Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Sox Answer My Questions

As if to answer point by point my blog post from yesterday, came an answer in the form of today’s game against the D.Backs.

John Danks pitched extremely well, despite some infield bobbling in the first inning or so. Regardless, 3 runs in 6 innings, only some of them earned, and Johnny looked like he was doing pretty well.

Some good news, despite all the downpour of negativity I mentioned yesterday: Mark Kotsay is a rockstar! Honestly, the man must be batting .400, and he can hit anybody. Well… In Spring Training, that is. Gordon Beckham seems to be holding his own. And so is Andruw Jones. As for Carlos Quentin, he had a handful of hits that placated me for the time being.

And, hey, even Mark Teahen tried to shut me up. He homered today to widen the gap in the score and to show that he is not dying in the White Sox organization, he is simply trying to fill Josh Fields’ shoes. On that note, Brian Anderson is hitting .368 in Spring Training with the Royals. That blows Scotty Pods’ .355 out of the water. (And, sadly, Chris Getz’s .182)

An interview with Don Cooper attempted to address my pitching concerns. He said that no one would get to see their full pitching repertoire, and the usual shpeal. Regardless, what explanation is there for Bobby Jenks’ continued shaky performance on the mound?

Overall, today was a good day. The Sox addressed some of our concerns and gave us a glimmer of hope. The offense looked alive, the pitching did alright for itself, and the way-too-close-to-the-dugout camera only caught about 30 swear-words on film.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The "What Does It All Mean" Rant

There was a Fox Sports article which I saw quoted on yet another blog. Rosenthal said,

“Williams, sitting in a golf cart, seemed worn out — not by Guillen, but by what he called “the peripheral changes around the game that have made it difficult to navigate your way through your job.” He seemed to be referring to social media — Twitter, Facebook, etc. — but he could have been talking about local media, national media, even MLB-operated media. The cycle of non-stop information, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year”

Indeed, the Sox have been plagued by the media. Partly because of outspoken newspaper columnists, partly because of bloggers like me, but undeniably because of Ozzie’s outspoken Twitter, Facebook, and even e-mail antics. Lately, even Ozzie’s son has been bringing attention to the organization. While I frankly could not care less about this debacle, there is quite a lot for the media to scrutinize. And I’m not just talking about Ozzie’s dismal grammar.

No, I am taking issue with the White Sox stats this spring. First off, their record is a dismal 6-11. And yes, “Spring Training doesn’t count.” But how is this possible? Carlos Quentin is the owner of 6 RBI, but he collected 5 of those in one game and hasn’t done much since. What looked like a very promising start slowed down to a disappointing .225 average.

Speaking of low averages, Mark Teahen… Over 28 at-bats, he only managed to pull together 4 hits. Surely, the White Sox cannot be the place where mediocre talent comes to die? Not this season, when the pitching staff is supposed to be the best in the history of the world! Alas, this may be the case, as Juan Pierre is not even turning 1 in 4 at-bats into a hit.

Yes, Spring Training is a time to try out new things. Yes, Spring Training isn’t regular season. But what is the separation? What is the point of Spring Training if it no indication of anything?
I guess there are only a couple of more weeks until we will know for sure. But what is certain is that no matter what, I’ll be watching.