I implore you to check out
Carl Skanberg's latest Smells Like Mascot. It could very well be my favorite one yet, although time usually helps decide such matters, so I'll hold off for now.
But hell, let's list the rest of 'em. Since the winter
meetings ended with a whimper, it's not like there's much else to
discuss. Unless you want to dwell on
some more hard-to-swallow rhetoric.
Below are my top eight comics from Palehose 7 and Palehose 6 (no Smells Like Mascot, since that ruins the nice little run of numbers I have going).
No. 8: An inspirational message.
I was pulling towards the one where
Darin Erstad's cloud of dirt steals Jermaine Dye's pants, but instead opted for the one that captured the glory of a grinder.
It also gave birth to a catch phrase that would've caught on if Erstad were any good. His loss:
No. 7: Tiki.The first-ever reference to Ed Farmer, and I think the giant stone monument depicts his personality and perspective pretty well. Proclaims ancient proverbs, hard to move, won't change with the times, etc.
(Though I did like the cadence of Farmer when
he was reincarnated as a chaplain later on. Yeah.)
Chris Singleton, as always, is just kind of there, not making a difference, not really trying to.
No. 6: Arm Lumps.The use of "turd" makes me laugh.
I'm not exactly hard to please.
No. 5: Over?
What gets me about this one is that it was published in Sept. 19, 2006. At that time, Pods was carrying a second-half line of .234/.294/.288, and, along with Jim Thome's back, was one of the biggest reasons why the offense scuffled after the All-Star break.
From the date of this strip on, Pods' line was .248/.300/.368. So what appeared to be a setup line in the penultimate panel ended up being fairly prophetic instead.
By the way, I'll be continuing the look into
the Podsednik Paradox next week, after which I'll write his eulogy and give him the send-off he deserves.
No. 4: Platoon in center.This strip came right after
a night in which Rob Mackowiak misplayed a Grady Sizemore flyball into a triple, and Brian Anderson sat on the bench with a .164 batting average.
'Nuff said.
No. 3: Captain Hand returns to Earth.I've always wondered if these drink specials are available in the Bullpen Sports Bar.
If they aren't, I don't know what they're waiting for.
No. 2: Work it out.Speaking of sinking feelings, I'm pretty sure we're going to be able to recycle this one next year. God help us if there's another cold spell.
The only difference is that Joe Crede won't be the third one suffering. Fields won't be a likely replacement in this instance, because
Walk is still letting Josh Fields be Josh Fields, as far as I know.
No. 1: Burning down something beautiful.
I know how he feels. If nothing else, it's a good transition back into reality...
***********************
...yes, reality, where the Sox watched
the Oakland A's take Fernando Hernandez in the Rule 5 Draft. Scouting director Alan Regier
explains the loss:
"He's a 6-foot, right-handed pitcher, who throws strikes and gets
people out," said White Sox Minor League director Alan Regier of
Hernandez. "There were not any hickeys with him. He's healthy. He's got
good makeup.
"However, we felt when we looked up at our board and had to make the
decision on the 40-man between the Dewon Days and the Adam Russells and
the group of guys we had coming up, we felt that [Hernandez] fell short
of our projections on the 40-man. He's healthy, and we wish him the
best."
If you're looking for silver lining, Oakland also selected
Jay Marshall from the Sox at this time last year. That one didn't end up hurting the Sox so much, unless you thought the 2007 bullpen needed a worse version of Boone Logan.
Also lost in the Rule 5 Draft:
These four picks will likely create the biggest impact in the name department:
Liotta leaves the Sox after a disappointing decline, robbing South Side fans the chance of watching roughly 50,000,000 people rush to be the first on their block to make the "Ray Liotta's on the White Sox???" joke. His poor 2006 was blamed partially on Hurricane Katrina's effects on his family, and then he lost 2007 to shoulder surgery. He'll join fellow underwhelming former Sox farmhand
Tyler Lumsden in the Royals system.
Rodriguez gives me a little relief, because it look me a long time to keep my Winston-Salem Rodriguezes straight. Ryan was the 23-year-old lefty who gave up a ton of hits as a starter before improving his hit and strikeout rate in relief.
Derek Rodriguez was the 24-year-old semi-undersized righty who proved to be durable and effective, although pretty old for his level. He posted a sub-3.00 ERA through the middle three months of the season, spanning 94 innings.
Roberts was introduced to me as Pedro Jest. His skill set wasn't bad, but there was a reason he was 24 and still in High-A ball -- his abysmal walk-to-strikeout deficit. At one point, he had five walks compared to 62 strikeouts over 263 at-bats, and he finished with an equal number of free passes and HBPs at a dozen apiece.
Bakker doesn't have much of a name, but he is a 24-year-old sinkerballer who managed decent numbers after joining the rotation (2.80 ERA, 7.24 H/9IP over 54 2/3 innings). However, he doesn't appear to get enough grounders to see much of a future in him.
The Sox did add a player to the roster via the Rule 5 draft -- reliever
Santo Luis from the Houston Astros' system. He struck out 99 over 75 1/3 innings in A-ball, but also gave up 12 homers over that stretch.
This segment of
the Merkin article should give you a lot of hope:
Luis possesses a power arm, with a fastball up to 94 mph. White Sox
scouts like his velocity and, with help on his delivery, figure to get
a few more strikes from him.
If Don Cooper lines up his patients alphabetically during spring training, Luis will take his turn after Logan, and before Nick Masset.