AL Central

[MFS62]

TransMonk wrote: I'll be scouting the Detroit/White Sox game tonight in Chicago for the CPF.

We will expect a full report.

Later

[TransMonk]

So, I took my old man to the White Sox game last night for his birthday. It was overcast and cold all afternoon and then once the sun went down, the temperature fell into the 40's. More like Chicago football weather than baseball weather. Still, about 25,000 of Chicago faithful came out to cheer on their Sox.

The mood standing outside before the game was almost somber. The WS fans all had defeated looks on their faces with their team facing not making the playoffs unless they can pull out a marvelous two weeks of baseball. I was wearing my Mets cap the night after the clinching, and one WS usher yelled to me, "At least someone's wearing the right cap."

The matchup was Freddie Garcia vs. Justin Verlander, and most of the starters were playing for each team. I had seen Garcia pitch a heack of a game in Seattle a few years ago, so I've always liked his stuff. And I was excited to see Verlander for the first time.

Garcia walked the first man he faced on 4 pitches and then allowed a single to the second. He then mowed down 23 Tigers in a row. It really was a great pitching performance...and on such a cold night to boot. Ozzie took the slow walk to the mound in the eighth after Garcia walked his second batter of the night and had thrown his 102nd pitch. Every single person in the stands booed the manager, myself included. Ozzie got to the mound...and turned right back around without making the call to the pen. Garcia got the last man in the eighth to ground out.

While the Tigers offense was mastered, the Sox scored all of the runs. The first time through the order, Verlander looked every bit as good as Garcia. But in the 4th he hit Dye, walked Thome, gave up a single to Konerko, and the Pierzynski laced a grand slam to center. In the 5th, Dye and Thome hit back to back HRs, and Iguchi added another blast in the 7th. Verlander ended up giving six runs. He did pick off two runners. He has one of those good moves and then an even better move.

Jenks pitched the ninth in a non-save situation and gave up a single to ex-Met Vance Wilson, Detroit's only other hit of the night after the single in the first. The crowd reveled in the win, but driving home listening to the call in shows on the radio, there is still a sense that no matter how well they do over the next 12 games, it may still be too little too late.

Chicago scored all of it's runs off of homers. Other than that, they had nothing going, especially getting picked off twice. The World Champs may have learned lately that if you live by the long ball, then you die by the long ball...if no one's hitting homers, the Sox probably aren't winning. In my mind, they are definately the biggest dissapointment in baseball this year. It isn't too many times that a team wins the World Series, and then improves themselves in the next offseason. The Sox have as much if not more talent than anyone in baseball, yet they haven't been able to win when it matters...something they did so well last year.

Detroit is fading too...they looked horrible. But their odds are still pretty good for making the playoffs where their pitching is as good as anyone's. And they started without all of the expectations that the Sox had this year, so the end result, no matter what it is, has to feel pretty good for them and their fans.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

What did you and your dad think of the ballpark? We were there when it opened in 1991, and I liked it, although it generally gets trashed as not being like Camden Yards (which I don't like as much as many others do).

[TransMonk]

My Dad goes there a half a dozen times a year, so he loves it. It was my first time, and I was very surprised at how much I liked it. It had always been bashed as the last of the big cookie cutter ballparks. But we were in the upper deck (which I guess was re-done at one point to give it less of a slope) and still had a great view of the game. The sightlines are nice, it is clean and spacious in the aisles and walkways. The staff is friendly and the concessions had a decent variety (a bit pricy). I would give it two thumbs up, especially because I wasn't expecting much to begin with.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

I agree with that assessment. I never understood the bashing.

I also remember really liking the fact that the organ is there for everyone to view from the concourse behind home plate. You have to love a park that not only still has organ music, but that actually features it.

I also liked how there was a kids concession stand in the outfield, and you could watch the game from there. It was a great way to follow the game while getting your active toddler a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. That was the first stadium that I visited that I felt was designed with families in mind.

[Willets Point]

I like the White Sox ballpark too. It feels like a larger version of the Norfolk Tides' Harbor Park. Like Shea, I think it suffers from the soulless exterior - a sea of parking and no real neighborhood in sight. Wrigley has a big advantage over Comiskey in that sense.

[Frayed Knot]

The Sox is dead!

Well, not officially, but for all intents and purposes.
They just lost their 2nd of 3 to the Tiggers - at the same time the Twins were beating Boston - putting them 6 behind Detroit and 5-1/2 behind Minnesota with only 10 left to play.

[Gwreck]

I saw the Mets play there in '02. I know some updates have been made since. The design sucks -- there's basically no middle deck.

The scoreboard layout is one of my favorites. Among the best in baseball.

[MFS62]

Speaking of the AL Wild Card, the Red Sox were officially eliminated from that race this week.
The team suffered a lot of key injuries this year. And they seemed not to have capable backups for the injured players in their organization/ on their roster. I can imagine their fans relating that to management's indecision over rehiring Theo and the time they lost by not having him for a major portion of the off season when many deals/ signings were happening.

In fact, they may call what's happened this year "The Curse of the Epstino".

(sorry for that)
Later

[smg58]

Unfortunately, the collapse of the Red Sox and White Sox brings up the down side to the wild card system: there's no real drama left in the AL Central race, as it's now pretty evident that both the Tigers and Twins will be playing beyond next week.

On the opposite end of the wild card system, the resurgence of the Phillies is making the San Diego/Los Angeles race very meaningful. The Phillies would have had nothing to play for for the last two months under the old system.

[Frayed Knot]

Yup.
The only remaining question in the AL is the Central race to see who wins the division and gets the A's in the first round, and who gets the Wild Card and draws the Yanx.

The Angels technically still have a chance in the West only because they have a bunch of head-to-head w/Oakland; but then they promptly lost the first of those last night and they pretty much needed to run the table.

[metirish]

The Tigers clinch a playoff spot with an 11-4 win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday,that's some turn around by the tigers,was not long ago they were flirting with the Mets all time loss record.