2006 State of the Sox

Weeks in a Box: Three-pack

This is brief, since 1) vacation and work helped me to get behind on these, and 2) the Sox weren't really worth talking about in September anyway.

Player of the Week:

Sept. 10-16: Tadahito Iguchi
Sept. 17-23: Paul Konerko
Sept. 24-Oct. 1:  A.J. Pierzynski

Player of the Weak:

Sept. 10-16: Scott Podsednik
Sept. 17-23: Joe Crede
Sept. 24-Oct. 1: Brian Anderson

Pitcher of the Week:

Sept. 10-16: Freddy Garcia
Sept. 17-23: Freddy Garcia
Sept. 24-Oct. 1: Freddy Garcia

Pitcher of the Weak:

Sept. 10-16: Jon Garland
Sept. 17-23: Mark Buehrle
Sept. 24-Oct. 1: Javier Vazquez

Fireman:

Sept. 10-16: Nobody
Sept. 17-23: Charlie Haeger
Sept. 24-Oct. 1: Matt Thornton

Gascan:

Sept. 10-16: Mike MacDougal
Sept. 17-23: Neal Cotts
Sept. 24-Oct. 1: Neal Cotts

Super Sub:

Sept. 10-16: Ryan Sweeney
Sept. 17-23: Pablo Ozuna
Sept. 24-Oct. 1: Ross Gload

Super Scrub:

Sept. 10-16: Nobody
Sept. 17-23: Rob Mackowiak
Sept. 24-Oct. 1: Josh Fields

Gold Glove:

Sept. 10-16: Brian Anderson
Sept. 17-23: No comment
Sept. 24-Oct. 1:  Chris Stewart

Player of the Week:

Sept. 10-16: Rob Mackowiak
Sept. 17-23: Paul Konerko
Sept. 24-Oct. 1: Brian Anderson

October 1: Twins 5, White Sox 1, Games Left 0

Record: 90-72 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 30: White Sox 6, Twins 3

Well, the Sox are doing everything possible to help the Tigers take the division, winning the first two games against the Twins.  Unfortunately, Detroit isn't holding up its end of the deal.

The Sox enjoyed their first three-game winning streak in more than a month, and did it with an offense that pounded out base hits, and Jon Garland carrying a shutout into the ninth.  Garland won his 18th game of the year, and will finish the year leading the team in wins for the second straight season.

Since it doesn't really matter how the Sox won, I'd rather talk about the interesting dynamics at play in the field this morning (the game started at 11:10 a.m. CST):

• Tadahito Iguchi packing heat in the lower part of the order.  The Emperor had three hits and three RBI, including his 18th homer of the season, to key this win.  He's already set a career-high in homers, he's improved his walk-rate while reducing strikeouts, cut down on errors, and will finish with a near-identical OPS (he's a few extra-base hits short).

That said, I feel vaguely disappointed with his season, and I'm not sure why.  Some of it has to do with his bunting/situational hitting, which appeared to be less solid compared to his rookie season.  He may have also been streakier, and when he looks bad at the plate, he looks bad.  Most of it is probably due to Scott Podsednik not being nearly as effective, and thus the 1-2 combination lacked punch.  At any rate, it's another solid season in the books, and his option will be exercised.

• Ryan Sweeney versus Brian Anderson.  Pods started today, and I'm not sure why.  Anderson manned center, and Sweeney was in right.  If Anderson and Sweeney are competing for the same job, Sweeney won decidedly today.

Sweeney went 2-for-4 with a two-out RBI single; Anderson went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.  Anderson played flawless defense, but Sweeney made a nice sliding catch by the wall.  Fall and winter ball is going to be crucial for Anderson's future, both short- and long-term.

• Enough with the Alomars already.  Sandy Alomar Jr. started today, and while he had a walk and a hit, there's no point in him being out there, not with Chris Stewart on the bench.  Given the way he threw Grady Sizemore out twice in his last start, I want to see more of Stewart.  We already know Alomar's done.
  

• Ross Gload, .329 hitter.  He had three more hits, including a triple.  Ross, if you're reading this (and I bet you are), please, please, PLEASE work on your outfielding skills so we can play you more.

Record: 90-71 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 29: White Sox 4, Twins 3

The details of this game are quite inconsequential -- Freddy pitched another gem, Jermaine Dye took sole possession of second place on the White Sox single-season home run list with his 44th of the year, Alex Cintron went yard as well.  Jerry Owens made a nice running catch and doubled before injuring his foot on a slide. 

Nevertheless, we're still out of the playoffs.  So let's talk about A.J. Pierzynski.



For some reason, Minnesota Twins fans boo A.J.  It makes little to no sense, considering:

• He contributed to a couple of pennant-winners
• He was traded; he didn't leave by his own choice
• He brought a hell of a lot back in the trade (Francisco Liriano, Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser)
• He was replaced by the should-be AL MVP (Joe Mauer)

Twins fans boo him all the same.  Then again, Twins fans become abnormally excited when a 55-year-old Dutch guy circles them, so there's not much use analyzing their behavior.

A.J. enjoyed the last laugh tonight, stomping on home plate after Bobby Jenks struck out Phil Nevin on three pitches with the bases loaded to end the game.  I'm certain that will endear him even more to the locals. 

Was it a little over-the-top?  Maybe.  But considering how badly home plate umpire Chuck Meriweather was handling appeals that inning, I don't blame him.  Jenks had to record five outs in the inning thanks to the Metrodome turf and Meriweather, and he barely got the job done, leaving the bases loaded.

After Nick Punto singled with a chopper over Joe Crede's head, Jenks struck out Liu Rodriguez check-swinging with a curveball.  A.J. picked the ball out of the dirt, tagged out Rodriguez, and there was no call.  He appealed to third base umpire Phil Cuzzi -- no swing.  A dozen foul balls later, Rodriguez walks.  Great. 

Up comes Mauer, and Jenks strikes him out on three pitches, the last one a check-swing.  Pierzynski points to the third-base umpire while Meriweather is ruling no-swing and ignoring A.J.'s request.  Finally, Meriweather points to Cuzzi, and Cuzzi rings him up. 

After Michael Cuddyer doubles, it's the same situation with Justin Morneau.  It takes an abnormally long amount of time to get an appeal, and Cuzzi gets it right again.  Two outs.  After a weak Torii Hunter infield single, A.J. finally catches a strike three for which he doesn't have to press the umpires.

But A.J. did more than bitch.  He provided a key run by singling with two outs off a lefty who came in to face him.  With Ross Gload on second, Ron Gardenhire rolled in Dennys Reyes, and Pierzynski hit a hanging slider back through the box to extend the lead to 4-1. 

Considering he had no help from backups this year, A.J. has handled southpaws respectably in 2006, or at least better than last year.  He improved his batting average 36 points (.266), and his on-base percentage by 50 (.297).  In a season where he's had to catch a personal-record number of games (tonight was No. 139) thanks to incompetent backups, the effort's appreciated. 

He even stole a base off Jesse Crain, his first since August 16, 2003. 

Record: 89-71 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 27: White Sox 2, Indians 1 (7 1/2 innings)

Tonight's game was the first Sox game I enjoyed watching (or reading about) in more than a week.  Since shutting out the Tigers 7-0 on September 19, the Sox haven't played crisp baseball at any point until tonight.

The offense didn't do much, though since they were really a beefed up version of the Charlotte Knights, I wasn't expecting much.  With Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye, Joe Crede and A.J. Pierzynski out of the lineup (and Scott Podsednik in it), runs weren't going to come by the truckload.

I saw what I wanted to see, and that's:

• Brandon McCarthy proving he can start.  Black Mac gave up two hits in 5-1/3 innings, one of them of course the requisite homer on a high fastball.  He did strike out eight while walking only one, and had all three pitches working.  One thing he could stand to do is add some variation on his fastball, maybe turn it into a two-seamer or something, because it's only a complimentary pitch now, 90-92 and straight.

• Charlie Haeger continuing to get hitters out.  A couple days after earning his first major-league win, Chuckleball picks up his first major-league save, throwing 1 2/3 perfect innings with two strikeouts.  Better yet, he cleaned up for McCarthy, who walked Grady Sizemore with one out before departing.  How'd he do that?  With some...

• Quality play by Chris Stewart.  I don't think Stewart is the Sox's answer for backup catcher yet, but if he's better than Sandy Alomar Jr. or Chris Widger, it's a start.  He showed he at least as a cannon arm by throwing out  Sizemore not once, but twice.  The guy has a quick release, even gunning down the speedy center fielder on a Haeger knuckleball.  He doesn't have a hit to his name yet, but he doesn't look as clueless at the plate as Josh Fields.

• Rob Mackowiak playing the corners.  Jerry Owens manned center and had two hits and a stolen base, although he looked hopeless against a lefty.  Meanwhile, Mack made a beautiful leaping grab at the wall to rob Kevin Kouzmanoff of extra bases.  He drifted back with it perfectly, and was able to make a two-footed, straight vertical jump to snatch the ball in front of the yellow line on the Jacobs Field wall. 
  

• Ross Gload continuing to contribute.  He hit a solo homer, his third of the year, to put the Sox on the board.  He also singled later in the game.  He's hitting .320, and could be a vital part of the team next year.
  

Record: 88-71 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 26: Indians 6, White Sox 0

Man.  The outcome of this game was merely a collage of sterotypical performances played out to caricatural lengths. 

We had:

1) The White Sox versus a lefty:  C.C. Sabathia entered this game undefeated (3-0) against the Sox in five starts, with a 2.86 ERA and a .219 batting average allowed. 

It's safe to say he improved rates in every single category after tonight.  Captain Cheeseburger threw eight innings, allowing four hits and striking out 11.  Josh Fields whiffed in all three at-bats, and nobody had two hits.  Only once did the Sox have two baserunners in the same inning.

2) Javier Vazquez:  Vazquez has looked better as of late, but this start was straight out of the first half.

Javy allowed runs in only two innings, but the Tribe scored three runs in each of them.  The sixth inning was especially spectacular -- he walked Jason Michaels with two outs (on borderline calls that didn't go his way), then hung a slider for Victor Martinez to put runners on the corners.  Another meatball to Ryan Garko one batter later, and it's a six-run game.

Of course, the rest of Javy's numbers looked great.  Only six hits in seven innings, two walks opposed to 12 strikeouts.

3) The case against Brian Anderson:  Obviously I don't think there's much of one, but his unsuccessful diving attempt allowed two runs to score -- this on the heels of a game in which he committed an error. 

Ozzie's actually giving him playing time now (today was his sixth start in a row), and it'd be nice to see him beef up his resume instead of possibly adding question marks to the strongest part of his game.  At least he had a hit.

September 25: Indians 14, White Sox 1

Record: 87-70 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 24: White Sox 12, Mariners 7

Some bullet points as the Sox have their first two-game winning streak since Sept. 9:

• Freddy Garcia notched his third straight victory and his 16th of the year.  It wasn't as impressive as his last two starts, as he ran into some trouble in the seventh after pitching six strong.  This time, he only carried a no-hitter into the fourth.
• Brian Anderson homered and doubled to snap a slump in which he struck out five times in two games. 
• The Sox were back to hitting rookie lefties, the only kind they can hit.  Ryan Feieraband was the victim this time.
• The Sox hit five homers in all.  Along with Anderson:
• Paul Konerko hit homers No. 34 and 35
• Joe Crede hit No. 30 to give the Sox four guys with 30+ homers.
• Juan Uribe hit a grand slam.
  
• Neal Cotts continues to confuse, facing two guys and giving up two homers.  One of them was to a lefty, of course.
  
• Dustin Hermanson finished off the game by throwing two innings and 35 pitches.

Record: 87-69 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 23: White Sox 11, Mariners 7

Some bullet points on a Sox victory that snapped a three-game losing streak:

• Jim Thome returned to his early-season catalyst form.  He hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Felix Hernandez (more first-inning RBI by Thome), and then walked in the eighth inning to set up Paul Konerko's go-ahead homer.
• Ryan Sweeney recorded his first true RBI with a two-run single for insurance runs in that eighth inning.  His only other RBI came on a groundout.
• Brian Anderson struck out three times in three at-bats.  He has five in his last two games.  This was off Felix Hernandez, who served up Anderson's first two home runs last year.
• Ross Gload led off.  Although he didn't do anything of note, it was a good idea.  Too bad nobody thought of it earlier.
• Mark Buehrle had another miserable outing -- 4 2/3 innings, nine hits, seven earned runs.
• Charlie Haeger did not -- 3 1/3 inning of perfect relief, five strikeouts. 
  
• The Sox and Mariners reversed bullpen roles today, with the Mariners allowing nine runs, while Haeger and Bobby Jenks combined for 4 1/3 innings of one-hit relief.

Record: 86-69 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 22: Mariners 11, White Sox 6

Some bullet points on a crushing Sox loss:

• Jose Contreras was lit up early and exited before two innings by aggravating his hamstring again.
• Brandon McCarthy showed why he might be able to start by allowing only one run over three innings.  He showed why he might not be able to start by allowing three walks and four hits over those three innings.  Of course, he allowed his requisite homer.
• The bullpens were a study in contrast:
• The Mariners used five relivers, and they combined to throw a near-perfect 4 2/3 innings.  The Sox managed their only baserunner on Seattle's relievers via a walk.
  
• The Sox used six relievers, and each one of them allowed a run except for Matt Thornton.  Thornton is a former Mariner, which probably explains it.
• Juan Uribe hit a three-run homer, his 20th of the year.
• Jim Thome hit a first-inning RBI single, driving in Scott Podsednik.  If only Pods had gotten on base more often in the second half.

Record: 85-69 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 21: Mariners 9, White Sox 0

The 2006 Chicago White Sox are still dead.

A no-name lefty shut them down, and the Sox defense played like crap.  Javier Vazquez pitched well, and all but one of his runs should've been unearned.  He struck out 12, and Raul Ibanez's solo shot in the seventh was Vazquez's only real mistake. 

Otherwise, an unearned run scored in the second when Juan Uribe dropped a two-out pop-up, and then Paul Konerko committed two errors in the same inning, but only one counted.  He threw high to Uribe on a force attempt at second, and then found himself screened by the runner on a routine grounder to first.  Since he didn't get a glove on it, no error was charged.

It didn't really matter, as the Mariners showed up the Sox in every way.  They played errorless ball, and Jake Woods dominated the Sox.  He conked Pablo Ozuna in the head with a fastball, and the Sox offense remained stagnant.  Meanwhile, when Boone Logan hit Yuniesky Betancourt in the kneecap in the ninth inning, the Mariners retaliated by loading the bases on Logan, and then hitting a grand slam off David Riske.

Meanwhile, Joe Crede is now hitless in his last 25 at-bats.  At least he didn't hit into any double plays. 

It's time to play the kids already.

Record: 85-68 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 20: Tigers 6, White Sox 2

This is how the season ends
This is how the season ends
This is how the season ends
Not with a bang, but with a whimper.

I suppose "The Hollow Men" would be a fitting name for this year's Sox -- not because of their hearts or hunger or whatnot, but because of the results.  The Sox lead the league in homers.  They hit two today.  They were both solo shots, and that's all the offense they had. 

They're not mathematically eliminated, but there's no real way the Sox can make up this much ground against two opponents 5 1/2 games ahead with weaker schedules.  This was a must-win game, and they lost it.

They lost it in classic 2006 Sox style.  The Sox offense missed some opportunities early when Jeremy Bonderman started the game struggling.  Jermaine Dye grounded out to third with a runner on third and one out in the first.  Joe Crede had runners on first and second in the second, and grounded into a double play.  He hit into not one, not two, but THREE twin killings, and is hitless in his last 22 at-bats.  He needs a day off.

Jon Garland pitched a mediocre game.  He kept the Sox in it, but it didn't look pretty, giving up double-digit hits, often times in clumps.  He gave up three straight hits in the third, resulting in two runs, and three straight hits in the fifth for two more.  Garland threw a lot of fastballs, and the Tigers benefited when they counted on them early in the count.  His night ended when he gave up a first-pitch fastball homer to Magglio Ordonez at the top of the eighth, when Garland was still out there for some reason.

Meanwhile, the Sox finally put runs on the board when Juan Uribe and Tadahito Iguchi hit solo homers in the sixth to cut the lead in half.  Dye followed with a single to put some pressure on.  But Jim Thome struck out, and Paul Konerko flew out to end the threat. 

Record: 85-67 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 19: White Sox 7, Tigers 0

Who'da thunk that Freddy Garcia is two hits and two innings away from being the next Johnny Vander Meer?  I guess that's why he's Big Game Freddy.

Fresh off his eight-inning one-hitter against Anaheim, Freddy goes and does it again, with only three slight differences.  One was that he gave up the lone single to the second batter he faced, not the 24th, he walked two batters instead of none, and had five strikeouts instead of three.  But he did retire 23 straight hitters again, and he did win another key ballgame.

Freddy only saw a jam in the first inning, when he walked Curtis Granderson on four straight pitches and gave up a single through the hole to Ivan Rodriguez.  The Tigers didn't advance any further, going line-out, pop-out, pop-out to end the threat.  The only other baserunner would reach with two outs in Freddy's last inning of work, when Brandon Inge walked after an eight-pitch at-bat. 

He attacked hitters once again, getting a lot of pop-ups on high fastballs, and weak groundouts on that splitter he's throwing more effectively. 

Also for the second straight start, Freddy received the benefit of the big bats, although they didn't show up right away.  Justin Verlander (AKA Justin The Incredible Fudge Factory Verlander) didn't allow a hit until the fourth, when Paul Konerko singled after Jermaine Dye was hit by a pitch and Jim Thome walked to load the bases. 

So yeah, the Sox had the bases loaded with less than two outs, and I was none too thrilled.  This time, however, A.J. Pierzynski capitalized.  Verlander had him down 1-2 in the count, and tried to strike him out with the same pitch he K'd him on in the second inning -- a curve in the dirt.  A.J. didn't bite, and he looked low the next pitch.  It was a fastball at his shins, and much like he did against Cleveland's Tom Mastny on September 8, Pierzynski golfed it into the right-center seats for a grand slam.

For whatever reason, what the Sox can't do against Kenny Rogers, they can do against Verlander.  The veteran has four wins against the Sox; Verlander's loss tonight was his fourth of the season against Chicago. 

The Sox actually scored all their runs tonight via the long ball, although it wasn't like they failed to execute in other areas.  That's just how the game worked out.  Dye and Thome went back-to-back, and Tadahito Iguchi surpassed his home run total for last season with a solo shot in the seventh for the final run.

They might've had another run in the sixth, as Scott Podsednik was on base preceding Dye's homer.  But with a 2-0 count, Pods tried taking off while Verlander was in the stretch.  He didn't make it. 

Record: 85-66 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 18: Tigers 8, White Sox 2

I was entertaining the idea of using yesterday's 1,000 words to sum up today's result.  It would be accurate, but variety is the spice of being disgusted less with this White Sox team.  I think that's how the saying goes.

Anyway, using the bare minimum of words, to match the amount of effort the Sox showed today:

• Meet the new Kenny Rogers.  Same as the old Kenny Rogers.  And the other old Kenny Rogers.  And the other one.  Hell, even when they beat him, Rogers didn't allow an earned run.
  
• The Sox hit into three double plays.  Big surprise.
  
• The Sox turned a triple play and a double play, but Mark Buehrle allowed so damn many hits (double-digits again) that he was able to overcome them and suck.
• Brandon McCarthy gave up a homer!  Sean Tracey hit the backstop!
• Rob Mackowiak dropped a ball in center field.  Hell of an exclamation point for his season out there.
• Good news: Jim Thome finally hit his 40th homer.  Bad news: It came with the Sox down 4-0 in the seventh.

But hey, Josh Fields went deep in his first major-league at-bat, joining Miguel Olivo and Carlos Lee as the only Sox to accomplish that feat.  Now watch him fail to be used at times when he could possibly help the team.

Record: 84-66 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 17: Athletics 5, White Sox 4

Record: 84-65 | Box score | Play-by-play