In what will be a blow for Camelback Ranch attendance figures, Sunday’s White Sox-Cubs tilt became a Cactus League rarity — a rainout.
Mark Gonzalez informed us through Twitter that the last Sox rainout was March 11, 2006. I remember that one well — the game was played in the Phoenix area, but because the forecast looked so terrible (some areas saw snow), my buddy Matt and I decided to hang back in merely cold and windy Tucson and catch the Mariners-Diamondbacks game instead.
That day, I watched a first-round bust for Seattle get knocked around the park. Nine days later, the White Sox acquired him for Joe Borchard.
Though the Cubs-Sox game was canceled, it won’t hurt Jerry Reinsdorf’s finances. Tickets to canceled events aren’t refunded at Camelback Ranch — they can only be exchanged.
And after Peavy was done pitching...
******************************
Jake Peavy wouldn’t let the rain dampen his world-renowned intensity.
Instead of pushing his schedule back a day, Peavy instead threw a 45-pitch simulated game in a batting cage — against live hitters and with no screen. That means he’ll make his Cactus League debut on Friday.
Gavin Floyd pitches today in the A-game, but the undercard is more interesting. Daniel Cabrera will try to shake off his three-walk performance, and Sergio Santos will try to back up his three-strikeout debut.
******************************
A couple unrelated questions:
No. 1: What do you think of gamers?
It seems like the start of the baseball season always marks the start of the discussion on the relevance and utility of newspaper game recaps in journalism circles. Probably because they take up 12 inches of increasingly important newshole every day, instead of every two to three days.
Usually, the discussion is “Everybody watches the games or can see the highlights; rehashing the facts is pointless.” I’m not particularly sold. For instance, without State of the Sox, I would’ve had a harder time tracking down examples of A.J. Pierzynski’s terrible baserunning for White Sox Outsider 2010 (BUY MY BOOK!).
(And it’s going to be easier this coming season in the first full year of Sox Machine on WordPress, because we’re going to have some very specific tags.)
But I’m partial to old forms and in need of great detail, so I’m not the regular audience. Are traditional gamers relevant to your lives?
No. 2: Do I need an e-book?
Two posts back, Mike asked about the availability of White Sox Outsider 2010 (BUY MY BOOK!) on Kindle.
It’s very much possible, and there are a couple ways I can go with it, depending on the popularity of e-book readers. If you have a Kindle, Nook, or other e-book reader and are interested in purchasing a copy, let me know, either in the comments, Twitter or e-mail. That’ll give me a better idea of the best route to take.
And thanks to everybody who has purchased the book. I really appreciate it.
I planned a whole day of recovery and doing nothing around the sox cubs game yesterday, what a bummer it got washed out.
Im happy the legend of sergio santos’s 98 mph fastball, and the actual sergio santos fastball are in the same vicinity. However, I still caution that even a good spring and the fact he is out of options shouldnt be the deciding factor in who fills out the pen. Its very hard to imagine a guy who has far less then a years pitching experience being effective when real games start, but who knows.
Posted by knoxfire30 | 08. Mar, 2010, 9:22 amBut isn’t the rotation spot Santos is going for the mop-up spot so we can take more of a chance adding him to the 25man?
Posted by striker | 08. Mar, 2010, 9:47 amwhen i think mop up i think of a former starter capable of sucking up 2-4 innings
when i think of an electric fastball / strikeout guy i think of a setup man or right hand specialist
to me santos fills option 2 better then option 1
Posted by knoxfire30 | 08. Mar, 2010, 10:14 amI don’t think it’s very likely that Santos will end up on somebody else’s 25-man roster.
That said, I’d like it more if Santos would get rocked several times this spring to dissuade teams from claiming him. It’ll probably pay off better in the long run.
Posted by Jim Margalus | 08. Mar, 2010, 12:06 pmSo if the White Sox don’t add him to the 25 man roster, he has to go on waivers, and if a team claims him off waivers they have to add him to their 25 man roster? Am I understanding that correctly?
Posted by striker | 08. Mar, 2010, 12:25 pmYes. So I don’t think it’s a huge risk to DFA Santos.
Posted by Jim Margalus | 08. Mar, 2010, 1:36 pmAddressing your two questions:
1) I never read AP recaps anymore. Yours, on the other hand, are far more entertaining, as are those on SSS (when they actually do them). Obviously, you have a lot more freedom to do what you want, such as a picture of a dog going b.m., but traditional recaps are useless.
2) No.
Posted by joist | 08. Mar, 2010, 1:23 pmCosigned to both.
Posted by Shinons | 08. Mar, 2010, 1:58 pmI personally like game recaps, and I always need to see a box score in the paper even if I watched the entire game. There’s just something satisfying about it.
Have you heard of statsmonkey? http://infolab.northwestern.edu/projects/stats-monkey/
They are using computers to automatically generate game stories based on stats/algorithms, etc. As a journalism grad, not sure that I like this, which essentially replaces a human reporter with a computer. But it’s interesting and may have other applications.
By the way, great title for this article, Jim. Raising Arizona is a great movie!!
Posted by Buehrlesque | 08. Mar, 2010, 1:57 pmYup. I like statsmonkey, in that it’s a good warning shot for people not to mail gamers in. They can be fun if you put effort into ‘em.
Posted by Jim Margalus | 08. Mar, 2010, 4:00 pmSantos update:
He came in with one out and a runner on second, fell behind Matt Tuiasosopo 2-0, grooved a fastball for an RBI double. Then rebounded with a strikeout and a groundout.
Posted by Jim Margalus | 08. Mar, 2010, 4:06 pmdid anyone hear the broadcast, did one of the announcers mention in the pregame that when Tuiasosopo was up he was going to face Santos and turn around a 2-0 fastball for an rbi double?
Posted by knoxfire30 | 08. Mar, 2010, 9:10 pmHa.
Posted by Jim Margalus | 08. Mar, 2010, 10:20 pm