ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

You can't win them all. I want to win them all, but it just isn't realistic. The Cubs came into the South Side this weekend with Mitre, Maddux, and Mark Prior getting the starts. I was there for Saturday's game. It was brutal. Maddux showed some signs of breaking down as Dye and Everett went yard, back to back -- but it wasn't our day. King of the Mullet people Todd Hollandsworth made the catch of his life when he stretched up to God and snatched away a 2 run Crede homer that would have tied the game. At that very moment, I knew the game was done for the Sox. It was obvious. When Todd Hollandsworth gets an ESPN highlight, you know it's going to be a long afternoon. Ah well -- at least the air was nice and clean all the way up on top of Mt. Cell.

The Sox benefited from a loss on Saturday by the Twins (they were in Brewer-land), but yesterday's loss to Prior (strong work Mr. Prior) hurt us when the Twins held on to win that one. They were almost swept, which would have been great for the Sox. They still hold a 9.5 game lead over the Twinkies. I still think they are a dangerous team. Especially with their ability to close out a season when forced to play catch up.

Finally, it is amazing to me to see the amount of die-hard hatred between both the Cubs and White Sox fans. For a bunch of teams who pretty much have sucked these past 100 years you wonder were the animosity comes from. Is the North side really that different from the South side? Do a few short skirts and a couple of overpriced bars really make that much of a difference? (don't answer that) In a season where the Yankees are stinking, isn't the point supposed to be that Chicago is king this year? No matter if the walls have brick and ivy or just “Wrigley-like“ ivy? Chicago should come first.

Where is this great rivalry heading? I hope into the crapper. I'm tired of having conversations with people who hate their lives so much the only thing they have to look forward to is a baseball game. Like Calgon, it takes them away from the stubborn world of mouths to feed, crap jobs, and nagging wives. I find it ironic. This is their getaway. This is their oasis of calm, and enjoyment. Most people like the game, for the game.Sure, they love their teams and hate the opposition. This is especially true when their teams are playing a real rival like the Twins or the Cardinals. But when the Sox and the Cubs play each other, it's an exhibition unless there is a trophy attached to the game. Inter-league play be damned, this “rivalry” suits no purpose than to divide our city and to help the narrow minded justify why their team's ballpark has better walls to piss against. That, and the fact it brings in millions of fans to both stadiums, tourists into the city, and sells a ton more papers when we watch both of our historically poor teams beat up on each other. It's like watching a car crash. You just can't look away, can you?

This just in. Well, it was in last night. El Duque is sitting on the DL for 15 days. The White Sox starter has some tightness in his arm. He's probably a little tired as well. This move is coming at a time where the Sox feel they can survive without El Duque. Brandon McCarthy is getting the call up from the minors tonight. Let's home the team doesn't relax too much and instead steps it up and smashes the Royals in support of the kid. He has good stuff, but the big lights of the bigs have startled him a bit in his previous two starts. Actually, that first start was pretty good if I recall it correctly...Good luck to the rook. Go get em.

There are many things to like about this year's White Sox Season. Big Frank is back and almost healthy. The pitching has been great. Ozzie is fantastic at giving sound bites and keeping the media interested (for the most part). There is also the fact we are the best team in baseball. I'd like to thank a tough Dodgers team for coming in and smacking us around for a few innings in this series. It was good to see the Sox play smart baseball last night. It was even better that it was the ESPN night game. It could have easily been the Cubs at Yankee Stadium. (we won't talk about what happened in the Bronx this weekend) While the Sox fought their way back to one of the most exciting finishes I have seen on Saturday, there are some other teams in this league I am pretty worried about. We are almost at the season's half way point. I think it's time we chat about the teams that make me nervous, and if you're a Sox fan they should make you nervous too.

1. The Rangers. I'm not a monster stats guy (as we all know) but you can't ignore that the Rangers have 2 guys who swing the big stick really well. Teixeira and Soriano have 20 and 19 homers respectively. Kenny Rogers seems to think he's 20 years old again and Mr. Cordero rounds out a nice bullpen with 17 saves so far this year. Add this to what the Rangers did to the Sox earlier this year and you should understand what makes me nervous.

2. The Twins. I don't need to explain why. This team has faltered a bit these past few days. We're lucky. I saw some highlights of Santana's latest outing and it wasn't impressive. He can't seem to find the strike zone lately. I don't think this is a permanent thing. The Twins will not go quietly into the dark night. They have kept pace thus far, I'd be weary of them down the stretch.

3. The AL East. OK, perhaps anyone except Tampa Bay. The Oriole's are still leading that division. That's amazing. In fact, I dare to say it's more amazing than the Sox leading in the Central. They have good pitching and a couple of future Hall of Famers on this team. You think it's a good idea to take a team with Tejada for granted? I don't. Do any of you want to see the 1983 match up again? I don't. Not at this point. At the same time, I am afraid of the Yankees and the Red Sox. The best case scenario here is that the Yankees and the Red Sox beat up on each other and leave the horse race for those of us who haven't been there in a few years.

That's all for now kiddies. Be back later in the week to report on how the Sox do against the might KC Royals.

Tech writer and esteemed WSJ journalist Walt Mossberg has a blog. It's on the MSN spaces engine and it's not about technology. It's about baseball. What peaked my interest in this blog was a recent post from his visit to the Friendly Confines last weekend. The Red Sox were in town for a series against the Cubbies. (you all remember them, right?!) Here is the part that disturbed me:

...But here's an even more amazing fact: in two days here, I have yet to see a single cap, shirt, sign or bumper sticker bearing the White Sox logo, despite the fabulous season they are having.

Hey Wally -- are you out of your mind? The city is covered in Sox caps and shirts. I'm not counting all the construction workers along I-88 either. Sox gear is in full force in this town. Many people are jumping on the Sox bandwagon this season, even if ticket sales aren't matching the Northsiders' pace. I must be the only one that noticed the recent uptick in recent Sox-wear!

I have an explanation on why Mr. Mossberg was unable to find any “Good Guys Wear Black” gear. He was downtown and probably staying at the posh Swiss hotel with the rest of the tourists that came in that weekend. You see, Cubs-wear is the standard issue for any tourist who comes to the Windy City. Young or old, the Cubs have it covered. I bet the majority of the fans you see downtown are actually out of towners wearing Cubbie blue! In fact, I dare to claim that the Cubs are the second most popular team in the majors. Second only to the Yankees. Cubs sports gear sells at a brisk pace outside of this city. (thank the Tribune and WGN for this) I've been as far as California and even up to Boston and noticed Cubs fans sporting the “Cubby blue”. Notice, I didn't mention Arizona which is like Chicago west these days. That would be obvious.

I don't think Mr. Mossberg looked hard enough, and honestly I don't think it would matter. This town won't jump onto the White Sox bandwagon until it gets almost too late. There are many reasons for it, and I believe even your paper had a cover story about this yesterday...which unfortunately I didn't read because someone here at the office swiped it...And for the record Mr. Mossberg -- ever since my White Sox loving little brother moved just outside your famous ballpark in Boston, your town has won 2 Superbowls and a Series....let's hope he moves back so I can enjoy some of that...

Oh -- and how about an article about what DirecTV is up to? :)

It was only a matter of time before the Bears made a move to solidify the training camp invites at QB. Craig Krenzel (Buckeye!) isn't getting one. This leaves us with Grossman, Orton, Hutch, Dinwiddie, and the new offensive coordinator's favorite (and former Illini starter) Kurt Kittner! He knows the system. Get ready to hear that over and over again.

I feel bad watching Krenzel get shoved out of town before being given a chance to compete. He did start three games for us last year and I felt that might have been enough to save him at least for the first cut. The other rookies, Dinwiddie and Kittner, were in Europe over the summer working on their German. Kittner actually won the MVP of the World Bowl last week by throwing 2 brats and some kraut for the win in Düsseldorf or wherever they play out there. But relax, he knows the system.

I'm going out on a limb here and naming the depth chart at QB now: Grossman, Hutch, Orton. That's it. Orton was nothing special in his last year at Purdue, but that's only one bad year in his Big Ten career. Kittner had 5 bad years at Illinois. I don't care how well he knows the system, he shouldn't beat out Orton unless Orton starts throwing with his feet.

Finally -- good luck to Mr. Krenzel in Med school. If I was as smart as this kid, I would definitely take that nuclear physics/biology/chemistry degree of his and learn how to do boob jobs. I hear it makes great money, and it's safer than the NFL.

There is no need to panic. That's what I keep telling myself. The White Sox were easily handled by the D-Backs last night at Sox park. It was an ugly game. El Duque was not sharp. He gave up 6 earned runs last night, helping Arizona take at least 2 out of 3 from the Sox who have now lost 2 consecutive games. Two in a row?! When was the last time that happened?

I believe it was the end of may when Texas smoked us. The starting pitching has shown some tiredness, or lack of concentration these past few games. You would think they would be happy to be back home, but apparently this didn't matter. What does matter is that the Sox are only in first place by 4 games over the Twins. You have to wonder if our health and our luck is starting to run out. Big Frank tweaks a muscle again the other night simply running to first base. The news in town is that he drinks too much coffee. He is dehydrated. That, and his monster leg work outs right before the game might have something to do with his chronic leg problems this year. It could also be that he is getting old. Don't try telling Frank that. The Sox trainer was very clear on this subject. Frank is stubborn. He doesn't change his routine for anyone. Not until the “horse has left the barn” -- or something to that effect.

Kudos to the Comcast sports network for getting a camera right into Kenny William's face as Frank was hobbling off the field. I swear I caught him rolling his eyes....I wonder what impact Frank's injury is having on the wheeling and dealing going on behind closed doors. You know Kenny can't stay put. He will have to make a move to solidify something on this team. The question becomes, who do you trade, and who do you get? Do you get another arm? Potentially another closer or middle reliever? Do you trade Crede and upgrade at third? Are Carl Everett's days numbered, again? There doesn't seem to be enough at-bats for Carl and Frank on this team together. Which is a shame, because I personally believe it's the only way we are going to win this division. First, let's get back on track by winning tonight.

It was great to see Freddy Garcia pitch last night. It was the opening game of the White Sox's visit to Coors Field. This meant if he wasn't careful, we'd get rocked!(pun intended) Aaaahhh...I love that cheesy goodness!

The first inning was anything but a masterpiece. They came out swinging for the fences, and before you knew it we had a 3-3 game. This was after we put up 2 runs in the top of the first to take an early lead. I thought we were golden! I was so ignorantly confident that we were going to win this game with a 2-0 lead (yes, in Coors Field) that I started to water the lawn, and crack open a beer, and chit-chat with my neighbor. If it wasn't for the wife, who came out and whispered the score in my ear, sort of like an FBI agent talking to the Prez, I would have missed it. Sure, the Eastern Conference Finals Game 7 was on, as well as the Cubs game (not to mention the wife's Cards game) but we all know the priorities in this house. Right? Wiping away the tears, and slowly calming myself down from a mild cardiac arrest, I settled down with my Bitburger in hand to watch one of the best pitched games I have ever seen.

What a piece of masterful work by Freddy Garcia! I know the offense woke up last night to the tune of 15 hits. Jermaine Dye is starting to heat up, and guys like Crede have been hitting more consistently. This team has a way about it that I can't easily describe. I think it might be confidence. It's been so long since I have seen this sort of effort from a team in Chicago. Let's hope it stays that way as we head into the All-Star break.

It was a decent outing by Buehrle yesterday. He still got rocked for a homer in the 4th, but overall he's doing great. (he had 7 strike outs, not bad for a game we lost) With the loss, the White Sox are only 3.5 games ahead of the pesky Twins. What is it going to take for this team to just die? I have some suggestions that may be obvious, but we should still discuss! Here is what the Sox have to do:

1. Big Frank. Everyone is waiting to see Big Frank start complaining about playing time. No sooner than he got his first hit, I have to read about how he feels he needs more time in the paper that following morning. Let's give the Big Hurt a break. He can still play. He knows it, and so does the ball club. Witness that 10th inning, game tying, butt saving homer he cranked yesterday as any further evidence you may need to convince yourselves. A happy and healthy Frank is going to help us, not hurt us. Hah!

2. Neil Cotts and Cliff Politte need to keep it up. I've seen a lot of innings this year in the latter half of ball games. To my surprise middle relief has been pretty solid when given the chance to come in. This includes some of the messy innings Damaso Marte has pitched. What has surprised and delighted me is watching Neil Cotts come into his own. He has some good stuff and he seems to finally be comfortable. He can find the strike zone with consistency, which is something that Marte is having problems with (AGAIN). Middle Relief has to keep it together because of #3...

3. Keep those arms healthy. This team would be in a lot of trouble without the strong starting pitching. All this talk of small ball would have faded into the background. Has anyone noticed that even NPR has jumped onto this "return" of classic baseball? That's code for solid pitching and selfless batting (slap a single, lay down the bunt, steal that base). It seems even the fans are turning away from steroid baseball and enjoying the game as it should be played. The White Sox are poster boys for this thinking, but it starts with the solid starts we have had with our top 5 in the rotation. Keeping El Duque healthy should be a priority, as well as protecting Buerhle and Garland. Watch those pitch counts so that we dont “Dusty” those arms!

Finally, let's all acknowledge that the Twins are breathing down our necks heavily. The Sox are on an amazing tear this first half. It was a surprise, unlike what the Twins are doing this year. They might be overshadowed by us for now, but if we don't watch out....