Along with sheer, unadultered joy, here are two other things to take away from
the Sox's thrilling 14-inning victory over the Tigers Tuesday night:
No. 1: In the three-way battle for two lineup spots, Nick Swisher and Paul Konerko struck decisive blows... ...while Ken Griffey Jr. just kinda, well, you know...
If it weren't for the one-out single in the 13th, it's hard to imagine how Griffey's home White Sox debut could've gone worse. He picked up a silver sombrero, maybe to match the white uniform with black pinstripes that he wore for the first time.
Worse, though, was his misplay of a Placido Polanco single that turned into a triple because he let the ball go under his mitt and all the way to the warning track. In only four games, he has given opponents two triples and managed to pull out one of the worst defensive plays of the year. Remember this -- we'll be revisiting it later.
Meanwhile, Konerko overcame a backwards K to hit a big two-run homer, draw two walks and also showcased his throw-receiving abilities at first base. Swisher had an OK night, too.
Konerko expected to lose playing time to Griffey, but Swisher's job wasn't safe either. If these two can right themselves, it'll hopefully limit Griffey to a minimal number of at-bats against lefties, against whom he appeared to have little chance.
No. 2: Don't take Ozzie Guillen for granted.Assuming Guillen wasn't managing this game via walkie-talkies during the first of his two-game suspension, Don Cooper and Joey Cora showed why Oz is making the bigger bucks.
Not with the handling of the pitching staff, though, because they showed impeccable timing with changes. Gavin Floyd got the hook at the right time, and I couldn't find fault with any of the decisions thereafter. It was great to see Bobby Jenks working a tie game in the ninth, and although it might've been risky to sent Matt Thornton out for a fourth inning, he pitched like a man possessed up until that point.
With the lineup card, though, not so much. Most of it centered around -- you guessed it -- Griffey, because Joe Don Coopora (
Mitchell!) didn't pull him when Guillen likely would have, twice over.
The first was in the 10th, when Brian Anderson entered the game to pinch-run for Paul Konerko after the second walk. I assumed that if the Sox failed to score, Anderson would head to center field, while Swisher would enter the game for Griffey and take first base duties.
Nope, Griffey -- who had committed that costly gaffe -- headed back to center the next inning, with Swisher coming in for Anderson and playing first. So the Sox burned their best defensive outfielder, and Griffey nearly overran the first ball put into play in the 11th, a liner off the bat of Matt Joyce.
If you're of the mindset that the ends always justify the means, then maybe this isn't such a big deal. If Anderson stayed the game, he theoretically would've faced Joel Zumaya with two outs and two on in the 14th. Not that it can be assumed the same course of events would've followed, but fine.
Still, Coopora had another chance to pull him effectively after his single in the 13th. With one out, they could've used somebody with the ability to get himself into scoring position.
Dewayne Wise is still on the roster.
Dewayne Wise is 6-for-6 stealing bases.
Dewayne Wise can play a better center than Griffey.
Situations such as these are really the only reason why Dewayne Wise is still on the roster.
Dewayne Wise went unused.
Griffey didn't get past first, but thankfully he wasn't tested the rest of the evening. I have the feeling, though, that he would've been pulled in the 10th had Ozzie been managing, as he has been fairly aggressive when these sorts of substitution situations arise.
So here's hoping......that the way Coopora handled Griffey tonight is only the result of a conservative strategy by substitute management, and not the overall plan agreed upon by Guillen as well.
Griffey is equivalent to a rust-stricken Stingray bought off somebody's yard. He's past his prime, but you don't see many like them around for that cheap, so you think, "what the hell," and give it a shot. If he's in full working order and can be restored to recapture some of its past glory with a little time, awesome. If not, you can always call
Victory Auto Wreckers.
If the Sox are just seeing what he's capable of while ultimately considering him a third vehicle, that's great. But there's always the possibility with someone like Griffey -- especially somebody who has been on Kenny Williams' radar for that long -- that they'll overlook his flaws and overemphasize the positives because of a certain veteran
je ne sais quoi, and all of a sudden they're relying on a beater for a cross-country trek with a U-Haul in tow.
In other words, it feels a little Erstadish (although Darin Erstad was more like a Ford Tempo). I ultimately think they'll eventually lock Griffey into a pure fourth outfielder role, but I won't feel comfortable until he sits two days in a row. Hopefully Swisher and Konerko will make that decision easier.
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Minor league roundup:- Syracuse 4, Charlotte 3
- Javier Colina and Royce Huffman hit solo homers.
- Brad Eldred went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
- Mike MacDougal took the loss, dropping to 0-4.
- Chattanooga 12, Birmingham 4
- Bad defense derailed Lucas Harrell, who allowed eight runs, six of them unearned, over three innings.
- Lee Cruz homered twice during a three-hit, four-RBI night.
- Ricardo Nanita and Stefan Gartrell also had three hits apiece.
- Wilmington 4, Winston-Salem 3
- Matt Davis (3 IP) and Henry Mabee combined for four shutout innings of relief for an ineffective Anthony Carter.
- Freddie Thon and Francisco Hernandez hit solo homers.
- Paulo Orlando went 2-for-4 with a triple.
- Kannapolis 10, Hagerstown 3
- Christian Marrero was perfect at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a homer, double, two walks and two RBI.
- Brent Morel drove in three during a 2-for-5 day, with one of the hits a triple.
- Mark Fleisher and John Curtis had multi-hit games.
- Jason Rice allowed three runs over 5 1/3 innings on five hits and a walk, while striking out four.
- Santo Luis struck out four over 2 2/3 hitless innings of relief.
- Elizabethton 10, Bristol 7
- Jose Vargas homered twice during a 4-for-5, three-RBI night.
- Jordan Kendall and Andrew Garcia each had two-hit days.
- Dan Puls was the only effective pitcher, throwing one scoreless inning.
- Great Falls 6, Missoula 0
- Daniel Hudson struck out seven over five innings, allowing three hits and walking four.
- Drew O'Neil fanned five of the six batters he faced.
- Enrique Lechuga closed it out with 1 1/3 perfect innings, striking out two.
- Johny Celis went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI.
- Doug Thennis hit a two-run shot; Lyndon Estill hit a solo homer.