Scatalogical
If this is the Sox team for 2004, well, OK. I'm hope I was wrong about the offense sans Thomas, but it's looking like I am. This team has been scatalogical. In July, the team has scored three or fewer runs 11 times and nine or more four times. Scatalogical.
Carlos Lee has been red-hot lately, hitting .345/.412/.918 in the month of July. The man has 10 home runs already, so, I hope he can keep this up for a little while.
Jose Valentin had a home run, as well. He really hasn't walked as much recently, but when he hits the ball, he really hits the snot out of it. More than half of his hits are for extra bases and, more importantly, 21 of his 38 extra base hits are home runs. This is pretty amazing for a shortstop. Valentin is angling for a contract this year, but he's really had a good run with the Sox. He's averaging a .855 OPS since coming to the Sox, which is pretty amazing for a shortstop. Considering Derek Jeter has a career .847 OPS and Miguel Tejada's is .800 I'm pretty happy with Valentin.
Really, though, the story of the game was Mark Buehrle. Buerhle faced the minimum, giving up two hits and getting two double plays. He retired the first 19 hitters he faced. Buehrle always credits Alomar when he pitches a good game, but, for some reason, Jamie Burke has caught Buehrle the last few games. This leads me to believe that maybe Mark Buehrle is the cause of his good pitching, not the catcher. Of course, Buehrle credited the 32-year-old jouneyman catcher, which is a pretty classy move. Buehrle has always been a favorite of mine because of crap like that. I remember last year, he said he didn't want to start Opening Day, because if he started the second game, he would start the home opener and that was more important to him.
Buehrle, like the team, has been pretty scatalogical, although you wouldn't know it from his win total. Month-by-month, Buehrle has had two really good months (May:1.58 ERA and, so far, July: 2.10 ERA) and two pretty awful months (April:5.93 ERA and June: 5.79 ERA). Really, though, it doesn't matter what his ERA looks like, the Sox score bunches of runs when he pitches. He is still second in the American League in run support at 8.28 runs per game. He is a lucky, luck bastard.
I watched a fair amount of the game (I actually was flipping to the Red Sox/Orioles game when I could) and Buehrle looked marvelous. He had command of all of his pitches and he threw nearly 3/4 of his pitches for strikes (67/90). He shut down the league's leading offense almost entirely. Really, he was amazing.
More amazing, to me, is that the game was played in just over two and a half hours (2:31). One teamed scored 14 runs and the game was played in two and a half hours. While watching the game, I would flip to the Boston game and Buehrle would've already cut through three batters. Amazing.
With July coming to a close, let's hope Buehrle puts together a few more good starts and keeps this team in contention for first place in the Central.
On a totally different note, I wanted to point out an excellent piece written by Aaron Gleeman over at the Hardball Times (second item). I've tried to touch on race a bit on this blog (mainly saying that part of the reason people don't like Hurt is because he's an ornery black man), but this is a pet issue for me and I think Gleeman really hit it well.
Roger Clemens is always lauded for his work habits and how much he tries to better himself at such an advanced age. That's fine, because he's done an excellent job at keeping himself up at such an advanced age. He is on a short list of the best five pitchers ever and that's amazing.
But... Barry Bonds dominates the league more than anyone ever, including Ruth, Williams, Mays and Aaron (and certainly more than Clemens). He'll blow by 200 walks this season, simply because teams are afraid he'll hit a home run every time he walks to the plate. Every time. He has, in essence, figured out how to maximize the baseball swing. Maximize it. He has, most baseball people agree, made his swing as efficient as it can be, while controlling the strike zone as well as anyone ever. He will likely compile an OBP over .600. He'll be on base over 60 percent of the time. That's, quite frankly, insane. He dominates baseball about as much as MJ dominated basketball.
Do you ever hear about Bonds' meticulous film study, BP or fitness regimen? Yes, the BACLO thing has tainted it in many people's eyes, but that should also taint Giambi (which you don't hear about because Giambi is, hello, white). But, moreover, before the BALCO thing, all anyone heard about was Bonds' natural ability, but Clemens is the product of hard work.
It's a joke. Clemens works hard, Bonds works hard, too. But, because Bonds is a surly black man (oh, and Clemens is nearly as surly as Bonds is and clearly insane), he is villianized by fans and, to a certain extent, the press. Why is that? Race. Simple as that.
Not as eloquent as I'd like to be, but I plan on writing some more on this later, when I find my "Sociology in Sport"(a class I took in college) book. There was an excellent chapter on race in sport and how announcers treat the player on the broadcast. Look for that later.
Carlos Lee has been red-hot lately, hitting .345/.412/.918 in the month of July. The man has 10 home runs already, so, I hope he can keep this up for a little while.
Jose Valentin had a home run, as well. He really hasn't walked as much recently, but when he hits the ball, he really hits the snot out of it. More than half of his hits are for extra bases and, more importantly, 21 of his 38 extra base hits are home runs. This is pretty amazing for a shortstop. Valentin is angling for a contract this year, but he's really had a good run with the Sox. He's averaging a .855 OPS since coming to the Sox, which is pretty amazing for a shortstop. Considering Derek Jeter has a career .847 OPS and Miguel Tejada's is .800 I'm pretty happy with Valentin.
Really, though, the story of the game was Mark Buehrle. Buerhle faced the minimum, giving up two hits and getting two double plays. He retired the first 19 hitters he faced. Buehrle always credits Alomar when he pitches a good game, but, for some reason, Jamie Burke has caught Buehrle the last few games. This leads me to believe that maybe Mark Buehrle is the cause of his good pitching, not the catcher. Of course, Buehrle credited the 32-year-old jouneyman catcher, which is a pretty classy move. Buehrle has always been a favorite of mine because of crap like that. I remember last year, he said he didn't want to start Opening Day, because if he started the second game, he would start the home opener and that was more important to him.
Buehrle, like the team, has been pretty scatalogical, although you wouldn't know it from his win total. Month-by-month, Buehrle has had two really good months (May:1.58 ERA and, so far, July: 2.10 ERA) and two pretty awful months (April:5.93 ERA and June: 5.79 ERA). Really, though, it doesn't matter what his ERA looks like, the Sox score bunches of runs when he pitches. He is still second in the American League in run support at 8.28 runs per game. He is a lucky, luck bastard.
I watched a fair amount of the game (I actually was flipping to the Red Sox/Orioles game when I could) and Buehrle looked marvelous. He had command of all of his pitches and he threw nearly 3/4 of his pitches for strikes (67/90). He shut down the league's leading offense almost entirely. Really, he was amazing.
More amazing, to me, is that the game was played in just over two and a half hours (2:31). One teamed scored 14 runs and the game was played in two and a half hours. While watching the game, I would flip to the Boston game and Buehrle would've already cut through three batters. Amazing.
With July coming to a close, let's hope Buehrle puts together a few more good starts and keeps this team in contention for first place in the Central.
On a totally different note, I wanted to point out an excellent piece written by Aaron Gleeman over at the Hardball Times (second item). I've tried to touch on race a bit on this blog (mainly saying that part of the reason people don't like Hurt is because he's an ornery black man), but this is a pet issue for me and I think Gleeman really hit it well.
Roger Clemens is always lauded for his work habits and how much he tries to better himself at such an advanced age. That's fine, because he's done an excellent job at keeping himself up at such an advanced age. He is on a short list of the best five pitchers ever and that's amazing.
But... Barry Bonds dominates the league more than anyone ever, including Ruth, Williams, Mays and Aaron (and certainly more than Clemens). He'll blow by 200 walks this season, simply because teams are afraid he'll hit a home run every time he walks to the plate. Every time. He has, in essence, figured out how to maximize the baseball swing. Maximize it. He has, most baseball people agree, made his swing as efficient as it can be, while controlling the strike zone as well as anyone ever. He will likely compile an OBP over .600. He'll be on base over 60 percent of the time. That's, quite frankly, insane. He dominates baseball about as much as MJ dominated basketball.
Do you ever hear about Bonds' meticulous film study, BP or fitness regimen? Yes, the BACLO thing has tainted it in many people's eyes, but that should also taint Giambi (which you don't hear about because Giambi is, hello, white). But, moreover, before the BALCO thing, all anyone heard about was Bonds' natural ability, but Clemens is the product of hard work.
It's a joke. Clemens works hard, Bonds works hard, too. But, because Bonds is a surly black man (oh, and Clemens is nearly as surly as Bonds is and clearly insane), he is villianized by fans and, to a certain extent, the press. Why is that? Race. Simple as that.
Not as eloquent as I'd like to be, but I plan on writing some more on this later, when I find my "Sociology in Sport"(a class I took in college) book. There was an excellent chapter on race in sport and how announcers treat the player on the broadcast. Look for that later.
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