Author: Teddy Ballgame

JUST KEEP ROLLING ON

Indian rookie firstsacker Michael Aubrey hit his second career homer to put the Tribe up one-zip. Joe Crede hit a broken bat flyball over the leftfield wall, only to have David Delucci snatch it back for the second out in the fifth, preserving Paul Byrd’s no-hitter. The very next hitter Nick Swisher broke it up for real with a sharp single to right.

After being hit with a pitch his first time up, then walking in his second plate appearance, there was no place to put Jermaine Dye when he stepped to the dish in the 6th. The Good Guys were trailing two to nothing with runners on 1st & 3rd as Byrd fell behind Dye, had to come to him, and Jermaine made him pay with a towering three run bomb to left. Soon Byrd had flown the coop, without his 100th career win, replaced by Jorge Julio.

Joe Crede rocketed a line drive out of the reach of Delucci for an RBI two base hit, Nick Swisher walked to fill the bases, and then Alexei Ramirez was robbed by Ben Francisco of a bases clearing double, and had to settle for a sac-fly. And the White Sox had to “settle” for five runs in the 6th.

Jermaine Dye turned around a Julio fastball for his 2nd homer of the game, the overflow crowd chanted J.D. until he came out for a curtain call. Lefty reliever Craig Breslow was brought in to serve up a blast off the bat of Jim Thome, who seems to be getting hot.

Boone Logan was called upon to close out the 7-2 win, but was replaced by Scott Linebrink with two on and only one out in the 8th, Linebrink did his job. The Sox turned it over to Matt Thornton, who pitched a scoreless 9th.

There were chants of, “LET’S GO WHITE SOX!”, as I walked down the middle of 35th to the L. This will be my last time visiting the Cell in May, won’t be there again till June, as I’m going to Waupaca tomorrow for the Memorial Day weekend. 5/22 will be Welcome Back Carlton Fisk Night. Hopefully the winning streak will still be going on when I venture back down to U.S. Cellular Field.

WHO ARE THESE GUYS?

Rode the L to the Cell last night to welcome our returning conquering heroes back to the Southside of Chicago. The White Sox were returning from a very successful Westcoast roadtrip, which saw them close it out by sweeping the Giants.

It was crowded behind the plate as Tade, Al, Anthony, Rob, Vicki, and myself showed up to see Jose Contreras matched up against C.C. Sabathia. Mike, the caramel-corn guy, came by to say, he had Sabathia on his fantasy team and he was on FIRE!

Sure enough, Sabathia K’d the side in the first, which was expected. But what wasn’t expected was the screamer Carlos Quentin sent flying 415 feet over the centerfield wall, in between the strikeouts. Then Jim Thome, don’t tell me about the lefty-lefty matchup, knocked one out to give the Sox a two run lead after two.

Later in the game Alexei Ramirez, filling in for Juan Uribe, booted a grounder that would have ended the inning, but instead allowed Grady Sizemore to bat with the Tribe down by one. Last year Grady would’ve parked it, but not this time, as he struck out to end the threat.

The bullpen was great again, with Matt Thornton getting a comeback doubleplay grounder, Octavio Dotel striking out the only batter he faced, and Scott Linebrink & Bobby Jenks throwing scoreless innings. All the while the Sox offense tacked on a couple to make the final 4-1. Pablo Ozuna drove in a run with a soft single to right with the bags juiced and Nick Swisher didn’t swish, but rather hit a grounder that drove in another. Ozuna was in for Joe Crede who was tossed after arguing that home plate is not ten feet wide. In two at bats Crede was called out on a ball six inches off the inside corner and then on a pitch six inches off the outside corner. He was ejected when he said, “Mr. Umpire, Sir, I beg to differ”.

Jose Contreras was in control of this game from the start, setting the tone, and you really got the feeling right for the start that he was not going to lose it.

Maybe the White Sox will win all of their games from here on out, what are the odds? What are the odds the Bulls would get the #1 pick in the NBA Lottery Draft with only a 1.7 percent chance? Being a season ticket holder for over 30 years I’m very excited about the possibility of getting point guard Derrick Rose!

SOX ATE THEIR HEART OUT IN SAN FRANCISCO

A couple of lefties who’ve been getting clobbered this year faced each other for their respective clubs Saturday night, you guessed it, a pitcher’s duel. Mark Buehrle (1-5) for the Sox was matched up against Barry Zito (0-7) for the Giants. After two innings Chicago was leading 2-0, it looked like it was going to be easy, but those were the only runs Zito would allow through five innings of work. Barry dodged lots of bullets, allowing eight hits and six walks, but only two runs. San Fran scored a run in the 5th to cut the lead to one, but Chicago added an unearned run in the 6th and held on for a 3-1 win.

Mark Buehrle hit a basehit off the rightfield wall for a single. And he looked sharp on the hill. But once again it was the bullpen doing the trick as Octavio Dotel struckout the only batter he faced, while Scott Linebrink & Bobby Jenks worked the final two innings of scoreless baseball.

On to Sunday, break out the brooms! Matt Cain was pitching a no hitter against the Sox as the game entered the top of the 5th. Although still relatively early in the game, a no-no is always a definite possibility with Cain’s stuff, and a 1-0 lead on the strength of a Rich Aurilia homer was looking tough.

Just about the time I noticed the no-no was when the Sox bats woke up. First Joe Crede hit a 5th inning shot to knot the game at one, Orlando Cabrera broke the tie with a solo blast of his own the next inning, followed by a two run drive off Carlos Quinten’s bat, and then Cabrera did it again the next inning with a man aboard, to make the score 6-3 heading into the bottom of the 7th.

It was bullpen time, which early in the year meant trouble, but lately has meant lights out for the opponents. This time however, the pen couldn’t hold it for Sox starter John Danks. Erhren Wasserman was tagged for two runs and Matt Thornton let in another. Tied at six was where the game stood through seven.

Nick Swisher’s bases loaded two out bloop double to left alluded the leftfielder, clearing the bases, which once again put the game on easy street, as Octavio Dotel was brought on to preserve the victory, leading 9-6.

Dotel must’ve been listening to Take A Walk On The Wild Side, as he walked the bases loaded with nobody out. Ozzie Guillen summoned Nick “Houdini” Massett to get out of the jam, and he did, preserving a one run lead, 9-8. I guess the White Sox hitters aren’t fans of the Beach Boys as they scored four insurance runs off closer, brought in to keep the game close, Brian Wilson, which allowed Sox closer Bobby Jenks to sit back down, and watch Nick Massett to finish this one off 13-8.

Get out the brooms, Good Guys Sweep!

THREE IN A ROW

I tuned in last night’s White Sox game in the 7th inning of a 0-0 tie between the White Sox and the Giants in a, ho-hum, interleague game in SF. Almost immediately Alexei Ramirez, filling in for the injured Juan Uribe, hit a two run shot off Jonathan Sanchez, giving Gavin Floyd a 2-0 lead. Ehren Wassermann, Boone Logan, Scott Linebrink, and Bobby Jenks allowed the Giants nothing, for a White Sox win, three in a row. If they win all their games from here on out, they’ll be 142-20, which is not bad at all. Maybe I’ve been listening to Hawk & DJ too much, MERCY!!!

WHITE SOX/ANGELS KISS SISTER IN SERIES

Often times when two teams split a series of games it is referred to as kissing one’s sister. Kissing one’s sister was never so good for the White Sox as they took the last two games of this four game set, for a two-two split.

The series finale featured former Sox righty Jon Garland (don’t look DonS) for the Halos against Javier Vazquez for the South Siders. The game was a good one, going back & forth. Anaheim jumped out to a 2-0 lead, then trailed 3-2, and then Joe Crede’s error provided the Angels with the tying run.

But when in the top of the 9th A.J. Pierzynski slid into second for a double, just ahead of Reggie Willits’ throw and later scored on Jim Thome’s RBI base rip to right, his first hit of the series, Bobby Jenks was brought on to close it out. And with two out and nobody on base Vlady Guerrero hit a comebacker to the mound, Jenks threw to Paulie Konerko for the White Sox winner & series split. This game was played late Thursday night, sorry didn’t have time to write about it till now.

Ozzie seems to have found a lineup that has been working. He’s moved A.J. Pierzynski to the #2 spot, with Carlos Quentin hitting 3rd, followed by Jermaine Dye. Slumping Jim Thome and Paul Konerko, who has a bone bruise on his right hand have been dropped in the order. Juan Uribe was removed from the game, in favor of Alexei Ramirez, after coming up lame running out a grounder.

REDS ENTER, LIFE W/O KEPPINGER

Jeff Keppinger fractured his patella in Tuesday’s game against the Marlins. He is expected to be out several weeks. Keppinger was hitting .324 at the time of his injury and seemed to have taken the starting SS job away from injured Alex Gonzalez. Jeff is a guy that has had to show he belonged, even though he hit wherever he went. After hitting .383, .365, & .389 in three seasons at Georgia, he went on to post a career minor league batting average of .320 in six long seasons. Now it’s a given he can indeed hit as exhibited by his .313 major league average in 565 at bats.

But this story isn’t about the long road Keppinger took to the majors. It’s about his replacements, temporary as they may be. Rice’s former SS Paul Janish was called up from Louisville to take Jeff’s spot on the roster. While Janish batted .345 in his last year with the Owls, it’s been his glove that’s gotten him his shot at the big leagues.

Reds skipper decided to go with Jerry Hairston, Jr. at SS in Wednesday night’s game against Florida. Hairston would be the offensive half of SS by committee, with Janish being the fielder in the equation. Kind of a Jerry Janish or a Paul Hairston, Jr., if you will. Anyway Hairston lived up to his part of the bargain, going three for four, with a double, triple, walk, stolen base, two runs scored, and an RBI. So with a six run lead it was time for Janish to take over.

Funny how the ball finds you. The first two batters for the Marlins hit grounders to Paul. The first grounder was routine. But the second was a hard hit grounder to Janish’s right, Paul doing his best Mark Belanger imitation, went to the ball, skidded on his right knee, got up, and threw a strike to first. It must’ve seemed surreal to Janish who the night before was pulled from the Louisville game in the 8th inning and told to drive to Cincinnati. As luck would have it, his mom was coming to Louisville to see her son play, she happily rerouted her trip to the Queen City. The announcers were focused on the young shortstop, making his big league debut, looking for a smile as he exited the field. But this kid had worked too hard to get here and wanted to show he belonged.

A little more about the game… Bronson Arroyo looked like his old masterful self as he had everything going on as he led 6-0 when he left the game after six innings of work, lowering his inflated ERA to 6.08, turning the ball over to Mike Lincoln. Coco Cordero, the Reds closer, had worked the previous two nights and was looking forward to a night off. But it wasn’t to be, as Francisco answered the call with the bases loaded in the 9th, a run in, and nobody out. After letting up a two run single to make the score 6-3, Cody Ross stung his old team with a three run game tying bomb.

Would there be anyway Dusty could reinsert his offensive shortstop for his defensive one? Nope it’d be Janish’s job for the rest of the night. Paul almost did himself proud in his first big league at bat as he sent the Marlins outfielder to the wall to track down his deep drive. But things really got interesting in his second time to the dish. The bases were loaded with two outs, game tied, in the bottom of the 10th. Tough lefty reliever Renyel Pinto was on the hill for Florida. Pinto was sporting an ERA of right around 0.50, having only allowed one run in his last 24 innings. Janish just flicked the ball over the first baseman’s head, just inside the rightfield line, for a game winning base knock.

I don’t know what the Reds were doing in the ensuing celebration as they almost killed Paul. They were patting him on the back & jumping on him. In fact one Cincinnati player kicked Janish in the face. Throughout the rest of the scene on the field, the youngster could be seen wiping his nose, checking for blood. Funny thing is, he didn’t seem to mind.

ANGELS SKIPPER HAS MERCY ON WHITE SOX

Last night’s matchup featured Jose Contreras for the Pale Hose versus John Lackey for the Halos. Both were once the aces of their respective staffs. Contreras was the #1 man in the White Sox 2005 rotation when the won it all. Lackey is coming off an injury, but is still pretty much regarded the #1 man in Anaheim. John got out of a first inning jam allowing only one run, soon it was obvious that he had his A-game working. While Jose surrendered one run and the game was a classic one-one pitcher’s dual.

That is until the White Sox got a man on, Erick Aybar made a throwing error on a single, making it 2nd & 3rd with A.J. Pierzynski at the dish. Mike Scioscia having pity on the Sox, not wanting to embarrass them by taking four straight, intentionally passed A.J. This loaded the bases for the hottest hitter on the White Sox Carlos Quentin. You guessed it, Quentin took Scot Shields yard. Final score 6-1.

One more game to go, let’s see if Scioscia has anymore charity in his heart, as Jon Garland will meet Javier Vazquez in the series finale tonight. The Angels are up two games to one. The two teams will meet up again in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend.

HEY BUCCO, NEED AN EYE PATCH?

I know it’s been about one month ago since Pirates hitting coach Don Long was injured when a piece of a shattered bat hit him in the face while he was sitting in the dugout, but the situation of exploding bats has gotten out of control. Check out the full story of Long getting hit, here.

Even though the White Sox are out of town and I will not go to the Unfriendly Confines on the Northside of Chicago, I’ve been watching alot of MLB on Direct-TV’s MLB package. It seems as though three or four times per game, at least, bats are shattering. They are exploding! The barrel end is flying onto the field, causing fielders and pitchers to have to avoid the flying projectile while attempting to field the ball. In many cases the barrel end has a sharp, jagged end, that is seriously dangerous. It’s only fun until somebody gets impaled, or in the case of Don Long, loses an eye, which almost happened.

Last night Brian Roberts was left with only the knob of his bat, after his bat exploded, and the dangerous part flew into the stands, where it almost hit several shocked fans. We all know, when attending a game in person, to be on the lookout for foul balls screaming into the stands, but this is even more dangerous. It used to be that every once in awhile, especially on a rainy day, a player would lose his grip on his bat and it would fly into the stands. In those rare instances, fans would be allowed to keep the bat, or negotiate with the batter for a replacement bat. But who wants to be skewered?

MLB needs to wake up to the fact that somebody is going to be seriously injured or killed and do something fast. What to do, you might ask? Well the problem seems to be in the bats that are used today, in particular maple bats. Before Barry Bonds went on his home run tear, or tearoid as the case may be, nobody except Barry used maple bats. Now everybody uses them. There’s even a bat company called Old Hickory, you guessed it, they make maple bats.

I’m not saying we need to go back to the days of hickory bats. But we need to wake up to the reality that maple bats are lethal weapons and outlaw them, before it’s too late.

RYNO GIVEN THE HEAVE-HO

Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg is serving the third day of his three-day suspension today. It seems Sandberg, manager of the Peoria Chiefs, took exception with an opposing player bunting for a basehit, while his team was leading 6-0. The feisty manager engaged the other manager in a discussion, which led to a bench-clearing brawl.

Some might say, it’s the minor leagues and this player was just brushing up on his bunting skills, a learning process. To which I’d say, you don’t bunt for a basehit when leading 6-0, a learning process. From a Hall of Famer, way to go Ryno!

PLAYING FOR PEANUTS – A HIT

I TIVO’ed Playing for Peanuts, a reality TV show about minorleague baseball, that aired its first episode in Chicago Sunday night on CSN. Finally got around to watching it this morning, after a frustrating late night of watching the Halos crunch Mark Buehrle & the White Sox. I needed a reminder that our national pasttime was worth watching. Playing for Peanuts, John Fitzgerald Director/Producer/Editor, was just what I needed to see.

Wally Backman was the manager of the South Georgia Peanuts of the now-defunct SCL. The SCL was an independent league where players/managers hope to get a chance of getting into more organized ball. I remember when Wally Backman was an up & coming youngster in with the NY Mets. Backman was always a scrapper, being a 5’9″ secondbaseman, who’d do anything to win, and win it all he did, with the 1986 Mets over the Boston Red Sox. As a 26 year old Wally batted .320 for New York that year.

After his playing years were behind him, he was on the fast track to a big league managerial job, in fact he landed one, with the Arizona Diamondbacks. But his stint only lasted days, he never got to manage, before it was disclosed he had a DUI, an incident with domestic abuse, and a parole violation, for which the new skipper might have to do some jail time. The D*Backs quickly distanced themselves from Backman, which is why he resurfaced as the manager of the Peanuts.

Looking over the Peanuts roster I saw another familiar face in Mike Caruso. At 21, Caruso was the Chicago White Sox shortstop of the future when he batted .306 as a rookie in 1998. Mike came to the Sox from the Giants in the 1997 fire sale, in which Chicago shipped off Roberto Hernandez, Wilson Alvarez, & Danny Darwin in exchange for Caruso, Keith Foulke, & Bob Howry. The Sox cashed in the present for the future and Owner Jerry Reinsdorf took a lot of heat. The next year Caruso’s production fell off to a .250 batting average, and his bigleague career was pretty much history. A has been at 22, which is the reason he was trying his luck with the Peanuts.

Checkout the Playing for Peanuts website. Hopefully we’ll be able to do a podcast with John Fitzgerald in the not too distant future.