By Andrew Reilly
There are two ways to look at the upcoming weeks and the Sox’ merciless schedule.
The obvious school of thought says it’s all over, that the season effectively ended with the savage beating the Orioles handed down today. Not that losing to the O’s means much in the scheme of things, but that the Sox’ opportunities to fatten up on mediocre teams have all passed, the Good Guys left with nothing to show for it but a slightly narrowed distance between themselves and the Kittens and a Minnesota team filling more and more of the rear-view mirror with each passing day. It’s as though these previous 91 games were a good time and all, but the Sox have to go home now and let the grown-ups get down to the business of playing serious, meaningful baseball.
But you could just as easily say the real season starts now. The Sox, you could argue, get the chance to really prove themselves to the cynical masses and insistently cranky internet sportswriters. Their true weaknesses may be exposed, but there’s still time to (hopefully) address and rectify those issues. Two weeks and seven all-important games against the Tigers and Twins beckon with the promise of showing all of us where we really stand; a stress test for the South Side, if you will, and a time for a spelled-with-a-capital-t Team to rise.
Whichever school of thought you subscribe to, there still remains absolutely no way to deny it: the season is about to get ugly. The Sox have the toughest schedule of any of the Central’s so-called contenders, and their track record suggests that whatever happens won’t happen cleanly. This is still a team that can’t beat anyone with a winning record, a team that usually loses one-run games, shut out once every seven losses and only scoring exactly as many runs as it allows. Their record and recent headlines paint a picture of success; their actual performance, however, shows a team averaging out to doing just enough to not lose. For all we know, that might be enough – but thanks to the horrid ineptitude of the teams they’ve already faced, we actually have no idea about anything.
Week in Review: Short. It would’ve been nice to go for the kill by sweeping Baltimore but the O’s, sadly, aren’t really that much worse than the Sox. Oh, and hey, look at that, Jose Contreras has finally returned.
Week in Preview: Four against the Rays followed by four against the Tigers. Death and glory are the only possible outcomes.
The Q Factor: The Chosen One could return as soon as next week, the demons within him finally contained and his newfound power ready to be unleashed on an unsuspecting world, for he has been to the mountaintop and learned the forbidden secret of the Ancients. By Sunday evening, The Chosen One’s average at Charlotte had climbed to .378 with a .467 on-base percentage; farmhands fear him and worship him at once, but he will not rest until the streets overflow with the blood of those pretenders to the throne who dare pitch to him.
That’s Ozzie!: “I cannot go on what he did today. Because I don’t even know when the last time was he pitched.” – Guillen on Aaron Poreda’s rough showing in Saturday’s game.
The Guillen Meter: With the Twins hot on their heels, the Guillen Meter reads 4 for “oh sweet merciful crap, not this again.”
Underclassmen Update: Bacon Spice’s batting average nears .300 while Jayson Nix inexplicably ranks second among AL rookies with six home runs.
Alumni News You Can Use: Former Sox reliever Mike MacDougal has surrendered a scant five earned runs in eighteen innings of work for the Nationals, his belt-high fastball down the middle and wild pitches apparently too much for National League batters to handle.
Hawkeroo’s Can-O-Corn Watch: Rays pitcher Matt Garza and infielder Jason Bartlett played previously for the Twins, a fact we can reasonably expect Hawk to use as a springboard for a sermon on the awesomeness of the Minnesota Twins ballclub no less than four times, but no more than seven. No! Hell no!
Endorsement No-Brainer: Bobby Jenks’ struggles against Orioles hitters for rapper Ogun’s contribution to the soundtrack of The Wire: What you know about Baltimore?
Cubs Snub: Ted Lilly didn’t get to pitch in the All-Star Game, which probably explains why the NL lost by one run rather than by six.
The White Sox Report: Read ’em all.
The Cub Factor: Know your enemy.
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Andrew Reilly is the managing editor of The 35th Street Review and a contributor to many fine publications.
Posted on July 20, 2009