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  <title>South Side Sox</title>
  <subtitle>A Chicago White Sox Blog Community</subtitle>
  <updated>2012-05-27T00:54:06Z</updated>
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    <published>2012-05-27T00:54:06Z</published>
    <updated>2012-05-27T00:54:06Z</updated>
    <title>White Sox 14, Indians 7: Four three times</title>
    <content type="html">
  
  
    &lt;img alt="Not pictured: South Side Sox" height="300" src="http://cdn2.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/4158644/145333570_extra_large.jpg" width="450" /&gt;
  





  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/895/derek-lowe" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Derek Lowe&lt;/a&gt; (2.15) and &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/245/jake-peavy" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Jake Peavy&lt;/a&gt; (2.39) entered the game with the best and third-best ERAs in the league.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This game tarnished that stat for both pitchers, but at least Jake Peavy got a win to show for it.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/chicago-white-sox" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;White Sox&lt;/a&gt; covered up two bad innings for Peavy with their most prolific performance at the plate this season, and there were no shortage of heroes.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Maybe you like &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/862/alex-rios" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Alex Rios&lt;/a&gt;, who went 3-for-5 with a homer, three runs and three RBI? Or maybe you prefer &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/65892/dayan-viciedo" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Dayan Viciedo&lt;/a&gt;, who also went 3-for-5 with a homer, and scored two runs while driving in five?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Or how about perfection from &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/159/paul-konerko" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Paul Konerko&lt;/a&gt;, who went 4-for-4 with three doubles, three runs scored, two RBI and a walk? Whichever one is your pick to click, it was all good after the third inning.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Peavy, who showed shaky command early, blew a 4-0 lead by giving up five runs in the top of the third, lowlighted by &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/31523/lou-marson" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Lou Marson&lt;/a&gt; and his .100 average singling, and &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/113/shin-soo-choo" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Shin-Soo Choo&lt;/a&gt; getting plunked with two strikes. &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/129127/jason-kipnis" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Jason Kipnis&lt;/a&gt; also rocked Peavy for the first of two two-run homers on the day.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But the Sox struck right back against Lowe, knocking him out after 2 2/3 innings. &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/418/adam-dunn" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Adam Dunn&lt;/a&gt; rifled a shot down the first-base line that clipped &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/640/casey-kotchman" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Casey Kotchman&lt;/a&gt; in the shoulder and ricocheted into the seats for a ground-rule double. Paul Konerko followed by pounding the chalk down the right-field line, and he traded places with Dunn after his own ground-rule double to tie the game.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Alex Rios followed with a single up the middle to score Konerko, and four pitches later, Dayan Viciedo ripped a 2-1 pitch into the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/cleveland-indians" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Indians&lt;/a&gt; bullpen for an opposite-field homer, giving the Sox another four-run inning and an 8-5 lead.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Kipnis narrowed the lead to one with his second homer, but the Sox found another four spot in the seventh to turn this game into a laugher -- with some help by some laughable Indians defense. Konerko, for instance, blew through a stop sign at third and scored without a throw, because the relay was botched. Rios took second and scored two singles later.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/32869/alexei-ramirez" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Alexei Ramirez&lt;/a&gt; hit a squibber to the right side, but he hustled and beat a bad exchange at first to load the bases. And after &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/685/orlando-hudson" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Orlando Hudson&lt;/a&gt; struck out, &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/464/alejandro-de-aza" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Alejandro De Aza&lt;/a&gt; appeared to end the inning with a grounder to short. But the throw to first pulled Kotchman off the bag to score one run, and as Kotchman stumbled collecting himself (and the ball), Viciedo also scored.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;That turned a one-run lead into a five-run cushion, and Rios added two more with his fourth homer of the year.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Bullet point:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;The White Sox improved to 4-0 during South Side Sox methups.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Record: &lt;/b&gt;25-22 | &lt;a href="http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=320526104" target="_blank"&gt;Box score&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href="http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=320526104" target="_blank"&gt;Play-by-play&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;



</content>
    <link type="text/html" rel="alternate" href="http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/26/3045763/white-sox-14-indians-7" />
    <id>http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/26/3045763/white-sox-14-indians-7</id>
    <author>
      <name>Jim Margalus</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <published>2012-05-26T19:45:03Z</published>
    <updated>2012-05-26T19:45:03Z</updated>
    <title>Gamethread: Peavy. Saget. Bobbleheads. Tumbleweeds.</title>
    <content type="html">
  




  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr class="widget_boundry_marker"&gt;
&lt;div class="pane sports_data_widget current_series clearfix"&gt;
&lt;h3&gt;Current Series&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;div class="pane-body"&gt;
&lt;h4&gt;White Sox lead the series 1-0&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;table class="zebra"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td class="td-first"&gt;Fri 05/25&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt; WP: Jose Quintana (1 - 0)                                      &lt;br&gt; LP: Jeanmar Gomez (3 - 3)                   &lt;br&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;

&lt;td class="td-last"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/events/85010"&gt;9 - 3 win&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style="background: none;"&gt;
&lt;td style="background: none;" colspan="3"&gt;
&lt;div class="pane sports_data_widget next_game clearfix"&gt;
&lt;div class="pane-body"&gt;
&lt;p class="game-title"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/cleveland-indians"&gt;Cleveland Indians&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span class="blog-hover-link" id="blog_icon_400781261"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.letsgotribe.com/"&gt;&lt;img class="sbnstar" src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/images/icons/red-star.v2202714.png"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class="blog-hover-menu" id="blog_icon_400781261_menu" style="display: none;"&gt;&lt;span class="img"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.letsgotribe.com/"&gt;&lt;img src="http://cdn1.sbnation.com/community_logos/426/letsgotribe_m.gif" alt="Letsgotribe_m"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.letsgotribe.com/"&gt;Let's Go Tribe&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;@    &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/chicago-white-sox"&gt;Chicago White Sox&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span class="blog-hover-link" id="blog_icon_1322468227"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.southsidesox.com/"&gt;&lt;img class="sbnstar" src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/images/icons/red-star.v2202714.png"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class="blog-hover-menu" id="blog_icon_1322468227_menu" style="display: none;"&gt;&lt;span class="img"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.southsidesox.com/"&gt;&lt;img src="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/community_logos/35560/southsidesox-sm.jpg" alt="Southsidesox-sm"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.southsidesox.com/"&gt;South Side Sox&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="game-info"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/events/85017"&gt;Saturday, May 26, 2012, 3:10 PM CDT&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt; U.S. Cellular Field&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="pitchers"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/895/derek-lowe"&gt;Derek Lowe&lt;/a&gt; vs            &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/245/jake-peavy"&gt;Jake Peavy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="weather"&gt;     Partly cloudy,rain. Winds blowing in from center field at 10-15 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 85.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="foot clearfix"&gt;&lt;span class="link-more"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/events/85017"&gt;Complete Coverage &gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td class="td-first"&gt;Sun 05/27&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt; &lt;/td&gt;

&lt;td class="td-last"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/events/85024"&gt;1:10 PM CDT&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;hr class="widget_boundry_marker"&gt;



</content>
    <link type="text/html" rel="alternate" href="http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/26/3044562/gamethread-peavy-saget-bobbleheads-tumbleweeds" />
    <id>http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/26/3044562/gamethread-peavy-saget-bobbleheads-tumbleweeds</id>
    <author>
      <name>Jim Margalus</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <published>2012-05-26T15:30:08Z</published>
    <updated>2012-05-26T15:30:08Z</updated>
    <title>White Sox All Star candidates need your support</title>
    <content type="html">
  
  
    &lt;img alt="If you look closely, you'll see that Alejandro De Aza is one of six potential White Sox All Stars.  (Photo by Brian Kersey/Getty Images)" height="200" src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/4153640/143087294_extra_large.jpg" width="300" /&gt;
  





  &lt;p&gt;It's only May 26th but since All Star balloting began nearly a month ago, I thought I'd take a look at how our beloved &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/chicago-white-sox" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;White Sox&lt;/a&gt; stack up against  their competition.  Even if you are very conservative, there are 3 positional players that currently should receive really strong support to take a trip to Kansas City on July 10th.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/801/a-j-pierzynski" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;A.J. Pierzynski&lt;/a&gt;- Among American League catchers here is how Pierzynski's ranks:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px;"&gt;Hits- 2nd (&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/648/joe-mauer" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Joe Mauer&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;HR- 1st&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;OBP- 3rd (Mauer, &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/34040/carlos-santana" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Carlos Santana&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;SLG- 1st&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;BA- 1st &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;RBI- 1st&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;WAR- 1st&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;div&gt;As of now, Pierzynski should be a shoe in for the roster.  He is the clear cut choice for catcher in the American League.  Joe Mauer has an extremely high OBP, but that might be because he's the only threat in the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/minnesota-twins" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Twins&lt;/a&gt; lineup.  &lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/159/paul-konerko" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Paul Konerko&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px;"&gt;Hits: 1st&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;HR: 1st&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;RBI: 1st&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;BA: 1st&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;OBP: 1st&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;SLG: 1st&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;WAR: 1st&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Konerko is the easy choice for American League first baseman.  He leads all categories across the board.  There isn't a sane person in the world that would say Konerko hasn't been the best first baseman in the American League in 2012.  &lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/418/adam-dunn" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Adam Dunn&lt;/a&gt; vs. All Star ballot DH choices:&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"&gt;Hits: 6th (&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/291/david-ortiz" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;David Ortiz&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/258/billy-butler" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Billy Butler&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/95/michael-young" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Michael Young&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/442/edwin-encarnacion" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Edwin Encarnacion&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/31800/jesus-montero" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Jesus Montero&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"&gt;HR: 1st (Tied w/ Encarnacion)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"&gt;RBI: 2nd (Encarnacion)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"&gt;OBP: 1st (Tied w/ Ortiz)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"&gt;SLG: 2nd (Encarnacion)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"&gt;OPS: 1st&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"&gt;WAR: 1st&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Dunn faces some stiff competition in David Ortiz and Edwin Encarnacion.  The voters will see that he also has a low BA (.239) while Ortiz is hitting .309 and Encarnacion is at .274.  This one could go either way.  &lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;If you want to be just a little more liberal, you could also say &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/464/alejandro-de-aza" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Alejandro De Aza&lt;/a&gt; deserves a spot.  He's currently 6th in American League outfield WAR.  He's 2nd in Runs to &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/440/josh-hamilton" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Josh Hamilton&lt;/a&gt;.  He's 4th in hits behind Hamilton, &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/4324/adam-jones" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Adam Jones&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/851/ichiro-suzuki" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Ichiro Suzuki&lt;/a&gt;.  He's tied for 2nd in stolen bases behind &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/590/b-j-upton" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;B.J. Upton&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Throw in the pitching candidates in &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/245/jake-peavy" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Jake Peavy&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/112652/chris-sale" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Chris Sale&lt;/a&gt; and there are 6 potential All Stars on the White Sox.  &lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Unfortunately, I'd be willing to bet that none of the White Sox positional players win the fan vote to start.  Konerko will get placed on the team no matter what and I think Peavy will too.  &lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;A.J., De Aza and Sale will only be named to the team if there is a need for an injury replacement.  A.J. won't win the fan vote and he isn't the most well liked guy in the world so the players probably won't vote for him either.  Ron Washington will take his boy &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/642/mike-napoli" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Mike Napoli&lt;/a&gt; if he's given the chance.  Sale hasn't quite earned his stripes either, even though he sports a nifty win/loss and ERA.  De Aza won't be given a 2nd thought.  If you are upset about that, &lt;a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2012/ballot.jsp?tcid=nav_asb" target="_blank"&gt;go vote&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;I'd bet Ortiz wins the DH fan balloting, which will push Adam Dunn to the "Final Vote" ballot.  Dunn would stand a pretty solid chance to make it if that is the case because for some reason the White Sox fans decide to vote in the "Final Vote" after they get upset that their favorite Sox player wasn't named to the team (even though they apparently don't vote for them to start).  &lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The White Sox PR/Marketing brain trust will be hard at work promoting Dunn like he is running for President.  &lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;I've already come up with the slogan though... &lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Donkey Punch.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;



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    <id>http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/26/3044675/white-sox-all-star-candidates-need-your-support</id>
    <author>
      <name>KenWo4LiFe</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <published>2012-05-26T11:00:28Z</published>
    <updated>2012-05-26T11:00:28Z</updated>
    <title>Hector Santiago is getting screwy again</title>
    <content type="html">
  
  
    &lt;img alt="Hector Santiago's left arm had more to offer Friday." height="300" src="http://cdn2.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/4153324/20120501_jel_sl8_028_extra_large.jpg" width="200" /&gt;
  





  &lt;p&gt;Don't look now, but after his effective appearance against the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/cleveland-indians" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Cleveland Indians&lt;/a&gt; on &lt;a href="http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/25/3044490/white-sox-9-indians-3-jobs-well-done" target="_blank"&gt;Friday night&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/107815/hector-santiago" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Hector Santiago&lt;/a&gt; has strung together seven scoreless innings.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Actually, now would be a good time to start looking. Unlike his previous five outings, Santiago looked like the guy he was supposed to be entering the season.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The last time Santiago allowed a run was on May 6, when he surrendered a key solo homer in a 3-1 loss to Detroit over two innings. Not by coincidence, that matched his home run rate for the season -- one gopher ball every two innings, for totals of five over 10 at that point. He couldn't fool many hitters with his off-speed stuff, &lt;a href="http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/4/27/2979746/terrerobytes-is-hector-santiago-tipping-pitches" target="_blank"&gt;perhaps because he slowed down his arm, too&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Santiago rebounded from that outing to restore his ERA, but he sacrificed his repertoire in doing so. He needed 92 pitches across those five outings, and he threw fastballs for 80 of them, taking the occasional break for seven sliders, two changeups, and, most notably, three screwballs. Prior to the season, he figured he would have to r&lt;a href="http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120401&amp;content_id=27805606&amp;notebook_id=27816692&amp;vkey=notebook_cws&amp;c_id=cws" target="_blank"&gt;estrict himself to throwing it 15 to 20 percent of the time&lt;/a&gt;. Two months into the season, he couldn't figure out how to even reach 4 percent.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Instead of throwing a devastating trick pitch, Santiago had been reduced to a one-trick pony. So that's why it was great to see him mix it up again on Friday night.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Here's how he carved up his 26 pitches:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt; &lt;b&gt;Fastball: &lt;/b&gt;16&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt; &lt;b&gt;Screwball:&lt;/b&gt; 4&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt; &lt;b&gt;Changeup:&lt;/b&gt; 4&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt; &lt;b&gt;Slider:&lt;/b&gt; 2&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Finally, his screwball usage creeped over that 15 percent mark. More significantly, his pitch sequencing looked like that of a versatile pitcher.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;He did throw 11 straight fastballs to start the eighth, but the tunnelvision could be defended. He began with four fastballs to &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/129127/jason-kipnis" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Jason Kipnis&lt;/a&gt;, which wouldn't be advised in anything resembling a close game. But with nobody on base and a seven-run lead, I can see Santiago and &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/801/a-j-pierzynski" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;A.J. Pierzynski&lt;/a&gt; keeping it simple.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Same can be said for the second batter, Juan Diaz. It was Diaz's first MLB plate appearance -- he was hitting .232 at Double-A Akron prior to his promotion. Santiago had no reason to dick around, and sure enough, he blew a 95-mph fastball by Diaz for the strikeout.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;When Santiago faced tougher situations and/or hitters, he wised up with his pitch selection. He ended the seventh with back-to-back sliders to freeze &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/113/shin-soo-choo" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Shin-Soo Choo&lt;/a&gt; for the strikeout. With a runner in scoring position and one out in the eighth, Santiago used his screwball to keep &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/34040/carlos-santana" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Carlos Santana&lt;/a&gt; in check.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;He actually started Santana with a low changeup, but came back with an inside-corner fastball to even the count. Then Santiago came with a screwball, and Santana was ready for something faster. He couldn't pull the trigger, and it drifted back over the outside corner to put the count in Santiago's favor. Santiago then doubled up, and Santana didn't fare much better. He was out in front, and he could only manage to reach out and tap a nubber down the first base line. It rolled foul and extended the at-bat.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Santiago threw one more fastball, and Santana couldn't quite get around on it. He rolled out harmlessly to short for the second out. That left the Indians rally up to &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/852/jose-lopez" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Jose Lopez&lt;/a&gt;, and Santiago never threw him a fastball. Instead, he threw two changeups and a screwball. That resulted in another routine grounder to the left side, and &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/685/orlando-hudson" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Orlando Hudson&lt;/a&gt; threw across the diamond to end the inning.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I'm not saying Santiago is healed, but it's a return toward the version of Santiago whose screwball dazzled the Cactus League. That Santiago is a major-league, one-inning reliever. The one Santiago had been playing for the previous five outings was a poor man's &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/811/matt-thornton" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Matt Thornton&lt;/a&gt; -- almost all heat, but not as much velocity, not as much command.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;When he came into the game, Steve Stone said that Santiago and Don Cooper had been working on pitch selection. It's too soon to say he has formed new habits, but the awkward strides and lack of square contact suggests that he might have figured out how to throw more than one pitch with conviction.&lt;/p&gt;



</content>
    <link type="text/html" rel="alternate" href="http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/26/3044578/hector-santiago-is-getting-screwy-again" />
    <id>http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/26/3044578/hector-santiago-is-getting-screwy-again</id>
    <author>
      <name>Jim Margalus</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <published>2012-05-26T04:16:12Z</published>
    <updated>2012-05-26T04:16:12Z</updated>
    <title>White Sox 9, Indians 3: Jobs well done</title>
    <content type="html">
  
  
    &lt;img alt="A beer shower is in order." height="300" src="http://cdn1.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/4152756/145297340_extra_large.jpg" width="200" /&gt;
  





  &lt;p&gt;The pieces continued to fit together as the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/chicago-white-sox" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;White Sox&lt;/a&gt; worked toward their seventh victory in eight games. Sox fans saw plenty of encouraging signs up and down the lineup:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/464/alejandro-de-aza" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Alejandro De Aza&lt;/a&gt; served as a sparkplug, working a seven-pitch walk to lead off the game, and he came around to score when...&lt;br&gt;
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/418/adam-dunn" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;...Adam Dunn&lt;/a&gt; brought the brawn with a two-run homer to center two batters later.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/801/a-j-pierzynski" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;A.J. Pierzynski&lt;/a&gt; marched on with his eighth homer and second triple (a misplayed single, but still).&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/65892/dayan-viciedo" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Dayan Viciedo&lt;/a&gt; delivered two hits, including a two-run Tank blast of his own to right center.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/685/orlando-hudson" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Orlando Hudson&lt;/a&gt; battled his way to three walks and played adequate defense at third. His approach changed the bottom half of the lineup considerably.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/32869/alexei-ramirez" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Alexei Ramirez&lt;/a&gt; rescued his average from a sub-Mendoza drop with the biggest hit of the night, a two-out RBI single that gave the Sox a two-run lead, and sparked the lineup's second act.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But most notably:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/149007/jose-quintana" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Jose Quintana&lt;/a&gt; came up from the minors to make his first major-league start, and ended up giving the Sox six strong innings for his first big-league victory.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Taking John Danks' spot in the rotation for a night, &lt;/b&gt;Quintana showed signs of nerves. His pace slowed to a crawl with guys on base, and he bounced his slider a lot. Yet he quelled the butterflies well enough to limit the damage to two runs, both scored by &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/113/shin-soo-choo" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Shin-Soo Choo&lt;/a&gt; after he led off the first and third innings with doubles.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Oh, the game could have gotten away from him in the fifth. With one out, he issued consecutive five-pitch walks to Choo and &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/129127/jason-kipnis" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Jason Kipnis&lt;/a&gt;. Up came an incredibly tough task for a rookie in &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/4340/asdrubal-cabrera" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Asdrubal Cabrera&lt;/a&gt;, and Quintana started by going right after him with a pair of upper-zone fastballs Santana couldn't get around on.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It looked like inching the fastball higher was the way to go, but Quintana got cute. He tried inside, and then he tried the slider -- one of which bounced away from Pierzynski and took away the double play. But on a full count, Quintana finally got the fastball up enough, and Cabrera popped out to &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/159/paul-konerko" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Paul Konerko&lt;/a&gt; for the huge second out.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/34040/carlos-santana" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Carlos Santana&lt;/a&gt; then rolled over a fastball and grounded it to Hudson, who made a throw in plenty of time. Paul Konerko had to get off the bag to catch it, but he knew he could get back to tag the base to end the inning, so no harm done. Having succeeded in his most difficult situation of the night, Quintana returned for one more inning and threw a 1-2-3 sixth.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Conversely, the White Sox inflicted plenty of damage against &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/103256/jeanmar-gomez" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Jeanmar Gomez&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/cleveland-indians" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Indians&lt;/a&gt; bullpen after Quintana's escape act -- and most of it came with two outs.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In the bottom of the sixth, Gomez found a way to walk Pierzynski and Viciedo back-to-back with two outs. Ramirez followed by lining a single to left. &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/32406/joe-mcewing" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Joe McEwing&lt;/a&gt; had an easy decision to wave Pierzynski with &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/601/johnny-damon" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Johnny Damon&lt;/a&gt; in left, and Pierzynski ended up outrunning Damon's throw to make it a 4-2 game.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Manny Acta replaced Gomez with &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/124822/jairo-asencio" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Jairo Asencio&lt;/a&gt;, who started by doing his &lt;a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA200204060.shtml" target="_blank"&gt;best impersonation of Miguel Asencio&lt;/a&gt;. He walked Hudson on four pitches, then started De Aza with a 3-0 count. De Aza took the next two for strikes, but when Asencio tried a straight fastball targeted for just below the knees, De Aza turned and lined a two-run single into right, giving the White Sox a much safer 6-2 lead.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;They piled on three more in the seventh, all with two outs. &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/862/alex-rios" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Alex Rios&lt;/a&gt; "singled" to left off &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/852/jose-lopez" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Jose Lopez's&lt;/a&gt; mitt (seemed like an error), and came around to score when &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/31727/aaron-cunningham" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Aaron Cunningham&lt;/a&gt;, a corner outfielder playing center, tried to make a diving catch on Pierzynski's sinking liner. He came up a couple feet short, and the ball bounded past him, turning  a single into an RBI triple.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Viciedo jumped on the very next pitch he saw for his 429-foot blast, and the rout was sealed.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Bullet points:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;The defense also stepped for Quintana, with &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/69214/gordon-beckham" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Gordon Beckham&lt;/a&gt; making a brilliant sliding catch in that awkward foul territory behind first in shallow right. Ramirez chipped in with one his classic range-left-spin-and-fire plays up the middle to steal a single from Cunningham.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/107815/hector-santiago" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Hector Santiago&lt;/a&gt; pitched two scoreless innings, and showed a more versatile approach in his second frame.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Carlos Santana took another beating behind home plate, including a foul tip by Rios that rattled his cage and forced him to leave the game.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;By outhomering the Indians 3-1, the Sox now hold a one-homer edge at U.S. Cellular Field.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Record: &lt;/b&gt;24-22 | &lt;a href="http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=320525104&amp;teams=cleveland-indians-vs-chicago-white-sox" target="_blank"&gt;Box score&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href="http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=320525104" target="_blank"&gt;Play-by-play&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;



</content>
    <link type="text/html" rel="alternate" href="http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/25/3044490/white-sox-9-indians-3-jobs-well-done" />
    <id>http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/25/3044490/white-sox-9-indians-3-jobs-well-done</id>
    <author>
      <name>Jim Margalus</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <published>2012-05-25T11:00:40Z</published>
    <updated>2012-05-25T11:00:40Z</updated>
    <title>White Sox heating up at home</title>
    <content type="html">
  
  
    &lt;img alt="White Sox fans appreciate positive events at their ballpark." height="300" src="http://cdn2.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/4142622/145253696_extra_large.jpg" width="200" /&gt;
  





  &lt;p&gt;Back on May 14, after the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/chicago-white-sox" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;White Sox&lt;/a&gt; dropped a series to the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/kansas-city-royals" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Royals&lt;/a&gt;, I'd mentioned that they were &lt;a href="http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/14/3018984/home-struggles-persist-for-white-sox-but-one-reason-is-new" target="_blank"&gt;being out-homered at U.S. Cellular Field by a significant margin&lt;/a&gt;, which didn't bode well if it continued.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Well, after &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/801/a-j-pierzynski" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;A.J. Pierzynski&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/159/paul-konerko" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Paul Konerko&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/862/alex-rios" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Alex Rios&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/464/alejandro-de-aza" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Alejandro De Aza&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/65892/dayan-viciedo" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Dayan Viciedo&lt;/a&gt; left the yard on &lt;a href="http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/24/3042508/minnesota-8-southsidehitmen-11-big-bats-come-out-to-play" target="_blank"&gt;Thursday night&lt;/a&gt;, the White Sox corrected the issue at the moment, they have narrowed the gap to 28-27. And at their current pace, this problem should be resolved sooner rather than later.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Sox have homered in 10 straight games, and this power surge has elevated the Sox to the middle of the pack:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Before May 14: &lt;/b&gt;.238/.306/.379&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;b&gt;After May 14:&lt;/b&gt; .249/.315/.407&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;They're eighth in OBP, sixth in runs, sixth in homers, sixth in batting average ... basically, it's an offense Sox pitchers can work with, and it looks like they're on the verge of eliminating most dead zones. &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/69214/gordon-beckham" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Gordon Beckham&lt;/a&gt; looks better, as long as the lineouts don't get to him. Dayan Viciedo boosted his OPS to an even .700, and he's &lt;i&gt;thisclose&lt;/i&gt; to shaking his too-long swing. Alex Rios is trying to hit for power, and he's left the yard in back-to-back games. Then there's &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/685/orlando-hudson" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Orlando Hudson&lt;/a&gt;, who may turn out to be a massive upgrade over &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/106656/brent-morel" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Brent Morel&lt;/a&gt;, even if he's completely unremarkable.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;These Sox are starting to look like a whole team. And sure, they've won six of their last seven against three below-.500 teams (the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/los-angeles-angels" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Angels&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/chicago-cubs" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Cubs&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/minnesota-twins" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Twins&lt;/a&gt;), but the Sox have struggled to use these favorable stretches to build momentum before, so it shouldn't be taken for granted. Weigh it how you want, but it's an achievement of some sort no matter what.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Now, the pitching staff just needs to hold together...&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3&gt;Terrerobytes&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/chi-danks-headed-to-dl-with-shoulder-soreness-quintana-to-pitch-friday-20120524,0,4469979.story?track=rss"&gt;Sox's Danks headed to DL with shoulder soreness - chicagotribune.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For the second time this season, the White Sox made &lt;a href="http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/24/3041806/john-danks-will-miss-start-on-friday-jose-quintana-to-fill-in" target="_blank"&gt;a late scratch to their rotation&lt;/a&gt; by placing &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/167/john-danks" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;John Danks&lt;/a&gt; on the DL with &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MDGonzales/status/205777009606008833" target="_blank"&gt;"sub-scap"&lt;/a&gt; soreness. Like &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/112652/chris-sale" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Chris Sale&lt;/a&gt;, Danks thought he could make his next start. Unlike Sale, Danks did say he felt unusual.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.csnchicago.com/baseball-chicago-whitesox/whitesox-talk/One-on-one-with-Kenny-Williams?blockID=713244&amp;feedID=621"&gt;One-on-one with Kenny Williams - CSNChicago.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Speaking of Sale, Kenny Williams is emphatic and enthusiastic about 1) the Sox's willingness and ability to protect Sale, and 2) Sale's future in the rotation. Encouraging quotes all around.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120523&amp;content_id=32092876&amp;notebook_id=32094624&amp;vkey=notebook_cws&amp;c_id=cws&amp;partnerId=rss_cws"&gt;Rios frustrated by power outage - whitesox.com: News&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.chicagonow.com/white-sox-observer/2012/05/rios-longs-for-the-old-ways/"&gt;Rios longs for the old ways - White Sox Observer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As mentioned earlier, Rios was starting to get antsy about his lack of slugging percentage. It's true that it's problematic, but James offers the counterargument -- Rios was too pull-happy last year, and even if he's not maxing out his pop, it's not time to get greedy.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So far, Rios has countered the counterargument by homering in every game. Sound strategy.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/12755114-574/sox-hitting-coach-jeff-manto-alexei-ramirez-in-weird-slump.html"&gt;Sox coach Jeff Manto&amp;rsquo;s hitters tear up Twins - Chicago Sun-Times&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Jeff Manto talked about his most frustrated (and frustrating) hitter, &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/32869/alexei-ramirez" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Alexei Ramirez&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;"He&amp;rsquo;s swinging at bad pitches, yet he&amp;rsquo;s lining out all over the place. Once he narrows down his strike zone, he&amp;rsquo;ll be fine.&amp;rsquo;&amp;rsquo;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://whitesoxpride.mlblogs.com/2012/05/25/catching-back-up-2/"&gt;Catching Back Up - Inside the White Sox&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Scott Reifert offers a few more details about Kevin Hickey's end. And, hey, &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/671/greg-norton" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Greg Norton&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/cws/community/take_stand.jsp"&gt;Take a Stand Against Bullying - whitesox.com: Community&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt; &lt;a href="http://chicago.gopride.com/news/article.cfm/articleid/29705364/white-sox-launch-campaign-against-bullying"&gt;White Sox launch campaign against bullying - ChicagoPride.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The White Sox launched an anti-bullying campaign with Robin Ventura, John Danks, Gordon Beckham and Alexei Ramirez. &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/33610/brent-lillibridge" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Brent Lillibridge&lt;/a&gt; offered in-person support by speaking about it to students at McLellan Elementary School in Bridgeport.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/ct-spt-0525-haugh-jake-peavy-chicago--20120525,0,7063868.column"&gt;Peavy pitches with a purpose - chicagotribune.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;David Haugh tells the story behind &lt;a href="https://secure.celebritiesforcharity.org/raffle/a-day-with-jake-peavy-raffle/" target="_blank"&gt;the "A Day With Jake Peavy" raffle&lt;/a&gt;, and it's a pretty compelling one.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And for something completely different, here's Snoop Dogg throwing out the first pitch.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;script src="http://player.espn.com/player.js?&amp;playerBrandingId=4ef8000cbaf34c1687a7d9a26fe0e89e&amp;pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&amp;width=576&amp;height=324&amp;externalId=espn:7970224&amp;thruParam_espn-ui%5BautoPlay%5D=false&amp;thruParam_espn-ui%5BplayRelatedExternally%5D=true"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/p&gt;



</content>
    <link type="text/html" rel="alternate" href="http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/25/3042609/white-sox-heating-up-at-home" />
    <id>http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/25/3042609/white-sox-heating-up-at-home</id>
    <author>
      <name>Jim Margalus</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <published>2012-05-25T05:49:03Z</published>
    <updated>2012-05-25T05:49:03Z</updated>
    <title>The Padded Cell: Wait of the World (part 2 of 2)</title>
    <content type="html">
  




  &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Wednesday morning: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;After days of lumbering aimlessly on the north end of the city good personality, the local fan, an internet chieftain, heads back to his office at the dumping grounds. The permapiss stench has taken a toll on the finicky master, years of burning nostrils and lightheadedness to go with his thankless efforts to disguise indisputable failure. A mold and rot problem at home means he mostly sleeps in or around the Grounds, his ogre of a companion happy to see his bombast out the door. It's less of an escape from anything than what is rapidly becoming a life sentence. A mass of heat has descended on the city, drenching the die-hard fan in sweat. The antiquated facility has no running water, and the only solvent happens to be leftover urine.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The office, as he likes to frequently joke, is actually the bleachers in left. Even when his team is out of town, there he is, sitting in his assigned spot, watching the scoreboard, specially operated for him. He does his best, deepest thinking on the crap-strewn metal benches. Management has told him that they're the best seats in the house for observing the nuances of such a beautiful pastime, even more so when the team is in front of him. It's a more elite version of a pressbox, he was told. He eats it up; he's on the inside.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Somehow it's not enough. The common fans are not appreciative, and the loosely-termed "team" is struggling. The online thesaurus only has three alternatives for "shitstain."  Since the new front office has drafted unconventionally, the field is filled with seagulls and hot dog wrappers. They do a good job out there, they hustle, they grind. The fans support their gulls through thick and thin. Sometimes a toast is raised to them and sometimes wondrous articles are written about them on the internet. Occasionally, a sane voice will point out the the truth of the swirling refuse, the naked emperor. The locals break down completely when you point out that they're actually watching the wind-tossed garbage, and commenting on that refuse, and no, it's not The Most Beautiful Thing in the World. A lifetime of following organized depression invariably leads to personal depression and anxiety and nit-picking on a level par with quarks. It's delusionary and deceptive, and that's how you end up having arguments about which hot dog wrapper has flown the farthest today, or which seagull actually has reverse platoon splits. It's all trash. Paying close attention warps the mind, the focus clouding everything out. It's a police chase, but the perp made off with a pen cap, and no one knows the true owner. Decades are lost this way. Lives are changed for the worse because the grass is well-kept. Children go unloved because some guy says that Old Style tastes better at the dump. Logic and common sense, long the mistreated guardians of justifiable civilization, disappear under distortions of self-promotion and the guise of "analysis." The Golden Rule is skewed and smashed on the griddle of popularity. Things are different in this enclave on the northern part of the city I'd hit that but not with my dick. Tribal leaders celebrate the dump, and the dump pays them back with followers, in a separate, yet still endless, trash gyre.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;With a game in the evening, the bumbling, droopy-faced chieftain quietly starts the inevitable recap as the gulls take batting practice.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Wednesday evening: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The international summit has come to an end, and the city had brokered a weary but lasting peace. Normalcy returns, but not before some parading. The mighty social-networking philosopher king stands in the south side's media booth, congratulated and enveloped by both broadcasters. He claps for the first time in his life, and approves of the bourgeois' approval. He should show that appreciation, at least according to his team of advisors. A swell of good feelings warshes over the crowd, small celebrations of success in trying times. The news is all positive, including around the ballpark housing good. It has been reported that &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/106656/brent-morel" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Brent Morel&lt;/a&gt; will not need surgery to correct his granite-laden back. His offensive production remains a question, but drastic measures are thankfully ruled out. The rock, a token of good luck, remains attached.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;All over the globe, internet-wired fans of goodness allow themselves to Appreciate the Game, the result being a crushing defeat of a division rival from the land of boredom and winter wheat. The win erases memories of Tuesday entirely. News arrives that a funny dad from San Francisco is waiting in the wings to preach the righteous word to the saved. Good things are happening to the right people.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Early Thursday morning: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Another debilitating loss, the ninth in a row, sends the north side writer to the brink. A failed attempt at early death resulted in the hapless goof landing in a chain-link basket, breaking his fall and saving his life. Resigned, he completes the recap, but pens a note to his bosses: he is stepping down. Too many heartaches, he explains. Too many headaches, dealing with asshole commenters, folks that can't even watch their fucking language on his site. Folks that insist on breaking the rules. Trolls.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;With a heavy heart, he slips the letter under Todd Ricketts' door. He loved his job, but it has not been fun lately. He's losing it, snapping off at every perceived insult, which is 80% of his daily social interaction. Now he faces a future of trying to enjoy the games for what they are, as a fan, a return to childlike enthusiasm, to cheering when his team doesn't perform terribly. Salvage the dignity and class that he had known not so long ago.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Down the ramp he goes, every step a reminder of a time before modern inventions, like stairs. Ten losses would be too much. This is the right time for him. The editor is selling low, but he's becoming a real human again, able to be partial, to support his team in the way they need him. Of course, he'll have to buy tickets now, but it's a small price to pay. Actually, it's a hefty price to pay; it's like five fucking grand a year.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;At the bottom of the ramp, the galoot pauses. In front of him is the iron grate where he saw witnessed unbridled joy from fans of the other team in town, and only two nights before. Behind him are memories, but also a new beginning. He's a changed man; the former chieftain is at peace with the team, with his body of work, with his direction. One last look at the dumping ground as a real, hard-analyzing, in-depth, completely unbiased member of the mainstream media.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;His hand perched on the rail, a single tear falls to the concrete floor. It's enough to loosen a large chunk of the ceiling, more unreinforced concrete, and it comes crashing down. A later investigation will prove that the money allotted for safety netting was instead used for race-baiting and a seagull that locals call &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/695/alfonso-soriano" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Alfonso Soriano&lt;/a&gt;. Another die-hard fan of the gulls and the grass and the atmosphere is gone, a journalistic martyr, a fan's fan, although one of the first responders would note, ironically, that the blood on the pavement was quite red.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Saturday, 3:10 pm:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In a ceremony attended by dozens, an appreciative north side fanbase bows their heads in silence. A coffin passes, slowly headed to a plot at Wunder's. A blue flag is tightly draped over the lid, the white &amp;lsquo;L' impossible to mistake.&lt;/p&gt;



</content>
    <link type="text/html" rel="alternate" href="http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/25/3042589/the-padded-cell-wait-of-the-world-part-2-of-2" />
    <id>http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/25/3042589/the-padded-cell-wait-of-the-world-part-2-of-2</id>
    <author>
      <name>Uribe Down</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <published>2012-05-25T04:54:58Z</published>
    <updated>2012-05-25T04:54:58Z</updated>
    <title>White Sox 11, Twins 8: It ain't no fun if the homies can't have runs</title>
    <content type="html">
  
  
    &lt;img alt="Nemo Hoes, aka Snoop Doggy Dogg, rocks the A. J. Pierzynski #12 to throw out the first pitch." height="200" src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/4142049/20120524_jel_sl8_108_extra_large.jpg" width="300" /&gt;
  





  &lt;p&gt;The M&amp;M boys were the only &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/minnesota-twins" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Twins&lt;/a&gt; to do any damage tonight while the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/chicago-white-sox" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;White Sox&lt;/a&gt; and strong winds made short work of the Minnesota pitching staff.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Sox started the salvo when &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/801/a-j-pierzynski" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;A.J. Pierzynski&lt;/a&gt; crushed a foul ball in the second inning. The howling winds pushed it fair and he had his eighth homer and 29th RBI of the season.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Minnesota answered with a run in the third, but the White Sox came right back and put 'a big crooked number on the board' pushing three runs across on an error by &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/738/alexi-casilla" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Alexi Casilla&lt;/a&gt;, singles from &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/69214/gordon-beckham" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Gordon Beckham&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/159/paul-konerko" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Paul Konerko&lt;/a&gt;, and a double by Rios. Runs were scored in seven of the nine innings tonight -- the third was the only one they didn't arrive via the home run.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/19122/philip-humber" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Philip Humber&lt;/a&gt; ran into trouble in the fifth inning. &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/31363/denard-span" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Denard Span&lt;/a&gt; doubled, reached third on a sacrifice, then scored on a wild pitch. &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/648/joe-mauer" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Joe Mauer&lt;/a&gt; homered. &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/430/josh-willingham" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Josh Willingham&lt;/a&gt; walked. &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/649/justin-morneau" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Justin Morneau&lt;/a&gt; doubled and that was it for our starter. He left the game with 4 1/3 innings complete, walking three and allowing six hits (one homer) while striking out four..&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/126693/nate-jones" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Nate Jones&lt;/a&gt; came in and promptly surrendered a base hit to Dozier, which cashed in two more runs on Humber's tab. He settled down after that for 1 2/3 scoreless innings and picked up the win when the Sox went off for six runs in the sixth to put this one out of reach.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Konerko led off the inning&lt;/b&gt; with a homer. &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/862/alex-rios" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Alex Rios&lt;/a&gt; immediately followed with a smash of his own and that was all she wrote for the Twins starter &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/34235/cole-devries" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Cole DeVries&lt;/a&gt;. Left hander &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/33395/brian-duensing" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Brian Duensing&lt;/a&gt; came in and got A.J. to ground out before he got into big trouble. &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/65892/dayan-viciedo" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Dayan Viciedo&lt;/a&gt; doubled. &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/32869/alexei-ramirez" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Alexei Ramirez&lt;/a&gt; singled. Orlando "O-Doggy Dogg" Hudson walked.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;That brought Alejandro DeAza to the plate. In the bottom of the fifth, he smoked a 3-1 pitch for what was initialyl ruled a homer. But after he circled the bases complete with fireworks, the umps went to the replay, which showed the ball just foul. So he was back up there and ended up striking out.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This time, he kept it fair this time for the grand salami. Living like a baller, loc. 10-5 White Sox at the end of the frame.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Justin Morneau tried to keep the party going with a solo shot in the seventh, but Viciedo countered with a bomb of his own in the eighth. Five homers from five different White Sox today.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Morneau hit another homer in the ninth, this one a two-run shot, to narrow the lead to three. But &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/130295/addison-reed" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Addison Reed&lt;/a&gt; settled down and struck out the next two Twinkies to end the game.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Record:&lt;/b&gt; 23-22 | &lt;a href="http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=320524104" target="_blank"&gt;Box score &lt;/a&gt;| &lt;a href="http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=320524104" target="_blank"&gt;Play-by-play&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;



</content>
    <link type="text/html" rel="alternate" href="http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/24/3042508/minnesota-8-southsidehitmen-11-big-bats-come-out-to-play" />
    <id>http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/24/3042508/minnesota-8-southsidehitmen-11-big-bats-come-out-to-play</id>
    <author>
      <name>e-gus</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
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