Wow, has anybody else heard that Lowe's commercial with Farmer & Alexei?

 

If only this had been a few years ago it would have been a Lowe's commercial with Farmer and Juan Uribe and the world would have been a different, better place.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen and his family moved into their new place here a few days ago. So what happens? Their neighbor drops by, gives them a house warming gift of flowers and then, oh, by the way, mentions, "I'm a season-ticket holder for 20 years.''

 

Figures. Another critic.

 

"That's what I want to hear,'' said Guillen, smiling, as he recounted the story in his clubhouse office before Sunday's game. "We just move in!''

 

....

There's no way around it: Guillen's team has reeked more than three-day-old sauerkraut. But the Sox can't be this crummy, can they? At some point they're going to remember how to win ballgames again.

 

It happened last year. Remember? They went 9-14 in April and 13-14 in May. Then came June and July, when the Sox finished a combined 36-17 to move into the division lead.

 

"I don't even know where we are,'' Beckham said of the standings. "I haven't even looked. Right now, it's not even important. I can't tell you many we've lost.''

 

So I told him.

 

"That's not great,'' he said.

 

It's embarrassingly un-great. And the Sox know it.

 

"You look at the lineup, you look at this ballclub and I bet everything I have -- I don't have too much left, I just bought a house -- I bet we're not going to finish the way we are right now,'' Guillen said.

 

But even Guillen is getting tired of repeating himself. Every day he keeps saying, "We'll be OK.'' And then comes another loss.

 

The Sox had runners on first and second in the bottom of the ninth. No outs. They trailed by two. What fans were left inched toward the edges of their seats.

 

And then Paul Konerko and Rios were punched out on borderline called third strikes and A.J. Pierzynski grounded out to second. End of game. Continuation of losing streak.

 

"There's no way we're going to play this bad any longer,'' Guillen said. "There's no way. We've done everything on the field we could to be terrible. Now it's our time for the ball to bounce our way.''

 

So far, the ball isn't cooperating. And neither is the month of May.

Link

Great, so our plan is to play the law of averages and hope the universe balances everything out? Cool, can't wait.

Great, so our plan is to play the law of averages and hope the universe balances everything out? Cool, can't wait.

Isn't that pretty much "Baseball"? in a nutshell?

Isn't that pretty much "Baseball"? in a nutshell?

 

No. Thats the attitude people have with expensive players who have a history of being really good, and are playing bad, or players who are really bad and are playing good. When it comes to a whole team, you need to be proactive, not hopeful.

Great, so our plan is to play the law of averages and hope the universe balances everything out? Cool, can't wait.

 

No. Thats the attitude people have with expensive players who have a history of being really good, and are playing bad, or players who are really bad and are playing good. When it comes to a whole team, you need to be proactive, not hopeful.

I just realized how ironic it is that you are the self-proclaimed "Official White Sox Nicknamer," and yet your own handle is "JoeCoolMan24."

 

 

Isn't that pretty much "Baseball"? in a nutshell?

 

Or more accurately, Advanced Statistics.

I just realized how ironic it is that you are the self-proclaimed "Official White Sox Nicknamer," and yet your own handle is "JoeCoolMan24."

 

I don't get it.

I don't get it.

 

Reminds me of your nicknames...

Reminds me of your nicknames...

 

its terrible?

The White Sox will open a new two-level, 13,000-square-foot flagship team store at U.S. Cellular Field.The new store will be one of the largest of its kind and feature a wide variety of White Sox merchandise along with other Chicago-area professional and collegiate teams.

Link

Link

 

Very cool. I like the fact you'll be able to get to it without going to a game.

Just posted this in the AJ thread, but as of June 2nd, the White Sox will have played 35 of their 57 games on the road. I think if they can be anywhere around .500 at that point in time, things will start looking up very quickly. It may also just be the optimist in me, but it seems that the schedule gets much, much easier from June 3rd and on too.

Just posted this in the AJ thread, but as of June 2nd, the White Sox will have played 35 of their 57 games on the road. I think if they can be anywhere around .500 at that point in time, things will start looking up very quickly. It may also just be the optimist in me, but it seems that the schedule gets much, much easier from June 3rd and on too.

But if they're still 9-10 games below .500, they're in real trouble. Which means they need to play above .500 ball on a stretch of schedule that is still quite difficult.

So I was at breakfast this morning b****ing about the Sox and wondering where the leadership went. And who is sitting right next to me when I finally see his face.....Harold Baines.

So I was at breakfast this morning b****ing about the Sox and wondering where the leadership went. And who is sitting right next to me when I finally see his face.....Harold Baines.

 

Nice work

Hey, one of the coaches acknowledged that a player's problems weren't entirely mental!

And after allowing a two-run homer Monday to Derrek Lee and throwing only 15 of 34 pitches for strikes, Sale elected to look at videotape of his more successful outings and says he recognized some flaws in his mechanics.

 

"It's finding a rhythm and staying with it," Sale said before Tuesday night's game. "Coop (pitching coach Don Cooper) and (bullpen coach) Juan Nieves saw it. We have discussed it, we have worked on it, and we'll go from there. There's no sense on dwelling on the past. We got the win (Monday) and we look forward to moving on."

Hey, one of the coaches acknowledged that a player's problems weren't entirely mental!

 

I could tell you it was mechanical! In fact I did that yesterday!

I could tell you it was mechanical! In fact I did that yesterday!

 

It was nuts...his left arm seemed to be on the far end of the left part of the mound, and the rest of his body was on the far right part.

“Yeah, he was good,” Gordon Beckham said. “And he threw a lot of off-speed stuff. He kept us off-balance. It’s tough, but you got to tip your hat. We swung at some bad pitches. I know I swung at a couple bad ones. We didn’t help ourselves much, but he was very good.”

 

Everybody has been very good. The White Sox have already been shut out four times this season.

 

Well, finally it can’t get any worse. Or is that just being naïve?

 

 

Doug Padilla/ESPNChicago.com

 

Sounds like Beckham's been taking notes from Harrelson.

 

 

“Yeah, he was good,” Gordon Beckham said. “And he threw a lot of off-speed stuff. He kept us off-balance. It’s tough, but you got to tip your hat. We swung at some bad pitches. I know I swung at a couple bad ones. We didn’t help ourselves much, but he was very good.”

 

Everybody has been very good. The White Sox have already been shut out four times this season.

 

Well, finally it can’t get any worse. Or is that just being naïve?

 

 

Doug Padilla/ESPNChicago.com

 

Sounds like Beckham's been taking notes from Harrelson.

 

They drew 6 walks last night and got a runner to 2nd base. And Edwin Jackson and Matt Thornton both threw the ball really well.

 

It can get a lot worse.

IIRC, somebody posted this on WSI a long time ago. Just recently found it again. Guess it still fits...

 

February: Spring training just started. Give them some time to get in shape.

March: How can you complain about the Sox when they haven't even had a real game yet?

April: It's only a few games into the season. Give the team a chance to get going before you criticize.

May: It's still early in the season. Wait until summer gets here to judge them.

June: You can't really gauge a team until the all-star break, so give them a break.

July: Who knows what will happen at the trade deadline. Wait until you see what they pick up before you complain.

August: Who knows what will happen at the waiver deadline. Wait until you see what they pick up before you complain.

September: Oh sure, it's easy to complain in hindsight. Where were you before the season began?

October: The offseason hasn't begun yet. Wait and see who they sign this offseason.

November: It is still early in the offseason. Why jump out and sign a bunch of overpriced free agents? You can't buy a championship you know!

December: Give them until Soxfest at least to make any big moves.

January: Maybe you can at least wait until spring training begins to b**** about the team!

IIRC, somebody posted this on WSI a long time ago. Just recently found it again. Guess it still fits...

 

February: Spring training just started. Give them some time to get in shape.

March: How can you complain about the Sox when they haven't even had a real game yet?

April: It's only a few games into the season. Give the team a chance to get going before you criticize.

May: It's still early in the season. Wait until summer gets here to judge them.

June: You can't really gauge a team until the all-star break, so give them a break.

July: Who knows what will happen at the trade deadline. Wait until you see what they pick up before you complain.

August: Who knows what will happen at the waiver deadline. Wait until you see what they pick up before you complain.

September: Oh sure, it's easy to complain in hindsight. Where were you before the season began?

October: The offseason hasn't begun yet. Wait and see who they sign this offseason.

November: It is still early in the offseason. Why jump out and sign a bunch of overpriced free agents? You can't buy a championship you know!

December: Give them until Soxfest at least to make any big moves.

January: Maybe you can at least wait until spring training begins to b**** about the team!

 

I have been talking about this cycle for a while now, although admittedly, I've never put it down in such perfect terms.

 

That is incredible.

Clarification on the Vizquel steal attempt with Pierre at the plate in the 6th...According to Ozzie, it was Vizquel who missed the sign and not Pierre. Vizquel thought the hit and run was on, when in fact, it was not. So even Omar with mental mistakes right now. He also was the one who was supposed to be covering first on the bunt in the 6th...Vizquel was pretty much the reason we lost today if you ask me...everyone getting in the suckfest this season.