Are We There Yet? Not even close.

Stu Weiner, Sox Superfan

It has been a while since I have blogged, so that leaves me with quite a bit to say. It may only be Memorial Day weekend, but I think it is time we all realized that we are going nowhere this year. Unlike our “friends” on the North side of town, we are realistic about our chances of going to the playoffs. My prediction is that we will win 85 games maximum, maybe even only 81. We may even finish as low as fourth place in our division because it is the toughest one in the major leagues.

How can you win when you can’t score runs? How can you win when you have no one in the bullpen that you can count on? How can you win when you don’t play fundamental baseball – moving guys over and getting them in?

It seems like the only person who agrees with me about the White Sox hitting is Hawk. The fact that we had a few games recently where we scored a lot of runs and hit double-digits in hits does not excite me. We could have scored even more runs and gotten more hits. The hitters have still not hit their stride, we are still at or near the bottom of the league in batting average and runs scored, and I am certain we lead the league in LOB, let alone leaving runners in scoring position. I went to the Oakland game last Tuesday were the Sox scored 10 runs in the first 5 innings. We were shut out the rest of the way, and I even got scared in the the 9th inning when Sisco could not get anyone out. We did not score a run the next game, even when we loaded the bases with one out in the 8th inning. Once again, we could not execute – not a hit, not a fly ball – nothing.

We were lucky to win the game against Tampa Bay on Friday night, and of course our wonderful bullpen did not give us a chance on Sunday afternoon. And then on Memorial Day, we score 4 runs off Santana and still cannot win.

Once again I am going to put the onus on Ozzie and Greg Walker. I am still waiting for Ozzie to manage like he used to – hit and runs, steals, bunts, and squeeze plays. And once again, when is he going to learn that this righty/lefty stuff just does not work. Look at Monday’s game. The game is tied 4-4, bases loaded for Minnesota, one out. Out goes Contreras, in comes Logan. Logan gets a big out. So with another brilliant move, Ozzie takes him out and brings in Aardsman, who proceeds to have another lousy outing.

Aardsman could not pitch for the Cubs. Sisco and MacDougald could not pitch for KC. If these pitchers are not good enough for those lousy teams, what makes you think they will pitch well for us? We can do better than that with some of our minor league pitchers.

As for Mr. Walker – he HAS to go. We cannot hit. Except for Erstad, no one on the team is hitting consistently. Dye has a nice hitting streak going, but he is still batting below .250. Our big guys are getting home runs with no one on base, but striking out with men in scoring position. Yes, Konerko got a nice single today, but that’s a rarity rather than a consistency. Iguchi looks lost at the plate, as does Uribe. To a certain extent, so does Thome. And despite AJ’s average, I know that in the last week he has hit into at least 5 double plays. Guys are swinging at pitches that are not even close to the plate.

The only good thing about being a White Sox fan right now is that the Cubs are doing worse. But their “idiot” fans just keep on filling the world’s largest bar on Addison Avenue to support a bunch of overepaid underachievers. I just hope I don’t lose my bet with my future son-in-law this year, who unfortunately is a Cubs fan. If the Cubs wind up with a better records than the Sox, I have to wear a Cub’s hat for a week, and vice versa. I never have, and never plan to wear it.

That’s it for now. I have always been, and always will be a die-hard White Sox fan. But I don’t accept mediocrity. And if they don’t win, I won’t spend my hard-earned money to go to the ballpark. Cub fans call me a “fair weather” fan. They are absolutely right. Losing is not “cool” on the South side.

Back to Winning

Michael Bottigliero, Sox Superfan
With summer just around the corner and temps about to pick up it seems about right that the Sox bats heat up as well. I was glad to see them bounce out of the Northside shoe box beer garden known as Wrigley Fieldwith a win and back to the Southside with more offense. We could easily have swept the A’s out of Chicago but our version of Kryptonite- Chad Gaudin- easily quieted the bats and we let a decent pitching performance go to waste.

Watching last night’s game versus the Devil Rays was a treat to see more offense and some good pitching. Except for the meatball Buerhle threw to Dukes that is.

Just nice to see the Good Guys squeeze out a tough win and go above .500 in one run games- one of the most important stats in team baseball. It shows a mental toughness, will to win, and gives a championship team swagger- knowing you can pull out wins any time the pressure is really on. For the pitchers to hold the opposition and the offense to come out and do whatever it takes to get the winning run across is a display of pure winning attitude.

On a final note I hope to give a post after Sunday’s game which I have tickets to, but I could be the recipient of more bad luck. Chance of t-storms is 60% with temps in the low 60s. I have been the proud owner of 2 of only 3 rain out games this season and could hit my third tomorrow. Lets see if I can be fortunate enough to witness a clean sweep!

Single team seeks offense for long-term relationship.

Jake Baskin, Sox Superfan

After the short affairs that followed the sad end of a successful relationship in ‘05 I am looking to move on to a more committed, long-term relationship with hitting. I have been very successful over the last few years, and have a beautiful apartment in an up and coming neighborhood. A passionate three-day fling recently reminded me of what I was missing, but I had my heart broken when hitting left and changed her number. Would love to meet an offense with high on base percentage and some long ball power that’s interested in staying around for the summer. Hopefully we can grab a brat and get to know each other. All interested should contact Greg_Walker@whitesox.com.

A whole ‘lotta "O" and a Rich Hi "L" "L"

Cait Higgins, Sox Superfan

Ahh the sweet smell of success. I can’t stand the A’s, so it is so nice when we give them a beating. Wow, 28 runs in the past three games… I’d say our bats woke up. What a job Ozuna, Cintron, Mackowiak, and even Terrero have been doing when they are needed. With Crede’s back still acting up, Pablo has been excellent both on the field and at the plate. He is coming up with some good hits and getting on base when we need him to. I’m always a little scared of him in the field, but that catch he made on Monday night makes me think twice. How about Cintron and Mack?! Cintron gets the job done while Juan is making sure his poor mom is okay. I hope she feels better; it makes me sad when any players’ families are sick. Mackowiak has probably been the best hitter since the Crosstown, and I like to see that. I think he’s a good player, he just needs to play every day. It is going to be interesting when Scott comes back… It was pretty cool to see Terrero make the big catch for the last out in both of the A’s games we’ve played thusfar. I can’t imagine how special that must feel! Thome had 5 RBIs last night, and was a triple short of the cycle. Pretty sweet. My pick to click last night, the MVP of the ‘05 World Series, Jermaine Dye must have been fired up since being thrown out because he smacked number 11 into left.

I’m really exciting that we’re going for a big S tonight. I don’t like to say the word, because I usually jynx it. Let’s just say I’ll be looking forward to the brooms coming out this evening!

Because the Cubs fans got SO creative with making fun of our No-Hitter-throwing superstar pitcher Mark Buehrle, I wanted to throw some love towards the Padres. 4 homers: including back to back Jacks and Mike Cameron hitting two… and how can we forget Kouzmanoff?! Hot bats!!!! (That’s four !!!! for the amount of homers Rich (felloffthe) Hill gave up last night) Oh, and in case you were wondering, I gave him two “L” s in his name because that’s the decision he’s gotten in his last two starts. Finally, since I’m writing about the NL, I want to also throw some love to the Brewers. I have great respect for this team, because Scott Podsednik played for them and because Carlos Lee played for them last year. It is so sweet to see them have one of the best records in the league. It’s even sweeter that they’re in the NL central. They have an awesome ballpark; it’s such a pleasure to catch a game there. Hopefully they keep it up!

I’ll leave you with hopes that the Ducks win the Stanley Cup against Ottawa (because Ottawa ripped off the Sabres) and Blake wins American Idol.

Some are born to sing the blues…

Cait Higgins, Sox Superfan

Sidelined by surgery, and I get to miss all the trash-talking fun! A day late and maybe a dollar short, but I guess you could always use my snark and my take on what went down this weekend. So strap it down…
SOOOOO Cubs fans, you finally won a couple. Is this the second series you’ve won all season?

Now that I have read what the Cubs bloggers decided to put on our blog, I have a few things to say about it. First off, I am flattered that they write on our blog more than they write on their own. How about talking about how well they did against us? Nah, just come on and try to rip on us. I don’t understand how Sox fans get a bad rep… people on TV calling us “hillbillies” and those kinds of things. We don’t act like Cubs fans.

We don’t:
-Pour beer on other teams’ right fielders…or any player for that matter
-Pour beer on opposing teams’ fans.
-Throw trash on our field
-Throw back home run balls
-Talk on cell phones and wave at the camera the whole game
-Have phantom ‘injuries’
-Have “curses,” which is a fancy word that works as an excuse for poor baseball
and finally
-Blame fans for fielding errors. Do you guys even remember Alex Gonzalez? Your shortstop who let the ball roll through his legs? Somehow I remember that leading to an 8 run inning by the Marlins. Also, if they were THAT good, don’t you think they would have come back and won it the next day?

We do:
-Watch the game
-Know the score
-Know who won
-Have a parking lot
-Have hygienic bathrooms
-Know our enemies
-Have passion and pride for our team and for the game itself.

One of the Cubs fans posted about how the “best team is on the Northside.” I’d like to put forward some facts that say otherwise. The Cubs MAY have taken 2 of 3, but I would like to remind you that we had the lead in every game at least one time. We also have a better record against the Cubs. 30-27, actually. I know it’s only three games, but you’re trying to slam our team. So… I guess ALL TIME, the better team plays on the Southside. Oh yeah… and we won 90 games last season, the Cubs lost 96. We were in 3rd place last year. Oh man, that doesn’t even compare to 6th place and the WORST record in the whole National League!

Nothing better than a grand slam, right? Well, we hit them two years in a row. If I remember correctly, Iguchi smacked two homers INCLUDING a GRAND SLAM last year in the same game where Michael Barrett got angry about a clean play at the plate that he was blocking WITHOUT the baseball (AKA cheating) and decided to punch AJ… and then get tackled by Scott Podsednik! <3 Then, the Cubs fans’ favorite Sox player, AJ PIERZYNSKI let one fly… with the wind blowing in! How about that! Oh yeah, and Jermaine hit one yesterday… with the wind blowing in! How does that happen? Guess that shouldn’t really be an excuse anymore.

Oh go ahead and make fun of our bullpen. I wasn’t even going to remind you that you have like 8 blown saves already this year. I’ve got 6 words for you: Ryan, Dempster, Will, Ohman, Scott, Eyre. Yikes! Our bullpen really blew it I guess… but still not as bad as being up 5-1 and losing 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth to the Mets.

Cubs fans! Please don’t take cheap shots at the Sox fans. There’s a reason we refer to Cubs fans as “fairweather.” There are only two things that Cubs fans have been saying since we won it all in ‘05 and those are: Sox fans aren’t real fans and they only showed up after we won the World Series yadda yadda yadda, and that we play in the “ghetto,” according to a t-shirt I see Cubs fans sporting as of last season. I can’t speak for everyone, but I spent many summers of my childhood at the ballpark. I’m extremely passionate about my team. I would think that another Superfan blogger would appreciate that. You know, these games mean nothing more than bragging rights, and we know that. I’d rather beat the Indians, but it’s always a good feeling when you beat your crosstown rivals. The worst part about it is hearing fan of a sub .500 team rip on your team… and knowing that that’s ALL you’ll hear about until we sweep you at home. Let it go and concentrate on losing your next series to the Padres.

I’d also like to see one of those Cubs fan go up to the people who live in Bridgeport and the neighborhoods around our park and try to tell them they live in a ghetto and they see their beloved team play in a ghetto. I wonder what kind of reaction they would get. And, um… we know that our ballpark historically isn’t in the best location in Chicago. BUT, I got the pleasure of driving around some of the newly renovated Bridgeport and it looks beautiful! So, that makes the t-shirt pretty much inaccurate. We have a beautiful, clean, and safe park. You don’t have to hold your breath when you walk in, and pray that you get used to the smell. You can look at a gorgeous, well-kept field that doesn’t have massive holes for other teams’ center fielders to break their legs in when they are running for a ball. You’re not sitting on top of the drunk next to you, or getting beer spilled all over you. You can gaze up at our two lit scoreboards: the left field scoreboard and the Jumbotron! There is fun for everyone. I went to two games at Wrigley last year, the Pirates and the Phillies. The only reason I enjoyed the Phillies game was because I got to see Aaron Rowand’s team beat the Cubs! My dad is from Pittsburgh, so we like to catch up on the Pirates, too. Plus, they’re in the Cubs division… all the more reason to like them! Anyway, I was BORED to TEARS with that place. I can understand why no one wants to actually watch a game there. I would have much rather played games on my cell phone the whole time, but I respect the game and Jason Bay way too much. Finally, there’s no rotting concrete chunks to cause brain damage by falling on people’s heads. That’s allllllllll I’m going to say about that.

It also made me really upset to see us referred to as smelly people who drink “bear urine” on the other blog. You guys drink Old Style and Bud Select! Talk about the two worst beers in existance… not that I would know anything about that. Miller sponsors the HAWKS, BEARS, and BULLS as well as the White Sox. I’m sure no Cubs fans ever drink beer when they’re at a Bears game! Anyway, I can’t even breathe when I get near Wrigley Field because of the intense smell of methane that rises from it. I’m not saying anything about Cubs fans themselves, just that their field is disgusting. I am SO glad I wasn’t there yesterday… because I shudder to imagine how bad it smells when it gets wet. I know he didn’t call the players anything or comment on their looks but my goodness are we a fine looking baseball team. I saw Jason Marquis’ headshot on Saturday and nearly busted a stitch I was laughing so hard. It REALLY hurt. They should put a disclaimer up, warning people who had surgery anywhere near their abdominal area to advert their eyes. It is nice to look at some fine athletes while enjoying a game! Just so there is no bias, the only players I am attracted to are Scott Podsednik and Ryan Sweeney. But, say you’ve got Jon Garland vs Carlos Zambrano. No brainer. Mark Buehrle vs. Ted Lilly? No contest! Crede vs Ramierez? And of course, any man who can take a punch is automatically sexier than one who throws a dirty one. So finally, I take offense to being called smelly, ugly, hillbillies, etc. Sox fans are a group of good looking people! Don’t believe me? Just look at the pictures of my fine fellow bloggers!

So I guess I’ll leave you with a couple of things: if I’m wrong, I welcome you to find me in left field, and we can discuss anything further… especially near the end of June. Just make sure you do it between innings, cause nothing irritates me more than people walking around during at-bats.

All I can say is that now, after seeing our bullpen blow two big games, I guess I know what it feels like to be a Cubs fan.

Rough weekend

Jake Baskin, Sox Superfan

There’s something wrong when a 10-2 lead doesn’t feel like enough, but that’s what watching the current Sox bullpen will do to you. I’m convinced this weekend’s series has been worse for my health than if I’d started smoking. The first two games were just awful, and despite enjoying A.J’s grand slam, watching Aardsma do his best to give away an eight run lead made me want to throw up. I’m counting on a sox win after this rain delay for my sanity, but the Sox need to pick it up.
(On another note, it was nice to see Thome back with the team, and Masset had a quality outing, and should end the day with his first major league win.)

Whole lot of Chirping!

Michael Bottigliero, Sox Superfan
This is the best time of year- summer around the corner, the greenery, the sun, and Cub fans chirping because they still have a chance. Yes, even the KC Royals have a chance at this point. I do predict that when they visit Chicago’s best ballpark in June, all signs will be pointing toward that favorite Cubbie saying, “Wait ’til next year.”

It seems the Cub fans are all filled with glee taking two games out of three from the Southside club even though they are still under .500, third place in their division, and six games out of first. Their self proclaimed Cy Young winner continues to self destruct, bullpen is worthless, and spent $136 million on an underachieving defensive liability. They even hired a washed up manager who is clueless about what to do with the club and will probably have a Tampa style meltdown before the year is out. Over half their lineup is strikeout prone- each one of them with a chance to K over 100 times each, while their two biggest pitcher acquisitions- Lilly and Marquis- would be at best number three to five starters on most other ballclubs(that is based on past stats as they are performing OK so far this year). They play in an out of date shoebox beer garden and if the fans blow hard enough, any ball could fly out on a given day. And with a very young and good Milwaukee Brewer team in their division, October baseball will be out of the question for years to come.

So while the lovable losers may get some joy out of this latest series, just remember when your hangover wears off from all the Bud and Old Style to look at the standings in your favorite Trib and get a dose of reality. At least there is some good news- the brews are always flowing @Wrigley!

As far as how I feel about my team, I am a bit disappointed at them for losing their first series out of the last five but with the bats and weather heating up I see a team ready to come out firing. Our bullpen had a rough time but it is hard to judge them when they were playing in a stadium where a pop up normally turns into a homer. Also the Good Guys continued to show excellent starting pitching especially with the youngsters Danks and Massett. Thome is back, Pods on the way, and AJ hitting a ton recently.

One big piece of advice for Ozzie- relax! Calling and cussing on radio shows, micro management, and pulling pitchers is not going to get this team going. The starting pitchers need to learn to get out of their own troubles instead of giving the relievers stressful situations every time out. And the move to start a less than 100% Toby Hall over a hot hitting AJ, even against a lefty, is just a bad move.

As for my crosstown counterparts- it has been fun and we’ll see you on the good side of town starting June 22! Can’t wait to see what kind of hate mail responses I get from this one!

Another one for the good guys

Rob Page, Cubs Superfan

Two games…two wins. After tomorrow’s W the Cubs and Sox will both be playing .500 baseball. It must suck to be a Sox fan right now. I hear how the Sox are in a tougher division…blah blah blah…well how come they have gotten spanked in the last two games? Shouldn’t the lowly Cubs have been easy for such a mighty team as the Sox? Good luck getting to the postseason this year. I say that with all sincerity ‘cuz nothing would be better than a Cub’s World Series championship…except one they beat the Sox for!

Buehr – "L" – e

Scott W. Rickerson, Cubs Superfan

The WhiteSox put their best pitcher against us & our bats came alive with a little help from the WhiteSox fielding problems. I’m sure if Sweeney was at bat against Dempster in a couple of years he wouldn’t have been caught looking. Anyways if the WhiteSox continue losing then you’ll probably see a bunch of prospects brought up & then a few trades e.g. Dye, Iguchi, etc.

Vazquez vs Marquis wouldn’t be as hyped except now its for bragging rights. Vazquez is nothing more than a 6th starter on any team way over paid for his stats, like Wood & Prior, except we aren’t giving them $36 million over 3 years. The Cubs high paid pitchers are at least paying dividends w/ Lilly a 4-2, 2.69 ERA & Marquis 5-1, 2.22 ERA. The issue with the Cubs is their middle relief & inconsistent hitting, but the WhiteSox have starting pitching, relief pitching & hitting issues. It gives me great pride knowing the Cubs beat the WhiteSox in the first game & finally have an advantage on them in the series.

:-)

Rob Page, Cubs Superfan

Cubs 1

Sox 0

Apparently the best team in Chicago is on the NORTHSIDE!!