Welp, the 10-game road trip the White Sox are currently on is going just terribly. They got swept in Washington in their first stint of interleague plague. Now, they are off to visit Cleveland and an improved Indians roster. Here is what you need to know for this three-game weekend series.

2013 Record: White Sox: 4-5, Indians 3-5

2012 Series Record: 11-7

All-Time Series Record: 1,046-1,000 (The Sox are 490-528 against the Indians on the road)

The following pitchers are expected to start the three games:

Jose Quintana: 0-0. 11.25 ER, 3K vs. Justin Masterson: 2-0, 0.69 ERA, 13K

Chris Sale: 1-0, 1.84 ERA, 14K vs. Zach McAllister: 0-1, 3.00 ERA, 3K

Jake Peavy: 1-1, 5.56 ERA, 13K vs. Brett Myers: 0-1, 12.19 ERA, 4K

Friday’s game is at 6:05 pm, Saturday’s game is at 3:05 pm and Sunday’s game is at 12:05 pm. All times CDT.  » Continue reading “Road Trippin’ Ain’t Easy. Series Preview: White Sox At Indians”

It’s back! Interleague plague, er I mean interleague play! Let’s get excited!? No, it’s alright then. Now that the Houston Astros were forced to move to the American League as part of the sale of the team last year, interleague plague is a daily occurrence now in baseball. And now the White Sox get to take part in the fun by traveling to the Nation’s capital to square off against the Washington Nationals. Here is what to know for the start of the 10-game road trip the Sox are embarking upon:

2013 Record: White Sox: 4-2, Nationals 4-2

2011 Series Record: 1-2

All-Time Series Record: 6-6 (The Sox are 4-2 against the Nationals on the road)

The following pitchers are expected to start the three games:

Jake Peavy: 1-0, 0.50 ERA, 6K vs. Gio Gonzalez: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5K

Gavin Floyd: 0-1, 3.00 ERA, 5K vs. Jordan Zimmermann: 1-0, 1.50 ERA, 1K

Dylan Axelrod: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3K vs. Dan Haren: 0-1, 13.50 ERA, 5K

All three games begin at 6:05 pm CDT. » Continue reading “History Lessons In DC. Series Preview: White Sox At Nationals”

Welcome back to meaningful baseball. The All-Star game went to the National League so should the Sox make it to the World Series, they won’t have home field advantage. This might actually be a good thing since the Sox do play much better on the road. They have managed to get their record above .500 at home. But, really I feel better about their play when they are on the road. Hopefully they prove me wrong on the next homestand.

For now, the team is gathering in Kansas City where they will face my fail face PITA Royals. Before play gets back under way, I am sure they also checked out some of the many places to get amazing BBQ in KC. Here is what you need to know for the upcoming series:

2012 Record: White Sox 47-38, 1st in AL Central. Royals 37-47, 4th in AL Central

2012 Series Record: 1-2

All-Time Series Record: 343-304 (The Sox are 149-134 at Kansas City)

The following pitchers are expected to pitch this weekend:

Jose Quintana: 4-1, 2.o4 ERA, 37K v. Bruce Chen: 7-8, 5.22 ERA, 72K

Jake Peavy: 7-5, 2.85 ERA, 108K v. Luke Hochevar: 6-8, 5.14 ERA, 71K

Chris Sale: 10-2, 2.19 ERA, 98K v. Luis Mendoza: 3-5, 4.50 ERA, 44K

Friday’s game begins at 7:10 pm, Saturday’s game begins at 6:10 pm and Sunday’s game is at 1:10 pm. All times CDT.  » Continue reading “BBQ & Baseball. Series Preview: White Sox @ Royals”

YOU need to get it together man!

Normally that is not something you would say about an inter league plague opponent. Especially when you just lose the series to them. But in the case of the Astros, it works. They will be seen at least twice next season due to a move to the American League.

As for the series finale, that was just ugly. The final score was 11-9. However, do not let the line score fool you. This game was never, ever close. Well, maybe it was in the first couple of innings.

Philip looked actually decent in the first few innings. He even got through the first with only 14 pitches. That was a sharp contrast to his las outing where he threw 37 pitches in that inning.

Unfortunately, all hell broke loose in the sixth inning when he Astros would score five runs. The Sox were up by a score of 3-2 heading into the fifth.

As usual, the Sox would try to make a comeback. Slowly they chipped away in he eighth and again in the ninth. However, it just wasn’t enough. » Continue reading “‘Til Next Season”

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Keith Allison

It’s May 25 today. It’s a lovely day in Chicago, and I’m in class right now on a break. And it crossed my mind that something is going to irritate me to no end soon.

All-Star balloting.

I am fully aware that the ASG is a popularity contest by casual baseball fans who constantly vote for names or teams they recognize rather than the players who deserve to be there because they are actually really good.

But Paul Konerko deserves to be starting at first base. And I will do whatever it takes to get people to vote for him.

I’ll start with the stats that everyone looks at and that MLB allows you to compare when you click on the “Compare Stats” link: average, runs, home runs, RBI and stolen bases. » Continue reading “Paul Konerko for ASG Starter”

Photo by Amy Swenson

This afternoon, White Sox season ticket holders got a chance to chat with Steve Stone and Adam Dunn. As you may have learned from the last two conference calls I covered for Cheryl, I kind of love them and think it’s a great idea. I also love that Cheryl is a season ticket holder and lets me participate.

First to join the call was Steve Stone. Gene Honda moderated the call, and he asked Stoney whether he was surprised at Robin Ventura being named manager this year like a national columnist was. Stone was surprised but for a different reason. Most people were surprised because Robin had never managed at any level prior to this position.

Stone said this is not a negative for Robin. He gets the respect of every player in that clubhouse, but he doesn’t command it. It goes beyond being a good player back in his playing days because he understands the players today. Stone also said that just like a first-year player, a first-year manager is going to make mistakes. Robin has to deal with 25 different egos and work with his coaching staff as well.

» Continue reading “Conference Call with Steve Stone and Adam Dunn”

Remember when we traded for Jake Peavy while he was injured? That was fun. Peavy was broken and stayed broken for a long time. Sox fans were looking for that great pitcher that we thought we were getting.

It seems like that pitcher has come back. Yes, I know it’s still April and anything can happen. But Peavy looks good. In Wednesday’s game, he pitched seven innings and only gave up one run while striking out eight. Not bad for someone who detached a muscle.

Offensively, the Sox exploded tonight. Adam Dunn looked great tonight. He went 1-for-2 with a strikeout and three walks. That one hit was a key hit. In the sixth inning, Tommy Hunter loaded the bases. Orioles manager Buck Showalter pulled Hunter and replaced him with Troy Patton with two outs in the inning. With a full count from Patton, Dunn doubled to left and cleared the bases, putting the Sox up 8-1 which would be the final score.

You know who else looked fantastic again? » Continue reading “Offense Explodes in Win”

(l-r) Jeff Manto, Brent Lillibridge, Ken "Hawk" Harrelson, Adam Dunn

Yesterday was day two of SoxFest. It was another fun day. There were moments of testiness as well as some questions that were asked that left me scratching my head. Below are the tweets of the day. There are a couple of gaps. For the first time ever, I ended up in Twitter Jail for tweeting too much in an hour. Fortunately, it only lasted for an hour. If it had gone longer, I am not sure what I would have done. Maybe create an account just for the jail time. In any event, enjoy. I will bring you day three today as well on twitter. As always, if you have any questions, please ask. I know the spelling gets wonky at times so some of the tweets might not make a ton of sense. (Like Ichiro turning into i crap!)

Day Two Tweets: » Continue reading “SoxFest Day Two. A Bit Of Drama”

THE KING IS AN ALL-STAR! Congratulations Paul Konerko on making the All-Star game again. He was the winner of the final vote getting  over eight million votes.

Way to go all those who voted the Chicago way: early and often.

You can read more here.