No more denying it: Jose Contreras Sucks!

I'll let the numbers speak for themselves.

I think any 3 year old who's seen Sesame Street can see that "one of these things is not like the others." * * * * *

I could really go on an extended rant here, but honestly, there's nothing new to say. The same sorry sack of shit keeps playing in LF. The same nice-bat-if-it's-on-the-bench keeps starting in CF despite turning even routine plays into adventures. Ozzie continues to preach pitching and defense, then starts an inferior defensive team, while the pitching continues to suck. The worst part is he alternates between shirking responsibility for the problem, and throwing players under his proverbial bus. He never seems to be willing to make the obvious move to fix our problems, giving far too much rope to veterans who continue to underperform. For example, here's what he had to say tonight:

There's no denying that the Sox defense in the 4th gave up a couple runs, but you've got to put part of that blame on Ozzie not putting his best defensive club on the field. The defense had nothing to do with the 4 extra-base hits that Contreras allowed either. That blame lies squarely on The Count and the rest of the White Sox staff who refuses to acknowledge that there is anything wrong with him.

I don't even think it's his sciatica. I'm more inclined to believe it's an elbow issue. That would explain why I haven't seen a slider in probably a month, or why Contreras has allowed less than 6 runs in just 1 of his last 6 starts.

Ozzie could have come out in his post-game and said, "dis keed, Jose, he not been very good for us lately. He's trying to pitch through some pain. But we can't win giving up 6 runs in a start, so now that we've got some reinforcements from the farm, we'll turn to Brandon McCarthy down the stretch." How refreshing would that have been?

* * * * *

I saw some chatter about the Sox being unable to score from second on a single, and all I have to say is that's what happens when there is a strong defensive arm in LF. And you can't complain about Joey Cora in one breath, then about the Sox inability to score from second in the next. As of today, we have two capable left-handed bats who can play LF, both of whom have strong arms. I'd be willing to bet that neither of them start a game in LF before the Twins clinch the wild card.