After
he hit his first homer in a White Sox uniform -- and only nine months into his career on the South Side -- let's update
the backup catcher chart in honor of Toby Hall:
See? He's every bit as good as I thought he'd be. It just took him a little longer than I expected, that's all.
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Other items of interest:*Teddy Greenstein rates the Chicago broadcast booths,
giving Hawk Harrelson and Darrin Jackson a B+.
To my surprise, I've become more of a Jackson fan and a Hawk detractor. Jackson seems to have a genuine curiosity about the current game (I recall him citing "Mythbusters" earlier this year), and I get the feeling he's smarter than Harrelson either makes him or lets him. He's starting to show his own style when he calls his innings, which are markedly smoother than in previous years.
I'll disagree with Greenstein when he says DJ is "never annoying," because "Oh, Do Tell" is lame, he's not good at southern folksy (which he picks up from Hawk) and he has the tendency to go way too early into postgame wrap-up mode. I will say he's definitely made strides, and I'd probably give him a B. Hawk? C-, bordering on D+, for reasons I don't need to get into.
*Jim Thome behaved
in a brusque manner unbecoming of a gentleman:
After firing off several questions about this weekend’s showdown at
Wrigley Field, Thome had enough after being asked if the Sox will have
the advantage since the Cubs play a night game at Tampa Bay Thursday
and won’t get back in Chicago until after midnight.
“Hey, we’re playing the Pirates tonight,’’ Thome said before walking away.
Bully, Masher. Bully.
*Kenny Williams and Ozzie Guillen took shots at the Cubs in their own styles.
Williams with a flame thrower: "The unfortunate thing for me is it's a shame that a certain segment of
Chicago refused to enjoy a baseball championship being brought to their
city. The only thing I can say is, 'Happy anniversary.'''
Guillen with an elbow to the ribs: ''Lou Piniella does two things better than me: Managing
and eating.''
*History indicates the Pirates have a good shot at avoiding the sweep. They're throwing
Phil Dumatrait out there, who is:
- Left-handed.
- Somebody the Sox have never faced.
- Not prone to surrendering homers.
C'mon, Sox. Surprise me.
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Minor league roundup:- Birmingham 2, Jacksonville 1
- Justin Cassell tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out four.
- Miguel Negron had two hits; .213-hitting Robert Valido had the lone RBI.
- Potomac 6, Winston-Salem 1
- Good news: John Ely struck out eight over 6 2/3 innings. Bad news: He gave up four homers.
- The Warthogs managed only five hits.
- Bristol 8, Johnson City 5
- Possible AARP member Juan Silverio homered, and now has five RBI in his first two games.
- Jose Vargas also went deep, and Misael Tavarez and Orlando Santos each had two-hit nights.
- Murillo Gouvea struck out four over three scoreless innings of relief.
- Great Falls 7, Helena 5 (12 innings)
- Ronald Morales definitely earned the win in relief -- six strikeouts over 3 1/3 perfect innings.
- Shortstop Eduardo Escobar went 2-for-3 with a double, two walks and two RBI from the leadoff spot.
- Some guy named Kenneth Williams went 1-for-5 with a triple and a walk.
- Charlotte OFF
- Kannapolis OFF