It's interesting that the little spat
between former Sox scouting director Duane Shaffer and Kenny Williams developed during the same week Curtis Granderson is killing the White Sox.
The Tigers' center fielder is 7-for-17 with two doubles, two homers, two walks, five RBI and eight runs scored over the first four games of the series, and it's incredibly frustrating to watch this display knowing that he grew up in the Sox's backyard.
A big part of the Atlanta Braves' success over the past two decades is their dedication to smothering their region. Brian McCann, Jeff Francouer (although he's doing his thriving for St. Louis) are native Georgians, and Chipper Jones and Jarrod Salatamacchia grew up just south in Florida. John Schuerholz also drafted Adam Wainwright, although he's doing his thriving for St. Louis.
Meanwhile, Granderson grew up in Blue Island, went to high school at Thornton and attended UIC, and yet he lasted until
the 80th pick of the 2002 draft, while the White Sox took a couple of West Coast guys before that. They took a reliever (
Royce Ring) with the 18th overall pick, a pick that would become the butt of a joke in the opening of
Moneyball, and for good reason. To Shaffer's credit, the second-round pick, Jeremy Reed, actually looked like he was going to become something, aside from the answer to the trivia question about how the Sox acquired Freddy Garcia.
This is all an exercise in hindsight, but when you think about how the Sox might look with Granderson in center field instead of Jerry Owens/Andy Gonzalez/Darin Erstad/Brian Anderson, it's awfully easy to get jealous. More so when you
read his blog and get the feeling that he's incredibly easy to root for, as well.
(Of course, Granderson would have also had to come up through a Sox system that doesn't/won't/can't fix holes in swings, so considering that Granderson is a high-strikeout guy, there's a significant change that he wouldn't have developed into anything, anyway. But still...)
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If Josh Fields is going to have large platoon splits, at least
they're going in the right direction:
- vs. LHP: .385/.439/.731
- vs. RHP: .191/.258/.309
The Sox are 10-21 against left-handed pitching last year, following up on a 31-34 season against southpaws even with career years from righties Jermaine Dye and Joe Crede. With no other quality right-handed hitters on the horizon, Fields' ability in this part of the game is a welcome development.
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Minor league round-up:- Charlotte 5, Buffalo 3
- Lance Broadway allowed only one earned run over six innings while striking out seven, but the four walks are a bit much.
- Carlos Vasquez made it interesting when he allowed a two-run homer, but Nick Masset and David Aardsma pitched scoreless innings.
- Jason Bourgeois went 2-for-5 with a triple and three RBI; Danny Richar and Ryan Sweeney both went 1-for-4.
- Birmingham 13, West Tenn 8
- Speaking of first-round flameouts, Kris Honel continues his sad demise. He came in to pitch the ninth with a 12-run lead, and allowed two hits, two walks, hit a batter, threw a wild pitch, all while recording only one out. Tim Bittner made it more interesting by giving up a grand slam.
- Ryan Wing allowed only one run over five innings, but he walked six guys. Carlos Torres pitched three scoreless innings of relief.
- Adam Shabala, Victor Mercedes and Mike Myers each had three hits; Mercedes' hits were all doubles.
- Winston-Salem 3, Lynchburg 1
- Clayton Richard allowed only three hits and one unearned run over eight innings.
- Dave Cook hit a two-run homer, and Cole Armstrong went 2-for-4. He's hitting .313/.378/.478 in July.
- Rome 12, Kannapolis 5
- Jacob Rasner, Ryan Rote and Jason Rice were all hit hard.
- Brandon Allen went 2-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI; Lee Cruz and Maurice Gartrell also had two hits.