Highland

Regardless of the outcomes of the next two, I believe it is already time to forget about the post season. I am skipping tonight's game. I need a break from watching this offense.

Yes, this has been a problem all year, along with the miserable average with the bases loaded. You can't leave that many on without it catching up with you, and this lack of success in these situations has been one of the things that has kept the team from leading the division. The offense has been frustrating all year. The Sox have good hitters, but they are not doing well in these situations. In KC, they had first and second and no one out, and didn't score. Next inning, bases loaded, no one out, didn't score. No wonder they lost that game and many others.

It looked like 35,000. The concourses were packed. Even the upper deck looked crowded. There was a concert after that drew some, I guess, but I saw many fans leaving after the game. The crowd made some noise when Kopech got Tiger hitters to two strikes. Not much noise when the offense was up. Two hard hit balls all night.

It is hard to imagine, not to mention depressing. I thought things would change after 2005. Obviously, they changed the wrong way.

It is a bad move. You don't take out someone like Eloy when your offense stinks.

In the 2-0 win over the Tigers, LaRussa sent in Leury to pinch run for Eloy. The game was still tight. What if Detroit tied and then the Sox went into extras without one of their better hitters? Besides, Eloy is a half-way decent runner. This move made no sense. Like many Tony makes.

This is a .500 team. I am not hoping for any more than that. And the White Sox can no longer be considered favorites to win the AL Central. If they somehow win the division, I'll be happy but shocked.

I don't care what Steve Stone says about Moncada. There is something physically wrong with this player and he doesn't belong on the field. I was in the left center field bleachers for the 2-0 win over Detroit. I had a good view of the plate. Moncada took a healthy cut on a pitch (for him anyway) and he got the good part of the bat on the ball. The drive went to center just to my left. It had a decent distance, but it just died out there. There was no real power behind it. It ended up being a relatively easy out when last year Moncada would have hit a home run with the same read and swing. This isn't the first time I've seen this from Moncada. He gets a good read on the pitch, gets a good part of bat on it, and the ball really goes nowhere. He's hitting under .200, but I don't think it is from a bad work ethic. It's amazing. This team will coddle Kopech but ignore what is going on with Moncada. And if he is that lazy, if he is showing no effort, then why he is in the lineup every day especially when he is adding to the problems of this offense? Moncada is still young. It's time to recognize what is wrong before they ruin this player.

Harrison plays his ass off every game. Hustles and dives for anything. He'll hit another HR before Grandal does.

Was at the game. Kopech, of course, was great. Crowd was energetic. Offense is completely broken. There isn't one hitter on that team that is doing anything. Moncada hit the deepest drive, and that barely made it to the warning track. Two days in a row the Sox have a starting pitcher dominate, and neither gets the win. Don't expect the offense to turn things around. It just isn't happening.

I remember the 1990 team as one of my favorites. Their leading home run hitter was Carlton Fisk with 18. They had no superstars; Frank Thomas had been just called up in August. Their motto was "Doing the Little Things." Little things were advancing runners, getting runners home from third with less than two outs, turning the double play. They won 94 which was good for the third best record in baseball. The White Sox need to do the little things if they want to get over .500.

Going to the game tonight but not expecting a win despite the matchups. I do expect the beer to be cold, but who knows?

I understand the frustration, and the idea of a boycott or something similar makes sense. However, this is an organization in complete denial. And fan criticism only makes them circle the wagons more. The real frustrating thing is that it appeared the rebuild was going to work, that attendance would increase, the team would win a hell of a lot more, and the White Sox would look like a class major league franchise. Instead, baseball people and fans wonder what is wrong with this team, and Tony LaRussa can barely get his ass out of the dugout. The rebuild is becoming a failure, and things will only worsen unless there are big changes. But there is no indication of any change. Instead, the FO watches the club go out and embarrass itself and then pretend everything is fine. Yes, .500 at the 112-game mark is just fine. All you have to do is pretend.

I've been a fan for decades and have seen some bad White Sox baseball. But some teams were just bad. They couldn't help but be bad. At least they put in some effort and looked like a team once in a while. This team looks like it has given up. And the longer LaRussa stays, the worse it will get.

Couldn't be. No one can be a bigger mistake than Tony. At least with Ozzie, you might have some fun. If LaRussa stays, we will see a team with a losing record. Ozzie can be no worse than that. Right now, this team is a disgrace.

Hey LaRussa: Tell Grandal to stop waiting for walks. Swing on 2-0, 3-0, 3-1. Forget the damn walks. You're supposed to hit some home runs and drive in runs.

Ozzie was right about everything he said. After the Vaughn homer, Eloy has a pathetic at-bat. Swings at two pitches out of the zone and takes one right down the middle for strike three. Stone said he was frozen. Frozen by what? Barlow throws nothing but junk. Hey, Eloy, stop saying hi to Mom and start using your brain. Want to save the season? Fire LaRussa and put in Ozzie. I think Ozzie is a disaster waiting to happen but put him in there anyway. I don't know how the FO can watch this shit go on day after day. Today was horrible baseball. Another base running gaffe and four at-bats with the bases loaded and no runs scored. No, this team is not going to win the division. Someone tell me why anyone in their right mind would think that.

The least the offense can do is give their ace some runs so he can pick up a win and have a shot at the Cy Young.

Grandal hit a homer in the first series of the season against Detroit. I can't remember his other one. I also can't ever recall him getting a clutch hit. The Sox are now 2-3 during the last five of this "easy" stretch.

This is bad news of course, but despite hitting a little over .300, I don't think Anderson was contributing all that much. In the past, he seemed to ignite this team. Not so this year. Before I would say this would be devastating. I don't feel that way now.

Sale has too much emotional baggage. When he was on the Sox, he'd kick at the dirt, and then give up a home run. Of course, no one would come out of the Sox dugout when he was losing it to calm him down. Last week he almost tore up a dugout in the minors when he was taken out of the game even though he was pitching lousy. Hide the scissors if you sign him.

What is strange about all of this is that when the Reinsdorf-Einhorn group first bought the team in 1981, JR said it made more sense to build a solid minor league system. He got some pushback because many fans, impatient after the awful 1970s, wanted him to spend money like George Steinbrenner. But it does make more sense to spend more within than trying to buy championships with free agents. Regardless, money has to be spent somewhere, and it has to be spent wisely. Instead, we got Adam Dunn and LaRouche and other veterans past their primes. If the team developed young players, it wouldn't have to tank seasons to trade for young players that other teams have. So, now I wonder if this rebuild fails, just what strategy will follow?

At this point, we will have to accept that Yoan is needed for his defense. The drawback to this is that the team can be so weak on offense, it's hard to hide him in the order. If his average continues to drop, a decision will have to be made about him. A third baseman is supposed to hit some, too. In the long run, somebody else will have to get a shot at third. This really can't go on.

I don't think there are any easy opponents for the White Sox. They played well today, except for the late Pollock brain cramp on the bases. Would like to see Giolito go more than five innings next start.

6-2 is what is needed. I don't expect that. This team has taught me not to expect much.