BIG Z to the sox?

phil rogers of the chicago tribune is calling for the dismissal of carlos zambrano from the cubs! more on this in a bit.

last night's game was a must-win, and we won. our offense was awake and functioning, as gordon beckham hit a RBI single that scored a run in the 7th. BHB was spectacular, pitching 8 innings of 2-run baseball. tonight, clayton richard gets the call to start.

and now to the headline story of the day. yesterday, in the chicago tribune, writer phil rogers called for the dismissal of lone cubs ace carlos zambrano. the reason for this was a result of BIG Z's performance on sunday against my boys in black-and-white, where he gave up 3 runs and hit a batter. given BIG Z's tendancy to melt down easily (though not nearly as easily as fellow slub fucktard milton bradley), and the fact that this year, one of his tantrums resulted in a 6-game suspension, its easy to see why he could easily turn into an even bigger liability for the already-cursed black hole of baseball known as the cubs (the others, being fucktard bradley, inept closer carlos "marmol-ade" marmol, kosuke "can't swing a bat" fukudome, etc).

BUT, and here's where it gets interesting, BIG Z said in an interview that he wouldn't mind playing for the sox and revealed that he was a fan of the team. since he has a good ERA (please dont ask me to do any math) and a good work ethic (for the most part), if the cubs were to get rid of BIG Z (and send his contract with him), the sox could pick him up. that way, this basketcase can continue his career with the team he loves, and fight with fellow countryman ozzie guillen after a bad outing and not get suspended. plus, he can replace jose contreras since it appears that this year might be it for him. we could always use solid vets to balance out the massive youth movement in our bullpen.

more on this story as it becomes available.

GO WHITE SOX!!!

tamtam

win baby win

for the 4th straight series, the sox have managed to win 2 out of 3 games. while we haven't swept anyone since may/early june, 2/3 is acceptible, for now. it shows that we're still not dead yet.

today's game (which i, shamefully, again did not watch because my brother dragged me out of the house to best buy to look for a computer case) was a thriller. it was john danks versus the 1 consistantly good player on the cubs, carlos zambrano. from the highlights at southside sox, alexei had a MVP moment when he hit a 2-run homerun in the 6th. what made this one special was that podsie, the leadoff man-for-now, got plunked by BIG Z (no warnings were issued). the sox had a good game, scoring both early and often. final score was a 6-0 blanking in favor of the white sox.

and in his traditional postgame interview, the ever-outrageous ozzie guillen had a few words to say about the recent (lack of) attendance at games:

So the Sox need the Cubs to help them draw fans? White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was asked why attendance was so low at the Sox-Dodgers series, and said: “Because our fans are not stupid like Cubs fans. They know we’re (expletive).”

Guillen said Cubs fans will go watch any game at Wrigley Field because “Wrigley Field is just a bar.”

quote courtesy of south side sox. i should write a book and just fill it with outrageous quotes by ozzie guillen.

our next series will be against the cleveland indians over in cleveland. tomorrow's starting pitchers will be BHB and carl "american idle" pavano.

GO WHITE SOX!!!

tamtam

the week in review

dearest reader(s),

im so sorry that i haven't been able to write about my boys in black-and-white. its just that this week, i started working at a greek nursing home (currently, its just volunteering, but that could soon change since my supervisor told me about a program that pays you for volunteering). i work everyday for about 4 hours, just babysitting old people. its not too bad, i just help the aides with activities and shuffling the farts around. my only problem is that i dont speak greek, and while i've picked up a few words (they call me "kuklamu", which means "doll"-or "sweetheart", and i also learned "ela" which means "come"), im largely clueless as to what is being said when greek is spoken.

consequently, i havent been able to watch baseball AT ALL this week. but since tonight's game is on cable, and i dont work today, i will do a recap of the week.

last weekend and into monday, the detroit tigers came to town. and with them, former sock and communist shemale magglio ordonez (at least thats what the sports gossip forums say) returned to face his old manager whom he disputed with at the end of his season with the sox. magglio also got a haircut (finally), but the sox won that series.

on tuesday, the dodgers came to chicago for 3 games. after dropping game 1 to the dodgers, the sox managed to win the last 2. game 2 was a blowout, and game three was much closer, but it was a last-minute victory for the sox after jim thome (who's been on a hot streak) hit an RBI to win it. aside from beating the best team in baseball, ozzie guillen blew some steam at the team for their lackluster offense in his usual postgame press conference.

yesterday, the cubs came to the cell. the newly-revamped jose contreras was pitching and although he gave up 3 runs, he had 8Ks-which is pretty good any day. the sox almost came back to win it in the 8th, but the cubs pitchers shut them down.

and in other news, the fucktard milton bradley is in trouble-again. after popping out in the 6th, bradley threw a terrible tantrum in the dugout-throwing his helmet and destroying a water cooler (perhaps channeling zambrano and dempster's reactions to bad outings), prompting equally-hotheaded manager, lou pinella to send him home. though i dont care for the cubs 1 way or another, me and just about every sports reporter in the city thinks it was a bad idea for the cubs to sign this douchebag. looks like it's gonna be another lackluster year for this guy.

to the west coast: manny is almost ready to return. he would have returned on wednesday, but a storm delayed the game, and subsequently his return. in the words of conan o'brian, "manny will now soon be the first player to hit for the menstrual cycle" (get it-he used female fertility drugs...)

GO WHITE SOX!!!
tamtam

happy father's day!

hi everyone!

first of all, to all few guys who read my blog at this end of the internet, i want to wish you a very happy father's day!

hoo-boy! have we been busy! the crosstown classic was split after game 1 was rained out. john danks DID, however, pitch the next day against ryan "the canadian" dempster of the cubs. danks did a spectacular job-8 innings of scoreless baseball. dempster, on the other hand, gave up 2 runs and the cubs bullpen gave up 2 MORE runs later on. scott linebrink, who's been struggling lately, gave up 1 run in the 9th, but matt thornton finished it for us. final score: sox-4, cubs-1.

game 3 was on cable. gavin floyd and his BHB was pitching against the mighty carlos zambrano of the cubs. BHB did pretty well (zambrano, not so much), and the sox led for most of the game, but in the 9th, derek lee of the cubs hit a home run to win it.

things haven't been well since then. after the cubs, it was off to cincinnati to play the reds. jose contreras faced off bronson arroyo. contreras did ok, but the bullpen blew it. we lost 3-4.

yesterday, however, it was better. clayton richard faced some fella named johnny cueto. we did much better and won 10-8.

today, mark buehrle faces off against danny harang (also known as "harangutang", get it...?). when i checked the score, it was 2-0 sox in the top of the 1st.

and in other news, those damn cubs are doing better and better. they've beat the indians twice already, including former players mark derosa and kerry wood. both victories were also come-from-behinds, normally in the 9th (and often won in extra innings). on our side, fat bartolo's on the DL. knee problems listed, but i think ozzie needed a legitimate reason to bench him. as you all know, fatso's been having some problems throwing the ball in the strike zone.

happy father's day!
GO WHITE SOX!!!
tamtam

whats next?

the sox win the series against the brewers in a 5-4 thrilla'. since the game was on cable, i went to south side sox for the recap. apparantly, we came back in the 9th. mark buehrle was pitching and did ok. is it just me or does it seem that when the sox are on the road, they have a better playing record? think about this for a second: in that road trip 3-or-so weeks ago, we won every series against every team we faced. but when we came home, the team tanked! now, we get called up to milwaukee, and win that series up there! im sure im not the only one in white sox nation who's noticing this trend. it seems that 2007 is coming back with a vengance.

but on a more positive note, today is game 1 of my favorite rivalry: cubs vs. white sox. and yes, this game is on cable too. this sucks cuz on the cubs, big bad carlos zambrano is pitching and he's the 1 player on the cubs who's actually GOOD at his job! i personally dont mind watching the cubs, but only if zambrano's pitching. otherwise that team sucks.

for us, it's john danks getting the call. i think this game is at wrigley field too.

here's a random tidbit: today at macy's in downtown chicago, my boy carlos was slated to make an appearance. if you spent over $75 for father's day, you got an autographed picture of my boy. but, if you didnt have money to spend (like ME!!), you could have gone for autographs. i would have really liked to go just to get an autograph from my boy, and maybe ask him how his foot was feeling (news outta herm schnider-the white sox trainer-says that carlos won't be back till the all-star break, if not later. torn tendon in the foot is the standing diagnosis). but unfortunately, i cant drive in chicago (mainly cuz i cant parallel park, but the traffic makes me very nervous), and i dont wanna pay for parking (it costs like $20 to park ANYWHERE in chicago now!).

GO WHITE SOX!!!
tamtam

big wins

hallo everybody!

this picture above might seem really random, but this creepy fella is mr. sardonicus. he's the main character in a 1950s horror flick of the same title. i just saw the movie tonight on a local tv station. i was actually horrified when i saw his face for the first time, and it takes alot to freak me out. the movie's plot plays on the idea of the role of psychology in perception.

and now to business: last night's game was finally over, but at a terrible score: 7-2 in favor of the brewers. after d'oh-tel, dj "tabasco" carrasco came on, and gave up 3 more runs, to put the brewers ahead 6-2 at that point. after tabasco, aaron "jew-jitzu" poreda made his major league debut.

poreda actually didnt do too bad compared with his predicessors. poreda had 2 Ks and gave up only 1 run. he's got a bright major league future.

today's game was on fox, which im ashamed to admit, but i didnt watch the whole game. i was busy all day and only until 5 or so did i sit down to watch. jose contreras, the new miracle man, was starting today, and pitched 8 innings of spectacular, no-hit baseball. manny parra got the call for the brewers, and lasted a mere 1.5 innings. he gave up 6 runs in the 2nd. i think the sox scored their final run in the 6th. when i turned the game on, it was 7-0 in the 8th. scott linebrink was then called up to close the game, but he gave up 1 run. final score was 7-1 in favor of the white sox.

tomorrow is game 3, but it'll be on cable. i also have to go to the airport to pick up my parents and brother, who are coming back from AZ (my brother had orientation at school), but later on, i'll be going to a concert at ravinia. it'll be fun.

GO WHITE SOX!!!
tamtam

up and down

hello!

our homestand was absolutely miserable. after contreras got us our win, we dropped the next 2 games to the tigers. 1 of those games, as it fell, was an extra-inning affair (we lost it in, i think, the 15th). it would have been worse if we'd lost yesterday, but through some miracle, we managed to win. what happened was that gavin floyd and his BHB got the call to start. BHB pitched pretty well, and by time he'd left in the 8th, the score was 3-1 in favor of the white sox. scott linebrink did setup and bobby jenks (who's been struggling lately) was called in to close. with 2 outs, he gives up a 2-run homerun to curtis granderson in the top of the 9th.

yeah, not cool.

come the bottom of the 9th, tigers closer joel zumaya was called up to finish this game and take it into extra innings. from his first pitch, the white sox had grabbed him by the balls and didnt let go till the game was over. zoomie loaded up the bases (his first pitch was a double by BA), and it was none other than podsie-pan who brought in the winning run on a single. podsie, who is notorious for not coming through in the clutch, raised his batting average a little bit by bringing in BA. the final score was 4-3 in favor of the white sox.

today, my boys went north to milwaukee, otherwise known as beer city, to play the brewers. thought the game is currently in progress with the sox winning 2-0 in the top of the 6th (runs scored in the 2nd by alexei and aj, respectively), it has been a strange game. in the first inning, podsie-pan got caught too far off the bag by jeff suppan, the pitcher who has no range of motion. but aside from that, it must be a full moon or something cuz the officiating crew seems more than a little lost. in the 4th inning, podsie stole 2nd, but was called out cuz he went off the bag. on the replay, it didnt look like that was the case (at least as far as i could tell). also, in the 3rd, there was another controversial call. one of the milwaukee players, i dont remember his name, tried to lay a bunt, and it landed in the dirt right in front of the plate. i thought it was fair, cuz for what little official rules i know about MLB, i know that in the infield, anywhere between the white lines, its fair. it would have been a double play, but the refs ruled it foul. naturally, i screamed at the tv screen that the refs needed their eyes checked.

breaking news! clayton richard was pulled in the bottom of the 6th after overthrowing josh fields to land beer city's own beloved tattooed fatass, prince fielder, at 1st. pidgeon-toed octavio d'oh-tel comes in to pitch, and gives up a double to milwaukee's corey hart. fielder scores (who knew that fatass could run so fast!). milwaukee leads 2-1. hey, there's a reason we in chicago call him "d'oh-tel".

speaking of "d'oh!", guess who's getting walked just now? yep, jason kendall. i know the fine folks at "more hardball" recently dedicated an entry to this fella.

breaking news! hart scores after pitcher jeff suppan singles. it was supposed to be a popup, but alexei and podsie had a chicago cubs moment where the ball dropped between them (the cubs are famous for this). kendall just scored after mcgehee singles. brewers lead 3-2.

will this inning ever end?

finally its over. i'll be back later once the game is over for any final thoughts.

GO WHITE SOX!!!
tamtam

the million dollar win

hidey-ho!! (*yelled in a mr. hankey voice*)

looks like jose contreras has taken the 1st step towards redeeming himself in the eyes of sox fans. after a month in the minors, jose had to pass the ultimate test: did it pay off.

for now, yes it did. jose's forkball was sharp, his pitches were on target, and the offense actually woke up. if jose can get more wins, i will bestow upon him the title of the new "miracle man". normally, i refer to john danks as "the miracle man" because of his stellar career last year, but i think this year jose contreras (provided that he stays on the good path) is a far better contender for that title, especially since it appears that he's resurrecting his end-of-the-road career.

today, detroit's own lardass trainwreck, dontrelle willis got the call to start. not only has his career been mediocre, but as i commented once on "more hardball" about dontrelle: his weight did him in. i remember dontrelle when he was with the marlins, and he was a skinny little twig. now, he's so fat that he can barely lift his leg up during the windup!

but weight aside, according to the guys at south side sox, dontrelle's been having a good game so far. last i checked, the game was tied 1-1. as for our starter, it was our lone ace mark buerhle.

and in other news, the sox called up aaron "jew-jitzu" poreda (not a "south park" insult! aaron poreda really is jewish! nickname inspired by the photo below). poreda was so happy that on his facebook status, he posted "This is the biggest day of my life... I'm goin to Chicago, the big leagues, and I ain't never goin back!!!!!". i wouldn't be so brash about not going back to the minors if i were you, but thats ok.

come on boys! lets gain some ground!

GO WHITE SOX!!!

tamtam

turds

boy oh boy, have we been bad.

we dropped the series to the A's after winning the 1st game (they won 3 our of 4), got swept by the indians (in 2 of those games we were shut out), and today we dropped the 1st game of a double-header to the detroit tigers with jose "can't win" contreras coming up to pitch in game 2!

yesterday, ozzie was telling the press that the sox offense had run out of bullets by the 3rd inning. while the game was on cable, the lowlights showed that my boys were pretty lackluster. i mean, fat bartolo gave up like 4 solo homeruns (some back-to-back) over the course of 6 innings.

as for the miracle arrival of gordon beckham (who's 9th inning error cost us the lead today), he's been about as effective as a beta-player in the dvd-age (my dad had a beta-im too young to know what it is!) going something like 0-22 in 6 games. this blows!

and in other news, my boy may be getting back soon! reports from south side sox say that carlos is almost ready to return! he'll have to go through some minor league stints cuz he's been outta baseball for a while, recouperating from plantar fasciitis. if beckham couldnt spark the team resurrection, maybe my boy will.

thats all from my end of the blogosphere!

GO WHITE SOX!!!
tamtam

shplits!

hi-yo!

first off, happy 30th birthday to my good friend burton over at "more hardball", and probably the only person who will willingly sit and read through my ramblings :).

looks like we're back to being the same old team as before. on monday we came back to chicago and in a last minute move, ozzie switched starters. normally, fatso had been scheduled to pitch monday, but allegedly came down with food poisoning after eating some bad guacamole (so say the guys at south side sox). its still a little murky as to why fatso got pulled, but anyway, gavin floyd and his BHB got the call to serve instead. BHB pitched a good game and jim thome hit a 2-run home run in the later innings to further increase our lead. our final score on monday was 11-5.

yesterday, however, was a different story. fatso was pitching and looks like the guacamole was still hanging on him cuz he gave up a run in the 1st, and then 3 runs in the 4th. our offense was shuttered by the a's pitcher, vincent mazz-somethingorother (dont know his last name and dont feel like looking it up). we were blanked 5-0.

tonight's the final game of the series. clayton richard gets the call to start, and i'll be watching this game cuz its at 7 pm on WCIU. maybe this time we can actually win a series at home!!

GO WHITE SOX!!!
tamtam