Sox Machine: Chicago White Sox blog

The sphere of influence expands

As far as those uber-geocentric East Coast Media establishments are concerned, my employer has been quite lenient in allowing my Midwest freak flag to fly.  For instance, when the White Sox won the World Series, the sports editor allowed me space in the sports section to write a column on behalf of the displaced Sox fan.

Now, I've been awarded a blog to chronicle my summer travels as I go up, down and all around the East to see the Sox. 

I just finished setting it up yesterday, but it'll kick into full gear as I come home to see the Sox at the Cell for the first time since June 2004.  It's the first stop of many I have planned out this summer.  Others include series in Pittsburgh, New York, Baltimore, Boston and maybe even Toronto if I can swing it.  And while the nearest Sox minor-league club is in Kannapolis, the Charlotte Knights make stops in Syracuse (two hours away), Pawtucket (2 1/2) and Wilkes-Barre (three). 

Those who frequented this site when I went to Tucson for Spring Training will have an idea of what I'll be going for in this new travelblogue.  If you enjoyed "Restaurant or Furniture Store?" -- and I know you're out there -- it should be right up your alley.

Warming up to Thorndog

You know what's tremendous about this site's search function -- not only can you find everything I've written about a player by punching in his name, but it also tells you how fast it took to spit out results. So when I enter "Matt Thornton" into the search bar, it gives me 0.003 milliseconds to stick my foot in my mouth.

Thornton's development into a competent relief pitcher has bailed the Sox out big-time as Cliff Politte keeps struggling.  Not only has he gone eight consecutive scoreless outings, but he's put up this line as well:

9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K

This is one of those hot streaks I was saying the Sox needed in order to get their bullpen in order.  Bobby Jenks has been fantastic, and now Thornton is throwing BB's.  With Cotts looking solid if not spectacular, Ozzie has at least half his bullpen in full working order -- and that's plenty more than one could say before the season started.  Brandon McCarthy could be included in this group, depending on which one shows up on a given night.

Since Thornton began thriving, he's practically swapped roles with Cliff Politte, who avoided certain doom tonight when he loaded the bases with two outs before retiring the final batter.  Entering tonight, here's what Clifford has done in his last four outings while Thornton's been throwing zeroes:

3 2/3 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

According to the TV radar guns, Politte's throwing maybe 2 mph slower than he was last year, from 95 to 93.  Perhaps it's just me, but if I weren't looking at the gun readings, I'd guess he was throwing 88-89.  He could very well be throwing as hard as he was in 2005, but his heater is missing...well, heat.  It's just kind of flat, and his slider doesn't do much to scare hitters either.  And he knows he's not scaring hitters, so he's nibbling too much and getting behind in the count.  It's one ugly series of dominoes he's dealing with. 

At this point, I'd say he's about even with Jeff Nelson as the last man in the bullpen -- and Nelson's sole redeeming trait right now is that we're not entirely sure what he has left.  Either he's hurt, or he needs to get angry again.

Democracy in action

To: Mark Anthony Buehrle

We, the undersigned, while recognizing that your rapid manner of pitching leads to success far more often than not, also recognize that said style often results in an excessive number of unearned runs that hampers the chance for your team, the Chicago White Sox, to succeed.

Over the past three seasons, you have allowed 18, 13 and 17 unearned runs, the last of which led Major League Baseball’s American League in 2005, an alarming fact in and of itself.  Yet at the current rate at which you are allowing unearned runs to cross the plate in 2006, you are on pace to top 25 in that category at season’s end.  

There have been various excuses offered as to explain why you break down after defensive contretemps; tipping pitches, unfair balk calls, or additional substandard defensive play have been employed in your defense in the past.  Alas, the biggest culprit amidst these meltdowns is merely an overabundance of pitches thrown towards the upper part of the strike zone that catch the white portion of the plate.  Said pitches are often described as “meatballs.”

The contest tonight, May 30, 2006, between the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians, illustrates the distress caused by such neglect.  After an unsuccessful diving attempt by Jermaine Trevell Dye, you proceeded to throw misdirected pitches to four of the next five batters, resulting in three runs that would not have scored using your conventional standard of precision. Official scoring rules as provided by Major League Baseball declare that unsuccessful diving attempts will not be ruled as errors, so in this case the runs were earned.  For series of events such as tonight, there are no victors – with the exception of the opposing team.  

We are calling for additional resilience during situations after which the defense does not complete a desired play.  We believe that completing this alteration would improve relations between the involved parties, as well the relationships involving other members of the Chicago White Sox and members of the Baseball Writers Association of America who participate in Cy Young Award voting.  

These aforementioned parties all would greatly appreciate a subsidence in the number of unearned runs, which would lead to a significant increase in both your personal win column and that of the Chicago White Sox.  You are the only party who can change it.


Sincerely,

Jim Margalus
The undersigned

On second thought...

After Ozzie Guillen vented to reporters about Brian Anderson's future, perhaps he and Kenny Williams had a long talk about Anderson's character, breaking down tape, discussing his mechanical flaws against what kind of character he possesses.

Or maybe Kenny just printed out the Charlotte Knights' stat sheet and showed it to him.  

At any rate, Guillen has retracted the claws and let everybody know that there's not that much pressure on the rookie center fielder.

''He swung the bat good,'' Guillen said. "He walked and he hit a couple balls pretty good. That's what I want. I want hits, don't get me wrong, but I want good at-bats from him. We need him. He's a big part of the ballclub. Hopefully, he'll go out there and show some improvement.''

Good job, Oz.  It's nice to see him realize that Anderson's a much bigger part of the ballclub than a seventh reliever would be.

To B.A. or not to B.A.

Over the past couple months, I've been a defender of Brian Anderson even though his batting average hasn't surfaced yet.  Okay, you can't even see bubbles anymore. 

Much like the last time I wrote about this subject, there's a wave of articles out suggesting Anderson could be demoted if he doesn't turn it around. 

• Exhibit A: Anderson on the hot seat
• Exhibit B: Anderson on exit ramp
• Exhibit C: Anderson in danger of being sent down
• Exhibit D: Anderson to get shot vs. Indians lefties

The one thing that's missing from this story -- who would replace Anderson?  Only the Tribune's Mark Gonzalez (Exhibit B) touches upon that.  In response to that question, Ozzie Guillen said, "I'm leaning toward another pitcher."  With this bullpen, though, 12 pitchers is not a good idea, though we'll get to that later.

Replacing Anderson's bat is not the question.  It's not hard to find somebody to hit .176 and strike out once every three at-bats.  Timo could do that.  But unlike Timo, Anderson actually brings something to the table:

Center field defense, both in terms of range and arm.

If Anderson's off the roster, the next best options are Rob Mackowiak and Scott Podsednik.  Mackowiak's two misplays in center last week might've cost the Sox both games -- the finale against the Cubs, and the middle game of the Toronto series.  And then there's Podsednik, who has a noodle arm and a whopping four errors in left field already.

The most polished Triple-A option in center is probably Ruben Rivera, who is batting .208 in a park in which Anderson hit .280 last year and is known more for stealing Derek Jeter's glove than flashing his own.  Jerry Owens is only starting to come along, but even he's just another Podsednik defensively.  Ryan Sweeney's only 21 and can't afford to be rushed. 

Feel free to disagree, but I'm plenty more comfortable with Anderson hitting .170 than any of those options patrolling center field in key late-inning situations and another below-average arm in the bullpen.  Considering a couple of the six arms in the bullpen already have trouble finding established roles (Cliff Politte, Brandon McCarthy), all another reliever would do is complicate matters and aid Ozzie in his discomfort-fueled overmanaging.  The one or two innings Anderson might see a night in center field would be a helluva lot more valuable than the one low-leverage inning a seventh reliever would throw a week. 

The Sox put all their eggs in one basket with Anderson when they traded both Aaron Rowand and Chris Young in the offseason, and they're going to have to wait him out, lest they shake the stability of the roster.  I think they can afford to, because center field is still not a prime offensive position. 

Last year, the Anaheim Angels won their division with Steve Finley manning center field for a large part of the year.  At this time in 2005, Finley had just cracked the Mendoza Line and was playing below-average defense.  The New York Yankees won their division with the remains of Bernie Williams posting a sub-.700 OPS, not to mention he couldn't get to anything and couldn't throw to second base on the fly.  Even if Anderson only hikes his average to .210 by the All-Star break, he'll be far more valuable to the Sox than either Finley or Williams were to their teams last year. 

We Sox fans have seen worse offensive performances.  I don't think anybody needs (or wants, for that matter) to be reminded of when Jerry Manuel gave Royce Clayton 104 at-bats to post a .321 OPS at the end of May (Anderson's is .572).  At the same time, there have been a handful of moments that remind us how crucial good outfield defense is, and that's something the Sox can't afford to lose. 

And if they choose to demote Anderson, that's something they're ill-prepared to handle.

Bearing the standards

While out of town for the weekend, the only Sox action I caught was the ninth and 10th innings of the second game of the series.  The Sox tied the game in the ninth on a Juan Uribe single and had runners on first and second with nobody out and Scott Podsednik up -- and they failed to score.  Then, Jermaine Dye was thrown out by Alexis Rios trying to go from first to third on a single the next inning, when he allegedly was a little too casual with his baserunning.

Knowing only this about that game, I didn't blame Ozzie one bit for sounding off about his team's effort, especially when we all know where he's coming from.

''The execution was terrible, horrible. We didn't lose this game because of a home run, we lost this game because we didn't do what we're supposed to do on the field from the first inning. We didn't bunt the ball when we were supposed to bunt the ball.  If they want to be a bad team, they can continue to do that, I'll play somebody else. I don't care who they are and what they do. My job is to try and win games and that's what I'm going to do. If they don't like what I say, they can leave and do whatever they want to do.  We're better than this. We're way better than this. If you want to be in second place, keep playing like that. If you want to win, we have to be better and that starts right now. It's not because Detroit is winning.''

Compare this to Dusty Baker's quote after a recent loss that included a big-time defensive lapse:

"I don't know what the hell is going on."

If you were to guess which team had the better record from quotes alone, the first one would indicate a higher level of despair.

Yet that isn't the case at all, and that's what's so fun about Ozzie.  These rants don't throw his players under the bus, as they're so fond of saying -- they just point to higher standards.  He gives players credit when they meet them, and when they fail them in a spectacular fashion, he lets them know. 

Better yet, I get the feeling that Ozzie would've responded with a similar quote even if they managed to pull out a victory that day because his standards are means-based, not ends-based. 

It's easy to get caught up with the idea of a clutch player versus a choker -- look at the press Alex Rodriguez gets in New York for his late-inning failures -- but Ozzie treats every scoring chance as equally important.  The Sox won a lot of games in the first inning last year, outscoring their opponents by 53 runs in the first frame on the season.  This season is more of the same, as the Sox have outscored opponents 108-57 in the first three innings this season (give or take a few runs). 

That's the way Ozzie's Sox play, sometimes too often for only one run, but they're concerned that one run gets scored in the first place.  It would've been easy to pin this one on Jeff Nelson, but it's nice to see a manager emphasize the eight to 10 innings beforehand.

Suspending reality

Suspensions and fines were handed down in the Sox-Cubs brawl last week, and for the most part they seem fair.  Here they are:

• Michael Barrett: 10 games, undisclosed fine.
• Brian Anderson:  Five games, undisclosed fine.
• Joey Cora: Two games, fine.
• A.J. Pierzynski: $2,000 fine
  

The first two make sense.  Barrett and Anderson are both currently appealing their suspensions, but both are what I would've handed down.  Barrett slugged a guy out of nowhere and started the whole situation, and Anderson went out of control against a guy (John Mabry) who was only trying to break things up.  

Cora got lost in the footage I saw, but if he did throw any sort of punch, he got off relatively light.  Remember, during that awesome Tigers-White Sox brawl in 2000, Juan Samuel received 15 games for participating instead of mediating.  And hey, it keeps Ozzie busy at third base for a couple of games.

Pierzynski, on the other hand, shouldn't have to pay a fine for merely raising his arms and slapping his jaw.  Officially it's for "inciting the crowd," but all he did was make them applaud louder.  Unless A.J. was giving explicit orders to throw objects at the Cubs, I don't see what he did wrong.  In this case, as long as his motions were ambiguous enough, the ends should justify the means. 

But you gotta love Dusty Baker and the way he defends his players.  In this story, he said:

Was Baker surprised Pierzynski didn't get a suspension?

"Kind of. Yeah," Baker said. "Like I said, whenever there is a cause, there is an effect. The effect was Michael."

No, Barrett was the cause.  The ensuing rush of players to home plate was the effect.  Unless you want to say the Cubs' terrible play was the cause, and the effect was Barrett releasing his frustration.  Remember, immediately after the incident, here's what Dusty said:

"I saw a clean play by A.J. That's how you play the game."

We're talking about practice

Through the first six weeks of the season, the Chicago White Sox find themselves with the second-best record in the league (31-15) to their intradivision rival Detroit Tigers (32-14).  Not by coincidence, they've also played some of the easiest schedules in the entire major leagues. 

The Sox are dead-last in opponent winning percentage at .458, while the Tigers rank 26th in the category at .481.  Their difference in record is due to how they've played the Kansas City Royals this season -- with a comeback victory today, the Tigers improved to 8-0 against the worst team in baseball, while the Sox are 6-3, which explains the 1 1/2-game difference.

Even though they have an unmaintainably high winning percentage, the Tigers' pythagorean record is the same as their real one -- 32-14, while the Sox's run differential plays out to be two games worse than their real record.  Obviously you have to take that with a grain of salt -- the Sox were pythagorean champs in 2003 and 2004, and a fat lot of good that did them.

This probably doesn't mean anything more than pythagorean record, but going back through the games and counting what games they should've won and lost, I have the Sox's "real record" at 33-13.  I can't form the Tigers' record for purposes of comparison since I've only caught a couple of games, but given how stingy they've been in allowing runs, I can't imagine it'd be all that much different from their already stellar mark.  Detroit's team ERA (3.22) is nearly a full run better than ours (4.08) -- and we're in second place! 

To formulate the Sox's "real record," I counted the victories the Sox were lucky to get, as well as the defeats they snatched away from the jaws of victory, and tallied them up with the games they decisively won or lost.  Obviously there's some subjectivity involved, so here's what I counted for and against the Sox's win totals:

Added wins:

1. The first loss against the Royals
2. The second loss against the Royals
3. The third loss against the Royals
4. Vazquez gives up the lead vs. the D-Rays
   
5. The meltdown against the Cubs

Added losses:

1. The Pablo Ozuna Game
2. The Mother's Day comeback against the Twins
3. The return of Frank Thomas

Perhaps that's why it felt like the Sox were off to a rough start -- not just because Detroit was keeping pace, but because we lost three winnable games before winning a loseable one, and we haven't quite made up the deficit yet. 

At any rate, the practice rounds are over.  As it stands now, the Sox won't face a sub-.500 team until they travel to Pittsburgh on June 27, with series against the Blue Jays, Indians, Rangers, Tigers, Reds, Cardinals and Astros in between.  Those teams combine to have a winning percentage of .555. 

Likewise, while the Tigers face two losing teams during that stretch (Devil Rays and Cubs), it's an uphill climb for them as well.  The other teams they'll face during that stretch include the Indians, Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, Blue Jays, Brewers, Cardinals and Astros, which shakes out to a .540 winning percentage.

It's going to be a tremendous fight to the All-Star break.  Let the games begin.

Three up, three down

While we're on the off day, I thought it might be a good idea to figure out what were the three best games of the season and the three worst to date, if only for a reference point later in the year. 

No victories against the Royals count, because considering the way they're playing -- they're 10-35 at this time and on a 13-game losing streak -- there's no reason we shouldn't beat them (although the Royals have already taken three games from us already). 

Three most satisfying:

May 22: White Sox 5, Athletics 4:  The Sox let Frank Thomas enjoy a glorious return, but not the taste of victory.  The Sox were patient enough to wait through a Barry Zito they couldn't hit, then unloaded on the Sox bullpen.  Bobby Jenks pitched with some tremendous cojones, striking out Bobby Crosby with three straight curveballs.  And whenever you win an extra-inning game with a picture-perfect two-out RBI bunt, it's gotta go up there.

May 9: White Sox 9, Angels 1:  Usually the Sox struggle against a pitcher who they've barely seen, but that wasn't the case against Kevin Gregg, who they smacked around thoroughly.  Meanwhile, Freddy Garcia shut them down on the other end for a resounding and easy victory.

May 14: White Sox 9, Twins 7:  There's nothing enjoyable about the first inning during which Mark Buehrle gave up seven runs, but the Sox didn't let that phase them.  The offense chipped away, got the lead, Buehrle regrouped and then the bullpen took care of the rest.  More importantly, it stopped a two-game losing streak against the Twins and turned what looked like a series loss into a split.

Honorable mention: The Pablo Ozuna Game.

Three biggest stomach punches:

April 7: Royals 11, White Sox 7:  Jon Garland had a 6-0 lead after two innings and let it evaporate.  Emil Brown played a flawless left field during a windy night that absolutely pantsed Ozuna in left.  Just a horrible effort all around.  You could put all three losses against the Royals on this list, but this one's the worst.

May 21: Cubs 7, White Sox 4:  Michael Barrett struck again, this time with a triple instead of a punch across A.J. Pierzynski's face, and Jacque Jones gave them the lead with a homer off Neal Cotts.  It spoiled a nice return by Jose Contreras, and made the media think for a second that Barrett's punch rallied the troops -- it didn't.

May 16: Devil Rays 10, White Sox 7:  Boone Logan -- in perhaps his last White Sox appearance ever since he just lost a game in Charlotte -- took a so-so spot start by Brandon McCarthy and made it a debacle, and still the offense nearly rallied to save his hide.  

Honorable mention: Our introduction to Boone Logan.

Nelson schmelson

Jeff Nelson made his White Sox debut tonight as he faced two batters, retiring one and walking the other.  Neither a tremendous or disappointing debut for the guy who White Sox fans hope can get some right-handed batters out. 

At 39, his best days are behind him, but perhaps he can put a few good months together in a situational role.  Goose Gossage managed to do the same into his 40s, and while Nelson's no Gossage, he was at one time one of the toughest relievers in the game.  So you never know what kind of performance you may be able to squeeze out of him.

Unfortunately, when it's come to dumpster-diving for righties, Kenny Williams hasn't exactly lucked out.  Here's what he's found since taking over the GM position in 2001: 

Mike Jackson, 2004:  Jackson, 39, who didn't pitch in the majors the year before, gave the Sox a great April until hitters finally caught up with his no-longer-punishing stuff.  A bad May and worse June relegated him to a mop-up role, and the Sox finally cut him at the end of August.  Jackson did face 82 lefties that year (compared to 105 righties), who pounded him to the tune of a .980 OPS.  I'd be surprised if Nelson faces more than 20 over a full season. 

Where'd he go?  Jackson never pitched in the big leagues again.

Rick White, 2003:  Before coming to the Sox, the 34-year-old White split the previous season between Colorado and St. Louis.  In Colorado, he looked like any other reliever at Coors Field, but in St. Louis, his numbers were outstanding.  He allowed three earned runs in 22 innings, and his WHIP was under 1.00 as well.  It was a different story with the White Sox, as he served up 11 homers in 47 innings (double his rate at Coors), and didn't make it through the end of his one-year, $600,000 contract.  He too was released at the end of August. 

Where'd he go?  White is still pitching with the Cincinnati Reds, though his ERA is once again over 6.00.

Jose Paniagua, 2003:  He doesn't necessarily fit into this category because he was only 29 when the Sox got a hold of him -- nevertheless, I'm going to say he had a more eventful one-third of an inning pitched than any other pitcher in White Sox history.  Paniagua came into a game against the Twins with an 8-2 lead.  By the time he left, he had allowed four runs, three hits, one walk, and flipped off the umpire on the way out.  Jerry Reinsdorf asked an intern to remove his photo from the wall immediately.  His ERA with the Sox:  an even 108.  And that was that.

Where'd he go?  Paniagua still hasn't surfaced, and it's easy to guess why.  But do you know who got the save in that game?  It was...

Tom Gordon, 2003:  Kenny Williams took a flyer on Flash, who was 35 at the time and trying to weather the comeback trail from Tommy John Surgery.  For $1.4 million, Gordon just about kept the season alive after Billy Koch turned out to be a shadow of his former self.  Gordon was as nasty as ever, striking out 91 batters in 74 innings and leading the team with 12 saves. 

Where'd he go?  Gordon is closing games for the Phillies, and he's already racked up 13 saves.  And he's making three times as much now as he did with the White Sox.

Nelson's not a likely candidate to be the next Gordon, considering he's more old than he is injured.  Most Tommy John Surgery patients take a couple years to get back to full strength, and that's exactly what Flash did.  On the other hand, considering Nelson's only thrown one-third of an inning and has had assault charges filed against him in the past, there's an outside chance that he could be the next Paniagua, but that's also doubtful.

As it stands now, the best case scenario is that he gives us at least one good month like Jackson did while the rest of the bullpen can get in order. 

...and here comes the suck

People may call Captain Stubby & the Buccaneers' "Let's Go, Go-Go White Sox" cheezy or corny -- but compared to the latest attempt at a White Sox anthem, that 1959 march makes anything Mozart wrote sound like dogs barking "Jingle Bells."

The new one is "Here Come the Sox," and you can listen to a clip here -- and trust me, it's all you'll want to hear.

At least "Let's Go, Go-Go White Sox" has a discernable melody.  Hell, you don't even really need a melody, as the atonal yet enjoyable "Meet the Mets" proves.  The first line gets stuck in your head, and the rest isn't so important. 

But this song....man.  The best way I can describe it is like Rush redoing the Power Rangers theme by overdoing the syncopation.  The lyrics aren't bad in and of themselves, but the music makes them feel that way.  It doesn't get me excited about baseball; instead it makes me feel like a Swedish metal guitarist with assless lycra and a name I can't spell or pronounce is going to kick my door down, flash devil horns and start shredding.  From the Sun-Times article:

Rene Ledesman is credited with the lead vocals, which were recorded last March at id Music Studios in Chicago. Morris said he will support the CD's release this month with a multipronged campaign including a viral/blog component, a grass-roots, hardcore Sox fan viral campaign and a local media blitz.

Oh, it'll be viral alright.  One listen will make you want to rush to the bathroom.

...and here come the pretzels!

Frank Thomas had what you'd call a successful night at the plate upon his return to Chicago.  The Big Hurt put a big hurt on two Jon Garland fastballs and added a single down the line for a three-hit night.

Chicago fans had a nice night for themselves as well -- they gave Frank a warm round of applause his first time up as Frank doffed his helmet, and even gave him a polite round of applause after his second-inning homer gave Oakland a 1-0 lead.  I had mixed feelings during the blast, but it was nice to see a flash of old Frank, even it was in his new duds. 

Sox fans booed him during his next at-bats, but it sounded like the jeers were accompanied by a wink.  Sort of a "We were nice, and look what you did" kind of way.  Maybe not.  Whatever the case was, the first ovation was the most important, and Sox fans, by and large, got it right.

Now it's our turn to brace for the media fallout.  Comcast was already hyping Thomas' latest round of comments between innings, that his relationship with Kenny Williams is irreperable and he's not friends with Ozzie Guillen, either.  Kenny sounds like he learned his lesson from sounding off the last time around, keeping sound bytes to a minimum.  Ozzie's been unusually quiet. 

Of course, that's only one side.  Then there's the columnist, and Phil Rogers has lobbed the first molotov cocktail saying Frank is growing past useful, using an argument that always irritates me:

Had Thomas won in 2000, when a juiced-up Jason Giambi nipped him with a huge September, he would be a lock for Cooperstown. Only eight players have won more than two MVPs; seven are in the Hall, and the other is Bonds.

Thomas should be a Hall of Famer. Hopefully, he won't become a hitting version of Goose Gossage, playing so long on the downhill side of his career that we forget how great he was in his prime.

For one, if voters made a mistake, why blame that on Thomas?  He put up a monster year that year -- if voters screwed him, that's their problem, not Frank's.

And if voters (many of the MVP voters have HOF votes) can't remember that they made a mistake when they evaluate him, then that's a fairly damning indictment of the current system.  Frank put up one of the greatest 10-year runs of any right-handed hitter, and he's also the greatest player in White Sox history.  What he does now is immaterial to his claim to greatness, whether he bats .100 or .400.  If extending his career makes people forget what he did, then those writers shouldn't have votes in the first place. 

I'm sure that by the time this series is over, this column won't be the one hitting the Hurt the hardest.  However, I'm guessing it's the only one I'll link to, since I don't want to give Jay Mariotti the page views. 

Big Hurt deserves a big hand

Going to the Cell tonight night to greet Frank Thomas?  You lucky bastard. 

Going to the Cell tonight to boo Frank?  Bad idea. 

Frank Thomas may not be the greatest player in Sox history (different metrics say Luke Appling has him beat), but there's no doubt that he's the most important player in Sox history.  Without him, there's no World Series banner hanging proudly beyond the left field wall.  Without him, the White Sox may not be here as we know it.  He came around at a very delicate time in the Sox history, when Chicago turned into a Cubs town and the Sox were rumored to be heading to St. Petersburg, and he helped to put the Sox back on the map.

There are two reasons that I've heard/seen that people will use to rationalize jeering Frank:

1. He badmouthed the organization
2. He was whiny/selfish/only concerned about his stats

And neither of those two hold any water, because:

1. The front office has kicked plenty of Sox players on their way out the door.
2. Those stats helped turn the Sox into a winning team.

If Frank were trying to turn singles to left into inside-the-park homers to set records, or stopping at first on a sure double to make sure his slugging percentage rounded to an even number, that'd be one thing.  Instead, Frank saw stats as a tangible indicator of his performance, and he wanted to make them as awesome as possible.  What's wrong with that?

And Frank never lost a game for the Sox by frowning, but he sure did help the team win a lot of games by pounding the crap out of the ball.

Even Ozzie, who was never afraid to tell people what he thought of Frank, wants the fans on Thomas' side:  "I hope the fans in Chicago are smart enough to treat him the way he should be treated.  I expect the fans to appreciate what Frank Thomas did for Chicago. They should appreciate the way he played the game. I want Chicago fans to show the Oakland A's how good they are, how loyal they are, how appreciative they are."

I see three reasons to boo a player who's returning to the stadium he once called home.

1) He mailed in performances after taking the money.

Frank never did this, but one guy who criticized him for faking an injury did -- David Wells.  Boo that sack of crap all you want.

2) He insulted fans and/or the city.

Frank wanted to stay here his entire career and play for us, so he doesn't fail that. 

3) He committed some sort of indefensible crime.

Frank's police record is clean as far as I know.

I don't necessarily see chasing the money as a big impetus to boo somebody, especially if it's the guy's one big chance to cash in.  I harbor no ill will towards Magglio Ordonez because there was no way on Earth he'd see a five-year, $75 million contract from the Sox, but the Tigers wanted to give it to him.  It's his life, his future, and this source of income is going to dry up after age 40, so make what you can.  But considering the A's only guaranteed Frank $500,000 or so, money's not an issue here, either.

As ticket prices rise, though, more and more people see paying for admission as paying for the right to harrass players who don't deliver to them exactly what they expect to see.  That's why Cleveland fans booed Jim Thome even though the Tribe is much better off with the cheaper, younger Travis Hafner.  Some Twins fans boo A.J. Pierzynski despite the fact that he 1) contributed to pennant-winning teams, 2) didn't leave on his own, 3) brought two starting pitchers and a stud closer when he was traded, and 4) was replaced by a better catcher.

It's just the way things are now, but they don't have to be that way at the Cell tonight. If I could attend, I'd be giving him a standing ovation during his first at-bat, and then seated applause every at-bat thereafter -- unless everybody around me were standing, then I'd join right in.  Frank Thomas helped reshape the franchise from floundering to flourishing, and Sox fans never started truly expressing their gratitude until last season.  Still, no reason to stop now.

He gone, but problems remain

As was highly anticipated, the Sox optioned Boone Logan to Triple-A Charlotte before today's game when activating Jose Contreras.  Even though he was a failure during his time in the big leagues, he can be consoled by the fact that jumping from Winston-Salem to Charlotte is still a pretty considerable leap.

Still, the Sox have problems with the bullpen, as evidenced by Neal Cotts' breakdown in today's game.  It's true that he should've been out of the inning when he got Todd Walker to hit a ground ball to second, but allowing a homer to Jacque Jones (1-for-19 against lefties entering the game) was unacceptable. 

It's easy to pin the blame on Ozzie Guillen when the reliever he brings in fails to get the job done, but in his defense, he really hasn't had a go-to-guy emerge.  Bobby Jenks is the most effective guy in the Sox bullpen right now, but even he's looked flat when brought in during the middle of the inning.  Cliff Politte didn't look much better, either.

Here's what Sox relievers did last year in comparison to what they've accomplished this year in terms of consecutive scoreless outings.

	2005		2006
Name	Outings	IP	Outings	IP
Politte	20	19.2	3	2.2
Cotts	12	8.2	3	2.2
Jenks	7	9.1	5	4
McCarthy	n/a	n/a	3	6
Thornton	n/a	n/a	4	3.2
Hermanson	19	21	n/a	n/a

If you count scoreless outings as appearances in which the pitcher did not allow an earned run, then Cotts and Jenks get considerable boosts on their 2005 streaks.  Cotts went 23 games (18.1 IP) without an earned run at one point, while Jenks tied together 11 appearances (16 IP).  And their hot streaks were spread out over the entire year.  First it was Hermanson shouldering the load, then Politte picked it up, followed by Cotts and Jenks finishing the year strong. 

It's easy to forget about the boost Dustin Hermanson gave this club at the start of 2005, but a Svengoolie-type performance is what the bullpen could desperately use now to get its members back on track. 

Right-crosstown

Now that I've seen the video on the Cubs-White Sox brawl , I really can't understand what Michael Barrett was thinking, but here's the sequence of events in photo form, posted in a separate article to preserve load time on the main Sox Machine page.



Here's the funniest photo I saw:

Notice the guy named "The Riot" is standing on the perimeter of the fracas.

Anyway, from looking at the video and the postgame comments, I'd be surprised if A.J. Pierzynski received any sort of suspension.  Okay, I wouldn't be surprised, but it'd be wrong.  Barrett said A.J. didn't say anything to him, that he was wrong to punch him and wish he would've pushed him instead.  Dusty Baker, who sticks up for his players no matter what, also stated that the collision at the plate was clean.

I'd say anything between 7 and 10 games would be fair for Barrett, that he'd at least miss a week of ballgames.  After all, Russ Springer got four games for throwing at Barry Bonds, something that could be justified as an accident even though it looked like Springer was throwing with a healthy disregard towards Bonds' wellbeing.  But there's no mistaking a punch to the face, especially when the incident that happened before the punch was by all accounts a clean play. 

A.J. might get a game due to reputation alone, but all he was guilty of was good baserunning.  It looked like he was trying to retrieve his batting helmet, considering Barrett didn't stand straight up, but instead towards Pierzynski, getting up and into his face in the process.  Note that he also walked away after the punch, instead of trying to retaliate.

Brian Anderson, who also was ejected, probably should get five games, considering he was a little too vigilant in protecting his teammates.  Unlike Scott Podsednik, who tackled Barrett and held him down, Anderson was swinging away.  John Mabry shouldn't have been ejected, since he was mainly avoiding Anderson's haymakers, but his ejection was the equivalent of Pierzynski's, removing the people involved regardless of who started it. 

I'd also like to see Rich Hill and Jeannie Zelasko suspended for stupidity.  Here's what Hill said:

"I think it was pretty gutless, him hitting Michael when he didn't even have the ball. That's not how you play the game. ... It's pathetic."  

You know what's also gutless?  Rich Hill's pitching.  He threw like he was afraid that he'd be hit hard -- and he was.  And hats off to Jeannie Zelasko for completely misreading the situation:

A.J. Pierzynski had a little more to say to Michael Barrett.  The Cubs catcher, of course, got the last word with his fists.

Except he didn't say anything.  That's FOX reporting for you. 

Miss Rooney? It could be Wirtz

Remember how we all felt cheated by the Sox organization when it couldn't come to terms with John Rooney, and they let him walk to St. Louis?  It still hurts to listen to radio broadcasts, but I suppose it could be worse.

Like, say the White Sox couldn't come to terms with Rooney.  And let's say the Cubs won the World Series in 2005 (work with me here), so the Sox owned the longest championship drought in all their sport.  And let's say just before that, the Sox decided to jack up the prices of some of their seats 66 percent in one year, forcing many longtime season-pass holders to give up their tickets.

And let's say over the past 10 years, Kenny Williams hired puppet coaches that he would periodically fire just so he could serve as coach on the Sox bench.  And let's say he would routinely alienate people who threatened his power, like by promoting players he had no business promoting so the minor-league coaches would look worse. 

And let's say Kenny and Ron Schueler decided to not only get rid of their best players and fan favorites, but for pennies on the dollar.  Like trading mid-90s Frank Thomas for Bob Hamelin, Mark Buehrle for Glendon Rusch and Aaron Rowand for Doug Glanville instead of Jim Thome.  And let's say their much-hyped prospects never panned out, like a bunch of Scott Ruffcorns -- except for the ones they traded, which would turn into Kip Wells of varying utility. 

And let's say that Jerry Reinsdorf refused to televise home games and made fans pay to watch playoff games, turning his product invisible to people who didn't want to be glued to a radio for 2 1/2 hours. 

And let's say that the quality of the team's play suffered so greatly that the only reason to pay attention to those untelevised home games was because Rooney was calling the games on the radio.  And let's say you find out -- with little advance notice or hints -- that Rooney has decided to jump ship and join the St. Louis Cardinals broadcast booth.

What on earth could possibly serve as the last straw after that?

That's the question Blackhawks fans are asking themselves now that Bill Wirtz & Co. has decided to part ways with the widely respected Pat Foley, who served as the Blackhawks play-by-play guy for the last 25 years. 

I could probably write the same eulogy for Foley that I wrote for Rooney -- he served the same purpose during hockey season.  He made the hardest sport to broadcast over the radio sound so exciting without sacrificing smoothness, and with guys like Jeremy Roenick, Chris Chelios, Eddie Belfour (or SAAAAAAAAAVE Belfouuuuuur!), Steve Larmer and others -- it's what hockey was supposed to sound like. 

And piece by piece, Hawks ownership has stripped its fans of that experience, selling away its best skaters, defenders and goalies one by one until it could boast mediocrity at best in every phase of the game.  The only thing left was Foley, and now he's gone too -- and if it was his decision, I don't blame him one bit.

At this point, I think the only way the organization can abuse its fans more is if the ushers greet ticketholders by punching them in the face.  That would probably hurt less, actually. 

Logan's running on empty

boon·dog·gle   Informal
n. 

1. An unnecessary or wasteful project or activity.
   

Perfect.  We have a new nickname.

The first sighting on the Boone Logan watch gives us mixed signals -- fortunately, it's from Scott Merkin, who writes in his latest notebook (emphasis mine):

Guillen hinted that a second move had been discussed, when talking to the media prior to Friday's series opener. Right-hander Agustin Montero appears to be the odd man out for the moment, with rookie left-hander Boone Logan staying put.

The White Sox surveyed the opponents' landscape over the next week, in games against Oakland, Toronto and Cleveland. With left-hander power such as Oakland's Eric Chavez, Toronto's Lyle Overbay and Cleveland's trio of Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner and Ben Broussard on the horizon, Logan sticking with the White Sox for the time being seems to make sense.

Javier Lopez also could swap places with Logan. The veteran southpaw is 2-0 with a 0.42 ERA for Charlotte.

While normally this would cause me to tear out my hair, as a beat writer for MLB.com he's not allowed to say anything critical of any player in a Sox uniform.  Mentioning Lopez might be the nicest way he could convey the fact that Boonedoggle should be shipped to the minors. 

Let's hope he's just trying to sugarcoat the news, because Logan has actually been worse against lefties, defying his supposed natural platoon advantage.

vs.	AB	BA	OBP	SLG
LHB	21	.429	.500	.571
RHB	34	.265	.395	.412

He doesn't seem to be as afraid to face lefties, as he has a much lower walk rate in that situation -- but that doesn't necessarily mean he's any good.  His rates are worse than Lopez's were last year, and Lopez pitched so poorly, even at Coors Field, that he found himself out of a job. 

Speaking of Lopez, here's the line he's putting up against lefties in Charlotte so far this season.

vs.	AB	BA	OBP	SLG
LHB	20	.150	.227	.150

Also, 13 of the 16 outs he hasn't registered via strikeouts have been on ground balls.  Toss in his other numbers (0.42 ERA, 5:1 K/BB ratio), and there's really no reason why he shouldn't be up in the majors.  Hopefully this is Merkin's way of telling us.

Baines in, Raines ?

We can put those Don Cooper-to-New York rumors to rest for awhile, as he and several other White Sox coaches have signed multiyear contracts.

The most surprising turn of events is that Harold Baines signed on for at least a couple more years, while Tim Raines has decided to wait until the end of the year and mull over his options.  Cooper, Greg Walker, Joey Cora and Art Kusyner are still all on board.

Before this season started, I would've expected it to be the other way around.  I can't find any articles backing this up, but I remember that Baines seemed like he was just waiting for his contract to end with the Sox, that coaching wasn't for him and he'd rather explore other options. On the other hand, Raines looked like there was no place he'd rather be.  He was always smiling, always talking, trying to beat the throw to first during between-inning infield warmups.

Now Harold wants to stick around, and Raines isn't sure what he wants.  Maybe the Sox bench just sucks the life out of people.  Maybe too much Timo is still on the pine. 

Boone Logan, pumpkin

Throughout the day, I would type “Boone Logan” into Google News to see if he was sent down, replaced by one of several arms currently throwing very well in Charlotte.  It hasn’t happened yet.

It seems like it’s only a matter of time, and I could’ve sworn that I saw something that said the Sox will consider shakeups after returning to Chicago – but all I found was the following Ozzie Guillen quote in this story:

"I don't like to put pressure on the players. Believe me, the players know where they are," Guillen said. "But to make a comment like 'This guy might lose his job' ... that's not fair to the kids, or to anybody.

"This kid's still pretty young, and we're not ready to take him out."

I’m hoping this is just nice-guy posturing, perhaps being a good cop to his own bad cop after chewing out Logan to the media.  Actually, it better be posturing, because after six weeks into the season, Logan has proved that he’s nowhere near ready for the major leagues.

Don’t get me wrong – I liked the initial Logan call-up, not because I thought he would be lights-out, but because it sent the right message.  Two bullpen spots were wide-open in Tucson, and nobody pitched like they wanted it.  And then here came Logan from the minor-league camp, and he got hitters out.

Ozzie was at his best last year with how he dealt with the various bullpen issues – after Shingo Takatsu struggled, Ozzie tried protecting him and keeping him away from high-leverage situations.  When he still couldn’t get anybody out, Ozzie cut him loose.  Dustin Hermanson had back problems, Ozzie handled the situation rather gracefully given the mysterious circumstances surrounding the injury.  He handed the job over to Bobby Jenks, and Ozzie guided him through the highs and lows of big-league closing beautifully.

So when Logan got batters out when guys like Javier Lopez were inconsistent at best, I thought it was a great idea to bring him up to the majors.  None of the other guys were good enough to assume they could beat out a pitcher from Class-A Winston-Salem, and Ozzie let them know it.

Perhaps there’s no direct causation, but it is interesting to see how impressive guys like Lopez, Agustin Montero and Charlie Haeger are pitching in Charlotte – which is just as much of a launching pad as Tucson Electric Park – after Logan beat them in a wide-open competition.  Perhaps they just needed some extra work with the White Sox system instructors, but there was a message sent with the Logan decision, and they’re pitching like it was received loud and clear.  It’s not like the hitters they faced during Spring Training were all big-league mainstays themselves.

But now that Logan has proved he can’t pitch (and Ozzie had to give him chances, otherwise Logan is automatically dead weight), it’s time to cut bait.  The guys in Charlotte are pitching well, and Logan’s so overmatched he fielded his position poorly three different times.  It’s one thing if you can’t get big-league hitters out.  It’s another thing if you can’t cover first base on a ground ball to the right side.  I can’t do the former, but I know to do the latter.

See?  Now I’m getting fired up.  Motivation seemed to be the point of this whole experiment – I just hope it’s not lost on Ozzie now.

Fastballs up, spirits down

Despite his slow start, I hadn’t been too worried about Jon Garland until I saw his quotes in the Daily Herald Saturday:

“It’s something I’m going to have to figure out myself,’’ Garland said. “I’m questioning my pitches too many times. When I’m starting to question my pitches when I’m out on the mound, there’s something definitely wrong.

“Instead of just trusting it, throwing it, letting it go, here it is, if you hit it you hit it — I don’t have that feeling right now.’’

Garland’s struggled plenty in his career, and I can’t recall him saying anything like that.  Most other times he’s been indifferent to the criticism – he’s admitted he hasn’t pitched his best, but he hasn’t sounded that dour.  

He sounds like a broken man.  He sounds like…Doug Mientkiewicz.

With Freddy Garcia seemingly back on track, and Javier Vazquez throwing pretty well aside from some blow-up innings, Garland’s the only one who hasn’t looked great for more than one outing at a time.  

Brandon McCarthy’s start tonight will give Ozzie his first look at Black Mac as a starter since Spring Training, and it’s an important one since we’ll get to see if McCarthy can pick up where he left off last year when he and Jose Contreras carried the team to the regular-season finish line.  He certainly looked fine against the Angels, pitching better than his line that was tarnished by Ozzie’s pitching changes.  

I’m not convinced any changes need to be made yet, because it’s still May, the Sox are in first place and everybody else is pitching well.  But if Garland can’t get out from under the rain cloud of despair, could he move to the bullpen?  

He certainly pitched well enough in 2001, when he was put in the pen after struggling at the start of the season in the rotation.  He threw 34 1/3 innings over 19 relief appearances and posted a 2.88 ERA with a WHIP around 1.00.  I’m not confident that a line like that could be replicated considering the adjustment Brandon McCarthy had to make for short outings at a higher frequency.  True, Garland had to make a similar switch in 2001, but his outings were short to begin with.  That’s why he went to the pen.  

I see three signs Garland could be fine in the pen, and three signs that he wouldn’t be.

For:

1. He’s been his best in innings 1-3. 
   
2. He’s right-handed (too many lefties already).
   
3. He’s great at holding baserunners.

Against:

1. His GB/FB ratio is lower than normal.
2. His K/BB ratio is lower than normal.
3. The numbers show both are a problem.

I’d give him at least another month to see if he can figure it out.  He’s had a couple nice-enough starts to indicate that last year’s Garland is still kicking around somewhere.  And given that McCarthy’s looking shaky thus far against a team that’s hitting for crap, it’s best not to make any rash decisions.

Good guys don't blackball

There were a couple interesting articles about former White Sox in the papers recently -- a feature on Cy Young winner LaMarr Hoyt, now selling golf clubs in South Carolina, and one on Jose Canseco, now playing in an adult baseball league in Los Angeles. 

Here's the link between both of them:

Hoyt article:  Other than an occasional appearance at White Sox spring training camps, Hoyt, 51, has been out of the game. He believes he was "blackballed when I first got out of baseball.''

Canseco article:  Canseco said he was subsequently "blackballed from Major League Baseball," a charge denied by Selig and by Dennis Gilbert, Canseco's former agent.

Gilbert had joined the front office of the White Sox by the time Canseco got there. When the Sox did not bring back Canseco in 2002, Gilbert said, he recommended him to other clubs. None gave him a major league job, and Canseco gave up after 18 games in triple A.

Canseco's joining the Sox made for four of the happiest months of my Sox fan life -- before 2005 at least -- and I remember that he held no grudge against the White Sox when he was let go because there was no room for him on the roster.  He said that Kenny Williams and Co. gave him a chance and tried to help him land somewhere else to no avail.  

Hoyt's case I'm not so certain about.  Hell, I actually thought he was black until a couple years ago, so I'm really not the one to ask. But I think it's interesting that two who consider themselves to be blackballed by Major League Baseball were/are treated kindly by Jerry Reinsdorf, who is said to have too much pull in the commissioner's office. 

Buehrle misses the mark

Mark Buehrle's rough first inning tonight encapsulated my main beef about him in my Buehrle write-up in the Meet the Sox section:

A couple caveats to his performance, however.  While his fast pace benefited him most of the time, he became unglued a couple times when an error extended an inning.  His ERA masked the fact that he gave up 17 unearned runs...

... The only thing that keeps him from becoming an elite pitcher is his focus.  2005 marked the third straight year in which he allowed double-digits in unearned runs, and with one of the best defenses in the league surrounding him, he should be able to count on himself to get him out of jams.

Buehrle allowed as many unearned runs in the first inning (six) as Jon Garland did in 221 innings last year, and today's game will put a Boone Loganesque masking job on his ERA -- except Logan lets inherited runners score to inflict damage without damaging his stats.

Buehrle only allowed one unearned run because if you subbed outs for errors, the inning would have gone single-out-single-out-RBI single-out.  After that, the rest were not on his head.  That's all well and good (MLB rules and all), but the problem is that Mark committed the first error when his should've-been-routine throw to Juan Uribe tailed low and away and into center field.  It's not like anybody else is responsible for the errant throw, just like nobody else is responsible for a poorly located pitch. 

If you count the pitcher error against Buehrle, then the inning looks this way: single-single-RBI single-out-RBI single-RBI sac fly.  And then the rest of the scoring is unearned thereafter. 

Two runs may not seem like much, but it's the difference between raising and lowering his ERA by the time he left the game.  The Uribe error was not his fault, but the consecutive belt-high first pitches to batter after batter were.  Fortunately, the Sox were able to rebound; other times in the past, they haven't been so lucky.  Now with a "6" in the unearned run column, Buehrle once again has a healthy lead on the rest of his teammates. 

The wrath of Pods

When Ozzie Guillen sat Tadahito Iguchi during the second day of the season, Iguchi didn't care for it too much, openly criticizing the lineup card by saying he's an everyday player. 

Not to disagree with the Sox second baseman, but I'd expect him to take a seat during the noontime day game tomorrow.  He had another hitless game tonight, though he scored two runs when he reached on an error and was hit by a pitch. 

The Emperor is 3-for-24 during the last week, and he looks a bit indecisive at the plate, especially on balls inside.  He's a split-second late, and balls that he'd turn on and line to center or right he's instead fouling off to the right.  If I were to play hitting coach, I'd guess it's more mental than physical; something to do with pitch recognition.  He's half-swinging more than usual, resulting in a lot of questionable check-swings and ugly three-quarter ones.  

Thankfully his slump has coincided with Scott Podsednik playing his best baseball since October.  In that same period of time, Pods is 6-for-16 with five walks and four RBI, and he's tripled in back-to-back games.  Whereas Iguchi's bat seemed to be behind, Pods is finally getting the bat head out and ripping pitches towards right.  Tonight's three-bagger was a smacked line-drive in the right field gap on a 3-2 pitch by Carlos Silva, and it gave the Sox a lead they wouldn't relinquish. 

Pods' current slugging percentage (.397) is higher than it was at any point last season, and him getting an extra base here and there without having to steal it adds up.  Not to take away from his improvement in that category -- he stole a base tonight to make it six of his last seven.  His success rate is still below the break-even rate (66 percent), but his outlook on the basepaths is brighter than it was only two weeks ago.  And he's playing a solid left field to boot. 

It's nice to see Podsednik helping out Iguchi after Iguchi bailed him out during the first few weeks of the season.  While Pods couldn't break the Mendoza Line after two full weeks, Iguchi was carrying an average of .340 to help start off innings after Pods failed to do so.  But now that he's featuring a quicker bat and legs, Pods is taking some pressure off Iguchi to produce. 

Still the boss

While trolling the photo wires to see if there were any better pictures of Ozzie Guillen earning his ejection than the one I posted in the SOTS recap, I came across an interesting picture from 1996:


At that moment in time, did anybody think Ozzie would still be presiding over Jim Thome 10 years later?

Unlucky 7

The Sox rotation had its worst turn since the first week of the season, and it's not all Chuck Haeger's fault.

	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA
Turn 1	0-2	26.1	34	23	23	8	19	7.86
Turn 2	4-1	33	39	18	18	6	14	4.91
Turn 3	5-0	34.1	18	7	6	10	23	1.57
Turn 4	4-0	36.2	29	10	10	8	17	2.45
Turn 5	3-1	34.1	26	14	13	10	18	3.41
Turn 6	3-1	34.2	33	14	14	8	15	3.63
Turn 7	1-3	29.1	38	23	22	10	15	6.75

Imagine what it would've looked like if Freddy didn't have an uncharacteristically good outing.

Revisiting Rowand, Contreras, Mr. T

Following up on a few posts from earlier in the week:

Mr T2:  NBC now has the video of Conan's South Side tour with Mr. T on its site.  You can check out the video here.

Kudos for the Late Night crew for playing Captain Stubby & The Buccaneers during the visit to Comiskey.

Stealing hits, hearts:  Aaron Rowand's catch will cost him at least a couple weeks, as he's recovering from surgery on his broken nose and small fractures underneath his eye.

But what did he gain?  The seemingly universal admiration of Philadelphia, and rightfully so.  There are 60 or so comments attached to that Philadelphia Inquirer story, and all of them are lauding him.  So now we know how to achieve the impossible task of having all Philly sports fans on your side: Break your face. 

Prognosis: Fist bump:  After a scare during some practice tossing, Jose Contreras pitched off a mound without pain. He's slated to start against the Cubs, which seems like overkill. 

Black magic Johan

Johan Santana made it look easy tonight, once again working deep into the game, once again getting the win, and once again racking up double-digits in strikeouts.  It doesn't just seem like it's been that way against the Sox since he became a full-time starter in 2003 -- it has been that way, almost each and every time.

Looking through Baseball Musings' invaluable database, there was only one game in which the Sox truly got the best of the Twins ace -- a 17-7 shellacking on May 23, 2004.  The reason the Sox haven't put up much of a fight against Santana since then is because their three big right-handed bats from that game -- Carlos Lee, Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez -- never played in the same lineup again when Santana was on the mound. 

Here's what the big three righty bats have done against El Presidente over the course of their careers:

Name	ABs	H	HR	BA	OBP	SLG
Lee	29	9	3	.310	.375	.724
Thomas	13	5	1	.385	.529	..692
Ordonez	22	9	3	.409	.400	.955

Yet even with that outing (7 ER in 3 IP), here's the line Santana has posted against the Sox since 2003 up until tonight's game:

7-3, 2.13 ERA, 84 1/3 IP, 21 BB, 93 K

If you take that start out of the equation, it gets even worse:

7-2, 1.44 ERA, 81 1/3, 19 BB, 91 K.

Damn.  And after allowing one run in seven innings, he actually lowered that ERA tonight.  Here's the complete list of starts if you want to look, but I advise you to at least shield your eyes.