Sox Machine: Chicago White Sox blog

No laughing matter

OK, now that I'm fueled by a large Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee, let's play catch-up:

While talking to my dad tonight before the Sox's fifth-inning explosion that turned a 2-0 deficit into an 11-3 romp, he wondered how many laughers the Sox truly have enjoyed this year.  This game certainly qualifies, but you can count the entire year's worth on one hand.  Let's tally:

• Sept. 17: White Sox 11, Royals 3
• Sept. 2: White Sox 8, Indians 0
• July 5: White Sox 11, Orioles 6
• May 22: White Sox 10, Athletics 4
• April 18: White Sox 6, Rangers 0 (Mark Buehrle's no-hitter)
  

Games that should've been far easier than they were:

• Aug. 2: White Sox 13, Yankees 9
• The Sox took an 8-0 lead after the top of the second, only to to be tied at 8 entering the third.
• July 16: White Sox 11, Indians 10
• The bullpen nearly coughs up a six-run lead before Dewon Day, of all people, bails it out.
• July 12: White Sox 9, Orioles 7
• Day came in with a 9-2 lead in the ninth, allowed four hits on six pitches, and all of them came around to score.
• May 20: White Sox 10, Cubs 6
• The Sox took a 10-2 lead, but David Aardsma gave up four runs in a hurry and made us in attendance a little too uneasy.

That's pretty amazing -- with only a dozen games left, the Sox have only played five games in which they, Sox fans, Hawk Harrelson and everybody else with a vested interest could relax in the ninth inning.  Looking at last year, they matched the 2007 total with five routs in April alone.  Even when counting the missed opportunities, you still have a finger left over to salute the White Sox player or coach of your choosing.

It's just another example of how bad the White Sox offense and bullpen has been this year, not that anybody needs more reminders.

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Tonight's victory dropped the Sox further back in the Hunt for Pedro Alvarez.  With four wins in their last five games, they're now tied for the fifth pick.  The Sox aren't even in last place anymore, with tonight's victory giving them a one-game advantage over the Kansas City Royals in the win column.

The good news is that two of the chief players in this development are players who need to develop -- Danny Richar and Jerry Owens.

Richar's in the midst of a six-game hitting streak, and while it's plenty good enough that he has 19 hits in his last 58 at-bats, more than half of them are for extra bases.  After falling a double short of the cycle tonight, Richar owns a line of .328/.371/.621 since Aug. 31.

Best yet, he's hitting line drives.  He smoked three of them off Royals pitchers tonight, including a roped homer that just about clipped the top of the wall in center field.

While Richar has brought some unexpected thunder to the lineup, Owens has gone about his business quietly, yet just as effectively.  After going 2-for-4 with a walk tonight, Owens' on-base percentage improved to .435 in September. 

Even considering the small sample size warning, the turnaround in his walk-to-strikeout numbers is pretty dramatic.  Before September, Owens had walked only 18 times while whiffing 47 times.  In September, he's reversed course, with nine walks and only six strikeouts.  Obviously, his one real strength is nullified if he can't put the ball in play, so this is a pretty significant development should this improvement be for real.

The one drawback to Owens' fine month is that, even with the improved batting eye, he still has only managed one extra-base hit (a double) in 53 at-bats.  Sure, nobody's going to pay attention to his measly slugging percentage if he's reaching base at this phenomenal rate, but he's still counting on the guys behind him an awful lot.

It seems to me that somebody with an OBP of .435 should score more than seven runs over 14 games.  Of course, this is when the lack of pop hurts:

1. Owens has only been successful in six of his last 10 steal attempts.
2. No. 2 hitter Josh Fields had seven hits in his last 40 at-bats, and 12 strikeouts.
3. No. 3 hitter Jim Thome is only hitting .232 in September.

Owens is only truly responsible for the first part, but the dependence on the guys behind him tempers enthusiasm -- especially when considering that he's not going to hit .340 every month.  Without either a marked improvement in his stolen base rate or an increase in extra-base hit, the only column in which he'll make an impact from game to game is the one labeled "LOB."

He's a lot of fun to watch when he's running, bunting and slashing, but as it stands, the only way I feel comfortable giving him a starting job in 2008 is if he's by far the worst outfielder in the Sox's starting lineup -- and through no fault of his own.

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In case you're interested, there are a couple additions to the photos section:

• An update to the Cooperstown gallery, featuring the Sox's Hall of Fame plaques and better shots of the World Series memorabilia.  That's where I spent most of Saturday instead of on this site.
  
• Some photos from Thacher Park, where I spent part of Sunday instead of on this site.
  

Mr. Incredible, meet Tom Terrific

In a few ways, Jim Thome hitting home run No. 500 for the White Sox Sunday is like Tom Seaver winning his 300th game for the White Sox in 1985.

Tom Terrific arrived on the heels of a playoff appearance, but the Sox failed to recreate the magic of the Winning Ugly season during his time on the South Side.  No fault can be assigned to Seaver, however, since he performed quite well for a guy in his late 30s.  He hit the milestone late in his second year with the Sox in a memorable fashion, tossing a complete game against the New York Yankees on Aug. 4.

Seaver earned 11 percent of his 311 victories for the White Sox, just a notch under Thome, who has hit 14 percent of his home runs for the Sox.

Granted, I was only 3 years old when Seaver hit the milestone, so I don't have any first-hand knowledge of the reaction to Seaver's achievement.  But I can't imagine it was that much more exciting.  Thome's homer, and the pursuit of the big round number, just didn't do much for me.

That's no knock on the Gentleman Masher, who I believe to be a Hall of Famer if the steroid sweeps validate him instead of indicting him.  He's borderline right now, but one or two more solid years and he's a lock.  He makes pitchers work too hard, he changes the complexion of a lineup with his presence too much, he's been a part of too many great offenses, and he's by all accounts too nice of a guy to be ignored.  Maybe he's not a first-balloter, but he should get in eventually.

I also can't blame the Sox for milking the milestone for all it's worth.  There isn't much else to lure fans to U.S. Cellular Field.

But when I saw the homer, and afterward watched Thome get carried away literally, I wondered how many people got carried away, figuratively.  Maybe the gentleman who caught the ball and those in attendance who can claim they were there, but did it pump up anybody at home?

My guess: Probably not.  It's a nice feat for a great guy, but at the same time, he's going to be linked to some dark days.  Thome doesn't deserve a bulk of the blame for the White Sox's failures over the past nine baseball months, but the team's fortunes are almost always linked to its best player, for better or for worse.  There are a few guys ahead of him on the list, but Thome's injury-diminished second half of 2006, as well as his absence as the team went into a tailspin in 2007, will be at the forefront of his White Sox legacy with his 500th homer.

Thome's teammates were happy to throw rose petals at his feet.  Paul Konerko, in particular, seemed to take another veiled jab at Frank Thomas in his postgame comments.  But as a White Sox fan, and not a co-worker of either player, I couldn't help but wish it were Thomas reaching 500 in a White Sox uniform instead.  At least there's a full story to attach to it.  Thome's is incomplete at best, and unfulfilling at worst.

Although I seem to be totally doing so, I don't want to rain on his parade.  It's just hard to get up for what is, in effect, a Rosie Ruiz experience.  We only really know the last mile of the marathon, and when looking at the franchise's pitifully underwhelming recordbook, you'd think we'd deserve to see the whole race for somebody at least once.