehrle isn't starting opening day! I've always seen Mark start but now its Jose Contreras, who had 17 straight wins between '05-'06. I think this is a good move on Ozzie's part and I like the fact that our 2nd best pitcher is going on one of the most important days of the year. Our 1st best pitcher being Garland.

I'm thinkin the Indians, who we play today, will really do good this year, except their first three games, if you know what I mean (wink, wink. Nudge, nudge).

According to The Score Pablo Ozuna will be leading off in todays game and will be playing Left Field.

Game lineups will come later, and the pitching matchup will be later, also.

[Game Info]

Starting at 12 o'clock, on AM 670 The Score, with the pregame show is Chris "The Ranger" Rongey. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 PM but I say it'll be around 1:08. With the first pitch, and the whole game, is Steve Stone, who is filling in for Ed Farmer because Ed's daughter had a little accident involving a car, and Chris Singleton!

[Pitching Matchup]

For us: Jose Contreras. For them: Captain Cupcakes Sabathia. Or C.C. if you live in Ohio.

[Visiting the Central]

In my first Visiting the Central I will look around the league at what other central division teams are doing! So lets get started... Detroit is playing Toronto with Bonderman going for the Tigers and Halladay for the Jays. Cleveland is playing the White Sox, our White Sox. Minnesota is playing Baltimore and we all know who's going for the Twinkies (ahem, Johan Santana). And last, and I mean last, The Kansas City Royals High School Baseball Team will play the Boston Red Sox. Meche vs. Schilling, but hey; who cares?

Breaking News!

2007-03-27T13:00:00.000-05:00

Our fifth starter has been announced, finally! John Danks, who I love, is our "official" fifth starter! So now we have a complete pitching rotation that may look like this:

Mark Buehrle, LHP
Jose Contreras, RHP
Jon Garland, RHP
Javier Vazquez, RHP
John Danks, LHP

Does that not look good?

Infielder Reviews

2007-03-27T10:26:00.000-05:00

# 8 Alex Cintron. We locked him up in the off-season and he can play anywhere in the infield except first base. He came through in the clutch against Pittsburgh last year and he should do the same this year. He's a switch hitter so we can use him against any pitcher if any of our infielders need a day off. A-

# 24 Joe Crede. Our third baseman and one of the best defensively in the league. He goes all out in the field and can make some Spider-man like catches. He can hit, too! 30 homers and 94 RBI for a defensive third baseman? Sounds pretty offensive to me... A

# 15 Tadahito Iguchi. TADAHITO (clap, clap, clap clap clap)!!! This guy makes the best plays at second base yet they don't even count for fantasy! If they did though... you'd be winning leagues like crazy! Anyways. I like the way he hits and he can bang some homers as well. Dude's only 5'-10" and he can play ball with the best of 'em. A

# 14 Paul Konerko. If I say anything bad about Paulie I may jinx him... So I'm going to just say that he can hit homeruns and drive in runs... anything yet? Good... he can play first base really well... Paulie also made the final outs for each of our playoff series' in '05 A+

# 38 Pablo Ozuna. The ultimate utility player! He can play first, second, short, third, and all of the outfield! I love Pabs! .328 average last year and he only played in 79 games! What a trooper. I love his style though he needs to improve in the outfield. A little touching up in that catagorie and you have one of the best utility players in the game. B-

# 5 Juan Uribe. The best shortstop EVER!!! Ok maybe not that good but he can play. He was part of the final out of the 2005 World Series (along with Paulie and Jenks *see pitching reviews*). He can hit, too, but not so much power as just getting on base. B+

Catcher Review

2007-03-26T10:23:00.000-05:00

Pitchers are done so the Catchers, naturally, should be next!

# 44 Toby Hall. I like his style plus he adds a right-handed veteran bat to put in against all the tough lefties we usually face. He and Vazquez seem to wrok well togther but that's just what I think. Can't wait for the regular season on him. B+

# 12 A.J. Pierzynski. A.J. is a grinder and has been since we got him! I love how, when he got punched by Barrett last year, he didn't punch back and get ejected. Though that would've been good to of seen some life out of the Sox and know they're alive I like the way A.J. reacted. Pure all-star last year even though he didn't get to play in the game. A

White Sox Pitching Review

2007-03-24T13:50:00.000-05:00

OK, so the team is about to go into their 107th season in the Majors. My team review begins now:

# 54 David Aardsma. Acquired from the Cubs for Neal Cotts, this fire throwing right-hander has come out of nowhere to be one of our best bullpen arms. He can throw in the mid 90's, usually. A good addition to our already good bullpen. B

# 56 Mark Buehrle. Our "ace" since Loaiza left the team. He has one of the best pick off moves I've ever seen and can pitch a game in under 2 hours. A great left handed starter and we have him! He did go 12-13 last year with a 4.99 ERA but he should improve on that this year. B+

# 52 Jose Contreras. A consistent starter since 2005 when he was a crucial key to our championship run. I need to see more wins out of him yet he gets 'em when we need 'em. The other thing is that he baffles hitters with his 3 arm angles. You never know where hes coming from! B

# 34 Gavin Floyd. He is an OK pitcher, young and vulnerable, but OK. He does get cocky at times and misses his spots A TON! Yet he does show signs of being good and can impove on everything with Dr. Cooper, AJ, and Toby. He's in the running for our 5th starter spot. D

# 20 Jon Garland. One of the winningest pitchers on the Sox in the past 3 years. He went 18-7 last year with a 4.51 ERA. He's in serious contention for a Cy Young award(if Johan Santana suddenly dies...). A

# 40 Charlie Haeger. I saw him pitch in his first game against the Angels last year and he walked like 7 guys in 2 innings. He is a knuckleballer so that could've been some of the problem. I do like his stuff though and he could be a potential set up man in our bullpen. Wouldn't think of him as a starter just yet. B-

# 45 Bobby Jenks. One of the best closers in the league. 40+ saves a year and he was on the mound for the last out of the World Series in '05, which we should all forget. When he's on and focused you can expect a 100 MPH fastball which is awesome for a closer. A

# 57 Boone Logan. I don't know too much about Boone but he does have some control issues from what I've heard. Too early for me to make a comment. ???

# 47 Mike MacDougal. If Jenks goes down, which I hope he doesn't, Mike would be our closer. He can also throw around 100 MPH and has wicked poise on the mound. I like his stuff and he should be our go-to guy in the bullpen. Next to Jenks, of course. B+

# 46 Nick Masset. Picked him up in the Brandon McCarthy trade so I don't know much about him either. I heard he can hit 98 MPH on his fastball, but I have no idea yet. Too early for him, too. ???

# 51 Andrew Sisco. Also acquired in the McCarthy deal. And I also know nothing about him! ???

# 37 Matt Thornton. Great arm in the bullpen for anytime to have, but last time I checked: We do. I like the way he pitches and he shows great confidence on the mound. He can throw mid 90's like Aardsma. I like him! Another person to consider for the closer spot if, and I mean if, Jenks goes down. A-

# 33 Javier Vazquez. I didn't like him before but now I'm starting to have second thoughts. He's a strike out monster and can win ballgames. Needs to improve on his ERA a smidge but other than that he may become a favorite in my mind! B+

Sox Fall to Padres

2007-03-12T21:08:00.000-05:00

Another game today resulted in another crushing, bruising, defeat by Ozzie & Da' Sox. Despite Thome Knockin' Our Sox Off twice we still managed a loss to the low-rised Padres... that makes me embarassed as a Sox fan...

I'm going to stop posting for now... Until the Sox actually start...

Say It Aint So Joe

2007-03-08T21:16:00.000-06:00

Third baseman Joe Crede hit a homer in todays game against the Rockies. Yes the Rockies. Again.

7-4 was the final score, even with Crede's home run. He went 2-3 with a homer (how many times can I post that?). He is the first recipient of my "Knockin Our Sox Off" home run game. Its an "award" to who hits the longest home run. So Joe, congrats on Knockin Our Sox Off!

Thats really all I want to type about this game.

Sox Lock Up Vazquez Through 2010

2007-03-06T19:33:00.000-06:00

You all know how much I dislike this pitcher. Sure he strikes out a ton of hitters and wins some games, but I just don't like his style of pitching! The Sox signed him through 2010 which makes me as happy as a butterfly in the rain. Yes... I just said that.

With my projected rotation shaping up like this:

Mark Buehrle
Jon Garland
Jose Contreras
Gavin Floyd
Javier Vazquez

You can tell Vazquez is out numbered by good pitchers. Although I have yet to see Floyd throw a pitch I'm confident in his ability and control on the mound.

Sox Obliterate Cubs, 13-2

2007-03-04T17:19:00.000-06:00

Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye were two major components to the White Sox's beating up of the North Side Scum.

Jon Garland started the game, pitched 3 innings striking out 1 and only allowing 2 hits. No Runs.
Then came Charlie Haegar in the 4th inning he struck out one also, but only went 2 innings. But enough of the pitching, lets get to the killer offense!

Brian Anderson and Robert Valido's first at bats resulted in strikeouts. Then up came Paul Konerko to face Rich Hill (who pitched awesome... yes I said that...) and crush a 3-2 fastball 400 feet out of the park. Followed by a Jermaine Dye fly out to second. The second inning comes up with a K for Josh Fields, and a double play. In the erd inning things didn't go much better. But the Sox lit up in the 4th. The inning started out with a walk to Valido, and a walk to Paulie. Up cam Jermaine Dye with 2 on, no out, smashed some 2-1 high cheese for a 3-run bomb. Wait, it gets better. No, really!

Fields grounded out, then came a first-pitch jack from Rob Mackowiak (the "official" Cubs killer of the team). Nothing happend after that until the 5th inning when Paulie crushed another home run! I love this guy!

The damage quieted down for awhile. Until the 8th inning when Rob Mackowiak hit a single, moved to second base on a Wiki Gonzalez strike out, then was driven in on a Gustavo Molina (no relation to Jose, Bengie and Yadier) home run. I dont know who he is either!

The Sox scored 2 more runs in the 9th for a final score of:

Sox 13 - Cubs 2 (ha ha ha!)

Another Game, Another Loss

2007-03-02T22:06:00.000-06:00

I did not listen to the game because it wasn't on the radio... or TV...

Jose Contreras started the game, pitched 2 innings allowed 4 hits, 2 runs and 3 walks. This is the guy who won 17 straight games from 05-06. Can you believe that? I know this is spring training (emphasis on the word: training) and the guys are just practicing. And I know that the games don't really matter. But to us fans, they really, really, really do.

On the offensive side mlb.com has Josh Fields (pictured above) driving in 2 runs. Paul Konerko driving in 1 and Ryan Sweeney driving in 1. Yet they have the final score listed 10-3. According to my 7th grade math the total RBI should add up to 4. Am I right? But according to my sister "They're so bad that when they score runs they don't even count." and she's a big a Sox fan as I am! So either it was a) a typo b) somebody didn't listen in math class or c) they don't even care.

Our relivers did a good job combining for a total of 3 K's out of 5 pitchers! Dewon Day got another look today. I liked what I heard when he pitched on Wednesday, and he equaled that in todays "outing". I wonder what he'll be like in the regular season. Maybe he'll be our next Neal Cotts. Or maybe he'll end up like Cliff Politte... think happy thoughts...

Sox Fall to D-Backs 8-5

2007-03-01T19:15:00.003-06:00

Another game lost and a hard lesson learned. And that is, you ask? Don't send all the good players to the easy game! Today all we had against the Diamondbacks were Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome and Josh Fields! But we did manage to score more runs than we did yesterday!

The good thing is that we got a look at Andrew Sisco and David Aardsma. Both members of the Rubber Maid's. Sisco hurled 1 inning and gave up 2 walks, while Aardsma went an inning and gave up 2 runs. Lance Broadway pitched and gave up a homer to Carlos Quintin. Oh and I didnt even mention Vazquez. 2 and 1/3 innings with 5 earned runs, 2 walks and an ERA of 19.29. Ouch.

On our offensive side, Thome drove in a run. So did Josh Fields, Casey Rogowski, Robert Valido and new catcher Toby Hall.

The offense did as well as they could. It was our pitching that bothered me. Thats all the games for now.

Well, there will be more games they just wont be on The Score.

[Next Game Info]
The next game is on Sunday against the Cubs! That game will be on The Score (AM 670) and the Cubs' side WGN (AM 720). I'm going to be listening to The Score because I'm a Sox fan. The game, of course, will be hosted by Ed Farmer and Chris Singleton. Oh and it's at 2:05 PM CT.

Lineup for 3/1

2007-02-28T21:44:00.001-06:00

Get your pencils and scorecards ready, here are the correct lineups for todays ballgame.

Owens, CF
Valido, SS
Jimmy, DH
J.D., RF
Mackowiak, LF
Fields, 3B (Still my favorite)
TobyH, C
Rogowski, 1B
P-Lo, 2B

And on the mound:
Javy Vazquez, SP

Sox lose 12-4 in Spring Opener

2007-02-28T18:05:00.000-06:00

There should be a Street & Smith curse. You know... like how they have the Madden Curse? Yeah well Street & Smith magazine chose the Sox to finish 2nd in the division behind the Tigers. Based on how today went they may be competing with the Indians for #4.

Mark Buehrle started the game (which I missed the first 6 batters of) for the Sox and pitched quite well actually. He went 2 innings gave up 6 hits and allowed 4 runs. But thats not all! Jon Garland came in in relief for Mark in the 4th inning went 2 innings allowed 8 hits and 7 RUNS! What're you thinking, Jon? He told Farmer and Singleton that he threw nothing but fastballs except when he tossed in one changeup. Then after Garland's little "stint" came Bobby Jenks. He faced 2 batters, walked one hit the other, then had to leave due to shoulder stiffness. Ouch.

Mike MacDougal came in and he was the first decent pitcher we had since the first pitch Buehrle threw. He faced 2 batters, made one ground into a double play, and stuck out the other. Then came my (relief) guy, Matt Thornton! He threw 1 inning faced 5 batters and struck out 2 of 'em. I really like Thronton and I have since he came from the Mariners. Then was John Danks! Yeah! HE KO'ed 2 batters in his first ever appearance in a Sox uni. I like him! And don't forget he's one of the 5 "Rubber Maid's" as I call them. Dewon Day finished out the game with an inning pitched, a K and 3 hits.

Then on the offensive side, Brian Anderson was the only guy who came close to hitting a homer. Well... never mind I lied. I just forgot who else came close. Iguchi was the only guy who did 1/2 a good job today. He had a double, a ground out, and a K. Juan Uribe stole a base! And so did Darin Erstad (SB #1 of my Erstad count).

Again final score:

White Sox - 4 Rockies - 12.

Tomorrows Lineups

2007-02-27T16:14:00.000-06:00

The lineup was announced and here it is

Erstad, LF

Gooch, 2B
Jimmy, DH
Paulie, 1B
J.D., RF
A.J., C
Crede, 3B
Anderson, CF
Uribe, SS

So Brain Anderson gets the start in center field. Pods isn't starting in left, so we get to see Darin Erstad for the first time! And that is him in the picture diving up the wall clearly robbing a homer from Milton Bradley. Uribe batting last surprises me.

So there ya' go!

GO WHITE SOX!!!

Buehrle to open Spring Training

2007-02-27T15:46:00.000-06:00

The starters for tomorrow's game were announced! For the Sox (as the title says) will be my guy Mark Buehrle. Even though whitesox.com has Contreras listed as their first starter they have opted to go with Mark Buehrle, which in my mind is a smart move. I like the way he pitches even if he looses 13 games.

Pitching for the Rockies will be their new ace (him and Jeff Francis) Aaron Cook. He's an ok pitcher but not that good. Cant wait for Dye, Thome, and Paulie to beat up on him.

If the lineups are announced before the game like... today... I'll post 'em and you know I will. Pierzynski will get the start behind the plate, I know that much.

[Game Info]

Ahh, the first time I've typed that out of many this year. So the game will be on WSCR AM 670 The Score with my guys Chris "The Ranger" Rongey, Ed Farmer and Chris Singleton. The game is slated for 2:05 CT. And remember, Cook vs. Buehrle!

1st Spring Training Game

2007-02-22T22:46:00.000-06:00

Ahh... I can smell the spring grass already. Sure its covered with snow but not in Arizona!

The Sox are playing a split-squad game (where half the team plays one team and half the team plays another) and the game thats going to be on WSCR is the game against Cleveland. That means we get to hear Travis Hafner play for 3 innings, while Grady Sizemore gets to go all the way. And we get to C.C. Sabathia pitch against the Sox, then get nailed in the but by a Gooch line drive and be out the whole season.

Cant wait to see Sweeney again. Cant wait to watch Dye, Thome, Paulie, and Crede crush over 30 homers again. Oh boy... and Contreras win 17 straight again? Maybe? Ok fine...

What about Guillen blowing up in an umps face (pic to the right)?

Boy Guillen is a piece of work. But he's our piece of work, 'ya know?

Spring Has Finally Arrived!

2007-02-22T20:37:00.000-06:00

OK, I am back for yet another Chicago White Sox season. And this year they have a slogan entitled "Back to the Grind". I know kind of corny but thats we we need to do is get back to the grind this year and build towards another championship year. Most of the building blocks have been set, and we have plenty of prospects waiting in the minors if we need them.

Ryan Sweeney is a guy I am looking into putting in center field, as well as Brian Anderson (2nd half Brian Anderson that is) and possibly Darin Erstad. Oh... I didn't mention that? Yeah, well in the off-season one of our moves was signing Darin Erstad to fill in in center field if we need him to and he can also fill in for Paulie at 1st if he needs a day off. Its a win/win situation having Erstad there. But back to Sweeney. He is a good looking prospect with an OK arm and he can hit. Last year for the Sox he played in 18 games and had 8 hits. They don't have his minor league stats up but I will find them... Ah Ha! Found 'em! Last year he had 13 homers and 70 RBI in 118 games. 133 hits is average for a minor leaguer, although he had 449 at bats so he had major league hits numbers for a rookie, 'ya know?

Our bullpen has 5 fire-armed rocket throwers. 5 of our relievers can throw 95+ MPH. Bobby Jenks who can hit 100. Mike MacDougal who can throw around 97-98. David Aardsma who can reach 97 but stays around 94-95. Andrew Sisco, who we picked up in the Riske - McCarthy trade to KC, can hit 98. Matt Thornton who is an awesome pitcher late in the game can hit 97. This group of throwers whom I have nicknamed "The Rubbermaid's" can be brutal to face late in the ballgame.

Toby Hall and A.J. Pierzynski have been working with the pitchers for about a week now and I like the idea of having Hall catch on some days, but Pierzynski getting the majority behind the plate.

The starting rotation is a big one. Even with the loss of Freddy Garcia we should do quite well with this rotation:

Jose Contreras
Mark Buehrle
Jon Garland
Javier Vazquez
Gavin Floyd

I'm not quite sure about Contreras going opening day but I guess if that's what Ozzie & Kenny like then we should go along with it for awhile. Buehrle is always a good pitcher even if he loses 13 games. Garland is an 18 game winner every year. Vazquez won 6 straight last year, and Floyd was on the mound when Rowand broke his nose! How much better can you get?

Uribe Gone In 2007?

2007-01-09T08:33:00.000-06:00

Shortstop Juan Uribe may have to sit out the entire 2007 season. Due to a run-in with a shooting he has been acused of killing the man. He is set to appear in court twice a month in this year which may force him to sit out.

"Very simply, if it turns out he is in more trouble than we originally thought, decides not to report, or is distracted and can't play at a championship level, Alex will take his job," Williams said via e-mail Saturday night.

Of course, the Alex referred to in Williams' text is Alex Cintron, recently signed to a one-year, $1.9 million deal that avoided arbitration with the Sox. Cintron played in 91 games last year and started 64, but his multi-positional ability was his true value. The switch-hitter made 35 starts at shortstop, 23 at second base and six behind Joe Crede at third base. For his career, Cintron has started 286 games at shortstop, 74 at second base and 39 at third base

This means, Alex Cintron may get to play a little shortstop this year, if the case of Uribe really does turn out worse.

Will Thome Make The 500 Club?

2007-01-01T23:07:00.000-06:00

DH Jim Thome has the chance to make it to an exclusive club consisting of over 20 players. This year, 2007, he could make the elusive 500 club.

Going into the season he will have 472 career home runs. He will only need 28 home runs to get to the club. Last year he hit 42 round trippers so he should easily have 507 (35 homers) by the end of the season.

When Big Jim was in Philadelphia he played first base and was frequently injured. Before the Phillies "Slugger Jim" played for the Cleveland Indians. He was also a first baseman there, but did play some DH.

In those times he was injured so much that he couldn't even get to 450 home runs. In 05 for the Phillies he only had 3 due to extensive injuries.

Lets pre-welcome Jim "Big Jim, Jimmy, Slugger Jim, Bopper, Big Stuff, (The) Thominator, Mr. Incredible" Thome to the 500 club

Cintron Signs 1-Year Extension

2006-12-29T23:25:00.000-06:00

Cintron was very helpful against the Pittsburgh Pirates last year belting a grand slam and a walk-off home run. He was also key player to their end-of-season run towards the playoffs. Every team needs a utility guy like Cintron. Last year he batted .285 in 288 at bats. With 5 home runs and 41 RBI you can tell he is a killer of the bench. And with his new

He did start a few games at short and some at second. Compiling a total of 91 games played out of a possible 162. He also tallied 10 stolen bases out of 13 tries.

Cintron will play some more utility in the infield and will most likely start his fair share of games.

Boy am I glad we re-signed him!

McCarthy Traded to Texas

2006-12-28T18:24:00.000-06:00

You can forget everything I said in the last post.

Brandon McCarthy was traded in exchange for the Rangers' 3 top minor league pitching prospects. John Danks, Nick Masset and Jacob Rasner.

Nick Masset was 0-0 last year with a 4.15 ERA. He appeared in 8 games and pitched 8.2 innings for the Rangers late last year.

Johnny Danks is a starter who went 4-5 last year in the minors. He had 72 strikeouts in 14 appearences with an ERA of 4.33.

Jake Rasner is a troubled starter with an '06 record of 6-16 in the minors. With an ERA of 5.41 and 144.2 innings pitched.

McCarthy + Starting Rotation = Possibilitiy?

2006-12-20T12:43:00.000-06:00

Relief pitcher Brandon McCarthy was a well though out plan last year for the Sox.

1) He comes in in the 8th

2) Gets out 1 or 2 batters

3) Sets up Bobby Jenks

This year, however, Kenny Williams says he is going to send him down to triple-A Charlotte for the opening weeks of the season. Now the thing is... will he be on the Sox staff for spring training? And if all goes well will he be in the starting rotation?

With the trading of Freddy Garcia to the Phillies that opens up a spot in the starting 5. Gavin Floyd and Brandon will most likely be competing for the 5th spot in our rotation. But Floyd will probably get the job if McCarthy is really going to be in Charlotte.

In my mind McCarthy is the better pitcher. He worked a few long innings last year, going 2 full in some cases. But Floyd was a big piece to the Phillies' success in '06.

Im still wondering why the Sox traded Freddy to the Phils. Im gonna miss that guy. He was a horse. Look at how horrid he looks in... red and... white pinstripes.

I CANT TAKE IT!!!!!!!!

Sox Trade Gload, Sign Toby Hall

2006-12-18T17:14:00.000-06:00

Hall pictured here

Now the Sox have traded away another player! This time it was Ross Gload who was sent away. To the Royals little Ross goes and from those Royals comes Andrew Sisco a sophmore, left handed relief pitcher who was 1-3 last year.

Also in the White Sox news (you like that?) I have seen that they have signed Toby Hall to be A.J. Pierzynski's backup catcher. They inked him for a 2-year deal with an option for '09 (boy thats weird to type...).

Sox Re-sign MacDougal

2006-12-10T12:55:00.000-06:00

Relief pitcher, Mike MacDougal re-signed his deal with the White Sox. HOORAY!!!!! Mike is the most talented pitcher on the Sox relief staff, and he can reach the 100-MPH mark.

The deal is 3-years, $6.45 million. With an option for 2010 (4th year). If they choose to buyout his contract at anytime it will cost $350,000.

Sox Trade Garcia To Philly For 2 Pitchers

2006-12-09T08:34:00.000-06:00

Floyd Pictured Here

Freddy Garcia, one of our horse's has been traded to the Philedelphia Phillies. The deal was final on Thursday night. We traded him for a pitcher by the name of Gavin Floyd.

Floyd was 4-3 last year with a 7.29 ERA. That is a really high ERA for a guy who only pitched in 11 games last year.

We also acquired, ironicly, Gio Gonzalez. Gonzalez was part of the trade that sent Aaron Rowand to the Phil's and brought Jim Thome here.

Now we got him back on our side. Gio is a good looking young pitcher, wit a lot of talent. Look for him in the starting rotation in years to come.

Ex-Sox Carlos Lee Signs with Astros

2006-11-27T10:40:00.000-06:00

Lee third from left

Carlos Lee has signed with the Houston Astros on friday, and Im a little late on the report, he signed a 6-year $100 million deal. Carlos Lee played for the Sox for a long time and he patroled left-field real well. He had a few 40 home run seasons for the Sox. I hope he does well, and Im sure you do too.

Crede and Dye win Silver Sluggers

2006-11-24T11:05:00.000-06:00

Third baseman Joe Crede of our beloved White Sox has won his first Silver Slugger award. He batted .283 on the 2006 season with 30 home runs and 94 RBI. 544 at bats clearly made him avaliable to win an award. While Jermaine Dye, on the other hand, won his first Silver Slugger. Dye batted .315 on the season, with 44 home runs (team leader) and 120 RBI (also, team leader). Dye had 7 stolen bases surprisingly.

YOU GUYS CAN PUT THOSE PUPPIES ON YOUR MANTLES!!

Sox acquire David Aardsma from Cubs for Neal Cotts

2006-11-23T17:45:00.000-06:00

As the subject (clearly) states. The White Sox have offered and made a deal with the Chicago Cubs (northside scum!). Our fine relief pitcher has been sent from the Sox all the way (some 12-15 miles) north to the ivy covered Wrigley Stadium. They have acquired the rookie pitching "sensation" David Aardsma from those blue titans 'o' Chi Town. He is a flaming right hander capable of throwing missles up to 98 mph. We also acquired pitching prospect Carlos Vazquez whom nobody knows anything about. WHY COTTS!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! (5.17 ERA, 37 Earned Runs... IN 70 GAMES!!!). Ohhhhhhhhhhh, thats why.

Jim Thome awarded comeback player of the year!

2006-10-24T10:43:00.000-05:00

The title says it all!

Breaking Injury News: Jose Contreras

2006-09-22T22:53:00.000-05:00

Pitcher Jose Contreras, our big horse, has sadly but truly been injuried. He was chasing out a ground ball in the 2nd inning, ran to first, and for somereason slid into first! And the runner ran right into his shin and I believe he has a leg injurie, well of course he does. I am not sure if he has a leg injurie or a shin injurie. As I post this, the Sox are losing in the 9th, and as soon as that game ends I will post my post game report and my, highly rated, Visiting the Central.

INJURY REPORT: Pablo Ozuna

2006-09-22T19:43:00.000-05:00

In last nights game, Pablo Ozuna got hit in the head by a ball. He was checked out last night and the x-rays turned out negative (meaning that he's ok). So Pablo is fine, hes back on the bench and is ready to contribute.

Tonights Lineup

2006-09-22T16:26:00.000-05:00

*I am now only doing the White Sox part of the lineup*

Pods, LF
Gooch, 2B
J.D., RF
Jimmy, DH
Paulie, 1B
A.J., C
Fields, 3B (New favorite player)
Uribe, SS
Anderson, CF

Pitching - Jose Contreras

Sox lose to Mariners in game 1

2006-09-22T14:47:00.000-05:00

The Sox got shutout in game 1 by a final score of Mariners 9 - Sox 0. The M's scored 8 times in the 8th inning. Javier Vazquez didnt pitch as well as he should've, but the only thing that matters is the Sox lost and they only have a few games left in the season to make up for. The thing that bothered me most last night is the fact that we could'nt score any runs off of Jake Woods. I mean, you read the name: Jake Woods and you say "Who?" and the Sox could not score any runs off of a nobody! The Sox need to start scoring off the guys who most people dont know of. Now I know who he is, Im a Baseball freak! And I know that Woods was an avergae rookie last year. And the Sox who are a great offensive team, lost to a nobody! Raul Ibanez recorded his 1,000th hit last night on a home run. And that is not acceptiable. The Sox's pitching needs to come through sometime, their bullpen is not as consistive as it was last year. And I know that people have to stop refrencing to last years "Dream Team" and criticizing this years team. But until they do something about it, we are going to keep refrencing last years team and criticizing this years team. The Mariners do not deserve to beat the Sox but somehow thay did and that reason is their horendous bullpen. Im sorry, but I needed to vent o.k.?

Sox v.s. Mariners: Pitcher Preview

2006-09-20T22:51:00.000-05:00

The Sox open up a series against the Seattle Mariners tomorrow/tonight. This is my pitching matchup preview...

Game 1

Pitching Matchup: Mariners - Jake Woods (5-3, 4.19) Sox - Javier Vazquez (11-9, 4.70)
Jake Woods is putting up great numbers. He has faced the Sox twice as a relivever but never as a starter. His ERA is 10.38! The Sox have "Lit him up". And Javier Vazquez is a great new pitcher for the White Sox. He has faced the Mariners once, and beat 'em! He is 1-0 against the M's so lets hope he dosent lose his first game against them.
___________________________________________

Game 2

Pitching Matchup: Mariners - Gil Meche (11-8, 4.34) Sox - Jose Contreras (13-8, 4.08)
Well, Contreras has the better ERA, and also has won more games than Meche. All time against the M's, Contreras is also 1-0 against the Mariners. Gil Meche is an old All Star who has not pitched as great as he should be. He has faced the Sox , you guessed it, once. And has a record of 0-0 against the Sox. So who do you think will win?
___________________________________________

Game 3

Pitching Matchup: Mariners - Felix Hernandez (11-4, 4.68) Sox - Mark Buehrle (12-13, 4.70)
O.k. Felix Hernandez was the highest ranked rookie coming into the season. What do you think of him now? He has won 11 games yes, but his ERA is WAY higher than expected. Mark Buehrle is just 1 win under .500 for the season. He needs this win, but if his bullpen dosent hold up, like it will, he might remain under .500 for awhile.
___________________________________________

Game 4

Pitching Matchup: Mariners - Ryan Feierabend (0-0, 0.00) Sox - Freddy Garcia (15-9, 4.63)
Nobody cares who this Ryan Feierabend is so I'll get right to Garcia. In his last 2 outings, Freddy has only given up 2 hits in 16 innings pitched. That is the sign of a new ace in the Sox pitching staff, next to Jon Garland. But this year he has only allowed 101 earned runs. And he has struck out 129 batters.

Tigers beat Sox, and take series

2006-09-20T22:09:00.000-05:00

The Sox have lost to the Tigers in 9 innings. Jon Garland sadly took the loss (17-6) and now might decrease his Cy Young candadicy. Jeremy Bonderman pitched a great game, moving his record to 13-8. Magglio Ordonez, again, played a big role in tonights game, hitting another homer. Ivan Rodriguez also hit a home run. Juan Uribe & Tadahito Iguchi homered for the Sox. The Tigers are still leading the Central division over the Twins who beat the Red Sox tonight. The Sox are now only 10 games away from the end of the season. The Sox elimination number is now 6. So any combonation of 6 Sox losses and/or Twins wins will eliminate the Sox from playoff contention.

Sox Player of the Game: Mike MacDougal, 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Sox player of the Series: A.J. Pierzynski, Grand Slam game 2

Lets look at the past series

Game 1
Kenny Rogers v.s. Mark Buehrle
The Sox tragicllay lost this game and they did not need to. The Tigers scored 8 runs to take the victory over Buehrle. Magglio Ordonez hit 2 home runs and drove in 2. The Sox only managed to score 2 off of Detroit pitching. The final Tigers 8 - Sox 2

Game 2
Freddy Garcia v.s. Justin Verlander
The Sox beat the Tigers this time. Riding the shoulders of A.J. Pierzynski's grand slam and Freddy Garcia's 1 hit shutout. The Sox beat the Tigers by a final score Sox 7 - Tigers 0

Game 3
Jon Garland v.s. Jeremy Bonderman
The Tigers take the series with a win. Magglio Ordonez hit another home run as did Ivan Rodriguez. On the Sox side, Juan Uribe hit a home run and so did Tadahito Iguchi. The Tigers take the win and the series by a final score Tigers 6 - Sox 2

Tomorrow the Sox open up the 1st of a 4 game set against the Seattle Mariners. WE NEED MORE WINS!!!!!!

Tonights Lineup

2006-09-20T20:39:00.000-05:00

For the Tigers

Granderson, CF
Pudge, C
Casey, 1B
Ordonez, RF
Guillen, SS
Infante, 2B
Monroe, LF
Thames, DH
Inge, 3B

Pitching - Jeremy Bonderman
______________________
And the Sox

Pods, LF
Gooch, 2B
J.D., RF
Jimmy, DH
Paulie, 1B
A.J., C
Sweeney, CF
Uribe, SS

Pitching - Jon Garland

____________________

SPECIAL REPORT:

In Boston. DH David Americo Ortiz hit his 50th home run of the season against the Minnesota Twins. He is the 2nd player in Red Sox history to do so.

Sox send Garland to the mound for game 3

2006-09-20T17:38:00.000-05:00

Tonight the Sox are going with Jon Garland (below, left). Jon is 3-1 all time against the Tigers with a 4.50 ERA. He has given up 14 runs, all earned. The Tigers are sending Jeremy Bonderman, who is 1-1 versus the Sox. Garland is putting up a Cy Young season with a 17-5 record, and an ERA of 4.30. And Bonderman (right) has carried the Tigers through a great season. The Tigers won game 1, and the Sox took the win last night by a final score of

Sox 7 - Tigers 0.

[Game Info]

The game is, again, on AM 670 The Score in Chicago, and again, at 7:05 PM CST. The pre and post-game shows, at 6:30 PM CST, are hosted by Chris Rongey. And the game is broadcast by Ed Farmer and Chris Singleton.

Visiting The Central

The Twins play tonight against the Boston Red Sox. Pitching for the Twins is Boof Bonser and for the Red Sox is , future hall of famer, Curt Schilling.

A.J.'s slam pushes the Sox past the Tigers

2006-09-19T21:37:00.000-05:00

Freddy Garcia threw a 1 hitter into the 9th, where Bobby Jenks took over to finish the game, although it was not a save situation. In the bottom of the 4th inning, follwing Dye's HBP, Thome's walk, and Konerko's single, catcher A.J. Pierzynski hit a grand slam to put the 1st 4 runs on the board YYEEESS!!! In the 5th, Jermaine Dye bombed his 43rd home run and Jim Thome blasted his 41st. Dye has a chance for 130 RBI + this season, he has 118 surrently with 10 games left in the season, thats 3 RBI per game and he could make it to 130. Kepp that in mind. Then, in the 7th, second baseman Tadahito Iguchi hit his 16th of the year. Garcia went 8.0 innings only allowing 1 hit in the 1st inning to Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez. Tonights attendance was, roughly, 39,850. The winning pitcher was, of course, Freddy Garcia who's record improves to 15-9 and the loser was Justin Verlander who's record went to 16-9. The Sox win the game Sox 7 - Tigers 0.

Visiting The Central

The Central standings look like this

Detroit - Leader
Minnesota - 1 game back
Chicago - 5 games
Cleveland - 19 1/2
Kansas City - 32 1/2, but hey, who really cares?

The Twins beat the Red Sox tonight. Which makes them one of the best teams in the Central
division. Their pitcing staff is one of the best in the MLB! With a healthy Fransisco Liriano and Johan Santan, they are a really, really, really, good team. The Sox have very few games to make up for, 'cuz they lost so many this month. The playoffs are a far way off for the Sox they are 4 1/2 games back in the Wild Card and need to win 5-6 more games in order to even think about the playoffs again.

P.S.
The picture thingy isnt working so thats why I havent had any pics latley

Tonights Lineups

2006-09-19T18:29:00.000-05:00

For the Tigers

Granderson, CF
Pudge, C
Casey, 1B
Ordonez, RF
Guillen, SS
Stairs, DH
Monroe, RF
Inge 3B
Perez, 2B

Pitching - Justin Verlander (16-8, 3.42)

____________________________

And the White Sox

Pods, LF
Gooch, 2B
J.D., RF
Jimmy, DH
Paulie, 1B
A.J., C
Crede, 3B
Cintron, SS
Anderson, CF

Pitching - Freddy Garcia (14-9, 4.82)

____________________________

Those are the lineups for tonights game. Enjoy!!

Can Garcia be perfact again?

2006-09-19T11:24:00.000-05:00

Last time out, pitcher Freddy Garcia had a perfact game going into the 9th inning when he gave up a hit and ended his bid on history. This time Freddy has a chance to do it against division-rival the Detroit Tigers and the Sox need a win. In last nights game the Sox lost to the Tigers by a final score of 8-2. The Sox need to find out a way to stop Magglio Ordonez from hitting home runs! He had 2 in yesterdays game. Hopefully Garcia can do better than Buehrle did yesterday and hopefully beat Justin Verlander. The stats on both pitchers.... For Garcia, he is 14-9 with a 4.82 ERA. And for Verlander he is 16-8 with an ERA of 3.42.

[Game Info]

The game is on AM 670 The Score, the pre-game show starts at 6:30 PM CST. The pre and post-game shows are hosted by Chris Rongey, and the Game is scheduled for 7:05 PM CST. The game will be broadcast by Ed Farmer and Chris Singleton from lovlie U.S. Cellular Field.

Sox lose to the Tigers in game 1

2006-09-18T21:44:00.000-05:00

The White Sox have lost. NO!!!!!!! Oh well. Kenny Rogers pitched a great game for the Tigers, and Magglio Ordonez did most of their scoring, bombing 2 homers for a grand total of 2 RBI!! Yup, 2 solo shots for Magglio. Mark Buehrle finished up the night with 4 K's, and Josh Fields homered in his first MLB at bat tonight, his first home run/hit ever!. Jim Thome (left) also blasted his 40th home run of the season, in the 8th inning. He now has 101 RBI on the season. The first time since 2004. Brandon Inge also homered for the Tigers in the 9th inning off of Brandon McCarthy. The Sox have 12 more games left to play in the regular season and need to go on an 8-9 game winning streak in order for the Sox to hopefully make it to the playoffs. The Twins also need to stink in the next handfull of games in order for the Sox to make it. The bullpen was de-fective once again for the Sox, with McCarthy, Logan, and Tracy all doing below average.
The final score: Tigers 8 - Sox 2. The Sox's record moves to 84-65 while the Tigers' moves to 90-60.

Visiting The Central

The Twins did not play tonight which is a good thing, sort of, for the Sox. And the Tigers are playing the Sox. The Tigers are now leading in the Central by 1 1/2 games over the Twins. In tomorrows game, for the Twins, the pitching matchup will be Matt Garza for the Twins and Tim Wakefield for the Red Sox. And the Sox-Tigers game will be Freddy Garcia (above, right) for the Sox, and Justin Verlander for the Tigers.

SOX TURN TRIPLE PLAY!!!

2006-09-18T20:25:00.001-05:00

The White Sox turned their 2nd triple play of the Season. In the top of the 1st inning, they tripled off Carlos Guillen, Neifi Perez, and Sean Casey.

GAME UPDATE

2006-09-18T20:16:00.000-05:00

Ok well the game is in the bottom of the 5th inning, and the Sox are down 3-0. Mags has hit a home run and Craig Monroe hit one also, driving in 2. Mark Buehrle isnt pitching so well, only striking out one in 4.0 innings of work. Kenny Rogers, however, has walked 3 and also struck out 1. That's it for now.

WE NEED A COMEBACK!!!!

Tonights Lineups are set

2006-09-18T18:58:00.000-05:00

For the Tigers

Granderson, CF
Monroe, LF
Thames, DH
Ordonez (Traitor), RF
Guillen, SS
Pudge, C
Casey, 1B
Inge, 3B
Perez (old Cub... ewww!), 2B

White Sox

Pablo, LF
Gooch, 2B
J.D., RF
Jimmy, DH
Paulie, 1B
Pierzynski, C
Anderson, CF
Uribe, SS

Those are the lineups. And the pitchers you already know. Enjoy the game!

Sox start series against the hated Tigers

2006-09-18T15:34:00.000-05:00

The Sox are hoping for a win tonight, as they take on the Tigers in the 1st of a 3 game set. The Sox send Mark Buehrle to the mound (12-12, 4.76) and the Tigers are going with Kenny Rogers (Left, 15-6, 3.86). The Sox are a great offensive powerhouse, hitting their 200th home run of the season a few days ago. With Jim Thome in their DH slot, and Jermaine Dye in right field, they'll hit alot of home runs. The bullpen has been a problem though, with Neal Cotts not pitching the same as he was last year, and the new additions of David Riske,
]Mike MacDougal, and Matt Thornton not fully living up to their hype, this
White Sox bullpen is not as strong as it used to be. Bobby Jenks, Dustin Hermanson, and Brandon McCarthy (right) are the only (relief) pitchers who are constantly holding the opposition to 2-3 hits on about 1-2 innings of work. SS Juan Uribe is putting up a gold glove run, as well as Joe Crede, Tadahito Iguchi, and possibly Rob Mackowiak.

Game Information

The pregame show starts at 6:30 on AM 670 The Score with Chris "The Ranger" Rongey (if you're in Illinois, like me). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm CST. And the game will hopefully result in a white sox win. Ed Farmer & Chris Singleton will be broadcasting from U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago.

Sox lose to the A's in a heart breaker

2006-09-17T22:19:00.000-05:00

The Sox lost to the Oakland Athletics today in a close game. Jose Contreras put up a Fight trying to hold off the A's for as long as he could, although he gace up 5 runs and got the loss. The scoring started in the top of the 2nd inning with A.J. Pierzinski's 2 run blast to right field (A.J.'s 15th). Than in the bottom of the 4th, Frank Thomas bombed a three run homer to left field. The A's took a 3-2 lead after that. The scoring continued into the 5th, and 6th innings, the A's scoring 1 apiece in those two innings. The Sox tried to comeback in the 7th scoring 2 runs in that inning, but could not score anymore. The final score: A's 5 - Sox 4.
Contreras' record moves to 13-8, while Joe Blanton's, A's starter, went to 16-11. Alot of people are thinking of Jermaine Dye as MVP. And Jim Thome as comeback player of the year. Thome is a longshot for that considering the fact that Nomar Garciaparra (1B, Dodgers), Frank Thomas (DH, Athletics), and Carlos Beltran (CF, Mets) are all coming off of a cruddy season.

Visiting The Central

The Hunt for the Wild Card looks like this.

Minnesota - Leader
Chicago - 4 games back
Boston - 8 games
LA Angels - 8 1/2
Toronto - 9 games
Texas - 12 1/2

The Sox need to string together 5 wins if possible and Minnesota needs stink up the Central. The Tigers took a loss to Baltimore 12-8. They lead in the Central by a game over the Twins. And the Sox are 5 games back of first place. Once again the Sox lose to the A's by a final score of

5-4