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If you ever needed an excuse to get into hockey, today’s the day! At 2pm on NBC, the Chicago Blackhawks take on their heated rival the Detroit Red Wings for Game #1 of the Western Conference Finals. A contest between the Hawks and the Wings is like the St. Louis Cardinals going against the Chicago Cubs or the Chicago Bears battling it out with the Green Bay Packers or the Celtics being matched up with the Lakers. Heck, it’s the Ole Miss vs. Miss State of hockey! At least around here. During the regular season, the Hawks were 2 – 4 against the Wings but the last two wins came toward the end of the season. The winner of the series goes on to challenge either the Carolina Hurricanes or the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals. The last time the Hawks won the Cup was 48 years ago!

That’s a question many White Sox fans are asking themselves. Despite all the successful wins that I’ve attended and written about this season, the Sox are playing pretty bad baseball. Consider this, the Sox have only won 3 of their last 12 games!

So, what’s wrong? Well, the pitching, which was strong at the beginning of the season, has gone south and the offensive is nearly nonexistent. It seems like if your name isn’t Buehrle, you ain’t pitching a good game (though Thornton is usually an affective relief). Offensively, the team has been having to rely on the power of aging players like Konkero, Thome, and Dye. All three of which are probably not going to be Sox players at the end of the season. Quentin, who nearly won the MVP last season before being injured, is hitting a lame .229. The wire thin Ramirez aka The Cuban Missile, who broke a record last year for collecting four grand slams as a rookie, is batting an unimpressive .224. And then there are the new, young additions like Fields and Lillibridge who are way under performing both on the field and at bat. And the shut outs. So far this season, the Sox have been shut out 6 times. And we’re only a month and a half into the season! The team record for a season is somewhere in the mid 20’s. Oh, let us please not earn the nickname, the “Shutout Sox”.

Okay, enough of my little rant here. It is still early in the season. And thanks to our division, we are only 3 games out of first. Which as I write this seems unbelievable. Unfortunately, that stat might get worse after we finish up a road trip with the Blue Jays (who are in first place in the AL East) and get back home to face Crede and the Twins. I recall many folks were ready to write off last season and we ended up winning the AL Central Division. This year, I’m not quite sure…

– Please excuse my poor Photoshopin’. Not trying to win any awards here, just trying to make a point.

In the past three days, Joe Crede (now a Twins) has accomplished the following against the Detroit Tigers:

5/12 – Crede hits a 2-run homer, Twins win 6 – 2.

5/13 – Crede hits a grand slam to beat the Tigers in extra innings, Twins win 14-10

5/14 – Crede hits hits a single driving in two runs (which included the game winning run), Twins win 6 -5.

In Chicago, Crede’s replacement Josh Fields has done the following in the past three days:

5/12 – 0 – 5, with 3 strike outs and 5 men left on base

5/13 – 0 – 4, with two strike outs

5/14 – no game

I’m just stating the facts…

UPDATE: Poor Joe has back problems, again. He’s been listed on the DL.

White Sox 6, Tigers 0

Two days after watching a ballgame on the Northside, Steph, Adam, Apryl, and I caught the train over to the Southside to see the Sox take on their rivals, the Detroit Tigers. It was going to be my first night game of the season which meant no Nancy Faust. Nancy, as you recall, is the longtime Sox organist. Nancy has been keeping the baseball tradition of live music alive for nearly forty years. With Nancy’s absence, the fans are left with loud rock music blasting through the speakers anytime the ball isn’t in play. And let’s not forget about the endless promotions during every inning break. I mention this because it’s the exact opposite over at Wrigley where promotions are limited and music is sparse.

Once again, we had great seats. In fact, because of our position just beyond third base, I imagined that we would be dodging foul balls all night. Surprisingly, that wasn’t the case. I bet Apryl was probably thankful she didn’t have to duck any line drives!

As for the game, it was another exciting first inning. This time it was the home team (aka The Good Guys) that had the advantage. For the second time this season, I’ve seen a home run from A.J. Pierzynski, who knocked a two-run bomb in the 1st. The Sox added three more in the first, taking an early 5 – 0 lead. In the 4th, Jayson Nix, who had replaced the poorly performing Alexei Ramirez, hit the second home run of the game, and the first of his career! Nix also had some great plays at short stop, which perhaps made Ramirez nervous for a millisecond of a more permanent replacement. The whole substitution ordeal inspired an hilarious strip from the Sox comic Smells Like Mascot.

Like the Cubs game, the real hero was the pitcher. In our case, we came very close to witnessing Mark Buehrle pitch his second no hitter for the Sox. Buehrle was perfect until the seventh when he gave up a double to Ryan Raburn. However, that was all the Tigers were able to get off Buehrle as he went 8 innings with 1 hit, 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts. During Buehrle’s time on the mound, Adam and I acknowledged what he was close to accomplishing without actually mentioning thus cursing Buehrle. When Raburn finally got the hit, Adam turned to me and said, “Okay, now we can talk about it.” So close.

In the ninth, the Sox brought on Big Bobby Jenks (of course), and he quickly gave up two hits. Buehrle goes 8 innings only giving one hit and just like that Jenks has us worried. No fear. Jenks gets us out of the inning as you can see from the video below:

We were actually lucky to have a good game. José Contreras was scheduled to pitch but because of a rain out the day before, Buehrle was put in the starting position. After Buehrle’s triumphant night on the mound, Contreras was the losing pitcher (0 – 5) the next night with the Sox getting clobbered by the Rangers 0 – 6, and Contreras being sent down to the minors.

Steph and Adam at The Cell.

Adam and I.

Steph and Apryl.

After the game, Adam wanted to check out the Sox gift shop. Not only had I never been inside the gift shop, it never occurred to me to pay it a visit. It was quite extensive yet expensive. I did find a new cap that I liked but they didn’t have it in my size.

I have had a great time having company at my last two Sox games. And inspired by Adam keeping score during the Cubs game, I think I’m going to do the same at my next outing at the ballpark. Go Sox!

White Sox 6, Mariners 3

The day after my 32nd (!) birthday me and my Dad caught a Sox victory as the Good Guys took on the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners were (and still are) in first place in the AL West Division, so I was excited about the chance of winning over a number one team. With the 3 game series already split at 1 a piece, I was rooting hard for the Sox to take the series at home and get a win for my Dad.

The last time my Dad attended a White Sox game was on a business trip sometime between 1975-1977. Of course, it was at the Old Comiskey Park. That fact alone make me very, very jealous. As he did back then, we took the train to the stadium. On the way there we sat next to an elder gentleman who was wearing a Sox cap full of pins and buttons showcasing older Sox players (Fox, Appling, etc.), vintage Sox logos, and an Opening Day Comiskey Park commemorative. After complimenting him on his great cap, I asked for a photo.

When we got to the park, we quickly made our way to our seats in Section 130. It was a cool afternoon, and the attendance was a bit sparse but we had a grand time. And our seats were great, as you can see from the first photo. The Wizard of Oz musical was starting its run at the Chicago Theatre that night so to promote it, Dorthy (minus Toto) came out to sing our National Anthem.

The starting pitcher for the Sox was Gavin Floyd. The Mariners weren’t having any problem getting hard hits off Floyd, yet they were finding it difficult to actually generate any runs. Part of this was due to some pretty impressive defensive plays, including an amazing diving catch in the outfield form Jermaine Dye.

At the start of the 5th inning, the Sox were leading 1 -0 due to AJ Pierzynski’s 100th career home run in the 2nd inning.

However, that all changed when the Mariners finally had a break through inning in the 5th, racking up 3 runs aided by a double from Ken Griffey Jr.

Yes, Griffey (who played for the Sox at the end of last season) is now a Mariners, the team he started with in the majors twenty years ago!

At the bottom of the 5th, Dye came inches away from hitting a grand slam to give the Sox the lead. I was more than a little worried that that was going to be our last chance to take the lead.

I was wrong. In the 6th, the Sox scored two runs from a Wilson Betemit double, and two more in the 7th from back to back home runs by Carlos Quentin and Dye. In the 8th, they got an extra insurance run.

They wouldn’t need it. The Mariners never scored after the 5th inning, and closer Big Bobby Jenks got another save for the record books.

It was nice to see the Sox who started the game with a lackluster performance (which the fans let them know of their displeasure) step up offensively and end the game strongly.

Throughout the game, long-time Sox organist Nancy Faust entertained the crowd with some choice numbers, including Led Zepplin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach”. Below is a video of sportscaster and one time Sox pitcher Steve Stone throwing T-shirts to the crowd as Nancy plays “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the 7th inning stretch:

However, the greatest thrill was getting to watch a game with my Dad. I think the last baseball game we attended together was a Braves game in the early 90’s. Thankfully, we had a great game to watch!

– Did I mention that my 87 year old Grandma also came to visit, and her and my sister went to a taping of the Oprah show? More on that later…

Today, I caught the Northwestern football spring game at Ryan Field in Evanston, IL. The historic stadium (formerly known as Dyche Stadium) opened in 1926 and was once considered for the home of the Chicago Bears after they moved out of Wrigley Field. That was nearly 40 years ago! The fact that the stadium is still home of the Wildcats is rather amazing. As wealthy of a school as Northwestern, you would think that the team would have moved into a new, fancy stadium with state of the art amenities. The current stadium is small with cracks in the concrete and a serious need of a paint job. Perhaps, the school is a bit sentimental. And that is not a bad thing. Not at all.

For the most part, a spring game is really a practice open to the public. Sure, the players run plays but it’s hard to determine how their performances will translate to an actual game. It’s more for the fans and getting them excited about the upcoming season. And with the aid of the band, cheerleaders, and purple clad fans, it accomplished that with me. Hey, it might not be the Tigers or SEC football, but it’s still college football!

Ryan field is not located on campus. Instead, it resides right in a neighborhood. I love that! If one day the Wildcats do decide to leave Ryan Field, I hope the stadium will still be used for years to come. Perhaps, high school football championships?

Below, you can see the stadium at the end of the residential street:

However, I’m hoping the move never happens. I say let the tradition continue!

Photo set here.