DOG DAY!

It's Carol's most favorite White Sox game of the year - not for the actual game, mind you, it's because it's Dog Day! The left field bleachers are set aside for owners and their dogs (maximum 500 dogs that have to be pre-cleared with medical releases, so you just can't show up with a dog). We always get there early to watch the dogs arrive and then go into the park and watch the parade around the field before the game.

The game itself sucks. Ozzie Guillen is in Florida for his son's high school graduation, so Harold Baines is the substitute manager for the day. Ozzie had already made out the lineup, so he just had to manage the game. The game itself feels odd, like there's something missing, some spark, some energy.

The game is doomed anyway. It's time for our rotating-nonexistent 5th starter to pitch. We don't have a 5th, so we keep trying out people. We're not very successful, as the "5th Starter" has an 0-6 record this season while the other 4 starters are 20-8 with a 3.68 ERA in 40 starts.

Today's lucky guy is Jon Rauch, whom we haven't seen since 2002 due to injury. (Side note: he's the tallest pitcher in MLB history - yes, taller than Randy Johnson - at 6' 11").

Things are OK until the top of the 4th, which lasts about 15-20 minutes. Rauch gets into trouble and is left in a batter or two too long. We're down 5-0 by the time he gets pulled.

Then Rauch leaves. No, I mean he leaves. He knew he was just called-up for this one game, so he decides to get a jump on traffic for the trip back "home" so he leaves the park while the game is still going on. GM Kenny Williams goes down to the clubhouse to talk to him and finds out he's gone, a major MAJOR faux pax in baseball, and Kenny immediately decries that Rauch will never play for the White Sox again. (Rauch hears about all of this during the ESPN post-game show and calls-in to explain his side of the story - that it was a big misunderstanding and in no way was he dissing the team. He also called pitching coach Don Cooper to explain. Cooper, BTW, says that Rauch was all the way to Indianapolis by the time he called. Who knows what's going to happen...)

So, other than Paul Konerko's solo homerun (for which there were no fireworks so the dogs wouldn't get scared), there is nothing to talk about. The team lost some fire - does Ozzie motivate that well?

(Boxscore)

After the game we went over to Janie & Gary's new condo - yes, they're moving again. They're doing some rehabbing before they move in, so we saw the "before" look of the place. After the condo we went to the South City Tavern for dinner.