The South Side Perspective

Trade Deadline Necessities and update

2012-07-24T14:12:00.002-05:00

First of all, I apologize for not posting in a very long time. I've been swamped with multiple tasks and responsibilities.

That said, I wanted to quickly post about where this team is at and what I think we need in order to win this division. I think the first half of the year, while surprising to most, was not all that surprising to me. Those of you who have read my stuff (whether on here or at southsideshowdown.com) know that I've seen this club as a contender in this division for quite some time, dating back to the winter. Guys who had career lows last year have been playing up to form (and some of them have been exceeding that) and those question marks have been answered. We've gotten some pleasant surprises in guys like Quintana and Peavy. The starting rotation has struggled with injury but has been able to weather the storm thus far.

The problem has been our bullpen. With the majority of the kids in the pen being rookies and the few veterans we've had out there this year struggling, the bullpen has posed a huge question mark as to how far this team really can go. In this day and age, the bullpen is arguably the most important part of a team’s success. We've seen the Sox give games away multiple times this year, games that we all assumed we had in the bag, if we want this division, that HAS to stop now. Matt Thornton has had a rough year, shaky at best. Guys like Nate Jones and Addison Reed have shown to possess the talent necessary to succeed at this level, but not always the consistency or mental toughness. I've also been questioning the pitch selection this season. It seems like we've given up more hits to batters who were 0-2 or 1-2 in the count than I've seen in quite some time. I know some of that rests on AJ putting down the fingers, but at the same time, most of our pitchers have given hitters way too good of pitches when we have them down in the count. Those are the things that cannot happen if you expect to keep guys off base. We've got guys like Septimo, Omogrosso, and Santiago coming out of the pen and getting hit around the yard in big situations. We need to strengthen this pen if we want to win close ball games.

Look for Kenny to either make a big move for bullpen help or for a starting pitcher (Like Greinke). Buy acquiring a big name starting pitcher, Kenny is giving Robin the option to move a starter to the pen when and if Danks gets back. If Kenny picks up relief help directly, well then he’s directly helping the bullpen.

Bottom line is, this offense is not going to be our down fall. There’s plenty of thunder in our lineup to win ball games. Overall, the starting rotation is very solid (especially when healthy), and is not going to be our downfall. But the bullpen has been anything but lights out, we cannot have shaky pitchers coming into one run situations in September and October.

In terms of this divisional race, I would keep your eyes open for Detroit to cool off. That Tigers team reminds me a lot of us last season. Winners on paper, but too many issues with execution on the field. Their pitching is weak overall and their offense seems to be inconsistent. This race is about to get very interesting as the trade deadline approaches and the Tigers have already made a big move. Let’s hope and pray our bullpen stiffens up, because if it does, there is no reason we should not be the odds-on favorite to take the central.

In terms of the components of this club, the offense has been fine, a little inconsistent, but fine. With Rios having a monster year and Dunn exploding in three offensive categories.... well four (RBIs, HRs, Walks, K's) and Konerko showing why he's the captain. With the addition of Youkilis for essentially nothing (Now I know how the Dutch settlers felt when they bought the Island of Manhattan from the Indians for 24 bucks) and the on base percentage, speed and production coming from De Aza at the top, this offense is scary good at times.

As I alluded to earlier, the starting 5 have been solid with Sale, Peavy, and Quintana becoming Chicago's own "Big 3." If the Sox can make it to the post season, mark my words we could win the pennant. Because as we all know, in the playoffs, it all comes down to the top of your pitching rotation, its hard to find a better top 3 in baseball right now.

Wrap Up: Sox need to get the job done against the Twins this series and stay on Detroit's heels. With Cy Quintana pitching tonight and the bats showing signs of life for the first time since the break, the Sox should be the favorites.

Positive Signs For 2012

2012-04-11T21:21:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone, I apologize for not posting on here in a while. My last semester of undergrad has been getting really busy and I've also been picked up by The South Side Showdown as a staff writer. So please feel free to check my stuff out there I write totally original articles for them that you won't find on this blog (southsideshowdown.com). That being said lets get to it.

So after the first 2 series of the year the White Sox have shown some promise. Although it is extremely early there are some positives that I have taken from these first few games.

First of all Paul Konerko is absolutely raking, going 9 for 20, driving in 5 runs. He's spraying the ball all over the field and he's racking up the hits left and right. It would appear that he's turning into an all around hitter, not just a home run hitter.

A.J Pierzynski has looked comfortable at the plate since arriving in Cleveland, knocking in 6 runs, putting the ball in play almost every at bat. While he has handled the pitching staff well over the years, his plate approach has always been hit or miss. He could be a solid guy to bat 2 for us or hit in the middle of the lineup. A good lefty contact bat can always find a place into the lineup.

The bullpen has been impressive. New young up and comers Addison Reed and Hector Santiago have the demeanor of veterans while they're on the mound. They've gone right after the hitters they've faced and really flashed their stuff. Reed featuring a powerful fastball and some impressive off-speed to back it up. While Santiago, coming out of the bullpen to shut down his 2 save opportunities, has shown his heavy fastball, sharp slider and impressive screw ball that has really had hitters off balance. Matt Thornton has been solid as usual while Will Ohman struggled today (which is going to happen). All in all the bullpen has done its job keeping the Sox in every game they've appeared in.

The starting pitching has been solid as well. I thought it was very impressive that the pitching staff held the prominent Texas Rangers offense to 5 runs or under in each game we played them. That offense is so deadly and to hold them down and be within a run of taking 2 of 3 from them was a solid way to start off the season. Chris Sale was phenomenal in his first start, locating his fastball, setting up his off-speed and keeping hitters off balance. He was the most impressive of all the starters in their debuts (although Humber has not had his debut yet).

Another big positive I've taken from these first 5 games has been Adam Dunn's plate presence. He has been seeing the ball well lately, he's walked 4 times, hit the ball hard when he's put it in play and driven in a couple runs. I think he's going to have a bounce back year, he's looked significantly better at the plate compared to last year. Not to mention his mere presence on deck has already led to some runs in the form of the hitter in front of him getting straight fastballs to hit.

I think there have been a lot of positives signs shown so far by this team. Like I said earlier it is way to early to really make anything of these signs but it is a good place to start when evaluating the team. I think this team is going to surprise a lot of people. I see a boatload of potential in this club and I think Ventura has them playing as a unit.

Follow me on twitter @RyanGanser

and at "The SouthSide Showdown" at southsideshowdown.com

Feel free to contact me with any kind of feedback, comments, or questions and Go Sox!

Fukudome, good or bad move?

2012-02-18T16:21:00.000-06:00

My apologies for not posting in a while, with the 2nd semester starting up I've been a little busy with school. That being said, we all are aware of the fact that a little less than a week ago Kenny Williams signed ex cub Kosuke Fukudome to a contract to play on the South Side of town. I noticed a lot of mixed reactions amongst sox fans after this deal went down. My question to those who are wondering why Williams did this is, why not?

I think this was a tremendous pickup, for a few reasons. The main reason being price. We signed him to a one year, 1 million dollar contract with a 3.5 million dollar club option for 2013. Not to mention that this season he's actually only making $500,000.00 with a $500,000.00 buy out. To pay 500 K for a lefty bat (career .260 hitter) who can lead off and play an above average outfield is always going to be a plus in my book. Not to mention that he has the potential to turn it on offensively. Another reason I like it is because as much faith as I have in De Aza to perform this season, if he doesn't pan out as an every day player, Fukudome can easily step in and fill that role at the top of the lineup.

The only thing that worries me about this pickup is what role the White Sox have in mind for Kosuke. I think he should be a 4th outfielder who sees the field when someone in front of him needs a day off, goes down, doesn't pan out. If the Sox plan to stick him in front of De Aza or Viciedo, I am gonna be pissed. I say, we give the young guys a chance to make an impact before we throw them on the back-burner for yet another season. Let them play their way out of a spot before we hand it to a 34 year old .260 hitter. I just see a lot of potential in Viciedo and De Aza and I think they're hungry to prove what they can do at the major league level.

Like I said, there is always that chance that Fukudome could come out of nowhere and really turn it on, its a long season and we'll have plenty of time to see how it pans out and how our outfielders settle into their roles. I'm really hoping Rios will play with some personal pride this year instead of just collecting a paycheck. The unfortunate thing about Rios is that no matter how awful he is, he's most likely going to see the field because of the huge amount of money that we're paying him. I'd be all for putting Kosuke in front of him.... but thats another discussion for another day.

So those of you ripping Williams for this pickup need to review the contract. Thats like buying a used 03 convertible for 200 bucks. Just thank God we didn't pay him 12 million dollars a year like the cubs did because he is no where near that kind of a pay day. But that of course is vintage Chicago cub baseball.... also another discussion for another day.

By the way, it took me a while to find a picture of Fukudome without an Indians or a Cubs jersey on, you'll never see that trash on this blog.

White Sox still hoping for Cespedes

2012-02-08T14:16:00.000-06:00

Yoenis Cespedes has officially arrived in Miami. He's meeting with the Marlins today and has verbally expressed interest in staying right where he's at and playing for Miami. The GM of the Marlins has said that they want Cespedes but do not need him. Apparently they have been aggre

ssively pursuing the 5-tool stud for quite some time now, however after spending a lot of money this offseason, negotiations might reach levels unreachable for the Marlins. With speculation about whether or not Miami will be able to land the 26-year-old outfielder, the White Sox (amongst other teams) are lying in the weeds, with hope that they'll get their chance to court Cespedes.

Yoenis and his agent are hopeful that they will be able to come to some sort of an agreement with a major league team in time for Cespedes to report to spring training. Due to a delay in receiving his working visa from the Dominican Republic, negotiations have taken longer than originally anticipated. Although it would appear that the Marlins are the front-runners at this point in the process but I think the White Sox can still remain hopeful.

This White Sox have had a long history with Cuban baseball players coming to play on the South Side of Chicago. Reports have indicated that current White Sox players Alexei Ramirez and Dayan Viciedo have been attempting to reach out to Cespedes in order to recruit him for the Sox. A guy like Yoenis Cespedes would be a very nice addition to this White Sox roster. If (and this is a huge "if") Kenny Willaims could find a way to move Alex Rios, we would have a very young, very talented, very Latin outfield from left to right. I think he could add significant offensive production to a lineup with a lot of question marks and play a solid outfield. The only problem is, because of Alex Rios basically wasting space in center for us right now, the move seems a bit impractical at this juncture of the franchise. Combine that with the fact that we really don't have a ton of money to be throwing at a 26 year old Cuban defective who hasn't proved a thing in the big leagues yet, (especially when you consider the bullpen still needs some help) signing him would be a tough one to fully explain and would require a roster move to make room. Options would and could include benching someone like De Aza or Viciedo in order to get Cespedes more time or splitting time between those 3 guys (because we all know Rios is going to see the field due to his massive contract).

We're just going to have to wait and see exactly what happens and how things play out. Keep in mind, as of right now, it is a little bit of a long shot for the Sox to even land this guy, but if we do, there will be a lot to talk about.

Top 5 Keys to the 2012 Season

2012-02-04T02:19:00.001-06:00

The White Sox have the potential to make some noise this season. However, there are a few things that are going to need to happen in order for the Sox to make a splash in 2012. I've compiled a list of the 5 most important factors that will need to go our way this season.

5. Gordon Beckham

Gordon Beckham had a stellar year last year at 2nd base. Posting the best fielding percentage in baseball. However, his offensive performance was a liability all season, posting a .230 batting average and leaving a lot of men on base. Because of the expectations this organization has for Beckham, he is going to be plugged into the lineup everyday and expected to produce. If he fails to produce this season, not only will our run production be down as a team (as he contributes to both the runs scored and RBIS categories) but his job security on the South Side could be called into question. Now, I personally have huge expectations for Beckham and have always been a big fan of his. I think he's a very talented ball player and I know he can hit. According to some of the interviews he's given this offseason, he has really been working towards getting back to the little things that he's gotten away from that have always made successful at the plate.

4. Alex Rios

I really don't have much to say about Alex Rios. I was extremely disappointed in the effort that Rios put forth last season. He was seen jogging after balls in center, not running ground balls and pop-ups out down the first base line. Being a middle of the lineup guy (usually hitting 5th or 6th) he comes up with the opportunity to drive guys in quite often. He needs to show a little pride in his play and put some effort into everything he does. He has the ability and opportunity to drive in a lot of runs, it just comes down to wether or not he wants to apply himself to do that. He had a horrendous year last season batting .227. The only positive I can take out of his awful year in 2011 is this: historically he has a good season every other year, hopefully that trend will continue this season because we need him to produce if we want to win some ball games (not to mention the amount of money we're paying him, it would be nice to see him earn his paycheck).

3. The Bullpen

Lets face it, the bullpen wasn't exactly lights out last season. We're talking about 15+ games that we lost late in the game, so many leads were blown. Pitching wins championships, the bullpen will always play an important role in contributing to the win column. We lost Santos, which as I've stated in my earlier blogs, isn't as big of a deal as everyone has made it out to be. Ventura has already said that he wants to give Thornton a chance to be the closer this season, with Addison Reed lying in the weeds, waiting to see what his fate will be. I personally think we should leave Thornton where is has always been successful (an 8th inning guy, late inning setup man) and give Reed a chance early to see how he does. But thats just me. We have a similiar bullpen this season in comparison to last year. We still have Thornton, Crain, Ohman, Reed, Axelrod. It will be interesting to see if Williams will make any moves to solidify the pen.

2. The Health of the Pitching Rotation

The White Sox pitching rotation has a lot of talent, there's no doubt about that. What worries me about them is wether or not they can stay healthy. Seeing as how we don't have a 6 man rotation this year, Jake Peavy will be called on to eat a lot of innings and hold down his spot in the rotation. Peavy, having been plagued by injuries since coming to the White Sox, posts a pretty big question mark going into 2012. At Soxfest, Kenny Williams said he expects Jake to post over 200 innings this season, pretty high expectations for a guy who hasn't been able to stay healthy since coming here. This season we're moving Sale from the bullpen to the starting rotation. I can't help but worry about Sale's arm holding up through the grind of a 162 game season, pitching every 5th day and going more than an inning or two like hes used to. Sale has filthy stuff, it will all come down to how Cooper and Ventura manage his innings and build up his stamina. If Those two guys can stay healthy and play to their potential along side Humber, Danks, and Floyd, this rotation could do some damage. And like I said earlier, pitching wins championships.

1. Adam Dunn

There's really not much to say that hasn't already been said since last season. Im assuming if you are reading this blog, you know how horrendous Adam Dunn was last season. All I'm going to say is, if this guy hits like we all know he can, he could post 50 homers in that small ballpark. It's mind-blowing to think of how many wins you could have added to the Sox record last season if Dunn was in his right mind. If he shows up this season, this team is going to win some ball games. Not to mention hitting is contagious, if Dunn starts producing, that takes pressure off of everyone else, before you know it the whole lineup is spraying the ball all over the yard. Dunn actually came out today and said he guarantees to be the comeback player of the year (not necessarily the hardest thing to do when you post a .159 batting average the year before, I mean if he came to bat with a pulse this season he could be eligible for the comeback player of the year). But I personally think he's going to put up big numbers for the rest of his time here in Chicago. I still like Dunn (as unpopular of an opinion as that may be right now, I don't care, come talk to me in August). Last thing I'm going to say about Dunn: Here's a guy sitting in the middle of the lineup and if we actually have a manager that will bat Konerko behind him so he sees some more fastballs (instead of what Ozzie was doing, the opposite, so guys would just pitch around Paulie to get to Dunn last year). The more fastballs he sees, the more dangerous he will become and the more his confidence level will increase, a confident Adam Dunn in the 4 hole is going to drive in some runs which increases our chance to win.

South Side Pride: What does it mean to you?

2012-02-02T11:25:00.002-06:00

I actually wrote this last year, but this is an article that will never go out of style. This will always apply to my life. And I thought with a lot of people being down on this White Sox team right now and this sort of bleak out look for our 2012 season, I would post this to remind everyone what it means to me to be a South Sider. Also, please feel free to throw in a comment in the comment box underneath this post, sharing what it means to you to be a a Sox fan.

Teams like the Red Sox, Cubs, Yankees and Dodgers are name brand, nationally followed teams. There are so many Cubs or Yankees “fans” around the globe that the majority of them couldn’t tell you a thing about their “teams.” You might refer to them as “the common fan.” What makes us special, Sox fans, is that we do not consist of just common fans. Sure, there are some Sox fans who don’t exactly follow the team, just like there are some Cub or Yankee fans who DO follow their teams. But the majority of Sox fans know baseball and they know their team.

Amongst most South Side families, the Sox run deep in that family, like hair loss or brown eyes. Our families have lived and died with the Sox, from Charles Comiskey to Bill Veck, to Jerry Reinsdorf. They aren’t just a team that keeps us entertained or gives us a place to go during the summer, they’re part of our family, making nightly visits into our living rooms or places of business through our television or radio, guided there by the smooth, eccentric voice of Hawk Harrelson or the monotone of Ed Farmer. When they lose, it seems as though, for a brief moment, we will never feel happiness again, and when they win, the sun is a little brighter and the air, a little cleaner. We could recognize one of our players by the way he stands in the field, his batting routine or the style of facial hair he sports.

When “Don’t stop believin” comes on the radio, we don’t think back to the 80’s… our minds are “swept” away, back to 2005, the greatest year Sox fans have ever known. Instead of Steve Perry and ‘Journey’ we think Aaron Rowand, Scotty Pods, Paulie and the “journey” they took us on. Everyone knows where they were when Uribe recorded the most important 6-3 putout in White Sox history, bringing the commissioner’s trophy back to 35^thand Shields, thus igniting the powder keg of happiness that was the South Side of Chicago.

When someone says “1959” we think Nellie Fox, Go Go White Sox, and the first Mayor Daley setting off the “air raid” sirens in Chicago in celebration of a White Sox American League pennant. Half the City thought we were being bombed while the other half was dancing in the streets.

When the power goes out and someone yells “blackout” we think 163 in 08. Drama with the Twins, again. Jim Thome’s monster blast to the fan deck, Ken Griffey Jr.’s peg from center field and John Danks, the untouchable.

“83” isn’t just a number, its Winning Ugly, the blue and red logo, LaRussa was manager, the Sox had the rookie of the year award (Ron Kittle) and the American League Cy Young (LaMarr Hoyt). The Sox were in the playoffs for the first time since the 1959 series.

“93” was Bo’s blast and good pitching all season, Frank Thomas going yard with his flattop hair cut and Ozzie was still playing short.

1906 was Sox over Cubs in the series, giving us the ultimate bragging rights. The first World Series in Sox history

1917 was the benchmark that took 88 years to overcome

I don’t even like to wear dress socks because they’re “black socks…. “

Our dedication to this team is unsurpassed; the strongest feelings can be aroused by just mentioning a number or a word. When the White Sox are successful everything associated with that success and happiness is embedded in our minds and stored there for the rest of our lives.

((One more example (on top the ones already listed above) If I say “Jose Valentin” to most Sox fans, the first thing that comes to mind is a walk off winner in the cross town classic. A little Hispanic man with a dynamite mustache and his hands over his head in victory as he trots to first base. ))

We are working class, we have roots in the community that were there when Sears was THE department store and the stockyards were the center of industry in Chicago. We might not be able to sell every ticket to every game, but its not because we don’t love our team, its because we have jobs…... We aren’t Sox fans because thats the “hip” thing to do, we love them because they represent us, they’re humble, scrappy, hard working, prideful, they aren’t flashy, they play with a chip on their shoulder and don’t expect anything from anyone.

When things go wrong they don’t blame anyone but themselves. Sox fans deserve the most respect from the baseball world, because we lost as long as the Red Sox and the Cubs did, but we didn’t go around, bitching at the world about it and making excuses. We kept our mouths shut and played the game.

The White Sox bring families together; they give total strangers common ground to walk on. 50 years from now you might not be able to remember exactly when your old man taught you how to mow the lawn or do your homework, but you’ll remember to the day you die when he took you to the ballpark; when you sat together down the line and the age gap between you ceased to exist, becoming two boys again, cheering on your hero’s in a stadium on 35^th street that became a palace, housing your most precious memories, connecting you to your father, grandfather, great-grandfather who all experienced the same thing decades before you. There is a history there, I take absolute pride in being where I’m from and the working class background and White Sox fandom that has paved the way for me to become who I am. I thank my Father and my uncles, who have allowed, taught, and invited me into this great tradition that exists and has existed amongst us South Siders for over 100 years.

Just remember, no matter how crappy life gets or how worn down you become, the White Sox are always there, bringing a smile and a tear to your eye as they take the field on the most beautiful patch of land these eyes have ever seen, if they miss a game, they make it up to you. They never die, they’re as constant as time itself.

The Sox Pickup Ex Rays First Baseman

2012-02-01T17:44:00.003-06:00

This past september Dan Johnson blasted the biggest homerun of his career down 2 strikes with 2 outs in the 9th inning to tie the Yankees, ultimately setting up a walk-off home run by Even Longoria, punching the ticket to October for the Rays. Unfortunately that was Johnson's first hit since April 27th of that season.

The Chicago White Sox just signed Dan Johnson to a minor league contract and extended an invitation to spring training to the 32 year old veteran. He's bounced around baseball since his debut in 2005 with the Oakland A's, playing on the Rays twice with a stint in Japan in between. The question is do the White Sox really need any help at first base right now? The answer is no, not at this moment. With Paul Konerko coming off another stellar year anchoring down first and Adam Dunn available to fill in on Paulie's days off, the Sox are pretty set. Not to mention the fact that super utility man Brent Lillibridge can also hold down the fort at first if need be.

But lets think outside the box here, with potentially 3 men on the roster who can play first base on any given day, why would Williams sign a mediocre first basemen like Johnson? Well, there has been a lot of speculation about what Williams is going to do if the Pale Hose start out slow this season. Could guys like Konerko, Dunn, and/or Lillibridge be on the trading block if the Sox start out slow/ have a bad season? With the word "rebuilding" being thrown around this offseason, one can't help but wonder if Williams has that in the back of his mind as sort of an exit strategy should the 2012 campaign prove to be a disaster. At Soxfest when asked about rebuilding this offseason, Williams clarified that it was not a total rebuild, he called it a "hybrid rebuild," explaining that he wanted to keep certain guys and mix in some rebuilding type moves. But as I mentioned earlier, I can't help but wonder if the White Sox have a horrendous year (which I doubt will happen) will the phrase "hybrid rebuild" be given a violent shove into a "total rebuild."

The bottom line is Dan Johnson is a career .236 hitter with 56 home runs and 187 RBIs (since 2005). Hes been on 3 different major league teams now with a stint for the Yokohama Baystars of Japan thrown onto his resume. He's very grateful for the shot the Sox are giving him and is determined to work his way into a spot. Unfortunately for him, he's going to need to undergo some massive improvements and/or see a few injuries in front of him if he's going to get the call from the big club.

But, it is baseball and stranger things have happened, so all we can do is sit back, relax, and strap it down and let it all develop.

Your 2012 Chicago White Sox

2012-01-31T17:06:00.000-06:00

Hello again to all my fellow South Siders, it's been a while and we're coming off a particularly disappointing 2011 season. I want to first apologize for discontinuing this blog towards the end of last season and offer an explanation. We all saw how much our White Sox were underachieving last season, especially towards the end, which was extremely frustrating (especially for a diehard like myself). I decided it was probably better to not post at all rather than posting negative articles every day only to expose the sad truth that we were all already aware of.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, lets talk 2012 White Sox baseball. Everyone seems to be down on this team because we didn't make any huge offseason moves..... but I got news for each and every one of you: we didn't really need to make any huge moves. The team that we have coming back has the potential to be a winning team. Before you go out and give Detroit the division, lets break things down and look at the numbers and the potential associated with this years team.

First things first.... I want to compare this years team with last years White Sox. Lets start in the outfield, seeing as how thats where most of our changes took place this off-season. Carlos Quentin is gone, not a big deal in my opinion, he was a very streaky hitter and an average outfielder. Sure he had the ability to get hot and carry a team for a week or 2, but he was usually more cold than hot. Not to mention his lack of intelligence in the batters box. Carlos will be replaced by Dayan Viciedo (who I am particularly excited about). Heres a kid who has put up monster numbers in the minor leagues the last two years and has posted a .282 batting average in 206 at bats at the major league level. He has something to prove and he knows it, this is one hungry kid who wants to show the south side of Chicago that he belongs in the show. Alex Rios is the only outfielder from the 2011 season who will be starting in the same place come April. All I can say about him is hopefully he starts showing a little pride in his play. He has great potential to be an integral part of this team, historically he has a good season every other year, hopefully that trend continues. We did not offer Juan Pierre his arbitration and he recently signed a minor league deal with the Phillies, so he's gone. Pierre had an interesting year last year, struggling early to get on, play left field and steal bases. He came on a little bit late in the season, posted some respectable numbers. Juan Pierre is in no way irreplaceable, Alejandro De Aza is someone who I am excited to watch this season and who will be replacing pierre in left and at the top of the lineup. De Aza is another young guy looking to prove himself, he came up last year and showed that he wants to play, he was a spark plug at the top of the lineup who played his rear end off every day he touched the field. To sum it up, the outfield is loaded with talent and potential, its all going to come down to which Alex Rios shows up and how the two young guys adjust to playing everyday at the major league level.

The infield is the exact same as last season. Starting at the hot corner with Brent Morel. His glove has always been there, his offensive production has pretty much always struggled. Hopefully his bat will be able to contribute more consistently now that he has another year under his belt. Over to Ramirez at short stop. A solid fielder, needs to work on his positioning before the pitch (based on the situation/location of the pitch). If he can learn how to put himself in a better position before the play begins to develop he could become one of the best fielding short stops in the game. As frustrating as it is to watch his plate approach, he still produces at a consistent level with the bat. Beckham at second had the highest fielding percentage in the game last year at second base. His bat will come around this season, he has been working hard this offseason and has gotten back to his basics. Hes been talking about how last season he got away from his fundamentals and the things that made him successful. He will be ready this season. Konerko at first, need I say more? The man is a force, great first basemen, one of the best pure fastball hitters in baseball, with the ability to adjust to any off speed pitch and dump it into right. Hes a leader in the club house and has a very high baseball IQ.

As far as the DH role. Look for Adam Dunn to have a normal season this year. Hes been working out this off season, hitting, and mentally preparing himself. He was kind of screwed from the get go last year and I'm expecting a huge year out of him. Hes going to prove a lot of people wrong and a lot of you are going to owe him an apology come september.

The pitching staff will play a vital role in our success this season. We lost Buehrle this offseason, which opened up a spot in the rotation for a young Chris Sale, who's stuff is absolutely filthy. Peavy is healthy for now and at soxfest this weekend Kenny Williams said he expects 200+ innings out of Jake this year (we'll see how that plays out). Danks is still with us despite the rumors this season claiming that Kenny was looking to dish him. Look for Danks to lead the team in wins, he is easily our best pitcher. Gavin Floyd has not gone anywhere and will stay in a White Sox uniform this year, he has great potential, hopefully he's worked on spotting his breaking ball more consistently, giving him more flexibility in setting up his other pitches. And finally Phillip Humber anchors the rotation this year, he proved himself last year, coming out of nowhere to arguably be our best pitcher. Hopefully he can follow up that performance this year. The bullpen lost Santos (not a big deal in my opinion, the guy had good stuff, wasn't exactly a lights out closer, not the smartest pitcher, control issues). Addison Reed was a nice pickup and is a name that comes up when talking about a potential closer. From what I gathered at Soxfest and through certain articles I've been reading, The closer role is going to be between Thornton and Reed. We'll see how that plays out, Williams needs to pickup at least one more guy to solidify our bullpen. But in terms of our pitching staff overall, its strong, the potential is through the roof.

We have AJ and Flowers available to handle the pitching staff again this year, look for them to split time, possibly as much as 60/40 with AJ being the 60 (obviously). Flowers certainly made a splash last season, taking full advantage of the opportunities presented to him. AJ will be AJ, leading in the clubhouse and hopefully putting up similar offensive numbers this season.

Don't worry about the fact that Detroit picked up Fielder this offseason, they've had injury problems these past few years and are already having injury issues this year. Just because they look like theyre the best on paper, doesn't mean they still don't have to show up and play all 162 games.

What I've been telling everyone this off season is this: The 2011 White Sox did not play anywhere near their potential and they still contended for 85% of the season. If Adam Dunn, Gordon Beckham, and Alex Rios come to the plate with a pulse this season, this team could easily contend for and win the AL Central. Not to mention that more and more guys are coming out and saying that they really didn't like playing under Ozzie last season. We have new blood in the clubhouse and young, eager guys on the field. The potential of this club is unreal. Lets also remember that most people have written this team off already, the last time we had expectations this low, we won the world series. Maybe flying under the radar this year is exactly what we need. Keep your minds open to the possibility of success. Don't write this team off just yet. Lets see what these kids can do along side our veterans. We're in a weak division with a talented team, anything can happen.

Look for my 2012 Soxfest recap coming in a few days. As always, feel free to comment, vote in my poll, email me questions or comments. Please feel free to help pass the word along and share this blog on facebook, twitter, ect. Thanks and go Sox.

Crosstown Classic and Other Concerns

2011-06-22T12:42:00.000-05:00

Alright folks, the Sox and cubs are tied at 1 game a piece right now. Last night after a vicious rain delay the Sox came out and were able to post a 1 run lead and hold on for the win. Tonight is the rubber match of the series and the most important part about it has nothing to do with the fact that its against the Cubs. The Sox are still lingering a few games under .500. It is disappointing because they are a better team than what their record shows.

The problem is this team plays to their competition. They are 5 games over .500 when facing teams who are above the .500 mark. But are an astonishing 8 games under .500 when playing teams who are under the .500 mark. That is a huge problem people. Those are the teams you have to beat if you expect to win a division. Now the Sox are still only 4.5 games back, which is a minor miracle considering how inconsistently they have played this season. The offense has been sluggish at best lately and really just looks dead, most of the guys in the lineup do not have productive at bats. I would like to give a hearty tip of the cap to Paul Konerko who has homered in his last 5 straight games and is hitting right around .330. The man is on fire, the reason his average has been so stellar lately (last year and this year) is because he has figured out how to turn good pitchers pitches into base hits. He dumps the ball into right field when he needs to and he drives pitches that are on the inner portion of the plate. What I mean to say is, he has figured out how to hit in all situations. Even when hes down in the count, he fights off good pitches and turns them into gold. Paulie, this buds for you, you are a legitimate contender for AL MVP as of right now. Anyone who wants to argue that, look at his numbers.

From what I can see, this offense needs to make some changes if we expect to make a pennant push. We need an offensive spark plug, because really its basically been the Paul Konerko show, featuring AJ Pierzynski lately. The rest of the lineup just goes up there and looks like they don't wanna be there to be quite honest. They'll scatter a few hits here and there, but they just don't look hungry, they never get clutch hits and when its going like that, it spreads to everyone else in the lineup, a lineup with low confidence is not going to produce. So here is what I suggest (just in case Kenny or Ozzie are reading this lol)

1) Problem: Juan Pierre does not deserve to be starting for this team, especially in the lead-off spot, since he never gets on base. Since a lead-off man has one job (getting on base) and Pierre doesn't do it, there is no reason to keep running him out there. Not to mention he is a liability in left field.

Solution: Brent Lillibridge has earned the chance to start. He has made countless great plays in the field and has been that spark plug when he has had the chance to hit in the lineup. Its no coincidence that we usually win when he gets his hacks. I don't know how he would fare as an every day lead off-man because he hasn't ever had that opportunity in his career, but I think its worth a shot, what are we going to lose? Someone who cannot get on base or run down a ball in left field? Come on now, Brent is fast, he hits, he busts his butt every time he's given a chance, he is spectacular in the field and he has something to prove. Give him the nod Oz.

2) Problem: The DH, Adam Dunn is having the worst season of his life. He is basically a waste of an at-bat folks. He is hitting .178 (which I don't wanna dwell too much on his average since that is not what we picked him up for) But he only has 7 homers, which is the reason we picked him up. The problem here is, he is making so much money, they won't bench him.

Solution: I would say bench him and bring up Dyan Viciedo from the minors, he's hitting .330 down there and has tremendous power, he isn't a great fielder which is why DH would be perfect for him. But that won't happen because they are paying Dunn so much money, I hate to say it folks, but we're gonna be stuck with Dunn in the DH because of the big bucks we're giving him. We better just pray he figures it out, because I'll tell you this, it is all mental at this point, he is pressing so hard right now, he just needs to relax and go up there swinging.

3) Problem: Offensive production has been down and basically Rios hasn't done anything and Morel hasn't done much and Mark Teahan is just a waste of space on this roster. I do like Morel at 3rd though as he has a great glove, not to mention his bat is coming around.

Solution: I really want to see Dayan Viciedo get a shot in this lineup. I mean think about it, a young guy who is hungry and has something to prove. You bring him up and plug him in for someone like Rios or Teahan, he is going to spark this offense.

Overall Solution: Here is exactly what I would do. Move Quentin to left, replace Pierre with Lillibridge and put Lillibridge in Center and then plug in Viciedo in right. Either that or put him in at third and sit Morel, either way your sacrificing a little defense for a potential offensive explosion. But I think plugging in guys like Lillibridge and Dayan would spark this offense and that is what we need right now people. Unfortunately, money controls everything and they aren't going to bench Rios and probably not Pierre because of the big contracts they have. Which is sad, that we are going to sacrifice winning for money.

Anyway, hopefully we can start a winning streak as we are playing a few bad teams these next few series. We'll just have to weather the storm and hope these guys (who are going to keep getting the starting nod) will start turning things around and start playing to their potentials.

Game is at 7:10 tonight, Jake Peavy returns to the starting rotation, lets hope he looks as good as he did in his rehab start and lets hope this offense wakes up. I've said it all year and I'll say it again, this team has too much talent to have the record they have. The Cubs are just a bad team this year as they are 13 games under .500, this is a team we should beat.

By the way, I went to the first game of the crosstown classic the other day, what a joke. I'm not just talking about the way the Sox played. I'm talking about the type of "fan" that invaded the Cell. I've never seen so many plaid shorts, dress shirts, man earrings, and drunks at a game than I saw on Monday night. Talk about binge drinking, Cub fans left and right stumbling around, trying to walk the stairs to their seats, starting fights, bragging about their 13 games under .500 team. It really was pathetic to watch. If I can make time for it, I will be posting that video, explaining Cub fans and the differences between us and them, since if I typed everything I wanted to say, it would be wayyyy to long.

Go Sox.

Sox Finish Road Trip on High Note

2011-06-20T08:50:00.000-05:00

Again, I apologize for not posting in a couple games. I have been really really busy, not to mention the Sox didn't give me much to post about at the beginning of this past road trip, but I digress. Ok, I'm going to make this post quick so we can move on to previewing the crosstown classic (amongst other Sox/cub things).

Alrighty then, The Sox just took 2 of 3 from the Diamondbacks in AZ, as Danks picked up an impressive win on Saturday. What made it even more impressive, was that Johnny took a line shot off the side of his head in the early goings of that game, only to stay in and pitch 7 strong innings giving up 2 runs on 7 hits. I mean the man laughed on the field after taking a laser to the side of the head. He didn't ask for a doctor, he asked for the ball and that is what makes John Danks the competitor that he is. He's a bulldog as Hawk would say. Johnny, this buds for you. Anyway the offense would come alive in that game on Saturday late. As the Sox broke a 2-2 tie with a Konerko solo job in the 6th (picking up his 2nd RBI of the day and 2nd home run in as many days) making it a 3-2 Sox lead. But the finishing blow came in the 8th, with 2 on and 1 out Alex Rios, your neighborhood insurance agent, blasted a 3 run homer to give the Sox a 4 run cushion. They would hold on to win that one 6-2.

Yesterday, on Fathers Day, the Sox received another excellent pitching performance from Phil Humber. He went 7.2 innings, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits. The bats stumbled out of the gate but came alive late (again) plating 2 runs in the 7th and a 5 spot in the 8th. The Sox won that one 8-2 to take the series and pull (yet again) to within 3 games of .500. Konerko homered for his 3rd straight game and Rios homered for the second day in a row as well.

The Sox need to take this momentum and have a tremendous home stand this week. We play the Scrubs..... Chumps.... Chubs... sorry CUBS starting today (Monday) in the "Crosstown-Classic" Or as it will be known in about 2 weeks, the "Crosstown-Beat Down." Then we get the Nationals at home starting Friday. So we really really need to take care of business against 2 lesser National League teams.

Just would like to take this last opportunity to say thank you to my Dad. A hard working man who taught me everything I know about the White Sox. Always set a great example for me growing up on how to be a man and act like an adult, work hard for what I have, love the Sox and hate the Cubs. Thanks Dad! Happy Fathers Day (again).

Look for a post very soon previewing the crosstown classic (there might even be a video in there where I de-bunk Cub fans top 3 crosstown arguments as well as separate the two fan bases by demographic). Go Sox.

Twins Continue to Make Life Hell For Us

2011-06-16T14:26:00.000-05:00

We are 0 for 4 against the Twins this season.
The Twins have 8 starters on the DL and we still lost both games to them
Thank God for the rain out or we would have dropped 3 games
In 36 innings against the Twins this season, we've scored 3 runs...........
I literally cannot watch this team sometimes, they are so frustrating
We hit into 6 double plays in 2 games against the Twins. Should have been 7 double plays, but the Twins committed an error.
The mediocracy of this team right now is really overwhelming.
They have so much talent in the lineup and are underachieving so much, I almost can't stand it.
Our only chance is if inter league play bails us out..... yet again.

We're in Arizona tomorrow. First pitch is at 8:40pm on Comcast Sportsnet.

Rain, Rain Go Away So the Sox Can Win Today

2011-06-14T20:55:00.001-05:00

Alright Sox fans, I'm just sitting here, waiting out the rain delay, flipping around stations (because God knows as soon as WCIU put "Meet the Browns" on as their rain delay programming, I turned the station). Anyways, I just wanted to take this time to preview this upcoming series in Minnesota.

We come into this 3 game set with an overall record of 33 and 35, 4 games out of first place, we're 6 and 4 in our last 10 games. The Twins come in with an overall record of 26 and 39, 9.5 games out of first, however, they've been playing good baseball lately sporting an 8 and 2 record in their last 10 games. This is going to be a big series for our White Sox. We have battled back over this past month to bring it within 2 games of .500. The Twins are a team you can never count out and have been charging as of late. We need to cool this team off and come away with at least a series win.

My keys to this series:

1. Get it Dunn

What I mean by this is, Adam Dunn needs to have a break out series. He has slowly begun to hit and when he starts to hit, our lineup becomes 10X more dangerous as he not only provides offensive production but protection for the hitters around him. He is a big key to our offensive success.

2. Clutch Hitting (By the way, they just cancelled the game for tonight)

Our offense is still leaving way to many men on base, the only way we are going to play to our potential is by knocking in runs when we have them out on the base paths. Obviously, we can't drive in every runner we put on base, but leaving 15 men on base in a game is unforgivable. If we are going to cool off the Twins, we need to start cashing the checks that are runners in scoring position.

3. Twin Throwings

Now that we're only playing 2 games in this series because of the cancelation today, we need our pitching staff to come out in both of our games and shut it down. We cannot have a let up, and that goes for our bullpen too. Santos especially needs to come out and absolutely shut it down (for his confidence and for the teams momentum)

This is a big one for our Sox folks. Lets hope they can come out and shut down a weak Twins team. Reason I say they're weak is because of the massive amount of injuries and big name players they have on the DL right now. They have been playing better than the team that they actually are. Its also a big one for us because after this series we go into Arizona to play a hot Diamondbacks team which kicks off inter league play for us, which is traditionally where the Sox make up a ton of ground.

By the way, I also just started a new poll, located on the right side of this page, let me know who you think has been the biggest surprise of the 2011 season so far. Also, like the perspective on facebook!

So lets come back tomorrow and get that first win in Minnesota, the game starts at 7:10 and thats going to be over on WCIU. Big series. Lets get it done Sox.

Sox Get it Dunn in Finale

2011-06-13T13:36:00.000-05:00

Adam Dunn has been struggling mightily these first 2 months of this 2011 season. But lately it seems he has started to turn the corner, belting two home runs in this last series against the A's, driving in 6 in the series while walking 3 times and scoring 3 runs. One of his two series home runs was a game changer in the series finale on Sunday.

The White Sox offense struggled early, unable to get anything going until the 4th when Konerko started things off with a single, followed by an hit batsmen to AJ, which eventually set Dunn up with 2 on and 2 out to take a hanging curveball and absolutely park it deep in the right field bleachers.

You can't leave the breaking ball there.....

That was a big moment for a few reasons, first of all it gave the Sox the lead and put a struggling offense right back in the game. But possibly more important (because this is more long term) it gave Adam Dunn more confidence and right now, that is what he needs. Nothing helps break a ball player out of a huge slump more than production. He said in a post game interview that he is finally starting to feel better up there at the plate, which is huge for the White Sox.

After 2 A's runs (which tied the game at 3 in the 7th) the White Sox would catch a break and take full advantage of it in the bottom half of the 7th. With men on 1st and 2nd Carlos Quentin would hit a slow roller to A's third basemen Scott Sizemore who would rush his throw to second (as a speedy Alexi was trucking into second) and throw the ball into left field, allowing Teahan to round 3rd and score and Alexi to get up and make 3rd. Konerko would follow with a solid single into left to plate an insurance run in Ramirez to give the Sox the 5-3 lead. Santos would come in for the save, he looked shaky again giving up 2 hits, a walk, and a run. The game ended on a ground ball to third and a close (and questionable) play at first, but none the less the White Sox got the much needed win to close out the A's and take 3 of 4 for the series.

Lets talk pitching real quick. Phillip Humber was absolutely solid yet again, he has yet to give up more than 4 runs in a game for this entire season. He went 7 innings, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits. Phil had a rocky first inning but after that he was lights out, striking out 7 and only walking 2. He has been our most reliable starter all season and quite the pleasant surprise I might add. Humber was done in the 7th, giving way for Matt Thornton in the 8th who pitched an inning, giving up no hits and walking one. Cue Sergio Santos in the 9th, coming off a horrendous blown save on Friday Sergio looked shaky again. As I said earlier he gave up 2 hits, a walk, and a run. But he did record the save, giving the Sox the win.

Where does this win put us? 3.5 games out of first and 2 under .500. We go on the road to Minnesota to face off with a red hot Twins team who have been charging as of late. They are 8 and 2 in their last 10, hopefully we can cool them down and get back to .500. I don't mean to pat myself on the back prematurely but I do believe I set the date at June 15th for the Sox to be back to .500. Well they're 2 games under with 2 games to play until June 15th..... (not to mention that game on Friday night, if they hang on to that, they're an even .500 right now, oh well). But we need to keep this momentum going and we need to just dominate in Minnesota to propel this team into inter league play (which is where we always make up ground).

I wanna talk about one player right now who has been an absolute force lately. Paul "The Captain" Konerko. He is currently on a 13 game hitting streak, hitting an unreal .460 (23 for 50) with 9 doubles, 6 homers, 15 RBIs, 6 walks, and 10 runs scored during this streak. That is unbelievable. The man has been on a mission. That is why he is our captain people, he has single handedly ignited this offense. Numbers don't lie. As of right now, his numbers on the season are as follows:

Average: .322
Home Runs: 16
RBI: 52
Doubles: 11
OBP: .390
SLG: .563
Walks: 28

The man has literally gotten better with age. Paulie, this buds for you.

Anyway, today (Monday) is a much needed off day for the club as they travel to Minnesota. Lets hope we can cool the Twins down and get back to .500. We are right back in this pennant race folks (just as this White Sox fanatic predicted we would be). This team is too good to not be in it. Enjoy the off day and lets go out and get those pesky Twins tomorrow. Go Sox!

Brent Lillibridge Saves the Day

2011-06-12T11:31:00.000-05:00

As I posted yesterday, I apologize for not posting this past week, I was in Cooperstown NY. The Sox had a decent week while I was gone and are slowly climbing the ladder. That being said, lets get started.

The White Sox came into US Cellular field on Saturday needing to bounce back after a heartbreaking loss on Friday. We have been slowly crawling back towards a .500 record and the top of this division. On a night where the bats weren't really there, the Sox needed all the help they could get from their pitching and defense. Brent Lillibridge and John Danks certainly rose the the occasion.

John Danks who recently made a minor change in his mound mechanics has been lights out his last 2 starts (including last night). He went 7.2 innings only giving up 2 runs on 4 hits. He was stellar. John Danks obviously is a better pitcher than his 2-8 record reflects. But it is nice to see him still going out there and absolutely battling every time he has as start. Look for him to start stacking up the wins, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he ended the season with a winning record (Mark my words right now). Anyways, Danks goes 7 and 2 thirds innings and gives way for Jesse Crain who finished off the final inning and a third to nail it down and get the save to give the Sox a 3-2 victory.

Lets talk about the defense real quick. Not the strongest outing all around as the Sox committed two errors, one by Ramirez at short and one by Castro behind the plate. But those errors were erased from our minds when Brent Lillibridge made a game saving, home run robbing snag, going over the wall and bringing a Coco Crisp shot back into the park.

From this angle you can really see what a great catch (especially given the circumstances) this really was.

With a man on base for the A's, that ball would have taken the lead away from our Sox and a win away from John Danks. Brent Lillibridge has been playing his way into a starting position. He hustles all the time, he throws the leather, and boy for a little guy, he can really swing. Last night was no different, making a huge play in the field as well as on the base paths, stealing second and advancing to third in the 6th, only to score what turned out to be the winning run on the next play. Brent Lillibridge, this buds for you.

As I stated earlier, the offense struggled a little bit scoring 3 runs on only 6 hits. Out of our 3 runs 2 of them were the results of throwing errors. Ramon Castro led off the 4th inning with a solo home run and that was really it for the offensive fireworks. But we took advantage of mistakes by the other team and thats what great teams do. They find a way to win, which is exactly what the Sox did last night.

We need to keep stacking up wins people, there has been a changing of the guard in the AL Central as the Tigers moved into a first place tie with the Indians last night. I don't mean to say "I told you so" but just as I stated many times earlier this season, the Indians have finally come down to earth and are fading fast. They are 2 and 8 in their last 10 and I suspect they will continue to fade. This race is between 2 teams folks, the White Sox and the Tigers. We need to keep winning, we're almost back to .500 and when that happens this race will really heat up. First things first, we need to take care of business today against Oakland and take 3 of 4 from the A's at home. The key for us to winning this division is going to be to win games at home, our home record going into today (Sunday) is 15 and 17. Thats not good folks, we need to win at home. Its as simple as that, if we can start winning big at home, this team is really going to take off. They have been playing better and better and continue to climb, lets get this one today and go from there.

Today (Sunday) we have Phil Humber on the mound who has been our best starter, first pitch is going to be at 1:10 over on Comcast Sportsnet. Go Sox.

Apologies for not posting for so long

2011-06-11T15:08:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted in about a week, I was actually in Cooperstown NY on a very baseball oriented trip. I just wanted to apologize and give my explanation really quick. That game last night was the first thing I saw when I got back into town, needless to say I don't have much to say about it. I'm actually still in shock that we couldn't close that one out last night. I keep randomly saying out loud "how... how did we lose last night? I mean it was right there...." So I'm gonna need some time to collect my thoughts. But I will be posting again tonight after the game ends, so look for a much needed new post after the game tonight! Go Sox! We really need this one!

White Sox Complete The Boston Massacre

2011-06-01T16:07:00.001-05:00

Shout out to Jay Modelski for the title.

The White Sox completed a HUGE sweep of the Boston Red Sox today (Wednesday). This was a back and forth game that eventually landed on the White Sox side. Just a monster win today for our Sox. They NEEDED this one and they got it. What I loved about this game was the fact that we were down early and battled back to hang on and win by 3 runs. Right now, we are to the Red Sox what the Twins are to us. A pain in the rear. How great is it that we stormed into Fenway and swept the hottest team in the league?

Come on, I had to do it

Gavin Floyd looked very shaky early on, giving up a quick 3 runs in the 2nd inning. But after that folks, Gavin settled down and put it on cruise control with just a 1 run speed bump in the 6th. So Floyd goes 6.2 innings and gives up 4 earned runs and 9 hits. The Red Sox scored 3 in the 2nd as I said already, those 3 runs off 4 hits. They would score again in the 6th on a David Ortiz home run. Sale would come in and shut down the Bo Sox for the 3rd out of the 7th inning and then the entire 8th, he goes 1.1 innings retiring everyone he saw, setting up Sergio Santos to come in and close it out in a 1-2-3 9th.

The offense was stellar again, scoring 7 runs on 12 hits. Highlighted by a powerful day at the plate for Brent Lillibridge, who was 2 for 5 with 2 RBIs and a homer and a double off the top of the green monster (which was his second ball in as many days that hit the very top of the monster, if we were at home, he would have had 2 more homers). Alexi was 3 for 5 with an RBI, continuing to tear the cover off the ball. Not to mention another great day at the plate by the captain, Paul Konerko who was 3 for 4 with 3 RBI, a homer, and a run scored. This offense is heating up with the weather (just like I said it would about a month ago). The pitching is completely shutting teams down, the bullpen has been stellar, and the offense is starting to really mash. This team is falling right into place like we thought it would (well most of us at least).

Their last 15 games against the Red Sox, the White Sox have outscored Boston 88 to 50! They have now won their last 7 straight games at Fenway Park, the last time the White Sox did that..... 1959. Foreshadowing? We'll see.

We come home now and let me just say, its about time, we've already had 3 ten game road trips and have played the most road games in all of the major leagues. Get this, the Sox are only on the road for 9 games from now until the all-star break (July 11th). This is our time to get hot and tear it up at home. This is our chance to get back to .500 and burn right past it and take our top spot in the division. I don't think its any fluke that the Indians have played mostly home games (when compared to the other teams in the league) and we've been on the road more than any team in the bigs and the standings look the way they do. Its going to even out, the Indians are on their way back down to earth, and our talented Sox are finally starting to let their talent show. Sit back, relax, and strap it down Sox fans, here come the Sox!

If you like what I write, please share it with your friends on facebook , twitter, stumbleupon, ect. by clicking the icons below and then clicking "share" Its easy to do and it is much appreciated.

Also, make sure you take a look at my wrap up for the Sox month of May. Some pretty eye opening stats in there.

Month of May: Turn Around?

2011-06-01T10:15:00.003-05:00

Alright Sox fans, May is over with. Was May the month the Sox started to turn it around? Or just a big tease? I believe that in a few months, we'll look back on May and say "Yes, this is where our season turned around." Hawk Harrelson always talks about "season defining moments." So far, the play that seems to have turned our season around was a 3 run home run by Brent Morel back on Tuesday, May 17th against the Texas Rangers. I was actually at that game and let me tell you, it was not a pretty start. John Danks was wild, falling behind hitters, walking guys, giving up hits. He had 72 pitches through the first 3 innings. The offense was dead. It looked like we were going to get shutout. But then Brent Morel of all people, stepped to the plate in 5th, setting the scene for what up until now, has been the moment that has turned this team around.

With a 2-1 Count of all things, Brent gets a fastball out over the plate and does not miss it. Notice that there was also 2 outs. This ball got out of here in a hurry and I remember sitting there at the game (after I came down off the high supplied by this Brent Morel shot) that this could be the moment that gets this team going and not to pat myself on the back, I believe that I was right.

Look at his swing, head down, bat and arms extended. Perfect. Since this play the Sox have been playing a lot better, they've had a tough game here and there but you can see the offense and the pitching bearing down. They were 9 and 6 after this home run, not great, but thats also including this tough road trip we've had to deal with lately. But anyone who has watched this team lately can tell they've been playing better.

I have a few stats here for the Month of May, especially compared to the awful start we got off to in April.

We closed out May with a 13 and 16 record. That compared to our 10 and 18 record in April.

In April we were 4 and 8 at home. That stat needs to improve if we're going to win this division. In May we were 6 and 5. So it is improving.

We were 10 and 8 on the road in May as opposed to 6-10 in April.
In May our we scored 129 runs and only allowed 109. As opposed to April, where we scored 109 runs and gave up an astounding 149 runs. What does this mean? Well the pitching gave up 30 less runs which is huge. The offense also scored an additional 20 runs. Thats a pretty nice swing on both ends.

A few stand out players from the month of May:
- Offensively Paul Konerko, Alexi Ramirez, and Carlos Quentin had a great month, Paulie continued to lead the team in RBI's, Carlos Quentin would lead the team in doubles and Alexi Ramriez turned it on late in the month, with a ton of clutch hits and RBIs.
-Phil Humber gets my shout out for the pitching staff, closing out the Month with a 3.06 ERA overall and a 4 and 3 overall record (which is impressive especially when you look at the lack of offensive support the pitching staff received earlier in the year). He has shut down teams like the Yankees and Red Sox AT their ballparks and has arguably been our most reliable starter. Which is why Ozzie continues to stick with the 6 man rotation (which seems to be working for us) because Phil Humber has more than earned his spot in this rotation. Phil, this buds for you
-Out of the bullpen, this one goes out to Sergio Santos, closing out the month as our closer, with a stellar 1.40 ERA in 25.2 innings pitch, he has 8 saves and a 2 and 1 record. That is just unreal. He has been the most reliable reliever that we have, stepping up and filling in our whole at the closer's role. Sergio, this buds for you.

In conclusion Sox fans, we continue to climb... look at the stats and watch the team, you can see the improvement all around. We just need to continue to play to our potential and get better and this team will be something special. A month from now, for my next month wrap-up I'll be talking about a first place Sox team who charged hard in June. Lets get em' this month boys. Go Sox.

Boston Tea-Off party

2011-06-01T00:16:00.003-05:00

The White Sox charged into Fenway Park on Tuesday looking for a much needed win. Thanks to the offense and a strong start by Phil Humber, the White Sox achieved that goal. The White Sox scored early and often. There was so much offense, I'm only going to list a few notable highlights and then I'll list the offensive stat lines.

The White Sox scored 10 runs on 15 hits. Finally, the offense is starting to play like the team we had envisioned at the beginning of this season. The Sox scored 4 runs in the 2nd inning, highlighted by a 2 run single off the bat of Alexi Ramirez (who has been absolutely on fire as of late). The Sox scored 1 in the 3rd inning after back-to-back doubles off the bats of Konerko and AJ. Then they scored again in the 4th on another 1 run single by Alexi. The Sox then put 4 more runs on the board in the 6th highlighted by a RBI double by Carlos Quentin.

Here are the offensive lines I promised you:

Juan Pierre: 1 for 4 with a run scored and 2 RBI

Alexi Ramirez: 4 for 5 with 3 RBI and a run scored (Have a day!)

Carlos Quentin: 1 for 4 with a double and an RBI

*Brent Lillibridge: 1 for 1 with a pinch-hit single

Paul Konerko: 1 for 3 with a double, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI and a walk

AJ Pierzynski: 2 for 4 with a run scored, a double, 1 RBI and a walk

Alex Rios: 0 for 5, the only White Sock without a hit

Adam Dun: 1 for 2 with a run scored, 2 walks

Gordon "The Slayer" Beckham: 3 for 5with 2 runs scored and an RBI

Brent Morel: 1 for 5 with 2 Runs scored

Phil Humber had another impressive start, giving up only 1 run through 7 innings. He pitched 7.2 innings, allowing 3 more earned runs in the 8th, when he was clearly out of gas. Despite his shaky finish, he still pitched a great ball game, shutting down a dangerous Red Sox offense for 7 strong innings. Once Humber ran out of gas towards the end the Sox called upon Will Ohman who looked a little off, giving up a 2 run homerun to David Ortiz (one run charged to Humber, One to Ohman) Ohman escaped the 8th. 9th inning cue Brian Bruney who was just brought up. He looked a little shaky in his first major league outing of the year, giving up 2 more earned runs. The Sox 10-1 lead quickly turned into a 10-7 score, but either way, held up in the end, as Chris Sale came in and got the final out, giving our White Sox another huge win against a tough team.

Thank you offense.

Right now, I would like to take this time to give Alexi Ramirez his due. I know I ride him a lot and I criticize the way he does things at the plate, but he's really been showing me up lately (and I'm loving it). He was 4 for 5 tonight, with a lot of big hits, 3 RBI's and he didn't leave anyone on base. Alexi has had an unbelievable month this May (especially as of late) and a case can be made to give him the player of the month for the American League and all of the Major Leagues. The four hit game today for Alexi raised his overall average to a respectable .290 and his average for May to .313. Alexi, this buds for you.

This game was just a HUGE win for this club. The White Sox have now won their last 7 games in a row at Fenway Park (Shout out to THE Tim Madden for bringing that stat to my attention). The way this road trip started, it did not look good for us going into Boston, but let me just say this, these last 2 wins will not mean nearly as much if we don't get the job done tomorrow. This is because of the position we're in.... constantly working up hill, and needing winning streaks to get back to .500.

Let me tell you why tomorrow is so HUGE for this club:

-It would salvage the road trip (allowing us to split the tough road trip at 5-5)

-It would complete a sweep of the Red Sox

-The momentum would propel us into a 10 game home stand where we could really do some damage

-Most importantly it would bring us closer to .500 and a slipping Indians team

Sweeping a dangerous Red Sox team would really do a lot for the mental state of this team. Lets get this done tomorrow boys, we need it! First pitch is going to be at 12:35 over on Comcast Sportsnet.

Just a heads up to all you Sox fans out there. Look for a special post from me tomorrow; I will be doing a monthly wrap up for this past month of May. See you then!

White Sox Top Red Sox on Memorial Day

2011-05-31T01:38:00.001-05:00

The White Sox went into Boston on Monday to face a Red Sox team that has been smashing the baseball lately and bounce back from a frustrating series in Toronto. This series in Boston is going to be an important one for the following reasons:
- We need to close out this road trip strong in order to minimize the damage done earlier in the road trip
- This is the last series of the road trip, we need momentum going into a 10 game home stand
- We're still flirting with .500 and we can't afford to drop games at this point in the season
- This team needs confidence, what better way to gain confidence than beat a tough Red Sox team in Boston?
- The Indians are starting to come back down to earth, nows the time for us to make our move as the schedule is about to get easier and we're on the cusp of a home stand

Well the White Sox got off to a promising start in this series. Everyone showed up folks, it was great to see. I actually have a smile on my face right now, recollecting all the good things I saw in this game. We still left a lot of guys on base, BUT we scored 7 runs, which is just fine, everyone is going to leave men on base, what is important is getting enough men in to sustain a lead. Well South Siders, our pale hosers did just that for us on Monday.

The Sox got off to a promising start against a tough John Lester (coming into the game 7-1 with a 3.36 ERA), plating 2 runs right out of the gate in the first on 3 hits and a hit by pitch. Peavy looked pretty solid all day, only giving up a few runs on a few hits. He allowed a solo home run in the bottom of the first to Gonzalez, which quite frankly was a decent pitch by peavy, the ball caught a little too much of the plate, but it had a lot of movement on it and it was breaking hard, down and in... Gonzo just stayed right with it and smashed it, sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the other guy, Adrian Gonzalez displayed a great piece of hitting on that home run.

You can kind of see the ball, coming from a right hander and breaking down the way it was, just a great piece of hitting, this swing really stood out to me while I was watching the game, look at his hips open up, head down, balance, weight shifting perfectly. Rarely do I praise opposing players or teams (especially Red Sox...) But Gonzo, this buds for you.

The captain, Paul Konerko blasted a solo home run in the 3rd to make it a 3-1 ball game. Not to be out done, the Red Sox would answer back with a 2 run single by Dustin Pedroia to tie the game at 3. Ok, fast forward to the 6th inning for the play of the game, the White Sox load the bases with 2 outs and with a full count, Alexi Ramirez bloops a double over first base, just inside the foul line. He couldn't have thrown it out there any better. The Sox score 2 on that play and then, with runners on first and third, big hittin' Carlos Quentin singles to make it a 7-3 ball game, where the score would stay and eventually go final.

This was a huge win for the Sox for many reasons.
- Its always important to get the first game of the series, especially on the road and in a situation where you cannot afford to drop games.
- More confidence for Peavy as he continues to settle in
- The offense showed up on the same day as the pitching and defense!
- Bumped the Sox up to 3rd place... may not seem like much, but it shows progress (small victories add up to big ones)

If this team can play consistently like they did today and by that I mean, play to their potential, they WILL win this division. They showed today the kind of talent and potential they have on this club and folks, it was GREAT. Lets just hope they hit a groove and keep this up, because it still is early on and this team can do some serious damage in what is proving to be a weak division this season.

We're in Boston again tomorrow, first pitch is at 6:10 and this one is going to be on WCIU. Lets close out this month with a win boys, we need it.

I would just like to take this time to say THANK YOU on this memorial day to all of those men and women in uniform and their families who have made such huge sacrifice to fight for our safety and our freedom in this great country. I don't think that men and women in uniform get enough credit from our citizens, nor do their families. I cannot say that I know what you are going through or how it feels, but again, from the bottom of my heart, and on behalf of the citizens of these United States, Thank You, God bless you and your families.

Underachievement Reigns

2011-05-29T15:41:00.002-05:00

The White Sox were rolled in Toronto today (Sunday) as John Danks fell to an absurd 0-8 record. Carlos Quentin got us on the board early with a solo shot in the first, leading me to believe the Sox were going to battle today, boy was I wrong. The Blue Jays came out and absolutely shelled John Danks in the bottom of the first, putting up 6 runs, highlighted by a grand slam by Aaron Hill of the Blue Jays. I'll spare you the rest of the details, the final score was 13-4 Blue Jays.

I have to wonder what is going on with John Danks. His first 6 or 7 starts this season were good to above average. The problem there was the lack of run support Danks was receiving from his offense. But recently Danks has looked awful on the mound, missing his spots, falling behind batters, and failing to mix up his pitches. I wonder if recently he has been trying to do to much because he is expecting lack of offensive support or if his confidence is shot because its the end of May and he has yet to win a game. But Danks has arguably been our best starting pitcher the last few seasons, its a shame to see him going through such an awful stretch. Just something to think about....

A couple interesting stats regarding the Sox and the Jays:
The White Sox have lost 22 of the last 27 games they have played against Toronto.
The White Sox have lost 15 of their last 18 games they have played IN Toronto.

I am starting to wonder wether or not this team is going to fully turn it around and play to their potential. That is what is making this season so frustrating, I had never had as high of hopes for a White Sox team coming into a season as I did this year and they continue to make stupid plays, put together bad at bats, and just underachieve all around. It would be different if we didn't have any expectations for this team or if they didn't have any talent. What also has made this road trip extremely frustrating is the fact that the team had been showing major signs of improvement prior to this trip. They seemed to be turning the season around, not to mention they could and should have won almost every game during this road trip. With the exception of today, they have been in the game at the end of all the contests on this trip, they just haven't been able to get runs in and close games when given the chance (leaving men on base in the late innings in tie games/1 run games).

I don't mean to sound negative, but just the way they have been playing has really posed the question, "Is this team going to underachieve all year?" Its still early and a lot can happen in 100+ games, but if they don't start playing to their potential, this year is going to be one major disappointment.

Lets just hope they bounce back in Boston (easier said than done). Inconsistency has been leading to their underachievement. It seems like when the pitching is there, the offense isn't or vice versa. We need the entire team to focus and just start destroying teams, because they have the talent to do it. Really all their is to do now, for us, the fans, is to support our team and hope they get hot. If they can string together a few nice winning streaks we'll be right back in this thing. Until then, lets just do what we can to support them and pray they figure this thing out.

Sox Inconsistency Costing them Games

2011-05-28T16:52:00.001-05:00

The White Sox have been off and on all season. It has personally costed me a lot of frustration and pain. This post is going to be short and emotionless. They lost a game they should have won on Friday and lost a game they should have won again today (Saturday). There have been a lot of things piling up for this team that keeps costing us games. Im not going to write them in paragraph form, because I'll start rambling. So I'm just going to list them:

1. Complete lack of clutch hitting.
2. Leaving TONS of men on base. (They've left over 25 men on base in this series in Toronto alone)
3. Bad at bats
4. The pitching staff has given up A TON of 2 out hits/walks/runs (especially with 2 outs and no one on base)
5. Lopsided efforts (what I mean by that is when the pitching shows up, the offense doesn't and vice versa)
6. Questionable decisions by Ozzie
   A. Keeping Dunn in the lineup everyday (he needs some time off)
   B. Pinch hitting Quentin today for McPherson with 2 outs and the winning run on 3rd, instead of for Dunn with 1 out. I say this because with a runner on 3rd and one out all we need is some decent contact (Which we are not getting from Dunn) By the way, Quentin hit a deep fly ball that ended the inning, he does that in Dunn's spot and we win.
   C. Managing of the pitching staff and bullpen (don't get me wrong, I like Ozzie, just a few things I think he could have done better lately)
   D. One could argue that shuffling the lineup may help run production as we are putting men on base, but it seems that the same guys continue to come up in big situations and fail. Shuffling the lineup may bring different men up in big situations.

Those are the ones that have really stood out to me as of late. This team has been playing better than during their losing streak, but is still underachieving. With the starting pitching we have been getting and the amount of men we have left on base, this team should be over .500 by now. The above factors amongst other small things are going to need to change or this team will continue to underachieve. I don't mean to be a downer, but this team has way to much talent to have the record they have.

They have great potential, anyone can see that just by watching the games. Think of it this way, we've left all those guys on base and missed all of those opportunities lately and have still been right in the game at the end. It's just those small little changes that need to be made to get us over this hump. I still think we're going to be in the hunt by mid-summer. It has just frustrating lately to watch this team play such mediocre baseball when I know they're capable of great things.

I'm not even going to get into breaking down these last two games. All I'm going to say is:
We left a ton of men on base on Friday and wasted another great pitching performance from our staff.
Today (Saturday) we exchanged blows with the Jays, knocking the ball around the yard and tying it with 2 outs in the 9th. Edwin Jackson struggled, the offense actually gave the pitching staff some support. But the extra innings hit and the offense stalled yet again, until Corey Patterson of all people walked us off.

I leave you with this, we need to get over this hump and start producing and playing the way that I know this team can. If we can win tomorrow and split this double header and try to cool down a Boston team that is on fire right now. If we can salvage this road trip and come home close to .500 we'll really be ready to make up some ground.

We're in Toronto tomorrow at 12:07 over on Comcast Sportsnet. Say a prayer tonight Sox fans, we cannot afford to start losing again.

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Offense Provided by Juan Man

2011-05-27T12:12:00.000-05:00

Phil Humber continued to prove himself on Thursday in Toronto. The White Sox right hander went 7.2 innings scattering 6 hits and 1 earned run giving the White Sox another stellar pitching performance from our starting rotation. The offense was provided by one player who has been starting to pick it up as of late. Juan Pierre, who is on an 11 game hitting streak and quickly earning trust back from his manager.

Pierre knocked in the first run of the ball game on an RBI single in the 5th, only to be countered with a Blue Jays Home run in the bottom of the 6th off the bat of Yunel Escobar. The score would stay tied at one until the 9th inning as both offenses struggled to score. The Sox would catch a few breaks in their last at bats, first on a throwing error by Blue Jay third basemen John McDonald, who fielded Alex Rios's ground ball and threw it into the stands, which of course resulted in Rios being awarded second base. After AJ failed to sacrifice Rios to third, Toronto threw a wild pitch (which essentially was just as good as if AJ had been able to get the bunt down). So after a throwing error and a wild pitch we had the potential winning run on third in the 9th. Beckham was then hit by a pitch and would then steal second with Pierre at the plate. Pierre then hit a ground ball behind the bag at first, which resulted in a foot race to first, as Marc Rzepczynski (Blue Jays pitcher) was slow to cover first, Pierre beat the throw and on yet another break in the inning for the White Sox, the ball was kicked into short right field, allowing Beckham to score from first.

Santos would come in to nail it down and preserve the 3-1 Sox victory.

This was a big win for our White Sox, the offense struggled again, the team is trying to claw their way back to .500 to contend for a division, and we just had a hard loss on Wednesday. All these things in mind, we really needed that game yesterday. We need to close out this road trip in a very strong way because after this trip we go back home and the schedule slowly starts to lighten up. If we can come home at .500 or very close to .500, that is going to put us in prime position to really tear up our schedule.

This win also moved the White Sox up into 3rd place. I know it doesn't sound like much, but when you consider how awful the team was playing just a few weeks ago and how far out of it we were, thats a moral victory right there. We need those small victories to keep us going and to shed light on the fact that we have been making progress, because with the way the Indians have been playing, its hard to feel like you've done much, when you win 11 games out of 14 and you still haven't picked up any ground on the division leading team. We just need to keep chipping away at these teams and we will come out on top. Is that a central division championship prediction for the Sox? Take it as is...

One more thing, did any of you watch for the Toronto fans booing Rios last night like I told you to? Because they definitely did, and it still blows my mind, because they got rid of him....

Anyway, we need this one again today, we have Buehrle on the bump today and first pitch will be at 6:07 over on Comcast Sportsnet. As Hawk would say, we need to sinch it up and hunker down today. Lets get this offense going!

Chest Pains in Texas

2011-05-25T16:19:00.004-05:00

I'll try to keep this one short and emotionless, because I am not happy right now. The Sox needed this one today. They didn't get it, due to the offense and their inability to get ANY timely hitting. Now I am an absolute optimist when it comes to the Sox, but I'm also emotionally attached, every loss hurts, but this one today really killed me. We hit into 3 double plays and strand the entire state population of Rhode Island on the bases. We needed this series and what really gets me, is we played well enough to win today, in terms of base runners and pitching. Poor Gavin Floyd.... my God, he goes 7 innings and gives up 1 earned run and 3 hits.... and gets the loss? Excuse me while I go throw up....

I mean in the last 3 innings alone we left like 6 or 7 guys on base! It's like, "Hang on Ozzie, I'm getting on a plane to Texas right now, I'll come hit for ya." I mean how long can this inconsistency continue with this offense? It is way to talented to leave guys on base like this. What really kills me is the importance of this road trip and the fact that we should be 2-1.

The 8th inning we have 1st and 3rd with 1 out and Dunn strikes out (thats new) and Pierre grounds out. We get nothing.

Now, I wanna talk about something that really, really got on my nerves. My buddy Alexi Ramirez leading off the 9th. Lets break down the situation....

9th inning factors:

- Down 1 run (so we need base runners at all costs)

- Heart of the order

- The pitcher they bring in has control issues

- The pitcher they bring in has walked 12 in his 15 innings of work....

.... Put that all together and what does baseball for Dummies tell us? TAKE SOME PITCHES!!!!! WORK THE COUNT IN YOUR FAVOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Instead Einstein... pardon me... Alexi swings at the first pitch OF THE INNING! And flies out to center. We're already working up hill because we're down a run, now we're down an out after one pitch!! Think thats a stupid point for me to make? Well the pitcher went on to walk the next 2 batters on 9 pitches.... Imagine if Alexi would have just taken a few pitches, might have had an extra out and an extra baserunner.

This offense is just knocking days and hours off of my life, every time they have a good game (last night) they come back and look like they've never picked up a bat before. The only way the Sox are getting back into this is if they stack up win streaks (big or small) and its hard to win when your offense strands Will County on the bases. I'm sorry if this has been an uncharacteristically bleak post, this game today just really bothered me. We just had so many chances, again Floyd and the bullpen do their job perfectly, and the offense just stomps all over our hopes and dreams. I've just never seen such a stacked offense stall like this. And the double plays? Good Lord, I started thinking, yea theres 1 out and a guy on first, we might as well just sac bunt and take our chances getting a base hit with 2 outs, at least we'd stay out of the double play (obviously thats exaggerated, but the double plays are really getting old). Its too bad that we don't get runs for double plays hit into, we'd be unstoppable.

Again, its early in the year still, we're within striking distance of .500 and the division, and our schedule gets really easy pretty soon. Everything is going to be there for the taking, it's just up to the Sox to take it.

My girlfriend just walked out of the room and she says, "Do you want anything?" (meaning to drink or eat) And I responded with, "Timely hitting." This one is gonna be on my mind for a while....

Something to look out for an think about while we're in Canada:

- Take note on how many times the Blue Jays "fans" boo Alex Rios when he bats.....
Even though he gave them a lot of solid years and the Blue Jays were the ones who released him....

Lets bounce back again tomorrow and string some wins together. Sorry if I was negative, even the most optimistic fans have a breaking point sometimes. Go Sox. Everything will look better tomorrow after a big win over the Blue Jays.

Mother Nature Provides the Lightning and Quentin Provides the Thunder

2011-05-25T14:51:00.000-05:00

The Sox went into Tuesday's game after a tough loss on Monday, needing a win. Thanks to Carlos Quentin, they were able to get that win. Quentin started the scoring off in the first inning with a solo home run to left field to put the Sox up 1-0. The Rangers answered right back with a run in the bottom half tying the game. Then it was Quentin again in the 3rd inning hitting an absolute bomb to right field displaying his power to all parts of the park with his second homer of the night. This put the Sox up 4-1. The Rangers answered back in the bottom half with a run, making the score 4-2 in favor of the White Sox where the score would stay for the next 3 hours.

Jake Peavy got the start and only lasted 3 innings.... not because he pitched poorly, but because mother nature had other plans. At the start of the 4th inning a nasty storm blew through Texas, forcing the Ranger's stadium personnel to evacuate all of the stands through the dugouts and into the clubhouses and tunnels underneath the ballpark. What followed was a doomsday type storm, showcasing huge hail, tornado type winds, thunder, lightning, and heavy rain. The rain delay lasted 2 hours and 58 minutes, finally allowing the Sox to continue to the game.

Out of the delay the Rangers would waste no time putting up 2 quick runs in the 5th only to be countered by a BOMB into the second deck by "The Grand Canyon" Adam Dunn. Which was then followed by a single by AJ, a sac bunt from Beckham and a RBI single by Brent Morel to make it a 6-4 Sox lead. Not to be out done the Rangers hit back in the bottom half again with an RBI single by Moreland to make it a 6-5 game. The Sox came out swinging in the top of the 7th putting another run on the board to make it 7-5, (seeing a pattern here)? Texas would put another one up in the 8th to make it 7-6 and with men on base, Ozzie would go to Sergio Santos for the 4 out save. He came in and shut it down in the 8th, just edging his way out of the jam he inherited (courtesy of Matt Thornton). The Sox tack on an insurance run in the 9th on Carlos Quentin's 3rd homer of the game to deep left field. Santos comes on in the bottom half and nails it down giving the Sox a huge victory.

This was a wild one in Texas on Tuesday, this game featured 3 home runs from one player, a 3 hour rain delay that cleared the stadium, and back and forth scoring right out of the rain delay for 2 straight innings. It was like watching a prize fight, two parties just exchanging blows back and forth until one came out on top, and lucky for us, it was our Sox. It was nice to see the team bounce back once again from a frustrating loss on Monday as well as keeping their focus through a 3 hour delay. The Sox need to come out of this road trip in the green, what I mean is, we need to have a winning road trip, its a tough one indeed, but we HAVE to take these series. If we can win each series on this trip (a tall order I know) we will come back to Chicago at the end of May at .500. That would be HUGE for this club

Ok, so real quick I just wanna break down each one of Quentin's homers, just because you'll be able to see just how dialed in he was, because he took 3 different pitches, adjusted to each, and went with each pitch, thats how you know a guy is dialed in.

Ok, so this is the first home run of the night. Now this is a breaking ball that hangs inside. Look at the balance he has here, he stayed back perfectly, he opens up his hips to get around because its inside, arms are extended to the ball (this is what you call "staying inside the ball) and my favorite thing, his head, perfectly down on the ball. He takes this one right down the left field line, keeping it fair all the way into the stands and rounds the bases.

Love this one, its his second home run on the night and this time its a fastball on the outside corner. But again, look at the balance. Stays back, gets his arms extended with his head down again and just goes with the pitch. What you gotta love about this one is notice how he didn't try pulling the ball, had he done that, it would have been an out to the left side, probably a ground out. Instead he takes what the pitcher gives him, keeps his weight back and just drills it, this time right down the right field line. Perfect.

This is his 3rd homer of the evening. Now this is just a hanging breaking ball, right over the plate. Again, picks up the spin, stays back on it and with his head down on the ball, shifts his weight and absolutely kills it to left center.

I really wanted to compare these 3 at bats because not only were they all homers, but each pitch was on a different part of the plate. You had the inside hanger, the outside fastball, and the slider right down broadway. And when you put them next to each other, you can really see 3 different adjustments to these 3 different pitches. When a guy can adjust like this and not miss on any of them, you know he's seeing the ball well.

The Sox need to keep this winning stuff alive. Im actually watching game 3 of this series as I write this and its not looking good. Our offense is stalling again. Lets hope we can get something going because we need to keep stacking up series victories. The Indians are on a losing streak, now is the time to start hacking away.

After this series wraps up in Texas we're headed north of the border for french fries and gravy..... We have the Blue Jays tomorrow, first pitch is at 6:07 (only in Canada) and thats over on Comcast Sportsnet. Look for a possible post after this game today in Texas, it'll depend on the outcome, I'm already a bit agitated with the way we've played today, so we'll see what happens.

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Sox Tack on Another Series Win

2011-05-23T02:31:00.000-05:00

I apologize for not posting sooner, I realize that I have 2 games to talk about. Fortunately for me, both games I need to talk about turned out to be wins, which makes it a lot easier to write about. Ok, so the Sox drop a heartbreaker in the series opener and bounce back with vengeance. The offense exploded in the last 2 games of this series with the Dodgers, if I may reference my last post where I said that we will see if we have a great team here based on their ability to bounce back or not after that bad loss on Friday, well I think they answered my question.

First lets talk about Saturday, the offense exploded for 9 runs and Mark Buerhle was..... well, Mark Buerhle. He completely shut down the Dodgers and scattered 7 hits and 2 runs over 7 innings, vintage Buerhle. What was most impressive about this win for Mark was that it improved his overall inter league record to 24-6, thats best all time, in the history of the Big. Congrats Mark. On top of that, Buerhle is now 10-0 in his last 12 inter league starts.... that is an absolutely ridiculous stat, it really shows how dominant he is during inter league play.

Sox came out and dominated this entire game from the start, knocking their ex teammate Jon Garland out in the 5th inning and shutting down the Dodger offense, highlighted by great pitching and pretty solid defense. Sox took this one easy, 9-2

Offensive highlights for this one:

-Paulie: 3 for 5 with 3 RBIs

- Alexi: 3-4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBIs

-AJ: 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored

This was a huge game for the Sox, because like I said they needed a strong game after dropping that heartbreaker on Friday. This game transitions nicely into Sunday's series finale.

Sunday the Sox came out looking for yet another series victory and were hoping to improve to only 4 games under .500. Well with Edwin Jackson on the bump, they did just that. The big story in this one was the offense yet again (Edwin Jackson had an O.K game and the defense was pretty bad).

Alexi Ramirez was 4 for 5 with 5 RBIs and fell a triple short of the cycle (have a day). Juan Pierre must be reading my blog because he was 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs, getting on base like a leadoff man should. They knocked the ball around the yard and got on the board fast, posting 3 runs in the first inning off of 2 home runs (Ramirez, AJ). What was nice about this offensive effort was that it was relentless, they got up and instead of trying to cruise the rest of the way, they buried L.A, the continued to add to their lead, I love to see that! They have the type of offense that can burry a team and it was nice to finally see them play to their potential (almost). I say almost because despite all the runs, Adam Dunn is still struggling, imagine if we get him going how dangerous this lineup would be..... Another great sign is that Alex Rios is starting to hit, he is a big key to this offense, now that he's starting to hit, this teams production is going to drastically increase. Just as I said multiple times in previous posts, as the weather heats up, so will this teams offense....

Edwin Jackson was above average, he stuck around 5.2 innings, scattering 1 run on 5 hits. Threw a lot of pitches for only being in there for 5.2 innings. He is still having issues with getting ahead of the hitters, thus causing him to throw more pitches. But all in all he had a nice game.

The defense was bad, they committed 3 errors, not much to say about that, they really just need to improve.

This team has finally started to show us what a solid contender it can be, winning 7 of our last 10 and 11 of our last 16. What is pretty awesome to think about is that this team is still not playing totally to its potential. The reason I say that is because there are still guys in our lineup not hitting and the defense is still making multiple errors a game. The more confidence that continues to build with these wins, the looser guys are going to be. The looser they are, the better they play. Once we get Rios and Dunn going, this offense is going to be unstoppable and I promise you the defense will come around.

Now we go on the road for a 3 city road trip. This is a big trip folks, we need to continue to play as well as we have been playing and continue to build the confidence. Because we are slowly creeping back into this thing and it would be a real shame to see all of our work this month go for naught because of this trip. First, we have Texas (in Texas) if we continue to do what we've been doing, were going to be fine. Lets focus on one game at a time and continue to play to our potential. About 2 weeks ago this club was 11-22, now we're 22-26. Pretty impressive if you think about it.

Quick injury report: Carlos Quentin has been benched because of a sore knee, reports indicate that he is fine and he will be available to play tomorrow in Texas. Which is good because last I checked, he's leading the majors in extra base hits...

We're in Texas tomorrow, we're gonna run Danks out on the bump, first pitch will be over on Comcast Sportsnet at 7:05. Go Sox, big series coming up.

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