Sox Machine: Chicago White Sox blog

Vacation photos

For anybody who cares, photos from the two games I attended in Colorado are now in the photo gallery.  Here's one with a story:



During the second game, we had seats right on the rail along the right-field line -- face value $34, we bought them from a scalper for $15.  Two interesting things happened here:

1) Jeff Francouer might be my favorite National League player.  A foul ball came in our direction, right towards us until slicing a section over.  A grown man with a glove botched the catch -- the ball hit off his glove, bounced in the row in front of him and into the hands of another guy. 

The crowd booed him, because he dropped the ball, and also because he was wearing a Braves hat.  We look back towards the field at Francouer, who's also laughing at the fan.  Matt yells to him, "Hey Francouer, you would've made that catch, right?"  And Francouer takes a couple steps over, takes off his glove and offers it. 

Most players are desensitized to crowd noise.  Some, like Manny Ramirez, pay too much attention to it.  It's nice to get a nice, normal, human response once in awhile.

2) The guy who caught the ricochet caught another foul ball later.  I have yet to catch a foul ball -- I've snagged a few batting practice homers from Spring Training, but those don't count, and hearing the vicious slap/crunch of a Chipper Jones BP homer off a guy's hand made me respect the task a little bit more.

This guy lucked out twice -- not only did he get the easy bounce right at him, but later in the game, he snagged another liner with his cap -- kind of.  The hat actually flew back five rows, ball in tow, and landed in the lap of a woman.  I'm not sure what the ethics are in that situation.  On one hand, if the ball's in her lap, she caught it; but since the guy reduced the speed of it, he might've saved her face. 

She gave the ball back to him, since he gave the first ball he caught to a kid.  That's one of my greatest minor fears -- catching a foul ball or homer when some kid I don't know is moping for one. 

Freddy, as he goes

There's not much more I can say about Freddy Garcia's Sox status after my post from last week.  Tonight's game proved to be more of the same, with Freddy turning in another excellent outing while the starters around him struggle and/or stagger. 

With Jon Garland and Javier Vazquez slated to finish off the season on Saturday and Sunday, here are your September ERAs:

1. Freddy Garcia: 2.49
2. Javier Vazquez: 3.82
   
3. Jose Contreras: 4.40
   
4. Jon Garland: 5.40
   
5. Mark Buehrle: 6.67

So there you have it -- Big Game Freddy closes out the stretch run with an ERA nearly a run and a half better than his nearest competitor.

I don't think any pitcher provokes a wider range of emotions than Garcia.  He wants the ball in a big game, he regards lesser teams with indifference, he's a power pitcher with finesse stuff, he calls out his teammates, he can't hold runners, he throws 200 innings every year, and he'll finish 2006 with the most wins since his career year in 2001, yet the highest ERA of his career.  He may or may not rock the gangj.  He looks like he doesn't care, but when he's mowing hitters down, it's better that he doesn't get amped up.

Freddy's a lot of things, and I've criticized him for his less admirable qualities.  Still, I think it speaks highly of the big Venezuelan that the pitcher everybody wanted gone has persuaded some to keep him around.  There aren't a lot of people who saw that coming.

I'm still on the fence, and waiting to see what injuries or maladies Sox pitchers have really been battling through the season.  There's nothing that can be decided right now.  But whether or not Freddy should be the one who's moved, I can't say I'll be glad to see him go. 

Anger management

First off, the Daily Southtown has managed to improve its site and make it worse at the same time.  The presentation is a lot cleaner, but I can't for the life of me figure out where you see stories from past days, if it's at all possible.

But more importantly, the Southtown's Phil Kadner wrote an interesting column in today's paper, ranting about White Sox fans he feels are too complacent.  Here are a few of the more noteworthy lines:

• Sox management didn’t raise the white flag this time — the fans did.
• I can’t figure out why so many Sox fans seem content with mediocrity.
• It’s the fan base that seems content with a one-year winning streak.
• But most South Siders seem stuck in pre-2005 cheerleading mode. After decades of cheering for losing and mediocre teams, they’re mentally preparing to do that all over again. I’m not.
• South Siders have a right to demand excellence. I spent more than 46 years talking about the glory of the 1959 White Sox. I don’t have another 46 years to waste watching second-rate baseball.

I suppose I'd be one of the fans he'd be mad at, if the examples he gave are indicative of anything.  It's a lot easier to take disappointment now that the Sox have won a World Series title in my -- no, my dad's lifetime.  I didn't expect the Sox to win it all this year, although I did expect them to make the playoffs.

Still, I've read this column three times, and it introduces a $64,000 question it supposedly answers, but doesn't:

What's to get angry about?

Kadner admits that Jerry Reinsdorf is spending money.  He says he likes the moves Kenny Williams made for the team this season.  He likes what Kenny and Ozzie Guillen are saying so far, in regards to next year's team.  To use a phrase he used a couple times, he "seems content" with the way the franchise is run. 

Well, what else is there?  We're on the opposite end of White Flag trades, we're getting the national media coverage, and we started the season on top of power rankings and preseason picks. 

He's angry with the results, I reckon -- but how can somebody despise results from a plan he agreed with (at least with something that doesn't result in loss of human life)?  I liked all the moves except the Javier Vazquez trade, and even that made some sense until both Jon Garland and Jose Contreras signed contract extensions.  After a season like this, all I can do is shrug my shoulders and hope they try again.  It looks like they're going to.  That's good.

The only time I get close to getting angry about baseball is when I'm right about things that suck.  Center field defense stuck in my craw this year, as did the usage of Scott Podsednik -- though I wouldn't say I was right about the lineup construction as much as I wasn't given a chance to be proven wrong when a change needed to be made.  That can draw my ire, because I'm not what you'd call smart, and when I'm right, then that means people in charge are temporarily dumber than I am.

Maybe I should be angry, because by this point I've probably written hundreds of thousands of words about the Sox this season.  That's a lot of time for a losing cause.  That's just not the case. 

If I'm angry, it's only for a short moment.  That turns into frustration, which morphs into disappointment, followed by sadness.  After the final out is recorded on October 1, we won't see White Sox baseball until pitchers and catchers report in February. 

No matter how aggravating it was to watch them score nothing with the bases loaded and less than one out, see the bullpen squander leads or the starters stink up the joint, I'd rather watch that than nothing at all.  I like the Sox -- and baseball in general -- too much to be mad at them.

Brandon McCarthy: He's ready

When the season's over, Brandon McCarthy's final numbers aren't going to look great -- though they'll look a little better thanks to his excellent start tonight. 

Barring any final work in the Minnesota series, here's what his 2006 will looks like:

W-L	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
4-7	84.2	77	44	17	33	69	4.68	1.30

It's not necessarily a terrible line, but it wouldn't bowl anybody over -- especially when weighing it to try to decide whom McCarthy should replace in a Sox rotation with five proven starters.

On the other hand, I've gone through his game log to separate outings in which he recorded four or more outs, and sized them up against ones where he recorded zero to three. 

This isn't perfectly scientific, but I figure it's a quick-and-dirty way to determine which outings resembled something like a start for Brandon, to separate them from ones where Brandon may start his outing pitching from the stretch, or in a situation where one swing can decide the game. 

Here's what his numbers look like then:

Outs	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
0-3	19.2	33	25	8	16	17	11.44	2.49
4+	65	44	19	9	17	52	2.63	0.94

I still could be wrong, because I had to tally these up by hand.  But I've thrice gone over the 26 outings where he's recorded four or more outs, and I've subtracted those numbers from his season total to get the stats from the 27 outings in which he recorded three outs or fewer.  If somebody wants to independently verify these numbers, by all means do.

If these numbers are true, then that split is far greater than I imagined.  That's not to say he'll post a sub-3.00 ERA as a starter, but the numbers -- and eyes -- say he throws a far different game when he knows he's in it for the long(ish) haul. 

Give the man a rotation spot next year.  And Charlie Haeger may not be far behind.

Update:  So, I took the 20 outings in which McCarthy pitched two innings or more, and removed the first three batters from the equation.  After completing a first inning of work (and every outing but two had a scoreless first inning), he gave up only 11 earned runs in 37 1/3 innings -- or a 2.65 ERA. 

Pierre, Part Deux

It looks as though we'll have to worry about Juan Pierre-to-the-Sox rumors for a second straight offseason, and this time, it isn't Phil Rogers leading the charge.  The fresh rumors are courtesy of the Sun-Times' Chris De Luca, who discusses the possibilites in his latest column.

On one hand, a Pierre signing wouldn't be as costly this time around.  My primary concern last season was the fact that between Pods and Pierre, the Sox would have two extremely similar outfielders -- not a great deal of discipline, no power, acceptable range paired with noodle arms.  One of them can be useful -- two would be disastrous. 

As it turns out, Pierre had the decidedly better season, though it's dampened some when considering that he's making almost $6 million.  That leads right to the biggest caveat about acquiring Pierre this time around:

Price.

De Luca says, "But the White Sox and Cubs each will have the money -- and desire -- to land a top leadoff hitter."  I'm not so sure about that, at least from the South Siders' perspective.  If Pierre were a one-year rental, that'd be true.  $6 million for a shot at another trophy is a small price to pay in the scheme of things. 

However, in a weak free agent market, Pierre stands to make more than that, and for a much longer commitment than one measly season.  That's where it gets complicated.

In 2008, the White Sox have $42 million tied up with Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Jon Garland and Jose Contreras.  Two more pitchers (pick 'em among Buehrle, Vazquez and Garcia), and that's at least $62 million.  Joe Crede's price will shoot up by then, Jermaine Dye and Tadahito Iguchi will be free agents and Juan Uribe will need to be replaced if he's still there.  To pull a number out of my butt, I'd say those guys (or their equivalents) are worth at least $32 million a season combined. 

At this point, we're optimistically looking at $90 million tied up by less than half the roster, since there aren't any minor leagues who can fill the shoes of those last four I mentioned.  Meanwhile, the Sox may have an option in left with Ryan Sweeney, or they might be able to get by with a combination involving him, Josh Fields, Rob Mackowiak and Ross Gload.  That would by no means by the sexiest option, but it'd certainly be more cost-effecitive.

Then again, you know Ozzie considers "leadoff hitter" as much of a position as second base, and if that's the case, I like De Luca's third option the best -- San Diego's Dave Roberts.  He's making less than half of Pierre's salary this year, and given that he's five years older, he'll have the lower contract demands.  Look at how Roberts and Pierre stack up in the leadoff categories:

	AVG	OBP	SLG	PA	R	BB	SB	CS
Pierre	.291	.330	.378	731	84	32	57	19
Roberts	.294	.360	.398	542	75	48	46	6

Let me reiterate that I'm not a huge fan of signing either of these guys.  If Ozzie's going to demand speed, however, I'd rather it be a shorter, less costly investment.  Unlike some other areas (middle infielders, slugging corner outfielders), the Sox have a number of acceptable left/center options for the next two years already in the organization if Kenny Williams stands pat. 

As the situation stands now, I don't see any room for players who don't always make the best use of their speed, and always need to hit it where they ain't in order to preserve the bulk of their value.  That's why we're getting rid of Pods, isn't it?

Update:  I want to give Kenny Williams a big ol' hug.  The Daily Herald's Scot Gregor asked the Sox GM about Pierre, and here's what Gregor wrote:

After trading Aaron Rowand to the Phillies last off-season, White Sox general manager Kenny Williams was asked if he was interested in acquiring Juan Pierre to fill the hole in center field.

Williams paused for all of a half-second before giving Pierre the thumbs down.

Haeger the not-so horrible

At Saturday's Rockies game, I saw the Sox managed to come back to win 11-7.  Next to the score on the big, manually operated scoreboard in right field, it lists the number of the winning and losing pitchers.  

It took me about 15 seconds to figure out who No. 40 was, cycling mentally through the Sox rotation and bullpen until I realized that Charlie Haeger just earned his first major-league win for the Sox.  So a hearty “congratulations” is overdue for Chuck there.

I missed Saturday’s game, obviously, so I don’t know what Haeger looked like on that given day while throwing 3 1/3 perfect innings in relief of Mark Buehrle, who gave up seven earned runs and boosted his ERA to 7.12 since the start of July.

However, from what I’ve seen in Haeger’s other outings since he was recalled in early September, he throws differently than when he was a nervous rookie making his debut in May.  Against the Angels, he was rushing his knuckleball to speeds of 77-78 m.p.h., which 1) ended up missing up in the zone, and 2) didn’t provide a big difference from his fastball, which touches 86-87 m.p.h.

Since he’s returned, however, he’s throwing the knuckler in the low 70s, helping it to dive downwards while fluttering.  He’s still walking his share of batters, but he’s also striking out plenty as well.  Like tingling with Denorex, that means it’s working.

Perhaps I’m too eager to back the Great Knuckling Hope, but I’m starting to re-think Haeger’s chances of breaking into the starting rotation at some point in 2007.  They’re not great, but I’d say they’ve improved from none to slim.  

There are still problems with Haeger starting games on a regular basis.  Take the problems inherent in a rookie pitcher, combine them with the problems inherent in a wild pitcher, and the issues are twofold.

On the other hand, how many knuckleballers are in the majors nowadays?  Tim Wakefield is the obvious one.  Jared Fernandez has pretty much flamed out, and I can’t think of any others at this point.

Even when the uptight Haeger was struggling through 4 1/3 innings on May 10, hitters still couldn’t draw much of a bead on him.  Compare that start against any second-half outing by Mark Buehrle, who doesn’t look much different from 80 percent of lefties these days, and I’m liking Haeger a bit more.  

It’s also easy to be encouraged by Haeger when no other Sox prospects have made their mark this month.  Most of that is out of their control, with Ryan Sweeney and Josh Fields playing too irregularly to make any sort of mark, and Chris Stewart buried behind Old Man Alomar.  But then you have Boone Logan, who keeps refusing the second lefty job gift-wrapped for him by Neal Cotts, and Sean Tracey, who couldn’t hit the broad side of Rosie O'Donnell, and Haeger looks like the golden boy in comparison.

(Somehow we were able to learn more about our rookies in 2005, even though the Sox had a shrinking divisional lead and no health issues outside of Joe Crede’s broken finger.  At least Brandon McCarthy told us he was able to survive as a starter.)

All these factors considered, I’m doing my best to temper my enthusiasm.  At the very least, there’s comfort in knowing that Haeger isn’t the worst option as an emergency starter.  A sixth starter will be important in 2007, with McCarthy entering the rotation for better or for worse and any combination of Jose Contreras, Mark Buehrle and Freddy Garcia dealing with nagging injuries or issues of some kind.  

Had the Sox dealt a starter before this season, Tim Redding would’ve been the emergency starter, and he hasn’t been able to retire big-league hitters in three years.  Haeger’s a better stopgap option, and while that’s not saying much, at least it’s a positive step towards reloading for 2007.

It's over

The White Sox were officially booted from playoff contention with a 14-1 loss to Cleveland, and an 8-1 victory by the Minnesota Twins.

Meanwhile, I'm stuck in Kentucky because my plane out of Denver was delayed by two hours, and I missed my connection back home by 10 minutes. 

I'm guessing these two events are connected in some way.

Right luck, wrong team

Whatever I didn't do for the Sox this year, I managed to do for the Colorado Rockies, as they won all three games I attended.  Today, they came back from a 7-0 deficit to win 9-8, in a game that featured two grand slams, a pinch-hit, game-winning homer, and perhaps the worst start I've ever witnessed.

Making his big-league debut, Colorado's Juan Morillo started off by walking Marcus Giles on four straight pitches.  Then he walked Edgar Renteria on five pitches.  Chipper Jones walked on five pitches.  Morillo started off Andruw Jones with a strike, but then hit him with his next pitch to drive in a run.  Brian McCann followed with a grand slam.

At that point, Morillo had allowed five runs on one hit.  I'd never seen anything like it in person, and I imagine the only thing in recent history to surpass it was Kansas City rookie Miguel Ascensio's debut against the White Sox on April 6, 2002.  Ascensio came into the game in the eighth inning and walked Kenny Lofton, Ray Durham, Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez using the bare minimum of 16 pitches.  One of them was a wild pitch.

Morillo wasn't that bad, as he settled down to throw four innings while only allowing one more run.  McCann must have hit an Ed Farmer-grade rally-killing homer.

---

I'll be doing some catch-up work on Monday night, and posting will resume in earnest on Tuesday.  In the meantime, I'd like to thank the Chicago Tribune's John Kass for his generous mention of Sox Machine in his Friday column.

They have some 'sploding to do

Regrets?  I've had a few.  But that doesn't include missing the Sox game Friday, even though it was 40 degrees and raining in Denver.  Especially after watching the scoreboard in right field show the leading 5-1 right away. 

One note to relay:  Friday's game was one of three fireworks games on the season, and the display is a much awaited and touted promotion. 

It struck me as weird, since fireworks nights are a given at Comiskey.  By my count, they'll have had 17 fireworks nights by the end of the season.  The Coors Field display ran longer -- though its greater length was nullified by having Creed and Toby Keith on the soundtrack -- but otherwise, I can't say it synched up to the music any better. 

Then when you throw in the idea that the Rockies don't shoot anything out of the batter's eye in center field or incorporate the video board, I'd say the Cell wins, 10 times over.

If it weren't raining, however, the Rockies' fireworks would have one advantage.  Normally they let fans with outfield seats go on the field to watch the explosions, but the turf was too wet to allow it. 

Head for the mountains

Since the White Sox are already in vacation mode, I think I'll go ahead in join them.

I'm heading out to Denver for an extended weekend of baseball, beer and Broncos.  Not necessarily in that order.  Since I'm heading to the games with my buddy Matt, who went with me to Tucson for Spring Training, of course snow is in the forecast. 

This will likely break the streak of 45 consecutive days with a post on this blog, well short of my personal record of 64 straight days.  You never know thought -- I could have some downtime in the airport and surprise your asses.

Either way, I've set up State of the Sox to release blank recaps after the games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so feel free to get a head start on them when they pop up. 

Enjoy your respective weekends.  I know I will.

The stumbling wounded

Missing the playoffs may turn out to be a blessing in disguise this year, because a full offseason will do some guys' bodies good.  Here are a few banged-up fellas with their post-injury stat lines:

Joe Crede, since removing himself on Sept. 6 against Boston:

AB	H	2B	HR	RBI	K	BA	OPS	GIDP
33	4	1	0	2	5	.121	.426	5

Crede's plate coverage had been extraordinary up until that point, but the low and away pitch is killing Crede. He can't go to right with much authority, forcing him to jerk balls into the ground.  A small positive: He's drawn six walks during this stretch, so maybe he's forcing himself to be a little more selective.  It's not much, but it's something.  It'd be nice to get Josh Fields a start or two in the meantime.

Jim Thome, since returning to the lineup on Aug. 30 from a strained hamstring:

AB	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	K	BA	OPS
63	14	1	5	11	18	17	.222	.893

Thanks to the gigantic amount of walks he draws, he's able to buoy his OPS.  But something seems different about Thome this month compared to others.  He seems late on fastballs, if he's swinging at all.  I want to box his ears every time he tosses the bat and starts jogging to first on a clear called strike three.  Four of his five homers have been solo shots.  One gave the Sox the lead; the rest have not been of any import.

Mike MacDougal, after his MRI on Sept. 14:

G	IP	H	R	BB	K
2	1	1	2	3	1

Very small sample size, and MacDougal's velocity looked okay tonight.  But it seems like his shoulder tightness has threw off his control a little.  He's walked as many guys in his last two outings as he did in his first 20. 

Mark Buehrle, after his MRI on Sept. 5:

W-L	IP	H	R	BB	K
0-2	17.2	28	12	3	6

I know, I know, you can dial this one back to the start of July.  For the sake of consistency, I'm going with the dates where the White Sox officially acknowledged something might be physically wrong.  We also discussed this one yesterday, so there's not much more that needs to be said.

Bobby Jenks, after his MRI on Sept. 5:

G	IP	H	R	BB	K
4	3.1	9	5	2	4

Jenks looked a lot better in his last outing against Detroit, when he came in to protect a seven-run lead.  He struck out the side, touched 98 with his fastball, and got a swing and miss with a curve ball.  Hopefully he's back at full strength, though the Sox likely won't have to push him too hard the rest of the year.

Jose Contreras, after his return from the DL May 21:

W-L	IP	H	ERA	BB	K
8-8	149.2	159	4.87	44	111

Contreras' line looked a lot worse until he tossed brilliant back-to-back starts on Sept. 6 and Sept. 11.  He was one grooved fastball to Frank Thomas away from having a third straight quality start, so the chances of bouncing back are greater than Buehrle's.

There are a couple other candidates for this list, such as Jermaine Dye, who left a game with back spasms.  He's having his worst month, but it's nothing like his April in 2005.  Freddy Garcia would also benefit from a full offseason, although Don Cooper says he's finally 100 percent.  I wouldn't be surprised if Neal Cotts found out something was wrong, like perhaps he's actually right-handed. 

Freddy money

We had the 2007 pitching rotation figured out...and then Freddy Garcia had to go and mess things up with two near-no-nos.  The nerve of that guy, keeping us in the playoff hunt and all. 

Freddy entered this month as the one the Sox were most likely to trade.  His contract expires after 2007, he's performed under expectations the whole year, he's lost a few miles per hour on his fastball, and on top of that, his attitude came into question a handful of times throughout the year.

But in his last two starts, Freddy has posted near identical lines:

• September 13: 8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
• September 19:  8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K

He surpassed last year's win total with a victory tonight, and he now has the third-lowest ERA among the five starters. 

After lowering his ERA from 4.82 to 4.63 with his outing tonight, Mark Buehrle now stands as dead-last in that category at 4.79.  With Javier Vazquez having maintained or lowered his ERA over his last nine starts, Buehrle is the odds-on favorite to finish in the cellar. 

This is where it starts getting interesting.  Like Garcia, Buehrle's contract runs through 2007.  Like Garcia, Buehrle's suffered a drop in velocity this season.  Like Garcia, Buehrle's under 30. 

Where they differ, though, gets a little hazy.  Buehrle has been up-and-down in the second half, but his high points haven't come anywhere close to the two turns in the rotation Freddy has had.  To his credit, Buehrle's had fewer 5+ run outings during this stretch, so there's no clear-cut winner going into the offseason, barring unforeseen health issues. 

All things being equal, Buehrle's the bigger priority.  He has the steadier track record, he's the only lefty starter the Sox have, he's a better teammate, and he's a White Sox born and raised.  Okay, at least raised. 

I see two factors at work here as Kenny Williams plans his next starter-related move. 

1) Don't make too much of Freddy's recent run.  September, along with April, are the best months for pitchers.  Orel Hershiser's record streak of 59 consecutive innings in 1988 came almost entirely in September -- he didn't allow a single run in the final month of the regular season.

While Freddy's been great, he's dominated two subpar offenses that are wheezing to the finish line.  The Angels and Tigers aren't the Yankees.  When you add in the factors -- the month, the offenses, Freddy adjusting to a new pitch -- there are a lot of things working in his favor that won't always be there.  That's not to take anything away from Garcia, because he can't be much better.  All I'm saying is that certain caveats apply.

2) What if the velocity stays down?  Freddy struggles to top 90, Buehrle hovers under 85 at times.  If they return to their normal selves, the choice is Buehrle.  If they don't?  Well, I'm not fond of the idea of soft-tossing Buehrle against a predominantly right-handed world. 

Garcia has illustrated he can be brilliant without a 94-m.p.h. heater.  In Buehrle's best outing since July, he still allowed a surplus of base hits.  If I had to pick a guy to give the ball to right now, I'd give it to Garcia.  That's not a ringing endorsement for a guy due a hefty contract extension. 

This isn't a bad problem to have by any means; it's merely an interesting one. If nothing else, Garcia's upped his trade value while Buehrle's value's stopped increasing.  It worked in the Sox's favor the last time Buehrle hit an extended rut.  Buehrle opted to avoid an extension before the 2003 season, but when he went 2-10 to open the year, the Sox were eventually able to sign him to a reasonable three-year, $18 million deal with the $9.5 million option for 2007.

My gut instinct tells me Buehrle's going to cost just a smidgen more this time around, but every little bit of devaluation helps.

Can't wait 'til next year

Despite the fact that the Sox have sucked eggs since the All-Star break, it's been a great season for me, in that they played in Boston, Baltimore, New York and Toronto on weekends.  As a result, I've seen more Sox games this year than I have in the last three combined. 

Now the tentative 2007 schedule has been announced, and things have turned up Milhouse once again.  The Sox return to Pittsburgh, in a bout of strange scheduling, for a Friday-Saturday-Sunday series, meaning I have a reason to go to PNC Park again.  Toronto hosts a Thursday-Sunday four-game set, as does Baltimore and Boston.  Only the Yankees have failed to comply in this respect.

They'll have to play six games in Oakland Alameda County Network Associates McAfee Coliseum, but if they're going to suck, they're going to suck anyway.  I hope they keep this one.

At least somebody said it

Hawk Harrelson sounds like he's begging to become the next Steve Stone in terms of popularity with the players.  Of course, Stone got in trouble when players heard his on-air criticisms the first time; Hawk's making sure everybody's hearing his rips by repeating them away from the booth.

 After letting loose all game long, the Sox broadcaster told the Sun-Times' Chris DeLuca a number of things, such as:

1. 'This team is one of the biggest underachievers I've seen.  They don't have what we had last year -- that killer instinct.'
2. 'This team, when we take the lead, I don't like it because they seem to sit back. I'd rather see the other team take the lead first.'
3. 'These lie.  These don't.'

Of course, Point No.3 loses something without the pointing gestures, which brought to mind Principal Vernon from "The Breakfast Club" (R.I.P.).  I don't know if I could've kept a straight face if Hawk did it in front of me.

Nevertheless, it's a shame that the season had to come to this, because on Sunday, Hawk sounded really, really...

...good.

I can't say there's been another time in Sox history where I nodded my head (in spirit, because I'm not crazy) to nearly everything Harrelson said that wasn't about Sal Bando and the rest of the early 1970s A's.

Normally there would be talk about how Joe Blanton had Cy Young stuff, about the way the ball bounces, about the umpire's strike zone, about Oakland Alameda County McAfee Network Associates Coliseum being a house of horrors, but Hawk just let loose.

I don't have a copy of the game, so I don't have anything verbatim.  But when the Sox hit/ran into an 8-2 double play with one out in the first inning; when Juan Uribe struck out with a man on third and one out in the second; when Jose Contreras threw a 3-2 meatball to Frank Thomas with a base open in the fourth; when Joe Crede struck out with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth; when Scott Podsednik struck out looking in the ninth; Hawk let them hear it. 

My favorite line, was a variation of the second thing listed above.  After Contereras gave up the homer -- which Hawk ranted about, on and off, for the rest of the game -- he said that he's never been around a team in his 44 years of baseball where he never wanted them to take the lead early.  That's something nobody would ever hear Hawk say before the World Series, and I agreed with the sentiment.

Darrin Jackson, per usual, was the more chipper one, but he didn't have much good to say, and he didn't try forcing anything to make up for it.  Put them together, and I don't think I've ever enjoyed listening to them so much.  It's just a shame that they can't be that honest when the Sox aren't tanking.

Update:  Paul Konerko got word about this, and the captain is primed for action!

"It's a free country.  Everybody's entitled to their opinions. I'm not going to say he's wrong or right. You're programmed to play. Sometimes you execute, sometimes you don't. That's the way I look at it."

ROAR!

Surpluses and minuses

When we look back at the 2006 season -- whose end is approaching at an increasingly rapid rate -- one of the greatest mysteries will be how the Sox managed to crap the bed when just about every bench player met expectations, if they didn't blow them away completely.

Case in point: Ross Gload.  Actually, we should call him "Ross Ballgame" now, because he's batting .406 since June 11 (what is with that date?). 

He started at first today, made his debut in the No. 2 hole and responded with a 3-for-5 performance, which included a stolen base.  Given his contact rate -- he's only struck out 12 times in 135 at-bats -- and that he holds his own against lefties, he appeared to be a great fit at the top of the order.

That begs two questions: What the hell took so long? and Why does he have fewer at-bats than any non-catcher on the team?

Gload may be the poster boy of the 2006 team when it's all said and done, representing the productivity that went wasted because it didn't fit in Ozzie Guillen's scheme.  Even with Scott Podsednik scuffling the entire second half and Jim Thome employing the "walks or bust" approach, Gload can't fit in a lineup in desperate need of a spark. 

And it's not like he's a flash in the pan, considering that he did the same exact thing in 2004 when injuries ravaged the Sox lineup.  Gload performed even better then, posting a line of .321/.375/.479.  Combine his two full(ish) seasons spent in a Sox uniform -- 2005 doesn't count -- and here's what you get:

AB	H	R	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	BA	OBP	SLG
369	120	45	23	1	9	60	26	49	.325	.374	.466

Throw in his defensive range and his perfect stolen base percentage this year (5-for-5), and he's actually a valuable ballplayer.  There are sample size concerns, but 369 at-bats is enough to tell you something about his capabilities, especially since he's often playing cold. 

He's not the only one performing well:

1. Rob Mackowiak:  Setting career highs in batting average (.292) and on-base percentage (.365).
2. Pablo Ozuna:  Exploded out of the gate, nearly fell off the face of the Earth, now has leveled off and is still posting unreal line of .322/.355/.429
3. Alex Cintron:  Doing everything we'd expect offensively and defensively

Each of these players proved to be an upgrade over who they replaced the previous year (Timo Perez, Willie Harris, Geoff Blum), but Guillen has managed to make less with more.  Much of the reason stems from Guillen reducing the versatility everybody but Cintron.  Look at their positional breakdowns this season compared to last (or in Gload's case, 2004):

		2005	2006
Name	P	IP	IP
Mackowiak	3B	411	25
	CF	281	434
	RF	127	92
	2B	146	0
	1B	16	0
	LF	2	50
Ozuna	3B	261	65
	SS	99	0
	LF	65	248
	RF	2	2
	2B	29	28
	1B	3	0
Gload	1B	218	213
	LF	94	3
	RF	137	73
	CF	6	0

In some cases, the decreases are understandable (I don't want to see Gload in center, ever).  However, it does illustrate how stringent Ozzie was in using his bench players for specific roles, and it was a marked departure over Ozzie v2005.  The guy who tried Timo at first and Joe Crede at short last year could only give Gload and Mackowiak 53 innings (less than six full games) in left when the Sox had zero productivity out of that spot.

I'm not sure what the bench will look like next year. Mack will be back, but Cintron is somewhat expensive for his contributions, Ozuna and Gload are one-year-contract guys, and Sandy Alomar Jr. is ready for a Viking funeral on Lake Michigan. With the Sox looking to cut some costs, Ozzie could find himself with a much weaker bench in 2007.  On paper, that would be a weakness, but maybe he's better with fewer options. 

Outrage in the outfield

Despite the fact that he hasn't been able to stay on the field for more than two games in a row, I'll always be a Rex Grossman fan.

It stems from his rookie preseason, when he drew the ire of John Shoop for daring to throw to a receiver beyond the first-down line on a third down.  Shoop had called one of his classic plays for five yards on a third-and-8, and Grossman shook him off.  I want to say "stupid" was the word he used, but I can't find anything on Google to back it up.

At any rate, he basically thought and said everything Bears fans were thinking and saying for Shoop's entire tenure, and it refreshed my soul.  So despite the various failings and disappointments of the Grossman Era, I can't get too mad at him.

In the same vein, I'd like to thank Rob Mackowiak for expressing my thoughts, probably more kindly than I would have, when he told the Sun-Times' Joe Cowley:

''I think I've been a little surprised because I haven't played the greatest defense, and you have to have your best out there at this time of the year, especially center field."

The headline going along with that story makes my eyes bleed.

Couple these with his comments from before -- "I've been horrible, actually. There's no point in lying or candy-coating anything. It's been bad" -- and you can see he's trying to phrase it as politely as possible that he doesn't belong there.  Barring an unforeseen turn of events, I'm a Rob Mackowiak fan.  I just don't like him in center field.

---

Speaking of center field, Brian Anderson touched .235 today with his second hit against Oakland, though a subsequent out knocked him down to .234.  Anyway, .235 is where I predicted he'd end up last month, so a couple more multi-hit games and he'll officially exceed my expectations.

Since he solidified his spot on the big-league roster on June 11, Anderson's batting .284/.334/.430.  That's somewhat unimpressive compared to Mackowiak's .323/.371/.433 stretch during that time, but a definite improvement over Scott Podsednik's .260/.307/.332. 

That's right, Anderson's on-base percentage in the last three months is higher than Podsednik's slugging percentage.  It's all well and good when Ozzie says he's looking for more offense during the stretch run, but he's looking in the wrong place.  Twice over.

---

Ozzie and Co. have had nothing bad to say about Ryan Sweeney since his call-up.  That's fine.  But if Mark Gonzalez's answer to a reader e-mail reflects Ozzie's thinking, color me utterly confused. 

Brian Anderson has tailed off a bit at the plate, and he's likely not to reach the .250 mark. I think Ozzie is looking at the big picture and wants Brian to improve. I think Ozzie will be the first to admit that Sweeney still has a long way to go, but he's starting to close the gap.

With regards to his first sentence, here's a graph representing Anderson's batting average throughout the season:



Maybe they're all reading the charts through the reverse side of the paper.  I'm guessing this "tailing off" speak is indicative of saying anything to keep Anderson from playing, because as Dave Van Dyck says in the Sweeney article, Anderson has "crept into Guillen's doghouse." Why?  Beats me.  Van Dyck mentions Anderson's "gregarious" nature, but that's almost an entirely positive adjective.  Much like Gonzalez does with Anderson's batting average, "gregarious" is somehow framed in a negative light.

But why is Sweeney the cat's ass all of a sudden?  He's doing the same thing Anderson did early in the year.  Anderson had two hits in his first game, Sweeney had two hits in his first game.  Sweeney went into a funk thereafter (0-for-12), and so did Anderson.  Sweeney and Anderson can also vye for two of the worst games of the year, the former having an 0-for-6 game with a double play and two strikeouts, and the latter going 0-for-5 with a double play and two strikeouts. 

I want Sweeney to succeed as much as anybody, because we need a replacement for Pods pronto.  But his minor-league track record shows him to be about equivalent to Anderson, with less power and better contact. 

Nevertheless, Ozzie is charmed by him:

"This kid played the game right. I loved when he went to third base with the ball in the dirt. I wish my players would look at themselves in the mirror when you see a rookie guy playing the way he played. He has great instincts in the outfield. … He seemed like he was playing there every day. … Good at-bats. … He reminds me of Ozzie Guillen."

I'm sure Ozzie said that last note tongue-in-cheek, but all this because he managed to take an extra base during a loss?  If reminding Ozzie of himself is a good thing, then why is Anderson in trouble for being "gregarious"?

I never knew what to make of this situation, and now Sweeney clouds the picture further.

The irresistable farce

There is an unbelievable amount of press devoted to Hawk Harrelson, and whether he was personally responsible for breaking up Freddy Garcia's bid for a no-hitter/perfect game. 

And you know why?  Because Jay Mariotti evidently started it by blaming Garcia's close-but-no-cigar effort on Harrelson.

I say "evidently" because I don't read Mariotti.  I don't even peek at his column because even a second-long glance counts as a page view.  That's all that counts when newspapers are selling ads online. 

The Chicago Tribune should know this, yet they have two separate pieces discussing the issue.  Ed Sherman defends Harrelson in his media column, and John Kass directly refers to Mariotti in his column about the "heinie bird," although not by name.

Perhaps the Trib learned its lesson when they slaughtered Mariotti in the press after the Ozzie Guillen "fag" incident, only to see Mariotti return five weeks later with the Sun-Times having his back.  Now they're just resorting to vague references and alternate names. 

As far as I can tell, no other Chicago or suburban paper mentions this flap at all.  So why would the Trib?  People know what Mariotti's about by now, so mentioning the column is only going to remind people that Mariotti has a column to read. 

The debate itself is stupid.  I prefer when announcers talk around a no-hitter, but as Sherman mentions, it doesn't mean a thing.  It's merely a silly bit a baseball tradition like the rally hat, and it's fun when otherwise cynical people do observe senseless superstitions.  Ed Farmer talked around it nicely, saying that the Angels have zeroes across the board, and that his scorebook is clean and needs no extra ink. 

Either way, it doesn't make a lick of difference, and neither does Mariotti.  I wish I could read him, because he's the most prolific columnist in the city.  Unfortunately, his next thought-provoking column will be his first.  It's a mystery why the Sox and the Tribune continue to legitimize him.  

Mighty Mac

Here's a fun game.  The following lines represent two Sox relievers performances since July 24:

	G	IP	H	ER	BB	K
Pitcher A	21	22.1	24	12	11	19
Pitcher B	20	22.2	18	3	3	18

Pitcher A closed out the final game of the World Series, made the All-Star team and became the third White Sox to save 40 games in a season.  Pitcher B was picked up halfway through the season for a couple of minor-league arms. 

Mike MacDougal underwent an MRI on his right shoulder, which explains why he was missing when Bobby Jenks was forced to pitch a second inning with only a 92-m.p.h. fastball.  That didn't work out so well. 

At this point, it could be touch-and-go for Mac the Eighth until the end of the season.  It's what we came to expect, given his injury history.

On the other hand, his performance has far exceeded my expectations, and I was optimistic about the trade.  I thought he might be be a strikeout-per-inning, 3.00-ERA kind of guy, which would've been immensely valuable in and of itself. 

He's been a season-saver.  Now, I actively avoid hyperbole, but I don't think that's overstating how MacDougal has helped the Sox.  Don't just consider what he's done on the mound.  Also consider who Ozzie might've installed in the bullpen had MacDougal never shown up.  Then he becomes even more important.

Now that I think about it, who exactly would be occupying MacDougal's space had Kenny never dealt for him?  Some combination of Sean Tracey, Dustin Hermanson, Charlie Haeger, and Agustin Mont- BAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRF!

Sorry about that.   But when you have to pick between a guy who can't find the plate or a batter's ass, a guy with a balky back, a rookie knuckleballer and a rookie 29-year-old, and he joins a guy who's a homer waiting to happen (Brandon McCarthy), a guy who's starting to pitch as unimpressively as he looks (David Riske) and a flamethrower without a flame (Jenks), it's quite nauseating.

Since MacDougal's acquisition, all the other Sox right-handers have posted a composite 4.73 ERA with a 1.48 WHIP.  They've been even worse in September, with a 9.19 ERA and 2.36 WHIP.  Fortunately, MacDougal's been his best this month, throwing 6 1/3 innings of scoreless ball.  That kind of contribution is hard to top, especially in a pennant race in which the Sox are the ones needing to make up ground. 

I'd like to think I'm not writing his eulogy already, because the Sox have had pitchers check up all right with trainers, only to see them check out pitches, days, weeks later.  Hopefully, this is merely an appreciation for one Sox who's always answered the call during the stretch run.

Bum rush

Above is the list of the White Sox's candidates for ESPN.com's "Hometown Bums," the counterpart to MLB's piece of marketing known as "Hometown Heroes."

There really isn't much of a reason to debate the White Sox's "Hometown Heroes" list, because the conversation begins and ends with Frank Thomas.  Luke Appling, Harold Baines, Nellie Fox and Minnie Minoso all were fine players, but come on. 

This list is a lot more interesting, even though Chick Gandil wins this one easily.  Charles Comiskey was cheap, Albert Belle set some records and then blessed us by leaving, Terry Bevington was a dolt and at least Jerry Dybzinski was running hard, even if it was towards an occupied third base.  Hell, A.J. Pierzynski has done that this year.  So none of them can really hold a candle to the guy who organized the Black Sox scandal.

I do think this list can be filled out better, though.  Here are some ideas to give Gandil a little more competition:

• David Wells.  Belle was a jerk, but at least he produced.  The Sox paid Wells $9.2 million, and let's just say he wasn't worth it.  The fat sack of crap pitched only 100 innings before pulling his flabby back, and ripped Frank Thomas for not playing through a torn triceps muscle.  After winning five games for the Sox, he averages over 15 wins the next four years.

• Jaime Navarro.  In his two years with the Cubs: 29-18, 3.62 ERA.  In his three years with the Sox: 25-43, 6.06 ERA.  Total earnings for the Cubs: $4.9 million.  Total earnings for the Sox: $15 million.
  

• Sammy Sosa.  He showed flashes of talent, but his otherwise abhorrent play made him expendable.  He had the sub-.300 OBP, the 1:5 BB-to-K ratio, the unspectacular basestealing, and then he was charged with throwing a rum bottle at his wife.  In other words, he didn't have a lot going for him.  Then the Sox traded him to the Cubs, and he discovered steroids and learned how to mug for the cameras, and we wouldn't stop hearing about how great he was for the next eight years. 
  

• Hawk Harrelson.  Fires Tony LaRussa, trades Bobby Bonilla, and that was it.  In one year as general manager, he might've set the Sox back five.

Two wrongs often turn out right

If you had to name two groups of starting pitchers who have consistently made the Sox look mediocre, it'd be:

1. Left-handers
2. Starters making their debuts against the Sox
   

But the funny thing is, when you put them together, the Sox have fared fairly well.  Today's win over Joe Saunders pushed their record against lefties this season to 30-29, and this was the first time the Sox faced the southpaw Saunders. 

Name	W/L	IP	H	ER	BB	K
J. Saunders	W	3.1	8	7	3	5
K. Gabbard	L	7	3	0	0	5
Z. Miner	W	5.1	5	4	4	3
J. Lester	L	6	6	2	3	3
S. Marshall	W	6	8	4	3	6
Z. Duke	L	6	10	4	1	3
P. Maholm	W	6	7	4	1	4
B. Claussen	W	2	8	9	2	0
J. Koronka	W	4.2	9	6	3	2
J. Rheinecker	L	8	7	2	0	4
R. Hill	W	4	5	7	5	2
Total	7-4	58.1	76	49	25	37

I didn't bother to include Scott Kazmir or Francisco Liriano, since they don't fit the mold.  This is more of the Luke Hudson/Anthony Reyes/Tim Corcoran mold where they shut down the Sox, then find themselves struggling in the minors three weeks later.

Money, meet mouth

Per Scott Reifert's blog, A.J. Pierzynski will be catching Mark Buehrle tonight.  I had become so lefty-centric when looking at Buehrle's match-ups through the rest of the season that I mistook "Santana" for Johan, when it was really the Angels' Ervin.  Let's just hope our hitters don't do the same.

Anyway, my theory that Pieryznski catches Buehrle better will be put to the test sooner than I thought.  We'll see what happens.

Update (12:40 AM):  I had planned to chart Buehrle's pitches tonight, but I ended up missing the first two innings because the Red Sox-Orioles game sharing the same Extra Innings channel lasted four hours. 

So I did the best I could with Gameday, though I missed a few of the early batters because 1) sometimes Gameday lags, then skips past the final pitch of an at-bat and goes to the next hitter, and 2) Buehrle works really fast. 

Here's the chart.  What I noticed is that Buehrle didn't throw inside as much as he did against the Twins in his last A.J. outing, but he didn't really have to against the Angels. 

He threw 27 pitches in the first inning, but only 39 in the next four.  He consistently started  with curves and changes, and the Angels threw their bats at it.  Lots of weak pop-ups and ground balls -- at one point, he had eight grounders in a row. 

I'll be charting the next Alomar start to compare -- though hopefully Buehrle's results with A.J. will make Alomar's presence less of a certainty.

Turn back the clock

I'm not a fan of this lede by the Daily Herald's Mike Spielman:

As long as Frank Thomas plays for the Oakland A’s, any questions about impending trips to the West Coast inevitably will center on the former White Sox slugger.

Get used to it.

I don't want to, because the controversy is stupid -- especially when considering this is what set off the most recent round:

Thomas lived up to that billing (of causing controversy) recently when he was asked by the Sporting News which would be sweeter: for the A’s to take out the White Sox in October or for the A’s to reach the playoffs and the Sox to be left out?

All Thomas would say was, “The possibilities have crossed my mind.”

What is wrong with that?  The only way he could've been kinder is if he said something to the effect of, "Certainly gentleman, it wouldn't behoove me to act in a manner not sporting when discussing the organization with which I've had many a difference.  With utmost respect, fair scribe, I request a pass on your query."  Though even if he said that, people would assume he was sarcastic and talking down to the organization. 

The funny thing is that Frank's team is winning its division, while the guy the Sox replaced him with -- the harder-working, friendlier, more professional and all-around greater guy Jim Thome -- is currently leading a team to third place. 

That's not indicative of Thome's worth -- Thomas wouldn't have been making up the difference of the pitchers' declines either.  But if Thomas were on the Sox in this same situation, you'd have to think many knee-jerkers would say, "Hey, wait a minute...when Frank wasn't playing, we won it all.  Now that Frank is playing, we're going to miss the playoffs!  Dag gummit, it's Frank's fault!"

Considering this is the treatment Frank received for the last five years, he has some room to gloat.  But even when he takes the high road, but everybody assumes it's the underpass.

Trampled by the Tribe

I suppose now's as good a time as any to sort through the shambles that used to be the White Sox bullpen before the Cleveland Indians stormed into town.  A summary of the carnage:

	PU	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Game 1	3	5.0	7	4	2	0	4	4	---
Game 2	4	2.2	5	3	3	0	2	3	---
Game 3	5	3.0	6	7	7	1	2	4	---
Game 4	5	2.0	3	3	3	1	3	2	---
Total	17	12.2	21	17	15	2	11	13	10.66

That's simply remarkable -- as the series went on, the bullpen became less efficient.  That's including the 4 1/3 scoreless innings thrown by Mike MacDougal and Matt Thornton combined!  Take them out of the equation, and Brandon McCarthy, Neal Cotts, David Riske, Boone Logan, Sean Tracey, Dustin Hermanson, Charlie Haeger, Bobby Jenks posted a 16.20 ERA put together.

Making things more difficult is the fact that Ozzie only made one bad move -- and that's sending McCarthy out during a tie game in late innings.  Every other call was understandable, and had the relievers pretended to be major-league quality on Saturday night with a nine-run lead, ThornDougal would've been available for a situation on Sunday that truly merited its appearance. 

McCarthy is on some sort of skid, a more dynamic one than Cotts' sustained crappiness since the All-Star Break.  His loss today was his seventh of the season, and his third in his last five appearances.  He's had more losses than innings pitched (2 2/3), and I think it's getting to him. 

He's been scored upon in his last five outings (six if you count the 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball against Minnesota, which I won't due to his brilliance on the whole), and the common link is the disappearance of his change-up.  He rarely throws it, which is troubling since it's his best pitch.  His fastball is average, and his curveball serves the purpose of giving batters something else to look at.  The change is McCarthy's one true trick, and when he doesn't have it, he doesn't fool anybody.

Evidently, it's also his flakiest pitch, and it seems like he's scared to throw it in situations where one swing decides the game.  I'm not going to say what's going through his head, but from the outside, he looks like he adopts two different personas based on the game scenario.  One-Inning Brandon tries to be like other one-inning relievers, who only need two pitches to get through their night's work.  Multi