True Sox

Dark Horse

2010-03-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

Chicago Tribune is talking about C.J. Retherford, an infielder who supposedly might bump Jayson Nix and/or Brent Lillibridge for the utility infielder spot. Here's what I learned from Web surfing: C.J. is no stranger to the utility role; he did it in college for Arizona State where he played five positions. He's been batting just under or just over .300 in minor league ball. He doesn't draw many walks and strikes out a bit too much. Also is not a base stealer. He wasn't a star in college and did not get drafted. But ... sometimes those dark horse candidates develop into something valuable. You have to like these ballplayers who keep on playing despite not being the pet of coaches, scouts or the media.

Take the White Sox Quiz

2010-03-11T23:44:00.000-08:00

Are you ready to get your Ph.D. (Pale Hose Doctorate) in White Sox Studies? Take this quiz to find out how far along you are:

Click here to begin the nine-question test

All questions and answers are based on "The White Sox Fan's Little Book of Wisdom."

Fielder Jones Belongs in Hall

2010-02-13T17:05:00.000-08:00

Frank Thomas might well get in the Hall of Fame, based on his offensive statistics alone. But as a White Sox fan, I believe he would not be the No. 1 choice for the Hall among Sox candidates. Imagine if White Sox fans had the power to pick one former Sox who would be put in the Hall. Who would you go with?

Candidates might include Thomas, Billy Pierce, Dick Allen and Harold Baines. I'd toss in one more-- Fielder Jones.

For me, a Hall of Fame candidate should be a player or manager who was a difference maker for the team. The critical questions are: Did he make the team a winner? Would they have won without him?

Jones, more than any of the Sox candidates, made a big difference. It's unlikely that the Sox would've won a championship in 1901 without Jones in the outfield and in 1906 without Jones as player manager.

Here's a story about Jones: Click here

Thank You for Shopping at Sox Mart

2010-01-08T18:10:00.000-08:00

Let's see, Kansas City gets Scott Podsednik, Brian Anderson, Josh Fields and Chris Getz. Maybe Kansas City should change their name to the Kansas City White Sox. If I was a K.C. fan, I'd like these additions.

White (Sox) Christmas

2009-12-10T21:04:00.000-08:00

"The White Sox Fan's Little Book of Wisdom" makes the perfect Christmas gift. You can buy it for a friend as a gift, or for yourself if your relatives insist on giving you stuff you don't want. Or you could buy it for a Cubs fan as the first step in a 12-step shock therapy program. (The other 11 steps involve waterboarding and high voltage.)

Only in this little book can you learn the answers to these burning questions:

Who had the first White Sox major league at bat and what happened?

Which White Sox team produced the most runs per game of any team in the Dead Ball era?

Which White Sox pitcher tossed five consecutive shutouts?

What was the winner's share for winning the 1906 World Series?

How did one White Sox pitcher get the win without throwing a pitch?

Which ChiSox pitcher led the league in complete games for three straight seasons?

Who did the White Sox pick over Johnny Bench in the 1965 draft?

What did the eight banned Black Sox do for a living after being kicked out of baseball?

Which Sox fielder got hit in the face by a pop-up?

Which ChiSox outfielder took eight years to get a hit?

Which Sox player hit a home run in an old-timers game when he was 75 years old?

Which Sox catcher threw out 18 would-be base stealers in a row?

You can order it online at Amazon by clicking on the book cover link on the upper right.

Players Know Best

2009-11-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

Gordon Beckham was the American League's outstanding rookie, according to the Player's Choice award. The baseball writers had other ideas.

My guess is that an award from players means more to a player than an award from journalists. Guess which award gets more attention in the media?

Letting journalists decide who is baseball's rookie of the year makes about as much sense as letting players decide who should get a Pulitzer Prize in journalism.

Should ChiSox fans moan about this? No. The only award we ought to care about is the one called World Series Champs.

Trading Getz

2009-11-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

Josh Fields was involved too, but 2B Chris Getz is the one I will miss.

It's nice to get Mark Teahen, but I'm not sure giving up Getz's base-stealing ability makes sense.

The best way to gauge a trade is to look at it from the other side. If you were a Kansas City fan, how would you feel? I'd feel like the White Sox got the better of the trade.

The ChiPod and Castro are free to go free agent. The Sox need to sign Podsednik even if they don't plan a lead role for him. He's a great asset coming off the bench.

The Failure To Recognize Failure

2009-09-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

OK, let's not start acting like Cubs fans. The tragic number is seven, but it was over a long time ago. And next year doesn't mean anything if the Sox make the same mistakes.

The chief mistake was this: Neither Ken Williams nor Ozzie Guillen seemed capable of recognizing failure. The ChiSox didn't cut their losses short, but let them run. How many chances did they give Scott Linebrink? Jose Contreras? Bartolo Colon?

The Sox let Linebrink go 3-7 out of the bullpen. In the second half, he was flat-out terrible, but the Sox kept giving him the ball. They let Contreras go 5-13. Colon went 3-6 before the Sox gave up on him. That's an 11-26 record from these three losers. Without them through Sunday, the Sox went 62-51, or .549.

The failure to recognize failure promptly is deadly.

If Williams and Guillen can't do better next year, the Sox will disappoint again.

Tragic Number Stays at 13

2009-09-15T22:13:00.000-07:00

A.J. saves us with a two-out, two-RBI single in the seventh inning. ChiSox win, 6-3.

Detroit will probably win the division but don't deserve to take it. They made one of baseball's dumbest trades when they acquired Jarrod Washburn. He had a 2.64 ERA when he came to Detroit at the end of July. He now has a 3.68 ERA. On Tuesday, Washburn lasted one inning. Shouldn't surprise anybody outside of Detroit's front office.

White Sox, 72-73, five and a half games out.

Wednesday: Gavin Floyd vs. Seattle.

Tragic Number is 13

2009-09-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

Tigers late comeback is impressive-- three runs in ninth.

Tragic Number Now 14

2009-09-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

White Sox go 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position vs. Anaheim on Sunday. Angels went 1 for 4 with a sacrifice fly.

I don't see the Angels going far in the playoffs. They lost the season series to the ChiSox. How good can you be if you do that?

Once again, I didn't understand the lineup Sunday. Why sit A.J. and Getz to play lefty/righty games in favor of Castro and Nix? Castro bats .216 vs. lefties while A.J. bats .281 vs. lefties. Nix bats .269 vs. lefties while Getz bats .254-- not much different and Getz is better defensively.

Next up three at Seattle, beginning Tuesday. Look for Garcia, Torres and Floyd.

White Sox play six of their last nine games against Detroit. That's Chicago's last best hope, but they have to move closer than six out to make it doable.

Tragic Number Is 17

2009-09-09T22:34:00.000-07:00

Any combination of Detroit wins and ChiSox losses equaling 17 will eliminate the White Sox.

If the Sox don't sign Podsednik for 2010, then they are truly crazy. He went 4 for 7 on Wednesday, has 27 stolen bases, a .358 on-base percentage and a .307 average.

Jermaine Dye was 0 for 6. It's time to sit him down for the rest of the year.

If the White Sox played .810 baseball the rest of the way (17-4), the Tigers would only need to play .500 ball to tie them.

Thome Gone, Contreras Gone, Now Bring Back Tony

2009-09-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

Trading a center fielder like Aaron Rowand for a designated hitter never made any sense to begin with.

The problem, however, was not Jim Thome but the thinking or lack of it inside the Sox general manager's brain.

Ken Williams is slow on the uptake. It took him far too long to figure out that Jose Contreras was finished. What a relief that Jose is also gone.

Who's next? My guess is Scott Podsednik will be moved later. This will be an act of insanity because even if Pods slows down a bit, he is valuable off the bench-- far more valuable than DeWayne Wise.

I wish it was Williams about to get the ax. That's where the real problems begin.

If Jerry Reinsdorf wants to do the Sox a favor, he should get a new GM and consider firing Ozzie Guillen and hiring Tony La Russa.

La Russa's contract with St. Louis ends with the 2009 season.

Why fire Guillen? He has shown he is incapable of relating to Anglo players. He couldn't keep from bad mouthing Brian Anderson; he was critical of Gordon Beckham when he first came up; and he made Podsednik serve as DH as punishment for fielding errors.

Thanks for 2005, Ozzie, but I'm tired of the emotion-based nonsense. Bring back Tony to Chicago.

Buehrle's Perfect Collapse

2009-08-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

After tossing a perfect game in July, Mark Buehrle has been awful. He's 0-4 in the decision department, and the White Sox are 1-5 in the games he started since the perfect game.

Losing two of three to Baltimore is a sad commentary on the Sox. Detroit's equally hapless performance is the only thing keeping the Sox alive.

Next up: Four against Boston while Detroit plays three against the Angels.

It's Uphill From Here

2009-08-20T17:58:00.000-07:00

The White Sox are only 2.5 games out, but catching Detroit isn't going to be easy.

Chicago has far more games left than the Tigers do against teams that are playing .570 ball or better. The White Sox have three against the Angels, three against the Yankees and eight against the Red Sox. The Tigers have three against the Angels, and that's it.

But Chicago does have six left against Detroit.

Next up for the White Sox: Three at home against Baltimore and four on the road against Boston.

Next up for Detroit: Three against Oakland on the road and three against the Angels on the road.

ChiPod's Role

2009-08-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

With Rios' arrival, the ChiPod can assume the role more fitting for this stage of his career-- spot start, late-inning defense in left field, pinch hit and pinch run. In short, he can do everything the Sox have been asking Dewayne Wise to do, and do it better.

Contreras and Linebrink both have to go. The Trib is reporting on a phenom pitcher in the minors-- Dan Hudson. I say bring him and Freddy Garcia up and dump J.C. and the Linebrink of disaster.

It's time to finally sweep somebody. I like this Sox team on paper, but eventually they have to deliver.

The Last 40 Game Winner

2009-08-11T23:13:00.001-07:00

It was Chicago White Sox pitcher Big Ed Walsh. Here's a profile published in Investor's Business Daily

Linebrink Vs. Ted Williams

2009-08-09T13:49:00.000-07:00

Certain pitchers you just hate to see take the mound. ChiSox reliever Linebrink is one of them. I'd trade this loser for a box of cheap cigars.

Since the all star break through Sunday, opposing batters have a .412 batting average against Linebrink and a .500 on-base percentage.

In other words, he turns opposing batters into Ted Williams 1941.

Why do the Sox keep this guy?

Showdown In Central

2009-08-06T18:25:00.000-07:00

Jake Peavy by month's end? Sox need him.

ChiSox will go with Buehrle, Torres and Contreras for the Cleveland series. How many of those guys do you feel good about?

Contreras' last start was a disaster and the previous three games were losses. His ERA in those last four starts, 6.52.

Carlos Torres sole start was a 4-3 win against Tampa. He went six innings.

Buehrle is 0-2 since the perfect game with a 10.13 ERA in those two games.

The White Sox are 7-5 this year vs. Cleveland.

While the Sox are taking on the Indians, Minnesota will be at Detroit.

As Far As The Pitching Takes You

2009-08-05T22:19:00.000-07:00

The White Sox have a team ERA of 4.13. The Angels have a 4.74 ERA. Can the Angels superior hitting make up for that? Angels are .802 in OPS vs. the ChiSox's .754.

So far, no.

Teams go about as far as their pitching can take them. Buehrle, Danks, Floyd and eventually Peavy will make a pretty good foursome.

Anybody else like that slap bunt that Podsednik has perfected? It's a lost Dead Ball art.

Angels broadcasters like to talk about the Sox errors. But 20% of the errors belong to two players that are no longer around-- Josh Fields and Wilson Betemit-- and another Jayson Nix who will be back on the bench when shortstop Alexei Ramirez gets off the DL.

The baseball wags haven't woken yet to how good the 2009 ChiSox are. They showed they can beat the Dodgers, the Yankees and now the Angels.

OK, Minnesota has the Sox's number in their park, but that's not a real ballpark.

23 Seconds

2009-08-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

According to Sox general manager Ken Williams, that's how long the Padres and Sox had before the trade deadline when the agreement to send Jake Peavy to Chicago was approved.

I wouldn't second-guess this trade because the White Sox have a pretty good record judging pitchers. This also doesn't fit the Let's Go Out And Find An Old Washed-Up Star Syndrome that the Sox occasionally develop. Peavy is only 28.

I still don't like the Brian Anderson trade. It seems to me that if you want to strengthen your pitching you need good defense in the outfield. Anderson never would've become a great hitter but he could've reached the Jim Landis zone.

Landis batted .250 for the White Sox in eight seasons, but nobody worried about it because he was a great defensive player. Ultimately, what's the difference between the player who takes away a double with his glove and the player who hits a double? The Sox aren't looking at both sides of the equation.

Does Anderson Trade Doom White Sox?

2009-07-29T21:18:00.000-07:00

Consider the facts:

There were 36 White Sox games in which Brian Anderson had four or more plate appearances this season. I'm assuming that means he played all or nearly all of those games. The Sox were 25-11 in those games.

There were 26 games in which Anderson did not play at all. The White Sox were 8-18 in those games.

Is this a meaningless statistic? Actually I believe it's more meaningful than counting up how many hits Anderson got in those games and so forth. It's a better way of gauging Anderson's value because a good part of his value was defense.

Despite the fact that Anderson outhit and outperformed DeWayne Wise defensively, he first lost his job to Wise, then was sent to the minors and then was traded. (Demoting a guy before he is traded is also a sure way to reduce his trade value. Smart move, Kenny. Let the Sox advertise how little they think of a guy just before they trade him.)

I hope I'm wrong, but I expect the White Sox will now begin to crumble. It's harder to win when you don't have a great defensive center fielder. Yes, the ChiPod will be just fine in center, but the switch weakens left, and it isn't clear that Carlos Quentin can stay healthy.

The White Sox may have thrown away the whole season with this small trade.

I'm Tired Of The Hall Of Fame

2009-07-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I watched some of that crap on TV. The problem I have with the Hall of Fame is that it doesn't so much honor baseball as distort it.

Baseball isn't about individuals. It's about teamwork.

Great teams should be inducted into the Hall but not individuals alone.

I'm tired of the egotism and the notion that somehow one player matters that much. Often the player that matters the most to a championship team is a tipping point player (think Scott Podsednik in 2005).

Too often, statistics drive the selection process and stats can prevent us from seeing the bigger picture. Consider the stolen base statistic. In the early days, it also included taking an extra base on a single (e.g., going from first to third or second to home on a single). That was a better indicator of base running ability than the narrow definition we give the stat today.

Let's start a new Hall of Fame and put only teams in it. And let's start using stats that point to the big picture.

Tear A Page From 1959

2009-07-26T21:39:00.000-07:00

The cult of the hard-throwing closer is nonsense. It's time for everybody to get over it.

In 1959, the go-to guys in the bullpen were Turk Lown and Gerry Staley. These guys were not young fireballers, they were old crafty pitchers. Staley was 38. Lown was 35.

The White Sox lost three of four to Detroit because the bullpen couldn't get it done. Bobby Jenks doesn't have the 100 mph fastball anymore. He's never had enough craftiness to fool anybody. And Scott Linebrink is a joke. He comes in only to set up a disaster scenario and then pass the buck to someone else.

The Sox need to do two things. They need to junk the closer role and they need to turn to experience. If Freddy Garcia can get even part of his stuff back, they should try him in relief. Bartolo Colon is another pitcher who might be better out of the bullpen.

White Sox 5, Detroit 1

Two games out of first place

No. 18: Buehrle & Castro Are Perfect

2009-07-23T18:54:00.000-07:00

I never saw a perfect game. But I was sitting in the stands in Anaheim in September 2006 when White Sox pitcher Freddy Garcia came four outs shy of perfection. Angels batter Adam Kennedy broke it up. It has to be something special to have been there at the Cell when Mark Buehrle threw his perfect game to Ramon Castro.

Who else has done it?

Hall of Famers like Sandy Koufax, Catfish Hunter, Addie Joss, Cy Young, Jim Bunning and Monte Ward. Others like Randy Johnson, David Cone, David Wells, Kenny Rogers, Mike Witt, Len Barker, Don Larsen, Dennis Martinez, Tom Browning, Lee Richmond and Charlie Robertson, the only other White Sox, and now Buehrle.

What about the catchers?

Yogi Berra caught one. So did Ivan Rodriguez, Bob Boone, White Sox hero Ray Schalk, Jeff Torborg, Gus Triandos and others. Ron Hassey is the only catcher to have called two perfect games.

Did Buehrle shake off any of Ramon Castro's calls?

No, according to mlbTV. But maybe he should've shook off that pitch that was hit to Dewayne Wise.

Are you a Wise fan now?

No. He made a great catch, but Brian Anderson is a better center fielder.

What now True Sox?

Let's hope the ChiSox sell a video of the game. I'd buy it.

And how about that move into first place?

Yes, that's the overlooked part. The Tigers lose and the Sox move into a first place tie. Plus they go to Detroit now for a four-game showdown.

White Sox 5, Tampa 0