ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

I swear I did not forget that the Sox are up North against the Cubbies.
As MikeJ says - we should take it easy on the Cubs, this is their World Series.

The White Sox jumped out to an early 3-0 lead only to watch Garland crash and burn in the bottom half of the first inning. It resulted into a 3-2 score heading into the 2nd. Oh, and Pablo Ozuna seems to have hurt his hammy - Pods comes in to save the day (we hope)

Stay tuned this weekend for much better coverage of this series, especially since I won't be at the office...like I am now.

GO SOX

I just woke up to the tragic news that NU football coach Randy Walker died of a heart attack last night. Coach Walker was with NU for something like 7 years, and he took us to 3 bowl games. Looking at his record overall, he was outstanding for NU and did a great job of elevating the program from the basement of the Big 10. This is a pretty huge loss for NU and an even bigger loss for his family. What a crappy way to start a day.

More on this and the Crosstown Classic (which starts today) later in the afternoon.

I was going to bore everyone with a quick post on the World Cup. I hope that's all right. If anything it gives you guys a chance to visit the site and grab the team specific RSS feeds both Mike and I have on our blogs. In the coming weeks we will be upgrading (again) the software around here. It will add a few cool features, but we can go over that later this month. I want to talk about the World Cup.

The greatest sport everyone cares about except the USA has been a ton of fun to watch. I think ESPN and ABC should get credit for covering every single game in high definition. They should also get dinged for the crappy announcing and pro-US coverage we have had to endure. It was so bad during that last group round that I had to turn to Telemundo for their coverage instead. It would have made for better TV if the US was actually good to begin with. Why are we talking about the US during the England v. Sweden match? What made it worse is that I can't stand Eric Wynalda. He makes Bill Walton look like the most humble man on the planet.

As for the actual game play, it has been brilliant from a number of teams. Ghana might have lost today to Brazil (3-0) but they played very well. It was amazing to see how close they got to scoring early and often against Brazil. I'm confident that an African team will be in the finals next time around. Teams like the Ivory Coast and Ghana are getting stronger as the years go by. A little more technical prowess and a little less flair in their game is all it will take.

I'm still sticking with England as my favorite to win the entire tournament. I stand by my decision in the face of some crappy play by a sluggish England team. Hell, after watching Brazil run up and down the pitch with Ghana, and the French team's 3-1 win over Spain, I'm starting to get really nervous with this pick. Yet, I think they can get better. Portugal stands in their way in the next match and thanks to the many red cards they received the English should win.

Finally, I never talk about MLS soccer because frankly I'm not really into it. I guess I should probably make a stronger effort if I'm going to complain about US soccer. I'm starting to realize the importance of the MLS as a breeding ground for real American talent. I don't want the league to turn into a graveyard for tiring English footballers. I'll equate it to something all you baseball fans understand. When American baseball players get old and fat they can't get work in the MLB. That's when their agents get them a contract to play in Japan. I think if the MLS is to the Premiereship what Japan is to the MLB. We're in trouble.

Oh - one more thing - check out the new stadium the Fire just built! A roadtrip seems to be in order, right?

I wish I could tell you I was paying attention to the NBA Draft tomorrow. My brother was in town this past weekend and he made a comment about how it would have been cool if I ran a mock NBA draft. Not unlike the NFL Draft we did here a few months ago. (which was a huge, monster freakin success) I did write some cool custom software for that draft. It's a shame not to use it for more than just the NFL draft. I'm just not into it. I haven't been since the Bulls hit that horrible streak of years in the post-Jordan era. Shame on me.

What makes it even more confusing in my tiny brain is the fact I love college basketball. I know all these guys getting drafted pretty well. I watch a ton of college basketball, and I don't mean just the tourney. For whatever reason, the NBA just doesn't do it for me any more. That would explain why I don't have many posts on the Bulls. I guess I should probably go find someone who would be dedicated to basketball writing to handle that sort of thing. In the meantime, MikeJ has done a great job dropping a note or two about the bulls.

The point of this idiotic semi-rant is that my wife thinks she knows who the Bulls are drafting tomorrow. At least she told me who she wants the Bulls to draft with that number 2 pick. Wait for it....wait for it.....it's Adam Morrison. When I asked her why, she said this - and I quote - "He looks so 70's with that 'stache - it's like a retro Chicago stache"
There you have it. Morrison it is:

Shame on me for not pushing for our beloved Sox players when it comes to voting for the All-Star game. We deserve to have at least 5 All Stars in my opinion. I'm pulling these names out of thin air, but I would send Contreras, Thome, Dye, Konerko, and Crede to the All-Star game. I know a lot of people mention Jenks and some of our other pitchers. Hell, I shouldn't ignore Iguchi. He probably has the least amount of competition at his position than the other guys. I'm going to go run off and get some stats and compare these guys against the other "top" All-Star hopefuls.

In the meantime, I have to remind everyone to head over to MLB.com and vote for your favorite White Sox player. (Or you can head to [WhiteSox]) As for tonight's game, the Sox pretty much hammered the Pirates tonight. I know a score of 4-2 is deceiving in this regard. We had a ton of hits against this team. 15 to be exact. The poor Pirates are in a horrible downward spiral. I think this is something like their 12th straight loss. I think the Pirates make the Cubs look like the Yankees. Think about that for a second.

It's a final, and Mark Buehrle just got his 9th win of the year. Not a bad outing for Mark. He went 7 innings giving up only 1 walk and  had only 2 earned runs. Of course this means that the Tigers are going to win tonight...Damn these two teams are in sync.

Finally a little commercial for those of you who haven't yet subscribed to my RSS feed. Do it! I know I've seen a bit of an uptick recently from the various White Sox message boards out there, and I totally appreciate it. The content gets better as you drink, or after being hit in the head with a bat. Which ever you find easier.

So for all you RSS rookies out there subscribe to our main feed here.
I'll be doing an in depth write up on the first half of the baseball season, a preview of what the Bears should be doing in the last few weeks before training camp starts, and finally another quick article explaining why you should be thankful you're a White Sox fan. Here is a clue: Dusty. Nuff said.

I have to admit, I expected the loss tonight. I know the game isn't over yet, but I'm calling it a loss. I'll gladly eat crow if the Sox can come back here in the bottom of the 9th. If it wasn't for that awesome 3-run homer that Iguchi hit in the 8th inning, we would be losing this game 9-2. Instead, we are a single swing from tying this game. I've been goofing around online tonight checking out some of the message boards for all the die-hard Sox fans. I'm not a big fan of message boards because they end up getting filled with a ton of noise over quality content. Notice, that's why our message boards have been closed.

What is good to see is that hasn't happened at ChiSoxCentral. At least not yet. Check it out if you guys feel like you need to vent or have a good convo about the Sox this year. Make sure you tell them you got the link from here. :)

As for tonight, let's do a quick break down as I watch Pods take the 3-1 pitch...(he got walked and Iguchi is the tying run at the plate. They're loaded!)

1. Macowiak can't play center. How many balls passed right over his head tonight? 3? 4? I lost track. Love his bat, but we gotta move on another outfielder who can play center.
2. Vasquez was doing great tonight, except for his usual big inning. He gave up some nasty home runs in the 5th

HOLD THE PHONE - GOOCH WENT YARD. THE GAME IS TIED....

BBACK AFTER THE GAME. I just crapped myself!

[update]
Jenks got us out of the 10th inning on 1 pitch. He got Ausmus to ground into a double play. Whew. We're in the top of the 11th after the Sox failed to get anything going in the bottom of the 10th. Man, I want this win now (and the sweep) Go SOX.

Update 2: Does Macowiak know how to bunt? We're in the bottom of the 11th and he is scaring me...What the hell is Ozzie doing out there? Oh man, Uribe is going to pinch run. This is strange...

Update 3: Is Citron Spanish for ice in the veins? Alex is fighting pretty hard here...oops spoke too soon. Ground out. Uribe is on 3rd and I gotta tell you...I think we're winnig this game. Head over to the msg board for further play by play...(link above)

Update 4: Thanks to my lovely wife for pointing out that the Astros have to take a bus up to Detroit after this game - to face the Tigers. I kind of want the 'Stros to be strong for that series...considering we just tore through their bullpen, I'm not sure they are strong enough to bend a paper clip let alone beat the Tigers tomorrow!

You would think that some of the established writers, journalists, and columnists would get it by now. I guess I was wrong. From one of my favorite writers Rick Morrissey of the Trib:

One of the best and worst things that has happened to our society is the blog—best because everyone can have his say, not just us so-called experts; worst because everyone can say anything with almost no accountability.

Ouch. Being classified as an expert is relative. Like beauty, it is in the eye of the beholder. If writers are so-called experts - the ballplayers surely don't agree. I've seen countless rants from guys who actually swing a bat or throw touchdowns for a living who don't agree with Mr. Morrissey's assement. If I'm any less of an expert than a guy who writes for a major media company it's because I don't have that fantastic press pass that gets me into all these events. Which leads me to another point of Rick's:

I'll give Mariotti this: Whether he realizes it or not, he might have been the nation's first blogger, without actually writing one. He has led the way by not leading the way to the locker room or the clubhouse. He writes what he wants without ever talking to a soul. The only difference is he travels often to events, unlike bloggers, many of whom sit in their underwear all day and update, update, update.

Once again, his logic is flawed. First, being there physically isn't (and I argue can't be) the reason how or why you validate your existence. It better not be the primary way you guys figure out who is a "real" writer. Talking to the players is the one privelage you guys get as professional writers. Don't get me wrong, I don't pretend to be as talented as you guys. I'm not auditioning for your job. These blogs you fear might destroy the monopoly companies like the TribuneCo have on the distrobution of content - but it won't replace that content. They've got you writing a blog now too, don't they? As far as sitting in my underwear and just doing update after update - you must be joking, right? I wear pants my friend. And just like you, I put them on one leg at a time.

One final note, and point of contention:
But something is happening in our society, and the blog is a reflection of it. So is TV. So is radio. So, for that matter, is Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Civility is going bye-bye. Public discussion is a bloody fistfight. And it's OK to be vapid as long as you're loud. Take a bow for that, Mr. Cuban.

You should take the time to actually read Mark Cuban's blog. It's actually well written and quite good. I much prefer him online, via his carefully crafted posts than his on-air persona. He isn't as annoying, so you can rip on him for dancing on the sidelines of games, but not for his blog. It provides transparency to a side of the sports world that we've never seen. You know why? Because he didn't want a so-called expert to write about it for him.

I can understand the fear that journalists like Morrissey and Mariotti have when it comes to blogs. Any average-joe with a computer and an email address can start writing about sports without that fancy journalism degree from the Northwestern! These bloggers aren't earning their stripes. It's worse than the talk radio shows because these articles never go away. I can see them thinking: "People don't want to read that crap online, right?"

I bet the guy who invented stone tablets said the same thing when paper was invented!

It's as if we(the bloggers) took these conversation we were having while drinking beer at our local bar and moved them online so that everyone could join in. Even complete strangers! Hmm. That isn't that bad of an idea. What will they think of next? Wearing Pants?!

It only took one hit to beat the Cardinals last night. That is a pretty big contrast between the 33 runs the White Sox hammered out in the first two games. The Cardinals sent Anthony Reyes to the bump and he was practically flawless. I read a quote that Joey Cora thought he looked like a healthy Mark Prior. I found that comment strange, until I realized that Reyes went to USC with Prior. What I found even stranger is that there is a blog dedicated to the kid. Maybe the Cardinals have something positive to take from this series against the Sox afterall. The fact is, if it wasn't for the bumbling play of So Taguchi in the outfield last night (pictured above) the Sox were about to get no-hit. Actually, they ruled that play an error instead of giving JD credit for the triple. Jim Thome gets credit for breaking up Reyes' no-hitter by swinging at that first pitch fastball in the 7th to give the Sox a 1-0 lead.

Freddy Garcia did a great job as well. He went 8 innings without giving up a run. He had 2 strikeouts and 1 walk. There was no big inning against Freddy, and that was with Pujols back in the lineup. Bobby Jenks came in for his 21st save of the season (make him an All-Star please) on a night where Joey Cora was running the show thanks to Ozzie's 1 game suspension for having Riske hit Dave Duncan's kid.

While we are on the subject of Joey Cora, I have to bring out my Jay Mariotti hat. He's been in the news, so I'm going to do my best impression with this next line of questioning. Why did Ozzie pick Joey Cora to cover for him as the manager last night? Why not Rock Raines? Why not Harold Baines? Is there a system or a rule, or an old-school tradition that states the thirdbase coach is the one that fills in for a suspended manager? I'm talking out loud here, but I would imagine that Harold and Tim don't appreciate being left out of this opportunity. Is Ozzie playing favorites because Joey is Hispanic? I doubt it. It's probably because Joey has the most experience out of the three. And with that, my expirement at kicking up some controversy ala Mariotti fails. Rock and Harold will get their chance, if they want it I guess. Joey did a great job yesterday handling the club. He kept things simple by letting Freddy do his thing and going to get Bobby for the win. It was a textbook. I hope Ozzie enjoyed the view from the owners' box.

I wish this story would go away. The Mariotti and Ozzie debacle is turning into the Ozzie should be ostracised show. Talk radio, the Internet, and ESPN have provided deafening coverage of the F bomb heard around the world. It's time to lay it out for both Ozzie, the organization and Mariotti:

Dear Ozzie,
Man, you fucked up. This isn't like all those other times you called someone a homosexual or that time you greeted your pal by calling him a child molestor. This is different because it's that extra little bit that everyone is adding to your legacy. That's right, you have a legacy. (already) It seems like it might be getting tarnished as we stand here looking at the ebb and flow of search results with your name and the word fag. You can act like you don't care, but I  know you do. This legacy is something that will follow you and your family around forever. You should cherish it as much as you cherish that championship we won last year. You're supposed to be a stand-up guy. You proved that when you apologized to A-Rod for your WBC comments. You haven't spoken his name since. That was a good move. This recent tirade against Mariotti is a joke. You got baited into this crap and you should have known when to keep your mouth shut. The problem now is that you apologized in the only way you know how. By calling him a piece of shit. You're setting a bad example in this regard. You're speaking the truth, and we all agree with you - but you're the manager of the World Champions. We need to change our reputation from a beer-drinking-Wrestlemania loving, chant-the-Cubs-suck-even-when-we're-playing-the-Indians organization to a true class act. Someone has to stop the nonsense. Someone has to continue to lead the transformation of this ballclub, and baseball in Chicago for the good. Call it Grinder Rule #1: Good Guys Who Wear Black Wear it With Class. Don't give me the Charles Barkley, I am not a role model routine either. Because you are - and after the other day - a bad one at that.

Dear White Sox Organization(re: Mr. Reinsdorf),
First, thanks for taking all our shit over the past 15 years. You deserved better, and in hindsight we should have been measuring and ranking the "best" ownership in this city with the amount of parades/celebrations we took part in. I hope all that nasty crap that we blamed you for is just water under the bridge. (white flags, causing a strike, Jerry Krause, etc.) You've got a real problem on your hands with Oz. This isn't the first time his mouth is writing checks your ass has to cash. Have you seen who ESPN compared our skipper to? Read about it here. Marge and Rocker aren't people considered good company. This guy has it right. You have to have a sit down with Ozzie, Kenny and the PR department to clean up this mess. Suspend him if you have to, but do it now before people start calling for his head. Sure, he said he was sorry - but he still called him a peace of shit. Do we really want this to be the face of our organization? It's starting to detract from the team. If anything, you need to impart some knowledge on Ozzie when it comes to talking to the media. I'm not asking for a gag-order, but we need to set some ground rules when anyone is talking with that White Sox uniform on. Especially when there is a mic in the vacinity! May I suggest we get Ozzie to admit his faults and apologize to his team, and to his city for bringing this kind of heat down on us. Specifically his team. We have been playing great baseball as of late, and instead of talking about how we used the Cardinals for a punching bag, we're talking about calling people names. Bad names at that! So, do what you have to do - but make it known that the White Sox organization doesn't tollerate this kind of behavior. Even if you did win a World Series. Good luck cleaning up this mess. Don't worry, we're still behind Ozzie and the club - we just need to stop the playground-style name calling and get back to winning another ring.

Dear Mr. Mariotti:
You are a hack. There is no question about it. I've never liked your sour style of writing. That being said, you have every right to write commentary on Ozzie and Dusty Baker. Do I believe Ozzie should apologize to you for being a gut-less waste of space - no. Should he apologize for embarrasing himself and his team by making derogatory comments in general. Absolutely. I understand you've got to sell papers, but I don't understand why you continue to think that antagonizing people is the only way to do that. Hell, from what I heard you were crying about the Sun-Times being pro-White Sox. You're kidding right? You expect your paper to be objective? Shouldn't you be held to the same standards? Hell, shouldn't you not piss off your bosses by crying foul over their parsing of your crappy content? Ozzie is right, you have never done anything for this city. You're famous for being a jerk. But hey, it's America and jerk isn't a word that is as offensive as that F-bomb Oz used to describe you. My advice to you Jay is to do what you're told before you get let go by the Sun-Times and end up like me, writing for some sports blog.

That does it for me. Let's get that sweep tonight. GO SOX

I barely had a chance to catch my breath from the 20 run win over the Cardinals on  Tuesday. The Cardinals shared in my recent experience gasping for air after getting drubbed 13-5 yesterday. I guess that 20 run hit parade wasn't a fluke. I know a lot of people in the stands on Tuesday were screaming for the Sox to save some of those runs for yesterday's game. I doubt anyone expected they would have 13 more lying in wait.

The football comparisons are starting here. I'm hoping the Bears can score 13 points before week 3 in next year's season. I don't expect them to score 20 until we face the IHSA 5A champions. I won't get into football quite yet because it's too early. But hey, if it's a football-like fight you want, we've got one on the Southside. If you haven't heard about Ozzie and the Sun-Times' Jay Mariotti getting into a bit of a tiff, you've got to go catch up here. Come back though, for my comments after I get a cup of coffee and wake up a bit.

Let's do some parting Strong Work awards. We haven't given those away in awhile:

Strong Work to Paul Konerko, Juan Uribe, and Joe Crede for crushing the ball these past few games. I always expect Konerko to be on this list, but it's nice for Uribe and Crede to lift the bottom of the order with the hot bats they have been swingin.

 

I just got back from the game. The recap is brief tonight. I'm tired from all the standing and clapping. We killed the Cardinals. I can't put it any better than that. I gotta get some shut eye, but here are some points we can review in the morning. Plus, I think I actually took a picture with my cell phone that isn't crap. Now for some game notes:

1. Everyone got on the hit train tonight. Even Brian Anderson. The crowd was behind Brian fully every time he stepped into the batter's box. I will point out he made a couple of mistakes in the outfield. The first being not hitting the cut-off man in the first inning. I think we can let that slide
2. Sydney Ponson hit 2 batters in this game. I thought all hell was going to break lose. Clearly, teams are trying to rattle us. Suspensions would be disasterous for our team right now.
3. We beat the Tigers tonight based on scores alone. They beat the Brewers 10-1 tonight. We seem to be in sync with Detroit. They lose one, we lose one. We win big, they win big. Something has to give...
4. Juan Uribe is getting hot again...watch out.
5. Why do we get warned when we consistently get hit by pitches, multiple times in a game? Is it because of Ozzie's reputation as an brute-force, old-school type of manager? Why warn both benches? So no one get's hurt? The Cards should have been warned after the first hit batsmen.

I gotta get some sleep...be back in the morning with what I hope will be a much more coherent post. GO SOX!

When I was a kid, hockey was a big deal. After my family moved out of the city and into the North suburbs I started to realize the new opportunities for a kid my age. City kids played baseball. We played it every afternoon. Right field was an auto-out. Pitcher's hand was a default rule unless we were lucky enough to run into 9 kids. Pick up baseball games weren't that odd. We would "travel" to other parks, mitts tied to the back of our bikes, to meet up with ringers from St. Hillary's. We spent countless hours behind an IHOP parking lot practicing our curveballs, running bases, and hitting massive home runs over that blue shingled roof. Baseball was king in most neighborhoods, but it shared the crown with hockey in my new suburban digs.

I was just as shocked as you are to find this out. Looking back at it now, it made sense. The area was covered in ice rinks, and I don't mean the outdoor Canadian kind. I mean the kind with popcorn makers, cheese pretzels, and a video arcade. There was a pro-shop that sold skates,blade protector thing-a-majigs, and your favorite hockey jersey. It was by far the coolest place to hang out in the winter. You could always count on a great pee-wee hockey game at one of the rinks, and sometimes the adults would lace them up for another chance to relive their past. It was true good times. It was pure.

I loved hockey growing up but it took me a while to get into it. My brother and I wanted to play hockey badly, but thanks to an overprotective mother and the cost of outfitting 2 boys with all that gear, it didn't happen. We had to live our dreams via the back parking lots when rollerblades finally showed up. It was fun being Chris Chelios, or Eddie Belfour . The Blackhawks were the first major professional sports team my immigrant family took a liking to. Sure, there was the Cubs. There would always be the Cubs, but the Blackhawks were the thing to watch back in the day. They must have been on local TV. I've never seen a Hawks game on local TV (let's not get into that horrible story).

My mother's favorite story about coming to this country began on the very first day she landed in Chicago. She was ushered into the new world, and the small apartment my uncle and his wife lived in on the Northside, rudely. Dad and his older brother were watching the Blackhawks/Maple Leafs game. Her attempts to chit-chat were met with a hand wave and a dissmissive grunt. Her new sister-inlaw explained: "They're always like this when hockey is on. Get used to it" Aaah, the good ole days.

Why do I bring this all up? It's because a Stanley Cup was raised last night by Carolina. I'm wondering if anyone cares. Strikes, work stoppages, horrible play, and a crap commissioner have taken it's toll on this great sport. Nevermind the beloved 'Hawk stinks and that our ownership is crap, hockey is an also-ran these days. I actually caught the game and it was good to remember why I loved hockey so much. It was good to see the Cup. I guess I'm just wondering if I'm the only one. (link for that recent ratings story)

Congrats to Mr. Karamanos and the Hurricanes (an odd name for team- if you ask me)

You read that right. Jon Garland hit a homer yesterday. It was the first of his career and it served as the nail in the coffin for the Reds. I took the weekend off from posting because I was too busy watching what the Cubs were doing against the Tigers. I can confirm they were destroyed by the Tigers. Thanks Cubbies, we appreciate the solid effort. As an organization in a massive tailspin I want to thank you for sending your savior to the mound yesterday afternoon. Mark Prior did a great job doing an impression of me on the bump. It was so funny that I could have sworn I saw his relation to another famous Prior. A true comedian for a true comedy of errors. Thankfully the Pale Hose handled their business against the NL central and we didn't lose any ground against the Tigers. It would have been nice to actually GAIN some ground but  clearly  the Cubs aren't playing well enough. There are probably some Cub fans out there deriving a silver lining from this past weekend's series against the Tigers: "At least we didn't help the Sox". Great. As for the Sox, Garland has his best outing of the season. 8 innings, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts and the most important stat of them all; no homers. Considering that the Red's ballpark acts like a popcorn popper when it comes to the long ball, I found that stat impressive.

Finally, [EDIT] the Sox HOST the St. Louis tomorrow. They take a much needed day off today. I look forward to that series because many people in my family would just love to see the Cards and the Sox match up in this year's World Series. I say slow down all that Series talk. We first have to acknowledge that the Tigers are playing very well and it's not a given that they faulter. Afterall, look at what they did to the Cubs. ((wink, wink)).

I've got some articles on the way this week for us to discuss, as well as a chance to play GM. You know I love playing GM. It's getting close to the break and Kenny has an itchy trigger finger. Let's see if I can muster the courage to get into his head.

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Just got word of this trade. Welcome former Red Sox right hand pitcher David Riske. Let's hope it isn't risky to have him in the pen. Check his stats out here. Welcome to the Chi Dave!

I am not going to bore you with the game recap. You can just go check the box score here. There really isn't anything positive to say about our 8-0 loss at the hands of the Rangers. Javi Vasquez had his dreaded big inning in the 4th giving up 4 runs. Sure he struck out 7, but they scored 6 earned runs on 10 hits off of him. That isn't the important part of this game. What made this game interesting is that AJ was hit by a pitch twice! Vinnie Padilla must have an unknown beef with AJ. I can understand hitting the guy once. Sure, it happens. You've been pitching a great game (4 hits), hitting the corners, striking guys out consistently (7 of his own strike outs) and all of a sudden a ball runs inside. Really Inside. Take your base and move on. It's not like AJ isn't used to it, right? Then the 4th inning comes around and you hit him again. It's not an accident any more. It's obvious to everyone except the umps who should have tossed Padilla out on his ass.

The resulting events were like nothing I have ever seen. Ozzie decides that hitting AJ twice is a line that you shouldn't cross. Frankly, I am surprised it takes Oz 2 HBP for a guy who is so outspoken and always telling it like it is for a reaction. In comes the young Sean Tracey. Tracey has good stuff. I like the kid. He calmed down our bullpen the past few games with some scoreless innings. It looked like he might have a chance to stay up. Except that he was sent down immedietly after this game. And for what? Because he was sent in there to do a job. Protect his catcher. He was clearly sent in to hit the first batter he faced: Hank Blalock. The problem was that Tracey didn't hit the guy!!

Thanks to ESPN (no thanks to Comcast) we saw Ozzie throwing water bottles, and screaming at the kid for not "doing his job". Ozzie played it off like he was mad because he made a bullpen error when Montero wasn't ready and he had to go to Tracey for the mop-up duty. Huh? Read it straight from WhiteSox.com here. Crazy. I think Ozzie had a right to be pissed - but he made a huge mistake by admonishing the kid immedietly in the bullpen, with the cameras rolling. He should have done it after the game and in his office behind a closed door. Dare I say, and forgive me Ozzie, this was bush-league managing. You don't handle the situation like that. To make matters worse, you just kick the kid off the team and send him back down. Is that a rational decision? I wonder what Kenny thinks about all this? Who gets Traceys spot? Last I checked the 40 year wonder (Nelson) is done, for good. I'm sure Ozzie will be apologizing shortly. Right?

As for Tracey, I hope he isn't ruined mentally. I also hope he enjoyed the bus ride back to Charlotte. I'm sure an old friend was waiting for him when he arrived!