It's nice to see that mainstream outlets picked up some things I've addressed earlier this week, helping to resolve or flesh out some issues I've taken stabs at.
The Chicago Tribune's Dave Van Dyck talks to a number of people about Brian Anderson, whose resurgence has finally "solidified" his starting spot. "Solidified" is in quotes because despite Ozzie saying he's
sticking with one lineup, Anderson's started two out of the last four games.
It's clear that Anderson's season
turned around during the Cleveland series from June 9-11. Anderson went from Charlotte-bound to major-league mainstay with a game-saving grab of Travis Hafner's liner, and a three-run homer. But confidence isn't all there was to it, as
Greg Walker explains:
But hitting coach Greg Walker couldn't resist the temptation, if only
because he could see a small mechanical flaw holding back Anderson's
potential.
"He had to change his swing," Walker said. "So when the organization
was trying to decide whether to send him down, we made a simple
[alteration], and it clicked."
The change? Basically, before swinging, Anderson was holding the bat flat instead of perpendicular to the ground.
"It finally got to the point that I needed to swallow my pride and
start to rack up some singles and put the ball in play and say to
myself, 'This is not working out,'" Anderson said.
Said Walker, "Within one day, you could see a textbook swing. It was immediate, and it felt good to him."
And the results showed. Anderson had two hits, including a home run, June 11 against Cleveland.
Then he had two more, including a double, five days later against
Cincinnati. He was on his way.
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WhiteSox.com's Scott Merkin reports on Ozzie Guillen's
14-minute tirade that mainly covered the idea that the Sox gain unfair advantages through illegal field preparation or stealing signs.
It's a shame he doesn't visit, because Merkin only alludes to what Ozzie had to say about Justin Verlander supposedly tipping his pitches. We had an
interesting discussion on the subject, and it would've been nice to hear what grinds Ozzie's gears, although I wonder if my site could support the bandwith he'd use.
He does agree with us, however, on the flimsiness of some claims that have been made:
"Good, I hope it keeps happening," said Guillen of the cheating
allegations. "What happened in the playoffs and World Series? We won
1-0, 2-1. We won so many one-run games, more than anyone in baseball.
"You look at our Nos. 3, 4 and 5 hitters, they are the best in
baseball. If we're cheating, how come we don't help Brian Anderson or
[Juan] Uribe? If we're going to cheat, we're not just going to cheat
for a few guys. Why is Brian Anderson having such a hard time to
perform?
"[Jim] Thome has 30-some home runs just because? He has 30 home runs
every year, off the bat. We're cheating on the mound? Our pitching
staff gets beat up once in a while. They're mad. They can't admit that
a Latino kicked their [tail].
"Then, the owner in Boston, he said we were cheating," Guillen added. "He doesn't even know what a field looks like."
The Trib also has their own version of the story, titled "Guillen gets fired up over finger-pointers", and yes, Freddy is included, too:
"Well, when you give up five runs, it's a funny thing," Guillen said.
"Players can say whatever they want to say because it's their right,
but we gave the lead to Freddy a couple of times, and they tied the
games a couple of times.
"Sometimes people should blame themselves when things happen."
***********
Last week's issue of the New Yorker had an interesting article on the impact of blogs on the mainstream media. Though it mainly discusses political blogs, I think a lot of the same issues apply to sports. It's worth a read if you're into this sort of thing.