April Showers

Cait Higgins, Sox Superfan
Doing a little live blogging during the Sox game….

Since we were on rain delay for about an hour and a half overall, we’re still playing. I decided that Thome’s homer in the bottom of the 5th would be an excellent way to celebrate! A HUGE congrats to Mr. Thome because he just passed Ernie Banks on the All-Time Home Run list. Right on! Beautiful.

Earlier today, I got the pleasure of meeting Nick Swisher, Carlos Quentin, and Ed Farmer! It was so cool to meet some of the new faces of the Sox. I really enjoy watching Swish and Q play; they are both huge additions to our team. I know Nick writes journals for his site (www.nickswisher.net), so I passed along our little site to him. Hopefully he checks it out! (Hey, Nick!) Of course, I wore my Dirty 30 shirt to the signing. Swish made my day by commenting on how much he liked my shirt. Very cool. Q and Swish could not have been nicer. Hopefully they are enjoying Chicago as much as I am enjoying them playing here! Especially Swisher, he really seemed genuinely happy to be there signing stuff for the fans. That’s one thing (out of the many many things) that I love about the guys on the Sox. They always seem to be happy when people appreciate them. Anyway, thanks guys for making my day! LET’S GET THESE MEN A RING!

The games on Tuesday and Wednesday were tough to watch. The Yanks are just a tough team. They better be, as much as they’re getting paid. But, in all seriousness, I honestly thought we would fare a little better against them with A-Rod out. I’m not sure what else to say. Our pitchers each got shelled for an inning on both nights, and we couldn’t come back from it. It was interesting to see the guys at the bottom of the lineup absolutely murdering us. I know Damon and Giambi each had homers on Tuesday’s game, and Abreu had a slammer. It just goes to show you how these guys are, everyone in their lineup is dangerous.

I usually hate blogging while the game is still on, but I am tired and have finals coming up. Gavin Floyd got roughed up a little early, but has been SOLID since the rain delay. I know I’ve said it before, but it’s really good to see him go out there and have great outings. *And Melky Cabrera hits his homer as I write this… great.* I can’t sell the offense short, either, because they were able to string some hits together to get us ahead! It was excellent to see Paulee get his 16th RBI! It’s also nice to see Alexi Ramirez in the lineup. I like to see him get some experience in there. Give Juaney a break for a day. I still believe that Juan can be as dangerous as anyone else in the league.

Let me just add how much I love the fan that keeps calling out Melky Cabrera’s name. I am honestly laughing out loud every time I hear “Melky!” Unfortunately, I think that guy is bad luck, because he has hit us HARD.

Finally, I think that it will be interesting to see what happens with Jerry Owens. I know he was reinstated a couple of days ago and is in Charlotte. I wonder if we will send down Brian Anderson and use Jerry as a utility outfielder? That would be a sad situation, because I do think Brian has a lot to offer. He is an excellent defensive outfielder. But, looking at our everyday guys, it seems like there isn’t a place for Jerry just yet. Carlos Quentin has been a Godsend. He’s hitting like crazy and is an overall great outfielder. Swisher has brought back the life that the team had in ‘05. I compared him to Aaron Rowand in the dugout, the guy who is keeping the morale up. (Sorry, I am gushing, but now I know why the people in Oakland loved him so much. He’s awesome). MVP of the World Series ‘05, Mr. Jermaine Dye… what would we be without him?

Alright, let’s take this one from them, guys. I can’t wait to get back to the field this weekend and see what I know will be a great series against the Orioles! Let’s go WHITE SOX!!!!!! If you read this and see me, come say hi! I’m always out there on the weekends, down the third base side (new seats this season!).

Edit: For God’s sake, Linebrink. UGH. SORRY.

Until next time, Sox fans!

Edited to add: During the rain delay, they showed a couple of highlights from the playoffs and World Series ‘05. I was literally in tears. My mom and I were on the phone crying tears of joy, remembering the magic of that season. I feel good about this season; like I did in ‘05. I don’t want to jinx anything, because I know how hard our division and the rest of the AL is.

I was a freshman at Loyola University when our Sox were making their run. Every semester, I’ve written a paper on how October ‘05 changed my life. I was a music major that switched to Sports Management, because after Game 2, I knew that being in that atmosphere is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. After two years of a grueling business program, I still think that I made the right choice. I love the Sox and Blackhawks more than almost anything. Sorry, I’m getting nostalgic.

Really. Until next time, Sox fans!!

So Far, So Good

<b><a href=”http://www.nbc5.com/sports/11215946/detail.html?qs=;s=9” target=”=blank”><img src=”http://images.ibsys.com/2007/0314/11254312_120X90.jpg” width=”120″ height=”90″ align=”left” alt=”" id=”11254312″ border=”0″ hspace=”10″ vspace=”5″ />Stuart Weiner, Sox Superfan</a></b>

I like what I have seen so far.  It’s early in the season, but our starting pitching and our bullpen is looking good.   We need to keep people like MacDougal and Masset around to mop up in runaway games winning or losing.  But the combination of Linebrink and Jenks is one of the best in the league. 

We have to keep winning right now while Detroit and Cleveland struggle.   We need to kick them while they are down.  Winning 5 out of 6 from Detroit is great, even this early in the season.   Every game counts the same now as it does later.

As for our offense, it looks like Thome has finally hit his stride.  Dye is off to a good start.  Paulie needs to step it up, but he gets hot, watch out.   I don’t care about Swisher’s average – I like him getting on base with walks, playing a great outfield, and having a great attitude.  I think it was smart to have Uribe play second base until Ramirez is ready to play full time.  I love our outfield now – what a surprise Quentin has been.

I’m off to the game tonight against the hated Yankees.  I’m also going Saturday night to see them play the Orioles.  I’m hoping to be 2-0 at the Cell at the end of the week.

Go Sox!!!!

Smoked Tiger meat (version 2008)

Cait Higgins, Sox Superfan
What a wild weekend we had at the Cell. After Friday night, I was nervous for what the Tigers had in store for us for Saturday and Sunday. After Sunday, I can tell you how pleasantly surprised I was with the outcome. 20 scoreless innings for Sox pitchers! Back to back shutouts! Two grand slams on Sunday (Thanks Paulee and Joe for those fantasy numbers)!!! Freezing my butt off this weekend proved to be well worth it. As my brother (and excellent fellow blogger) says, it’s time to START BELIEVING.

Being this good in the opening month of baseball reminds me of another splendid time in my life… 2005. Let’s see. What happened then? I graduated high school…. no. That isn’t what I’m talking about…. The Hawks got Patrick Sharp (<3)? Good, but still not what I’m looking for. Scott Podsednik? Getting warmer…. OH RIGHT. When the better of the two Chicago teams brought home the championship. OF COURSE I am talking about the year the SOX won the World Series!!!!!!

While the fireworks were awesome to watch, I was so excited to see the return of small ball. I thought everyone played 110% the past two days. Everyone in the lineup, top to bottom, showed up in offense and in defense. I think I have a little crush on Gavin Floyd, and it’s not just because he pitched like an absolute beast on Saturday. A pitcher that everyone ruled out as our weakest starter in spring training have a no-hitter broken up in the 8th inning was pretty special to watch. Oh, and he’s 2-0 this year. He’s put up some pretty good numbers, had some nasty stuff, and has been an excellent presence on the mound. He was throwing FILTHY pitches on Saturday. He might have a pretty good season if he keeps up what he’s been doing . Since we’re on the topic of Gavin Floyd, did you guys hear about the fan who apparently yelled to him that he was throwing a no-hitter? Unfortunately, it was broken up the next inning. What should we do about it, Sox fans? Cry about it? Oust the fan? Isolate him and make him move into the woods for potentially screwing up our chances of going to the World Series? Blow up the ball that Renteria hit and put it on top of spaghetti? Continue to cry about it for years and years and years and…Oh jeez. Sorry, I’m talking about rational fans. My mistake.

It was excellent of our team to put two excellent back to back efforts for Gavin and Javier. I think that these guys really needed to have solid outings to help bring back their confidence. It was really nice to see Javy get through five innings and not get too shaken up after giving up a couple of hits. He seemed to settle in nicely, keep his cool, and absolutely dominate the Tigers on Sunday. As much as the pitching kept us in it, the hitting was just as important. We need to keep it up, because if we get up on the teams early, the pitching is great. Buehrle is pitching tonight, so our boys need to keep it up. We will see how much offense we can generate for Danks and Contreras.

Along with AJ (of course), Swish is quickly becoming one of my favorite players. This is why the fans in Oakland loved him so much. He is such a personality, and a great addition to the clubhouse. Also why I hated him so much when he was on Oakland. His ability to see the ball is outstanding. He will make the pitcher pitch to him. Something we had in ‘05 with Pods, but were lacking in ‘07. He’s a great lead-off hitter and has almost Aaron Rowand-type grit in the outfield. That is huge, by the way, because I believe that A-Ro is one of the best outfielders in the game. This dude isn’t afraid to slam head first into the walls, and I like that. Welcome to Chicago, Dirty 30.

Since chicks dig the long ball, I’ll touch a bit on the TWO GRAND SLAMS our Sox hit yesterday! I can’t believe Crede has two slammers on the season. Almost unreal. THANK YOU, KENNY WILLIAMS for not trading him away!!!!!!!! It was really nice to see the bats come alive for the guys. It’s so nice to see Konerko come up to the plate with sacks packed with Sox. I almost expect him to come through and do something amazing. Must be that ‘05 hangover. (I was there).

Finally, I got a little misty-eyed when hearing that Pierzynski and Crede were comparing Saturday’s game with Game 2 of the World Series. If you’re familiar with my blogging, you’ll know that I was there for Game 2 with my dad, mom and brother/blogger Don. It was one of the most magical and surreal moments of my life. I compared Saturday’s game with that game. It felt almost like a time warp. To hear the guys compare it to Game 2 was just mindblowing. I am confident that I will see another Game 2, just hopefully with better weather.

Game’s starting in an hour! We’ve got Swisher’s old team coming to town tonight. I’m getting excited for a beatdown of Athletic proportions.

Until next time, Sox fans!

Right back in this thing

Heading into the season, I thought we really had something here. What happened then? Well, Sox fans, we ran into some trouble.

Those Cleveland Indians are not going away, but beating them in a one-run ballgame was just what we needed to get back on track. We stormed into Detroit and swept the lowly Tigers. And yesterday, during our 2008 Home Opener against the Twins, it took some good pitching all-around and a clutch hit by Joe Crede (does this surprise anyone anymore?) that just so happened to be a grand slam.

The Twins are depleted. They lost Hunter, Santana, and Castillo, among others, and are not looking nearly as strong as they did a year ago, even two years ago. They can be beaten. The Tigers can and will be beaten. The Royals will be beaten. The Indians can be beaten, but it will take some smart ball. It will take Ozzie ball.

I’m not saying that we are going to win a championship or even make the post-season just by winning some games in the first week, but we are off to a good start. Start believing now, Sox fans! After last year, we can only go up. Get out there and show that swagger!

Opening Day 2008!

Cait Higgins, Sox Superfan
Happy Opening Day, 2008! We are starting the season off with a bang! It felt so wonderful to be back at beautiful US Cellular Field today. Even if it was chilly, it was worth it! It was so great to see our boys battle back and forth with the Twins before nailing their coffin shut for the day. All things considered, I thought Javier pitched well. It seemed, at first, like he couldn’t find the strike zone, but there’s something about Ozzie getting tossed in the 3rd inning that tells me that it wasn’t 100% Javier’s fault.

It was great to see what looks like the return of Ozzie ball. I was listening to post game on the Score, and I believe they said that 12 out of 15 baserunners got on because of singles or walks. Nick Swisher batting lead-off could be a Godsend. He always seems to have a good at-bat, even if he gets an out. He started it off well for us today by getting on, getting over and getting in. Carlos Quentin had an outstanding game at the plate. Sometimes he scares me a little when he fields balls in left and drops them. He has one of the best arms I’ve ever seen (did you see that PERFECT throw to first base yesterday vs Detroit?!) so I guess the occasional slipping up, if it isn’t an error, isn’t going to kill us. I was pleasantly surprised that AJ’s first strikeout was today. 7 games and 1 strikeout? That’s pretty good. Especially since he’s been hitting like a monster in every game. I hope this continues, just because he can give it to all the haters out there. Thattaway, AJ! Let’s talk about Mr. Clutch, the hero of the day, Joe Crede. I am *SO* glad we didn’t decide to trade him. I think that was my favorite Kenny Williams decision this offseason. A grand slam on Opening Day? Can’t get much better than that! Thanks, Joe!

Finally, how fantastic was it to sweep the Tigers and have them go 0-6 in the first week of baseball? They’ve been the favorite to win the Central by all the bloggers, sports writers and reporters. What happens to them? They get swept in back to back series by teams that have already been written off; the KC Royals and us. Sweet victory. Then, the Royals and Sox end up in a tie for first place! Excellent. My brother reminded me of a very sweet time when we were in first in the Central, the Orioles were in first in the East, the Angels in the west, and the Cardinals in the NL central…. that beautiful time was none other than the 2005 season. Let’s keep that in the back of our minds as the season progresses. What a week!

Like I said before, it is so great to have real baseball back home in Chicago, on the Southside! We have an off day tomorrow. I hate those kinds of series, but understand the guys are tired. Bring on the Twins! Look for me at the Cell this weekend when DE-troit comes to town!

Until next time, Sox fans!