As this game started, there appeared immediately to be some clown shoes defense. A ball tips off the third baseman’s glove and the short stop can’t get to it either. It just felt like things were going to go badly. Fortunately, the Sox restored some faith that things might be okay when they scored a run in the bottom of the first inning. Yes, it was early, but given how things have gone of late, it gave me hope that today would be a good day.

the offensive hero in today’s game

The Rays however, would come back and tie the game up. The Sox would later take the lead again on a two-run home run by The King. The Rays would tie it up again and from there, it became who is pitching for the Sox and the Rays would finally blow things open and win the game by a final of 8-3. Such a sad ending for a gorgeous spring day in Chicago. » Continue reading “Oh Look, Another White Sox Loss”

The homestand has not gone well for the White Sox. So far, both series they have played have been weather-shortened. And the team has only won one game. Now, the Tampa Bay Rays are rolling in to town and here is what you need to know for the weekend series:

2013 Record: White Sox: 8-12, 5th in AL Central. Rays: 10-11, 4th in AL East

2012 Series Record: 4-3

All-Time Series Record: 67-49 (The Sox are 33-22 against the Rays at home)

The following pitchers are expected to start the three games:

Chris Sale: 1-2, 4.50 ERA, 23K vs. Jeremy Hellickson: 1-1, 3.55 ERA, 18K

Jake Peavy: 2-1, 3.20 ERA, 33K vs. Roberto Hernandez: 1-3, 4.74 ERA, 25K

Gavin Floyd: 0-3, 4.98 ERA, 24K vs. Matt Moore: 4-0, 1.04 ERA, 29K

Dylan Axelrod: 0-1, 3.80 ERA, 13K vs. David Price: 0-2, 5.52 ERA, 26K

Thursday and *Friday’s games begin at 7:10 pm. Saturday’s game starts at 6:10 pm and Sunday’s game starts at 1:10 pm.  All times CDT. » Continue reading “New Beginning? Series Preview: White Sox Versus Rays”

It’s FINALLY over! The long barren months of no baseball unless you were watching games you might have put on your DVR or saw some archived games is gone. Today, we have baseball at 35th & Shields! And how fitting is it that the Chicago White Sox will open up at home against the Kansas City Royals? A team that some fans insists sucks, but in the past few years have given the White Sox a run for their money. So much so that last season, the Royals came away winning the season series.

This year, I’m hopeful this will not be the case, but you never know until those 18 games are played. Here is what you should know about the upcoming three games:

2013 Record: White Sox 0-0 Royals 0-0

2013 Cactus League Record: White Sox: 14-14 Royals 25-7

2012 Record: White Sox: 85-77 Royals: 72-90

2012 Season Series Record: 6-12

All-Time Series Record: 348-314 (The Sox are 196-140 against the Royals at home)

The following pitchers are expected to start each game this series: 

Chris Sale: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0K vs. James Shields: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0K

Jake Peavy: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0K vs. Ervin Santana: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0K

Gavin Floyd: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0K vs. Jeremy Guthrie: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0K

Monday’s game is at 3:10 pm, Wednesday and Thursday’s games are at 1:10 pm. All times CDT.  » Continue reading “The Long Nightmare Is Over! Series Preview: White Sox Versus Royals”

That is what I am experiencing right now. All other MLB teams have had games. Actual spring games. None of that inter squad stuff. I still have to wait one. More. Day. It is going to seem like forever until Monday at 2:05 pm when the Sox will play their first game. Hopefully I will be able to listen to the game. Life will seem right again since baseball will be back.

Maybe you too are missing baseball a ton as well. If so, hopefully the following will keep you occupied for a bit. There are of course, other spring games going on, but nothing really fills the void like getting to see your own team play.

 Video games are such a wonderful thing. They help the time pass and for two catchers, it can help them get to know one another.

 Play fantasy baseball? Then you are probably very interested in the White Sox health report put together on Sports Illustrated.

 Centerfield and lead off are De Aza’s to lose.  » Continue reading “Jealousy”

Happy Super Bowl Sunday. I can’t say I really have a team I am rooting for as my team failed to make a repeat performance. No matter as I am sure I will tune in for some time before I decide I just HAVE to watch my latest British obsession, Downton Abbey. If you haven’t been sucked into this British Drama, you are lucky. I find myself having to watch each episode twice because it is that good.

In any event, there is still not much going on at 35th & Shields this off season. THANK GOODNESS the 23rd is coming up soon. At least then we will have thing to discuss. In the meantime, here are a few stories worth your time to read so you stay on top of the Sox. Sure, the off season has been mostly uneventful, but there are a few things to take notice of. » Continue reading “South Side Hits: February 5, 2012″

Dear 2011 Chicago White Sox:

We have had an interesting season. I have grown attached to many of my players, and this offseason, you scared me a bit. Paul Konerko and AJ Pierzynski were both free agents. I was not prepared to let them go yet. I had not readied myself to say goodbye. So when I heard over and over again that they were close to signing elsewhere, I started freaking out.

A lot.

Especially with AJ Pierzynski, my absolute favorite player EVER.

Luckily you buckled down, signed those two, AND picked up Adam Dunn. I was so excited. This team looked to be a sure-fire AL Central winner. I was eagerly anticipating a nice, long postseason run. Just like I do every year.

The season started off shaky. Despite a wonderful 15-10 Opening Day win over the Indians and a 5-1 home opener win over the Rays, you still went 10-18 in April. That’s not a pretty sight. The team that looked great on paper looked weak in April.

You played and you played and you played. You played horribly but then played a little better. You kept closing the gap and kept losing ground.

You were full of frustrations and full of excitement at times. But mostly frustrations.

Namely Adam Dunn. » Continue reading “An End-of-the-Season Letter to the White Sox”

It’s the off season. Our team is at home chillaxin from the awfulness that was the 2011 season. We’ve already seen some changes to the team in that there is a need for a manager, bench coach and hitting coach. Now to see what other changes are in store for this team In the meantime, here is stuff you should take a gander at to start your day off.

 Tito not even going to get an interview? KW you disappoint!

 If not Tito, then Dave? I’d be alright with this.

 Just because this is hilarious, Ozzie called Big Z about pitching in Miami.  » Continue reading “South Side Hits: October 3, 2011″

Back to .500 again! The Sox beat the Rangers this afternoon to bring their record to 63-63. Gavin Floyd was impressive as the Sox shut out the Rangers 10-0.

Floyd was excellent tonight. He pitched seven innings and barely allowed baserunners. Three hits and a walk. That’s all. Good Gavin showed up tonight for sure. In addition to not allowing baserunners, Floyd struck out six tonight. He brought his record above .500 to 11-10. Chris Sale came on for the eighth. He allowed a hit and a walk, and Jason Frasor pitched a perfect ninth with three strikeouts.

The offense came to play today. Every starter had at least one hit except Alexei Ramirez. He did get on base via a walk though, so he had an opportunity to score and did so. Paul Konerko and Alejandro De Aza were the only starters who didn’t score a run. Speaking of De Aza, he had himself a game. He went 2-for-5 with three RBIs and a stolen base. Brent Lillibridge had a great game. He went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. His RBIs came on a two-run homer in the third inning to put the Sox on the board. Alex Rios hit a two-run homer in the eighth, which were two of the three runs scored in that inning. Tyler Flowers has stepped up in AJ Pierzynski’s absence. He went 2-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored. The last three RBIs came from Juan Pierre (2) and Konerko (1).

The Sox still sit five games back of the division-leading Detroit Tigers, but they are once again only half a game behind second-place Cleveland. The Tigers start a series in Tampa tomorrow, and the Indians welcome the Mariners tomorrow. There is a chance for ground to be gained without playing a game.

The Sox are off on Monday as they travel to Anaheim to face the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Which I’ve always thought is an unnecessarily long name. Mark Buehrle, the owner of an impressive perfect game and an impressive no-hitter, faces Ervin Santana, the owner of a recent non-shutout no-hitter, Tuesday night.

One last thing. I haven’t written a recap since Pierzynski was cleared for baseball activities, so let me say now that I am BEYOND excited that my favorite player could be back in two weeks. THRILLED even.

That is a sentiment shared by many fans of the Athletics.

Last Thursday as the team arrived in Chicago to face the White Sox to start a four-game series, Billy Beane fired then-manger Bob Geren. Bob Melvin – who last managed the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2009 – was named as interim manager

After infield drills, A's players sign autographs

The news of Geren’s firing wasn’t too surprising for those who follow the A’s and since I was going to be at these games, I decided to seek out some A’s fans and see what they thought about what had happened with Geren and what was happening with the team in general.

Friday night, I found four fans who were from Oakland to see the team play and to also enjoy 70′s night.

What I learned from the fans was mostly unsurprising, though one fan did drop something VERY interesting in the conversation.

» Continue reading “What Say Athletics Fans? It’s About Time”

On a way too cold night in Chicago, fans got to see the White Sox with the usual lackluster offense. It took until the fifth inning before the Sox finally got a hit, courtesy of AJ Pierzynski. Up until that point, i was starting to think that the Sox were going to become the Tampa Bay Rays who in the past couple of years have had several pitchers no-hit them, including the White Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks and Oakland Athletics.

AJ on 1st after breaking up Lewis' no-hit bid.

The Sox finished with five hits total for the night. The Rangers on the other hand, feasted and got 12 hits to go along with the four runs they scored. Edwin Jackson did not look good pitching. In looking at how the pitchers on the staff faired with having extra rest, Edwin Jackson is the one guy who the extra rest did not benefit. He hadn’t pitched since last Monday in Anaheim.

Colby Lewis on the other hand looked pretty good. He was mowing down the Sox hitters, carrying a no-hit bid into the fifth inning of the game. He lasted for 7.1 innings tonight. Not as long as his previous few outings, but didn’t matter as the White Sox weren’t threatening to do anything of note. There was at least one entertaining moment in the game when Adrian Beltre went to catch a pop-up near the plate, but instead fell down. The music people at the ballpark even felt the need to play a little “I’ve Fallen Down” which was amusing. Final Score: 4-0 Rangers.

Tomorrow night, the Sox will attempt to get a split. Hopefully things will go well. Ozzie has already said the team owes the fans after the previous homestand. The Sox are now 5-12 at home. The only team worse, is the Minnesota Twins. Clearly not a distinction you want to have. Can’t win a division if you can’t win at home.

For Rangers coverage, see Big Game Claws.