A Historic Fluke? My latest for The Hardball Times

In my latest article for The Hardball Times, I take a look at a historic oddity regarding Jim Leyland, Mike Scioscia and Ozzie Guillen.Each of them managed a World Series winner without a clear Hall of Famer on their playoff roster. And the only other teams to have won the World Series without a future Hall of Famer (the '81 and '88 Dodgers and the '84 Tigers) had Hall of Fame managers.So is this

Ron Kittle - Another random card found in my old closet

Rummaging through my old closet, I found this gem from the 1989 Topps Traded Series. Ron Kittle, the 1983 Rookie of the Year, had three tours with the White Sox. One with the horrible SOX across the chest uniforms and the last one with the traditional pinstripe Sox uniform.This card has him with the totally forgettable cursive C hat after his brief turns with the Yankees and Indians.I have yet to

Bobby jenks and his bond with Josh Beckett and Jonathan Papelbon

Today the Red Sox took a flier on former White Sox pitcher Bobby Jenks for some bullpen depth. How could it hurt?But as Jenks changes the color of his Sox, he has a unique bond with current Boston pitchers Josh Beckett and Jonathan Papelbon:All three were the pitchers on the mound when their team won the World Series.Beckett tagged out Jorge Posada on a little dribbler to end the 2003 World

Saluting Bobby Jenks

Today the White Sox parted ways with Bobby Jenks.It hardly comes as a shock.He had injury issues last year and his production was dipping. He is arbitration eligible and would be paid more than seven million tomatoes. But before he goes and before someone else will come in and pile up saves on the South Side, let's salute a truly odd tale of baseball redemption.Jenks was a product of the Angels

Does Omar Vizquel have 201 hits left in him?

Omar Vizquel is going to be 44 next season… and he has a contract to play for the White Sox.He will be a mentor to the talented young infielders with Chicago. Gordon Beckham at second, Alexei Ramirez at short and Dayan Viciedo at third could be as talented a collection of infielders as you will see in the bigs… and each can learn a little from the master.Vizquel will always be considered one of

With one swing of the bat, so many things go wrong for the Red Sox

When I heard Paul Konerko hit his grand slam while driving this evening, my heart sank. I thought all emotion was over once my team got eliminated... but I guess not.I really wanted Jon Lester to get 20 wins... Not going to happen.I wanted Jon Lester to get Cy Young consideration... Not going to happen.And I wanted the Red Sox to get to 90 wins.Well after this sweep, there's a chance they won't

2010 Boston Red Sox... Rest in Peace

Play taps.Pay your last respects.The Red Sox are not making the 2010 postseason... it doesn't matter if they throw no hitters the rest of the way and the Yankees only start Javy Vazquez, Joba Chamberlain and A. J. Burnett.They are done.I have a Red Sox fan friend who wrote to me saying "We can't blame the injuries for this season." Which is like saying "We can't blame the ice berg for sinking the

Anticlimax at the clincher

The Minnesota Twins clinched the American League Central Division tonight. The moment it happened the crowd was... indifferent.And the players on the field... shook hands and quietly walked off the field.Because the Twins weren't playing when they clinched the Division. They had already come from behind against Cleveland to win their came and cut the magic number to 1.And the A's were beating up

The Last Stand for an A.L. Division Race is in Chicago

There are plenty of legit playoff races happening in the National League right now. The Phillies currently have the National League's best record and would have home field advantage through the World Series... and yet are only 2 games in the loss column away from missing the playoffs all together. The Braves, Phillies, Padres, Giants and Rockies are all within 4 games of each other and 2 will be

I TOLD the Red Sox to get Dayan Viciedo!!!!

I was watching the Tigers/White Sox blow out on MLB Network while helping my son out with his homework. (Don't look at me like THAT! We did it all!)By the end of the game Ozzie was basically looking down the bench and yelling "Who hasn't played yet?" and made the box score cluttered with September call ups like a split squad Spring Training Game.I looked up and saw a house of a dude at the plate

Can there be ANYTHING good taken from today's game?

This was rough.REALLY rough.The Rays lost... the Yankees lost... The Sox got a come from behind lead and an OK start from Josh Beckett...And EVERYTHING went wrong in the 9th.Here's a note. If you give up 5 walks in the 9th inning, chances are something TRULY horrible is going to happen.I guess if ANYTHING positive happened today is that they didn't LOSE any ground.Oh who am I kidding?Evidently

Did I just have a Deja Vu?

I was out to dinner with the wife and kids tonight and I checked my phone to see the Red Sox score from the second game of the double header.Oddly they were still listing the score from the FIRST game, the 3-1 loss to the White Sox, but they were strangely listing the game as still in progress.Then it dawned on me.They were losing 3-1 AGAIN!It was history repeating itself. And one set of Sox were

Only one group of Sox are showing any life

It isn't looking good.Buchholz let's up 2 runs... and that's more than enough to beat the Sox.And oh yeah, the Yankees put Vazquez in the rotation, he STINKS and the Yankees STILL win.It's stuff like that that makes things like "a potential all time great comeback" less and less likely.At least Manny is acting contrite. That's nice... but that doesn't help the team NOW!It's time to update the

White Sox for Sale

I told teams to scout White Sox lefty Chris Sale... but they didn't listen.The guy was in college this spring... now he has his first big league save in the middle of a pennant race.My first job out of college was delivering papers for The Financial Times.Sale's job is cooler.

Hey Ozzie... don't give Manny any ideas

Seriously, Ozzie Guillen, be careful what you say about Manny Ramirez.I read your quotes in the AP article by Tom Withers, and some were a bit odd."I never see anyone on his team get mad at him because he goes about his business."Um, did SOMEONE forget Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis going at each other in the dugout in 2008?But really, Ozzie... when regarding his manner of dressing and upkeep

"Wait, Manny Ramirez was on the White Sox? When did THAT happen?"

That's something you are going to say in a few years when people are reviewing Manny's career for the Hall of Fame.They will list his stats and you'll look at 2010 and see he played a handful of games for the White Sox... and you will say "Man, I have no memory of that."Call this the easiest prediction I have ever made.

So THIS is why the White Sox want Edwin Jackson

Remember when the White Sox picked up Edwin Jackson and people thought he was going to be flipped for Adam Dunn?And when they COULDN'T pull off a deal with the Nationals, it was widely considered that they were hosed?May YOUR team be hosed like this!He's averaging 7 innings a start in his 4 starts (going 8 shutout innings with 10 strikeouts tonight) and posting a 0.96 ERA in the process.If the

You can put it on the boooooard... YES!

Good people of Minnesota, I swear I have nothing against you.But I gave a fist pump when I watched Gordon Beckham's homer give the White Sox the lead in the 7th inning tonight.I want one of those vintage "163 games to decide the AL Central" races this year and that wasn't going to happen if the White Sox couldn't beat Baltimore.Now the White Sox are only 3 games back in the loss column.Make it