The Life and Times of Mark Buehrle Addendum

Just another point to add to the post below regarding what Mark Buehrle has already accomplished.

5. Tonight against the Twins, he pitched the first 5 2/3 innings perfectly. Combine this with the perfect game against the Ray and the previous game against the Orioles, he retired 45 batters in a row, setting a new major league record. He surpassed San Francisco's Jim Barr (1972) and teammate Bobby Jenks (2007) who retired 41 in a row.

The Life and Times of Mark Buehrle

In the wake of Mark Buehrle's perfect game last week, I felt obliged to look back (and subsequently ahead) at his career. Buehrle broke into the league in 2000 with the White Sox after being drafted by the team in the 38th round of the 1998 draft. He was initially used out of the pen but got a few spot starts. He was plugged into the rotation in 2001 and has been a mainstay every since, winning at least 10 games and hurling over 200 innings each year. Further, 2006 was the only year that he had a losing record (12-13) and struck out less than 115 batters (98). Buehrle has never been a power pitcher but has utilized his 'hurry up' approach, great pitch location, and good sequencing to baffle hitters for the past 10 seasons. He has also had quite a number memorable moments in his career:

1. He threw a no-hitter against the Rangers in 2007 in which he faced the minimum 27 batters. His only blemish was a walk to Sammy Sosa in the 5th inning, whom he proceeded to pick off of first base.

2. Reaching a little further back, Buehrle was involved in one of the fastest games every during a 2005 game against Ryan Franklin of the Mariners. The game lasted a mere 1 hour 39 minutes with Buehrle giving up only 3 hits (all to Ichiro) in the complete game effort (Sox won 2-1).

3. Also in 2005, during the World Series run, Buehrle was apart of the 4 consecutive complete games thrown by Sox pitchers (Buehrle, Garland, Garcia, and Contreras) in the ALCS. More specifically, the game he pitched is the now infamous one in which Pierzynski was called safe at first after a dropped third strike.

4. Obviously, Buehrle's perfect game last week against the Tampa Bay Rays (only the 18th perfect game all-time). His stat line: 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 116 PC (76 strikes).

Looking forward, I see bright things in Mark Buehrle's future. He is most definitely one of the star faces of the franchise, so I don't see him going to any other clubs (which is a rarity these days to find someone drafted, come up through the system, and remain with the same ball club their entire career). I think that his smooth deliver, capacity to work quickly, and reliance on location (not power) will allow him to remain in the league for many years to come. Also, he's a smart player and will continue to use his head to evolve his sequences and locations to keep hitters off target. He currently has 133 career wins in 10 years of work (9 as a starter). I think that I can safely say that he can easily amass 250 wins in his career and personally believe that it's not that much of a stretch to say that he could win 300 games (just think ~15 wins the next 10 years). What I can say for certain is that I'm excited to have someone of his calibur on the South side and am excited to watch how the rest of career pans out.

A Mid-Summer's Night Conundrum

It is halfway through the 2009 Major League Baseball season and the Chicago Cubs are 3.5 games back from the N.L. Central leading St. Louis Cardinals. The bright side here is that the Cubs are in easy striking distance of a third straight division title; however, no one saw this season going like this.

The Cubs were the heavy favorites to run away with the N.L. central at the start of the year (see my season preview). They had the pitching, the hitting, 2 straight division titles and a very weak division. Just another lesson to us Cubs fans that nothing is a sure thing. With that said here is a Mid-Season review and a preview of what is to come for the Northsiders

1. INJURIES

If someone decides to write a book about this club, I am pretty sure this would be the biggest chapter. The original opening day starting lineup (including the 5 starting pitchers and entire bullpen) has been completely healthy for a total of two games. 2!! No team will be as advertised when that is the case. The second half of the season begins today with Aramis Ramirez and Rich Harden back in the lineup, but Ryan Dempster and Geovany Soto still sidelined with injuries. If this team has any hope of winning the division, everyone has to get healthy and stay healthy.

2. Bring some Lumber, PLEASE!

Where are the runs?? This is a team that lead the majors last year in runs scored with 855 (5.3 Runs/game). At the halfway point, the Cubs are currently 15th in runs scored with 355 (4.1 Runs/game). That is more than a full run less per game. I believe in the mantra of pitching wins championships as much as anyone, but hitting gets you to the postseason. Over a 162 game span, pitching will fluctuate, but between eight guys a game, a team should consistently be scoring runs. The addition of Aramis off the DL should help, but something is not clicking right. I do not see the Cubs being major players in the trade market, so the hitting is going to have to come from within. Let's score some runs!

3. The Million Dollar Questions

And what I mean by that is, what do you do about your high priced players? Milton Bradley, Kosuke Fukudome and even Alfonso Soriano are struggling, but are the investment of the franchise. While Jake Fox, Micah Hoffpauir and Sam Fuld have added a nice spark to the lineup for nothing more than minor league dollars. So what does Lou do? I think he needs to bench some of these contracts and let the kids play a little. Personally, I am fine with a Fox, Fuld, Hoffpauir outfield. At least when they hit a soft groundball or a lazy fly, they hustle their asses off to first base. I want to see a message sent that says, "If you don't want play hard, then you won't play." Despite the big money, stars hate sitting on the bench and not getting the glory. Just check out rivals to the south. Tony La Russa gets the most out of every player he is given. And when asked how he keeps such discipline on his teams by John Miller of ESPN, he replied, "It's pretty simple. I don't have a lot of rules, but the ones I have I enforce. If you don't play hard, you don't play." Sounds logical to me....

4. Take it one series at a time

The Cubs have a lot of expectations for this year. Coming off a second straight division championship with that lingering World Series-less streak, the pressure is always high on the Northside. The Cubs need to win one series at a time. If they concentrate on winning each 3- and 4-game set, they will be right back where they were last year (meaning the playoffs, not in Dodger Hell). This team is still loaded with talent and they played awful baseball in the first half of the season. Still, they are only 3.5 games back of first. I expect to see the Cubs hoisting another division crown when this is all said and done.

On a side note: I am worried about St.Louis pursuing the Holiday talent (Roy Halladay and Matt Holliday), so keep an eye on that and hope they are not wearing Cardinal red come August. I already had to deal with Mark DeRosa donning that insidious jersey and could not take anymore talent heading that way.

Prediction: Cubs win the N.L. Central with a 89-73 record.

All-Star Hodge Podge

The MLB All-Star game is once again upon us and felt obliged to make a post about it (maybe its just cause I got out of work early today, who really knows).

A little History: Many don't know, but the All-Star game's origin is right here in Chicago. The idea for the All-Star game came from Arch Ward, the sports editor for the Chicago Tribune, as an attraction for the 1933 World's Fair, which was being held in Chicago. The game was played at Comiskey Park and was supposed to be a one-time thing. But, the event proved to be so popular that it was incorporated as an annual event on the baseball calendar.

More recently: Anyway, for those of you non-diehard baseball fans, you may be interested in knowing that the American League is currently on a 11 year winning streak (not counting of course the infamous 2002 debacle in which the game ended in a 7-7 tie). While many are awed by this streak, you don't have to look that far back to be impressed that the National League won every All-Star game from 1963 to 1982 except for the 1971 game in Detroit (thats 19 games in 20 years). Also, since that 2002 disaster, the All-Star game now means something (Remember the '03 slogan: This one counts!) as the winning league gets home-field advantage in the World Series. Can the National League finally right the ship and bring the home-field advantage back? We'll find out.

The Derby and the Game: Prince Fielder won the Home Run Derby last night, blasting one of his 23 homeruns an estimated 503 feet. The real question though is: can he hit one in the game itself? According to MLB.com, only 3 players since the inception of the Home Run Derby in 1985 have won the Derby AND hit a home run in the actual All-Star game. They were Cal Ripken Jr. (1991), Frank Thomas (1995), and Garret Anderson (2003) (Interesting note: Ripken and Anderson also went on to win the All-Star MVP Award those years as well). Fielder is coming off the bench and will replaced Albert Pujols who is getting the start at first base. Depending how long, Charlie Manuel plays Pujols, I'd guess that Fielder should get maybe 2 ABs to add his name to this spot in history. I'd say that the matchups that favor him hitting one out of the park are against Mariano Rivera (given up 5 HR in 37 IP) and Mark Beurhle (17 HR in 118 IP). He'll have no chance against Joe Nathan (2 HR in 34.1 IP), Zack Grienke (4HR in 127 IP), or Andrew Bailey (3 HR in 51.2 IP). Should be interesting to see how this one plays out.

The Cure's prediction: AL beats the NL for the 12th straight time 5-3.

The unfairness of the American judicial system

It's no lie. I'm a huge Michael Vick fan. I have been since the Sugar Bowl against Florida State where Virginia Tech's offensive line sat on lawn chairs and let the entire FSU defense try to kill Michael Vick and yet they still couldn't get him. Probably one of my favorite childhood college football moments.

With that said, I'm obviously not condoning what he did. He did a horrific thing to those dogs and should have paid the price. Here's what I don't get. 23 months of jail time including house arrest?

Brett Myers was seen outside a club in NYC beating up his wife and dragging her down the street. Penalty...he pitched his next start but he is Brett Myers which is penalty enough. The sports landscape is filled with DUIs, spouse abuse, battery, accepting bribes, you name it.

Take the most recent example of Dante Stallworth. He got drunk and hit and killed a pedestrian walking in the street. He paid a settlement to the family and got 30 days in jail. Today he was released after DAY 24. I mean seriously 24 days for vehicular homicide and a DUI.

I just don't get it. Evidently killing a man driving drunk is 1/25 of the crime as financing a dog fighting ring.

It just doesn't make sense to me.

And nobody seems to care.

Shirts v Skins

When has it become a blasphemy to play shirts vs skins? When it is all shirts how can you possibly distinguish who is on your team especially when either: a. you've played with everyone on every team so you can't remember who is on your team that particular game. b. when you don't know everybody and they all look the same because they're all 5'9 and white.

All i'm saying is i don't understand why the other team gets so riled up when you're like let's be skins and it's like satan just popped out of your mouth reaching for their souls.

One negative may be the excess sweat of the shirtless team but it always seems that the people who don't want to play skins are hairless, 6-packed men who don't sweat...ever.

Just take your shirt off and let's play

White Sox Mid Season Round Up

Yesterday, the White Sox completed what is mathematically the halfway point in the season. Thus far, its been a pretty tumultuous year for the Sox, as they have been forced to battle pretty much every type of setback possible. They have struggled through injuries, inconsistent pitching, poor fielding, and offensive dry spells that make the Sahara Dessert look like a tropical resort. Even in light of all these issues, the Sox have hung in there and have really been firing on all cylinders of late. They are currently 42-20, only 2 1/2 games back of the Tigers. Here's a closer look at the what has worked and what has not.

The Good:
1) The Pitching - Oh boy has the pitching been good. The Sox staff currently boasts a 3.97 ERA, which is 2nd best in the AL and 7th best in the league. They also have the 3rd best BAA in the AL (.253), the 5th fewest walks (263) in the league, and allowed the 7th fewest earned runs (319) in the league. All of this speaks to how the staff is making other teams really work for and earn their runs. The guys who have shined the brightest are Mark Buerhle (8-2), Jon Danks (7-6), and Gavin Floyd (6-6). All 3 have double digit quality starts (10/10/11) and respectable ERAs (3.09/3.76/4.33). Further, the reemergence of Jose Contreras after his short stint in the minors is definitely a good sign. In addition, the bullpen has been solid and all the way around. Dotel, Carassco, Linebrink, Jenks, and Thornton all have ERAs under 3.35 (Thornton and Linebrink are under 2.8) and K/BB ratios around 2.5-3:1 (Jenk's ratio is almost 5:1). Clearly, the Sox pitching is once again dominating.

2) Gordon Beckham and Scott Podsednik- Both of these guys started off slow but have really come on to give the White Sox lineup some added pop at at both the top and bottom. Beckham didn't get his first hit until his 13th AB, but what I was most impressed about was that he went up to the plate swinging the bat. Further, much of his contact was good solid contact but just hit right at a fielder. More recently, he has been on a tear, raising his average 80 points in just over a week. He went 8-11 in the series against the Tribe, hitting 1 HR and driving in 5. He continues to demonstrate his amazing abilities by dominating in the pros after great displays in high school, college, and the minors. On the other side of the coin, Scott Podsednik has really revitalized his career again with the Sox. He's currently hitting .311 and has swiped 12 bases. While it would be nice to see him swipe some more bases and have a higher OBP, you can't argue with the fact that he is starting to get on track and get on base for those hitters behind him (namely Dye and Thome). Also, he's been using a variety of different maneuvers to get on base (normal swing, bunt, and even a slap hit while slide stepping in the box) and has really started to use his speed to his advantage again (now that he's finally completely healthy). This more cerebral approach to the game will surely help the Sox going forward. ASIDE: Jermaine Dye has also been a big force for the White Sox this year hitting .291 with 20 HRs and 51 RBIs. Though, I chose to speak here about Beckham and Podsednik since they are both having breakout/turnaround type years.


The Bad:
1) Bartolo Colon/Clayton Richard - Let me start by saying, yes, Contreras was bad at the beginning of the year. But he seems to have righted the ship for now, hence why he goes under 'The Good'. Though, depending on how he pitches from here on out, he could very well wind up back here. Anyway, The Bartolo Colon Experiment seemed promising this year since it was a veteran who we hoped could simply eat some innings as the 5th man in the rotation and pitch for a .500 record. Early reports looked favorable, as he had a good spring. Unfortunately, that was the end of that. Colon started 11 games and ended up with a 3-6 record. Batters hit .284 against him and he gave up 12 HR in only 55 innings. What's worse is that he made it only 3 times at least 6 innings and 3 times he didnt even make it out of the 5th. This was a disaster that was not made any better by plugging in Richard. Richard is now 3-2 after 11 games started and seems to have obtained a case of Bartolo Colon-itis as 5 of his 11 starts have resulted in his exiting before the end of the 5th inning (3 of his last 4 starts have gone this way). The worst though is his susceptibility to walking people (1.83:1 Strikeout-to-walk ratio).

2) Fielding - The White Sox have committed the 6th most errors (59) in the league. This is just plain unacceptable as it gives the opposing team extra outs with which to work. Wilson Betemit turned out to be a total bust offensively and only hurt the sox by committing 5 errors in only 13 games this year. Add to this mistakes by Beckham (5 in 26 games) and Alexei Ramirex (10 in 76 games), and the Sox just continue to shoot themselves in the foot. I think that the most worrisome part is that 1 of every 3 errors came from players on the left side of the infield (Beckham and Betemit at 3rd base and Ramirez at shortstop). With a predominantly right handed league where balls are constantly pulled to the left side, this becomes a major problem. Hopefully, for the sake of all White Sox fans, these are just growing pains (with Beckham having just been called up and this being Alexei's first full season at SS).


The Ugly:
1) 20-1 Loss vs. Minnesota - The Sox were helpless in this game as Colon lasted only 2 innings and gave up 8 runs. Lance Broadway and Jimmy Gobble couldn't stop the hemorrhaging either as each gave up 6 runs. The only bright spot was D.J. Carassco coming in for 2 2/3 innings of work who gave up only 1 hit.

2) 6-5 Loss vs. Cubs - The Sox looked like they were going to steal 2 from the Cubs at Wrigley. Unfortunately, they wasted a 7 inning, 5 hit, 1 ER outing by Gavin Floyd and gave up 5 runs in the 8th and 9th to lose to the dreaded crosstown rivals.


Looking Ahead:
I think that the White Sox have a good chance to make a run at the Division crown. They are only 2 1/2 games out right now and are showing that they can put the hitting and pitching together (e.g. 7 game win streak). Getting Carlos Quentin back at some point would only add some more pop to their lineup. The question though is where to put him with Podsednik playing well and currently playing Left field. The most likely change is to put Quentin back in Left and move Pods to Center. We'll see though. Also, the pitching needs to remain solid and the hitting must continue at all parts of the lineup (especially the production from the bottom) in order for the Sox to muster enough runs to support their pitching. The Sox must take advantage and beat the teams that they should (e.g. 6 games left against KC and 9 left against the Tribe). If they do all that, they've got a chance.

Prediction:
The Sox will finish either 1st or 2nd in the division and with a record of 86-76. In either event, it should be a tight race and fun one to watch come the end of September.

Chi-Town Craziness

While it may have appeared like any other cool, overcast summer day in Chicago yesterday, in actuality, there was a tornado. And by tornado, I mean enough sporting news to cause Dorthy from the Wizard of Oz to get a headache. Here is the run down with a little commentary interspersed:

1) Da Bulls - Yesterday, the Ben Gordon era officially came to an end, as he signed a 5 year, $55 million dollar deal with our nemeses, the Detroit Pistons. I have mixed feelings about this deal because when Ben is on, he is lights out. BUT, on that same note, when he is struggling, he becomes like the black hole of basketball (once the ball goes into him, there's no coming out). And, whether he is on or not, he is always a defensive liability. I think that this is going to work out alright for the Bulls in the long run though because while Gordon is an excellent shooter, the other players on the floor with him basically gave up on shooting come the 4th quarter, as they expected him to take every shot. That kind of offense just becomes way to predictable and easy to stop. This will force the Bulls to play a much more team oriented sort of basketball and will only be helped by the continued development of Noah in the post or the signing of another low post presence. Add in the continued development of Derrick Rose, continued good play of John Salmons, and hopeful return of a healthy Luol Deng, and I think we've got a great nucleus to a team.

In terms of Detroit, I think they made a couple of ballsy moves. In Gordon, they get a great shooter who can come off the bench. I'm just not that convinced that he is going to mesh well with Stuckey and especially Hamilton (and who is going to run the point if they decided to put Hamilton and Gordon on the floor together since they both love to shoot?). Also, they signed Charlie Villanueva yesterday. I think that he'll be good for 12/6 per game next year, but there is no way that he is going to be able to match the intensity and defense that Rasheed Wallace has given them in the past.

2) Da Hawks - I can't really sugar coat this one. I'm without a doubt most excited about this part of what happened yesterday. The Blackhawks unfortunately could not come to terms with Marty Havlat or Nicolai Khabibulin. Havlat is still a free agent, while Khabibulin was snatched up by the Edmonton Oilers. While its tough to see these guys go (especially since they were such significant contributors last year), it is exciting to see the Blackhawks again be aggressive in the offseason (as they were last year when they brought in Brian Campbell) and sign Marian Hossa to a 12 year, $62 million dollar deal. This gives the Hawks a veteran who is a proven scorer and all around professional. What I like about this deal most is that while the Red Wings sat Datsyuk and other key players during games 4 and 5 of the conference championship last year, it was Hossa who stepped up. Also, his hustle for the puck is relentless at all times when he is on the ice. Overall, I think that this is a phenomenal pick up and proves to the other players and the fans that the management is serious about bringing Lord Stanley's Cup back to the Chi. In terms of the Bulin Wall, it's sad to see him go but it is also time for Cristobol Huet to step up and show us what we're paying him for. He had a great couple of seasons prior to this last one, and I hope that he can return to that form (Side note: It's not fair to blast him for the poor tending in the playoffs. If he had continued to split time with Khabibulin, then yes, you could expect more. But he essentially sat all the last 1/3 of the regular season and all of the playoffs.)

3) Da Sox - They just continue to win. Next post will be on them, so check back for that.