Black Sox Blog

April 30, 1906 at South Side Park

Tigers 2, White Sox 1  (7-6)

The White Sox lost a tough one in extra frames to the Tigers as they closed out the month of April.  The Tigers took the lead in the fourth, but in the sixth, George Davis scored on Jiggs Donahue’s single to left field to make it 1-1.

Ed Walsh was still on the mound in the tenth and he gave up the winning run in that inning.  Smith led off with a single and moved to third on Ty Cobb’s double.  Then Chris Lindsay hit a ball deep enough to allow Smith to score.  The White Sox got the lead off man on the bottom of the tenth, but they failed to even move him over.

Walsh gave up two runs on eleven hits with no walks in ten of innings of work.

There’s nothing like going to a Chicago White Sox game in Chicago. And especially now that they took home the World Series title. There are so many awesome series that the White Sox will play this year, the choices are endless. You’ve got to check out this place to buy Pittsburgh Pirates tickets, Cubs tickets, Houston Astros tickets, Cards tickets, Yankee tickets, Detroit Tiger tickets, Seattle Mariners tickets and more. Whether going to a game with your best friend, or a bunch of friends, with your dad for fathers day, or your significant other on a mellow date, going to a White Sox game is a wonderful thing.

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I’m not sure how well known this is, but you can get tickets online to all sorts of Broadway plays showing in Chicago too. Check out Wicked in Chicago, Cirque Shanghai, and more. All you have to do is go here for list of upcoming Chicago plays, musicals and concerts.

April 29, 1906 at South Side Park 

White Sox 2, Tigers 1  (7-5)

Nick Altrock gave up only one run on seven hits as he led the White Sox to their third win in four games.  The Tigers threatened in the seventh inning and had runners on second and third with two outs, but Fielder Jones made a great catch on Sam Crawford’s liner to center to end the inning and the threat.

Fielder Jones had two hits and a stolen base.  George Rohe and Rube Vinson scored the White Sox two runs.  Tip O’Neill was roughed up in the game.  He was hit in the knee with a wild pitch and then later in the game, he collided with the score board ladder and then the fence as he attempted to field an eventual double by Ty Cobb.

April 28, 1906 at Sportsman’s Park 

White Sox 5, Browns 4  (6-5)

Down 4-3 heading into the top of the eighth, the White Sox rallied and scored twice to take the lead.  For whatever reason, the box score ends after eight innings so the rally was effectively in the final inning of the game.

Fielder Jones had three hits and a run and Bill O’Neill singled, doubled and scored twice.  Frank Owen went the distance en route to the win and he gave up four runs on eight hits and three walks with one strikeout.

I hate when the White Sox head out west.  Things never seem to go well and this series was no different.  Monday’s game was a topsy turvy game where the lead continued to change hands.  The two teams exchanged runs in the first and then the Sox took the lead in the second (on a wild pitch no less).  Then the Mariners came back and scored single runs in the seventh and eighth to take the lead.  The White Sox then tied it up in the ninth on Brian Anderson’s solo homerun.

Neither team scored in the tenth and the White Sox went down quietly in the eleventh.  Then Brandon McCarthy gave up a single to Carl Everett and Willie Bloomquist ran for him and stole second.  Then Yuniesky Betancourt singled home Bloomquist and drove in the winning run.

The White Sox seemed to take their frustrations out on the Mariners on Tuesday.  They put up thirteen runs on fifteen hits and five walks.  Paul Konerko, Tad Iguchi and Joe Crede all hit a homerun and Jermaine Dye went yard twice.  Tad Iguchi’s box scored was very solid.  He went two for five with four RBIs and three runs. Javier Vazquez threw well enough and improved to 2-1.  He gave up two runs on four hits in six innings.  Boone Logan gave up a run on three hits in the final three frames and he earned his first career save.

The Sox could have used some of those runs last night.  The Sox dropped the series finalle and notched only a single run on five hits.  Juan Uribe drove in the lone White Sox run and Paul Konerko had two hits.  Mark Buehrle lost his first game of the season.  He gave up four runs on seven hits in seven innings.  Bobby Jenks was tagged ffor a single run on two hits in the eighth inning.

The next stop for the Sox is Anaheim.  As it stands, the Sox are still in first place and they’re a game and a half ahead of the Tigers, who dropped two of three to the Angels.  The Sox have been very good at home (9-3) and not so good on the road (5-4).  Hopefully they’ll be able to turn that around this weekend.

April 27, 1906 at Sportsman’s Park

Browns 10, White Sox 5  (5-5)

The White Sox appeared to have this game firmly in hand after they scored five runs in the top of the second inning off of Browns starter Fred Glade.  The Browns wouldn’t let up through and they scored three in the third, a single run in the fifth, then they completed the comeback with five runs in the sixth.

The White Sox managed only a single hit outside of that second inning as they dropped back to .500 on the season.  Seven different Sox had the seven hits and five different Sox scored the five runs.

April 26, 1906 at Sportsman’s Park

White Sox 3, Browns 1  (5-4)

Nick Altrock held the Browns to a single run to give the White Sox their fifth win of the season.  Altrock gave up seven hits, four walks and he struck out four batters.

The White Sox scored all three of their runs in different innings.  George Rohe had three hits including a double, and George Davis singled twice and scored a run.

April 25, 1906 at Sportsman’s Park

Browns 4, White Sox 2  (4-4)

The White Sox bats must have stayed in Chicago because the offense had a hard time getting things going.  Through eight innings, Browns’ starter Harry Howell had a shutout going and it wasn’t until the ninth inning before the White Sox finally put two runs on the board.

George Davis had two of the White Sox six hits and he scored one of the two runs.  White Sox starter Frank Owen took the loss and gave up four runs on ten hits with one strikeout.

It was only one year ago that the White Sox jumped out to a nice lead in the AL Central after a great start and never looked back.  This year, they’re trying to do it again.  The Sox have now won eight straight and they did it against one of their fiercest rivals over the past five or six years.  Most importantly, they did it with both solid hitting and great pitching.

On Friday, Mark Buehrle went head to head with Johan Santana and he came out on top.  Buehlre gave up a single run on four hits in eight innings.  He struck out six and improved to 3-0 on the season.  Santana kept the White Sox in check for seven innings, but the Sox jumped all over Juan Rincon in the eighth inning.  By the time the inning was over, the White Sox had turned a one run lead into a six run lead.  Jim Thome homered for the eighth time and he drove in two runs.  All seven runs were scored by seven different White Sox.

Yesterday, the White Sox didn’t waste much time.  By the end of the first, the White Sox had a three run lead on Jermaine Dye’s three run homerun.  By the end of the fifth, the score was 6-1.  In all, the White Sox had sixteen hits.  Paul Konerko, Dye and A.J. Pierzynski all had three hits and Tad Iguchi, Thome, Konerko and Dye all scored twice.  Jim Thome hit his ninth homerun in the game.  Lost in the offensive onslaught was a nice start by Freddy Garcia.  He gave up two runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.

The Sox finished up the sweep this afternoon.  Juan Uribe had a monster game and provided the bulk of the White Sox offense.  He homered twice and drove in four runs.  Joe Crede and Brian Anderson also went yard in the 7-3 win.  Jose Contreras improved to 3-0 on the season.  He gave up two runs on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts in eight innings of work. 

The White Sox head to the west coast this week.  They play Seattle starting tomorrow, then they get a day off before playing the Angels.  Despite the eight straight wins, they’re only a game and a half up because the surprise team so far in the Central, the Detroit Tigers, have won five straight and they’re a game and a half back.

April 23, 1906 at South Side Park

White Sox 3, Naps 1  (4-3)

Frank Smith threw a gem to lead the White Sox to their second straight win.  He gave up only four hits and a single and he struck out five in the win.

The White Sox big inning was in the fourth.  Fielder Jones led off the inning with a single and moved to second on George Davis’ bunt.  Then Jiggs Donahue doubled home Jones to make it 1-0.  George Rohe drew a walk and then Rube Vinson singled home Donahue to give the Sox all the runs they’d need.  The Naps finally got on the board in the seventh but the White Sox put an insurance run on the board in the bottom half of the inning to put the game away.

Donahue finished the game with a single, a double, a run and an RBI.  Vinson had two hits and Billy Sullivan scored the insurance run in the seventh.

April 22, 1906 at South Side Park 

White Sox 7, Naps 6 (3-3)

The White Sox won a 12 inning thriller over the Cleveland Naps and in the process, scored more runs in a game then they have all season.  The Sox jumped out to an early 5-2 lead, but starter Ed Walsh gave up a run in the sixth and three in the seventh to give up the lead.  The White Sox scored one in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game up, and things eventually went into extra frames.

Both teams went down with out scoring a run in the first two extra innings, and reliever Nick Altrock held the Naps scoreless in the twelth.  In the bottom of the twelth, Bill O’Neill led off with a walk and Frank Isbell moved him over to second with a bunt.  Then Fielder Jones ended the game with a deep liner to right field to scored O’Neill.

Jiggs Donahue had a big game.  He had two hits, a walks and two runs.  O’Neill also scored two runs and both Jones and George Rohe had a pair of hits.  In all, the White Sox scored seven runs on only eight hits, but they also drew eight walks.

April 21, 1906 at South Side Park

Tigers 4, White Sox 3  (2-3)

Frank Owen gave up three runs in the eighth inning that ended up costing the White Sox the game.  After scoring single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, Owen gave up a single run in the seventh then let the Tigers run all over him in the eighth.  Frank Isbell scored in the ninth inning but the rally was cut short by reliever Ed Killian.

Frank Isbell had two of the White Sox six hits and scored one of the three runs.  Jiggs Donahue singled, drew a walk and scored a run.

April 20, 1906 at South Side Park

White Sox 6, Tigers 1  (2-2)

The White Sox evened up their record to 2-2 with a strong showing over the Tigers in their home opener.  The Sox jumped out to an early two run lead with a pair in the bottom of the first and then didn’t score until the seventh when they added an insurance run.  They tacked on three more for good measure in the bottom of the eighth to put the game away.

Nick Altrock gave up only a single run on six hits and a walk.  Bill O’Neill doubled and scored two runs and George Davis and Fielder Jones had two hits and a run.  Jones was ejected after arguing a play at the plate.

Man, what a series.  I know, the Kansas City Royals are pretty bad, but a one hitter and a three hitter?  One run given up in three games?  Good teams take care of the bad teams, so while this sweep was expected, it’s nice to see it actually happened.

Jose Contreras got things rolling on Monday in the White Sox 7-0 win.  He gave up one hit in seven innings.  Boone Logan and Cliff Politte both threw a no hit inning to finsh things out.  On the hitting side, Paul Konerko continued to tear it up.  He hit his fifth homerun of the season and he drive in four runs.  Joe Crede hit his second homerun of the season and Tad Iguchu went three for five with two runs.  It was a beatdown, plain and simple.

Yesterday, things were a little more even, but the White Sox came out on the winning side of things.  Both teams had seven hits in the White Sox 4-1 win, but a two run single by Juan Uribe in the fourth inning capped off a three run rally to put the Sox ahead.  Jim Thome drove in a run in the seventh inning for a little extra insurance, but they didn’t need much in Jon Garland’s best start of the season.  He gave up a single run on six hits and he struck out three in 6 1/3 innings.  Brandon McCarthy continued to pitch well and he picked up his fourth hold with 1 2/3 shutout innings and Bobby Jenks picked up his fifth save of the season with a perfect ninth.

This afternoon, it was Javier Vazquez who threw the gem.  He had a no hitter going through the sixth inning and he finally gave up a single in the seventh.  He left the game in the ninth with a runner on first and Neal Cotts put another runner on.  Bobby Jenks got the job done though and got the final batter out to earn his sixth save.  Juan Uribe hit his first homerun of the season and Scott Podsednik drove in two runs in the White Sox 4-0 win.

The Sox hope to keep their five game winning streak going on Friday against the Twins, who come to town for a three game series.  If the Indians lose tonight, it’ll be the first time this year that the White Sox have been in sole possession of first place.

April 19, 1906 at Bennett Park

Tigers 3, White Sox 1  (1-2)

They weren’t eventually called the hitless wonders for nothing.  Tiger starter Bill Donovan held the Sox to a single run on five hits.  Frank Isbell had two hits, including a triple, and he scored the White Sox only run.  He also made a key mistake.  Afte he hit his triple, he tried to score on a ground out on a later at bat but was gunned down easily.

The White Sox did put runners on first and second with nobody, but a failed bunt attempt and a great catch by Matty McIntyre stopped the rally.  Frank Smith gave up three runs on eight hits in the loss.

April 18, 1906 at Bennett Park

Tigers 3, White Sox 2  (1-1)

This game was pretty much even.  Both team had eight hits and both committed two errors.  Tiger starter Ed Siever was a just a bit better then Ed Walsh though.  Siever scattered his hits through the various innings and je only once gave up two hits in an inning.  Walsh was tagged for two runs in the bottom of the fourth that mostly resulted from his own throwing error.  Other then that, Walsh was very effective.  Outside of the fourth inning, he never yielded a baserunner before he had two outs.

Frank Isbell and George Rohe both had two hits and Jiggs Donohue and Fielder Jones scored the two runs.  Rohe drove in both of the White Sox runs.

What a weekend for Paul Konerko.  Combined with some solid pitching in the final two games of the series, the White Sox took two of three this weekend against the Toronto Blue Jays.

In the series opener, things didn’t go that well.  Javier Vazquez had his first rough start of the season.  He gave up seven runs on nine hits with four strikeouts in six innings of work. That by itself would have been enough for at least a tie because the White Sox offense scored seven runs, but Cliff Politte gave up four runs and Neal Cotts two in the seventh and ninth respectively.  The White Sox scored more runs then in any other game in the series yet still took the loss.  Paul Konerko hit his first of three homeruns of the series and Joe Crede was a perfect four for four with and RBI and a run.  Pablo Ozuna had three hits and two RBIs.  Final score was 11-7.

Things went a little smoother on Saturday.  Mark Buehrle was in his usual form.  He gave up two runs on five hits in eight innings and Bobby Jenks closed things out in the ninth.  Paul Konerko homered twice and drove in all four White Sox runs in the 4-2 win.  No other White Sox had an extra basehit.

Yesterdays game looked like it might be a shootout, but they got the bare minimum in to call it an official game (4 2/3 innings with the home team ahead).  Five of the six White Sox runs in the 6-4 win came from homeruns by Tad Iguchi, Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome (it was Thome’s seventh).  Paul Konerko doubled and walked and while he broke his string of five games with at least two hits, he now has a six game hitting streak.  Freddy Garcia was erratic and walked six, but he picked up the win and improved to 2-1.  And Mark Buehrle was apparantly fined for doing his patented slip and slide routine on the tarp during the rain delay.

The White Sox play three games against the Royals and I’m hoping on Wednesday night to be talking about the White Sox five game winning streak.  They’re already up 5-0 in the third inning tonight.

April 17, 1906  at Bennett Park

White Sox 5, Tigers 3  (1-0)

The White Sox scored two runs in the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie and walked away with the win.  Frank Owen got into a jam in the top of the ninth and had runners on second and third with two outs but he got Matty McIntrye to fly out to end the game.

Owen gave up three runs on only six hits and four walks with a single strikeout.  Three of the six Tiger hits came off the bat of Germany Schaefer.  Frank Isbell had three hits and he scored twice.  George Davis, Jiggs Donahue and Owen all had two hits.  Fielder Jones was ejected in the sixth inning after arguing a foul ball with the umpire.

Owen pitched in front of friends and family.  The starter grew up in nearby Ypsilanti, MI.

There’s nothing like a trip to Detroit to end a losing streak.  The White Sox started their season 2-4, but a nice three game series against the Tigers has the White Sox with a winning record.  The first two games were close pitching duals, and while today’s game ended up being pretty close, we ran up the score on rookie Justin Verlander before rolling through the Tiger’s pen.

On Monday, it was a pair of two run shots by Jim Thome and Joe Crede that ended up making the difference.  Freddy Garcia bounced back from his rough start the week before and gave up three runs on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts.  Brandon McCarthy threw two shutout innings and Bobby Jenks slammed the door shut in the ninth.

Yesterday was even closer and once again it was Jim Thome who provided the White Sox with some offense.  The White Sox jumped out to a 4-0 lead and saw that cut down to a single run when Chris Shelton homered in the bottom of the ninth, but Bobby Jenks ended up getting out of the inning with his third save.  Paul Konerko had the big hit of the game.  His single in the sixth inning drove in two runs.

Today was all offense.  The Tigers outhit the White Sox 21-17 but the White Sox came out on top 13-9.  Tad Iguchi homered and drove in three runs and Jermaine Dye drove in three.  Jim Thome hit his sixth homerun and he went two for three with two RBIs and three runs.  Jon Garland picked up the win, but he took his lumps.  He gave up seven runs on thirteen hits in five innings of work.

The White Sox come home and host the Blue Jays for a three game series then Kansas City rolls into town.  The Jays won their second game in a row to improve to 5-4.

The White Sox suffered two tough losses this weekend to the pathetic Kansas City Royals.  This is a team we should have rolled over and while things got off to a nice start Friday night, it all ended up being pretty crummy.

The White Sox scored five runs in the first inning in the series opener, then they added a sixth run in the third.  Last year, this would have been game over.  By the end of the fifth, the score was 7-7 and after scoring in each of the final five innings, the Royals ended up blowing out the White Sox 11-7.  Jon Garland had a truly ugly box score.  He gave up nine runs and ten hits in 5 1/3 innings.  Paul Konerko tried to get his swing back and went three for five with three runs and an RBI.

Saturday’s game was a little trickier.  Javier Vazquez was very solid, but the White Sox couldn’t get the bats going.  The Royals touched up Vazquez for two runs in the sixth, and that was enough to put them in front.  The White Sox then finally got the offense rolling and scored two runs off of rookie Andy Sisco.  And here, once again, I have to question Ozzie Guillen’s decision.

In the bottom of the seventh, Javier Vazquez did give up a single, but he got the first out on a weak pop out and struck out the final two batters.  After throwing 98 pitches, Guillen pulled him in favor of Cliff Polite, who proceeded to give up two runs and the ball game.  This is twice already this season that I think Guillen’s made a bad call with his pitching staff, and hopefully this doesn’t continue.

Today, Mark Buehrle ended the skid.  He threw eight shutout innings and gave up only six hits.  Bobby Jenks gave up a solo shot to Reggie Sanders in the ninth, but other then that, he was pretty effective.  The Sox only managed five hits, but they made them count.  Joe Crede doubled home two runs in the second and Jim Thome hit his third homerun of the season in the eighth inning.

Last year, the White Sox lost only four games in their first 20.  This year, they’ve lost four of their first six.  Hopefully they’ll get back on track in Detroit this week.  The Rangers brought the Tigers back down to earth and handed them their first loss of the season.  Hopefully the White Sox tomorrow will hand them their second. 

If the White Sox struggle, I know more and more people will begin questioning Ozzie Guillen.  The White Sox took a one run lead into the eighth inning and Brandon McCarthy had just thrown great the inning before.  He threw 17 pitches and eleven of them were for strikes.  For whatever reason, Guillen went to the rookie, Boone Logan in the eighth inning and Logan gave up a solo homerun to Travis Hafner that tied the game up.  Why he didn’t let McCarthy throw in the ninth is beyond me.

Then the White Sox couldn’t seem to get the job done with the bats.  In the bottom of the eighth they had runners on first and third with one out and couldn’t bring anyone home.  In the bottom of the ninth, they had runners on first and second with one out and the bases loaded with two outs, and again, couldn’t get a run across.

In the top of the eleventh, Neal Cotts gave up the go ahead run.  The White Sox got their leadoff hitter on in the bottom of the eleventh (Iguchi walked) but couldn’t tie it up.

It’s early and it’s against a good team so it’s not inexcusable.  The White Sox get the day off tomorrow and then they travel to Kansas City, who were destroyed by the Tigers today.  Two of three is neccesity and a sweep would be preferable.

I guess you can’t win them all.  Freddy Garcia was tagged for three runs in the fourth and three in the fifth by the Indians.  He lasted only four innings and he was credited with seven earned runs.

Jake Westbrook and the Indians pen handled the White Sox bats pretty handily.  Jim Thome hit his second homerun of the season and had two hits.  The White Sox scored their other run in the seventh when A.J. Pierzynski crossed the plate on Rob Mackowiak’s ground out.

The rubber game is tomorrow afternoon.  Jose Contreras gets his first start of the season and he’ll go up against Cliff Lee.

The game logged in at just under three hours, but that didn’t include the nearly three hour rain delay in the fourth inning.  When play was delayed, the White Sox and Indians were tied with three runs a piece.  When play resumed, the White Sox got their bats going and Brandon McCarthy shut down the Indians to give the White Sox the win.

Jim Thome hit the only White Sox homerun.  His two run shot extended the White Sox lead from one run to three.  Jermaine Dye went three for three and Juan Uribe scored twice.  McCarthy threw three perfect innings and he struck out two.

Mark Buehrle was roughed up in the fourth inning just before the tarp went on the field.  He gave up three runs on four hits in four innings.  Eduardo Perez took Buehrle deep in that inning.

Every win counts.  I know losses right now are pretty much accepted because it’s early, but the big reason the White Sox won it last year wasn’t a great September, it was a great April.  The more you win now, the less you need to win later on.

Take about a downer.  The White Sox and Indians were in the middle of a great game only to have it delayed because of rain.  I checked the weather and things appear to be set to clear around midnight, so they’ll probably finish it, but I doubt if I’ll make it up that late.

The game’s tied 3-3 in the fourth inning.

The White Sox signed Jose Contreras to a three year, $29 million contract extension today.  I winced just a little bit at this because Contreras essentially has one half of a good season to his credit.  To his benefit, it was when the White Sox really needed it.  Contreras was our best pitcher after the All Star break last season, and he went 11-2 with a 2.96 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP.

Prior to that Contreras had only been okay.  Not a $10 million pitcher in my opinion.  In fact this is the first season that he’s logged 200 innings since defecting from Cuba.  Although it looks like he’s one of the boys.  He helped bring a World Series win to the city, so he’s being rewarded.  I just have a feeling we’ll be looking at this two years from now wondering why we did it.

Game Time.  The White Sox open their regular season tomorrow night against the Indians.  Not only am I jacked up because I can watch the game, but I’m excited because for the first time in a long, long time, people will be chasing the White Sox as defending champs.