White Sox | The Baseball Zealot

RICHARD gets THE FIRST career win over KING FELIX

If you’d have told me there was going to be a 5-0 shutout tossed tonite in the game between the Sox and Mariners, I’d have thought we were going to be in for a rough night, especially if I was given the inside scoop that the Mariners were going to have runners at the corners, with nobody out in the very first inning, with Ichiro the runner on 3rd, I’d have bet the farm on the M’s. There’s no way I’d have thought Clayton Richard, he of nine point something ERA would pitch a combined shutout over Felix Hernandez and the Mariners. Richard got Ichiro to hit a comebacker to open the game, bobbled it, threw wildly to first, allowing Ichiro to reach second base. Miguel Cairo then singled to right. Raul Ibanez grounded sharply to firstbase, Nick Swisher stepped on the bag, and fired a strike to A.J. Pierzynski who applied the tag on a sliding Ichiro to complete the doubleplay. After Clayton walked Adrian Beltre, he retired the side by getting Jose Lopez on a groundball force out to Juan “Brooks” Uribe who stepped on third.

The White Sox got on the board in the 2nd when Ken Griffey, Jr. nailed a sacrifice fly to Ichiro in deep rightfield, plating Jim Thome who opened the inning with a ringing double to center and went to 3rd on an Alexei Ramirez single.

Chicago extended the lead to 3-0, scoring twice in the 3rd. The first run coming on back-to-back doubles by A.J. Pierzynski & Carlos Quinten. Then with one out and Thome at the dish Quinten stole third. Seattle elected to pitch around Thome, intentionally walking him after falling behind 3-0, Ramirez promptly singled, scoring Quinten with run number two of the inning.

Again it looked like Seattle might get on the board in the 4th when Beltre ripped a leadoff double, Lopez grounded him to thirdbase, where he was stranded when Richard buckled down to strikeout Wladimir Balentien and get Kenji Johjima on a popout to short. Nick Swisher added to the Sox lead with a long drive into the rightfield stands. It looked like Chicago would score more in inning number four as Juan Uribe sharply hit a groundball of Hernandez’s foot for a single. OC followed that up with a double, that possibly could’ve scored Uribe, but thirdbase coach Jeff Cox held him up, not wanting to make the first out at home. It was a decision I wholeheartedly agreed with, until Chicago’s next three batters failed to move the runners. Still it was 4-0, but would stranding these runners come back to haunt them?

In the 5th with one out Yuniesky Betancourt bounced a one out grounder to third where Uribe, who couldn’t get a good handle on the ball, and thew to first too late for an error. That brought up Ichiro with one out & one on. Brooks Uribe drove toward the hole, cutting off a hard hit groundball ticketed for leftfield, and turned it into a forceout. Jim Thome put one on the board, leading off the bottom of the 5th, by clubbing one high & deep to right, to the delight of his father, who once again was in attendance.

Clayton Richard once again got out of a jam in the sixth, allowing a leadoff double to Ibanez, Raul had to stop at third, when Quinten fired the sphere toward the plate with two on a Balentien single to left. Johjima followed with a linedrive to Quinten in left to put an end to Richard’s night. Matt Thornton, Octavio Dotel, & Bobby Jenks each worked a scoreless inning to preserve the combined shutout. Thornton was most impressive, not allowing a runner, striking out one, while hitting 97 on the gun.

Al & his wife (Dick & Bea’s friends, not Anthony’s parents) were in attendance, along with Tade, and another friend Phil. Final score Good Guys five, Seattle zip. Tomorrow is the last weekday daygame, then an offday, before Elvis Night on Friday. My winning streak is at five games, with another sweep a possibility, and holding on to first place over the Twins by one game.

WHITE sox pound WASHburn

There was some talk the White Sox were interested in picking up Jarrod Washburn from the Seattle Mariners, but GM Kenny Williams said this would not be happening. Even though Chicago has been hard pressed to find a fifth starting pitcher since Jose Contreras suffered a season ending injury, Williams didn’t panic, he left Washburn in Seattle. On Monday night I witnessed firsthand why Kenny wasn’t buying Jarrod.

Even though the Mariners lineup resembled a minor league lineup, they jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Mark Buehrle, thanks in large part to a mixup between the shortstop and secondbaseman on a potential doubleplay grounder to Buehrle that would have ended the inning (Mark threw the ball to Alexei Ramirez who was standing behind the bag, Orlando Cabrera should have been the target).

The Sox tied the ballgame up in the bottom of the 2nd when Jermaine Dye doubled, Paul Konerko singled him home, and Nick Swisher sent a line shot into first row of the leftfield stands, scoring Konerko.

Seattle took a brief one run lead in the top of the 5th, but Chicago came storming back in the bottom of the frame. Ramirez lined out, but then Juan Uribe walked, Cabrera golfed a two run drive to left, A. J. Pierzynski singled, a wild pitch sent A.J. to 2nd, Pierzynski went to 3rd on Carlos Quinten’s base hit, Dye’s double to the rightfield gap plated two, Miguel Batista replaced Washburn & wild pitched Dye to 3rd, then Batista intentionally walked Jim Thome, Konerko was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Swisher singled home one, Ramirez (batting for the 2nd time in the inning) singled home a run, FINALLY the Mariners got the last two outs of the inning, 9-4 Chicago.

Seattle’s Cuban SS Yuniesky Betancourt ripped a solo sixth inning homer to make it 9-5, but then Chicago’s Cuban SS Alexei Ramirez one upped his fellow countryman by belting a 7th inning three run blast off Jake Woods, putting the game on ice. Shouts of MVP engulfed the Cell as Quinten belted his MLB leading 35th homer in the 8th to make the final 13-5 Good Guys.

GM Kenny Williams signed Alexei Ramirez for $1,000,000 per year for four years, which is quite a bargain considering how well he’s played at secondbase (a new position for him), that he can be moved to his natural position of SS next year if Chicago chooses not to re-sign Orlando Cabrera, and that his best position just might be centerfield. Williams was also smart enough not to trade for Washburn or Justin Duchscherer who just went down last night with an injured hip, the same injury that kept him out last year. The GM of the Pale Hose also acquired Nick Swisher for Gio Gonzalez, whom the Sox bombed on Sunday, and picked up the 2008 AL MVP Carlos Quinten for minor league slugger Chris Carter. So I’m not so eager to question Kenny about the Ken Griffey, Jr. deal, time will tell.

Rob & Vicki Taylor were sitting in Dick & Bea’s seats, Steve was hanging with Teddy Ballgame, Chicago Bob bought me a beer (thanks Chicago Bob), and Phil stopped by to say hello. But the most interesting fan hanging around the plate was a 23 year old Korean baseball fan, studying English in America, while working on his degree in Chemical Engineering. His name is Sungkwon Kim, he’s only been in Chicago for a couple of months, but has been in this country long enough to catch ballgames in Oakland & San Francisco, see the Grand Canyon, and visit Las Vegas. Next week he’s going to Toronto to see a Blue Jays game and check out Niagara Falls. He has a great knowledge of American baseball. His favorite baseball player is Korean Chan Ho Park, his favorite White Sox player is Bobby Jenks. You can see a photo of him and your truly at www.whitesox.com/fanfoto gallery 63 (the scoreboard is smoking in the background after OC’s homer. The White Sox also gave him a certificate with his name & the date of the game, signifying his first baseball game at US Cellular Field. It was a Friends of Kevin Smith night and half price Monday, which meant a fullhouse, and an electric crowd.

I received a letter from Taka. Taka is the Japanese baseball fan Nick & I met in Kansas City in 2006 while watching the Yankees play the Royals. He’s going to be in Chicago to see the Cubs play the Phillies at Wrigley Field August 30th & 31st, wanted me to get him a ticket, meet him under the Wrigley Field sign at 1:00 PM, and go to the game with him & Nick. You might remember Taka, we were on the elevator with Alex Rodriguez. Taka told ARod, “I see you in Tokyodome”, Alex replied, “Yeah, I was there”, then Taka touched Rodriguez’s bicep, to which ARod responded sternly, “Don’t touch”. Not to be deterred, Taka is back for another dose of American baseball. I’d love to meetup with my friend from Japan, but I’ll be in Waupaca for the Labor Day weekend. I’m trying to get Japanese baseball fan Erick Robertson from Simyard fame to meet Taka on Saturday and another Cub fan to hang with Taka on Sunday. I didn’t explain to Taka that I’ll never go to Wrigley, I don’t know how “A bunch of buttholes” would translate into Japanese.

BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK JACKS

Jim Thome’s dad was sitting right in front of us, next to Al’s wife Diane, when he jumped to his feet as his son launched a three run blast deep over the rightfield wall. Papa Thome slapped me on the shoulder so hard, I thought I’d have to go on the DL. His sixth inning home run turned a 3-2 game into a 6-2 game, ah some breathing room. Paulie Konerko followed it up with a solo monster drive to left to make it 7-2. Konerko had three hits on the day, plus his career best 2nd stolen base of the year. In the olden days Alexei Ramirez would’ve dusted himself off after getting knocked on his butt, today Joel Peralta put another one on a tee, which Alexei promptly deposited over the leftfield fence. After Peralta was pulled from the ballgame, Juan Uribe made it 9-2, knocking another ball out to left.

I neglected a couple of key defensive plays yesterday which helped Buehrle win, one by Juan Uribe and one by Ken Griffey, Jr. The shutout streak ended in the very first inning, thanks in large part to Konerko’s lack of range at 1B. Mitch Maier roped a fastball to right for a leadoff single off Lance Broadway. Then Michael Aviles hit a groundball to first, which Paulie turned into a double. Broadway got Mark Teahen to pop to short. The dumbest player in baseball (I’ll explain in a moment) lined a two RBI single up the middle. KC had the rookie Broadway on the ropes when Lance walked Billy Butler. Alex Gordon stepped in with two on, two in, and only one out. That’s when the brain surgeon Jose Guillen tried to catch Chicago sleeping, he began sprinting toward 3rd, Broadway stepped off the rubber, double pumped to allow Uribe to get to third, nailed Guillen for the 2nd out of the inning, effectively killing the inning, Gordon grounded out for out number three. KC’s manager came out to pick up the argument that Guillen was safe, keeping Jose in the ballgame, he should’ve come out and kicked Jose Guillen in the butt.

Kyle Davies struckout OC & A.J. in the bottom of the 1st before loading the bases, Konerko popped out leaving the sacks drunk, for his only out on the day. With one out in the bottom of the second, the Palehose strung together four singles, Uribe scoring from 2nd on Cabrera’s base knock. After Carlos Quinten struckout, the Sox had the bases loaded with two outs, but this time Jermaine Dye socked a solid double off the leftfield wall, giving Chicago the lead, which they would never relinquish.

Lance Broadway settled down after Jose Guillen’s first inning dummy play, going 5 1/3 innings to pickup the win. Horacio Ramirez, D.J. Carrasco, & Adam Russell worked the final four innings, scoreless, to preserve the victory, and the sweep.

I argued with a Kansas City scout in the preseason about the merits of signing Jose Guillen. He was telling me the Royals needed his power, I was telling him they didn’t need Guillen’s bad attitude. Certainly Jose has accounted for his share of RBI’s, doubles, and homers. But after watching this goofball the past three games, I’d have to say, I was right. This guy watched & subsequently argued about close calls on many called third strikes, let more balls than I can count drop in for basehits, and then he hotdogged it when he tried to force a runner at third on a ball he might have caught that was dropped into short left. This goofball is what is wrong with baseball today, a me first, Prima Donna, getting millions. I shouldn’t talk bad about this clown as he’s on my APBA team, hopefully I’ll be able to dump him in an offseason trade to a manager that doesn’t read the Baseball Zealot.

BUEHRLE TOSSES DONUTS AT KC

Yesterday Javier Vazquez threw eight innings of shutout ball at lifeless Kansas City, combining on a shutout with Adam Russell. Today Mark Buehrle was on the bump, throwing seven shutout innings at listless KC, teaming up with Octavio Dotel & Bobby Jenks for the shutout.

It was drizzling on the southside of Chicago as Buehrle threw a first pitch strike to Michael Aviles at 7:11 PM, eight more pitches, and it was the White Sox turn to bat. OC bounced one into the hole between short and third, rather than eating the baseball, SS Tony Pena, Jr. airmailed a souvenir to a lucky fan behind firstbase, sending Cabrera to 2nd, something you shouldn’t be doing, especially if your batting average is forty points below the Mendoza Line. With it raining Ozzie Guillen decided to have A.J. Pierzynski bunt Orlando to third in order to get a quick run on the board. Jermaine Dye quickly obliged, lining an RBI double to center. Ken Griffey, Jr. bounced an RBI single past the firstbaseman following a Jim Thome fly to left and a Paul Konerko walk, Dye scored on a nice slide, reaching out with his hand to touch home as he slid by.

That was all Buehrle needed, but the White Sox did tack on a couple more runs for good measure. One insurance run came in the 5th inning when Juan Uribe lined a 3-2 fastball for a leadoff single, hustling all the he made it to 3rd on a Chris Getz single to left, Uribe managed to get back to third on a hard hit ball to thirdbaseman Alex Gordon, Getz moving up on the groundout, and then Juan scored on an A.J. grounder to SS. Paulie was the only man that was going to deny Bobby Jenks a save. Big Bad Bobby Jenks was warming up when Konerko lined an eighth inning RBI single to put the Sox up 4-0. There was an obnoxious Cub fan (is there any other kind?) riding Konerko, while wearing a Sox hat, but he had a Cubbie hat in his hand.

Before the game Kenny Williams signed 1st round draft choice Gordon Beckham to a deal, then the kid got to throw out the first pitch. Beckham will report to Class A Kannapolis on Thursday. Can’t wait for Gordon to get to the big leagues, maybe then he can become a member of that future infield I talked about yesterday. There were family members of Chris Getz in the house, as the rookie secondbaseman got his first start of his major league career, they were wearing #39 Getz teeshirts, and went wild when he was introduced.

CHRIS GETZ HIS FIRST HIT

For Chris Getz it was a night of firsts and a night of lasts. Chris, pinch hitting for Alexei Ramirez, nailed a solid line drive to center off KC reliever Josh Newman. The ball was retrieved, thrown into the dugout, it will be given to Getz, and soon be displayed on his mantle, a base hit in his first big league at bat. Then Getz handled a grounder off the bat of Alex Gordon, threw a strike over to Paulie, and the ballgame was over.

The Grosse Point, Michigan native was drafted twice by the White Sox, once out of high school in 2002, and then out of Big Blue in 2005. At 6’0″ 165 the lefthanded hitting secondbaseman started off his collegiate career at Wake Forest where he batted .305, then transferred to Michigan where he hit .364 & .386 in two seasons with the Wolverines. I saw Getz play in spring training, he’s a scrapper, who does the little things needed to win ballgames. Chris is a slick fielder, who walks about as much as he strikes out, and he can steal a base. He doesn’t have much power, but had hit eleven home runs at the time of his callup. I know alot can happen between now and next future, but it looks as though Getz will be at secondbase, Ramirez at SS, 2008 first round draft choice Gordon Beckham will be at 3B, with Swisher over at first. I may be a little ahead of myself, but daydreaming can be fun.

Getting back to the subject at hand, which is last night’s game. Javier Vazquez stepped it up a notch, throwing eight shutout innings, before giving way to Adam Russell in the 9th. Vazquez was masterful throwing about 100 pitches, while totally dominating the Royals. Javier has the best stuff on the staff, but most of the time he doesn’t trust his ability and nibbles rather than challenging hitters. With Jose Contreras on the shelf for the rest of the year, somebody needs to step it up, and Vazquez is the logical choice.

While Vazquez was dealing, the Sox hitters were hitting. Jermaine Dye got it going in the first inning with a two run blast. Then A.J. Pierzysnski sent a solo shot to the opposite field, just clearing the leftfield fence. Nick Swisher absolutely crushed one, long gone, to right. Brian Bannister kept his team in the game, but got no relief from Kansas City’s bullpen who allowed the Sox to tack on five runs in the 8th, final score Good Guys nine, Royals zip.

OLD FASHIONED PITCHER’S DUAL

My losing streak has reached two games, the last game in Minnesota and the game Monday night at the Cell. Monday night’s game was a classic pitcher’s dual between John Danks of the White Sox and Boston’s Josh Beckett. Beckett came out on the winning side, as J.D. Drew provided him with a two RBI double, which was all the offense he needed, to best Danks. The Pale Hose could only muster one run off Josh on a sac fly. For a while it appeared it might be enough support, as Danks carried a perfect game into the bottom of the sixth, which ended when he plunked Jacoby Ellsbury with a pitch with two outs.

The next inning was when the no-hitter, shutout, the lead, and eventually the ballgame slipped away, when Drew ripped a two out, 2-RBI double, into left-centerfield. Boston added three meaningless runs late in the game to make the final 5-1.

It was good to be out at the old ballyard, but not good to see my boys lose, and slip into 2nd place, as Minnesota beat the Yankees 4-0 at the Metrodome (New York, I feel your pain). I’ll be at the Cell for the next two home series versus the KC Royals & the Seattle Mariners, the Sox travel to Oakland for a weekend meetup with the A’s in between.

Ozzie opens his mouth about retaliation

Ozzie is not one to hold back when it comes to speaking his mind. Something I consider an admirable trait if only because it annoys the higher-ups.

His latest bit came Sunday afternoon when he all but admitted that he has ordered his pitchers to intentionally hit opposing batters. All this came after a game when Sox D.J. Carrasco was tossed when he hit KC’s Miguel Olivio with the bases loaded. That incurred a less than friendly interaction between the two teams.

“I’ve hit people before on purpose. Yes I have, because that’s my job. Protect my players.”

Of course, the media jumped all over this like this was big news. We all know that big story here is not that this kind of thing happens but that a MLB manager, even one with a big mouth like Guillen’s, came out and admitted it.

I’ve heard a couple different strands of responses to Guillen’s statements:

1. What! Managers are still condoning this? I can’t believe this is still happening.

and

2. Of course, this happens! It’s a part of the game of baseball. Guillen is just a moron for talking about it. Boy, in Bob Gibson’s day…

Response #1 usually comes from the office of MLB, the mainstream sports media, and little old ladies with blue hair. The difference is that the Office of the MLB understands clearly that this is has been happening but fails to recognize it officially (see steroid scandal 10 years ago).

Response #2 comes from most everyone else.

Griffey: Two games

Amazingly, the White Sox newly acquired centerfielder Ken Griffey Jr was able represent his whole career in the space of two games.

Friday, a "young" Griffey "sizzled" against Kansas City and went 2 for 3 with 2 rbis, helping his new team to a 4-2 over the Royals.

He appeared to age overnight as he left the game early Saturday due to cramping in his right leg. He was 0-2.

Tomorrow, maybe he’ll take a seat next to the Hawk.

HOME SWEET HOME

I did have better seats, behind the plate, for the series finale, than I did for the 3rd game of the series, left-centerfield, but other than that, same shirt (extra deodorant), no glasses (squinted less, closer to the action), but it didn’t seem to matter.

What a crazy night at the ballyard(?)!!! Sox had a 4-0 lead with John Danks on the mound. I yelled at Josh Fields to watch the bunt, he stayed back, and Carlos Gomez beat it out for a leadoff single, the Twins scored three times in that inning when Justin Morneau launched a three run bomb to right. In the 7th was when things got nuts, Denard Span was hit with a inside pitch while trying to bunt his way on, but he didn’t draw his bat back, which resulted in a strike rather than a man on 1st. Ron Gardenhire didn’t like the call, came out, argued, got ejected, kicked his cap into the air as he left the field, which resulted in Minnesota fans throwing their hats & other objects onto the field. Metrodome fans have more in common with Wrigley Field fans than just their guy fans peeing in troughs. Ozzie Guillen pulled his players off the field, fearful they might get hurt by flying debris.

After Guillen’s young pitcher was iced, Ozzie elected to march Danks out there to face Span with a 1-2 count, despite the fact that he’d thrown nearly 100 pitches, rather than bringing on lefty reliever Matt Thornton. Danks was pulled in favor of Thornton after Span walked. Nick Punto failed to bunt Denard along, but then the tying run reached 2nd on a wild pitch. Joe Mauer’s hard hit groundball ate up Gold Glove(?) SS Orlando Cabrera & skipped into centerfield for a game tying single(?). Thornton got Morneau to hit into a fielder’s choice. Another questionable Ozzie move, he brought on Octavio Dotel to face Delmon Young. Three things make the move questionable; 1) Young is not a home run hitter, 2) .304 against righties, .266 versus lefties, 3) What do you do if he gets on? Cuz Jason Kubel the on deck batter hits much better against righties than he does against lefties .291 13 homers versus righties & .161 1 homer against southpaws, and nobody was up in the pen. Dotel nails Delmon with a pitch, Kubel works the count to get a fastball, and hits it far & deep over the rightfield fence for a three run bomb.

Jermaine Dye’s two run shot in the top of the 8th cut the Twins lead to one. But then Boone Logan was the victim of shoddy fielding as firstbaseman Nick Swisher couldn’t dig a couple of bad throws (one by defensive replacement Juan Uribe & the other by A.J. Perzynski), that resulted in three runs. Uribe somewhat redeemed himself making a diving stop to his left and forcing a runner to end the inning. Final score 10-6 Minnesota, Series 3-1 Twins.

After the game I cabbed it to the Greyhound Bus station for a 1:15 AM departure out of town, didn’t have to hear about that poor fellow who was decapitated on a Greyhound in Canada the night before. It’s always interesting taking Greyhound, but this eight hour ride was basically uneventful.

Justin Morneau is on my APBA team, so I got a tee shirt with his number 33 on it. Originally Morneau wore number 27, but when pitcher J.C. Romero left the Twins, Justin grabbed #33, in honor of hockey goalie Patrick Roy. There are still alot Twin fans wearing outdated #27 Morneau appearal.

Although the Twins didn’t make a move before the trading deadline, they made a big one the day after, recalling Francisco, and releasing Livan Hernandez. Liriano had an outstanding rookie year, was injured, had surgery, didn’t pitch last year, was pounded early this season, was impressive in the minors, and was called up today. There’s something where Francisco will not become a free agent for one additional year, because the Twins resisted temptation, and waited until August 1st.

SOX t-WIN

All by myself, in the Twin Cities! Took the Light Rail from the Mall of America, got down there as the gates opened, found a nice general admission seat about as far away from the action as you can get, out in centerfield. Tonite I didn’t wear my glasses, I’d rather not see a win, than see the losses I saw the last two nights. I’m not superstitious, but I know what works. Whatever it takes!

It was time for Livan Hernandez, 8-1 at home this year, but it was the White Sox turn. Carlos Quentin hit a solo shot just over the leftfield wall, then ripped a bases clearing, two out double, it was 5-0 Good Guys. The Twinks scored, but then Alexei Ramirez put the game on ice with a three run jack. Gavin Floyd held the Twins hitters at bay. BIG BAD Bobby Jenks was brought on in the 9th to get some work in, Minnesota scored a couple of meaningless runs, despite Nick Swisher hitting the wall to grab an out in right, final score 8-3. Now I’ve got a winning streak to keep going.

One more game tomorrow night, after the game I hop the Big Grey Dog back to the Windy City.