Before we get started today,
ESPN.com's Uni Watch took a good long look at the history of White Sox uniforms. Evidently some Sox fans were so upset by
the seven-story Cubs centerpiece before the first crosstown series that they wrote to complain.
Bully for them.
Paul Lukas is ultimately down on most of the combinations the Sox have attempted, but I wouldn't have it any other way. The horrendous uniforms play a big part of the "penance" Bill Veeck said Sox fans suffered through -- which is kind of funny, since he played a big part in more than a few of the team's sartorial debacles.
I think the Sox have the right look now, but one uniform I don't think gets enough credit is the circa 1964 version. They have
an authentic Aparicio one from that era in the Hall, and I always have the urge to break the case and run.
Moving on...
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Bobby Jenks missed Wednesday night's game due to
a twinge in the left side of his back, but the Sox missed somebody else more: Boone Logan.
Nothing against Scott Linebrink, who had held lefties to a .130 average entering Grady Sizemore's at-bat in the top of the ninth, but Logan would have been the perfect guy to face Grady Sizemore. Sizemore struggles against southpaws to begin with (down .150 points of OPS compared to righties), but Logan has absolutely owned him,
as mentioned in the recap.
The fact that he didn't show up at all tonight -- while Nick Masset and Adam Russell each pitched important innings -- seems to make this something different than an ill-advised decision by Ozzie Guillen. Rest wasn't the issue, as Logan hadn't pitched since
June 28, when he struck out two of the three Cubs he faced.as part of a tremendous bullpen effort.
That said, something might be wrong with Logan, too, but I can't find anything supporting that. It could be because he's healthy and Ozzie wanted to go with his righties, or it could be because nobody thinks about the LOOGY.
But hey -- Adam Russell has picked up wins in each of his last two outings. This was exactly the outcome I had envisioned when
I urged the Sox to use him more. Exactly.
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Speaking of mysterious statuses, the Sox
haven't decided whether they want to pick up Darrin Jackson's option or say goodbye to the Sox commentator after nine years.
Replacing Jackson with Steve Stone would be an instant upgrade for the television broadcasts, but then that leaves a hole in the radio booth. The Chris Singleton era -- and his subsequent, solid work on
Baseball Tonight -- proved that it isn't easy to pair Ed Farmer with anybody.
If DJ was shown the door, I would hope that means the Sox would pursue an actual voice instead of loading up their teams with four ex-jocks again.
It's funny, though, that the Sox are proposing jettisoning Jackson just as he appears to be getting the hang of his job. I fee like we should be owed an explanation for the suffering.
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As solid as the Sox offense has been over the past week, they're going to have their hands full with
Justin Duchscherer, who's basically like Paul Byrd on PEDs.
OK,
more PEDs.
I'm gearing up for a frustrating night, because having watched a lot of Duchschererererer and his West Coast starts after Sox games are over, he never seems to throw a fastball when he should. But after knocking off Cliff Lee and C.C. Sabathia in back-to-back nights, it would be hard to find fault in dropping a game to
the American League's ERA leader.
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Minor league roundup:- Durham 7, Charlotte 1
- Lance Broadway didn't pitch well in relief of Esteban Loaiza: 4 1/3 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 2 HR.
- Cole Armstrong went 2-for-4 with the lone RBI, and is hitting .529 so far.
- Jeff Niemann, who the White Sox actually hit, struck out 12 over his seven-hit complete game.
- Birmingham 6, Mobile 2
- Carlos Torres improved to 9-4 with six innings of one-run ball.
- Stefan Gartrell went 2-for-3 with a double, walk, RBI and scored three times.
- Ricardo Nanita had three hits; Victor Mercedes, Micah Schnurstein and Eric Hollis each had two.
- Winston-Salem 3, Frederick 1
- Cleveland Santeliz pitched five shutout innings for the win, lowering his ERA to 1.83.
- Matt Zaleski threw two innings of relief, and Kanekoa Teixeira struck out two in a perfect ninth.
- Paulo Orlando doubled, scored and drove in two.
- Lake County 8, Kannapolis 5 (10 innings)
- Charlie Shirek allowed four runs on seven hits over seven innings, with no walks and a strikeout.
- Mark Fleisher doubled, homered and drove in three, making it 31 RBI in 27 games.
- Eduardo Escobar, Dale Mollenhauer, Matt Inouye and Christian Marrero each had two hits.
- Pulaski 8, Bristol 7
- Jose Vargas went 3-for-4 with a double and four RBI.
- Andrew Garcia hit his fourth homer, a solo shot.
- Jordan Kendall, Brandon Short and Jorge Castillo joined Garcia with two-hit nights.
- Murillo Gouvea was roughed up for six runs over 3 1/3 innings, but Po-Yu Lin took the loss: 4 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K.
- Billings 3, Great Falls 2
- Two Great Falls pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts:
- Kevin Skogley took the loss, but struck out 11 over six, with eight hits, three runs and two walks allowed.
- Charlis Burdie struck out the side in two shutout innings, allowing one hit.
- Every Great Falls hitter besides Danny Jordan had a hit.
- Mark Grace hit a solo homer, and Jesus Avila had a pair of singles.