In what will be a blow for Camelback Ranch attendance figures, Sunday's White Sox-Cubs tilt became a Cactus League rarity -- a rainout.
Mark Gonzalez informed us through Twitter that the last Sox rainout was March 11, 2006. I remember that one well -- the game was played in the Phoenix area, but because the forecast looked so terrible (some areas saw snow), my buddy Matt and I decided to hang back in merely cold and windy Tucson and catch the Mariners-Diamondbacks game instead.
That day, I watched a first-round bust for Seattle get knocked around the park. Nine days later, the White Sox acquired him for Joe Borchard.
Though the Cubs-Sox game was canceled, it won't hurt Jerry Reinsdorf's finances. Tickets to canceled events aren't refunded at Camelback Ranch -- they can only be exchanged.
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Jake Peavy wouldn't let the rain dampen his world-renowned intensity.
Instead of pushing his schedule back a day, Peavy instead threw a 45-pitch simulated game in a batting cage -- against live hitters and with no screen. That means he'll make his Cactus League debut on Friday.
Gavin Floyd pitches today in the A-game, but the undercard is more interesting. Daniel Cabrera will try to shake off his three-walk performance, and Sergio Santos will try to back up his three-strikeout debut.
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A couple unrelated questions:
No. 1: What do you think of gamers?
It seems like the start of the baseball season always marks the start of the discussion on the relevance and utility of newspaper game recaps in journalism circles. Probably because they take up 12 inches of increasingly important newshole every day, instead of every two to three days.
Usually, the discussion is "Everybody watches the games or can see the highlights; rehashing the facts is pointless." I'm not particularly sold. For instance, without State of the Sox, I would've had a harder time tracking down examples of A.J. Pierzynski's terrible baserunning for White Sox Outsider 2010 (BUY MY BOOK!).
(And it's going to be easier this coming season in the first full year of Sox Machine on WordPress, because we're going to have some very specific tags.)
But I'm partial to old forms and in need of great detail, so I'm not the regular audience. Are traditional gamers relevant to your lives?
No. 2: Do I need an e-book?
Two posts back, Mike asked about the availability of White Sox Outsider 2010 (BUY MY BOOK!) on Kindle.
It's very much possible, and there are a couple ways I can go with it, depending on the popularity of e-book readers. If you have a Kindle, Nook, or other e-book reader and are interested in purchasing a copy, let me know, either in the comments, Twitter or e-mail. That'll give me a better idea of the best route to take.
And thanks to everybody who has purchased the book. I really appreciate it.
