White Sox 6, Twins 1
Yesterday on Easter Sunday, I spent the afternoon at the ballpark (along with a relatively small crowd of 25,571) watching the last game of the Sox/Twins series. The temperature was 37 degrees, yet in my seats in the sun, the weather was quite pleasant. As you can see from the photo above, I was a bit further from the action than last game. However, the view from the upper decks still gave me a nice vantage point of the action. And luckily for me (and the team, for that matter) the action was far superior to Thursday’s game against the Royals.
Mark Buehrle, the Sox starting pitcher, had a great day allowing only two hits and striking out five batters. Unfortunately, one of those hits given up by Buehrle was a home run from Delmon Young in the second. But thankfully, the Sox offense came alive in the the fifth inning, and the Sox scored in every inning afterward. Along with the pitching, highlights included a productive day from Dewayne Wise who went 2 for 3, home runs form Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye, and a diving catch in the outfield from Carlos Quentin.
In the 9th, Clayton Richard came on as the Sox closer, and immediately loaded the bases giving the next batter the chance for a home run to cut the lead by 1. And guess who was that next batter? Right, Mr. Joe Crede. There was quite a bit of nervous laughter around me at the thought of Crede hitting that grand slam and being a Twins’ hero. Now, one of the main reasons I wanted to attend the first series against the Twins was to see how Sox fans would react to their once Sox hero taking sides with a rival. As I mentioned in a previous post, the first game back for Crede resulted in a standing ovation from the Sox fans. On Saturday’s game, there wasn’t any standing but still a healthy dose of applause. On Sunday, as Crede was making his way up to the plate for the first time in the second inning, he was once again pleasantly greeted by the fans. The second time up to bat Crede was still applauded but far less enthusiastically. His third time, with the bases loaded, he was applauded by only me and a handful of Twins fans.
Crede didn’t face Richard. After loading the bases, Sox manager Ozzie Guillen took Richard out to put in regular closer, Bobby Jenks. Something about seeing Jenks facing against Crede seemed so odd and wrong. Below, Crede at the plate:
Instead of being the hero for the day for Minnesota, Crede struck out. I never thought I would be pleased to see Crede strike out but there I was cheering for that first out of the inning. Next up, Young (who was responsible for the Twins’ only run) hit into a double play, and the Sox had won!
As for Crede, I think Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski said it best, “I love Joe. I’ll never say a bad word about Joe. I wish him all the best. I wish everything for him and his family, but obviously when we’re playing him, we’re trying to get him out. And when I’m up to bat, he’s trying to get me out.”
Below, Sox organist Nancy Faust (who also entertained the fans with her renditions of “I Walk the Line” and Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida”) leads everyone into “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” for the 7th inning stretch: