It’s been a pretty disappointing season this year, both on the field and on this blog. I have no excuse other then I didn’t want to be too negative so rather then posting the same old “White Sox lose again” post, I just kept quiet hoping for some kind of turnaround. Well, I’m still waiting. And I also feel bad because I never did do my 1917 White Sox diary. I’ll probably try to catch it up in the offseason, but it’s not the same. I have kept up the pace at the 1967 American League Pennant Race site but we all know that has a disappointing ending for White Sox fans.
I wish there was something you could point at to blame on the White Sox horrible season. When you combine poor hitting, mediocre pitching and mediocre fielding, it makes for a wicked combination and as it stands, the White Sox actually have fewer projected wins based on their runs scored and runs against then the Devil Rays. So as bad as the White Sox have played, they’ve actually outplayed their projected win/loss to the tune of five games.
The White Sox are still dead last in hitting and they’re 4.20 runs scored per game is the worst in baseball. If the pitching was like it was in 2005, it might not mean as much but only Mark Buehrle has been “good” with Javier Vazquez and Jon Garland having fair seasons. And while Bobby Jenks has been solid, the rest of the pen has been pretty bad. Even the fielding, which was a huge factor in their 2005 World Series run, is way down. They’re below average in defensive effeciency, outfield zone rating and infield zone rating.
So to sum it up, the White Sox deserve to be in last place. The Royals are still a bad team, they’re just not as bad as the White Sox. That’s not that things can’t be fixed, but that’s a discussion for the other day.
The White Sox can play spoiler though. They’re beating the Tigers right now, and Detroit is clinging to their playoff hopes.
