First shot, solo homer!
Way to go, Brent Lillibridge!
First one of the season, and what a great one it was. 10,000th in ChiSox franchise history and putting the boys on the board.
I’m not going to count my chickens just yet, but a milestone like that deserves a little bit of celebration, regardless of how the rest of this goes.
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So, as the ChiSox get ready to take on the A’s tonight at the Cell, I’m trying to work my head around the first match-up of the season. This is always hard for me. I can read the stats and crunch the numbers, but I guess I just need to see it to believe it. But, if you’re going to try to ponder a game before the roster is even submitted for the day, you pretty much have to talk about the pitching.
As the headline on mlb.com points out, both probables have pitched perfect games in the last two seasons, but that’s a remarkable acheivement that doesn’t help me much today. Neither of these teams are the Rays.
And, while Braden has a better record (2-0) against the ChiSox than Buehrle does against the A’s (4-13), but the disparity in the number of games should say something about the ability to draw comparisons. Looking at IPs, Braden has 22 1/3, while Buehrle 152 1/3 lifetime innings. That’s the difference of couple of seasons, right there.
And, this season, Braden’s record is 0-1 and Buehrle is 1-0 (and a no-decision in KC).
So, really. Pitching-wise, I might want to hedge with Braden a bit, given that his one loss was still a decent showing, but I need to see how things start to unfold. And, given that my heart lies with the Sox, I have to hope that the numbers don’t mean anything when put into action. Talk to me again after I see what they’re throwing for the first inning or so and what’s happening on offense (and, of course, defense). There are always factors to consider other than the pitching, and there are a number of reasons that I think the Sox are going to be the stronger club tonight.
Until then, I figured this method of predicting the outcome of tonight’s game (basedon pitching) is about as accurate as any (particularly any that I can come up with)…
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So, what to say about the Rays/ChiSox today?
Well, it was all Chicago all the time until Sam Fuld decided (again) to show his teammates, his management, and pretty much everyone else in the world of MLB what he’s worth. A double which had him on base an in position to score, putting the Rays on the board (6-1). Really, the only hiccup in Gavin Floyd’s day was his throwing error (though, I would have to argue that he wasn’t alone in that one) that allowed Fuld to score.
And, then comes the drama. The score was (very briefly) 6-2 until the call on Johnson was reversed and his RBI (bringing Damon across home plate) didn’t count.
And, then Maddon got mad. Pun intended. He was pissed. He came out of the dugout red-faced and hand-waving in the familiar way. My lip-reading skills are amateur at best, but I saw an awful lot of bullsh*t getting thrown around in amongst the general flailing. I think he knew from the time he marched onto the field that he was going to yell until he got himself tossed from the game. It was a close call, an arguably an important one, so the dramatics weren’t unexpected.
But, I can’t help but wonder if at least 50% of Maddon’s ranting was letting out 7 games worth of frustration in a public venue. It’s been a rough start for them, really, and who could blame him? Unfortunately, it didn’t help his boys today.
However, aside from that aforementioned throwing error, this guy was having a pretty great day (and getting a reasonable amount of exercise, running back and forth to first):
Way to go, Gavin Floyd.
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So, on Friday when we had to endure hours and hours of headlines about a certain player’s abrupt retirement to avoid a second suspension, it was nice to click open yahoo!sports and read a totally different kind of story on Saturday. Maybe it’s my inner overly-sentimental alter-ego coming out (it’s a rare thing, but it has been known to happen, on occasion), but it was nice to read a story about some off-the-field player happenings that cast a positive shadow over the MLB.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=sh-henson_loewenstein_giants_world_series_share_rings_040811
So, yeah. I’ll take my good news where I can get it most days.
But, that being said, I’d also take a win this afternoon at the Cell!
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It’s a lot easier for me to be complimentary about someone on the opposing team when the sox still came out with the W against Tampa today.
I’m new, so I doubt there is anyone reading this, but just for the record, I have a deep abiding love of the outfield – especially right outfielders – and sometimes people like to give me heat for it.
But, come on. There are almost no words for how awesome this was, no matter which team you were pulling for today and whether you, like me, love the outfielders or really couldn’t care less.
http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?c_id=tb&content_id=13609203&topic_id=8877450
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Well, by only starting this blog last night, I missed the start to the season and was a day late for the home opener and I arrived just in time to start blogging for the April 8 game v. Tampa.
Seriously??? Awesome timing. Really.
In a blackout area, I had to follow the game (again) at mlb.com, scoresline.com and via SMS on my cellphone. Not cool, people, not cool.
It’s much easier to watch highlights and lowlights and keep up with the action when my cellphone doesn’t blow up in the top of the ninth with all of the wrong kind of action.
Break my heart, why don’t you?
Let’s take a moment and focus on the good, yeah?
http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=13581399
Love your outfielders, people.
And, today is a new day.
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keleighannah.mlblogs.com 
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Here in right field, Its important you know, You gotta know how to catch, You gotta know how to throw. That’s why I’m here in right field, Just watching the dandelions grow. –Willy Welch |
Watching the Dandelions Grow 