ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

I was getting comfortable and I wasn't alone. The radio guys in this town started taking about magic numbers yesterday. I think it is a bad thing to talk about magic numbers when you are still in the double digit range. But I guess you have to forgive the sports media in this town. It has only been 100 years since both the White Sox and the Cubs have been this close to making the playoffs.They're excited, but they might be counting those proverbial chickens before they hatch. My biggest fear is that both teams lay an egg. The Cubs are struggling as of late with an abysmal 2-8 record in their last 10and the White Sox are just as bad at 4-6. Both teams avoided the June swoon, but this might turn into the September to remember - for all the wrong reasons. I'm afraid of a collapse.

Not so much for the Cubbies. They are in one of those slumps you just shake off. You know what they say! It's always better to slump now rather than in October. The White Sox went through the exact same thing in 2005 and that turned out ok. The Cubs should still make the playoffs. They have great pitching, great defense and they eventually will realize that Derek Lee needs to be moved down in the order. The White Sox on the other hand, are hurting both mentally and physically. Ozzie has started to tag players as if they were specemens who belong in storage. It started with Joe Crede. Guillen has no confidence in Crede because of his bad back. It doesn't seem to be stable even after surgery. The amount of errors the traditionally solid fielding Crede committed skyrocketed this year. That was the first sign. The fact he couldn't get out of his rehab stint in a week was the second. Ozzie tag: Broken. Next we saw Carlos Quentin crack his wrist against his bat. I don't believe that story for a second, but it doesn't matter. Quentin was the engine that drove the White Sox this year. He of Lego-like-hair and tremendous power at the plate was a young version of Paul Konerko! He still leads the league in home runs! He was in the running for MVP. You don't lose an MVP and sleep walk into the playoffs. That's not going to happen. The injury to Quentin just quickens the pace of this wilting team's offense. Ozzie Tag: Cracked. And then there was last night's injury....

The White Sox are home this week hosting the troublesome Blue Jays. I say that without confidence because I spent the morning trying to find the Sox's current record against the Jays this season. It isn't as easy as it sounds. You'd think one of these sports blogger-type-geeks would get to writing an easy to use stat searching interface. Maybe this is something Google would like to do. They like data, they like simple searches, and they have tons of cash. Maybe I'll just do it. But I digress...

I seem to recall the Sox got swept in their previous meeting with the Blue Jays while visiting Toronto. A quick glance at the bottom of this awesome head-to-head page from CBS Sportsline proves my memory isn't failing me. The Blue Jays have the White Sox's number. That number would be 6-0. The Toronto Blue Jays are undefeated against the White Sox this year. If you take a look at the right column of this head to head page you'll notice that the Blue Jays have us beat on every pitching stat known to man. That explains the majority of the reasons why the Sox just can't get a grip on the Jays. It actually gets worse when you dig deeper and examine what the White Sox record is against the AL East. The Sox are 13-22 against the AL East this year. That doesn't bode well for us if we get matched up against this year's Cinderella, the Rays.

I missed the first game yesterday afternoon as I was running around getting the house ready for our new addition. Javi Vasquez dropped another game in which he had 5 strike outs. He only gave up 2 runs, but that was enough for the Jays to win the game 3-1. I feel bad for Javi. The team just can't score when he pitches. The second game of the double header was a complete joke. Not only did the Sox pitching explode, but we sustained yet another injury. This time it was the hot hitting Paul Konerko. Pauly was actually lifting himself out of that season-long slump. He was batting something like .350 since August 1st. That is a complete turn around from the pathetic start he had. And then his knee gave out on him. Pauly slipped on the grass last night and strained his MCL. Ozzie gets to put Konerko on the shelf next to his other power hitter. Ozzie Tag: Done. I hate to say it, but this could be it for Pauly as a White Sox player. Even if he doesn't get cut or traded, he doesn't start next year. You just get the feeling that Konerko is breaking down right before our eyes. It's like that weird Black and White face progression trick in the Michael Jackson video. Pauly started off a baby, and ended up a shriveled up old prune. The Sox lost the night cap, thanks to rookie pitcher Clayton Richards, 8-1. This kid isn't ready and we're in the middle of a playoff race. What the hell is Ozzie doing? I'm hoping he takes Richards and put's him on the shelf too, this time with the tag:Half Baked.

The Sox attempt to reverse this 2 game losing streak tonight against the Jays. Maybe tonight we'll see some changes in the line up. I'll be back later today with how I would fill out the lineup card tonight.

Go-Go-White Sox!