The Chicago White Sox are hoping that Tyler Flowers hits better than .100 next season, because he’s the new full time catcher on the south side. A.J. Pierzynski is off to the Texas Rangers, for a one year deal, pending the physical. His remarkable eight-year run with the White Sox is now over. When Opening Day comes next April, Paul Konerko will be the last remaining player from the 2005 World Series team still with the White Sox.
Follow paulmbanksTop 5 Chicago Sportscaster moments of 2012 (Video)
It was an extremely eventful year for Chicago sportscasters. Jim Deshaies replaced Bob Brenly in the booth for Cubs broadcasts after Brenly left to take the Arizona Diamondbacks job.
Sarah Kustok left Comcast Sports Net Chicago for Yes Network. She was replaced by Susanna Collins. White Sox colorman Hawk Harrelson continued to be an intolerable abomination to broadcasting.
What follows is a list of 5 memorable moments that involved all these tv personalities.
Follow paulmbanksWhite Sox GM Rick Hahn discusses the club’s direction
New White Sox General Manager Rick Hahn was very busy on Thursday. He did an interview on The Score, Chicago Tribune Live, and this conference call with us White Sox bloggers. It was all about getting the message out. He’s also been busy with transactions- re-signing Jake Peavy to a two year, $29 million dollar deal, and re-upping on Gavin Floyd.
I still question the Peavy move, with his injury history…anyways, Hahn has been very busy since taking over for Kenny Williams, one of the most successful GMs in Sox history. People are of course interested in the moves he hasn’t made yet- third base and catcher. And yes, those questions came up in conference call.
Follow paulmbanksWhite Sox Fans Need to Show Up or Shut Up for Tigers Series
Let’s be honest White Sox fans, despite our place in the standings, the Detroit Tigers have owned the Chicago White Sox this year in every sense of the word. The Tigers have swept the Sox in back-to-back series, crushed us in home attendance and since the beginning of the season have received all of the attention, praise and post season backing from media outside of Chicago. According to most fans, the White Sox are done and their upcoming series at U.S. Cellular Field will be the unofficial proclamation of death for our season. Judging by the White Sox attendance the last two home stands, White Sox fans seem to agree. Heck, if attendance were reflective of a fan base belief in a team, even the Chicago Cubs would have a better shot at the post season this year.
Follow paulmbanksWhite Sox Pierzynski gives Sarah Kustok cream pie sendoff
Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski gave Sarah Kustok from Comcast Sports Net a proper send-off last night. In the middle of her doing her final interview for the station (Sox outfielder Alex Rios) Kustok got a cream pie to the face from the Sox most controversial player.
It was an exciting follow up to an 8-6 White Sox win over the L.A. Angels in 10 innings. Sarah Kustok got a new job out of market, which has not officially been announced yet.
Follow paulmbanksWhite Sox Marketing VP Brooks Boyer Creates Fireworks
The Chicago White Sox Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Brooks Boyer recently shared his opinions on the upcoming 2012 White Sox season, from the perspective of the fan experience. What marketing fireworks might he be creating for the team in 2012?
Follow paulmbanksWhite Sox A.J. Pierzynski Could Require Surgery; Be Out for the Season
Prior to last night’s thrilling extra inning walk-off win vs. the Cleveland Indians, the Chicago White Sox placed catcher A.J. Pierzynski on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to August 13) with a fractured left wrist and purchased the contract of catcher Donny Lucy from Class AAA Charlotte.
Pierzynski, 34, suffered the injury on Friday vs. Kansas City when he was hit by a Bruce Chen pitch in the third inning. He is batting .296 (110-371) with six home runs and 39 RBI in 105 games played this season, including a .326 (85-261) average in his last 74 contests. Pierzynski had 11 hits in his last 18 at-bats prior to the injury.
This is the first significant time A.J. will miss in his career. Which is an amazing fact when you consider he plays catcher, and you know how much of a toll that has on the body. [Read more…]
Follow paulmbanksWhite Sox Can’t Buy a Run
By Randy Satovitz
The last time the White Sox had a worse scoring pace than this year was 1986 when they scored 3.98 runs per game. The Sox are scoring 4.15 runs per game which is good for 12th in the American League. They were shutout in three games last week (2 vs. Oak, 1 vs. Cle). Ironically, the Sox play at one of the best hitter friendly ballparks and are doing exactly what they have been doing for years- hitting the long ball. The power numbers have never been a problem for the Sox, but getting a large number of runs across the plate certainly has been. Carlos Quentin should be back by the end of the week, but that will not necessarily help the Sox score runs.
Of course there will be more home runs, but if Podsednik can’t handle center field, the outfield will be jammed up. As much as I disliked Podsednik coming back to the Sox, he has become one of the lone bright spots in the lineup. He is getting on base and becoming the great leadoff hitter he once was back in 2005 when he finished 12th in the MVP voting.
The pitching has not been as bad as it could be with a possible six-man rotation going on. The Sox even decided to let Ozzie’s brother-in-law Freddy Garcia come back and give pitching one last try. It seems the Sox give a lot of players second and third chances- even when their first chance was not too spectacular. The hitting will come around, but scoring enough runs will still be a question mark. The Sox walked 12 times Tue night and should have scored many more runs than they did. When Ozzie Guillen came to the White Sox, he had them play a special style Sox fans called, ‘Ozzieball.’
Ozzieball was a way to generate runs by advancing players base by base as part of the run manufacturing process. Some of called it “smartball” because it’s built around taking advantage of little situations and mistakes made by your opponent. (Recall the Tony Grafaninno error in the ’05 ALDS? A.J.’s base-running adventure and the dropped third strike in the ’05 ALCS?)
Basically, it’s ‘smallball,’ but since Ozzie is in charge, you might as well give him credit in the name. You don’t want him to curse at you, do you? Anyways, this idea flew out the window a couple of years ago and the Sox have never been the same team. And nowhere near as successful.
The Sox need to score runs like they used to and get some wins on the board. Sounds easier said than done, but if Ozzieball returns, watch out. I don’t know how many times Ozzie has to lash out at his team and tell them to play better baseball. Things aren’t clicking until the Sox start stealing more bases and laying down more bunts. Even if it’s Jim Thome who’s trying to lay down that bunt for a base hit; because with the Thome shift, the third baseman is practically in the outfield almost every time. Somebody is going to have to step up their game and focus on the team instead of padding their stats. Once one person starts it, the others will follow in line.
The question is who?
Follow paulmbanks