Author: Teddy Ballgame

I was a little concerned after beating NY & DET and with MIN & DET coming up the series with KC might be overlooked. Sometimes when feeling good about recent wins and looking forward to upcoming challenges, the present gets lost in the shuffle. Nice to see the White Sox came to play versus the Royals, at least in the first game of this four game set, 12-2. It was a scoreless pitching battle between Jon Garland & Mark Redman until the Good Guys broke it open with an eight run 4th inning. Two notables from that 4th inning: Paul Konerko scored from 2nd base on an A.J. Pierzynski single to left (he didn’t score from 2nd on a double in the middle game against the Yanks) & A.J. scored all the way from first on a double to the wall by Joe Crede (a double clutch by Angel Berroa helped a huffing Pierzynski get in there). Even though the Royals aren’t much of a team, it’s nice to see Chicago take care of business. After beating the Tigers a major step backwards would be taken if the Pale Hose didn’t beat up on KC. And no matter how bad your opponent is, you still gotta go out there & do it! Detroit beat Josh Beckett & the Red Sox to maintain their lead. Tonite the nibbler Javier Vazquez takes the bump for Ozzie, I’ll get plenty of rest before heading out there.

When I got to the Cell I noticed Alex Cintron was in the lineup rather than the hot hitting Tadahito Iguchi. With the White Sox trying to catch Detroit, I was like, what’s Ozzie doing? There is a huge difference between a 2-1 series win and a three game sweep. Well Senor Guillen knew exactly what he was doing as Cintron lined a triple to right-center in the 1st inning, and scored on a sac fly off the bat of Paul Konerko to tie the score at one. Things looked pretty good for the Good Guys as Zach Miner threw 28 pitches in the first frame, it would’ve been alot worse than a tie if not for three sparkling plays in the field, two by Curtis Granderson & one by Carlos Guillen. Then Cintron lined an 0-2, two out, 2nd inning, bases loaded double, giving the Good Guys a three run lead, and they never looked back. Freddy Garcia was backed with seven runs enroute to his 11th win, 7-3. MacDougal, Thornton, & Jenks preserved the win.

It was good to see my buddy Steve back at the ball yard. Steve just got back from a Jay Buckley baseball trip in which he saw games in Arizona, San Diego, Anaheim, LA, & San Francisco. He said it was his second baseball trip with Jay Buckley, who is the best in the business. Also met Joe Crede’s future brother in law, great guy, we’re going to meet up in KC over Labor Day weekend.

Taking the L to the Cell I got a call on my cell saying NickyV went to Emergency with pneumonia. He’s had a cough for two months now, I’ve been telling him he needed to get Z-pack, but his doctor said it wasn’t a virus and his cough needed to run its course. Now NickyV’s on Z-pack and his cough should be gone in five days.

Also got a call from CLuke indicating I was a White Sox jinx, he was wondering if I only was at the game the Sox dropped to NY. I told him I was at all three NY games, plus the Contreras game, and said KC was coming to town so it would be soon safe for him to keep his winning streak alive & come out to a game. CLuke accepted my challenge and came out to support Mark Buehrle against Detroit. I pulled out a Baseball Prospect book CLuke brought to the game, the Tigers scored three off Mark after Juan Uribe missed a basehit & then fed Tadahito Iguchi a little late on a sure DP grounder, and the book went back into the bag for the duration. The Pale Hose scored four unearned runs off Kenny Rogers to edge the Tigers 4-3. Newly acquired Mike MacDougal, Matt Thornton, & Bobby Jenks were lights out over the last three innings. It was nice to see Buehrle get back to form, striking out 7 over six innings, while walking none. Ozzie Guillen lifted big Mark before the game got away, MacDougal picked up the victory.

Got only three hours sleep the night before the last game versus the Yanks, then a 1 1/2 hour rain delay, and then 113 pitches thrown by Javier Vazquez thru five innings. Sox scored four times in the bottom of the 2nd off Mussina, two unearned runs thanks to ERod’s 19th error at 3rd, Giambi cut the lead in half with a two run blast in the top of the 3rd. Brandon McCarthy was sharp in relief despite allowing a two run shot by Melky Cabrera to cut the lead to one, thank goodness Scotty Pods plated Brian Anderson with another insurance run before Melky’s drive. Matt Thornton & Bobby Jenks closed out the Bronx Bombers to preserve the 5-4 win. It was one of the toughest games I’ve had to endure, winning ugly, indeed! I honestly thought I was going to fall asleep on the L on the way home.

Went out to the Cell recently to see the Good Guys get swept by the Minn Twins, but nothing really to write about there. So lemme tell you about a couple of heavyweights going toe to toe in the first two games between the Bronx Bombers and the Pale Hose.

In the 1st game Paulie Konerko took Mariano Rivera over the right-centerfield fence for a 9th inning game tying shot. Jermaine Dye plated the game winner off Yankee reliever Scott Proctor in extras to give Bobby Jenks the W. Ozzie decided the game was important enough to leave Big Bad Bobby out there till it was a White Sox winner.

Then the Big Unit had a no-no going, lost it, and the Sox came back from a 7-0 deficit to close to 7-6. But it wasn’t to be as Mariano Rivera got Jim Thome to bounce to Robinson Cano with runners on 1st & 3rd to end the game. I was calling for Scott Podsednik to bunt up Brian Anderson with the tying run in the 9th to give Tadahito Iguchi a shot, but the skipper didn’t call for the bunt (Scotty Po K’d). I may be crazy, but I thought Po should’ve bunted with two strikes when ARod moved back. Scotty would’ve had an easy single if he just could’ve put down a bunt and you never know, Alex might have thrown it down the rightfield line.

It was great to be there for the first couple. One more game to go. Looking forward to being a part of the soldout crowd again for that one.

LET’S GO WHITE SOX!!!

With Francisco Liriano ailing for the Twins I’m actually rooting for Minnesota against Detroit. 8/21-24 I’ll be in the Motor City to see the ChiSox battle the Tigers, can’t wait.

Roy Campanella .276, 242 HRs, 856 RBIs
Hank Greenberg .313, 331 HRs, 1,276 RBIs
Mickey Mantle .298, 536 HRs, 1,509 RBIs
Mel Ott .304, 511 HRs, 1,860 RBIs
I just got my Baseball Sluggers stamps at the local Post Office in King, WI. I ordered them ahead and picked them up when I picked up my Superhero stamps. But getting back to baseball, and sluggers, these hitters were pure hitters – no juiced balls or players in their eras. Roy Campanella’s career was tragically cut short due to a car accident, best year 1953 .312, 41 HRs, 142 RBIs, fantastic defensive catcher. Hank Greenberg lost four years due to World War II, best year 1937 .337, 40 HRs, 183 RBIs, 170 & 183 RBIs in back to back full seasons. Mickey Mantle, followed Joe DiMaggio as Yankee centerfielder, best year 1956 .353 52 HRs, 130 RBIs, 132 runs, could do it all, & switch hit. Mel Ott, lefthanded power hitter in the Polo Grounds, used leg kick to generate power, similar to Sadaharu Oh, best year 1929 .328, 42 HRs, 151 RBIs, 138 runs, still remember his spinner disk from Cadaco’s All Star Baseball Game (he had an amazing home run spot). These stamps bring these great players from the past back to life.

J.J. Hardy has a tendon injury that will put him on the shelf for the rest of the year. One door closes, another one opens, Bill Hall will assume the role of starting SS for the Milwaukee Brewers this season. Hardy is a smooth fielding shortstop, who is a hard worker, and came up along with Rickie Weeks & Prince Fielder as Milwaukee’s future. Hall was given a shot at the starting shortstop job, but was soon bypassed by Hardy when Billy proved to be inconsistent. Although Hall has been slumping lately, he already has 18 home runs, and has made spectacular plays in the field, along with a few miscues here & there. It looks like the Brewers have found their shortstop of the future in Bill Hall.