June 2009
What a Game!…Sox End it With Beckham Walk-Off to Win 8-7
I experienced a variety of emotions throughout this see-saw battle of a ballgame. It was a great ballgame, very entertaining, as these Sox-Cubs games always are. I cannot remember the last boring Sox-Cubs game I’ve seen. It is always like the postseason in June every year when these games come around. Outstanding.
Still, while I loved seeing Beckham come through with the opposite field shot in the game over Bradley’s head, I was disturbed once again by this shaky defense, with three errors on the day, and a general inability on the part of Sox pitchers to pitch over errors. It seemed every time the Cubs swang the bat, they made contact and found a hole somewhere. The Sox pitchers are not strikeout pitchers in general, which requires their defense behind them to be close to airtight. They are anything but. When the Sox won in 2005, they had an airtight defense behind non-strikeout pitchers. Without this, I see this Sox team remaining a .500 team for the rest of the year .
Part of the problem is this infield is out of position. When Beckham made the diving attempt, leading to Ramirez’ error, he was using his shortstop instincts while playing third base. Beckham needs to be playing shortstop. Ramirez was better last year at second base than shortstop this year. I’m not sure what you would then do with Getz and Nix. I wouldn’t be against sending Ramirez down to learn how to cut down his swing and learn how to be what he should be – a contact hitter, not a power hitter. Still, I know we will likely have to simply live with what we have this year – a decent pitching, okay hitting, and defensively challenged team that will hover around the .500 mark all season. Still, I will take the exciting win today, and look for the series win tomorrow.
Contreras Stellar in 7-1 Win Over Brewers
On my first trip to Miller Park today for a bachelor party of a cousin, I was not at all disappointed. The game was great with Contreras’ second consecutive strong outing. I will admit I had my doubts going into this game, even with Parra’s high ERA, but Contreras was fantastic, frustrating hitters, and using his fastball. Great to see. I believe that was key today – use of his fastball. When Contreras gets too enamored with his forkball, the game slows down and his command tends to not be sharp. Contraras had a nice pace to his game today, and Castro had a nice game behind the plate as well as at the dish with a home run.
Konerko singling on the first pitch he saw today was a good sign. I would have never known he had problems with his thumb, and I love the professionalism and attitude he brings to his game. Nix was impressive to me with the way he cracked the ball with authority. In general, I was quite impressed with the Sox overall offensive approach, with line drives and solid contact. It was also great to see Beckham get his first two RBI of his career. I thought he got his first home run as well, but was caught at the center field wall. Had he hit that to left, it would have been gone.
For the most part, I liked what I saw today, but realistically, in the big picture, I still think this team will need to be a seller in a couple weeks or so. Their infield is in disarray with Ramirez swinging for the fenses with each long whack he takes at pitches both in and out of the strike zone. His fielding, great play today not withstanding, has been shaky at best at shortstop. Beckham is out of position and should be playing shortstop. Ramirez needs to work on shortening his swing on the minors, learning to hit line drives and stop trying to be a home run hitter. This instability in the middle infield between Ramirez and the platoon of Nix and Getz, combined with a center fielder in Anderson who is strong defensively but unable to hit anything but a fastball he knows is coming presents some major problems for this team to win with any consistency. Every time a ground ball is hit in the infield, I hold my breath because time and again I see uncertainty and double-clutching – just bad middle infield defense, with Fields and Beckham having their moments at third base as well. I am a White Sox fan for life, and want them to win. But I think it is time for the White Sox organization to be honest with themselves and with the fans in admitting they need to use 2009 to find out who they are and what they need to become so they can win in 2010 and beyond…
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