Odds, Sods and Sox

I expected the Sox to lose Thursday afternoon in Tampa. So why am I angry?

Today's game had all the trimmings: bad pitching, porous defense, questionable and possibly flubbed play calling, bad baserunning, untimely temper tantrums and homerun swings in bad situations.

Juan Uribe has drawn a lot of praise for his emergency defense at the hot corner, but the absence of Joe Crede's glove was noticeable today. Uribe's got soft hands and a strong, accurate arm, but his range to his left is very limited, a small problem that is exacerbated on fast turf. A few balls got by Uribe that might have been blocked by a diving Crede, and those hits turned into runs.

And Griffey in center field......more

The White Sox announced their playoff roster today, with very few surprises. The pitching situations were all handled well. The team justifiably gave up on mid-August acquisition Horacio Ramirez, who posted some of the worst statistics for any relief pitcher in major league history during his couple of months in Chicago. Fellow lefty Clayton Richard will handle all LOOGY duties not taken by Matt Thornton. (Memo to Ramirez and Boone Logan: Have a good one. You gone.)

Mike Macdougal, more than likely, will never don a Sox uniform again as well. He complained in April when he was sent to the minors and reportedly requested a trade at the time. Now, six months later, he has been passed up by Adam Russell, who Ozzie used for a grand total of 2.2 innings over the entire month of September. Macdougal's a goner.

Twenty-four hours from now you'll know who's going to the playoffs from the AL Central. Until then, five questions that arose from the Twins two straight victories over the Sox in the Dome.

1. Why was Dewayne Wise leading off? Based on his recent play, Wise deserves to be in the line up just about every day, especially when you consider the lack of alternatives. But lead off? Orlando Cabrera, who's been an odd fit for the spot all season, is batting .353 with a .409 OBP this month, out-producing every regular on the team. Why was last night, the 157th game of the season, the time to move him out of the first spot?

So of course Wise strands 6 runners on base in situations Cabrera excels, and the one time Wise does reach base he is quickly erased on a double play ground out. By Cabrera. It's like a three-card poker player who keeps losing on the "pair plus" bet and then the moment he doesn't play it, hits a straight flush. (But if you try to start that bet again on the next hand, of course you'll be dealt a 2-5-8 rainbow.)

No one has ever accused Ozzie Guillen of panicking, so this wasn't...more

When, after two days of delayed action, baseball finally resumed Sunday afternoon, the Sox swept a doubleheader from the Tigers--the first a Sox team has won two on the same day since 2001--to regain a 1.5 game lead on the Twins. But it wasn't easy.

When Monday's rain out forced the Sox to play two on Tuesday, the team decided to cancel batting practice to save some time.

Looks like the Sox could have used that BP after all.

Horrendous execution, limp bats, inefficient pitching and injuries all took their toll as the Sox lost two games to the Blue Jays Monday, trimming their lead in the AL Central to one measly game over the Twins.

Making matters worse, Paul Konerko, one of the few Sox hitters that has been performing well at the plate, sprained a ligament in his right knee that will force him to miss at least a few days and further test an already slumping line up.

After the game, a mystified Ozzie Guillen wondered aloud what his team's record was when it didn't hit a homerun. Well Oz, here it is: 8-32.

That's just not going to get the job done.

Jermaine Dye's 2-RBI double in the third inning of the night cap snapped a streak of 25 consecutive innings of White Sox offense without scoring an earned run on anything but a solo homer.

Of course Ozzie adds to his own misery by pushing for the other end of...more

While everyone is worrying about the Sox pitching this week (rightfully so--today's doubleheader means we'll probably see Lance Broadway start on Saturday), I'll suggest that the hitting will be just as a big of a concern against the dangerous Toronto Blue Jays.

Though their bats are often as lifeless as Coldplay's X&Y album, the Blue Jays pitching staff leads the American League with a 3.53 ERA this season and has allowed the second-fewest homers, a bad sign for a Sox team that is as dependant on the long ball as Dusty Baker is on toothpicks.

By the way, stat of the day: The White Sox have gone 16 innings without scoring a run on anything but a solo homer.

Over the past month, the Jays pitching has only gotten stronger, sporting a 2.83 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 1.41 GO/AO rate, all best in the league. The team, which won't sniff the playoffs but is already playing a heck of a spoiler, is riding high on a 8-game winning streak, including the last six over playoff hopefuls Minnesota and Tampa Bay. And they'll feature both AJ Burnett and Roy Halladay in this series against the Sox.

Now that their stud outfielders...more

Jason Bourgeois, the versatile infielder/outfielder who dominated spring training this year Pablo Ozuna-style, finally got the call he's been waiting for all season. For the first time in his career, he's a major leaguer. To make room on the roster, the Sox DFA'd pitcher Charlie Haeger.

He probably would have been promoted earlier if he didn't hit like Oney Guillen for the first month of 2008 at Triple-A Charlotte. In 22 games, he hit .180 in April before catching fire and finishing the season with a respectable .286 average.

Bourgeois joins Chris Getz and Jerry Owens as a 2008 version of the old "Group Four starring Willie Harris." With a combined 71 minor league stolen bases this season between the three of them, you can guess what their primary purpose will be down the stretch this season. Now Jim Thome, Paul Konerko and Ken Griffey, Jr. can each have their own designated pinch runners. Talk about luxury.

Charlie Haeger seems like an insignificant loss, as once again he and his knuckleball failed to dominate Triple-A this year (10-13, 4.45 ERA). But I always had a soft spot for the guy, and conventional wisdom says it takes longer for a...more

Two impressive comebacks and a 450-foot walk off homerun vaulted the Sox to a 2.5 game lead in the AL Central with 21 games to go.

Things to take away from tonight's thrilling, 15-inning victory over the Angels:

1. Unlike some previous models, this Sox team is resilient. Twice tonight the Sox faced deficits I thought were darn close to completely insurmountable: down three runs to John Lackey, and down one in the 9th to Francisco Rodriguez.

Both times the Sox calmly mounted impressive rallies to come back and tie the game. In seasons past, the Sox might have packed it in in those situations. Not the magical 2005 team of course, but mainly the 2003 squad (and possibly 2006 squad as well), with whom this team bears the most resemblance.

There are many comparisons to 2003: a sloooow-footed, veteran-heavy line up, completely reliant on the homerun, boosted by a midseason acquisition for a defensively-challenged centerfielder (Carl Everett in '03; Griffey in '08) to back four solid starters and a fifth starter black hole. (To be fair, Clayton Richard and Lance Broadway have fared much better than Felix Diaz, Jason Grilli and the like did in '03.)

In any case,...more

What a great day for baseball in the city of Chicago. First, the White Sox opened their lead in the AL Central to 2 full games--the largest it's been in a month--by defeating the Orioles in a laugher and watching the suddenly mortal Twins drop their second in a row to the lowly Mariners.

Then for the cherry on top: Jay Mariotti, the face of shoddy journalism and irrational hater of all things Sox, quit his post at the Sun Times.

No need to give any attention or credibility to the least relevant writer in Chicago. So good bye Jay, take your cowardice and personal grudges some place else.

As for the Sox, John Danks will look to extend the AL Central leader's win streak in tonight's series finale in Baltimore.

The most surprising news from Deadline Day on the Sox front was that they did not acquire a relief pitcher to bolster their bullpen. The second most surprising news is that they picked up Ken Griffey, Jr.

I was so sure Ken Williams was going to trade for a quality, late-inning reliever this afternoon, I would have bet the farm. After Nick Masset went to the Reds, I thought it became even more of a certainty.

I know-if the market isn't there, there's nothing Williams can do. But I am utterly shocked he didn't create some kind of market for any relief pitcher. Forget the over-hyped Brian Fuentes or George Sherrill, or even Huston Street, whom the Sox were known to covet. I was expecting a middle tier guy like Rafael Betancourt, Scott Downs, John Grabow, Jason Frasor, Cla Meredith or Heath Bell.

Williams didn't fail for lack of effort, that's for sure. The price tags on those seemingly secondary...more

The White Sox are trying to relive the magic of 2005, and nothing is more 2005 than a trade deadline trade rumor involving Ken Griffey, Jr. This time, however, it looks like the future Hall of Famer is finally coming to Chicago.

According to Ken Rosenthal of Foxsports.com, the Reds have agreed to deal Griffey to the Sox to play a new position, "DH-2", just invented this morning to make room for one of the Sox longest standing crushes. The only reported obstacle is Griffey's no-trade clause; he allegedly will decide to accept or reject the trade later this morning.

More on this as more details come out. The Sox have been millimeters away from acquiring Griffey before, so this could still fall apart.

For the record, Griffey, who has been playing right field in Cincinnati, is batting .245 with 15 HRs, 53 RBIs, and a .355 OBP this season. He has heated up in July, batting .271 overall this month and .324...more

Considering how poorly they pitched, played defense and ran the bases, the Sox probably should have been swept by the Tigers this past weekend in Detroit. Instead, they miraculously won two out of three based solely on the sheer offensive force of Carlos Quentin, Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome who are all, like a drowsy Joe Quimby facing Sideshow Bob at a televised Springfield Mayoral Debate, on fire.

(Except in this case the flames aren't added electronically by channel 6. And for the record, I do think that Paul Konerko should do more hittin' and less whinin'.)

But it looks like the high wire act of shaky starting pitching, faulty bullpen work, downright horrid defense and a black hole from spots 6 though 8 in the line up finally caught up to the Sox Monday night in Minneapolis.

Behind Kevin Slowey, the same guy the Sox torched for 8 runs and 10 hits at the Cell a month and a half ago,...more

When the Sox acquired outfielder Nick Swisher from Oakland for the organization's number one, two and three prospects, the expectations were set pretty high that he would become a cornerstone in Chicago.

One line of thinking was that GM Ken Williams paid a high price because a.) Swisher was signed to a long term, inexpensive contract, b.) he would put up monster power numbers in the Cell compared to spacious McAfee Coliseum and c.) the Sox were getting him right before he made the leap from above average regular to super star.

No doubt his infectious spirit has been a welcome addition to the clubhouse, but at more than 100 games into the season, the budding superstar talk might have been a bit optimistic.

Using the blanket "putting too much pressure on himself to justify the trade" and "playing in a new city" pretexts, Swisher got off to a wishy-washy start that forced Ozzie to demote him from lead off to the...more

Closer Bobby Jenks is officially headed to the DL, and hopefully set-up man Scott Linebrink will quietly head back to the 8th inning.

With Jenks unofficially on the shelf for the past week, the Sox have turned to Linebrink as a temporary stopper. But after being scored upon in his last four outings, it's clear to everyone that Linebrink, a beast as a set up guy, is just not cut out for closing.

I doubt anyone needs any stats to back that up, but I spent a long time going through the whole season's game logs to come up with this so you're getting it:

• Linebrink 8th inning: 27 IP, 2 ER, 0.67 ERA, 0.74 WHIP, 0 HR allowed
• Linebrink 9th or later: 10 IP, 8 ER, 7.20 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 5 HR allowed

Does anyone want to guess the last time Linebrink gave up an earned run in the 8th inning?

An extraordinary thing happened yesterday afternoon at the Cell: the White Sox won a game without hitting a homerun. I kid you not, take a look at the box score yourself. It's only the 5th time that has happened all season, and the first time since June 26.

No word on whether Greg Walker poured over the Major League Baseball official rule book all night to see if such a win is legal.

The 4-3 win over Oakland wrapped up a mighty impressive 8-2 homestand that saw the Sox battle a slew of baseball's best pitchers. Ryan Dempster, Cliff Lee, CC Sabathia, Justin Duchscherer, Joe Blanton, Greg Smith and Rich Harden all rolled through town; three of those guys are All-Stars and the rest are noted Sox-killers but the Pale Hose won all but two games.

That's a good sign for a team that is fighting for a semblance of consistency in an up-to-now boom or bust season. The no-homer thing is nice...more