The Detroit Tigers are reportedly close to signing Prince Fielder to a 9-year, $214 million contract. Friend of the site Ken Rosenthal has a breakdown of the deal here, which he calls a “classic Boras shocker” on Twitter.
Detroit Tigers Sign Prince Fielder; Will He Hold Up Better Than Cecil?
January 24, 2012 By 2 Comments
Beginning Baseball: Is it a comeback or a lucky streak?
June 15, 2011 By 1 Comment
Editor’s note: Amanda Lawson is a lifelong Green Bay Packers fan who is getting into baseball for the first time this year. After much deliberation and counsel, Amanda settled on the Minnesota Twins as her team. With “Beginning Baseball” Amanda is documenting her first season of baseball fandom.
The Twins can win.
For all the haters out there (aka White Sox fans), the show’s not over until the fat lady sings.
But how can you tell if it’s the team making a true comeback or if it is just going through a lucky streak? From what I’ve learned about baseball, you shouldn’t get your hopes up.
Too late.
Hmmm…What’s wrong with this scene?
April 18, 2011 By 3 Comments
Editor’s note: Amanda Lawson is a lifelong Green Bay Packers fan who is getting into baseball for the first time this year. After much deliberation and counsel, Amanda settled on the Minnesota Twins as her team. With “Beginning Baseball” Amanda is documenting her first season of baseball fandom.
Let’s take a look at the AL Central standings:
- Cleveland Indians
- Kansas City Royals
- Chicago White Sox
- Detroit Tigers
- Minnesota Twins
Ummm…This is not right.
At the end of the 2010 season, the Minnesota Twins were at the top of the AL Central. The Indians and Royals rounded out the bottom. In the words of the great Vince Lombardi…
Travis Hafner’s Health is Key for Cleveland Indians to Continue Winning Ways
April 11, 2011 By 2 Comments
After two straight disappointing seasons with less then 70 wins, the Cleveland Indians have gotten off to an excellent start this year. Cleveland is currently 7-2 and has won seven straight.
A huge reason why the Tribe had two straight seasons with less than 70 wins was of lack of power in the middle of the line-up. From 2009-2010 Cleveland had only two players that hit more then 20 home runs in a season.
DH Travis Hafner’s absence from the line-up was the major reason for the lack of power. From 2004-2006, (Hafner’s prime) he played in 406 games, hit 103 home runs, and had .303 batting average. Over the last three years he had only played 269 games, hit 34 home runs, and batted .259.
Hafner, just like the Indians is having a tremendous start.
Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles lead list of AL surprises after season’s first week
April 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The MLB season is about ten days old, and there are already many surprises in the American League. Each division has its own storylines, and I will break down the surprises by division.
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Previewing the White Sox-Twins series that will decide the AL Central
September 11, 2010 By 3 Comments
If you watch ESPN – and if you read this site then there is about a 99.9999% chance that you do – then you have undoubtedly heard the “Three…is a magic number…yes it is…” commercial that seems to be especially ubiquitous during the morning hours.
If you are a fan of the Chicago White Sox, as I am, then this is a tune to keep in mind once next Tuesday rolls around. Why? That is when the Good Guys host the Twin Cities Piranhas in a three game set that will decide the AL Central.
Let’s preview the series and see just how optimistic White Sox fans should reasonably be about their team rising to the occasion in the most important series of the season.
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MLB First Half Grades
July 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The first half of the MLB season has come to an end.
This season has been thrilling thus far, and it’s been all about pitching, pitching, pitching.
As we get ready for what should be an equally as thrilling second half of the season, with dramatic pennant races shaping up around the league, it’s time to assess each team a grade; so here they are:
Ned Yost Thrives in K.C. as Brewers Struggle
May 21, 2010 By 1 Comment
At the end of the 2008 season, Ned Yost and the Milwaukee Brewers were at opposite ends of the success totem pole.
The Crew had just made the playoffs for the first time in 26 years, but not without having a September slump that cost Yost his job.
Now, just two years later, the table has been turned.
Yost recently took over as manager of the lowly, often pathetic Kansas City Royals. Sounds like Ned’s out the door again after this season, being stuck with the Royals and all, right?
Well not so fast, my friend.
If things continue the way they’ve started in the Yost Era in Kansas City, then he just might be a permanent fixture there.
Minnesota Twins 2010 Season Preview
March 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Last week on this site we had a preview the upcoming Cubs season, and I’m sure Jerod will at some point put together something on his beloved White Sox. For now however, let’s focus on a team that actually has a chance of winning something this year: the Minnesota Twins.
The Twins come into this season with two former MVPs, an increased payroll, and a new stadium. Expectations are as high as they have been in quite some time. Instead of figuring out how to fill roles vacated by Johan Santana or Torii Hunter like years past, the Twins showed aggressiveness in free agency.
Up until Joe Nathan’s (potentially) devastating injury, the Twins looked like the preseason favorite to win the almighty AL Central. Let’s take a look at the reasons why.
Leadership and Commitment, Miguel Cabrera Style
October 5, 2009 By 3 Comments
With the Detroit Tigers reeling and its months-long grip on first place quickly dwindling, you would think that the Tigers’ players would be extra focused.
More video work, more work in the cage, extra stretching…whatever each player needs to play at his best.
Certainly, as a fan or if I were a manager, I’d at least expect my team’s players to be well rested and, you know, not hungover and in jail until 8:00 on the morning of a huge game.
Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers, it seems, would not agree.
Twins v Tigers: One Game Playoff Tickets, Preview, and Prediction
October 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment
You may have noticed that we haven’t been paying as much attention to baseball here at MSF lately. My personal excuse for that is two-fold: first, I’m a White Sox fan and they fell out of the race early in September; second, football season started.
Site-wide, the excuse is simple: we need more baseball writers. (So contact us if you want to cover baseball! We’d love to have you.)
But that dearth of baseball coverage is about to change because October is here, which means it’s playoff time. And just like last season, the playoffs kick off with a one-game playoff tie-breaker to decide the AL Central.
Say what you will about the overall level play in the AL Central, but it routinely gives us the most hotly contested division race in all of Major League Baseball.
Last year it was the White Sox and Twins duking it out for a 163rd game. This year, it’s the Tigers and Twins. Here is everything you need to know:
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AL Central Showdown: Twins-Tigers TV Schedule, Pitching Matchups, Picks, and Ticket Links
September 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment
White Sox Continue Inevitable Run Towards 81-81
September 5, 2009 By 2 Comments
I wrote about a week back regarding the obsessive magnetic attraction that this year’s Chicago White Sox have with .500.
Every time we get a few games over .500, we can’t stand the prosperity and play like the Royals.
And then once the pendulum has swung back, and we’re under .500, and jackass bloggers like myself are acting like the sky is falling, we turn into the Yankees.
Case in point: the last four games.
After dropping what felt like 6,000 games in a row, and essentially falling out of the AL Central race, the White Sox have reeled off the following:
- Scoring four runs off of Twins closer Joe Nathan in the 9th inning to steal a win in the Metrodome.
- Shutting out the Cubs 5-0 in Wrigley Field in a makeup game from earlier this season. Perennial Cy Young candidate Carlos Torres pitched 7 shutout innings, striking out six Cubs.
- Dominating the Boston Red Sox at home, winning 12-1 on Friday and then 5-1 today powered by a Gavin Floyd gem for which the post game show was not canceled until two outs in the 6th inning.
So, in summation, the White Sox had fallen to 64-69 on Tuesday. Now here we sit on Saturday night with the White Sox one game under .500, 6.5 games out of first place, and playing like we all know this club is capable of playing.
Personally, I plan on enjoying it until we get to a few games over .500, and then the fear of an inevitable three- or four-game implosion will overshadow any optimism that builds up. Â It’s just been one of those years.
If the White Sox finish anything other than 81-81 this year, I will be surprised. (And believe me, I hope to be surprised…positively.)
Here’s the thing, as bad as things have seemed this season, the White Sox are not out of it yet. If we just make up one game per week on the Tigers leading up to our final three game set with Detroit from September 25th-27th, we’ll be a home sweep away from being tied for the lead in the division.
A long shot? Sure. But for a veteran club that’s experienced in pressure, pennant-race baseball, it’s not completely outlandish.Â
In other White Sox news, one thing that could make a late-season charge up the AL Central standings more difficult would be for Gordon Beckham to miss any time. The Sox sterling rookie left today’s game in the first inning with back tightness. Though it doesn’t sound serious, I’ve seen no updates on his status moving forward, and White Sox fans have been conditioned to be fearful about back tightness and our third baseman being mentioned in the same sentence.
Perhaps it was just time for a day off. Gordon has played in 81 straight games, counting today’s.
Also, a big congrats to Ozzie Guillen, who won his 500th game as a manager yesterday. Hopefully there are at least 500 more, and then 500 more after that, for Ozzie on the South Side.
Anyway, to close this post, I will just say that even though I’ve said previously that I have essentially given up hope on the White Sox making the playoffs this year, I’m starting to get pulled back in. Impressive four game streaks have a way of doing that.
If we can keep up the good play over the next four at home, and then defy historical trends by playing well out West on a six-game trip to LA and Seattle, I’ll really be excited.
Let’s go Sox. Championships are won in September, and there is still a whole lot of September left.
The White Sox Take a Break From Choking to Blatantly Mock Their Fans
September 2, 2009 By 2 Comments
Below, you will find a screen grab I just took a few minutes ago from chisox.com. Its claims and insinuations are so outlandish that you might think it’s doctored. But rest assured, this is exactly as it appeared to any website visitor as of about 1:45 CT.
Please give me a moment, as I must collect myself — and navigate through the tricky emotional ocean of simultaneously wanted to laugh hysterically and cry plaintively — before I will be able to write anything coherent and worthy of your eyes.
…
Quick! While I’m composing myself, follow this link to purchase your very own 2009 White Sox playoff tickets!
…
Seriously? The only explanation I can come up with is that, for some reason, the White Sox are mad at their fans and lashing out. Maybe it’s the poor attendance? Who the hell knows.
But why else would this be the second image in the rotating melange front and center on the White Sox home page?
To go into complete cliche territory here for a second: Playoffs? Are you f%&*$n#g kidding me? Playoffs?
Not in 2009. No sir. Not anymore. No way, how how.
A couple of weeks ago, when the Sox were still hovering a few games over .500 and within a good weekend’s striking distance of Detroit, something like this would be understandable. Get your playoff tickets! Get excited for the stretch run everybody! Jake Peavy! Gordon Beckham! Jake Peavy! Gordon Beckham!
But over our last 11 eleven games, the White Sox have managed to go 2-100. I’m not sure how it’s possible…I know the math doesn’t add up…but it’s true.Â
We’ve lost 100 games in two weeks.
Or does it just feel that way?
If someone gave me truth serum, I would tell them that when I wrote this post six days ago I honestly had not totally given up on the team yet. Part of my motivation in writing it, with the season on the brink of slipping away, was a little reverse psychology. The White Sox always seem to tank whenever I praise them on MSF; I figured by publicly doubting them I could reverse that maddening trend. (I realize this is a ridiculous notion, but I’m obsessed with sports and the White Sox, okay? Give me a break.)
Instead, they’ve lost 75 games in the week since that post was published.
Wait…damnit, sorry…it just feels that way. I know it’s only been 50 losses in the past week.
Playoffs. You have got to be kidding me.
(And by the way, as I write this, Mark Buehrle is being outdueled 2-0 by perennial Sigh Young candidate Brian Duensing. The White Sox are teetering dangerously close to another sweep in the Metrodome. Â Wait…Scott Linebrink just came in. Â Expect a crooked number any second now.)
My apologies for the negativity. You know I don’t like to be this. You know I always look for the positives in everything. But these last two weeks of White Sox baseball easily rank in the top 10 letdowns of my life as a sports fan. It’s all about expectations, and I legitimately expected this team to make it to the playoffs and have a chance to make some noise.
I never expected that we’d be completely and utterly embarrassed like we have been.
Why am I wasting time ranting like this? Â Oh yeah, because the White Sox decided to mock their own fans with their outlandish website claims of playoff tickets even being a remote possibility. And while I actually agree with the moves, based on the team’s performance of late, Ken Williams can gussy up the trades of Jim Thome and Jose Contreras however he wants: he waved the white flag.
Sadly, I don’t blame him. But maybe he should have informed the guy in charge of managing the website.
Damn you, White Sox web admin. Damn you.
Update: My strategy may be working!
Down 2-0 headed into the top of the 9th, the White Sox were facing certain death when Joe Nathan came in to close it out. But a funny, unexpected thing happened…the Sox exploded for two runs!!! Wait…just checked again…now three runs!!! Â No, four! And we knocked Nathan out of the game!
Time for Bobby to come in and close this out. Â Yeeessss!
Maybe my diabolical plot of reverse psychology will work after all. Â So about those playoff tickets…
Update: Sox win! 4-2! Bobby shuts the door in the 9th.
A team-galvanizing win that could harken a turnaround…or just a momentary blip in a September of wasted opportunity? We shall see.
But it does, I’ll admit, feel good to get a comeback win at Minnesota.
White Sox Begin Huge Six-Game Home Stand Today
August 17, 2009 By 1 Comment
Much was made of the recent 6-game West Coast trip that faced the White Sox. As any Sox fan knows, we typically struggle out west, especially at Oakland. For that reason, a 3-3 split against the Mariners and A’s is actually palatable. What is frustrating is that it should have been 4-2, but the White Sox could not hold a 2-1 lead in the 8th inning yesterday after another solid pitching outing from John Danks.
But the White Sox stole one in the 9th last Tuesday against Seattle, when Alexei Ramirez cracked a three-run homer in the top of the 9th, so I guess you could say Sunday’s loss was just the road trip evening itself out.
What faces the White Sox this week is, on the surface, much less intimidating than last week’s West Coast swing and the impending road trip against Boston, New York, and Minnesota. The White Sox go back home for three against the cellar dwelling Royals, an off day, and then three more against the cellar dwelling Orioles. Sitting 2.5 games behind Detroit with 44 games left to play, this is a huge opportunity for the White Sox to quit flirting with .500 and get to six or seven games over.
Expecting anything more than a split next week is probably wishful thinking, so the White Sox need to take it upon themselves to string together some victories — and some breathing room — against teams that they should beat at home this week.
Mark Buehrle kicks off the home stand today against Brian Bannister, and Mr. Perfect needs to fulfill his role as staff ace and get us off on the right foot.Â
With the most difficult stretch of the season beginning one week from today, the White Sox cannot afford to waste this opportunity.
