Package him with Kyle McCullough next year for the rotting corpse of Gary Sheffield so we can all forget that the White Sox organization ever drafted these two bums in the first round.

Meanwhile, the Twins face four lefty A’s starters in a row — Dana Eveland, Dan Meyer, Dallas Braden, and Greg Smith. Even though these guys are far from studs, the Twins offense sucks more against lefties than righties. Hopefully, the A’s aren’t tanking it already.

we may have seen the best day of juan castro’s life.
or not.
whatever.
i’m just saying look on the bright side.
sheesh.
what’s your problem?

Not from the standpoint of in-game decisions, but pregame decisions — namely (and most if not all of these were noted in the gamethreads, so this is not groundbreaking, just synthesis):

1. Against a wild pitcher, he kept out one of his most patient hitters in Q!, and the more patient of his third basemen in Crede.
2. In a stadium with a very large center field, he put El General in CF. Even assuming the whole “center is easier than the corners” bit that KW has thrown out from time to time has merit normally, it’s hard to believe it does in Camden, where it’s 406 to straightaway center and stretches out to 417 to left center.
3. He did this in a game that (looking over shoulder to make sure no one is actually listening), as SSH notes, looked imminently winnable going in, with the Sox best (or at least most consistent) starter going against a pitcher with an ERA over 7 and a team with little to play for.

Someone (Vince, I think) noted that it looked like Ozzie was trying to steal one with the off-day coming up. My question is why? Isn’t this the game you make sure you win? The next game is against Beckett in Boston. To me, that’s the game you try to “steal” — face it, you have little chance of winning anyway. Why not rest Q on Friday after the off day on Thursday if you want to get him back to back days of rest? They may have lost this one no matter what — Danks did look bad — but it did not seem like they were given the best chance to win today which, while sometimes necessary (after the near fade in 2005, I’m all for resting guys as much as possible), seemed odd in this case.

Anyway, the lead remains technically whopping at 1 game (though barely), and Punto popped out to third yesterday. Outlook: Still sunny.

The bullpen will be well rested for Friday.

That’s all I got.

One day he’s the bee’s knees, the next he’s never coming back…

Today he’s back on top of the world.

I can’t stand it.

Because Scott Linebrink’s right shoulder felt “great” after a 30-pitch bullpen session Wednesday, the reliever said a simulated game “might not be too far in the future.” That could portend a return to the White Sox’s bullpen.

…

Linebrink thought he might have corrected a mechanical flaw dating to his days as a prospect with San Francisco when he had a tendency to drop his arm angle and throw across his body. He missed the end of the 1998 season and the start of ’99 after shoulder surgery.

“It’s something I’ve always battled,” Linebrink said. "I’ve been too quick with my lower half and let my arm drag. You want to work north and south and eliminate east and west.

“I was [throwing] 18 inches across my body, but I’ve gotten a lot better with it. It’s understanding the way you throw. Sometimes you forget some of these things, and the simplest mechanics can jog in your memory.”

link

A day off is OK. In retrospect the game we “should’ve” won wasn’t won or lost by the hitters – Danks was off, the pen needed some shuteye for the weekend, and the O’s were ready to break their 5 game losing streak. this was one of those “reverse lock” games that are hard to win.

No problem – still up by one. Soldier on. But the gamethreads the last couple nights have been el lamo. Hopefully we are not getting complacent or bored – were in the stretch run from here on out.

SO GET IN THE GAME! WIZ, CHIBURB, AND ALL THE REST OF YOU BUMS WHO NEEDED AN EMOTIONAL BREAK – LET’S GO!

and it was freakin’ ugly. so was the fugly trying to flirt with me at the sports bar, ugh. danks didn’t have it. was surprised to see ozzie give Q a day off. reckon he ain’t used to playing a full season, but considering we’re neck to neck with those goddamn twinkies, we should ride that mofo for all he’s worth.

…and if we needed more evidence that griffey cannot field in center!

giants fans calling in this morning bitching about bochy removing lincecum last night with 2 outs in the 8th, even though he’d already thrown 132 pitches!

danks’ mechanics were messed up. release point quite inconsistent (and a few times wildly and ridiculously off) and “higher” than normal. looked absolutely atrocious to me. coupled with the fact that he was working at a snail’s pace, it’s pretty obvious that something was bothering him. laboring would be a kind description of what he was doing.