Ozzie's White Sox stave off choke label for a day
Back about the time of the SBR Bash, one Chicago fan whose initials are I-L-L-U-S-I-O-N was convinced that the Twins' long road trip during the Elephant Convention in Minnesota would assure the White Sox a postseason berth. Not so fast, Mr. Moderator. The Pale Hose first have a makeup game with the Detroit Tigers today at home before then hosting the Twins on Tuesday.
The end of the MLB’s regular season came to an end on Sunday. Well, almost. There still the issue of the AL Central to decide, and that could take a couple of days. Bettors and fans alike will each have a different take on the season, whether it was a good one or bad one, the ups and downs, memorable wins and unbelievable losses, great plays and stupid decisions.
There are some really great, feel-good stories this year, beginning with the Tampa Bay Rays in my opinion. A team that had never had anything better than a 91-loss season, and they win the AL East. Special congrats to those who had any sort of Tampa Bay futures this year.
Cleveland’s Cliff Lee and Texas’ Josh Hamilton have also each provided their own feel-good tales. Manny Ramirez is almost a feel-good story, though I still can’t help but feel he somehow gets his dreds caught in some machine at some point and gets dragged to a career-ending injury. Nothin’ personal, Man-Ram.
But what we’re going to hear the most in the next few weeks is how there is not at least one team from New York in the postseason. I’m putting the O/U at 2,500, and I’ll take the Over for $500.
The Yankees, of course, have been there 13-straight postseasons, winning four World Series in that span. The Mets, on the other hand, have to be even more disappointed this time, missing for a second straight year. Count me among the many who wonder aloud why Omar Minaya is being extended.
While we’re keeping count, there’s this little thing of the Detroit Tigers playing the White Sox at Chicago’s Comiskey Cell Phone Field on Monday. Ozzie Guillen’s Pale Hose avoided what happened to the Mets down the stretch, once again, and pulled off a 5-1 win on Sunday over the Indians to force the make-up of this rainout earlier this month.
If the White Sox (87-74) win, they would then host the Minnesota Twins (88-74) for a one-game playoff to determine the AL Central champion and set the playoffs once and for all just a day before they’re set to begin.
The eventual ALC champ will travel to the Sunshine State to meet Tampa Bay at the Trop in St. Pete on Thursday. The remainder of the playoffs will begin Tuesday with The Milwaukee Brewers at the Philadelphia Phillies, the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox at the Los Angeles Angels. My guess is we will see the TV lineup go just that way on Tuesday (Oct 1). It might be the Cubs starting it off around 1:00 p.m. (ET), with the Phillies at 4-5 and the Angels getting prime time East Coast (8:00 p.m.) to keep it most convenient for the Red Sox fans.
Right now I’m seeing a pitching matchup of Freddy Garcia for Motown against Gavin Floyd of the ChiSox. Wonder what you could’ve gotten for odds back in April that those two arms would’ve eventually decided an AL playoff race? For Garcia, this will be just his third start of the season, making a splash with five scoreless innings in his 2008 debut on Sep 17, on the road at Texas, no less, but then getting hammered like a five dollar hooker on Bugis Street in Singapore in his next outing.
The lady-boy boogie on Bugis Street back in the good ol' days.
Garcia, of course, was a big part of the White Sox rotation for a few seasons, including their Series run in ’05. The last time he faced the White Sox was in June 2004 as a member of the Mariners, and the only two hitters really left from that team are Juan Uribe and Paul Konerko. Uribe is 1-for-six lifetime, but Konerko does have four dingers in his career in 26 AB vs. Garcia.
Floyd is 2-0 and the White Sox are 4-0 in his starts against the Tigers this year. He had one very bad, one very good, and two so-so starts in those four assignments, obviously getting some run support from the Chicago lineup with a 4.62 ERA vs. Detroit in 2008. The one really bad start came at home in The Cell in early August when Curtis Ganderson and Placido Polanco each took Floyd deep.
Right now the weather looks iffy for Chicago on Monday, with a 50% chance of rain during the day before tapering off around dark. It will be cool, with daytime highs only reaching the low 70s. Winds will increase from the NW to 10-20 MPH after sunset (blowing out to center).
The White Sox are strapped with -200 and higher chalk, and it's tough to imagine Jim Leyland's Tigers putting forth too much effort in this one. I mean, hell, Leyland's boys quit a long time ago, so why would we expect them to show up now in a make-up game. Personally, the -1½ runline in the -115 to -120 price range makes more sense to me right now, maybe for a half-unit with the other half going on the Over 10 which can be had plus money at some shops.
Back about the time of the SBR Bash, one Chicago fan whose initials are I-L-L-U-S-I-O-N was convinced that the Twins' long road trip during the Elephant Convention in Minnesota would assure the White Sox a postseason berth. Not so fast, Mr. Moderator. The Pale Hose first have a makeup game with the Detroit Tigers today at home before then hosting the Twins on Tuesday.
The end of the MLB’s regular season came to an end on Sunday. Well, almost. There still the issue of the AL Central to decide, and that could take a couple of days. Bettors and fans alike will each have a different take on the season, whether it was a good one or bad one, the ups and downs, memorable wins and unbelievable losses, great plays and stupid decisions.
There are some really great, feel-good stories this year, beginning with the Tampa Bay Rays in my opinion. A team that had never had anything better than a 91-loss season, and they win the AL East. Special congrats to those who had any sort of Tampa Bay futures this year.
Cleveland’s Cliff Lee and Texas’ Josh Hamilton have also each provided their own feel-good tales. Manny Ramirez is almost a feel-good story, though I still can’t help but feel he somehow gets his dreds caught in some machine at some point and gets dragged to a career-ending injury. Nothin’ personal, Man-Ram.
But what we’re going to hear the most in the next few weeks is how there is not at least one team from New York in the postseason. I’m putting the O/U at 2,500, and I’ll take the Over for $500.
The Yankees, of course, have been there 13-straight postseasons, winning four World Series in that span. The Mets, on the other hand, have to be even more disappointed this time, missing for a second straight year. Count me among the many who wonder aloud why Omar Minaya is being extended.
While we’re keeping count, there’s this little thing of the Detroit Tigers playing the White Sox at Chicago’s Comiskey Cell Phone Field on Monday. Ozzie Guillen’s Pale Hose avoided what happened to the Mets down the stretch, once again, and pulled off a 5-1 win on Sunday over the Indians to force the make-up of this rainout earlier this month.
If the White Sox (87-74) win, they would then host the Minnesota Twins (88-74) for a one-game playoff to determine the AL Central champion and set the playoffs once and for all just a day before they’re set to begin.
The eventual ALC champ will travel to the Sunshine State to meet Tampa Bay at the Trop in St. Pete on Thursday. The remainder of the playoffs will begin Tuesday with The Milwaukee Brewers at the Philadelphia Phillies, the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox at the Los Angeles Angels. My guess is we will see the TV lineup go just that way on Tuesday (Oct 1). It might be the Cubs starting it off around 1:00 p.m. (ET), with the Phillies at 4-5 and the Angels getting prime time East Coast (8:00 p.m.) to keep it most convenient for the Red Sox fans.
Right now I’m seeing a pitching matchup of Freddy Garcia for Motown against Gavin Floyd of the ChiSox. Wonder what you could’ve gotten for odds back in April that those two arms would’ve eventually decided an AL playoff race? For Garcia, this will be just his third start of the season, making a splash with five scoreless innings in his 2008 debut on Sep 17, on the road at Texas, no less, but then getting hammered like a five dollar hooker on Bugis Street in Singapore in his next outing.
The lady-boy boogie on Bugis Street back in the good ol' days.
Garcia, of course, was a big part of the White Sox rotation for a few seasons, including their Series run in ’05. The last time he faced the White Sox was in June 2004 as a member of the Mariners, and the only two hitters really left from that team are Juan Uribe and Paul Konerko. Uribe is 1-for-six lifetime, but Konerko does have four dingers in his career in 26 AB vs. Garcia.
Floyd is 2-0 and the White Sox are 4-0 in his starts against the Tigers this year. He had one very bad, one very good, and two so-so starts in those four assignments, obviously getting some run support from the Chicago lineup with a 4.62 ERA vs. Detroit in 2008. The one really bad start came at home in The Cell in early August when Curtis Ganderson and Placido Polanco each took Floyd deep.
Right now the weather looks iffy for Chicago on Monday, with a 50% chance of rain during the day before tapering off around dark. It will be cool, with daytime highs only reaching the low 70s. Winds will increase from the NW to 10-20 MPH after sunset (blowing out to center).
The White Sox are strapped with -200 and higher chalk, and it's tough to imagine Jim Leyland's Tigers putting forth too much effort in this one. I mean, hell, Leyland's boys quit a long time ago, so why would we expect them to show up now in a make-up game. Personally, the -1½ runline in the -115 to -120 price range makes more sense to me right now, maybe for a half-unit with the other half going on the Over 10 which can be had plus money at some shops.