The 5-0-4

The talk today around the water cooler this morning is Joe Borchard and his 504 foot home run, longest in park history, that landed on the right center field concourse and help bring the Sox back to beat the Phillies 9-8. In his other 3 at bats, he struck out. Rowand, meanwhile, homered as well and drove in 3 runs - so he gets the game ball in my book. The Sox pitchers tried to give this one away early on, but the bats came back strong. Uribe had another throwing error- he's in a slump offensively and defensively. Lee sat out with a sore groin. Buehrle gets the win, though he didn't deserve it. Sox hitters managed to leave 6 runners on base.

How sad are things on the south side? On a day when it was sunny and 72 degrees, only 5,700 paid to watch this one...though another 5000 got in as freebies...

More importantly, however, the Sox gain a half game on the Twins. Now is the time to turn on the juice.

I'll be out at the ball yard for this evening's contest against Oakland. Diaz was called up and gets the start for the Sox - he's 1-3 with an ERA of 9 in the bigs this year, but much better in AAA. Harden, who is better than his 8-5 record indicates, is on the mound for the A's. I'll be tailgaiting prior to the game, and sitting in the left center field bleachers. Girls from the neighborhood- look for me, I'll be wearing a shirt with sleeves.

DOWN ON THE FARM:

(AAA- Charlotte Knights): ..No news..

(AA - Birmingham Barons): no news in a 1-0 loss to Chattanooga.

(A - Winston-Salem Warthogs): also no news in a loss.

(A - Kannapolis Intimidators): also no news in their 11-5 loss.

(Rookie - Great Falls White Sox): also lost - 3-2 at Ogden. Collaro Watch; he was 2for5 last night. Liotta had a fair outing - 2 runs in 6 innings, stuck out 4.

Weekend update

Well, I thought that by today we'd have greater clarity on where the Sox stood in the final push to catch the Twins. But after splitting a 4 game series in Cleveland, we're back to the same place we were on thursday - 2 games under under .500 and 8 games back.

On saturday, the Sox won 5-3, Contreas gets the win, and a Konerko homer that brings in 3 is the difference. Again, the pen nearly blows it, as Adkins gave up back-to-back homers with one out in the 9th. Ugh. Based on Loaiza's demotion to the pen in the Bronx, the Contreas trade is looking genius at this point... But wait til next week.

Sunday was a mess. Sox get only 2 hits in a 9-0 loss. Garland gives up 6 runs in 7 innings, including 4 homers.

Lucky for the Sox, the Twins lost 2 of 3 in SoCal. Cleveland stays 7 back, the Sox at 8 (and, again, two games under .500). The Twins go home to take on Texas. The Sox get the Phillies make up game this afternoon on the south side, and the big series with Oakland beginning tomorrow. Buehrle is on the mound today in a game the Sox should win. They could pick up a half game in the standings, which would be nice. There's a lot of baseball left to play, but the Sox need to get hot now. If they're still 7 back next monday, it's over.

I bought my discount bleacher seats today for tuesday's game. The system actually allows you to print the tickets yourself. On the paper ticket, there's a section labeled "upcoming promotions", and reminds us to purchase tickets now for the August 21st game agsinst the Red Sox, for the Loaiza Bobble Head Doll giveaway night.

DOWN ON THE FARM:

(AAA- Charlotte Knights): saturday lost to Richmond 7-5. Munoz gives up 7 runs in 5 innings. Torres, Nelson and Bell each had 2 hits. sunday' s game was cancelled due to rain.

(AA - Birmingham Barons): Won big on saturday 12-5. Sasser is a machine; 3for5 with 3 RBI. Heath Phillips gives up 5 runs in 5 innings, but still gets the win. the relief was perfect. sunday they won again 2-1, with Bikowski getting 3 hits. Spidale's homer was the difference.Villacis gives up one run in 6 1/3, and stikes out 10.

(A - Winston-Salem Warthogs): Won on saturday 7-1. Good outing for Sean Tracy who gives up one run in 7 innings, and strikes out 6. The top of the Hog lineup accounts for all the hits and runs. Sunday, the Hogs got off to a rough start, but beat Salem 10-9. Reynoso gets shelled for 4 runs in 1 2/3rds, though he stuck out 3. Rogowski (LF) gets 2 more hits, Molina (C) drives in 3.

(A - Kannapolis Intimidators): saturday they lost to Hickory 9-4, thanks to 4 errors, two of which were commited by Antoin Gray (2B). Brandon Bounds (DH) goes 3for4. A bad outing for Byeong Hak An, who who gives up 3 runs in 4 innings, striking out none. sunday was a rain out.

(Rookie - Great Falls White Sox): saturday they won 9-6 and Collaro goes 3for5. Again. Amazing. And he was rewarded by being named Pioneer League Co-Player of the Week. Over that time, he batted .538, going 14for26, 2 homers, seven RBI, two runs scored, OBP of .571, SLP of 1.000 and currently has a 7 game hitting streak going. So far his season, he's hit .295 with 16 homers and 62 RBI in 60 games. Also notable on saturday, Boomer Barry goes 4for5. sunday they also won 9-5. Collaro only gets one hit, but Cook goes 3for4.

It was a crappy, cold weekend. I put in some much needed family time and actually had a better time than I thought. I'm looking forward to tomorrow...girls from the nieghborhood!

Missed opportunities

CC Sabathia was just too much for the Sox. Of course, it didn't help much that Grilli gave up 5 runs in the first inning. He settled down, but it was too late.

Interesting match up tonight- Contreas vs Lee.

The Twins lost to the Angels, so the Tribe is now 7 back, the Sox still at 8, and back at 2 games under .500.


DOWN ON THE FARM:

(AAA- Charlotte Knights): ..lost to Durham 5-3. No news..

(AA - Birmingham Barons): beat the Baybears 8-1. Chris Stewart (C) was 3for4. Sasser remained hot, he homered and drove in 3... Brandon McCarthy gets the win (he's 3-0), and strikes out 9 in 7 innings of work, giving up just 4 hits.

(A - Winston-Salem Warthogs): beat Salem 3-1. Blakely had another homer- he leads the league with 22.

(A - Kannapolis Intimidators): Losst to Charleston 7-3. Not a good debut for Kyle Kane, who gives up 4 in relief.

(Rookie - Great Falls White Sox): also lost 3-0.

Now that's more like it

For a moment in the 8th, I thought Politte was going to throw this one away - what kind of a crap-ass junk-ball pitcher throws a high fast ball on an 0-2 count, with none out and none on and up by 6 runs? Phelps knew what to do and homered deep to center. Politte was throwing mostly fastballs again, but this time actually seem to try to throw a few that faded away from the hitter. Durbin started for Cleveland, not sure why Sabathia was skipped. Oh, well he's on the hill tonight. The Sox box looks terrific, as you'd expect when you score 14 runs; Konerko 3for5 with 3 RBI and 3 runs, Gload 3for4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs, Everett get 2 hits and 4 RBI, Uribe 3for5 with 2 RBI, Rowand 2for5 with an RBI...Enough- just read the box score yourself. Valentin had some nice plays in the field, and helped turn two double plays.

Grilli was called up from Charlotte to fill in for the ailing Garcia. With Sabathia on the hill for the Tribe, he's got his work cut out for him. Grilli is 9-9 with an ERA near 5 for the Knights. He's the workhorse of the staff- throwing 152 inning so far this year. He gives up a lot of hits, but his K/W ratio is about 2/1. Why not call up Diaz instead?

The win pulls the Sox into a tie with Cleveland for 2nd place - both are 8 games back of the Twins, who lost at Texas, and have now lost 2 of 3. Is the tide turning? We'll find out this weekend. Minnesota travels to Anaheim.


DOWN ON THE FARM:

(AAA- Charlotte Knights): Another extra inning game - they lost to the Durham Bulls 2-1.


(AA - Birmingham Barons): The Mobile Baybreakers get 4 runs in the bottom of the ninth and win 6-5. John Fields is to blame - giving up all 4 earned runs. Though BJ LaMura wasn't much better - giving up 2 runs in the 8th. Bikowski (RF) homered, went 2for5 and drove in 3 runs. Expect more of the same tonight...

(A - Winston-Salem Warthogs): Extra innings here as well, but a win...6-4 over Lynchburg. Blakey gets 3 hits. Becker and Fields each get 2 hits, 2 runs and 2 RBI.Wesley Whistler had a rough start for the Hogs, giving up 3 earned runs early. He got it together enough so 5 relivers could pitch in and save this one. The sweep complete, the Hogs head home tonight to face Salem.

(A - Kannapolis Intimidators): 18-year old Gio Gonzalez gives up just one run in 6 innings and strikes out 3 leading the KI to a 2-1 win.

(Rookie - Great Falls White Sox): ...held on to beat Provo 6-5. Collaro continues to be hot- getting 2 more hits.

I laid some more groundwork last night for getting laid in the near future. Details are sketchy at this point...

It should be a rotten weekend of hell - I have to put in some family time AND work time. Time managment my ass -- there just are not enough hours in the day. The only thing that may save me is to consume a lot of beer. How sad...

Another day in paradise

The Sox lost a heartbreaker last night, 5-4 in Detroit. Carlos Guillen was the difference for the Tigers- going 3for4, with a solo homer in the 7th that eventually was the game winner. Despite the gory stats, the Sox had some very bright spots - Carlos Lee made two great throws from center to home, Willie Harris did some sweet swinging (the one hit he got does not reflect how well he swung the bat), and Rowand hit a magestic, beauitiful home run with 2 on and 2 out in the top of the 9th that closed the gap from 5-1 to 5-4. For a brief moment, it looked like the Sox might come back... They didn't really lose, so much ran out of innings to come back. The game was really lost by Politte, who came out in relief of Buehrle to start the 7th. All I saw Politte throw was fast balls down the middle - I'm surprised the Tigers only got one run.

Minnesota beat Texas and Cleveland beat the Yankees. So, the Sox fall back to 9 games off the division lead - 2 games under .500. Back to square one. Again.

Cleveland tonight and a big 4 game weekend series that will decide the fate of both teams - the winner will be the only challenge to the Twins in the AL Central for the remaining 5 weeks of the 2004 season. Garcia is on the mound for the Sox against CC Sabathia.

DOWN ON THE FARM:

(AAA- Charlotte Knights): ..had an off day.

(AA - Birmingham Barons): Also had an off day.

(A - Winston-Salem Warthogs): Lynchburg made 4 errors in a close game, but still won 3-2. No details as no box was available. Or at least, I couldn't locate one.

(A - Kannapolis Intimidators): Lost to Charleston..no news...

(Rookie - Great Falls White Sox): Provo beat the Sox 3-2 in 11. A good outing for Liotta, who goes 7 innings, gives up 2 earned runs and strikes out 7, walking 4. He got no run support. Collaro had another good day -going 2for4. Gerron McGary threw 3 stong innings in relief, striking out 4, walking none and giving up no runs, allowing just one hit.

I was out at Wrigley Field yesterday - interesting as always. While the scene around Clark and Addison is annoying, its less the fans and more the Cub owned ticket scalping operations that piss me off. Its unethical at best, criminal at worst. Can't the league do something about this sort of double-dipping? Had a great lunch at the uncrowded Salt and Pepper Diner - veggie buger and fries. Entered the park and was heartbroken that I wasn't one of the lucky few winner to get an authentic reproduction of the Andy Pafko 1945 road jersey. I collected about 30 tickets for the "second chance" drawing and failed to win on those as well. Pafko was at the game- he must be 80.

The nets under the upper deck were few. I did notice that some of the steel beams were beginning to rust. Note to Mayor Daley - if he wants to go after someone for structural problems, he should go after Amtrak and Union Station. Take a walk along the even numbered Metra tracks and look up at the rusted beams and falling concrete overhead. Know what's above it? Jackson Street between Canal and the river. Everyday there's concrete chuncks falling onto the tracks, and the rust on the beams is simply painted over. It looks like a third world country! If Jackson Street collaspes, all the cars on it fall on the commuters and trains below.

After a two hour rain delay to start, Maddux took the hill and the first few innings moved rapidly. In the second, an Aramis Ramirez line shot foul smacked off my hand, hit the steps behind me, and the guy two rows back picked it up off the ground. If I had a glove, I would've caught it for sure. Keep in mind our seats were halfway up the grandstand on the first base side, and the ball got to me in less than 2 seconds - so it was movin and I didn't have a lot of time to react. To the Cub credit, security came by immdiately to ask if I was OK. Damn - I still should've had it!

Beyond that excitement and the usual eye candy distractions, not much else happened. The amount of gorgeous women there makes the place look like a Playboy magazine playmate convention. "So fine, but so out of reach..." Maddux was throwing in the 80s and struck out 7 - he was really working well and efficently. Bako hit a nice homer. I left in the 7th to go to my after-work company function, so I missed the heroic game-winning homer in bottom of the 9th. Oh well.

I didn't get laid last night, but I laid some ground work for potential future sexcapades. Ate some free pizza and drank some free beer. I think the one-two knockout punch of cheese and Special Export is the reason all hell has broken loose on my bowels the past two days.

Maybe I'll give my bio over the weekend - no time now.

Finally...

..I got laid last night! First time in nearly a month. More on that later.

And the Sox break their losing streak. The top 4 in the batting order combined for 8 hits and 5 runs. Uribe had 3 RBI, including a deep homer, but it was Carlos Lee who was the spark -- again. Rowland had a triple. Ozzie's made a few wise moves this season that have gone unoticed - a good example was last night when he put in Gload to pinch run, and then scored by inches. Garland's only rough spot was the third, where Pena hit a grand slam... Ledezma was throwing into the 90s, but gave up 5 earned runs in 6 innings. He looked strong thru 5. Maybe he has recovered from that elbow stress fracture - need to keep eye on him. The Sox were just too much, getting solid hits with runner on base - that's smart baseball and that's how you win games.

Final game of the series tonight before traveling to Cleveland. Buehrle faces Robertson.

The Twins lost, so the Sox are now 8 back, and a game under .500. The Tribe continued their losing streak with another loss to the Yankees.

DOWN ON THE FARM:

(AAA- Charlotte Knights): Lost 5-3 in 15 innings in a game that took 4 and half hours to play. Not a whole lot of bright spots other than starting pitcher Felix Diaz going 6 strong innings, giving up 2 earned runs and striking out 6. Off day today.

(AA - Birmingham Barons): Beat Hunstville against, 3-2. Aaron McNeil was 3for4. Dennis Ulacia gets the win, 6 innings and giving up just one run, striking out 4. Sasser's on a mini-hot streak - got another hit and had a stolen base. The Barons have an off day today as well.

(A - Winston-Salem Warthogs): Hogs beat Lynchburg 3-0. Reynoso gave up just one hit in 5 scoreless innings - maybe he's ready to move up? Like I said yesterday, he looks like a guy to really keep an eye on... The Hogs added three solo homer runs, including Darren Blakely, who leads he league with 21. The two teams meet again tonight in Lynchburg with RHP Kenny Ray on the mound, looking for win #11.

(A - Kannapolis Intimidators): ..snapped a three-game losing steak by beating Hagerstown. Rafael Flores had a strong outing, 5 1/3 scoreless innings and holding the Suns to just 3 hits while striking out 4. They're in Charleston tonight.

(Rookie - Bristol White Sox): ..lost the final game of the year 16-4. Michael Swain was 2for4. The pitching line looks awful, as Matt Nachreiner gives up 7 earned runs in 4 innings, but at least he struck out 7. His relief, Justin Roelle, can't even say that much - giving up 6 runs in 2 and 2/3rds. The team finished the year dead last in the Western Division.

(Rookie - Great Falls White Sox): A big 15-4 win at Provo. IB Chris Kelly goes 5for6, RF Tom Collaro goes 4for6 including 2 homers and drives in 7 runs. Liotta's on the mound tonight in Provo for the Sox, his numBers look good, so I'll watch this one closely.

Back on the north side of Chicago, there's a real battle going on between the Cub and Mayor Daley over the "structural integrity" of Wrigley Field. The Cub have won, for now... I spoke with my cousin last night, a lifeolong Sox fan who grew up on the southside, got straight A's at MIT and did the same as a grad student at Stanford, and is now a structural engineer out in San Francisco, retrofitting old buildings to make them safe in case of an earthquake. Sexy stuff. He said the falling concrete is due to the steel underneath beginning to fail. Structural Engineering 101, I guess. I'll keep you updated on his take on this...

I'll get to see the falling concrete for myself today - I'm heading out to Wrigley this afternoon for my third and likely last Cub game of the season. My ticket connection, a stand-up comedian, is making the plunge and moving to NYC in a few weeks. He gets his Cub tickets from his father-in-law in Iowa, who's a season ticket holder and only comes in for the big games and weekends - he gives the rest away. A few tickets fall to my pal.

I have to be back in the Loop 5ish for a company function at a bar. Maybe I'll get lucky with one of the cuties from the call center.

Last night I had some drunken steamy sex. Not as drunk or as sweaty as I usually like, but it'll do. One of the usual suspects... How detailed should I get?

Also, got the go-ahead from upper managment for a department work function next tuesday night - we're heading out to Comiskey Park to see the Sox take on Oakland. Likely, we'll be in the bleachers. Only my second trip to the south side ball yard this year - the first was a weekday loss back in July to Minnesota.

Bio tomorrow. I promise.

Day 1

Alright, we'll see how long this lasts...

Like a minor leaguer getting called up in September when the roster size increases, I'm starting at the end of the season to get my feet wet and see how it goes...

So here's the point of this (hopefully) daily report -
1) recap and editorial comments on the Chicago White Sox- both on and off the field.
2) in-depth daily view of the Sox farm system and prospects.
3) Personal experiences from in and around Comiskey Park (I refuse to use the corporate moniker), including reviews of bars and restaurants, and in-depth accounts of sexual escapades with girls from the neighborhood (volunteers encouraged!)... I'm basing parts 1 and 2 of the blog from a guy I know thru college who has an incredile daily report on the Cincinnati Reds, their farm system, and alternative rock. (view here: http://www.upsaid.com/drscott46/)

I'll try to inject some humor - I'm real sarcastic - and random cultural references to the south side (such as history on the stockyards, deconstruction of U of C Nobel lauretes molecular biology theories, or some literary commentary on James Farrell).

I haven't had a whole lot of luck in the past keeping up these blogs, so we'll see how I do here...

More on me tomorrow, including a short bio...

Should I recap last night's debacle? I actually didn't see it, I had to watch the Cub since I have both Zambrano and Sheets on my fantasy team. Bonderman throws the first complete game of his career, and after going 0-4 in his last 8 starts, he finally gets a win. The Sox losing skid hits 5 and they drop to 9 games behind the Twins. Bright spots for the Sox? Well, Carlos Lee was 2for3 and Uribe was 2for4. Rowand had a double. But the Sox left 9 men on base. Contreras looked awful - struck out 4 but walked 7. Makes you wonder if Williams read the scouting report on this guy - a workhorse with control problems. Last night was a textbook example. He should know better than to trade with the Yankees, they're not going to give up anyone worthwhile.

Tonight Garland goes up against Ledezma. Ledezema is a 6 ft 4 in, 212 lb, lefty Venezulian, part of the powerhouse staff from the Cuidad Jardin Uinversity ("Oh CJU, old CJU..."). The numbers from his 2003 rookie year don't look so good, but the Tigers were awful last year. Different story this year; he's 3-0 in 4 starts with an ERA under 3. Might be a good guy to scout for a trade or next year's fantasy team.

Interesting stat on the Sox, they're 2 games under .500 for the first time since July 20, 2003 - more than a year ago...

Thankfully the Tribe is on a 8 game losing streak and get the Yankees again tonight in game 2 of a 3 game series. The Twins have won 4 in a row, and are back in Texas this evening. Santana pitched well last night - striking out 11 and now has 14 wins.

Down On The Farm:

(AAA- Charlotte Knights): ..beat Norfolk 3-2. Jose Santigo gets the win in relief, Mark Bell homers..

(AA - Birmingham Barons): ..also won, beating Hunstville 5-3. Firstbaseman Rob Sasser goes 3for4 with two doubles. Eduardo Villacis gives up one earned run in 7 innings, striking out 5 and walking four. He's 5-4 on the year.

(A - Winston-Salem Warthogs): The Hogs had an off day. They get Lynchburg tonight, Paulino Reynoso gets the start. He's 2-2 with an ERA near 4. He doesn't give up a lot of long balls and his K/walk ratio is nearly 2-to-1.

(A - Kannapolis Intimidators): A bright spot in the loss at Hagerstown was the two home runs for Chris Young. Adam Russell gives up 5 runs in 5 innings in his debut.

(Rookie - Bristol White Sox): Last game of the season tonight against Bluefield. Get to Devault Memorial Stadium early - its fan appreciation night!

(Rookie - Great Falls White Sox): offday, they're in Provo tonight...

No neighborhood news...Like all former south side city rats, I've escaped to greener pastures in the SW burbs...