April Fool’s Day is tomorrow. While some may find that of significance, for baseball fans, April Fool’s Day means baseball is officially back. The Chicago White Sox will open the march to the 2013 World Series at home against the PITA Kansas City Royals. And I’m looking forward to this and am finally ready for baseball to start.

A day that should be a national holiday

Yes, there have been spring games, but due to work and my running “problem” I have not really had much of a chance to pay attention to the games. There really haven’t been any position battles to worry about or see who is going to emerge for a coveted roster spot. Sure, there has been some interest in who will be the back up infielder and back up outfielder but overall, we already know who is on the team. And of course, there has been interest in how John Danks has progressed as well as Matt Thornton and Jesse Crain who are battling stuff this spring.

In any event, I finally had a chance to watch a game last Sunday. That game was against my fail face PITAs and while the games mean less and less with spring being almost over, that game was just what was needed to get back into baseball mode again. Why? None other than hearing the Reverend Ken “the Hawk” Harrelson and his typical drivel. I got to hear a few nuggets of information that just said baseball is back. Some of the things I learned during the broadcast: » Continue reading “I’m Ready For White Sox Baseball”

Former GM Ken Williams patiently waits to ask new GM Rick Hahn a question

SoxFest was fun this year. Although last week I was lamenting that there wasn’t a Festivus session, it turned out to be a perfectly good thing. There were plenty of great stories, good looks on the players (despite what some may think, Matt Thornton’s beard really is spectacular!) as well as learning that there is a ton of personality with this group and they enjoy each other.

In past year’s, I have done posts where you can read my timeline from twitter over the days. However, this year I just didn’t have time to do that. You can always go back and look at it and I may get around to compiling it to archive soon before it is no longer available. The best news of me tweeting this year was that I managed to stay out of Twitter Jail. This was surprising to me considering all the good tidbits the players and coaches had to share. » Continue reading “Lessons Learned At SoxFest 2013″

Wouldn't it be awesome to see this sort of thing all season?

Hello lovelies! Hope you had a great weekend. If you are in the Chicago area, hopefully the weather over the weekend (beginning last Thursday) didn’t stress you out. And if you are in other parts of the country dealing with rain and snow, sorry. I hope it wasn’t too much of a hassle for you and didn’t ruin your weekend.

We are now just a few days away from SoxFest 2012! It should be a good time this weekend. If you will be there, be sure to come find me as I will be there both Saturday and Sunday. If you can’t attend, check out my twitter both days as I plan to live-tweet the happenings. » Continue reading “South Side Hits: January 23, 2012 White Sox Links”

Howdy loyal White Sox fans! Not much happening at The Cell of late, but the big talk has been of Jeff Manto’s comments regarding walks. It’s enough to have people who are very big into numbers up in arms because walks can be a great thing. Personally, I prefer them over giving up unnecessary outs (like bunting does oh, 99% of the time). However, I prefer to let things shake out a little bit more than they have. At least the coaches are giving us fans something to contemplate in this off season that so far has been rather dull for Sox fans.

In case you missed these stories, Jim and James have some good recaps and takes on what Manto said. Whether the comments are something to be concerned about, remains to be seen. As for other news, Hawk Harrelson is apparently prognosticating on what the Sox will don in the future. As much as Hawk annoys me in the booth when watching games, he does entertain me when he gives his opinions on what he thinks will happen or what he thinks about things in the past. Some of the things that Hawk says just really make me shake my head. Almost as much as he does when he broadcasts a game. » Continue reading “Happenings At 35th & Shields: November 7, 2011 White Sox News”

So . . .  Tito has left the Red Sox. I’ve already made a plea for Ken Williams to pick up the phone and make him his guy. However, from reports since Tito’s presser to say goodbye to Boston, Ken is still on his original list and Tito is not in consideration.

That report saddens me a great deal. While some think he should land in Chicago, team doesn’t matter, I really want Tito on the South Side. I mean, if Tito could survive in Boston for EIGHT YEARS, there is no reason he can’t survive at 35th & Shields. Especially given how starved us fans are and we all know how the media can be here when covering the Sox.

I know Tito has ties to both teams, but I really feel like he is more a Sox guy than that other team. Whatever he decides to do with his future, I do hope it involves some serious consideration to come be the Manager of the Pale Hose. » Continue reading “Happenings At 35th & Shields: October 2, 2011″

The Man has a noggin made of steal?

A chance to help yourself out. That is what John Danks had the opportunity to do in the top of the second inning in his first at-bat of the season. He did work the count and took some early pitches beautifully. So well in fact, that he *might* have looked better than some guys who have a bat every day.

Sadly, he cued the ball of the end of the bat to first base to make the final out. However, he was already ahead 1-0 as Alex Rios came through to get a man in from third base with less than 2 outs.

As for pitching, John was looking pretty good early on. He was not getting into high pitch counts in the early innings. That is something that has been a bit of an issue at times for him.

Things did get scary for Danks who took a shot off Stephen Drew’s bat off his head. Danks also didn’t look as sharp with the pitches as he did in the previous innings. The game ended up tied soon after. Danks did bounce back and kept his team in the game. Definitely a scary moment when a guy gets hit in the head on a liner. Remains to be seen what will happen or if there is any residual effect due to the hit ot the back of his head. » Continue reading “Helping Yourself”

I really, really want to know what it is exactly it is that makes the Sox players’ bats wake up and what makes them to sleep. Maybe a few more games intensely watched may yield some answers. As I contemplate this, enjoy some morning reading before a mid-afternoon game.

Thoughts on the six-man rotation.

Jeff Gray was claimed by the Mariners after being DFA’d when Jake returned from the DL.

Kevin explains why he thinks the Sox are watchable again.

Beyond the Boxscore takes a look at teams that are doing well with low BABIP.

Extra rest between starts? Then let me throw up to 120 pitches so says Jake.

Update on Jared Mitchell down in the minors.

Chuck talks to Hawk and Wimpy about their booth reunion for the series in Oakland.

http://www.free-extras.com/images/hawaii_volcanoes_eruption-12146.htm

A night of semi-snarky tweets about the Sox and they decide to win. I thank them for this because if they’d have lost, it would have topped off an otherwise great day for me in a rather crappy way. The Sox got the scoring going early in the first inning with — TWO OUT SCORING! Adam Dunn got a double, his third of the season and The King drove him in on a single. Paul Konerko did end up with the final out of the inning due to getting involved in a rundown. Debatable whether he needed to do this to ensure Donkey scored, but a run is a run at this point.

Gavin Floyd had his pitches working in this game. He kept the Mariners off the board the entire night, limiting them to three hits the entire night. Tony Peña also looked good in his inning of relief only walking one batter and striking out Jack Cust to end the game. » Continue reading “Offensive Eruption? What Is This?”

Steve Stone & Hawk Harrelson sporting Blackhawks sweaters on Blackhawks night 2010 at The Cell

Ken “Hawk” Harrelson is probably the ultimate definition of a homer. When you listen to him broadcast a game, you have no doubt who he is rooting for. He roots so much and so hard for the White Sox that if he were ever asked to call a game not involving the White Sox, I am not sure he could muster the same enthusiasm for the other teams involved. Well, maybe he could if he were talking about the Red Sox because, as anyone who watches White Sox broadcasts knows, Hawk will eventually mention his playing time and some of his favorite Red Sox players.

In fact some of these quirks, if you will, with Hawk can grate on your nerves or just ingratiate him to you in a manner that you start to feel that White Sox broadcasts just aren’t the same without him. In that spirit, here is a soundboard of some, which is a compilation of Hawk’s famous sayings that you hear over time. I must admit that I am most amused when people who hear these phrases try to use them, but don’t quite use them in the way that Hawk means them.

Enjoy some Hawk and his unabashed homerism with the White Sox.

Hawkisms

It’s Monday. You have to wait until 9 pm tonight to watch / listen to some White Sox baseball. Jake Peavy appears to have suffered a setback in his miraculous recovery from having a completely detached latissimus dorsi muscle. The news of Jake may have you a bit sad, but there are still guys on the team who can take the ball every 5th day to make up for his absence until he can return fully healthy and stay with the team from his return until the end of the season. Oh and the team is 8-14-1, despite an offensive explosion in the game against the Dodgers yesterday. In any event, to get you through the day, enjoy some videos that will hopefully brighten your day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2Vbu3-YBMk

» Continue reading “Cheer Up”