Odds, Sods and Sox

So, Gavin Floyd, OS&S whipping boy for the better part of a year now, stopped the Sox death spiral in its tracks last night against the Minnesota Twins, flirted with history for the second time in a matter of weeks and brought the Sox within a game of first place.

How is Floyd doing it?

Coming into the season, the perception was that all of Floyd's success and failures could essentially be revealed by one stat: his K/BB rate. If he could cut down on his walks, which he continued to have trouble with in spring training, and hold a high whiff rate, he would "get by" at a hitters' paradise like the Cell.

Efforts like last night's turn that theory on its head. In 8.1 innings, Floyd walked three and struck out only four, yet left after allowing only one unearned run and nearly completing a no-hitter.

And it's not the first time. Over his six starts of '08, Floyd owns an unimpressive 1.06...more

Here's a fun game I like to play when I read the Trib in the morning: Take any White Sox feature article, read only the headline and possibly the first paragraph and see if you can guess the writer. I'm not talking about Mark Gonzales' game recaps and "White Sox Bits." The one writer I can pick out every time without a byline: Dave van Dyck.

It's simple-if you see the most negative slant on a Sox story, presenting the worst possible interpretation of the facts, and/or an untimely retelling of some bad news, you're reading van Dyck.

Today's sample headline: "Slugging Sox lose touch with 'Ozzie Ball,' Lacking speed, lineup must rely on long ball." Yup, that's a van Dyck.

That's kind of like saying "Man with perfect teeth misses having braces" or "Millionaire at a loss without food stamps." In the column, van Dyck asks, "Where did 'Ozzie Ball' go?" and casts the Sox new OBP/Earl Weaver attack, that most observers have praised, in a negative light.

Now, I'm not saying van Dyck is "wrong." His facts are all correct: the Sox are last in the league in stolen...more

In their last full turn through the rotation, White Sox starters have allowed 3 earned runs in 36 innings.

When you have stats that good, you don't need anything clever or witty for your lead.

A year and a half ago, I wrote this piece, detailing the best turn through the '06 rotation of Buehrle-Garcia-Contreras-Garland-Vazquez. Well, what we've seen starting Saturday afternoon from Floyd-Vazquez-Buehrle-Danks-Contreras is even better.

Starting with Floyd's near no-hitter vs. the Tigers (who, since leaving the Cell have begun to turn on the firepower-it's a good thing they spotted the Sox a 5-game lead in the AL Central), Sox starters have combined for 4 wins, a 0.75 ERA, and 27 strikeouts against only 7 walks and zero, count 'em, zero homeruns.

The final piece came last night in Baltimore, where Jose Contreras turned in his first walk-less performance since last August, going 7 innings to get his first win of the season.

It was appropriate last nights game was in Baltimore,...more

The Trib's Mark Gonzales busted out the tried and true "Always had the skill, now he has the confidence" stock file article today. The subject: starting pitcher Javier Vazquez.

These pieces are a sports journalists best friend-pull a few quotes from observers, trot out some select stats and sprinkle in some classic clichés like "turn the corner" "flashes of brilliance" and "put it all together." Wa-la!

(Actually, Gonzales didn't use any of those clichés, so I'm following another sports journalism dandy: don't let the facts get in the way of a good story.)

Regardless of Gonzales' confidence barometer, I'm looking forward to a great season from Vazquez-in fact I anticipate he'll possibly even compete for the Cy Young. But I do get tired of reading about players talking about their own confidence.

You have confidence? Great! The first rule about confidence club: don't talk about confidence. If you've got it, it'll show.

I know that, as...more

Even after five weeks of spring training and several rounds of cuts, the clutter in the Sox locker room is enough to make anyone claustrophobic.

The organization is starting to look like the storage room of a made-for-Dr. Phil pack rat. There's of course Juan Uribe, Joe Crede, Pablo Ozuna and Toby Hall, all on the major league club despite myriad other options.

But there's also the outfield log jam with Nick Swisher and Carlos Quentin both in position to be everyday corner outfielders and Jerry Owens and Brian Anderson in line for center. That's not even counting Alexei Ramirez, who has enough competition with Uribe, Ozuna, Danny Richar and Jason Bourgeois in the infield.

If it weren't for the injuries to Owens and Richar, the Sox would have even more serviceable players collecting dust on the bookshelves. Once Owens and Richar come back, then what happens?

Even the bullpen could use just a little thinning out-Ehren Wassermann is set to take the last spot,...more

A spring of questionable decisions received a jolt of good news when Ozzie Guillen announced that Nick Swisher would bat lead off in the Sox line up for a bulk of the early going.

Swisher, owner of a .381 OBP in 2007 and unparalleled ability to work counts, will bring a new look to the first inning. No, he doesn't have the speed of a traditional leadoff hitter, but the bottom line is he'll provide the Thome-Konerko-Dye trio with more RBI chances than anybody else. So, after a lot of spilled ink on the issue, a good choice.

But don't thank me, or the scores of other Sox observers that contended Swisher was the best lead off candidate all along. Thank Jerry Owens and his bum groin.

Actually, if you continue to follow it out, Swisher became the leadoff hitter because Owens hurt his groin, Owens hurt his groin because he pushed himself too hard too early in spring training, and Owens pushed himself too hard because Ozzie Guillen mandated a...more

I don't mean to alarm you Sox fans, but it's now been nine days since the Sox last came home with a 'W.' Monday's loss to the Mariners, which saw the Sox scratch out only three hits and no runs over the first seven innings, dropped Ozzie's crew to 9-16, good for last among American League teams this spring.

So is this the "intensity" Ozzie was pining for?

In reaction to his club's losing streak Ozzie said: "Every time we don't play good, I let them know right away. That's how we're going to do it this year. I don't like how they play the last couple of games, and I say it in the paper and then I have a meeting."

What started out as a mission of intensity meant to wipe out any memories of a dismal 2007 has turned into a typical spring of sub-.500 ball in the Ozzie Guillen era. Tucson wins and losses are meaningless, but Ozzie and...more

Don't make a habit out of analyzing Ozzie Guillen quotes, because most of them don't make sense. The most recent example:

"Development? I'm not going to develop my players for someone else. I already learned my lesson," Guillen added. "Jeff Torborg developed players [in Florida], and he got [beat up]. Jack McKeon won. To me, development, that's for the Minor League system. You bring the best guys. Me and [general manager] Kenny [Williams] have talked, and we want the best guys at every position."

Ozzie, the next player you "develop" in Chicago will be the first. You've been given a veteran team since you signed on in 2004.

Now why would you be worrying about developing them "for someone else"? The Sox are not a small market team, so there's no concern about being a feeder team for the big shots. And, with a five-year contract and full backing by the front office, your job security is among the best in all of baseball.

As for wanting "the best guys at every position," well that's a given. But who is it a knock against?

Gavin Floyd and John Danks have been assured spots in the starting rotation, despite less-than-stellar major...more

Citing Pablo Ozuna's valuable versatility and Danny Richar's aching back, Ozzie Guillen indicated the race for the starting second base gig has narrowed to two: Juan Uribe and Alexei Ramirez.

Ramirez has looked great and exceeded expectations this spring, but his rough defense and inexperience will prevent him from breaking camp as an everyday player. So essentially, barring a trade, Juan Uribe is the first in line to be your Opening Day second baseman.

Uribe being first in line for anything but a Big Mac at McDonalds is not a good thing.

Once it becomes official, we'll hear Hawk, DJ, Ozzie and Chris Rongey gush on about how Uribe can "carry" the team when he's hot (whenever exactly that is). They'll wax poetic about his renewed dedication to the game and commitment to being in a contract year.

But in the end you know we'll get the classic Uribe: good for a few homers, a bunch of Tasmanian devil-corkscrew strikeouts and some fuzzy moments on...more