WHITE SOX YELL, FIRE!!!

The Chicago White Sox have a losing streak going at the worst time ever! Losing three straight at the Metrodome was bad enough, but then we came back to Chicago, without a lead, trailing the Twinkies. And we lost against the Indians, this is the same Tribe that threw in the towel by dumping C.C. Sabathia to the Brewers. So now the losing streak had reached four, but Minnesota also lost, to the lowly Royals. Kansas City’s 20 games below .500, but has played ten games above .500 in September. Even though the Twins were losing to KC, I didn’t feel comfortable watching the White Sox games on my laptop, something wasn’t sitting well, maybe it was a cheese overload. Rather than hopping on my pontoon boat in Waupaca and cruising around the beautiful Chain O’ Lakes on a sunny Saturday, I felt compelled to drive four hours to Chicago, get on the Blue Line, take a shuttle bus, to the Red Line, over to the Cell. My team needed me!

I was told once, when in trouble, YELL, FIRE!, not HELP! My team was yelling, FIRE!, loud & clear. Despite the fact there might have been a huge piece of steak in the White Sox throat, the Heimlich was needed. I was coming to town, to save the day, on to the Playoffs! After watching Javier Vazquez try not giving in to Indian batters, it didn’t start out that way, as he struckout the first two hitters on three pitches, before surrendering a solo home run to (Ahhh) Choo, but then in the 5th the Old Javy showed up. This was the same Vazquez with a record below .500, with great stuff, but no faith in his great stuff. The Tribe posted six runs in the 5th to take a 7-1 lead.

My team didn’t just need me there, they needed a bailout! If the Government can swoop in with a 700 billion bailout for the banks & the insurance companies, couldn’t they really come in here and stop this losing streak? I’ve often said, if you wanna screwup, do it on your own. If you REALLY wanna screwup, get the government involved. Maybe this losing streak is too big for the government to do anything here. But I must say, the government enabled the financial giants to make their boo-boos, and now are bailing them out, with our money.

I do recognize my team on the Southside of Chicago has gotten itself into this mess, and now must get itself out! Today might be the last game of the season for the Good Guys. There are many reasons we might not make it to the Playoffs. It’s not the umpires, injuries, or any other available excuses. Here are some downfalls of the team; 1) an overworked bullpen, 2) dealing a relief pitcher, when the setup man went down, for a HOF outfielder with nothing left in the tank, 3) falling in love with a minorleague outfielder who’s come through a few times throughout the year, while a gold glove caliber outfielder rots on the pines, 4) Vazquez has no balls, 5) two young starters who’ve never gone as many innings as they have, 6) allowing Detroit to sign a former member of our championship rotation, he’s even a shirt tail relative of Ozzie, & going to a four man rotation, but the #1 reason for the team’s failure IMHO is reason #7, 7) not being able to play fundamental baseball, can’t bunt, never move runners along, and cannot win without the longball, this strategy is working less since losing Quentin & Crede. All this said & done, Chicago still has a magic number of three. I know the Twinkies have a magic number of two. But the White Sox still have their destiny in their hands, win three straight games, and they’re in! Of course, first we’ve got to stop our losing streak, which has now reached five. BTW, KC rose up again to beat the Twinkies again in the Metrodome.

I’ll go out there again today, with Rob T & his family, maybe we can turn it around. It didn’t workout so well last night, with Al & his sons and Steve in the house. Honestly though, even if we make the playoffs, how far will we get? I know, just get in, but seriously, I’m not buying it.

I was chatting with former Bulls superstar Norm Van Lier on the Red Line on the way to the Cell. He had free tickets he needed to pickup, but none of his buddies showed up to join him. I guess it wasn’t exciting enough to watch a fledgling team struggle for their playoff lives, not nearly as exciting as Norm’s previous night out, listening to & partying with the Eagles. Van Lier did tell me how he was recruited out of Pittsburgh by the University of Alabama to play QB, and how the coach said, way back in ’65, “I didn’t know you were a Negro”. Needless to say, Stormin Norman decided to pass on the Bama QB experience.