Sox win!

(August 26)

Short take:  No thanks to Jerry!

The cakewalk of easy opponents in August continued for the Sox with the series finale in Tampa Bay.  For all the talk Jerry Manuel has fed the media and Sox Fans about the need for the team to put together a string of wins, it's debatable how much the Sox skipper is contributing towards the team's winning efforts.  The 3-2 victory Jerry's Sox won Sunday most certainly would have been a loss against nearly any other opposition.  

Jerry the Tinkerer fields another loser line up and squeaks out a win.  Who does Jerry Manuel think he's kidding anymore?  Certainly nobody in the clubhouse can be buying their manager's misguided thinking, can they?

Starting at shortstop and batting eighth, Royce Clayton.  Secondbasemen Ray Durham is limping through his worst season of his career teamed with this guy.  Predictably there was another lame performance for our leadoff man.  He reached base once in four at-bats, striking out on another.

Starting at shortstop and batting eighth, Royce Clayton.  Jose Valentin plays out of position, shoved to third base.  He goes 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.  So our #1 and #2 hitters are a combined 1 for 8 with four K's.

Starting at shortstop and batting eighth, Royce Clayton.  Mark Johnson gets the start behind the plate giving the Sox line up a less than lethal #8/#9 combination of Clayton and Johnson.  Each left runners in scoring position with two out.  They managed one hit in eight plate appearances.

Starting at shortstop and batting eighth, Royce Clayton.  The defensive specialist committed an error.  Clayton's batting average is only .233 yet it still fell today, practically a mathematical impossibility if he can get just one lousy hit which of course he failed to do.  Meanwhile Herbert Perry sits, just like he has most of the 2001 season while Jerry the Tinkerer allows Royce to pursue The Dream of reaching his pathetic .259 batting average.

Is it starting to make sense, Sox Fans?  Your team is a .500+1 because that's the way Jerry Manuel manages it.  Jerry the Tinkerer can't even use the lame excuse that Royce is "hot" to keep putting him in the line up.  His limp bat once again shines through now that Royce's pathetic little rally back from the abyss of an .098 batting average is obviously over.

The Sox won this game in spite of Jerry Manuel and whatever twisted thinking he employs five full months into the season to ignore the reality everyone else sees plainly.  Royce Clayton sucks and he's ruining our formerly championship ballclub.

Magglio Ordonez came to the plate with two out in the first inning and calmly planted the 1-0 pitch in the left field seats.  He also batted in the Sox's second run with an infield single.  Jose Canseco provided the winning margin with a right field dinger in the sixth inning.

Jon Garland pitched into the seventh inning allowing just two runs on six hits for the win.  Alan Embree got an out and earned a hold as did Kip Wells for 1.1 hitless innings.  Keith Foulke made short work of Tampa Bay's anemic line up for his 35th save.  Imagine if Keith could work against Jerry Manuel's line up!

Monday is an off-day in Detroit which is sure to bring more whining from Ed Farmer.  Tune in Tuesday to hear it and find out what new impossible leaps in logic Jerry the Tinkerer employs in his mono-drone post-game comments.

If he's lucky they're only laughing at him in the clubhouse; more likely they're pissed.  Sox Fans can relate!

Hey Sox Fans!  

Be sure to check out WSI's retrospective on the 2000 championship season!  Now complete through July, it's the Sox coverage nobody but White Sox Interactive provided of the glorious Sox championship quest.  Check it out by clicking here!