Recaps
Save FNS: Another Victim of Unquestionably Incorrect Umpiring
by homesickalien on Oct 21, 2009 11:35 AM CDT
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186 comments
The post-season umpiring controversy continued last night in the Yankees/Angels ALCS Game 4.
Yankees took a 3-1 series lead in a 10-1 blowout behind the superb pitching of CC Behemothia.
But once again, the Angels fans' focus is on the umps, despite the fact that the blown calls had little affect on the outcome of the game.
I sympathize with the Angels fans because it sure sucks to have umps make blatantly incorrect calls based on "heart" rather than "eyes."
But imagine how that poor ump felt, expected to call a game flawlessly while standing in the distracting presence of guys like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and Nick Swisher. That is a whole lot of powerful, encompassing aura coming at you.
Plus, it's not easy calling two Yankees out at the same time. I can imagine the ump felt like he would be betraying God, in a way.
186 comments | 0 recs
Bye.
by larry on Oct 4, 2009 2:50 PM CDT
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275 comments
- John Danks reached 200 innings.
- A.J. Pierzynski protected the first .300 season by a White Sox catcher by not playing.
- Scott Podsednik will be exploring free agency.
- The Chairman wants players to show up to Spring Training in shape. That means you, Bobby.
- OC didn't get his wish. But there will be a Game 163 for the midget title again.
- And the White Sox season ended with a double play.
275 comments | 0 recs
White Sox Play Two, Score Two, Win One
by The Cheat on Sep 30, 2009 8:15 PM CDT
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244 comments
Just call me the mailman.
244 comments | 0 recs
John Danks Wants to Complete Season
by The Cheat on Sep 28, 2009 9:17 PM CDT
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223 comments
John Danks threw a complete game, and the Sox youngsters provided him enough run support. Yep, that's your recap.
223 comments | 1 recs
Jake Peavy Knows The Secrets to Sucess
by The Cheat on Sep 25, 2009 9:50 PM CDT
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97 comments
For a game that helped the Twins more than the officially-eliminated-from-playoff-contention White Sox, that was a thoroughly satisfying game. We all got a little glimpse of next season:
- Jake Peavy breezed through 7 innings of scoreless baseball, striking out 8. The only ball that was hit with authority was his first pitch of the night, a drive to the right field wall saved by a nice catch by the rangeless one.
- After sending the minimum to the plate over the first 4 innings, and getting no-hit into the 6th by Ernest Borgnine, Gordon Beckham brought the dreamy with a 2-run shot for the game's only runs.
- Matt Thornton shut the door in his first opportunity to audition for the possibly vacant '10 closer role.
97 comments | 0 recs
Daniel Hudson Is Gonna Be Good
by The Cheat on Sep 21, 2009 10:51 PM CDT
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246 comments
Not since Gordon Beckham's Girl-Approved Hair has a White Sox rookie shown such promise in his initial trial while failing to fill up the box score. Daniel Hudson may have taken the loss Monday. He might have continued the Curse of #54 with a routine throwing error to first base. But he showed a great deal of potential, room for growth, and most importantly, demonstrated an advanced feel for how to pitch.
Hudson allowed 3 runs in his outing, 2 of them unearned on a passed ball and the aforementioned throwing error. The third run was also in the self-inflicted category, but it's here where I was actually encouraged by his approach. He walked 3 batters sandwiched around a single to plate a run in the second. But he was ahead of each batter in he walked -- heck, he was ahead of everyone all night. He attacked the zone -- and lost them when he got a bit too fine with his 2-strike pitches. That was my main takeaway from this game. Hudson knows how to throw quality strikes, on the corners, in all counts.
He got himself into a bit of trouble in that 2nd with the walks, but it seemed to me that the pitches Hudson threw in the 2-strike counts were pitches that would have most-likely led to outs in the minors. He was trying to make the hitters chase out of the zone after he got ahead in the count, and the Twins weren't biting when they had men on base. He'll have to make a small adjustment when/if all teams take a similar approach, but it seems to me that he's got the command to make that adjustment fairly swiftly.
As for his repertoire, we saw the addition of a curveball tonight. And although he generally grabbed strikes with the pitch (including one backwards K) it was anything but inspiring. He has to throw it from a little bit higher arm slot than his usual slingy, 3/4ths delivery in order to stay on top of it. This makes it very easy to pick up simply by watching his motion. That being said, Hudson's other offerings allow for plenty of projection.
Hudson's slider isn't quite there yet either. I called it more of a back-up slider in his first couple relief outings, the type of pitch that can go a LONG way if he puts it in the wrong spot. When you think about a guy coming from a lower arm slot, you think of him having a sweeping breaking ball... which brings me to Jake Peavy. I was very impressed with Peavy's slider this weekend, and given his similar slingy arm-action, he might be able to get together with Hudson to work on a better motion from that slider. Hawk also brought up a good point about Hudson being able to add a cutter, which Peavy also throws... You see where I'm going here.
Hudson's changeup looks great on TV, but hasn't produced the swing-and-misses you'd expect as a surprising number of hitters have laid off of changes that start at the very bottom of the zone and drop out of the zone. I'd almost be willing to say he needs to get his changeup up a bit.
Think about that, we're talking about a rookie White Sox pitcher who might need to get his changeup up a bit, and whose control is so good he's probably not even used to throwing actual strikes in 2-strike counts. That's the pitching equivalent of waiting for Gordon Beckham to start pulling the ball. When Hudson finds that third pitch, when he figures out where to put that change in a 2-strike count, he's gonna be good.
That's not an if either, it's when.
246 comments | 0 recs |
Miguel Olivo is Irish, The White Sox Are Lifeless
by The Cheat on Sep 18, 2009 10:02 PM CDT
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51 comments
We can't even joke about the White Sox playoff hopes anymore. Ozzie has begun filling out lineup cards featuring a bench (instead of an outfield) of Jermaine Dye, Alex Rios and Carlos Quentin. Hawk spent the evening acting as if this game meant the Sox season. To which the Sox responded with a 3-hit barrage, including 1 that left the infield, extending their scoreless inning streak to 18.
The season is officially over; Luke Hochevar serving as coroner, Miguel Olivo as undertaker.
Next year starts tomorrow. Jake Peavy arrived just in time.
51 comments | 0 recs |
Bobby Jenks Hates Us All And Drowns Puppies On Off-Days
by homesickalien on Sep 17, 2009 11:00 PM CDT
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296 comments
I had just closed my tab at the Sodo Showbox bar and boasted to the bartender about what a lovely curveball Bobby Jenks could throw, when that very same Bobby Jenks hung two pitches belt-high over the plate, to two different Mariners; both of whom sent those pitches into left field.
Tie game in the 9th!
John Danks clearly does not know how to win a game.
296 comments | 7 recs |
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