On Well, which one is it?...
I'd like to thank Ken Griffey Jr. for illustrating my point when I said that there's no way he would be a better replacement for Brian Anderson. During the early onslaught, twice the Sox were able to turn routine singles to center into doubles.
The first time, he couldn't handle Tadahito Iguchi's single right at him. It rolled up his arm and behind him, and Iguchi only hesitated for a split second before taking second just ahead of the throw. Brian Anderson then earned a double when he singled to left center. Griffey took a weird angle getting over to it, and Anderson saw this and didn't hesitate while rounding first, sliding in ahead of the throw.
Anderson actually had two smart baserunning plays -- the aforementioned one, and he advanced to second when the ball deflected off David Ross during a Freddy Garcia strikeout. The ball bounced in front of Ross, but Anderson was off and running as soon as he saw the ball get away, and barely beat Ross' throw. In effect, he turned a strikeout into the sacrifice bunt Garcia was striving for. He'd later score on Scott Podsednik's single.
Anderson went 2-for-5, didn't strand a runner, didn't commit any miscues in the field, and now he's reached base in five straight games. Griffey went 1-for-3 and looked like an old man. I'll take Brian.
On Dissecting the Weapon...
Pablo Ozuna's batting what is quite possibly the ugliest .427 anybody's ever seen, but Ozzie Guillen's going to keep him as the
bench's energy ball. Smart move, Oz.
After his 3-for-4 against the Rangers Thursday in which he had a two-run infield single, I still remain convinced that Ozuna's better off being deployed only once per series. He reminds me of Shane Mathews during that Bears' 13-3 season -- he came in and provided a spark a few times when Jim Miller went down, but when defenses finally adjusted to the fact that he couldn't stretch the field, he wasn't effective.
Still, I laughed when the Texas broadcasters (who are excellent, by the way) said of the Secret Weapon's first two hits, "Those have to be his two worst hits of the season."
Nope. Not even close. And speaking of broadcasters, thumbs down for Hawk Harrelson's pointless bloviation on a Jay Mariotti column I won't link to during tonight's ballgame.
The headline on it alone made me not want to read it, and I don't get why Hawk doesn't do the same instead of the stupid "hiney bird" name-calling. If only he used the energy he wastes on Mariotti towards creating original nicknames for Sox players. That used to be one of his strongest assets as a broadcaster, but has he had a good one since El Caballo?
Thumbs further down for Darrin Jackson, who led him into it out of nowhere, when the Sox were starting to mount a rally. No matter who's call it was (DJ thinking it was a good idea on its own, Hawk demanding a cue so he didn't sound maniacally obssessed with the columnist), it's infuriating to hear a blowhard pick apart a windsock. At this point, DJ's job title should be "sycophant."
On Riske business is an obvious and unoriginal title...
In his White Sox debut tonight, David Riske pitched a perfect inning, striking out two batters.
Meanwhile, in his 2006 debut with the Red Sox, Javier Lopez
allowed an inherited runner to score after he walked the lefty he was brought in to face, and then a single after that. It turned a two-run ballgame into a three-run ballgame, and gave the Twins some much needed breathing room.