Notes from Yesterday's Sox Game

Oh hell yes

Even though our season is pretty much over and you're more likely to hear gunshots than fireworks around the ballpark, it's never too late to catch some games. Yesterday, Fisting Andrew Golota and I went to see Sox Prime take on Sox Red - and what a glorious victory it was. I have a few highlights I would like to point out:

Alexei Ramirez playing...smart? Ramirez executed a proper bunt and hit & run with minimal difficulty when called upon - a biog departure from the "free swinging" Ramirez we know and loathe. Let's see if this leads to less mental gaffes.

Mark Kotsay is pulling his weight. Kotsay had two more clutch hits yesterday, one of them driving in two key runs. Kotsay really looks like he's seeing the ball well, and he's most likely earned himself a job for next season whether it be at 1B or in RF.

Alex Rios looks lost. I don't think I've seen him get a single hit - he's four for his last forty six, so it's not really all that surprising. I will say that he needs to ditch his fucked up approach and let the hitting coaches do their jobs. He looks like garbage right now.

Tony Pena pitched...and we won anyways? Seriously, how many of his games have we lost? (Answer - the last 13 games he pitched in were ALL losses. Unreal). I guess there's always a first time for everything, right?

Gordon Beckham didn't play and still got praise heaped on him. Every other inning was Gordon Beckham highlights - I understand the "look at the future" and "we're not going to suck next year" angle, but it's not really a good idea to show that on games where he's not even playing. That's equivalent to us showing Brian Anderson highlights.

Speaking of Brian Anderson...BA was in attendance for the series, as he was part of the Red Sox September callups...and the Sox have won 3/4 games. This is after losing 3/4 in Boston when he was in the minors. I'm telling you - if Anderson is on the field when we are, he's doing whatever he can to help us win. Anderson may be hitting .143 for the Red Sox, but he's hitting 1.000 in your hearts.

Oh, and as for the back of that T-Shirt?

Fuck yeah

I was surprised to find that Brian Anderson White Sox shirts were unavailable in any of the concession stands or merchandise booths. After all, he is largely the reason for the team's success - it's proven. Needless to say, I WILL NOT BE STOPPED. Some people go and have T-Shirts made with their kid's name on them or even their own. Those people think small.

Give the gods their due.

It's a lovely day...

Now, some of you might expect me to be the sort of person who would carefully savor each morsel of the Chicago White Sox's victory over the hapless Chicago Cubs, but I'm going to prove you all wrong and take the higher road. I will not sepnd the time reflecting on how completely inept your team is, how the Sox bludgeoned your "ace", or how the Cubs managed to blow countless scoring opportunities.

Because they suck.

And are the scum of the earth.

Instead, here's some things I noticed:

#1. Milton Bradley is a bigger defensive liability than I would have imagined. Imagine Scott Podsednik. Now, take Podsednik and break both of his legs. Maybe gouge out an eye to make the depth perception a problem too. Now put him in right field. Every ball hit to right field became an extra base hit because runners (rightfully) challenged Bradley's ability to get to the ball and throw it to the second baseman. I don't watch a lot of Cubs games, but I can see this being a problem.

#2. The infield fly rule apparently applies to a shitty outfield as well.

If you caught the game (and if you didn't, you're probably a "Chicago" fan and need to be killed), you'd know that if your fielders are JUUUUST bad enough, the infield fly rule applies...outside the infield. Not complaining about it (we scored a run because we TAGGED UP), but I am mightiliy amused by this.

#3. The White Sox are getting faster.

I remember last year when the Sox went through baserunning stretches of "station-t0-station" misery. No one could run, no one could PINCH RUN, and generally, unless there were three hits in a row, no one was scoring. With Pods, Anderson, Wise, Bechkam, Getz, Fields, Ramirez, and Nix, you've got a bunch of guys that can all run (being realistic, I did not include Dye on that list). It was nice to see Ozzie bust out some small ball on Sunday, even trying to pull the squeeze with Pods and Wise.

#4. I fucking hate DeWayne Wise.

There, I said it. It's not (entirely) because he takes time from Anderson - it's that he just shoudn't be starting on any major league team. It would be like if Timo Perez were signed to play and we started him over Pods in LF for an entire week. It's the wrong choice! Other facts: I hate his plate approach, I hate his inability to hit, I hate his crappy read on the ball in CF, I hate that his speed is his entire crutch...I even hate his AB music ("Ain't I" by Yung LA)! This marks, what, the third day in a row without Anderson!?

#5. I almost pooped myself when I heard DeRosa was going to the Cardinals.

It was close. I may have sharded a little, but I don't think that counts. Now, if the Cardinals are serious about getting Holliday also, I may need to start bringing an extra pair of pants with me.