I'm feeling better - it's feeling more like spring again... except for that snow and below zero temperatures...
]]>The sun was low... shadows stretched across the entire playing field... children were running the bases... Nancy Faust was playing Auld Lang Syne ...
That was my last memory of U.S. Cellular Field as baseball season ended on the South Side of Chicago.
Many fans would - and did - say "Thank God THAT's over".
The Sox ended the season 72-90 - 24 games behind the division leading Cleveland Indians in 4th place.
One year ago, we ended the season 90-72. Interesting symmetry. (and then there was 2005 when we finished 99-63... and WON THE WORLD SERIES...)
Such a PAINFUL season... seams like it was just yesterday, but it was about 25½ weeks ago, when the season started, starting the same pitcher as today - Jose Contreras... who lost that Opening Day 12-5 against the Indians... seamed a fitting way to "bookend" the Season - 5-12 & 13-3.
What a disaster. A season that started with pundits claiming we may have the best bullpen in the majors, only to find out we didn't have starters that were ready to play, we didn't have ANY bullpen... and NO ONE was hitting to provide run support for the lousy pitching.
And here it is... the end of the baseball season... the time where I have always said in this blog, that the clock that I measure my life against stops... and doesn't start again until spring...
...and here, in the City of Chicago, where we won over many of the hearts of baseball fans just two short years ago by bringing a world championship to the city... all of those fans we won over... all of the goodwill that we had made...
IS GONE
... all because the Chicago National League Ball Club, Inc. has made it to the post season... and dreams of winning the first World Series in 99 years swirl through their heads...
All I can think of are all of those fans that spewed their HATRED of White Sox fans, in the vilest of comments, even as we made it through the playoffs .. .and to the World Series.. AND WON THE DAMN THING... when the city should just rejoice and celebrate, those fans did not... as they spat upon the ticker tape parade... those who didn't have the sense of mind to just SHUT THE HELL UP because your team did NOTHING that year... it was THEN that I realized that I would NEVER support THAT team...
To them, I will live my life through the post season as they had lived through ours in 2005.
(Boxscore)
]]>It wasn't until the past MONDAY that Fox decided NOT to broadcast today's game, so the team moved the game to 6:05pm... which allowed United Airlines to sponsor the final fireworks night of the year.
What an odd game... first, as one of our runners was advancing to 2nd (i think on a bunt) the 2nd base umpire falls down and blocks the bag from the second baseman, so he couldn't get near the runner to tag him out (which caused manager Jim Leyland to go nuts and gets thrown out)... and then on a hit to right, the Tigers' Right Fielder Ryan Raburn... who overruns the ball... and as it goes through his legs, our runner scores and we win the game.
One other what I would consider funny story, this time before the game started:
On the left field scoreboard, they we showing the standings for each division... and usually just showing the top 2 teams, showing their won-loss record as well as how many games behind the teams were behind each leader...
...So... when in came time to show the National League Central standings, apparently the scoreboard staff just couldn't get themselves to do it, because all that was shown was "NL Central Standings" and the W L and GB column headings... the rest of the data was BLANK.
(Boxscore)
]]>My team, the Chicago White Sox are tied for last place in the AL Central Division (13 games out with the Kansas City Royals).
And... there's that "other" team... the Chicago Cubs are tied for first in the NL Central Division with the Milwaukee Brewers (6 games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals).
I feel ill.
And, with the Cubs up for sale, I have to admit that there's a noble campaign going on: a group of Chicagoans working to facilitate a fan-owned buyout of the Chicago Cubs and restore the voice of the fans within baseball - 4FansSake.com
]]>Uuugghh...
Well, 2-out-of-3.
At least we got to see Thumbelina before the game.
Another fast game - 2:21. Guess that happens when nobody scores for 7 innings. I seem to have a problem with Javier Vazquez. Now, I know he's a really hot pitcher right now, but I've been feeling that he just can't go long anymore... he feels like he just falls apart, and is very inconsistent. Ozzie came out to the mound for a visit in the 8th... and when I saw Ozzie leave, I said that was a mistake. Sure enough, 4 runs later (well, 2 were earned, and one scored when Bukvich came in, another pitcher I'd rather not see again).
Oh, and I have to say... it was nice to see Frank Thomas again... and it was nice to have the crowd give him a warm welcome... 503 homeruns in his career so far (448 with the White Sox over 16 seasons)
(Boxscore)
]]>In a season that is just the crappiest baseball season that I could remember in years... decades perhaps... tonight was a game that was really quite enjoyable.
First the weather - it's seems like ages since we've been to a game and actually sat in our seats... a great night, cloudless, mid-70's.. OK, a little breezy, but a good night.
To add to that - a great pitching matchup: Roy Halladay against our Mark Buehrle.
It was just a low scoring, fast paced game... pretty well played, I think (yes there were errors on both sides) and.. yes.. we left 9 guys on base. But, hey, it was just nice to really enjoy a good baseball game.
Somehow I felt we were owed that.
Now... if you could call this a negative, and normally I would never do that, the game was short: 2:07.
Now WHY OH WHY would that be a negative? It's fireworks night... hard to enjoy fireworks when the sky is still light.
(Boxscore)
]]>Gametime temperature - 90... I think that was a lie, only because we saw a thermometer on the way home that said 100. MUCH windier today, too
Still hot upstairs... went back down to the Rain Room for two passes today.
So... we won again today, and wound up actually splitting the 4 game series! I NEVER would have thought that possible after Friday night.
Javier Vasquez threw another complete game. Three homeruns by Mackowiak, Thome and Konerko.
After the last out, we see camera shots of Mark Buehrle, out of the dugout, waving to the fans. Of course, the Stadium Club people in charge of the audio/video feed to the room SUCK BIG TIME, and we couldn't hear what was going on, but in the light of the trade rumors, the rumors about an impasse in his contract talks... it was hard to interpret what was going on... was he waving goodbye to the Chicago fans? was he waving saying "well thanks for the support on the first half... hope to see ya in the second half"?
The scoreboard in left field finally displayed the announcement, that apparently Gene Honda was reading of the stadium P.A. :
So, here we are at the All-Star break - 36-47 (.453), 13 games behind 1st place Detroit (Cleveland is in 2nd, just a game back, and Minnesota - that we just split with - is ahead of us 8 games back... oh... and Kansas City is in last behind us, 2 games back from us)
(Boxscore)
]]>VERY HARD to get excited about going to the game today. VERY HARD. I'll start first by saying that the weather is going to be bad this weekend, and it should have been in the 90's for the start of the game (though the boxscore says gametime was 85 degrees). It was going to be miserable, so we made reservations for the Stadium Club Bar, on the glass for great views. Both days, since tomorrow would be even hotter.
Well... let's talk about the other reason(s) why making the pilgrimage to the park is difficult. We're 37-47 coming into today - 10 games under .500 - a stark difference from the World Series year, or even being in contention last year. In 4th place in the division, 13 games behind the leader.
To add insult to injury, the team played two games yesterday, the first being a makeup from a freeze-out in early April. Talking about frozen... the score of the first game yesterday? 20-14. You didn't read that wrong - it was 2 runs shy of tying the American League record for Total Runs in a Game at 36. Normally, 14 runs is enough to kill your opponent - not yesterday. It got out of hand when starting pitcher Jon Garland only made it through 3 1/3 innings throwing 90 pitches to 25 batters, giving up 11 earned runs (12 total), 2 homeruns, 3 walks and not a single strikeout. Oh, the team not only gave up 20 runs but 21 hits, 8 walks (ooooo! 1 strikeout!) and 5 errors. And we still scored 14 runs, and had the bases loaded in the 9th.
So, you would think: put that behind you the second game will be different. We lose the second game 12-0. NO RUNS... 5 hits.
Between two games, we lost 32-14.
And you wonder why we didn't want to go to the game today? The Stadium Club was warm, and there was no air circulation against the glass where we were... we just kept drinking water, having the server bring us glasses of ice. During the course of the game I went downstairs and took a quick dash through the Rain Room to get wet and cool off. I noticed, however, when I was downstairs that it really didn't feel all that bad... I mean, it was hot, but there was a slight breeze... and just having the air move made it feel better...
Speaking of feeling better, the Sox WON the game 3-1. Mark Buehrle had a solid outing. We won, but it felt bittersweet as Buehrle has been the subject of MANY rumors about his contract negotiotions... and with him being the pitching star of the team, and the team doing so poorly, It would be hard to not deal him to get something back to put this tam back together.
But we WON... today.
(Boxscore)
]]>Sunny. Warm. First day game in our seats. We lose again, but... it's baseball, we're in our seats, and enjoying our time.
(Boxscore)
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