Catching Up and Perfection

And I thought the last entry was epically long.

Again with my blog neglect.  But it's what happens when it's down to the last days in San Diego and driving across the country back to Chicago.  Yes, I'm finally home and waiting on Allied to bring me my massive amount of stuff.  It's wonderful to be home.  But I have some Soxy Goodness to catch up on, so here we go.

Soxy Goodness
I'm gonna go chronologically.  Except I'm skipping Thursday because it was way too epic to just have a little portion in the Soxy Goodness section.

As you may or may not recall, my birthday was last Monday.  I'm 23, and the Sox decided to give me a present.  They beat the Tampa Bay Rays, and fun times were had by me.  Not only did they win, but they gave me another present: Carlos Quentin.  Yes, Carlos mi amor is off the disabled list!  I literally stopped what I was doing, got off my couch, and danced amongst my boxes.  I'm amazing, I know.  Carlos went 1-for-4 with a strikeout in his return, but it was fantastical nonetheless.  Probably because he hasn't played in two months and I missed him.  And it was my birthday.

Gavin Floyd started for the Sox, and he only gave up three hits which is good.  But those three hits were all home runs which is not so good.  One of them was an inside-the-park homer by Carl Crawford in the fourth.  But other than those three hits, he did quite well.  I was happy with his performance.  Bobby Jenks, however, didn't want me to live very long into my 23rd year of life.  Bobby terrified me in the ninth.  He came on and struck out Carlos Pena looking and Ben Zobrist swinging.  YAY TWO OUTS!  But Bobby can't make life easy.  He walked Pat Burrell, gave up a single to Willy Aybar, and walked Gabe Gross.  Bobby, for reals?  You're gonna load the bases?  On my birthday?  No heart attacks, Bobby.  That scares me, and I really like living.  Luckily he struck out Jason Bartlett to end the game, but even then he didn't make it easy because he struck him out on a full count.

The offense loved me.  Scott Podsednik doubled in the first and Jermaine Dye singled him in for the first run of the game.  Then in the third, Podsednik and Alexei Ramirez both reached base, and Paul Konerko hit a three-run homer.  Oh Paulie, you love me.  Thanks for that.  Podsednik loves me too because he went 3-for-3 with a walk on Monday.  And he stole a base.  Gordon Beckham stole a base too and went 1-for-3.  AJ Pierzynski only went 1-for-4 and it wasn't a homer like I asked for, but he did do something good for me.

He threw out two baserunners.  Yeah, I said TWO.

In case you're unaware, AJ hasn't been very successful at throwing runners out.  He's 6-for-64 (I think...it's 60-something) this season.  Now, I know you're probably thinking AJ kinda fails at this part of the game.  However what is usually not taken into consideration is that most of our pitchers have very slow releases.  So AJ can only do so much.  And then there's the guy covering the bag.  He can only do so much too.  One of our pitchers said stolen bases are 95% on the pitcher.  So while it may look like AJ is so epically full of fail, he's really not.  Sure, there are times when he makes a bad throw, but usually it's because of a slow delivery that a base is stolen.

But AJ won at life for me on my birthday.  He's my favorite, and he did good.  Thank you, AJ!  You're amazing!

Tuesday's game was not so pretty.  It started out relatively well.  Clayton Richard pitched eight innings, striking out seven, walking two, giving up two hits and only one run.  You'd figure that a 2-1 lead going into the ninth with Bobby Jenks coming up would be perfectly fine.

You'd be wrong this time.

Something is wrong with Bobby Jenks, and I couldn't tell you what it is.  Jenks blew the save on Tuesday, giving up two runs on two hits.  There was something that just wasn't right.  On Monday, he tried to kill me as I previously mentioned.  Tuesday, he blew the save, and my heart started aching.  What happened to my Bobby?  This is not the Bobby I fell in love with in 2005.  (I fall in love a lot when it comes to baseball hahaha!)  I want Big Bad Bobby Jenks back.  Please return him.

AJ Pierzynski and Gordon Beckham each had a stellar night.  Both went 3-for-4, AJ scoring a run, and Beckham batting one in.  Scott Podsednik batted in the other Sox run, and Chris Getz was the runner batted in.  Otherwise, the offense was a bit lacking.  Alexei Ramirez, Carlos Quentin, and Chris Getz each had one hit, and they were the only ones who had hits, totalling out to nine hits for the team.  Then again, with Richard's awesome performance, the Rays only got six hits off him and Jenks.  In the end, it's the score that matters, and Bobby Jenks blew the save.  That doesn't happen often, so when it does, Sox fans have the tendency to get a little worried.

Wednesday I was stuck in the San Diego airport for most of the day.  It was a better idea to sit there for, like, eight hours than sit on the uncomfortable floor of my empty apartment.  At least the seats at the airport were more comfortable than my floor.  And bonus, the airport has free wifi.  So I got to watch the Sox game.  YAY!

Wednesday's starter was supposed to be my favorite pitcher, John Danks.  However, he had a blister on his finger and a "circulation problem," so the Sox called up Carlos Torres to make his Major League debut.  And it was quite lovely.

Torres pitched six innings and did a really good job.  He allowed six hits, walked three, struck out three, and allowed three runs, all off of two homers.  Not too bad.  The Sox only scored one run while Torres was pitching, so his first start came as a no decision.  DJ Carrasco came on in relief in the seventh, and he picked up the win after pitching a perfect inning.  Matt Thornton came on for the eighth and ninth and picked up his first save of the season.

I'm not gonna lie to you.  I was very nervous for the Sox.  I think they like freaking me out.  A 3-1 game going to the bottom of the seventh when we're not the ones leading makes me very nervous.  But luckily my boys didn't let me down.  Alexei Ramirez had himself a night, going 2-for-3 with a walk, two RBIs and a run scored.  Scott Podsednik hit a solo homer that got the Sox on the board, and he went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI from his homer.  What a way to go into Thursday's finale of Scott Kazmir vs. Mark Buehrle.

You all know what happened Thursday.  It's so epic that I'm skipping over it and giving it an entire section of my blog.

FYI, the last game I saw before Sunday Night Baseball was that game on Wednesday.  So please pardon the lack of detail for these next games.

Friday, the Sox had a doubleheader in Detroit.  Game One starter Jose Contreras had a relatively good game.  In the seventh inning, he broke down a little.  Contreras pitched 6.2 innings, striking out eight, walking one, giving up nine hits and four runs.  Octavio Dotel came on in relief and gave up another run, this one unearned.  The lone Sox run came when AJ Pierzynski reached on an error in the fourth and was batted in by Gordon Beckham.  (I feel like I say this all the time.  Probably because I do.  Beckham is always batting in Pierzynski.  I like it.  Don't change that.)  Defensively, it looked like the Sox were a mess.  Jermaine Dye, Octavio Dotel, and Alexei Ramirez were all charged with an error.  Dye surprised me since he almost never commits an error.  But Alexei Ramirez...that was his twelfth error of the season.  That is absolutely unacceptable.  I've said numerous times this season that he'd have many many more if it weren't for Paul Konerko being at first.  I'm fed up with the amount of errors this team is committing.

Game Two of the doubleheader featured Bartolo Colon's return from the DL.  I've heard mixed reviews on Colon's performance.  Some say it was pretty crappy.  His line score says differently.  Seven innings pitched, six hits, three runs all earned, one walk, and two strikeouts.  I dunno what it is, but I'm still not sold on Colon coming back as a starter, considering how much Clayton Richard has worked on improving.  But it's up to Ozzie on who the starter will be.  Just so he knows, I vote Richard, with no offense to Colon.

The Sox and Tigers remained tied at three until Scott Linebrink came on in the eighth and gave up the winning run.  Linebrink scares me.  He makes me wonder why I still have him on my fantasy team.  I always have mini panic attacks when he comes out because he'll either be absolutely AMAZING or one of the worst pitchers on the team.  There's no in-between with him, it seems.  And unfortunately on Friday, he was Bad Linebrink.  It's almost like the Good Rex/Bad Rex situation the Chicago Bears had with quarterback Rex Grossman.  You never knew if you were getting Good Rex or Bad Rex.  Now it seems the Sox have that problem with Linebrink.  Which makes me want to bash my head into the wall.

Saturday, Gavin Floyd started for the Sox.  He's pretty fantastic, so I feel confident when he pitches.  I like Gavin.  He had a pretty good day on Saturday.  6.2 innings pitched, six hits, seven strikeouts, three walks, and two runs, one earned.  Not bad.  Matt Thornton and Octavio Dotel came on in relief, and it looked preeeeeetty good since the offense had scored three runs.  But my heart ached because Bobby Jenks came on and blew the save.  Again.  I'm dead serious: who stole Big Bad Bobby Jenks?  Where is my awesome Bobby?  Someone needs to return him to the White Sox ASAP.  The game went into extras because of that, and DJ Carrasco gave up a run, ending the game with a 4-3 score for the Tigers.

Offensively, the Sox did well for themselves, it seems.  AJ Pierzynski hit his 11th homer of the season, so we all know I did the happy dance in my brother's truck while he looked at me like I was insane.  He went 4-for-5 too!  AJ is so amazing.  At least in my head he is.  I may be the only person outside of his family that loves and adores him, but that's totally fine with me.  Chris Getz stole his 14th base of the season and went 1-for-3.  Scott Podsednik went 3-for-5 and batted in a run.  Yes, I did my Scottie Pods Dance in my brother's truck.  Again, he looked at me like I was nuts.  So offensively, they weren't too bad.  It was the pitching...well, mainly Bobby...that did them in this time.  So much for gaining ground in the division race.

Sunday, I finally got to watch a game again.  Granted, I was at the bar with my dad, but hey.  It was Sunday Night Baseball, so what else were they gonna put on?  And they know my ridiculous love of the Sox there.  Most of you probably saw the game since it was Sunday Night Baseball, but I'll quickly recap because I love you.

Clayton Richard, amazing.  He allowed only five hits in his eight innings pitched.  He struck out three and walked two.  Tony Pena came on in relief for the ninth and secured Richard's win.  If this performance doesn't solidify why he deserves a starting job, I don't know what else I can tell you.  Clayton has worked his *ss off, and he deserves the spot.

Sox offense, great times as well.  Paul Konerko hit his 19th homer of the season in the first inning, and Gordon Beckham followed him in the second inning with his fourth of the season.  I enjoyed watching the game, especially since it was a 5-1 Sox win.  That put the Sox at two games back in the division, and they were headed up to the Metrodome to face the Twins.

Monday night, John Danks returned after missing his last start with a blister and circulation problem.  Danks wasn't quite on like he should be.  He was a bit shaky in the first few innings, but he settled down a bit and lasted seven innings.  He gave up six hits, four runs (two earned), walked two and struck out three.  Scott Linebrink came on in the eighth and didn't give me a heart attack.  He pitched a perfect inning.

What did the Sox in were the three errors.  Jayson Nix was charged with one.  It was a good take out at second and Paul Konerko wasn't able to come up with it because the throw was off the mark.  Konerko was charged with an error in that same inning because he missed a catch on a throw from John Danks.  Because of those two errors, two runs scored in the second.  Had those errors not occurred, the Sox probably would have won the game since the other two Twins runs came off a two-run homer by Michael Cuddyer.  The third error was by Alexei Ramirez.  His thirteenth of the season.  UNACCEPTABLE!!!  I'm done yelling about him and his errors.  I can't do it anymore.  I can complain all I want, but that doesn't mean anything is gonna change.  I'm a blogger.  I have no input into how he plays the game.  As a team, the Sox have committed 75 errors.  SEVENTY FIVE ERRORS!!!  Would you like to guess who has the most on the Sox?  If you said Alexei Ramirez, you'd be right.  Now, I know I should also be complaining about the nine errors Gordon Beckham has committed this season.  But I just can't.  And I have what I consider to be a semi-valid reason for it.  Before he was brought up to Triple A-Charlotte from Double A-Birmingham, Beckham had never played third base.  He was at Charlotte for a week playing third before being called up to the Sox to play third.  He's still learning this position.  His natural position is shortstop.  Coincidentally, that's Ramirez's natural position too.  You'd think he wouldn't have so many errors at his natural position.

Tomorrow's game is Mark Buehrle vs. Scott Baker.  Buehrle has an 11-3 record with a 3.28 ERA.  Baker is 8-7 with a 5.04 ERA.  Considering it's another game in Minnesota, it should be interesting.  While I don't doubt that Buehrle can hold the Twins, I worry about the offense since they have a tendency to s*ck in Minnesota.

Perfection
Here's what you've been waiting for.

July 23, 2009 started off just as I expected.  After an insane delay at the airport the night before, I arrived in San Francisco, and the next morning, my brother and I started our journey to Chicago.  What I did not expect was the following text message from Rachel:

Buehrle!  OMG!  OMG!  Perfect game!!!!!!!!

One of the biggest WhiteSox games in the history of my fandom, if not the franchise, adn I missed it.

Via Twitter, I learned of a new MLBlog set up so we could all congratulate Mark Buehrle on his amazing performance.  Naturally, I left a comment.  Which FYI is really hard to do on a phone that isn't very MLBlogs friendly.  I think my message to Mark sums up my feelings quite nicely.  So of course I'll share them here:

When you pitched perfection, I was just beginning my drive from California to Chicago. While I wasn't able to watch that game live, there was no better way to start my trip home than to hear you pitched a perfect game. I was upset that I couldn't see the game live, but I am so incredibly happy for you and so incredibly proud you're a member of the White Sox. As my MLBlogs username indicates, AJ rocks my White Sox, but you, Mark Buehrle, rock my White Sox as well. Congratulations!!!

Thankfully I have MLB.tv, so I watched the ninth inning of this epic game.  I watched Dewayne Wise come in as a defensive replacement and make what I will forever refer to as "The Catch."  I watched Alexei Ramirez make the throw to Josh Fields and heard Hawk yell, "Alexei!  YES!  YES!  YES!  YES!  HISTORY!"  Which was a way better call than the no-hitter call ("Crede.  YES!  Mark Buehrle has pitched a no-hitter!")  While it was just a replay, it was still history.  A huge smile still broke out on my face.  I cried when Mark's wife Jamie and baby girl Brooklyn came out to the field.

It's not often that you get to witness history, whether in sports or in any other aspect of your life.  To see something so wonderful happen to someone on your favorite team is amazing.  After Jonathan Sanchez threw his no-hitter for the Giants, I wrote that there were four hugely important dates in my baseball life.  Mark Buehrle has solidified a fifth with his perfect game.

The White Sox and their fans are truly blessed to have such a wonderful man as their ace.  Mark Buehrle is not only an astounding pitcher, but he is also an amazing person.  He is humble, he is grateful for his opportunities, and his down-to-earth attitude makes you want to have him around.  He's everything you could ever want in a pitcher, and I wouldn't trade him for the world!

Thank you so much, Mark Buehrle.  Not in a million years could I forget everything you have done for this franchise.  You really do rock my White Sox.






Jen Has Wishes
As you're aware by now, I'll be starting my journey to all 30 MLB parks next season.  But I have other wishes regarding baseball.  Will these all come true?  Probably not.  But I want to strive to get as many as I can.  And what better place to let out all my wishes than this blog?

1.  I want to step foot on the field at US Cellular Field.

I really want to be able to just be on that field.  It's my favorite place to be in the entire world, and just once I want to be able to stand there, have my picture taken at home plate, and say "I was on the field at USCF."

2.  I want to throw out a first pitch.

I am really bad at throwing a ball, but I want to throw a pitch to a member of the White Sox.  While it probably won't be AJ Pierzynski like I'd REALLY like since he pitches most of the games and he'd be warming up, I would love to throw it to John Danks or Mark Buehrle.  And to do it in front of thousands of other Sox fans would make me so happy.  I promise not to pull a Mariah Carey when I throw it.  I'd practice ahead of time.  :)

3.  I want pictures with the players I love so dearly.

I met AJ Pierzynski.  I got his autograph.  He said I was pretty.  But I don't have a picture with him.  I have yet to meet John Danks.  I have yet to meet Gordon Beckham.  I have a list of players I would love to meet and get my picture with.  But I swear, every time I'm at a Sox game, I can never get a picture with them.  And it's very hard to get them all at SoxFest due to the wristband rules they have.  Still, I'd love to see AJ, John, Gordon, Josh Fields, Mark Buehrle, Bobby Jenks, Scott Podsednik, Brian Anderson, Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko, Jim Thome, Carlos Quentin, and Chris Getz at SoxFest this year.  I know it's basically impossible for me to get to all of them in a weekend, but I'd like to try.  Is there a way to get this to happen?  Please?

I don't think these are too much to ask.  I mean, I don't need to do them all, like, right now.  Just before I die.  I've got time.  I just turned 23.  Oooh I should add that I'd like a job either with the White Sox or covering the White Sox.  Future journalism degree, please help me fulfill that wish.  :)

Final Shoutout
One more entry to caption JD and AJ.  Be creative!