Chip Shots
A Sports Blog
A Sports Blog
Chip Shots
Ventura Should Order a Code Red On Santiago
Transfer Santiago? Yes I'm sure you're right. I'm sure that's the thing to do.
Col. Nathan Jessup, "A Few Good Men"
Col. Nathan Jessup, "A Few Good Men"
This shouldn't happen. It can't happen to a team that needs every possible break to go the right way. IThe Chicago White Sox pushed across two runs in the top of the fourteenth inning yesterday at Oakland only to have the Athletics come back and score three to win the game 5-4. The culprit, as he was against Baltimore a week ago, alleged closer Hector Santiago.
While White Sox manager Robin Ventura continues to profess his confidence in Santiago, the Sox blow an opportunity to complete a 5-1 road trip and to gain a little ground on the slumping Tigers. Every little bit helps this team, who has a razor thin margin of error, yet given the ball and a two run lead, the man Ventura designated as his close could not, for the second time, seal the deal.
He has to seal the deal. He must seal the deal.
A team as fragile as this has to covert saves. They can't have their closer blow two easy saves in 10 days. They just can't.
I know Robin is trying to boot the kids confidence, but if it were me, I'd be seriously be thinking about giving the ball to Matt Thornton or Addison Reed. This can't go on. It just can't.
Quick Shots: Coyote Finally Bags Roadrunner
It is said in hockey circles that nothing beats a hot goalie in the playoffs. Mike Smith is one hot goalie, kicking aside 40 pucks and shutting down the Blackhawks 4-0 last night. The Coyotes move on to meet the Nashville Predators in round two, the Blackhawks move on to the first tee at Medinah. - It won't be an easy round two for Phoenix as they will face the equally hot Pekka Rinne. In fact, Phoenix and Nashville play a similar style of hockey: slow it down, push it to the boards, make short passes and take care of the puck. This should be an exciting albeit low scoring series. I like Nashville in six.
- Jake Peavy threw a 107 pitch shutout last night as the White Sox beat Oakland 4-0, but that's not the big takeaway from last night. The big takeaway is that Peavy didn't feel any pain after the game last night. That's huge. The White Sox pitching staff is now firing on four of it's five cylinders with
PinkGavin Floyd getting the ball tonight. Let's hope he can right his ship and get everything in working order. - Big hits last night for Adam Dunn, Paul Konerko and Alex Rios. It's obvious now that if the pitching stays the way it's been, the hitting can keep the Sox in every game. It's early, I know, but you have to admit it's a lot more optimistic to be a Sox fan at this point than a Royals or Cubs fan.
- Speaking of lack of optimism, the slack jawed yokels at Bleacher Report are already wanting to ship Jake Peavy out. Can't we wait until June to discuss such things? The Sox are 10-6 and tied with Detroit for first place in the AL Central. Yes, it's early. Yes, this team is a house of cards. Yes, there has to be a perfect storm, yadda, yadda, yadda. But so far, so good. Let's not try to break them up too early. Or until The Chairman declares "Anyone who thinks we can catch Detroit is crazy."
Put One In Your Stash Of 42, Yes!
We've been talking a lot the last week about the theroy (one of two I espouse) on how to make the playoffs. You'll win, sixty, you'll lose sixty and the forty-two other games are the ones that make the difference.
In my mind, those 42 are games you either snatched defeat from the jaws of victory or victory from the jaws of defeat. One run games, blown save games or games that you should have won but didn't or games that could have gone either way.
For example, Phil Humber's perfecto is one of the 60 wins because the game was never in Jeopardy. Conversely, last Monday's loss to the Orioles is on of those forty-two because the Sox were cruising along before the bullpen imploded for eight unanswered runs en route to a 10-4 extra inning loss.
Yesterday, might be considered one of the forty-two as well as the Sox went up early, fell behind in the middle and then won in the end. Not an extra inning nail biter, but a game that showed some resilience on the part of a team who has shown little the last two seasons.
Some takeaways from the game (which I did not get to watch on TV as it was unavailable in my area):
In my mind, those 42 are games you either snatched defeat from the jaws of victory or victory from the jaws of defeat. One run games, blown save games or games that you should have won but didn't or games that could have gone either way.
For example, Phil Humber's perfecto is one of the 60 wins because the game was never in Jeopardy. Conversely, last Monday's loss to the Orioles is on of those forty-two because the Sox were cruising along before the bullpen imploded for eight unanswered runs en route to a 10-4 extra inning loss.
Yesterday, might be considered one of the forty-two as well as the Sox went up early, fell behind in the middle and then won in the end. Not an extra inning nail biter, but a game that showed some resilience on the part of a team who has shown little the last two seasons.
Some takeaways from the game (which I did not get to watch on TV as it was unavailable in my area):
- Ladies and Gentlemen, Alex Rios! Maybe putting him in right field was the key to straightening him out. Let's hope he stays hot.
- Ladies and Gentlemen, Adam Dunn. He should be less surprising than Rios simply because he hit rock bottom last year. Even though the average is .250, he's participated in the offense this year rather than hinder it.
- John Danks needs to straighten things out. Jake Peavy, who starts tonight against Oakland and Phillip Humber have pitched very well, Chris Sale has been good, but Danks and
PinkGavin Floyd have been below par. Of course, if the Sox can score five to seven runs a game, they can cover for Danks and Floyd. And, if I can win the Mega Millions, I can retire to a life on my private island. - I'm not going to whine about Brent Morel and Gordon Beckham. I liked The Cuban Missile in the two hole yesterday, but there were a lot of dead space in the bottom third of the order. After the A's, the Sox play Boston, and as bad as the red Sox have been, they are capable of scoring nine runs even when they lose. The Savior and Mr. Morel along with the Cuban Sandwich need to get on track.
- Brent Lillibridge needs more ABs.
- Oakland has never been as easy place for the Sox to play, although they did okay last year. Let's hope Jake stays in one piece tonight.
Quick Shots: Sweep Complete
- As lousy as Thursday was to a Chicago sports fan, yesterday was awesome! All three Chicago major league teams and the Cubs all won. I think even the Fire might have won yesterday, but then it's only soccer and we mention that, we have to mention bowling teams and church league softball results as well.
- The Cubs won 6-1, then traded Marlon Byrd to the Red Sox for a failed minor league pitcher and a player to be named later. Cubs fans are already clogging up the phone lines at the Score demanding that uber prospect Brett Jackson be brought up now. Ask yourself two questions, Cub fans (three if you want to include "why am I am Cub fan?") The first being is it really going to make a difference now in a season where winning 70 games would be considered playing above your pay grade and second, the White Sox rushed Gordon Beckham. 'Nuff said.
- The White Sox good news is obvious. Yet, now I'm reading some of these east coast journalists (like Ken Rosenthal and Nick Cafardo) trading off pieces of the team already. A.J. Pierzynski and Jake Peavy are now appearing on the radar of several teams. Apparently none of these guys thinks the Sox will even be in contention for a wild card in June. Yet the Sox are off to a decent start (for them) and should have won two more games against Baltimore. The bottom line is if their offense wakes up, they can make a play for at least a wildcard.
- The Bulls rode Luol Deng's back to a victory over Dallas yesterday. Dallas certainly does not look like the defending champs and could make the playoffs as a sixth or seventh seed. The Bulls now have a two game lead over Miami with two to play, so a win and the Bulls get home court for the playoffs. Derick Rose looked better, but only scored eleven points.
- Jonathan Toews banged one of the post for a Blackhawks overtime survival victory last night. Typical Hawks effort: Come out hard for ten minutes, give up a goal later, score the equalizer when it looks like all is lost and finally, pot one in overtime. Game six tomorrow night.
- On The Sports Reporters this morning, New York writer Mike Lupica went to town on Cubs President Theo Epstein, blaming him for the Red Sox troubles this year. Absent in the discussion was Larry Lucchino whose increased meddling in affairs slowed Epstein and helped chased him out of town. The discussion comes on the heels of the Bosox collapse yesterday against the Yankees. Boston writer Bob Ryan did say the Bosox were 3-10 at this point last year as well and barely missed the playoffs.
- So, you'd think a pitcher throwing the 21st perfect game in history might be on the front page of Yahoo Sports, Instead, there is something call UFC.which I guess is street fighting with rules. This must be either a popular sport or Yahoo Sports is trying to own the 17-24 demographic. In any case, I fully expect to see Arena Football as the lead next week.
A Perfect Afternoon For Baseball
Congratulations to Phillip Humber for pitching a perfect game this afternoon at Seattle. More important, the White Sox have won three out of four and are now 8-6.
Today's final: Sox 4, Mariners 0 and the Sox going for the sweep tomorrow.
I'd tell you more about the game, but Fox decided the Yankees and Red Sox were too important to for me to miss even though I live in Wisconsin where nobody gives a crap about the Yankees and Red Sox I did get to see the top of the ninth when they cut away to the White Sox broadcast. That last out was pretty hairy, but there was no way A.J. was going to let his pitcher down.
The last time four Chicago teams played on the same day, all four lost. With the Sox and Cubs already having won, it should be a good day for the Bulls and Blackhawks who play later tonight.
Today's final: Sox 4, Mariners 0 and the Sox going for the sweep tomorrow.
I'd tell you more about the game, but Fox decided the Yankees and Red Sox were too important to for me to miss even though I live in Wisconsin where nobody gives a crap about the Yankees and Red Sox I did get to see the top of the ninth when they cut away to the White Sox broadcast. That last out was pretty hairy, but there was no way A.J. was going to let his pitcher down.
The last time four Chicago teams played on the same day, all four lost. With the Sox and Cubs already having won, it should be a good day for the Bulls and Blackhawks who play later tonight.
Quick Shots: Tough Day To Be a Chicago Sports Fan
- Wow. What a day. The White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks all lost yesterday. The Cubs lost too, but we don't cover minor league sports here.
- The White Sox struck out sixteen times yesterday en route to a 5-3 loss to Baltimore. The four games against the Birds were close (even the 10-4 game that they broke open in the top of the tenth) but in the end, strikeouts and lack of being able to pull the trigger brought the Sox down. As Aerosmith once wrote "same old story, same old song and dance." The Sox had a chance to do something with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom on the ninth, but Alex Rios struck out. Typical. On your list of the 42 games that make a difference, this is loss #2.
- I think it is highly obvious that the weak link on the White Sox pitching staff could be Gavin Floyd. He just doesn't seem settled yet.
- Meanwhile, on the west side of town, the Blackhawks showed up for about twelve minutes last night, ten minutes in the first period and two minutes in the third, but played a listless game the rest of the way. The Hawks came out smoking, but after Mike Smith continued to repel the first period onslaught, the Hawks simply fell into the Phoenix rope-a-dope and finally allowed the Coyotes to score twice in forty-five seconds for a 2-0 lead in the third period. But wait, there's more. The slumbering giant awoke and the Hawks scored two of their own to tie it and send it to over time where they eventually lost. The Hawks need to desperately do something about their ineffective power play and Cory Crawford needs to quit giving up soft goals in OT. The next one he gives up will be his last this season.
- The Bulls went to Miami to play basketball but a street fight broke out. This game looked like a bunch of guys playing in a school yard with all kinds of cheap shots and technical fouls. Maybe Raffi Torres could join the heat as a point guard while he is being suspend in the NHL. The Derick Rose-less Bulls didn't win and didn't clinch the home court. They will eventually, just not last night.
- Jessica Dorrell, Bobby Petrino's biking buddy, has signed an exit agreement with the University of Arkansas. The agreement calls for a $14,000 payment to Dorrell. In exchange, Dorrell gives up the right to bring legal action against the university and to ever speak of the episode again. There goes the book and the Lifetime movie we were looking forward to. I've got to think Dorrell just wants to get this behind her (which is how it probably started with Petrino. Ba dum bum) and move on with her life.
- The Chicago White Sox are twelve games into a 162 game season. They are currently 6-6, including a combined 3-3 over the ALs two best teams Texas and Detroit. And yet, after only twelve games which is so small a sample that you need an atomic microscope to see it, the idiots at Bleach Report think it's time to call out Robin Ventura. Boys, I know you want people to read your babble, but seriously, exorcise some common sense. Honestly, I should just stop reading Bleacher Report, but it is almost as funny as the Onion and the Sports Pickle. Twelve games and you are questioning the ability of the manager? Really, boys? Take a pill and chillax. This ain't Boston, you know...
Quick Shots: A Bucket Full Of Stuff
- Don't be confused. The Raffi Torres indefinite suspension is not "your crime was so heinous, we're kicking you out of hockey." It's more like "we're suspending you until you can show up in New York and meet with us." Personally, I like the former.
- The White Sox got some great pitching from Jake Peavy last night. Wait. What? Yes, for the third straight start Peavy looked good and helped his team win. While I remain cautiously optimistic, I remind you that this is only April. If he's still pitching like this in August, free of injury, then that's a story.
- Speaking of looking good, I think A.J. Pierzynski is writing his next contract. My prediction is after this season, he winds up reuniting with Ozzie and Mark Buehrle in Florida.
- Speaking of looking bad, White Sox third baseman Brent Morel is really scuffling. But his manager, Robin Ventura has an interesting perspective, given the fact that Robin started out his career 0-41. The belief in Morel is going to either lead to him overcoming his early season slump or being shipped back to Charlotte until hew can work it out.
- The Bulls seem to be back on the right track with a win over Charlotte last night. Of course, Charlotte is so bad, Sheboygan North high school could give them a pretty tight game. The big test is Miami tonight. Still, the Bulls are 2½ games up for home court advantage with only a handful of games left. What they really need to do is get everyone healthy for the playoffs and hope the nagging injury bug doesn't come back.
- The Blackhawks could give Marion Hossa the best get well present simply by winning tonight and tying up the Coyotes. Hossa won't be back anytime soon, if at all, but at least his spirits will be uplifted. Unfortunately, Raffi Torres won't be around to get pummeled. That will have to wait until next season.
- The NHL has determined that a way to crack down on all the cheap shotting is have iron fisted officials. Last night, you saw the converse of what you had been seeing in the first period of the Pittsburgh-Philadelphia game. That game was called way too tightly. There needs to be a balance guys.
- Pat Summitt has retired as UT women's basketball coach. What a sad day for that sport. What a legacy she left behind. Thanks to Pat Summitt, women's basketball has thrived, led to a professional league and given women the opportunity to play hoops at a competitive level. it wasn't always like that, but Pat Summitt was one of the pioneers. Her contribution to the sport as a whole should never be discounted because she's a woman. She's a great coach period. And that makes it equally sad because had it not been for the disease she must fight, she may have had ten or fifteen years left on the bench.
- I have determined that I will get to see eleven of sixteen Bears games here in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, some of the conflicts include both Minnesota games and a Detroit game. Maybe they will get moved. I just hope the Bears win at least two games this year. You know what games those are.
- I wouldn't be a broadcaster without mentioning the passing of Dick Clark. He was so much more than a face on TV hosting a dance show or counting down New Year's Eve. His production company has produced over 7,500 hours of TV programming and his radio network has several relevant programs, some of which we run at our station. RIP, Dick. And thanks for the memories.
Lack Of Customers May Be White Sox Biggest Problem
Buried deep in the story of the Chicago White Sox 3-2 loss last night was the fact that the assembled multitude of just under 11,000 witnesses was the lowest attendance in seven years at U.S. Comiskey Park.
Forget the fact that Brent Morel and Gordon Beckham can't hit their butts with their left hands. Forget Alex Rios running bases like a rookie. Forget Adam Dunn striking out more than Urkle in a singles bar. Those are baseball related issues that we can deal with on a daily basis.
The red flag from last night is the gate. The White Sox have always been run on a cash flow basis. And when cash flow is down, the White Sox become sellers. Except they can't sell because they have too many bad contracts. So, they are stuck. And if they are in a position where they had an outside shot at a wild card in June, they will be unable to add a part to help because they just won't have the money.
It also shows you that after Monday night, Sox fans may have seen this team for what it most likely is, a .500 team that probably will be declared dead by August. Why spend all that money when you are pretty sure you are going to see lots of men left on base, porous defense and so so pitching. The answer is, you won't.
It would nice to see this lineup begin to hit, but as we know from past years, that doesn't always happen. Maybe the new leadship can fix it, maybe they can't but one thing is for sure: The White Sox as an entertainment value is at low ebb right now. Putting butts in the seats is as important as getting Gordon Beckham to make contact.
Forget the fact that Brent Morel and Gordon Beckham can't hit their butts with their left hands. Forget Alex Rios running bases like a rookie. Forget Adam Dunn striking out more than Urkle in a singles bar. Those are baseball related issues that we can deal with on a daily basis.
The red flag from last night is the gate. The White Sox have always been run on a cash flow basis. And when cash flow is down, the White Sox become sellers. Except they can't sell because they have too many bad contracts. So, they are stuck. And if they are in a position where they had an outside shot at a wild card in June, they will be unable to add a part to help because they just won't have the money.
It also shows you that after Monday night, Sox fans may have seen this team for what it most likely is, a .500 team that probably will be declared dead by August. Why spend all that money when you are pretty sure you are going to see lots of men left on base, porous defense and so so pitching. The answer is, you won't.
It would nice to see this lineup begin to hit, but as we know from past years, that doesn't always happen. Maybe the new leadship can fix it, maybe they can't but one thing is for sure: The White Sox as an entertainment value is at low ebb right now. Putting butts in the seats is as important as getting Gordon Beckham to make contact.
Torres Must Go Down Hard
I'm all for hitting in hockey. I'm all for fighting in hockey. I'm not for cheap hits, goon play and intentional attempts to injure people.Yes, Raffi Torres, I am talking about you.
Last night, Torres flying shoulder to chin wipeout of Blackhawks star Marion Hossa was a textbook example of how bad the officiating has become in the NHL. Not one of the four on ice officials even saw the play, which happened in front of the Chicago bench. You've got to wonder what last night's officiating crew of Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Jose Feliciano and Tom Sullivan thought when Hossa was taken from the ice on a stretcher.
The non-call was witnessed in person by the alleged Commissioner of the NHL, Gary Bettman, so it may behoove Stevie, Ray, Jose and Tom to print some resumes, assuming their eyesight is good enough to find the copy machine.
The Hawks, although wanting to retaliate, couldn't because it was a tight playoff game and taking a stupid penalty isn't an option. Of course, sometimes you have to do that and having someone taking Torres into the turn buckle would have been justifiable. The Hawks will not get that chance Thursday night because Torres will most likely be suspended. I say most likely because with the NHL you never know. They are about as consistent as Mitt Romney campaign statements.
And by suspended, I mean he better get a minimum of ten games. If the NHL can suspend Andrew Shaw for three games for running into a goalie who tried to earn an Oscar, then Torres better get the Todd Bertuzzi special. If Roger Goodell ran the NHL, Torres would be able to join Saints coach Sean Payton on his year long world cruise. But since the NHL is run by the toothless Bettman, there is no telling what the grand prize for taking out an opposing team's star player will be.
Here's the case for a long suspension: Torres has a history of head hunting. Torres hit a player without the puck. Torres went for the head. Torres hit a star player (which shouldn't hold weight, but the marketing conscious NHL puts a premium on the players involved) and Torres hit Hossa for no other purpose than to injure him (conjecture, sure, but it looked like that to me. My blog, my rules.)
If Torres gets a wrist slap, he'll have to be put into witness protection, because Hawk fans will come looking for him. That goes double for Bettman and his hatchet man Brendan Shanahan.
Oh, and if they fine the Q-Stache for his comments following the game about the officiating being "disgraceful" that would be an outrage, too. They will, but they should make it $1 instead of the 10k he's probably going to have to pay. He's absolutely right.
I guess it's a case of if a Hossa falls and no one sees it, does it draw a penalty?
Sox Use Up Free Spot
"
Stone Pony, in my 53 years of baseball, I've learned one thing: You're gonna win sixty games, your gonna lose sixty games and the other forty-two is gonna decide your season"
Stone Pony, in my 53 years of baseball, I've learned one thing: You're gonna win sixty games, your gonna lose sixty games and the other forty-two is gonna decide your season"White Sox Broadcaster ken "Hawk Harrelson
Last night was one of those 42 games as the Chicago White Sox snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with a 10-4 extra inning loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
When I fell asleep in the top of the eighth (hey, I get up at 3am!) the Sox were ahead 4-1 and I thought it was in the bag. However, the Orioles, a mildly competitive team that seems to give the Sox fits every year weren't ready to give up, tying it in the top of the ninth and then breaking it open in the top of the tenth.
Some ignominious firsts for the Sox last night: First extra inning loss and first blown save.
I guess if you have a two run lead in the top of the ninth on your home field and you put your closer out, your expectations are that you are going to win. Two tape measure home runs later, the game was tied and the Sox were back to within a game of .500 and encountering their first two game losing streak of the year.
Manager Robin Ventura calmly handled the post game media last night, expressed his confidence in closer Hector Santiago and moved on.
This could be the game that exposes the Sox as the non-contenders the Jim Leyland loathed experts saw before the start of the season. Poor defense, inopportune hitting and a bullpen meltdown cost the Sox the game last night.
Tonight will be a good test to see how resilient this team will be under Robin Ventura. I think we are at our first crossroads of the young season.
