Baby Do You Miss Me Now That I'm Gone?

Dear my blog:
I'm sorry I've been neglecting you.  I still love you, I promise.
Love,
Jen

Really, I'm gonna start blogging again consistently.  No, I'm serious.  I'm gonna do it.  But I'm still unpacking, and I'm dealing with Loyola and their BS (more on that in a minute).  AND AND AND!  I bought a Trailblazer!  I OWN MY OWN CAR!  :D

Quick Loyola update: I finally have access to enrollment, but I can't register for classes until I meet with the dean of the School of Communications.  And she can't meet with me until the 17th.  While that's cutting it REALLY close to when classes start, as long as I'm registered before classes start on the 24th, it'll be fine.

OK, on to why you actually read my blog: baseball.

The last time I updated, the Sox just landed Jake Peavy at the trade deadline.  I read somewhere that the deal was finalized with 23 seconds left before the deadline.  That's pretty much awesome.  Peavy is making his first rehab start in Charlotte on Thursday.  I wish I could be in Charlotte for that game.  I mean, minor league tickets are TOTALLY in my budget, and I'd love to see Peavy pitch without spending a fortune at a Sox game.  Unfortunately, South Carolina isn't next to Illinois, so I'll have to wait to see him.  But if I can get tickets to his first game in Chicago...oh man, I'm SO there.

Now, I could go into detail about all the games since my last post, but that's just annoying.  When I last updated, the Sox had taken the first two games against the Yankees.  By the end of the series, the Sox won three of the four games.  Not too bad if I do say so myself.  Then the Angels came to town, and the Sox took two of the three games.  Are we ever gonna sweep again?  You know, it'd be nice.  The final three games of that homestand were against the Indians.

I'm sure you're well aware that the Indians have basically gotten rid of their whole team, so I was rather hopeful for a sweep (sorry Indians fans).  But either the Sox play like absolute crap against bad teams (sorry again), or the Indians play like the freaking Yankees against us.  Maybe it's a combination of both.  But the Sox lost two of the three games.  They've played two of three games with Seattle, and so far they split the two.  I'll cover tonight's game in a bit.

I've noticed something with the Sox that I was discussing with a friend on my Facebook-esque ESPN profile: there is no in between with this team.  And my friend put it even better: "all or nothing...either they work hard and get the point on the board or they just fail massively as a team, and you're left wondering if they were even attempting to try."

Sometimes I wonder why I watch them when I know they're bound to either give me a heart attack on their way to a win or break my heart by losing to a craptastic team.  But despite the fact that they make me want to punch myself repeatedly, they're my boys.  They will always be my boys, and even if they turn into the Washington Nationals (sorry Nats fans), I'll still torment myself and watch them plummet into the abyss.

On a different note, during the Saturday game of the Cleveland series, White Sox batters were getting plunked like they had a gigantic target on them.  And Ozzie Guillen has had enough.  While he doesn't think the Cleveland pitchers were intentionally hitting our players, he basically sent a message to the rest of the league: hit our players and we'll retaliate.  Was it smart to come out and say it like that?  Probably not.  But Ozzie's not the type to care if he gets in trouble for speaking his mind.

So you know how you can vote for the clutch player of the month on MLB.com?  Well, the July winner is "perfect."  Yes, MLB.com voters got it right when they picked Mark "Mr. Perfect" Buehrle as the recipient.  July 23, 2009 is one of the greatest days in my sports life, and I'll never forget Mark Buehrle for providing me with two amazing sports days and contributing to the third (October 26, 2005: World Series; April 18, 2007: Mark's no-hitter; July 23, 2009: Mark's perfect game).  He'll probably go down as the greatest Sox pitcher I've ever watched (since I've only been watching since August 2004 when I moved back to Chicago for school).  He starts tomorrow's game against the Mariners, so I'm hoping he can bounce back from the last couple starts he's had.  They haven't been super good.

I mentioned earlier that I bought a Trailblazer.  Things happen in such a short amount of time that sometimes it boggles my mind.  My dad and I left the house to go buy my car.  We got there around 6:45, and after we test drove it, we had to wait for a few minutes while our salesman got some paperwork for us.  So I checked Twitter.  In the roughly hour I had been gone, the White Sox announced they had claimed Alex Rios off waivers.  The Sox didn't have to give up any players, which surprised Kenny Williams since he thought he'd have to work out a trade, but the Sox have to cover the rest of his huge contract.  It runs through 2014, so it seems we're OK for a few years in the outfield with Rios and pitching with Peavy.

My guess is there are some people who worry about the playing time in the outfield now that we have yet another everyday outfielder.  While I would LOVE to see a Carlos Quentin-Scott Podsednik-Jermaine Dye outfield every day because I love them, I know Rios is a great player and a great addition to the outfield.  And now that he'll be a White Sox for several years, I have to learn to love him too.  :)  And since he can play all three outfield positions, it'll give our outfielders more chances to stay rested and healthy for the playoff push we're gonna be making (because I said so).  Although it sounds like Jermaine Dye is a little bit wary because it might affect whether the Sox bring him back next season.  Dye has a $12 million option for next season, but he wants to finish his career here.  JD is a great guy and a great player.  And I'd love to have him stay here until he's done.

Before I get into a game recap because this one made me want to punch myself repeatedly until the ninth inning, I have a fun story for you.  I've finally heard of someone getting a ticket for jaywalking.  Kenny Williams was given a $56 ticket for crossing illegally in front of Safeco Field on Monday.  I've honestly never heard of anyone ACTUALLY getting a ticket for that, so it's hilarious to me.

John Danks started for the Sox tonight.  His last couple of starts have been a bit shaky, but tonight he was absolutely brilliant.  He gave up only one run on seven hits and struck out eight.  He was fantastic.  I know I rave about John since he's my favorite pitcher, but he really was fantastic tonight.  He pitched eight innings and threw only 98 pitches, 69 for strikes.  This was his first start ever against the Mariners, and it looked like it'd go down as a loss since the Sox only managed to get two hits and seven walks in eight innings.  Sounds like they'd be OK with the walks, but they grounded into three double plays, which is so not conducive to winning a game.

But then the ninth inning happened.  David Aardsma came on to close.  Aardsma was on the Sox in 2007 and was absolutely horrible.  But this season with Seattle, he's been very very very good.  Coming in tonight, he had only blown two saves and only gave up one home run.  After tonight, three blown saves and two home runs.  The ninth was so happy that I have to recreate it for you.  Or at least try and give you a visualization of what I was doing in my room watching the game.

Batter One: Paul Konerko.  Paulie flied out to center field.  But he was thiiiiiiiiiiiiis close to tying the game at one with a home run.  Because I feared for this team, I began hurling obscenities at my TV.  I was close to actually throwing things at it, but it's a brand new TV.  AJ Pierzynski was the next batter.  I was still scared for the team, even though I love and adore AJ.  But Aardsma eased my heart a little and walked AJ.  YAY AJ!  Ozzie sent in Dewayne Wise to pinch run for AJ since we all know D-Wise is WAY faster than AJ.  Sorry, boo.  I love you and always will, but you're kinda slow.  Carlos Quentin was up, and while I had faith he could hit something to get him on base, I still had that "oh crap he's gonna ground into a double play and we're gonna lose" feeling in the back of my mind.  But Carlos singled!  YAY SINGLES FOR CARLOS!  That was only the third hit of the game for the Sox, so as soon as he hit it, I posted this on Twitter:

Another hit! WOW! I'm amazed. I think Alexei needs to hit a freaking BOMB right now. Please.

So what did Alexei do?  He came up and HIT A FREAKING BOMB!  Sox up 3-1 with one out!  WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  I don't have the talent to call the shot ever, so I felt like freaking Nostradamus right there.  Chris Getz then popped out to third, but Scottie Pods singled to center.  More threatening Sox!  And with that, Aardsma was pulled.  Shawn Kelley replaced him to face Gordon Beckham, and Pods proceeded to steal second before Gordon lined out to right.  Bobby Jenks came on for the save, and John Danks got his win!  YAY WIN!

So that's my wrap up.  I hope you enjoyed it.  When I have a Facebook album of my Trailblazer, I'll share it with you.  I need to name my baby still.  All cars need a name.  :)  I'm still amused that the first car I ever named was Tom's.  But Rockies Roadster is still a DAMN good name!  And for now, I bid you adieu since it's about 3am right now, and I'm effing tired.

Photo credits: AP; geekdetails.files.wordpress.com; AP; allposters.com; AP; AP