Black Sox Blog

To date, the White Sox have played 26 series. Of those series, they’ve won 19, split two and lost five. Of the 19 series they’ve won, they’ve swept their opponents nine times. I didn’t check the other teams, but I have to assume those nine sweeps leads the league.

Freddy Garcia was awesome once again. He threw his first complete game of the season and gave up only one unearned run on five hits. Garcia struck out eight.

The big blow came in the fifth when Joe Crede hit a three run shot to put the Sox in the lead for good. The homer was his eleventh of the season.

Now the White Sox travel to Oakland to play a hot Athletics team. We didn’t do well against them when we went out there earlier in the year, so I’d be pretty happy if we walked away with two wins.

It took them fourteen innings, but the White Sox pulled out yet another one run game. The White Sox pen pitched the Sox out of a man on third and nobody out jam, and in the eighth inning, Politte pitched himself out of a bases loaded and nobody out jam to eventually send the game into extra frames.

Then in the thirteenth, the Big Hurt himself hit a solo homer to win the game. Brandon McCarthy pitched better then he has since his debut against the Cubs but he has yet to notch his first major league win.

Record - 89-65, Finished Third Place in the American League
Pythagorean Record - 92-62

Starters (Note - I couldn’t find a set lineup, so I’m listing the players who got the most time at their respective positions)

Hitters (BA/OBP/SLG)

C - Billy Sullivan (.229/.255/.307)
1b - Jiggs Donahue (.248/.298/.319)
2b - Gus Dundon (.228/.292/.268)
3b - Lee Tannehill(.229/.260/.303)
SS - George Davis (.252/.311/.359)
LF - Nixey Callahan (.261/.318/.317)
CF - Fielder Jones (.243/.316/.303)
RF - Danny Green (.265/.352/.343)

Team Leaders

Homeruns - Fielder Jones (3)
Batting Average - Danny Green (.265)
OPS - Danny Green (.695)
Best Fielder - Lee Tannehill (25 Fielding Runs Above Average)

Pitchers (IP/W/ERA)

SP - Frank Owen (315/21/1.94)
SP - Nick Altrook (307/19/2.96)
SP - Doc White (228/16/1.78)
SP - Frank Smith (202.3/16/2.09)

Team Leaders

Wins - Frank Owen (21)
ERA - Doc White (1.78)
Strikeouts - Doc White (115)

In 1904, The White Sox had a team ERA of 2.30. It sounds extremely impressive until you consider that they were third in the American League that year. The league average was 2.60, and the pennant winning Boston Americans led the league with a 2.12 ERA.

As impressive as the White Sox pitching was, their hitting was fairly mediocre. Their .242/.300/.316 team lines were just at league average (.244/.295/.321). And while they were in the bottom half of the league in homeruns, they led the entire league in stolen bases (216) and sacrafice hits (197). The 600 runs that they scored was good for third in the league.

Danny Green was the hitting star. He was in the top ten in the American League in OBP (.352), Runs (83), Walks (63), stolen bases (28) and times on base (214). Doc White was the pitching star as he led the team in ERA and strikeouts. His 1.78 ERA was the third best in the AL and he was third in the league with seven shutouts.

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Well, you can’t win them all. On Saturday, Jose Contreras gave up a first inning grand slam to Aramis Ramirez that ended up being the difference in the game. Today it was Mark Prior coming back off the DL and throwing six innings of one hit ball to outduel Jon Garland. To make matters worse, the Twins finally won and they’re now 9 1/2 games back. Nothing to worry about, but the Tigers have been playing well, and they’re on deck this week.

I’m hoping to get a Season Look Back done here soon, but the past 50 wins have been getting in the way. If you missed them, you can check them out by year by clicking on the links below:

1901
1902
1903

Freddy Garcia threw a nice game, but it wasn’t even needed as the Sox put twelve runs up on the board. Frank Thomas, Joe Crede and A.J. Pierzynski all homered. Scott Podsednik stole his 38th base of the season and despite having thirteen hits and six walks, the White Sox left only six men on base.

Garcia threw seven innings and gave up only three hits and a run. He struck out eight before yielding to the pen for some mop up time.

The Twins are down 1-0 to the Brewers. A loss will put them 10 1/2 games up. It has to be discouraging for the Indians and the Tigers. They’ve both won seven out of their last ten, only to see them lose a game because the Sox have won eight out of ten.

The White Sox won number 49 yesterday afternoon, and are in the midst of another nice winning streak. They’ve won seven straight and they host the Cubs in their annual L-train series.

This time it what was Mark Buehrle throwing the gem. He improved to 9-1 by throwing eight strong innings. He gave up one unearned run on only five hits, and he struck out six. And it was a typical Buehrle quick outing as the game lasted only two hours and four minutes.

Carl Everett hit his tenth homer and it was a huge one. His three run shot in the fifth inning busted this one wide open. Paul Konerko had three hits and scored.

With the win, the Sox had extended their lead to ten games, but the Twins won this afternoon, so it now sits at 9 1/2.

Remember when a lot people in the 60s felt the Kansas City Royals we’re basically a AAA affiliate of the Yankees?? Well, they’re playing like a AAA team this season, and the White Sox rolled over them again. Jon Garland threw another nice game as he went 8 1/3 innings, giving up only one run on four hits. Damasco Marte came in to get the last two Royals out.

Two of the five White Sox runs were scored on ground outs. Scott Podsednik went three for four and drove in a run. Joe Crede went two for three with a run and an RBI.

The Twins lost their third straight, and the Sox now have an impressive nine game lead in the AL Central. That’s just huge for this stage of the season. While no lead is ever safe, this gives the Sox a nice cushion that gives them protection if they go on an extended losing streak. And their 48 wins is three better then the next closest team in baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals.

The White Sox saw a 5-1 lead evaporate pretty quickly and they even had to comeback from one run down to win this one. The two teams combined for 19 runs and 27 hits, but the Sox came out on top with some strong relief pitching.

Brandon McCarthy’s second debut wasn’t all that great. He got pulled in the fifth after getting two outs, and he gave up six runs on seven hits and four walks. Most depressing was the fact that he didn’t strike out a single Royal.

Paul Konerko, Frank Thomas and Jermaine Dye all homered for the White Sox. Iguchi scored three times and had three hits, while Konerko drove in four runs. Scott Podsednik stole his 36th base of the season.

The Sox now have a nice eight game cushion. And they’re now 25 games over .500. Even if they play .500 ball down the stretch, that will still be good for 93-94 wins and a solid chance at the Wild Card. But for now, you have to hope they keep on rolling and win this thing outright (and early).

Another game, another close victory. The White Sox trailed in this one 3-0 until they put two runs on the board in the eighth. Willie Harris drove in a run on a single and moved to second on Repko’s error. He then scored on a Paul Konerko ground out to shave the lead to a single run.

Then in the bottom of the eighth, Aaron Rowand drove in two White Sox with a single. Dustin Hermanson allowed a hit and a walk in the ninth, but he got out of the inning unscathed to earn his sixteenth save of the season.

The Sox have picked up four games in the their last ten to extend their lead to a nice, comfortable 7 1/2 games. They lead the Royals 5-3 in the fourth, so hopefully they’ll be able to hold on and make the lead eight games.

With El Duque, Orlando Hernandez, heading back to the DL, Brandon McCarthy gets the nod once again as he starts for the Sox tonight. And it was nice to see Will Carroll agree with me that McCarthy might not deserve what he’s had to deal with.

Unfortunately, McCarthy has struggled since getting sent back down to AAA. He’s now 3-7, but he’s still striking out batters like it’s nobody’s business. Hopefully a nice tune up game against the Royals will get him back on track.

It’s another special treat for me. As I sit in my hotel room in BFE Nebraska, I get to check out my White Sox as they’re the ESPN game of the week. As it stands, it’s the fourth inning, and the Sox are down 1-0.

What a game yesterday though. Four ninth inning runs to walk off with win (literally) and a pair of Twins losses this weekend and the White Sox can extend their lead to 7 1/2 games with a win tonight. Now that’s a nice cushion.

Aaron Rowand tied the game in the ninth with an RBI single, and it was A.J. Pierzinski who launched a walk off two run shot to win it for the White Sox.

The Sox are now 29-12 in games decided by two runs or less. Surpisingly, the Sox no longer lead the AL in ERA. It’s the surging Indians that passed them, and if the Twins don’t watch out, they’re going to be in third place soon. They Indians have won nine in a row, and they’re now a single game back of the Twins. Even the Tigers aren’t that far behind.

It wasn’t pretty, but Jon Garland improved to 11-2. He gave up three homers and was credited with six earned runs through six innings of work, but a ten run White Sox sixth inning turned a poor start into a win.

And what an inning that was. Paul Konerko, Juan Uribe and Frank Thomas all homered to account for six of the ten runs. Joe Crede had two doubles and two runs and both Konerko and Uribe drove in three runs.

It was a timely win as once again the White Sox extended their lead to five games. Of some concern is the streaking Indians, who have won nine of their last ten and now sit 8 1/2 games back.

The Dodgers roll into town this weekend and they look like they’re going to lose their fourth game in their last five. It would be nice to catch that team on the decline and take two of three.

It didn’t take too long for this one to be over, and this is one of the major faults of this team. Not that many teams come back from a 7-0 deficit, but the Sox just don’t have the guns to put that many runs on the board to provide for the “big comeback.”

Fortunately, Guillen got six innings from Contreras as he calmed down after the second inning. His final line was eight hits, nine runs, and three walks. He gave up four homers and he threw 118 pitches. Six of the eight runs were scored in the second.

It was nice to see Frank Thomas go yard again. He has an impressive 1.233 OPS in his eighteen at bats. Hopefully he’ll be able to keep up a similar line through the rest of an injury free season. Juan Uribe also had two hits and he scored a run.

The White Sox never led in this game until the tenth inning. They trailed five to four until Juan Uribe drew a bases loaded walk to tie the game in the eighth. Then in the tenth Aaron Rowand hit a huge three run shot to win it for the Sox.

Freddy Garica was roughed up, but survived long enough to hand it over to the pen. The relivers had as much to do with winning this game as Rowand did, as they pitched four innings of no hit ball to allow the Sox to get back into the game.

Joe Crede hit his ninth homer of the season, and Carl Everett hit his eighth. The win was even better because the Twins lost. The Sox now have a nice 5 1/2 game lead in the AL Central.

It’s nice when you can call a four game winning streak a mini-streak. The White Sox dropped a tough one as they scored one run in the first inning, with nothing afterwards. The Padres didn’t put runs up on the board until the ninth, unfortunately they were two very big runs.

A great start by Mark Buerhle was completely wasted. He pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings, and he struck out six Padres. Dustin Hermanson blew his first save of the season as he dropped to 0-2. He gave up four hits, one walks and he got only a single batter out.

But at 41-20, they’re still the best team in baseball. The rubber game is this afternoon. I just don’t know how long they can keep this up with the mediocre hitting. They’re outperforming their Pythagorean Win/Loss by four games, and with the Twins underperforming by a game, you can base our current cushion, unless you’re into “clutch” which I’m not. They’re .263/.331/.416 is just below average (league average is .265/.331/.416). But as long as the pitching keeps it up, then I guess we’re fine.

Fifteen runs and twenty hits. Oddly enough, the Sox were down for three innings in this one, but they scored ten runs in the final two frames to finish the beat down.

Four different White Sox had three hits, and Joe Crede and Frank Thomas hit homers. Thomas was used as a pinch hitter in two of the games during the series, and he’ll have to sit on the bench a while longer as the Sox travel to San Diego to finish the road portion of their interleague play.

While the Padres have cooled off in June, they were one of the hottest teams in May. Regardless, this will be a battle of first place teams, so the Sox have to bring their A game. And of course the Twins aren’t giving us a break, because they’ve matched us with seven wins in the last ten games.

Monday, the Sox hit the lights out. Last night they needed a top notch performance from Jose Contreras and the pen as they topped the Rockies 2-1. Contreras went six innings, and gave up only one run on five hits. He struck out six and walked two.

Even more impressive was reliever Neal Cotts. He pitched two perfect innings, and sturck out four of the six batters he faced. Dustin Hermanson earned his fourteenth save.

Jermaine Dye had two of the Sox five hits. He also scored, drove in a run, and stole a base.

The win means the Sox have won their last three series. The Twins won and remain hot, so the Sox can’t take a break yet. Their four game lead could disappear in the blink of an eye if they go on even a short skid. The good news is, they’d be the front runner for the wild card.

It’s nice winning the games that you’re supposed to. Despite the Rockies coming off of a series sweep over the equally inept Reds, the White Sox jumped all over them for nine runs and fifteen hits. Freddy Garcia threw a gem by going eight, striking out ten, and only giving up two hits.

Paul Konerko hit his fifteenth homer of the season. The Twins had the day off, so the Sox now have a four game lead in the AL Central (three ahead in the loss column).

Well, the White Sox had several chances to complete their sweep of the Indians, but they fell short as they finally lost the game in the twelth inning. Dustin Hermanson walked away with his first loss of the season and to make matters worse, neither of the two runs he was given credit for were earned. A pretty good start by Mark Buehrle went to waste. I’m still not sure what Guillen’s love affair is Luis Vizcaino. He hasn’t been able to stop the damage so far this year, so I’m not sure why he threw him in there with the bases loaded in the twelth.

Iguchi popped back over the .300. It’s kind of bad when you have the best team in baseball, and you have only one regular above .300. But give him credit because he had a good game yesterday. Three for six with two RBIs isn’t bad when you team only scores four runs.

Scott Podsednik stole his 3oth base of the season. He’s not quite on pace for 100, but it’s a possibility if he can get on a base at a better clip.

And speaking of Ozzie Guillen, it’s good to see I’m not the only who gets frustrated with him. We all know about the Magglio Ordonez feud, but now he has once going with Jeff Brantley and possibly even Brandon Donnelly. Guillen warned the umps about Donnelly’s habit of bringing his hand to his mouth while on the mound, while the Brantley thing stems from comments that were made when Guillen put Hermanson in last Sunday when the Angels were blowing them out.

Twins won, so the see saw is back to 3 1/2 games. This series with Colorado will be interesting. One, it’s National League park so Guillen will have to actually, um, manage. And two, I hope he deviates from his one base at a time strategy and tries to put some runs on the board in the high air. Early inning bunting shouldn’t be neccesary, but it’s in his nature.

El Duque didn’t have his best stuff, but once again it was good enough to win. The White Sox won another close game. All is good.

Hernandez pitched six innings. And while he gave up only six hits, he did give up four runs in the third inning. The big shot was a three run homer by Coco Crisp. The Sox scored four runs in the first on four different one run singles. Carl Everett gave the Sox the lead in the fifth with a sac. fly, and Jermaine Dye added an insurance run later in the inning to make it a 6-4 game.

Neal Cotts threw two good innings of relief as he struck out three batters. Dustin Hermanson bounced back from giving up his first earned run on Wednesday by pitching a shutout ninth to earn his twelth save of the season.

The Twins also won, so the lead is still 3 1/2 games. And if you want to check out a humorous take on Frank Thomas’ return, check out Bat Girl’s column on his return from the DL. We may be the bitch sox, but we also have the best record in baseball.

As we speak, Frank Thomas is coming in to pinch hit with the bases loaded and down by four runs. Give me a minute, and we’ll either have a story book ending or just a plain old loss.

Two-one count……..

Three-one count……

To be continued. K-Rod walked him to put the winning run at the plate. To make the stat line even more interesting, he’s being replaced by a pinch runner. So he’ll drive in a run without getting a hit, and then immediately leave a game.

Kevin Walker got shelled today. Not sure why he’s throwing and not McCarthy, not to beat a dead horse. He now has four walks through three innings, and his ERA went from zero to twelve.

Two-two count to Uribe……

Joe Crede hit his sixth homer of the season.

Damn. Uribe took on deep down the left field line, but it was just foul.

Carl Everett had a big game. He went two for four with three RBIs.

Uribe struck out. Maybe if Guillen let him swing the bat earlier in the game instead of bunting in half of his at bats, he might have done something. Twins are on top of Cleveland, so that lead gets eaten into once again.

Cleveland comes to town on Friday.

Every once in a while, a team has a season where everything goes right. As a teenager, I lived in northern Michigan, and I liken this to how the 1984 Tigers played. You can say the same about any other surprise team, but it seemed like no matter what they did, they still came out ahead in the win column.

The White Sox won yet another one run game yesterday, improving their mark to 17-7 on the year. This time is was Jermaine Dye with the heroics as he launched a solo walk off homer to win the game. Joe Crede also homered.

Even with the pen trying to lose this one, the Sox still managed to come out ahead. Damasco Marte gave up the tying run in the eighth, and it was up to Cliff Politte to slam the door shut to give the Sox a chance to come back.

And just like that, the Sox are back up to a five game lead. The Twins have lost their last two against the Indians. Hopefully the Tribe will be able to help out our cause as much as we help out our own.

Frank Thomas took batting practice yesterday, and said that he should be ready in the next couple of days. Somewhat of a relief.