Nick Swisher and his .444 on-base percentage led off
Wednesday's
victory over Baltimore with a single. Orlando Cabrera and his .386 OBP
followed up with a walk, and Jim Thome blasted one into the
right-center seats to give the White Sox a quick 3-0 lead.
It's such a simple formula --
Earl Weavering, in other words -- that it makes me wonder why batting Swisher first -- and
bypassing speed -- is such a big deal.
Ozzie Guillen boiled it down to one sentence:
"I'd rather have people on base, have 100 people on base than have 100
guys stealing bases. I think the on-base percentage is pretty
important."
Really, the bigger story is: "Why are the Sox realizing this just now?"
Dave Van Dyck almost raised the issue:
It's a new concept around these parts, but something the Yankees (.366
as a team last year) and Boston (.362) have perfected over the years.
There are no easy outs in those lineups, which is what the Sox have
discovered this spring after a .318 percentage last year.
It's a frustrating article for a few reasons:
No. 1: It's a tease, with regards to the nagging question.
No. 2: He says upon their acquisitions, Swisher, Cabrera and Carlos Quentin's OBP skills "went nearly unnoticed." Come again?
No. 3: It refers to Scott Podsednik and Darin Erstad's ineffectiveness at the top of the order in 2007, without mentioning how they were regarded as "
adept handlers of the bat" by the same subset of commentators at the onset of the season.
No. 4: We get this quote from Greg Walker:
"I said all along last year the reason our big boys had a tough time
was because we didn't have enough runners on base for them," Walker
said.
Actually, Walker said
something different "all year" last June:
"I said it all year. I saw it in the guys' eyes early this year. [...] We can play this game loosey-goosey with swagger, which we had all
last year and we are the same guys. The second way is
frustration, and that's how we have played all year."
Honestly, there weren't
cold jokes and
swagger jokes for nothing.
I don't want to say much more on the subject, because this horse died a long time ago, but the turning point for Kenny Williams was likely mid-August, when
he tried coaxing a free-swinging team into being more like Thome. The result, in a nutshell, was a truckload of backwards K's by Andy Gonzalez. I believe that series of events forced an impetus to change the skill sets among the 25-man roster, more than anything else.
At any rate, I apologize for the kvetching over the 2007 season when the start of the 2008 version has been such a breath of fresh air. I suppose last season was such an affront to common sense that I still feel that we're owed an explanation.
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Somebody who might need a different kind of explanation:
Jerry Owens. In response to Guillen's comments that he "doesn't care about you if you're not on the big-league club," Owens said:
''What I do know is that when I look at their lineup, they don't have a guy that can steal 50 [bases]. I can do that.''
Considering the Sox's outfield comprises a
guy tied for fifth in RBI; the aforementioned guy with the .444 OBP and
the guy hitting .346, the guy who can steal 50 bases would only be known as "pinch runner" at this stage in the game.
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Look who's back: Fernando Hernandez!
The White Sox re-acquired reliever Fernando Hernandez from Oakland for $25,000.[...]
Shortly after reacquiring Hernandez, the Sox optioned him to
Double-A Birmingham, where he was 1-3 with a 3.06 ERA in 60 appearances
last season. Hernandez walked 23 and struck out 84 in 85 1/3 innings
with the Barons last season.
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Minor league roundup:- Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 4, Charlotte 2
- Another strong start for Lance Broadway, but this one had an unfortunate ending. Eight innings, one earned run -- but he had a throwing error that led to three unearned.
- Jerry Owens had his best game to date, going 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.
- Josh Fields made his walk count -- he stole second, then came around to score on a throwing error.
- Birmingham 2, Mississippi 1 (13 innings)
- Excellent pitching all around for Birmingham, starting with Justin Cassell allowing one unearned run over six innings.
- Matt Zaleski threw two perfect innings, John Lujan two scoreless.
- Derek Rodriguez capped it off with three scoreless for the win, striking out six.
- Dave Cook went 3-for-6 with a solo homer; Maurice Gartrell had three hits as well.
- Winston-Salem 4, Myrtle Beach 3
- Jacob Rasner is 2-for-2 in good starts, allowing one run over six innings.
- Kanekoa Texeira threw two scoreless innings, striking out three.
- Francisco Hernandez entered the game 1-for-13; he went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI.
- Kannapolis 6, Augusta 5
- Santo Luis lowered his ERA from 9.45 to 6.94 with five solid innings of relief. He allowed two runs on five hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out three.
- Jose Martinez went 2-for-4 with two RBI; Andrew Mead also drove in a pair, and Danny Jordan hit a two-run homer.