I know it's been the better part of a year since I have written in this blog. Getting a "real job" will do that to a person. It was a shame that I didn't have any time to write about the Bulls and their amazing run, but that is another blog for another time.
What I really want to talk about is this whole "All in" thing. The strikeout king Adam Dunn, the Double play king Alex Rios, and the king of all things awesome, Paul Konerko. Yes, I am talking about your 2011 Chicago White Sox.
Where do I begin? Well, at 76 games into the season, "All in" feels more like throwing a couple chips in here and there and making it seem like you have a better hand than the other AL Central teams, when you know you're bluffing.
...Because it's clear that the Indians have the best hand.
Wait, that can't be right, can it?
Usually, the Twins would be the team that would beat us on every hand, no matter how much we bet. While that may be true in head-to-head play, the Twins still find themselves eight games back in the division, in fourth place behind our third place Sox. Usually around now, I find myself complaining to no end about Mauer and Morneau and the like being in first place and killing the Sox every chance they get. But this year, it's the Indians that have the best hand, at least for now.
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Friday, June 24, 2011
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Easier said than Dunn
Ah, the White Sox. Still hangin' in there with their eternal 1.5 game lead over those evil, evil Twins. I'm glad to see the Sox stay on a roll when they need to, and they definitely need to. One team has to give as far as being on a roll goes, and that team better be the Twins. Seems like they find any random way to win that they can, just ask Joe Maddon. Even when they no longer play in a dome, they still use a dome to their advantage to win. It's disgusting is what it is.
But the Sox shall keep rolling and hopefully the Twins stop their crazy streak. Going to Baltimore for four games certainly helps.
Since I haven't been blogging since the trade deadline, I want to share some thoughts about that as well. I can't believe how eventful it was! Berkman to the Yankees, Lilly and Theriot to the Dodgers, even going back to Cliff Lee to the Rangers. But what of the Edwin Jackson trade?
I actually like it. Of course, i would have been a bit more excited to get another bat in the lineup as our pitching staff is doing really well. The only reason i'd want the extra bat is, well, Mark Kotsay. But today he helped us win (twice if you think about it), so maybe that's a sign of things to come? I'm just glad Kenny didn't go through with the Dunn trade because getting rid of Beckham or *cue Left 4 dead tank music* Viciedo would be a bit too much. I'm all about winning now, but why not win later too?
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But the Sox shall keep rolling and hopefully the Twins stop their crazy streak. Going to Baltimore for four games certainly helps.
Since I haven't been blogging since the trade deadline, I want to share some thoughts about that as well. I can't believe how eventful it was! Berkman to the Yankees, Lilly and Theriot to the Dodgers, even going back to Cliff Lee to the Rangers. But what of the Edwin Jackson trade?
I actually like it. Of course, i would have been a bit more excited to get another bat in the lineup as our pitching staff is doing really well. The only reason i'd want the extra bat is, well, Mark Kotsay. But today he helped us win (twice if you think about it), so maybe that's a sign of things to come? I'm just glad Kenny didn't go through with the Dunn trade because getting rid of Beckham or *cue Left 4 dead tank music* Viciedo would be a bit too much. I'm all about winning now, but why not win later too?
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Wish apon a former Star
I know it's been forever since i've been able to catch up on the blog (been a surprisingly busy summer), so this is probably old news now anyway. But I do want to share my thoughts on Antti Niemi leaving, and Marty Turco joining our defending Stanley Cup champs.
I have extremely mixed emotions about it, but when it comes down to it, I think this was a good deal. Niemi played so well, especially in the series against the Sharks, but i think when Turco is behind this stellar defensive core, he's going to do just as well, if not better. I mentioned the Sharks series aside because that series was really all about him stopping pretty much everything he saw, especially in that first game. I'll never forget that performance. I did read an interesting stat about Turco only having a .717 save % in the shootout, so if there is anything to worry about with this deal, it might be that. I liked Dan MacNeil's idea of taking him out with :30 left in OT and putting Corey Crawford in. Hehe. Otherwise i think his veteran presence will be a good thing, and Crawford will be able to learn a thing or two to get better himself.
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I have extremely mixed emotions about it, but when it comes down to it, I think this was a good deal. Niemi played so well, especially in the series against the Sharks, but i think when Turco is behind this stellar defensive core, he's going to do just as well, if not better. I mentioned the Sharks series aside because that series was really all about him stopping pretty much everything he saw, especially in that first game. I'll never forget that performance. I did read an interesting stat about Turco only having a .717 save % in the shootout, so if there is anything to worry about with this deal, it might be that. I liked Dan MacNeil's idea of taking him out with :30 left in OT and putting Corey Crawford in. Hehe. Otherwise i think his veteran presence will be a good thing, and Crawford will be able to learn a thing or two to get better himself.
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Wednesday, July 14, 2010
First place and my love-hate relationship with the all-star game
Ah, I saved my only positive blog for last. In a world where Salary Caps and Lebron James take overall precedence, it's nice to know that somewhere in the world, there is a hot baseball team worth mentioning.
And that team, my friends, is your first place Chicago White Sox.
I am still in shock that we got to this point. Nobody thought at the beginning of the season that we could even possibly make a run like that. I am loving every minute of it, and I really think we can keep going. Konerko and Rios have had an amazing first half in general. Our starting pitching has turned it around in an almost impossible fashion, getting their combined ERA lower and lower by the day. And when the rest of the team began to hit, it just spelled disaster for the opposition.
As the first half is in the books, I am not only reflecting on what an amazing run we made to get into first place by the break, but also looking forward, knowing we have to get right back to work, as we start a very important road trip with 4 games at Target Field against the Twins. The Twins are always a pain, so don't let the fact that they're in 3rd place now fool you. If we could win 3 out of 4 here, or even split, we could still be in a good position here. Target Field is certainly no Metrodome, thank god for that. I look forward to this series alot and hope we can stay in first place the rest of the way!!
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And that team, my friends, is your first place Chicago White Sox.
I am still in shock that we got to this point. Nobody thought at the beginning of the season that we could even possibly make a run like that. I am loving every minute of it, and I really think we can keep going. Konerko and Rios have had an amazing first half in general. Our starting pitching has turned it around in an almost impossible fashion, getting their combined ERA lower and lower by the day. And when the rest of the team began to hit, it just spelled disaster for the opposition.
As the first half is in the books, I am not only reflecting on what an amazing run we made to get into first place by the break, but also looking forward, knowing we have to get right back to work, as we start a very important road trip with 4 games at Target Field against the Twins. The Twins are always a pain, so don't let the fact that they're in 3rd place now fool you. If we could win 3 out of 4 here, or even split, we could still be in a good position here. Target Field is certainly no Metrodome, thank god for that. I look forward to this series alot and hope we can stay in first place the rest of the way!!
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The Atlanta Thrashawks?
Well, this certainly has been quite the offseason for our boys, hasn't it?
The Thrashers have become an exaggerated version of the Kansas City Royals, in that the Royals have many old Sox players on their team. The Thrashers have most of the players we did not keep, aside from Versteeg and Burish. But now with that stupid stupid salary cap still looming, and a not very nice move by the Sharks to try and take Hjallmarson away (since they send Nabokov back to Russia...), now we are faced with a pretty interesting and pretty hectic decision.
What will happen to Antti Niemi?
Will we have to send even more players to Atlanta? Will they just become the same Blackhawks team that we were this year (Aside from Goaltending, our top and second defensive pair, and our top line, that is.)? I am intrigued as to what will happen for the rest of the summer, as only time will tell. It just saddens me that our team has exploded into other sections of the NHL after such an amazing Stanley Cup victory run. I understand the business side of it, but I still hate it. And I promise you, I will hate it even more if we don't re-sign Niemi.
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The Thrashers have become an exaggerated version of the Kansas City Royals, in that the Royals have many old Sox players on their team. The Thrashers have most of the players we did not keep, aside from Versteeg and Burish. But now with that stupid stupid salary cap still looming, and a not very nice move by the Sharks to try and take Hjallmarson away (since they send Nabokov back to Russia...), now we are faced with a pretty interesting and pretty hectic decision.
What will happen to Antti Niemi?
Will we have to send even more players to Atlanta? Will they just become the same Blackhawks team that we were this year (Aside from Goaltending, our top and second defensive pair, and our top line, that is.)? I am intrigued as to what will happen for the rest of the summer, as only time will tell. It just saddens me that our team has exploded into other sections of the NHL after such an amazing Stanley Cup victory run. I understand the business side of it, but I still hate it. And I promise you, I will hate it even more if we don't re-sign Niemi.
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It's not the Heat, it's the stupidity.
It's been quite sometime since I have been able to blog, and I decided that this is the one I want to get out of the way first...
I didn't want to watch it. But I almost felt like...I had to. I just really wanted to know right away where Lebron decided to go because I wanted it to be over with. The whole thing was fun at first, kind of exciting to read all the different speculations and reports and all the "he said she said" things that surrounded NBA free agency. When Wade and Bosh decided to go to Miami, I thought that actually increased our chances of landing the king, because from a basketball standpoint it made the most sense. I knew Lebron was a competitor, and he would be thrilled to join a team that had a chance of beating them, especially with the addition of Carlos Boozer. It would make for a very awesome and high-publicity conference finals, that's for sure.
On the other hand, I thought maybe he would stay in Cleveland. I mean, why would you plan an entire television special just to pretty much give your city the middle finger and go to another team? That's why if he didn't come to the Bulls, i figured he would be Cleveland's big hero and come back to them and try to win a championship.
So I watched patiently with my brother and my dad, thinking that the decision was to be made within the first 10 minutes of the show. However, there we were 20 minutes later still waiting for him to tell us one way or the other. Finally, after all the filler time, the unnecessary interview questions, he said, "I'm taking my talents down to South Beach".
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I didn't want to watch it. But I almost felt like...I had to. I just really wanted to know right away where Lebron decided to go because I wanted it to be over with. The whole thing was fun at first, kind of exciting to read all the different speculations and reports and all the "he said she said" things that surrounded NBA free agency. When Wade and Bosh decided to go to Miami, I thought that actually increased our chances of landing the king, because from a basketball standpoint it made the most sense. I knew Lebron was a competitor, and he would be thrilled to join a team that had a chance of beating them, especially with the addition of Carlos Boozer. It would make for a very awesome and high-publicity conference finals, that's for sure.
On the other hand, I thought maybe he would stay in Cleveland. I mean, why would you plan an entire television special just to pretty much give your city the middle finger and go to another team? That's why if he didn't come to the Bulls, i figured he would be Cleveland's big hero and come back to them and try to win a championship.
So I watched patiently with my brother and my dad, thinking that the decision was to be made within the first 10 minutes of the show. However, there we were 20 minutes later still waiting for him to tell us one way or the other. Finally, after all the filler time, the unnecessary interview questions, he said, "I'm taking my talents down to South Beach".
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Wednesday, June 30, 2010
I miss playing NL teams...or do I?
How sad that interleague play is over. Those Kansas City Royals give us problems all the time, and this series was no different. I was very excited about the pitching matchup today with Greinke going against Peavy, and it did not disappoint. The Sox bullpen, however, that was the part that kind of disappointed.
But it wasn't all bad, the Sox actually engineered a really epic almost-comeback thanks in large part to that 3-run triple from Lillibridge. How wonderful and random. I was really hoping we would score in the 8th so as not to have to face Joakim Soria, but it didn't work out that way, and Soria shut us down for good.
I liked the way we totally got back into this game tonight, though. These boys are tough, and they know how close this AL Central race is going to be from here on out. I mentioned in my last blog that I don't like to scoreboard watch, but when we're still only 2.5 games out, I can't help but try and take a peek at what our little Twins and Tigers friends are up to. Their series against each other went pretty much how I wanted to, with one team taking 2 of 3. Now with us playing another really hot team in Texas, we need to focus on winning these games so as to not fall back down to where we were. The Twins begin a series with the Rays tomorrow, and the Tigers will begin a series with the Mariners on Friday. Seems like all three AL Central contenders may have their work cut out for them, so it will be an exciting weekend for baseball (although it's also going to be an exciting weekend of NBA free agency as well...).
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But it wasn't all bad, the Sox actually engineered a really epic almost-comeback thanks in large part to that 3-run triple from Lillibridge. How wonderful and random. I was really hoping we would score in the 8th so as not to have to face Joakim Soria, but it didn't work out that way, and Soria shut us down for good.
I liked the way we totally got back into this game tonight, though. These boys are tough, and they know how close this AL Central race is going to be from here on out. I mentioned in my last blog that I don't like to scoreboard watch, but when we're still only 2.5 games out, I can't help but try and take a peek at what our little Twins and Tigers friends are up to. Their series against each other went pretty much how I wanted to, with one team taking 2 of 3. Now with us playing another really hot team in Texas, we need to focus on winning these games so as to not fall back down to where we were. The Twins begin a series with the Rays tomorrow, and the Tigers will begin a series with the Mariners on Friday. Seems like all three AL Central contenders may have their work cut out for them, so it will be an exciting weekend for baseball (although it's also going to be an exciting weekend of NBA free agency as well...).
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Monday, June 28, 2010
Crosstown part 2
Well, the coveted BP crosstown cup belongs to the White Sox, and the Crosstown classic, as well as interleague play in general, has come to an end. But what would a Sox/Cubs series be without a little drama right? and what would a little drama be without Carlos Zambrano?
I thought what he did was childish and terrible. I can understand being frustrated with your "dead ass" team (as Bob Brenly so graciously put it), but if you give up a home run when the hitter is behind in the count like that, you can't totally blame someone else for that. Especially not Derek Lee. If you have a problem with someone on your team, you have every right to confront them about it, that's what a person in a leadership role like that would do. However, you certainly don't have the right to yell and scream and freak out after a bad inning, and get in your teammates' face. That's just not being a very good teammate in my opinion. I'm glad he got suspended, and i'm glad that even when he gets back he is going to stay in the bullpen. He i s good enough to be a starter, but he has to earn that role back. Unless Jim Hendry actually finds someone that wants him. The Cubs are just in a bad position financially in general, and that just makes things harder on them.
Now, on to a much more awesome story...The Sox only being 1.5 games behind in the AL Central!
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I thought what he did was childish and terrible. I can understand being frustrated with your "dead ass" team (as Bob Brenly so graciously put it), but if you give up a home run when the hitter is behind in the count like that, you can't totally blame someone else for that. Especially not Derek Lee. If you have a problem with someone on your team, you have every right to confront them about it, that's what a person in a leadership role like that would do. However, you certainly don't have the right to yell and scream and freak out after a bad inning, and get in your teammates' face. That's just not being a very good teammate in my opinion. I'm glad he got suspended, and i'm glad that even when he gets back he is going to stay in the bullpen. He i s good enough to be a starter, but he has to earn that role back. Unless Jim Hendry actually finds someone that wants him. The Cubs are just in a bad position financially in general, and that just makes things harder on them.
Now, on to a much more awesome story...The Sox only being 1.5 games behind in the AL Central!
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Thursday, June 24, 2010
3 sweeps in a row!!!
Wow, those Sox are hot!!
I found myself repeating over and over again about the same reasons that they were losing, and now i'm finding myself repeating over and over again the same reasons why they are winning.
But I still must must must talk about how much I loooove this pitching staff! Gavin had another outstanding game today, for sure. Unfortunately, as usual, he did not get the win to show for it, but he had a spectacular performance nonetheless. The starters have been going long, conserving the bullpen (please no more Scott Linebrink...) and Bobby has been totally solid in nailing it down. Our starting 5 have been nothing short of amazing, and that's the staff I knew they could be to win this lovely little AL Central.
Speaking of the AL Central, the twins just got swept by...the Brewers?!?!? Mwahaha! That leaves the Sox just 2.5 games out of 1st place now, and 2 games behind the Tigers (would have been 1 if the Mets beat them...dang.). Now this is looking like the AL Central that everyone predicted, and it's going to make for a really exciting second half if we can keep it up and stay close. I'm gonna have alot of fun cheering for my Sox and hatin' on the Twins and Tigers like I always do. ^_^
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I found myself repeating over and over again about the same reasons that they were losing, and now i'm finding myself repeating over and over again the same reasons why they are winning.
But I still must must must talk about how much I loooove this pitching staff! Gavin had another outstanding game today, for sure. Unfortunately, as usual, he did not get the win to show for it, but he had a spectacular performance nonetheless. The starters have been going long, conserving the bullpen (please no more Scott Linebrink...) and Bobby has been totally solid in nailing it down. Our starting 5 have been nothing short of amazing, and that's the staff I knew they could be to win this lovely little AL Central.
Speaking of the AL Central, the twins just got swept by...the Brewers?!?!? Mwahaha! That leaves the Sox just 2.5 games out of 1st place now, and 2 games behind the Tigers (would have been 1 if the Mets beat them...dang.). Now this is looking like the AL Central that everyone predicted, and it's going to make for a really exciting second half if we can keep it up and stay close. I'm gonna have alot of fun cheering for my Sox and hatin' on the Twins and Tigers like I always do. ^_^
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Farewell, Kirk...(but "hello Lebron seems closer now...)
Hey guys, remember the Bulls? ^_^
Things have actually been pretty eventful lately for these boys, as Tom Thibodeau has been officially named as the new head coach. I have seen snippets of interviews and press conferences with him, and I like him better than Vinny already (for starters, he called Kirk Hinrich Kirk instead of Kurt...not like that matters now but we'll get to that in a moment...). He's very focused on the defensive side of the ball, which I think will help these Bulls a ton. I know the speculation is that since he and Lebron are members of the same agency, that will help in luring him to play here in Chicago.
In my last blog about the Bulls, the playoffs were still going on, and my hopes for Lebron seemed like a distant dream. Now, though, it seems like it's getting closer and closer to happening, but I still don't want to get my hopes up too much. The constant buzz about it around this town is intense, especially with a championship team and one hot baseball team also in town. The last update I heard was that he is almost definitely not going back to Cleveland, and that update concluded with simply "Bulls/Heat/Clips". hmm... but come on, we don't have enough money to get him, right?
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Things have actually been pretty eventful lately for these boys, as Tom Thibodeau has been officially named as the new head coach. I have seen snippets of interviews and press conferences with him, and I like him better than Vinny already (for starters, he called Kirk Hinrich Kirk instead of Kurt...not like that matters now but we'll get to that in a moment...). He's very focused on the defensive side of the ball, which I think will help these Bulls a ton. I know the speculation is that since he and Lebron are members of the same agency, that will help in luring him to play here in Chicago.
In my last blog about the Bulls, the playoffs were still going on, and my hopes for Lebron seemed like a distant dream. Now, though, it seems like it's getting closer and closer to happening, but I still don't want to get my hopes up too much. The constant buzz about it around this town is intense, especially with a championship team and one hot baseball team also in town. The last update I heard was that he is almost definitely not going back to Cleveland, and that update concluded with simply "Bulls/Heat/Clips". hmm... but come on, we don't have enough money to get him, right?
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