Rays = Twins

Or, alternately titled: "Thank God the Sox are coming home..."

I'll be at the game Sunday, and hopefully we'll be able to turn it around and win two at home, then ride the momentum back out to Tampa and steal this series. I'm excited, I really am, if only because they're not gonna be playing in that dome for another two games, which gives them an instant shot and storming back. So we'll see...

More "suck its," just for Laz:

--Suck it, lack of clutch hitting. Our problem all year. Really, I said this before, and I'll say it again here. I don't care what the Sox end up doing this postseason, whether they lose in three or win it all, this roster needs to be blown up completely. Alexei, Quentin, Danks, Floyd and Jenks are the only untouchables, in my opinion.

--Suck it, Kenny Williams, for now. Somehow, we totally got away from the way we won in 2005, and it only took a few short years. Kudos for everybody you tried to get in the offseason, but we need to revert the strategy. They need to get more speed, more youth and fewer guys on the downside of their careers, instead of hoping they catch twilight lightning in a bottle. B.A. should have been played from Day One this year in centerfield, or at least Jerry Owens (I know he was hurt for a bit at the start). Their big argument was that they couldn't deal with the lack of offensive production from either. But how many veterans in everyday roles produced just as poorly? Dewayne Wise isn't that great, I'm sorry. There's a reason he's been a career minor-leaguer. I'm beginning to realize that, as long as we have Ozzie as our manager, we will be completely unable to develop any type of young players. Or at least not nearly enough to keep up without wheeling and dealing. It's a shame. Owens, Anderson, Josh Fields? Trade bait.

--Suck it, still, Harold Reynolds. No better today. He missed a lot of crucial stuff and really was off the mark on a lot. The ONLY thing he said of any real value, in my opinion, (but then beat to death) was that the Sox were a station-to-station baseball team. He also relies on that Pitch Trax graphic they have, which, by the way, is way off where the ball actually is in the slow-motion replay. Just brutal. Then he made a comment about Swisher hitting a home run to make everyone forget about the poor regular season, but I don't think that many folks are down on Swisher, so I thought that was kind of a cheap throwaway line that, again, showed a lack of homework being done on the team.

--Suck it, analysts who think that the Rays' starting pitching is better than their bullpen. Going into this series and still in it now, I fear their bullpen much more than the starters, honestly. They're good and great and all, but the bullpen is much more threatening in my opinion.

--Suck it, Red Sox, especially if the Rays beat the White Sox. I will not watch if I have to deal with a Red Sox-Rays ALCS. I might watch an Angels-Rays ALCS. And of course, if the White Sox are in it, I'm watching. Duh.

Anyway, hope is not lost...the Sox are much different at home, on grass, with the crowd behind them. I can't wait, honestly...

Why blog about the Cubs?

OK, so, I know that I'm going to get some responses here, but I want to qualify everything I'm about to say...

1. My wife is a die-hard Cubs fan. Thus, I live in a very tolerant household. I will watch the Cubs and occasionally root for them; but I'm not a Cubs "fan" in the sense of, I don't get too high or too low if they win or lose. I did not grow up hating the Cubs.
2. I'm looking at this from an unbiased standpoint. Those of you who know me know that I'm completely capable of that. Maybe you agree, maybe you disagree, I don't know. Either way, it's one man's opinion, and actually, I know a few Cubs fans I've shared this with who have agreed with me on its face. In other words, I'm not ripping Cubs fans "while they're down" (I'm not even ripping them, honestly...I'm just saying I'm disappointed).
3. I'm not saying EVERY Cubs fan is this way...in fact, most of my friends who are Cubs fans probably don't fit into this -- though I don't really know, in that I've been mostly "locked away" in my house this week with minimal social interaction (on vacation from work). Like I said, too, a couple of them have agreed about the topic.

So, now, on to the real meat of the post: Cubs fans in the NLDS thus far.

I don't believe in curses. I cringe every single time I hear someone refer to the Goat or the Bartman incident in the 2003 NLCS as just another extension of the curse on the Cubs -- for several reasons, not the least of which being that he did not drop a sure double-play ball that would have ended the game shortly after he supposedly "interfered" with a foul ball. Curses are for marketing folks and people trying to make a buck. And, unfortunately, this Cubs curse has nabbed Cubs fans hook, line and sinker.

And, after watching most of the first two games of the NLDS against the Dodgers, it HAS HURT the team. Home-field advantage? Gone, because of the supposed curse, which caused, in Game One, the entire crowd to sit mostly silently while Ryan Dempster pitched his way through the first inning. For comparison, in many of the other playoff games, the crowd was AMPED during the first inning, cheering before almost every two-strike pitch and cheering as though each out were the World Series-clinching out. I had not seen this little enthusiasm since watching the Braves in the playoffs in the '90s, when no one in Atlanta cared anymore, because it became a "been there, done that" atmosphere.

The problem is, Cubs fans are not silent because of a "been there, done that" mentality. They're silent because, unfortunately, they seem scared. All year long, all we ever heard, propogated mostly by the media, was "It's Gonna Happen" and "This is the Year" and all that other crap. Now, we get to the playoffs, and Cubs fans are nervous. And if it wasn't nerves in Game One, it was overconfidence -- that the Dodgers would roll over and leave town down 2-0 because the Cubs were that good.

Now, obviously, the fans aren't to blame for the Cubs losses -- the Cubs have played like crap. I'm not blaming them for anything. However, they certainly did not help the cause much. Back in 2003, Cubs fans were rocking and rolling, and the team fed off it. This year, the team doesn't have anything to feed off except the strange silence of a typically raucous Wrigley, all brought about by the belief that this so-called curse exists. This is the best Cubs team I've seen in my lifetime, and Cubs fans went into this series, some overly worried, some overly confident, but few actually enjoying the fact that the Cubs were in the playoffs again. That's a shame, especially given this town's sports history.

Take, for example, a very close parallel: the Red Sox. The Red Sox supposedly also had this bullshit curse. When they made the playoffs, however, the fans were crazy. They "never gave up" on the team and never let the nerves of breaking the curse cause them to worry to the point that they were silent. It was always a loud, raucous crowd, no matter how disappointing the team played.

If the Cubs manage to wake up on the road and bring the series back to Wrigley Field, I hope that Cubs fans also wake up a bit more and really get behind their team. Give them something to feed off and play for. Sitting and waiting for something to happen isn't the way to cheer your team on in the playoffs. Helping them make something happen by supporting them and cheering in anticipation is the way to do it.

This is the playoffs, and while Cubs players have a lot of stepping up to do to salvage what's left, Cubs fans certainly can step up their game as well. I hope Cubs fans get another chance to do it.

Equal opportunity bashing...

--Suck it, Chicago baseball teams. It's only one game (Cubs game 2 later), but way to represent as poorly as possible in the first games.
--Suck it HARD, Javy Vazquez. If you start another game for the Chicago White Sox, I'm done. You were outpitched today by Clayton (formerly could suck it) Richard. Go back to the Expos. Yes, the Expos. Hell, go anywhere but here. Trade him for a prospect in the offseason.
--Suck it just as hard, Orlando Cabrera. You're a winner? Three popouts and a strikeout (with the bases loaded) after talking shit to Grant Balfour during the at-bat? I wish the bases hadn't been loaded so he could have drilled you in the skull. Dumbass. Bet you won't talk to reporters afterward either, chickenshit. Especially since they'd have asked you about the botched hit-and-run attempt earlier and whether it was your fault or A.J.'s.
--Juan Uribe has already sucked it, so telling him to suck it for striking out with one out and the bases loaded in that same inning would be just a waste of my time. He wasn't terrible other than that at-bat.
--Suck it, Harold Reynolds. From an unbiased standpoint, honestly, my God, he was terrible. I understand the national guys only know so much, but jeez, Reynolds could have done a little bit of homework. He even called Clayton Richard "Richards" at least twice if not more, then admitted he didn't know much about the guy. Thanks, Harold. Thanks, TBS. Thanks a lot.
--Finally, suck it, Tropicana Field catwalks. I saw the ground rules graphic twice in the game, and the announcers couldn't stop talking about the catwalks. They spent more time talking about the catwalks than a whole lot of other things. If I wanted meaningless droning on about the same unimportant topics, I'd request Hawk Harrelson to do the games. At least beat my brain in with Evan Longoria Worship for nine innings rather than "catwalks" talk. My lord. We get it already that this is a weird ballpark.

All that said, it's just one game. Plenty more baseball to be played, and believe it or not, there were some good takeaways:

1. Clayton Richard, who I ripped earlier this half-season, has improved significantly in his last 4-5 outings. That said, I don't know how much I "trust" him...but at least he's on a better track than he appeared on when he first came up.
2. We rocked the crap out of Dan Wheeler in the World Series. He didn't look too overpowering today, even though we didn't do too much against him in the ninth. There's at least a bright spot.
3. We weren't completely overpowered...again, if not for Javy's mistakes, we might have won the game. Let's hope that better pitching from Buerhle, Danks and Floyd will prevail and the rest of the team will keep up their game as they did today.

Best. Vacation week. Ever.

Wow. Just, wow...some news and notes from late Tuesday of what is turning out to be the best vacation week ever.

-- Obviously, go Sox, first and foremost. It's just amazing how much of a "flip the switch on" kind of team this has been over the past three games. Just unbelievable.
-- I couldn't believe that this was the White Sox first 1-0 win this year (and, it turns out, they didn't win a 1-0 game last year either). Pretty interesting, considering the 2005 Championship team lived off winning those games and won several "mile marker" games 1-0.
-- I had never seen a home run ball hit to the bronze statue concourse in dead center field before, as Jim Thome's was tonight. I honestly didn't know it was reachable.
-- I hope, I hope, I hope that Javier Vazquez has learned something from these past three games. We're going to need him to come up big again and hopefully often, very soon, if not in Game 1.
-- So the week starts with a Bears game visit and a win (and some cool pictures too), and will now end with me and my little bro going to Game 3 because Tim will be heading back from vacation in Florida at that time. I sure as hell hope that I have further great, great news then. But what a week. Especially since I probably wouldn't have cared too much about the other games if the Sox didn't make it. Now, I'm tuned in.
-- I totally regret not having bought tickets for today's game while at yesterday's game and then going tonight. Damn, that would have been totally sweet. Ah well, I'm sick enough from all the sporting events the past three days. No sense in overdoing it.
-- Suck it, Twins. Next time, make sure when you celebrate like you've won the World Series that you close the door 100 percent. Mistake of youth.
-- To anyone who says that the game should have been played in Minnesota, because the Twins beat the Sox 10-8 in the overall season series, I say that you obviously haven't paid attention to the century-plus of baseball. A coin flip, though crappy, is the rules. If they change them, so be it. If not, those are the rules.
-- Suck it, New York. I've been waiting ages to say that. No offense to most of the New Yorkers reading this, of course, as you're intelligent, civilized sports fans who have earned my respect. To the rest, suck it.
-- I remember how awesome it was in 2005, that the fun of celebratory baseball led directly into the extended holiday season (starting with Halloween, etc.), that I'm totally energized by the fact that we could have a similar run here in Chicago (one way or another) this year. I love it!
-- Go Cubs! Because as long as you keep winning, fewer will pay attention to the Sox, meaning all the pressure and scrutiny will be off them. Plus, yes, I would like to see an all-Chicago series. Maybe.
-- Spur of the moment, with little basis for this prediction other than my own knowledge and feeling (as well as not knowing the Sox's starters and such), Sox win the ALDS in four, stealing Game 1 while the Rays are a bit star-struck and winning their two home games. I totally reserve the right to change this prediction by gametime Thursday. :)

One night only...

Well, boys, this is it...time to go out and kick the Twins' asses and send them packing for HOME for the rest of the year, while we pack for Tampa Bay. Don't disappoint the fans, White Sox. I still believe. Make everyone else believe.

And, dear Laz...in response to your last comment:
I didn't quit hoping or believing. I just quit getting pissed off at their disappointments to that point. Read it again, buddy boy. :)

They've "ruined the whole damned thing" means that it should have been a lot easier than it has, given that the Twins did nothing to take the division from us either.

I'd rather lower my expectations (which I have done) and be pleasantly surprised than mortally disappointed. So far, that has worked.

Besides, had I "quit," I wouldn't have sat in the pouring rain yesterday with my poncho on for 3.5 hours waiting for baseball, by myself -- no bathroom break, no beer, no food. I sat there, in left field, in a poncho, with the rain beating down on me. No reason to move, just waiting for baseball and keeping my seat dry.

And I know you're just giving me shit, but I'm just clarifying for anyone else who might think I'm a "quitter" or I lost hope. :)

LET'S GO, GO-GO WHITE SOX!