Chicago is also 33-19 at whatever they call their stadium now, while Toronto is 23-29 on the road. The White Sox have been in first place in the AL Central all 121 days of the season and it doesn't look good for the Blue Jays, but this is why they play the games.
On to the Advance Scout!
* General: A warning note to those of you in the US and UK who are forced to listen to the White Sox TV broadcast on MLB.TV: it is, by far, the worst in baseball ... after being designated for assignment July 18, Shingo Takatsu did not report to AAA Charlotte, causing the White Sox to release him ... they are still responsible for the rest of his $2.5M salary ... useless fact: neither teams will use their #1 or #2 starters this series ... the untouchables at the deadline, according to GM Ken Williams, were "Mark Buehrle, Freddy Garcia, Jon Garland, A.J. Pierzynski, Bobby Jenks, Brandon McCarthy, Brian Anderson [and] Aaron Rowand" ... Geoff Blum likes the Sox already: " It was good team baseball. It was fun to watch and fun to be a part of...they sure are living up to what I had heard." ... a graphic on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball said the White Sox were first in stolen bases, sac bunts and steals of third, the last of which being a stat I never bothered tracking -- though it does make sense ... Buerhle was tossed when he hit B.J. Surhoff right after an A.J. Pierzynski plunking, and his pitch was oh-so-intentional ... more Buerhle, this time on Palmeiro: "I don't think he's taken steroids. He's one of those guys you don't notice a size difference on. Guys on steroids, when they get off them, they are a little bit smaller. But he looks the same to me the five years I've been in the big leagues." Gee, I wonder why you've noticed him to be the same size for five years, Mark ... none of Garland, Buehrle or Garcia have great strikeout rates but you don't need to when your defense efficiency ratio is .711, trailing only Oakland ... swept the Jays in early May, you know, if they weren't the White Sox, they would be a lot easier to cheer for ...
* Jermaine Dye: With two strikes, waste one in the dirt -- he'll chase it ... 8 for 10 on the basepaths, the only distinction he shares with Willie Harris ... using some words of Mike Wilner's, "absolutely rakes" at home
* Frank Thomas: Out for the year and possibly finished with the White Sox ... Kenny Williams: "He's converted me into one of his biggest supporters...two years ago the two of us probably could have sold out Caesar's Palace for a nice little rumble" ... in case you forgot, he's 11th all-time in on-base percentage, just behind Todd "The Silver Bullet" Helton; he's third all-time in OBP among right-handed hitters ...
* Scott Podsednik: Has everything but power, and what a lack of power it is: no homeruns and just 19 doubles all season ... 52 stolen bases but no triples? Strange ... his 52 steals are no surprise, as he gets great jumps and is a very fast runner with excellent acceleration ... will chase outside pitches, especially offspeed ones ... get this: he stole four bases against Toronto on May 7, but none of them mattered as he scored on a HR every single time ...
* Paul Konerko: Probably the best hitter in this lineup ... spot the outlier; slugging percentage by year: .511, .481, .507, .498, .399, .535, .487 ... has not had success against Toronto in his career, hitting just .206 ... loves the high heat ...
* A.J. Pierzynski: Swinging for the fences unlike any other White Sox catcher whose name I have problems spelling correctly, as his batting average is at an all-time low and he's already set a career high in HR ... much, much better hitter this year at night than during the day, whatever that means ... seems to be able to drive the outside pitches, but it's hard to tell his strengths ...
* Aaron Rowand: What would you say if I told you someone traded away Brad Lidge for the right to keep Rowand for a 2004 Diamond Mind season? ... That season is looking more like a fluke everyday ... Always looks comfortable in CF, though, except when the play is right at the end of his range -- in those cases, he appears to do too many things at once and boots the ball or misses the catch ...
* Cliff Politte: Insanely lucky 1.80 ERA -- I bet it rises if not by a full run, then by a substantial amount before the season is over ... aside from what appears to be a killer two-seamer that he can pump up to 94, all his pitches are hittable ... they're all finding gloves, though ... despite being a monstrous flyball pitcher, he still has the lowest line drive percentage of any White Sock ...
* Dustin Hermanson: 1.76 ERA, 25 for 26 in save opportunities, but he can't be this good, can he? ... Strikeouts and walks indicate a lesser performance, but with this defense, he's done very well this year ... it's very easy to evaluate his pitching: when his stuff has a downward break, he's good and when it doesn't, he's bad ...
* Jon Garland: Don't believe the 15-4 record, this year is just like his previous 12-win seasons (all three of them) ... at first glance, you'd think he's throwing well, but then he serves up a 93 mph cookie and you don't know what to think ... going for win #16 tonight, tied with Chris Carpenter for the MLB lead, who is also pitching tonight ...
* Orlando Hernandez: Has been on the DL twice, with a strained trapezius muscle (June 15) and a sore right shoulder (May 15) ... El Duque is El Lento with runners on base. If Russ Adams reaches in the first, you can run a few errands before Vernon Wells comes up ... opponents are hitting .280 off him with a .794 OPS, easily the worst that has ever been for him (.248/.783 in 2001) ... strikeout rate way down from last year ...
* Jon Adkins: Recent callup has not appeared in a major league game since October 1, 2004 ... nothing special in Charlotte this year, either ... 119 starts in the minors, but has seen only relief work in the majors ...
