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Baseball Primer Newsblog— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Joe Crede and Paul Konerko each hit grand slams to back Javier Vazquez’s strong start, and the red-hot White Sox pounded the struggling Detroit Tigers 11-0 on Sunday.
Konerko’s homer came in the third off Kenny Rogers and Crede’s grand slam, his second this season, came in the fifth against Zach Miner as the White Sox won for the fifth time in six games over Detroit, the preseason favorite to win the AL Central.
It was the third time the White Sox have hit two grand slams in one game. The last time Chicago did it was May 19, 1996, when Darren Lewis and Robin Ventura homered at Detroit. The first time was Sept. 4, 1995, when Ventura hit two grand slams in a game at Texas.
NTNgod
Posted: April 13, 2008 at 05:39 PM | 24 comment(s)
Related News: General, Chi White Sox, Detroit
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The Tigers can't be this bad...hell, even the 2003 Tigers didn't give up 78 runs in the first 12 games. (They gave up 66, if you must know.) But bad they are: bad chemistry, bad luck, bad injuries, bad play, bad, bad, bad. Rogers is done, and Willis may never be a good pitcher again. And we all know about the bullpen.
Unless the Tigers start scoring seven runs a game, they're cooked.
I don't think any of the trades they made doomed the team either this season either.
The ball didn't even bounce. Just *thud*.
This is obviously hyperbole, but I think it's worth raising the question: how good are the White Sox? If Danks and Floyd pitch up to their potential as prospects, that's a pretty nice starting rotation (even if Contreras is done) and they're similar to their '05 version in that, while they're not really great at any position offensively, they don't seem to have any obvious holes (maybe 2nd base?) - at least as long as Jerry Owens stays on the bench. Is there any chance this team can contend all season? I'd guess not, but there's something about them that really feels a lot like the '05 edition of this team.
1973 STL (3-15) (81-81)
1969 HOU (4-20) (81-81)
1958 CWS (3-9) (82-72)
1996 BOX (7-19) (85-77)
1972 CHC (4-10) (85-70)
1958 BOX (4-10) (79-75)
That's not good news for Detroit.
Let's say it takes at least 89 games to go to the post-season. Worst Aprils for those teams:
1982 PHI (6-13) (89-73) that's why I made the cut-off at 89, not 90
2001 OAK (8-17) (102-60)
1985 NYY (6-12) (97-64)
1967 MIN (5-10) (91-71)
1982 BAL (6-12) (94-68)
Here's a fun fact: the Tigers over the last four years have been the worst team in baseball at playing better as the year goes on. They've fallen off the pace badly. Doesn't mean they'll do it again this year, but since 7/24 last year they are 31-45.
ROBERT STOCK!
Year 1: team surprisingly makes it to World Series, largely on the strength of its pitching (leading the AL in team ERA)
Year 2: pitching falls off (injuries? fatigue from playoffs and World Series?), but hitting gets much better; team fails to make playoffs despite 90 or more wins
Year 3: pitching still is bad, and hitting sucks -- hitters really seem to be showing their age
Doesn't this sound like the 2005-2007 White Sox AND the 2006-2008(thus far) Tigers?
Well, I'm a White Sox fan, so I'll always err on the side of being an optimist. I think it depends in large part on what the White Sox get out of the 3-5 spots in the rotation. If 2 of those 3 can be league average or a little above, I think the offense -- which really is pretty nice, 2B excepted -- can do some damage.
I feel the same way about them. The defense is potentially troublesome, too. If they get half way through May in first place, will KW just keep Crede and try to trade Fields for pitching help? KW strikes me as a go-for-it gm.
A lot depends on Thome and Konerko. Crede, Dye, and Pierzynski aren't going to carry the offense all season. Thome has looked pretty terrible since Opening Day. I'm not impressed with Orlando Cabrera, either.
The White Sox have had the good fortune of catching the Tigers when everything is going wrong with them. So far, they're 5-1 against the Tigers, 2-3 against everyone else. We'll see.
Or we'll just interpret everything in the manner most unfavorable to the White Sox. If players do well (Crede, Dye, AJ), they probably won't keep it up. If players do poorly (Thome, Cabrera), it's probably because they suck and always will. If the White Sox beat up on another team, it's probably because that team is horrible -- it has nothing to do with how well the White Sox actually play.
Hey-Yo!
What I meant to say is that the Sox need Thome and Konerko to be good, if they really intend on competing.
I had this team pegged at 75-78 wins before the season started - it'll take more than a half-dozen games against the Tigers to change my mind on that.
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