Tag: White Sox

I spoke to Teddy Ballgame on Sunday night while he was at Angel stadium.  I got a phone call during the inning break after Joe Crede singled in the go-ahead run:

-“Hello?”

-“LET’S GO WHITE SOX!!”

-“Teddy, is that you?”

-“LET’S GO WHITE SOX!!”

-“Teddy, you must be a happy man.”

-“WoooHooo!

Then drunk with excitement (and probably a few beers), he offered to trade me ARod for Crede in our APBA league.  If I thought he was halfway serious, I might have taken him up on the deal.

 

As I said in an earlier post, Zealot contributor Teddy Ballgame is in the heart of Angel country to watch the the playoff games.  Well, I was watching the Bears-Vikings game on the tube and got to thinking.  Ten to one, I bet Teddy is in a bar somewhere and convinced the barkeep to turn the channel to the Bears game.  So I dialed him up.

Somebody answered but all I could was a lot of background sounds which sounded like, you guessed it, a bar.

Finally, he got to where we could talk and sure enough, he was passing the time before tonight’s baseball game by watching the Bears-Vikings game (Go Bears!).  He told me that he was very pleased with how the Sox were doing (obvious) and was looking forward to seeing Contreras in action tonight. 

He then broke out into a chorus of the White Sox fight song.

“Yeah, yeah, Teddy”, I said. ”Remember where you are.  There are probably a barfull of drunk and dejected Angel fans looking for a good target.”  Knowing Teddy, he’s probably decked out in full Sox regalia.

 

Well the ALDS is over and the White Sox have won the privilege to play the Angels in the AL Championship Series.  But what else was at stake?  A lot, apparently.  According to the Chicago Sun Times, politicians had some friendly bets going on.  Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich have won some goodies from their Boston cohorts since the Pale Hose defeated the Red Sox.  Blago will be sipping some Boston clam chowah and Daley will be treated to a lobster dinner.

Of course, it doesn’t stop there.  There is a bet between Mayor Daley and Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle.  Funny Pringle should even consider this since he just ended his boycott of attending Angels games just over a week ago because of the naming of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. 

Anyway, here is what is on the line for the White Sox-Angels series:

MAYOR DALEY:
Lou Malnati’s pizza; Lake Michigan fried perch from BJ’s Market and Bakery; Kasia’s Polish Deli pierogis, blintzes and potato pancakes; Comfort Cake poundcake; Gibsons Steakhouse USDA prime aged Midwest steaks; La Preferida products; Tuscany’s Italian beef sandwiches and sauces; Jay’s Potato Chips; Peking duck from Lao Sze Chuan; Ferrara Pan Lemonheads and Fireballs.

ANAHEIM MAYOR CURT PRINGLE:
Anaheim chili peppers; Sunkist oranges; Disneyland’s 50th anniversary merchandise; autographed script from “The OC” TV show; surfboard and surf apparel; Cleveland Golf’s Halo Hybrid Utility Club; sunglasses and swimwear; Diedrich’s coffee; Knott’s Berry Farm boysenberry jam and Mrs. Knott’s chicken.

 

I got a call from fellow Zealot contributor and Sox fan Teddy Ballgame today.  He flew out to California to see the Sox-Angels playoff games.  As he put it, the Sox “might need my help out there”.

After the outcome of the first game, those of us back here in Illinois informed him that from the perspective of an Angels’ fan, the Sox don’t need any more help.

He’s staying at a hotel a mile or so from the park which translates to a $15 cab ride.  Irregardless, Teddy B says he’s having the time of his life.  The fans at the park are riding Umpire Doug Eddings pretty hard whenever they get a chance.  No surprise there.  Not one back down from a challenge, Teddy B says he went into his “Boo hoo” and “I heard they had good whine in California.” routine. 

I told him to be careful.  Not everyone has a sense a humor.

 

Bryan Smith of Baseball Analysts deliberates the case of Ken Williams v. Baseball Public and renders his decision.

 

If you’re from Chicago, you might be a White Sox fan if…

• you spell “clue” K-L-U.
• you hate Hunter Wendlestedt
• you turn off your cell phone before a baseball game.
• you’ve worked a day in your life.
• you think Jon Rooney should be in the Hall-of-Fame.
• losers aren’t lovable.
• Nellie Fox is the greatest second baseman of all-time.
• a home run hit barely past Torii Hunter causes you to break a sweat.
• your team has the best record in baseball.
• you think Wrigleyville should just be annexed by Iowa and Wisconsin.
• you hate sportswriters.
• you love Dan McNeil.
• you miss McCuddy’s.
• you need only one pre-game bar and it happens to be in the bullpen.
• you prefer tailgating.
• you hate the Twins, Tigers, Indians, Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Reds, Giants, Blue Jays, A’s, and Cubs.
• you are skeptical about everything.
• Ozzieball/Smartball/Smallball is exactly what you’ve been screaming at the Sox to do for the last decade.
• you refuse to buy the Tribune out of principle.
• you still hope the Sox will bring back Robin Ventura.
• you know who Brooks Boyer is.
• you’ve signed a petition to have Mariotti banished from Chicago permanently.
• you love Nancy Faust.
• Carlton has nothing to do with “Fresh Prince.” Fisk should be remembered as a WHITE Sock.
• you remember Falstaff.
• “Disco sucks” chants still bring chills down your spine.
• even a 10 game lead in the division makes you nervous. In fact, it makes you more so.
• “Hitmen” has nothing to do with the mob.
• you can recite the entire lyrics from “Go Go White Sox.”
• you appreciate the work of “The Sodfather.”
• you know who the band Steam is.
• you can remember a time when professional baseball players wore shorts and collars.
• you miss Dave Wills. (NNNNEEEXXXTTTT BOOM!)
• “Winning Ugly” is not an insult.
• you don’t bother with the All-Star game (i.e. the Red Sox & Yankees v. National League game).
• you love Ozzie’s antics and hate when the media tries to play up every little quirk as the end of the Sox season.
• you think Shoeless Joe has gotten a raw deal. Hey, no one ever found him guilty!
• you still love Harold Baines.
• you know and love Beltin’ Bill Melton.
• the devil wears blue.

Just got this as an e-mail and wanted to share it with all. Hope you enjoyed it. GO SOX GO!!!

It was truly a lost weekend for this White Sox fan. While the White Sox were being swept by the Oakland A’s at the Cell, the Cubbies were sweeping the Marlins in South Florida. On Friday a pair of 13 game winners didn’t get the job done. Both Jon Garland of the Sox and Dontrelle Willis of the Fish were losers. Garland lost a toughy 4-2 to Kirk Saarloos. But the real story of this game was when Willie Harris failed twice to advance a runner to third with nobody out, in both instances he’d have scored. The Cubs clobbered Willis for eight runs in 4 1/3 innings of work and cruised to a 9-6 behind Carlos Zambrano who pitched around six walks, 120 pitches thrown.

Saturday wasn’t much better as Barry Zito outdueled Sox Ace Mark Buehrle. The final score of 10-1 doesn’t really tell the whole story as three minor leaguers played major roles in this one. Pablo Ozuna commited two errors at 3B which led to three unearned runs, Bobby Jenks stunk up the joint allowing three runs in 1/3 of a inning, and Kevin Walker kept his ERA at 9.00 by giving up one in the 9th. Still it’s hard to win when you only get three hits. Kerry Wood picked up win #2 of the season and seems to have figured out he doesn’t have to strike everybody out as he walked one while striking out four in 7 2/3 innings pitched. Still the Cubbies were trailing after six 2-1 before jumping all over the Marlins bullpen for seven runs, final score 8-2. Despite a 5-6 performance by Paul Konerko including a game tying homer in the bottom of the 9th the White Sox were swept losing the finale 9-8 in eleven. Neal Cotts, who’s been pitching lights out this season, just didn’t have it allowing three runs in 2/3 of an inning. Still the Sox were still right there until Ozzie Guillen decided to pitch Luis Vizcaino in the top of the 11th, the A’s scored off the beleagured reliever and the Southsiders failed to score in their half. To make matters worse the Northsiders were completing their sweep behind Greg Maddux in a battle of greybeards as he bested Al Leiter 9-2. Maddux had a shutout through eight before leaving the game.

There are a couple of observations I’d like to make. They might be completely off the wall, but here goes nothing. First off everyone was saying how much better the White Sox would be once Frank Thomas returned to the lineup. Well I don’t know what their record has been since the Big Hurt returned to regular duty, but sometimes a team can get into the habit of waiting for the big guy to carry the team rather than a team doing the little things that makes a team a team. While on the Northside Dusty Baker seems to have taken my lineup suggestions and put them into somewhat into practice. The Cubs only have one player who is a proven leadoff hitter Jerry Hairston and Todd Walker is a very effective #2 batter. Both of these guys know how to take a walk and are excellent table setters for the big boppers. I really don’t know what Baker was thinking batting Neifi Perez & Corey Patterson at the top of the order. Still the first half of the season has been enjoyable. This White Sox team is the best in my memory and has a record of 57-29 going into the break. While the Cubs have been struggling to put things together and finish the first half at 43-44. The 2nd half should be interesting. Cub fans would like to have me know that with a rotation of Prior, Wood, Zambrano, & Maddux healthy anything is possible. Yet the White Sox strengths of speed, pitching, & defense don’t go into slumps. Soon we’ll see what we’ll see.