35th Street Mess

Singleton a smart choice

2006-01-13T07:01:00.000-06:00

Just a quick thumbs-up to the bunch over on 35th for the hiring of Chris Singleton. This team won a championship by keeping all phases of the operation in-house and the addition of Singleton is consistent with that. The last thing needed was a Steve Lyons type who would probably blab every clubhouse rumor to his buddies at FOX. The Tribune article that (big surprise) took a few shots at the hiring mentioned this about Lyons:

"Lyons, who does national games for Fox, wanted the job and would have brought some personality and experience to the booth. But a faction within White Sox management apparently didn't like him."

Then I don't like him either, and I'm glad they gave Singleton the job.

2005-10-24T09:14:00.000-05:00

I had a feeling last night. I didn’t say anything, but I had a feeling we were in for a fantastic finish. It started just after the first inning ended, when I turned to my son, who had just come in to watch the game, and sarcastically told him that Buerhle had a perfect game going. He told me not to jinx it. To which I replied, “jinxes only count after the 5^th inning.” Naturally a few seconds later Ensberg rockets Buerhle’s first offering into the seats. After a few jokes about me being the White Sox version of Steve Bartman, I was fine. Because I had that nervous feeling I get watching a big sports event when I just know everything is going to be OK. Rather than sitting down, eating, drinking, pointing out the complete wrongness of every comment made by McCarver and Buck and occasionally switching over to “Cheaters”, I was up, pacing around, clapping and nervously straightening out the house. I’ve come to recognize this behavior as a good thing from my experience watching the 80s Bears and 90s Bulls. It’s not a feeling that can be manufactured either. It just happens. Just like I know my team is in trouble when my attitude going into a game is: “There’s no way they can lose this thing.” That’s why I knew all would be well when the Astros were up 4-2 and the Cell was damp and dreary and the crowd was starting to sound sort of dead.

OK, enough with the personal shit. Let’s get to what 35SM is all about:

Bossard and his crew stepped up to a new level last night. There are very few MLB stadiums where the field would be playable, let alone in the terrific shape the turf at the Cell waslast night after a day of rain. While I want this thing to end in Houston, preferably Wed. night, in a way it will be a shame if sports fans across the country don’t get one more chance to see Bossard working his magic.

In previous 7-game World Series, teams that have jumped to a 2-0 lead hold a 38-10, or .792, advantage, with half of those 38 wins being sweeps. Not quite a lock, but we have to feel pretty good. It will be best to close it out in Houston. Once these things get to game six, it’s only a 50-50 chance.

Garland still worries me.

Pettitte no sure thing

2005-10-23T13:06:00.000-05:00

Andy Pettitte has had a great season and from the all-star break to the end of the season he has probably been the best pitcher in the world. Even better than Jose Contreras. Since the break, Petitte has posted a 1.69 era. But there’s reason to believe he can be hit.

His ERA in three playoff games this year is 4.66, suggesting the roll he finished the season on is over.
While he has the experience, having started 10 World Series games, his performance hasn’t always been lights out. His record is 4-2 with a 3.90 ERA. In 6 of those games he had a quality start, giving up 3 or fewer runs in 6+ innings. On 5 of those occasions he was downright nasty, giving up 0 or 1 earned run in 7+ innings.
He’s been better at home in 2005, posting a 2.69 ERA on the road.
He’s also better during the day, posting a 2.54 ERA at night. So they’re still facing a pretty darn good pitcher, but not the dominator they might be facing were this game played in the afternoon in Houston.
The Sox have been a team he struggles with over the years. He has a career 4.28 ERA against the Sox and they’ve hit .278 off of him. His career ERA in the Cell is a Navarroesque 6.33.

The Sox are going with Buerhle, who is having a terrific year in the Cell, 10-2 2.48 ERA during the season and 2-0, 2.81 so far in the playoffs. He’s going to have to be good, because I’m guessing Petitte is going to come out tough. His team is in a must win situation and I seriously doubt he’ll be offering anything but his best stuff. The hope has to be that whatever it is about the cell that has tormented Pettitte in the past gets to him again tonight.

A last quick note: We’ve been critical of Gene Honda here at 35sm, and the criticism has been justified in our view. But during last night’s player introductions, Honda really stepped up and did this outfit proud on the national stage. Ditto for Bossard and Faust. I wonder if 2005 is the first time the same stadium announcer handled both the Final Four and the World Series.

Santana vs. Garcia

2005-10-15T12:42:00.000-05:00

I wouldn’t worry too much about this Ervin Santana, the LA moundsman for game four. There has been some concern out there over how he shut out the Sox back in May and the way he shut down the Yankees in relief of Colon in the game 5 clincher. This guy is good, but he’s hardly unhittable.

Against the Yankees, all Santana did was keep the game close until the bullpen took over. He gave up 3 runs in 5.1 innings, hardly ace numbers. A nice job considering the circumstances, but certainly not the stuff on which legends are built. When he shut out this bunch in May, it was on a Monday following a weekend series at Wrigley field. He caught this bunch at a good time. They were coming off an emotional series and there was probably jet lag involved. Again, a nice performance by the rookie, but it doesn’t suggest that he’s a Sox nemesis.

Here are some more numbers from game four’s matchup:

Santana has had most of his success in Anaheim, going 9-3 with a 3.18 ERA at home.
Garcia has had most of his success on the road, going 10-3, 3.40.
Garcia has also been an Angels nemesis his entire career, going 11-3, 2.66.

What this says is we’re looking at another pitcher’s duel. But Garcia's history as a good road hurler and his history against the Angels should also be taken into account here.

Also, teams that are up 2-1 in a 7-game LCS have won 23 of 32 times, or a 72% success rate. But we all know this outfit’s chances look pretty good right now.

Tainted Win Perfect For This Bunch

2005-10-14T13:14:00.000-05:00

You knew if this group was ever going to win anything of consequence some type of shadowy, maybe yes, maybe no, inconclusive even with replay, play would factor heavily into the mix. That's just the way White Sox teams are put together. Personally, I wouldn't want it any other way. It fits this moribund outfit like a glove.

Here's hoping the press and baseball purists continue to talk up the illegitimacy of game 2's victory as Chairman Reinsdorf shows off some new jewelry in April of 2006.

Why the Angels must be stopped

2005-10-14T06:33:00.000-05:00

I never thought of baseball as anything more than just a game between two teams. They play a bunch of these games every spring and summer and the teams that won the most play for the championship in the fall. There was no higher meaning, no romanticism and no metaphors for life involved for me. Just baseball. But this post season has changed my mind. It’s pretty clear that the White Sox are on a mission. I already pointed out why beating the Red Sox was important.

Now for the Angels. The 2002 Angels championship was handled well, I felt. Even though it was the club’s first in 40 years of existence, there was no talk of curses or the pain of being an Angel’s fan being lifted. Nothing like the crap that came out of Boston last fall. This season is different. Look at the reasons to hate the Angels:

The Rally Monkey. I still can’t believe the Rally Monkey cartoon, followed by The Rally Monkey movie never happened after 2002. I doubt they’ll be able to stop it should the Angels win again in 2005. It will be stupid, annoying, make a ton of money and have little resemblance to that gold standard of baseball cartoons, “Bugs Bunny vs. the Gashouse Gorillas”. The Sox don’t go for that type of nonsense. They seem to have ditched Waldo the White Sox wolf for good and the mascot, Southpaw, keeps a very low profile. I think they keep him hidden in the FUNdamentals area of the park or someplace where the only harm he can do is scare children.
The OC. This is where the Angels play and I can’t go a day without hearing “the OC” talked about, be it the place, the television show, or whatever else is going on there. From what I can tell, the OC is a place where spoiled rich kids get expensive cars for their 16^th birthdays, hang out at the beach or in Starbucks all day and whine about their difficult lives. The more Angels we see in the playoffs, the more “OC” we’ll hear about. There will be cross promotions linking baseball with the show. The will be shots of OC actors in the stands wearing Angels gear and waving their rally monkeys. There will be a very special episode of “The OC” where the Molina brothers make an inspiring cameo and help Ryan and Seth find the courage to get back at the school bully. This country doesn’t need any of this.
Arte Moreno. I think I saw more shots of this guy during game 2 than I’ve seen of Chairman Reinsdorf his entire time here. It’s bad enough he stole Wayne Newton’s look and gave the team that unwieldy name, now this egomaniac wants the focus on him rather than the players.

The mission is simple. Spare the country from what an Angels victory would bring. Not that this is the main goal for this outfit. Winning the championship always is the main goal. But it’s clear this is more than just a championship. It’s now a mission.

As for game 3, I’m worried. Garland doesn’t inspire much confidence. Should they pull it off, I think the series is ours. I like our chances in games 4, 5 and 6 with the pitching matchups.

AJ and Buerhle come up huge

2005-10-13T05:07:00.000-05:00

I don’t know if the ball hit the ground or not. The replay is pretty inconclusive. The ball appears to hop, but I saw no dirt being kicked up. The home plate umpire clearly thought so, because he never called AJ out. Josh Paul clearly didn’t think so, because he tossed the ball away. AJ looked like he had no idea, because he started walking to the dugout before turning and dashing to first. I don’t know if he was thinking, “what the heck, let’s see what happens”, he went because the ump never called him out, or he really thought the ball hit the ground. I do know that one player, that would be AJ, made a heads up play and one player, Josh Paul, didn’t. AJ’s team won the game because of it. Whether this inattentive approach to the game was spotted long ago by the braintrust and led to Paul’s departure from 35^th is up for speculation, but the fact remains the team that played smarter won for the second straight night.

The smart thing is going to decide the series too. In game one it was the Sox throwing the ball away and running themselves out of innings. An aggressive strategy works fine against pathetic teams like Detroit, Kansas City and the Cubs, but is doomed to fail against a smart, fundamentally sound crew like the Angels. These are two similar teams, featuring strong pitching carrying unspectacular hitting. Because of the, the next five games will also likely be tight, nerve-fraying affairs. Ozzie best reign in his grinders and tell them to go easy on the aggressive baserunning, work the count, take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves and let the pitching carry it.

Last night’s win does up this outfit’s chances, at least historically. Since the ALCS was expanded in 1985:

Teams that split at home in games 1 and 2 are 12-8.
Teams that win game 2 after losing game 1 at home are 6-3.

To say Buerhle came up big would be an understatement. His performance saved the season. Too bad the sports yakkers will only be talking about the call.

Losing Game 1

2005-10-12T04:49:00.000-05:00

Is not a good thing. Not fatal, but not good either. Since the ALCS was expanded to 7 games in 1985, the team that won game 1 has won the series 24 of 38 times, or a little more than 63% of the time. Since the addition of the ALDS, the game 1 winner is 14-6 in the series, or a 70% success rate. Teams that win game 1 on the road are 11-6, 65%.

So looking at history, our heroes have about a 35% chance of pulling this off after last night’s fiasco. There are other factors, of course. The Angel pitching staff is still a mess. Colon is out, Washburn is ailing and I can’t wait to see what happens when Paul Byrd tosses his garbage up there again in game 5. Hopefully this bunch will be a little more patient. But the fact is the Angels stole a game that should have been ours and now they’re in the driver’s seat.

More stats

I wanted to post these yesterday, but time didn’t permit:

Teams with a better record during the season are 39-27, .591 in the ALDS.
Teams that scored more runs during the season are 40-30, .643.
Teams that allowed fewer runs are also 40-30, .643.
Teams with a better overall run differential are 45-25, .642.

The Sox had a better record, winning four more games than the Angels. Everything else favors the Angels. They outscored the Sox, 761-741 and gave up fewer runs, 643-645. It’s pretty close though and probably balanced out by Colon’s absence.

ALCS Rotation

2005-10-09T12:06:00.000-05:00

I don’t know if I’m the one to be listening to on this subject. I was one of those who thought it was a mistake to go with El Duque ahead of McCarthy on the postseason roster, only to watch El Duque come through with possibly the finest pitching performance I’ve ever seen by a White Sox moundsman. Also Ozzie has already announced that Jon Garland would start game one so all this could be moot. But here we go any way:

Ozzie should go back to the top of the rotation and start Contreras in game one, followed by Buerhle, Garcia and then Garland. Pitch Contreras in games 1 and 5 and he’s available out of the pen in game 7 if need be. No pitcher in the league is hotter right now and Ozzie simply needs to get this guy on the mound as often as possible. I’d hate to lose this thing in 5 games with Contreras slated to go in game 6. Buerhle at #2 makes sense, because he’s been so good at the Cell this year (10-2, 2.48). That gives him 2 games at home, since he’ll also be going in game 6. At the Cell Buerhle has been as good all year as Contreras has been in since the break. Garcia goes 3^rd. He’s been better on the road (10-3, 3.40). Garland would be next. That’s right also, since he’s been the weakest down the stretch. Garland was also posted a 6.92 ERA vs. the Angels this season.

Celebration clip

2005-10-09T11:51:00.000-05:00

Here's a sound clip of fans watching the final inning of the ALDS:

>http://www.jmike.net/monks1.mp3

enjoy

Wilder leaving?

2005-10-07T06:32:00.000-05:00

The have been reports that Director of Player Development Dave Wilder is in the running for the Diamondbacks GM position. I’m sure Wilder is an asset to this organization and will do fine should he land the job in Arizona, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him depart. I have always believed that Wilder’s hiring was a mistake. The problem I have with Wilder is that he wasn’t an in-house hire. He came from the Brewers, after stints with the Cubs and Braves. One of the main reasons for this outfit’s success in 2005 has been the loyalty of the management staff to the Chairman. A look at the management team shows key players Buzard, Savarise, Pizer, Monroe, Hemond, Schaffer, Fabian, Bossard, Schneider and Zwit all with 20+ years experience with this outfit. Boyer and Reifert have both been here 10+ years. In Harrelson, Guillen and Williams, the Chairman has three White Sox guys in key roles. The coaching staff is dotted with long-time Sox guys like Kusyner, Baines, Walker, Raines, Cora and Coop. The key is loyalty to both the Chairman and the silver and black. Larry Himes never had it and that’s why his time here was short. I’m not sure if Wilder has it or not, but this is not something to be messed with. If 2005 proves anything it’s that organizations win championships. By keeping most things in-house, Chairman Reinsdorf has built another winner. They shouldn’t risk losing that by reaching outside the organization for someone like Wilder again.

Southside Luminaries Make Presence Felt

2005-10-05T13:55:00.000-05:00

Mad props to the 11th ward machine, political hacks, and city workers who yesterday turned United States Cellular Field into a very bad place to be a Red Sox.

Game 1 blowout not always good

2005-10-04T21:28:00.000-05:00

A big win isn’t historically the best way to start a series. In researching past post-season series, I found 5 other teams that opened a series with a double-digit blowout: ’59 Sox, ’82 Brewers, ’84 Cubs, ’96 Braves and ’02 Cardinals. Four of those teams ended up eventually losing the series. Only the ’02 Cards held on to advance. Of course this is a small sample, and includes the Cubs who always lose no matter what(not to mention the fact that I didn’t double check the data), so it’s not like game one’s blowout is cause to step out on the ledge. But this does show that this outfit hasn’t won anything more than game one and there’s a ton of work left to do.

That being said, I like their chances. Contreras concerned me going in as the game one starter, but he came in and kicked butt. I feel good about this outfit’s chances with either Buerhle or Garcia on the mound. I’m confident we’ll get a solid effort from both. Garland I’m not so sure about, but with Contreras coming back in game 5, I have to like their chances. I also like the fact that we get that fat gasbag who stole the chairman’s money in 2001 while planning his return to the Yankees. Nothing would be better than chasing his fat ass by the third inning en route to a 2-0 series lead.

I Hate the Red Sox

2005-10-04T06:34:00.000-05:00

Over the course of the 2005 season the Boston Red Sox became my most hated team. The way their fans acted after winning one championship makes me hope it’s another 80+ years before they win another. Between the media gushing, the cute little romantic comedy, the lame SNL appearances, the bloody sock, the curse, etc. it was enough to make any non-Boston fan puke. It’s bad enough that the national media has pretty much ignored baseball happening anywhere outside of Boston and New York, we’re also led to believe that the suffering of Red Sox (and Cub) fans is more acute than those in places like Cleveland, Milwaukee and San Francisco, teams that have gone 40+ years with no championship. Not to mention Texas, Seattle and San Diego who have never won a title in their 30+ seasons of existence.

The problem is the Boston sports media has infilterated the national media to the point that sports fans are under a constant barrage of pro-Boston crap. Because of this, in addition to dealing with all the Red Sox nonsense I mentioned, sports fans everywhere must digest moronic statements that suggest Larry Bird was a greater basketball player than Michael Jordan and Bobby Orr was superior to Wayne Gretzky. With most national columnists and talkers, it’s hard to tell where they’re from, because they focus on the national scene. When it’s a Bob Ryan or Peter Gammons, you know right away they’re from Boston, because that’s pretty much where they take every conversation. ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons can’t do a column without mentioning the Patriots, Celtics or Red Sox. I could understand if this were New York, where most of the national media is stationed, but Boston is just another city.

This is why winning this ALDS is double-extra important for this outfit. Not that this is our main mission here, but we’d be doing the rest of the country a huge favor by drumming the Red Sox, their whiny fans and annoying media admirers out of the playoffs in swift fashion.

Hawk Helping Out Down The Stretch

2005-09-27T14:45:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and their manager Lou Piniella have no love lost for the Boston Red Sox. This could have posed major problems for that bunch over on 35th. Thankfully, Piniella has too much respect for Hawk to let the D'Rays give anything less than their maximum effort.

Big ups to Piniella, his squad, and of course Hawk for forging this relationship in the first place.

Scratch This Illinois State Lottery

2005-09-25T11:32:00.000-05:00

The next time the Illinois State Lottery decides to horn in on a Chairman World Series run they better have their act more together than they did last night. In case you missed it, they had a promotion after the game that ended with three contestants in centerfield with giant scratch off cards for a grand prize of $1,000,000.

Anyway, it took the contestants about 10 minutes to scratch off these giant cards. The promotion went over like a led balloon. If you didn't know better, you'd think Gallas was back running the operation.

Illinois State Lottery get off my field.

Who To Blame?

2005-09-23T12:35:00.000-05:00

The press, the fans, and the umps, in that order. The only way I don't want to see the same 25 back next year is if they win it all.

Comcast Problems

2005-09-22T13:38:00.000-05:00

Have I grown weary of the Comcast bashing because the network lost nearly 1 1/2 hours of last night's game. These things happen. The benefits of the Sox going to Comcast and cutting out the middle man (FSN) far exceed the occasional production glitch like what happened last night. People really need to chill.

Sold Out

2005-09-22T13:07:00.000-05:00

I see where Marriotti questioned the validity of yet another record setting sell out on 35th last night. Cat, if it's a sell out to Savarise, it's a sell out to me.

Testy

2005-09-22T13:04:00.000-05:00

Street talk around 35th has it that the Chairman has been a bit crabby these days, short in his conversations. At this point who can blame him.

Time to get the mess up and running

2005-07-10T14:51:00.000-05:00

This outfit is experiencing their best start ever and the 35th Street mess has offered up nary a post to chronicle this historic season, save for an early diatribe questioning the loyalty of one Gene Honda. Meanwhile, Sox fans all over the WWW, like this guy over at WSI, are talking trash and giving serious beatdowns to the local media who still give more time and talk to those mangled milquetoasts on the north side. The truth is here at 35M we're struggling with the success of this outfit so far. We had grown to expect and even enjoy each season of watching this bunch struggling along around .500 before lurching forward to within 4 or 5 games out and building up hopes of a divsion title, before quickly flaming out, sometimes spectacularly and always at the hands of that gang of slightly-above-average, overachieving hustlers and grinders from Minnesota. When Kenny announced he was going for the grinder look in 2005, we just rolled our eyes and prepared ourselves for more of the same. Naturally this bunch shocks the world and storms to the best record in baseball just before the all-star break, sending the 35M staff into full "when we have something to post, we'll post it" mode.
But we've finally snapped out of our first half funk and are starting to accept this outfit as the hustlers, grinders and, yes the winners they appear to be. While fully acknowledging that our heroes over on 35th head the list of teams most likely to experience a historic collapse followed by a fire sale that leaves the team in total disarray, we're going to jump on this bandwagon with both feet and try to enjoy this dream season. There's reason to believe they can keep it going too. The pitching has been out of this world good and the return of Frank has improved the offense quite a bit. As crazy as he sounds at times, Ozzie has been a smart manager who actually appears to do his homework when deciding who plays and who sits, rather than asking a higher power or an imaginary friend for advice as some recent White Sox skippers seemed to do.
So we're onboard the silver and black bandwagon with this bunch, as always without a safety belt, and we're fully prepared to be driven into whatever mess Captain Kenny is ready to steer us into. And we promise there no calls for retooling, at least until the season is over.

What was Honda thinking?

2005-04-07T19:04:00.000-05:00

So Gene Honda thinks it's OK to desert this outfit on opening day so he can be the stadium announcer at the final four? The White Sox, the organization that nourished his career, were shoved aside, so Mr. Honda could make a dash to a bigger stage. It didn't matter one lick to Honda that loyal Sox fans were left listening to substandard stadium announcing on opening day. I say that if us fans are second(or third?) on Honda's list, perhaps it's time for the Chairman to find a more loyal stadium announcer. After all, you don't see Roger Bossard rushing down to Augusta National to give advice on growing and maintaining the perfect golf course right before the Masters. I'm certain the Augusta greenskeepers would love to hear from the legendary lawnsman, but Bossard was right where he belonged. At US Cellular, making sure loyal White Sox fans got the beautiful, pristine opening day lawn they deserve.

Honda had best reassess his loyalties and realize that life is pretty darn good for him at 35th and Veeck. There are plenty of announcers who would love his gig and be more than happy to show up on opening day. In an organization that values loyalty above all, Gene Honda needs to start showing where his loyalties lie.

Ordonez To Return; Condition Serious?

2004-08-22T12:33:00.001-05:00

From today's New York Newsday:

"Magglio Ordoñez might not be the best Mets target after all. Word is his knee
condition is quite serious. Reinsdorf is a fan and might try to keep him with an
incentive-laden deal now."

At this point I don't see how Ordonez doesn't return to 35th, it's too much of a win/win situation for the Chairman for Ordonez not to. This is a chance for the Chairman to look like a good guy. Never mind that Ordonez's knee condition might be serious, it's more than offset by the short term risk. Besides, the Chairman can't pass up any opportunity to dust off his pay-for-performance scheme. MLB would be better today had Dave Gallagher accepted the Chairman's generous offer back in '89.

Bossard on The Industry Today and Tomorrow

2004-08-16T15:38:00.000-05:00

From 2003. Enjoy.

Waving the flag

2004-08-01T08:06:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here trying to figure out this outfit's angle on the Loaiza deal. As usual that cagey bunch over at 35th and Veeck has me completely flummoxed. At first I thought it might be a case of a team dumping a free agent for a younger, more promising player. Nope, both players are 33. Then, knowing how this bunch loves to keep one eye fixed on the bottom line, I thought it must be a money thing. Contreras, in only his second season will surely come cheap. Wrong again, after this season Contreras is owed $16 million through '06. Loaiza could have been inked for less than that. Adding to the mess is that Loaiza has been a much better pitcher than Contreras this season. This might be just me, but downgrading your starting pitching in the middle of a pennant race seems like a strange thing to be doing.

This must be a case of one of the geniuses in the braintrust thinking he's spotted something in Contreras's mechanics that can be fixed. A flaw that no one with the Yankees caught. A kink that a few sessions with Coop will take care of. Why is it these things always end up as expensive mistakes, like Navarro and Ritchie?