Edwin Jackson lived up to his surname on Tuesday night, signing his own Indian Removal Act with 11 strikeouts against Cleveland. That makes three consecutive outings with 10 or more strikeouts for Jackson, which makes him the first White Sox pitcher to accomplish that feat since Floyd Bannister in 1985.
So naturally, I want to talk about Mark Buehrle. No offense to Jackson, but we know his story. He's got a big arm, he's got some weak opponents, and he's kicking tail accordingly.
Buehrle, though, has accomplished something he hasn't done in years: He put together a fine August.
I made a note of Buehrle's traditional terrible month at the end of July, saying his stumbles would be one of those things keeping the Sox from being a genuine contender. That wasn't the case this year.
| | W-L | ERA | IP | H | HR | BB | K |
| 2006 | 2-2 | 4.34 | 37.1 | 42 | 8 | 8 | 23 |
| 2007 | 1-3 | 5.06 | 37.1 | 38 | 3 | 12 | 20 |
| 2008 | 3-2 | 5.86 | 35.1 | 51 | 5 | 7 | 27 |
| 2009 | 0-3 | 5.54 | 37.1 | 57 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| Total | 6-10 | 5.19 | 147.1 | 188 | 24 | 35 | 80 |
| 2010 | 3-2 | 3.29 | 41 | 41 | 4 | 12 | 17 |
The only problem is, even with Buehrle pitching well (he should've been 4-2, if Bobby Jenks could have preserved a three-run lead on Monday), the Sox finished August with a 14-15 record, due in large part to their 2-9 record in one-run games.
Nevertheless, Buehrle's typically a fast starter and slow finisher, so the fact that he thrived in August might bode well for the Sox's playoff chances. Maybe that off-season regimen paid off after all, even if it doesn't show up in his velocity readings. Not one bit.
*********************************
Manny Ramirez reported to the White Sox today, and immediately began imitating himself by telling the media he would only speak in Spanish.
Doug Padilla has the best account of Ramirez's introductory press conference. He didn't need a translator, so he was amused by Joey Cora's attempts to soften Ramirez's answers.
The best Cora bait and switch came when Ramirez was asked aboutcutting his dreadlocks to conform with chairman Jerry Reinsdorf’sappearance guidelines.
Ramirez’s actual answer:"That's a stupid question. I'm here to playbaseball and that has nothing to do with playing baseball."
Cora’s translation: “I’m just worried about playing baseball. I’m not worried about hair or nothing.”
The beautiful part of the entire scene was that Ramirez’s English is as good, if not better than Cora’s.
Padilla's summary is also superior because it only touches upon an obvious theme that David Haugh pounded on in his column:
The price to rent Ramirez for a month is a hefty $3.8 million, but thecost of self-respect to the Sox may be harder to quantify. Theorganization used to build ad campaigns around a gritty style andundeniable mental toughness in which their fan base rightfully takespride. Tuesday they began considering the sale of "Manny Wigs,'' topromote a guy infamous for being a steroid cheat and quitting on teams.
I laughed when I read this. The only reason I tie "tough" to this franchise is because they want to make scoring runs more difficult than it has to be. Listening to Greg Walker defend his hitters for the last few years, I think the White Sox sign more cutters than they throw. Otherwise, I don't see any kind of fortitude that makes them a cut above the rest.
What's weird to me is that Kenny Williams is GMing the way A.J. Pierzynski ran the bases against the Tampa Bay Rays on Aug. 24, 2008. He found himself caught in no man's land, and the best way out was against a certain code of ethics. Pierzynski was praised for cutting corners; Williams is probably going to get pilloried if the odds are correct.
The indignation amuses and confuses me. The Sox were 4 1/2 games behind the Twins when the deal was done. Preserving the status quo of a fading team because they get along so well doesn't scream "TOUGH!" to me.
Ramirez and the White Sox may be an uncomfortable marriage -- though so far, it seems like the media is more nervous than anybody in the White Sox organization -- but this is a chance any "tough" professional sports organization has to take. Williams can't afford to wait until next year, and he's making one more crazy effort to pull off the upset, even if he has to eat his own words. That fits their ad campaign ideals more than any grinder slogan does.
*********************************
September call-ups: The White Sox announced five players who will join the expanded roster starting today, and they happen to be names we've reviewed lately.
- Alejandro De Aza (recent write-up here)
- Gregory Infante (here)
- Tyler Flowers (here)
- Dayan Viciedo
- Carlos Torres
They all have a clear-cut purpose. De Aza complements Andruw Jones for a fourth-outfielder platoon, Infante is the highest-upside bullpen arm in the minors, Flowers is the ceremonial third catcher, Viciedo provides right-handed backup power at the corners, and Torres is a pinata.
If there's one surprising omission at this point, it's Brent Morel, who has outperformed just about everybody in the system (and has played a decent short, too). I imagine he'll make his way to Chicago after Charlotte concludes its season, though if Gordon Beckham's hand takes longer to heal than anticipated, it may be sooner than that.
And in other prospect news, the Jared Mitchell will be playing in the Arizona Fall League.
