Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - March 20, 2013

In today's podcast, I bring up "We Are The World", "Top Chef" and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 while talking about the WBC. Then I wonder why the White Sox don't get more love.
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Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - March 20, 2013

A's Strangely Did Not Trade for Kevin Youkilis - A Bleacher Report Article

The A's have been coveting Kevin Youkilis since at least 2002. And in my latest for Bleacher Report, I write about how odd it was that Oakland didn't make much of a play for him. Especially when the Red Sox were asking for so little and paying much of his contract.

You can read the entire article HERE.

 

MLB.com still needs to pander to Petty fans

Last night Kevin Youkilis came back to Fenway and crushed a back breaking three run shot off of Jon Lester.

Manager Bobby Valentine, who basically ran Youk out of town, elected to pitch to him with a base open and lost big time.

They had that clip available on MLB.com for those of us who didn't see it live.
But it is of the White Sox feed. We get to hear Hawk Harrleson do his "Put it on the board, YES" and "Mercy" routine.

But I wanted to hear Don and Jerry from the Red Sox booth call it. I wanted to hear the bitter sarcasm from Jerry Remy and the Red Sox voices acknowledging what happened.

And I'm sure Yankee fans and Youk haters would love to have hear that as well.

I mentioned this before. Baseball fans love to hear pain and misery more than happiness.
Get with it baseball. There is Schadenfreude out there.

 

Youkilis with the White Sox... it looks strange

 It's always an awkward moment... that first time you see one of your favorite players wearing another uniform.

It makes the whole "your guy was traded" concept so much more real.

Good luck in Chicago, Youk.
At least he still plays for the Sox!

Sully Baseball Salutes Kevin Youkilis

 The Red Sox championships of 2004 and 2007 just got a little more distant today.

Kevin Youkilis is gone. He was traded to the White Sox shortly after the Red Sox defeated the Braves. He was given a hero's salute by the Sox fans when he left the game via a pinch runner.

Good.
He deserved that send off.

He never looked like an athlete. But he played hard. He played well. He was the Greek God of Walks. He batted .500 in the 2007 ALCS and matched all sorts of single series marks.

He didn't complain when Francona started Lowell and Ortiz over him in Games 3 and 4 of the 2007 World Series.

Like Nomar Garciaparra, his name became almost a rallying cry.
And also like Nomar, he was dealt to Chicago in mid season because it was time for a change in scenery.

Who know what Zach Stewart and Brent Lillibridge will bring to the Red Sox. Not much probably.

I for one am hoping that the White Sox do well and no doubt the fans in Chicago will embrace him at least for this season.

But since that last awful day in Baltimore last September, the Red Sox have said good bye to Francona, Epstein, Papelbon, Varitek, Wakefield and now Youkilis.

Consider my hat tipped, Mr. Youkilis. You were a great Red Sox champion.

Chicago White Sox so Far Are the Winners of the 2010 Draft - My latest for Bleacher Report

It may seem to be a bit early to judge who had the best draft in 2010. But the White Sox are surprise contenders thanks to a pair of arms drafted less than two years before opening day.

I discuss the effect of Chris Sale and Addison Reed in Bleacher Report.

You can read the whole article HERE.

Is Jake Peavy contending for the Cy Young?

Remember when Kenny Williams caught all of that flack for trading Clayton Richard and three other players for Peavy? It was looked as one of the classic stupid deals of trading young talent for a broken down has been.

Richard had a good 2010 but hasn't been much of a factor this year.
Meanwhile the White Sox are only 3 games behind Cleveland for first place in the Central and Peavy pitched another gem today.

I know I've written about his comeback before, but Peavy is fascinating me.

He's 5-1 with a 2.39 ERA with 55 strikeouts against only 11 walks.
He's third in the league for ERA, 1 behind the league win for wins, 13 strikeouts behind Verlander for the lead, and second to Verlander for WHIP.

OK, there's a pattern there. He's behind Verlander who right now should be the favorite to win the Cy Young again. But Peavy is right behind him along with Derek Lowe, Yu Darvish, Brandon Morrow and Jered Weaver.

Of that bunch challenging Verlander, only one is a former Cy Young winner themselves. That would be Peavy.

If he wins the Cy Young this year, he would join a unique fraternity. I had mentioned that only Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Gaylord Perry and Roy Halladay had won the Cy Young in both leagues. All are either in the Hall of Fame or will be once the whole steroid era goes away.

But take a look at the list of multiple Cy Young Award winners?

Along with the above mentioned pitchers they also include Hall of Famers Steve Carlton, Sandy Koufax, Jim Palmer, Tom Seaver and Bob Gibson. Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux are there and will eventually be Hall of Famers.

There there are Denny McClain and Bret Saberhagen whose careers flamed out do to injuries and off the field issues. And Johan Santana and Tim Linecum, whose legacies are at a cross roads.

Could Peavy fit into that crew?
Or is he just having a solid first half of the season while Justin Verlander prepares to include his name to that list?

Either way, he has my attention.

  

Humber's losses are an indictment of the Mariners

Before his perfect game in April, Philip Humber had an unremarkable career. He made 26 appearances total between 2006 and 2010 with three different teams. He was 9-9 last season with the White Sox while posting a good 3.75 ERA.

This year he has made 5 starts.
In 4 of the 5 starts his record is 0-2.
In those starts he has let up 21 earned runs, 27 hits and 14 walks in 13 2/3 innings. For those of you keeping score at home, that's a 13.83 ERA.


In 80% of his starts, he is putting up numbers that would send him to AAA or be designated for assignment.

And yet in that fifth start, he got everything right.
No, I mean it. He got EVERYTHING right.

Stuck in the middle of those awful numbers is his perfect game against Seattle.

So that is either a heartwarming tale of how even the most unlikely player can become a hero for a day in baseball... or a testament of how unbelievably awful the Mariners lineup is.

You make the call.  

Honoring Moose Skowron... a man of many teams

Moose Skowron passed away this weekend.
He was a great Yankee and one of my mother's favorite players growing up.
He played 9 years with the Yankees, playing in the World Series in 7 of those years, winning 4.

He made 5 All Star teams as a Yankee and was a fixture at Old Timers Day for decades.

But guess what? He was a 5 time World Champion and a 6 time All Star.

It seems strange to think of him playing for other teams, but he logged five years in the big leagues after his time with the Yankees ended.

 Moose was the offensive hero of Game 7 of the 1962 World Series. The Yankees rewarded him by traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Stan Williams.

He looks strange in Dodger blue, doesn't he?

Well he looked stranger to the Yankees when he homered in the 1963 Series and helped lead the Dodgers to victory over his former team.

The Dodgers said "Thanks for the title, Moose. Now go to Washington!"

 There is something unsettling about Moose Skowron in a Senator uniform. Remember it was the Washington Senators that were the topic of the musical Damn Yankees.

The premise of the play was that the Yankees had such a stranglehold on the pennant that it took a deal with the Devil to make a champion out of the lowly Senators. The play opened in 1955, when Skowron was a member of the Yankees. And now here he is stuck in Washington, needed the Devil to make a winner out of them.

(Yes, I realize that the Senators franchise from the musical was the one that became the Twins and the team that Moose played for became the Rangers. Settle down.)

Midway through the 1964 season Skowron landed back in pinstripes.

OK, they were Chicago White Sox pinstripes but he looked happier there. And why not?

The White Sox were contenders, regularly winning 90 games in the 1960s.

And in 1965, as the Yankee dynasty crumbled, Skowron made the All Star team and his White Sox won 95 games, finishing second to the Minnesota Twins. (Formerly the Senators, but NOT the Senators that Skowron played for. You following?)

Finally (and most bizarrely) Skowron was traded to the Angels in 1967.
No longer the Los Angeles Angels, they were the California Angels.

A man I associate with old fashioned Yankee baseball and clashes with Brooklyn was a member of an expansion team playing near Disneyland.

Among his teammates were Jay Johnstone and Aurelio Rodriguez, who would both play in the World Series for the Yankees under George Steinbrenner.

He was mainly a Yankee but brought his power bat from New York to L.A. to Washington to Chicago back to California.

You will be missed, Moose Skowron, by more than New York fans.

And one final note. How did he get the name Moose?
Because he was as strong as a moose?

Nope.
He had a haircut as a youth that resembled Mussolini.
Moose was the shortened version of that.

He was wise to go by the short version.

Rest in peace, Moose.

 

Nice to see Jake Peavy is back

Wins and losses can be such a brutal stat sometimes.
Jake Peavy pitched yesterday against the Red Sox, going 9 innings, giving up 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk.

He is credited with a  loss, preventing him from catching Robbie Ross and his 4 vulture wins.

But the loss not withstanding, it is his second straight complete game where he looks like an ace.
I hope he is picked as pitcher of the week as yesterday's tough luck loss would be combined with Mondays 3 hit shutout.

As he stands this year, his average start is as follows:

7. 5 innings, 1.4 earned runs, 4.2 hits, 1 walk, 6.6 strikeouts.

That's the way an ace pitches.

It's been a while since we've seen ace Jake Peavy. Ken Williams has received a lot of heat for trading way some young talent for Peavy, including Clayton Richard.

Well Richard doesn't look very impressive this year and the White Sox have found themselves an ace. If they get their bullpen together, the South Siders could hang around the Central race for a while.

 And lest we forget, Peavy already has a Cy Young Award on his mantle.
If he keeps this up, could he be an A.L. Cy Young candidate to go along with his N.L. award?

Only Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens and Roy Halladay have won in both leagues.

Yeah, it's early but he is 1/6 of the way there.

I'm just saying that I've noticed.

I like THIS Red Sox team

This team is playing hard.
Pitching well.
Making the plays.
Jon Lester out pitched Jake Peavy (who suddenly is pitching like a Cy Young contender again.)

 They have won the first 6 games of the 7 game road trip and climbed back to .500.

The last time they played in Fenway it was the massacre against the Yankees.

If they win tomorrow, they could return as a team above .500.

Should I put today's "1-0" win in the "Dodged Bullet" tally?

Nope.

I need to see the Red Sox in first place and beating good teams before I call them a contender.

I'd LOVE to be proven wrong on this... but I'm still not there yet.

Peavy... your start wasn't bad, but we've seen better

For the second straight day in the second city in as many days, the White Sox bullpen had the night off as the starting pitcher went the full nine and kept the opposing team off the scoreboard. Granted they were the Mariners and A's, not exactly powerhouses, but they are still technically big league teams.

Normally when a former Cy Young Award winner is making a comeback after years of injuries and shows his own dominant form, it is the best pitching news a team can get.

Usually a 3 hit shutout on 107 pitches would be the pitching highlight of the week, if not the month.

But sorry, Jake Peavy. You weren't even the best pitcher of the past 2 days. It's tough to follow up a perfect game.

Is Peavy close to his 2007 form? He's 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA and averaging more than 7 innings a start.
Is Phillip Humber going to have a good year? Well he's made 2 starts this year and one was pefect.

The other starters, John Danks, Gavin Floyd and Chris Sale, are all talented.
Is this White Sox team a potential contender?

They are tied with division favorite Tigers for first right now. And the best way for teams to catch people by surprise is to have pitching depth.

And maybe the team is a little more relaxed without the Ozzie Guillen circus.

It would help if they played the A's and Mariners all year.

Gavin Floyd... you are pitching tonight.
Let's just say if the White Sox go to the bullpen or you let up a single run, we won't be impressed.

The Most Recent No Hitter For Each Franchise (Updated for April 21, 2012)

Of COURSE it was Phillip Humber who throws the first no hitter of the year. With all the aces in the bigs, it was a guy with 11 career wins who gets to inch his name into history.

Mark Buehrle, you are no longer on the board unless you throw your THIRD no hitter (and this time with the Marlins.)


Let's update the list.

THE MOST RECENT NO HITTERS
FOR EACH FRANCHISE

CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Phillip Humber - April 21, 2012

4-0 over Seattle. (Perfect Game.)

LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM
Ervin Santana - July 27, 2011.
3-1 over Cleveland.

DETROIT TIGERS
Justin Verlander - May 7, 2011.
9-0 over Toronto.

MINNESOTA TWINS
Francisco Liriano - May 3, 2011
1-0 over Chicago White Sox

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Roy Halladay - October 6, 2010
4-0 over Cincinnati. (Playoff Game)

TAMPA PAY RAYS
Matt Garza - July 26th, 2010
5-0 over Detroit.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Edwin Jackson - June 25, 2010
1-0 over Tampa Bay



OAKLAND A'S
Dallas Braden - May 9, 2010
4-0 over Tampa Bay. (Perfect Game.)


COLORADO ROCKIES
Ubaldo Jimenez - April 17, 2010
4-0 over Atlanta.


SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Jonathan Sanchez - July 10, 2009.
8-0 over San Diego.


CHICAGO CUBS
Carlos Zambrano - September 14, 2008.
5-0 over Houston.


BOSTON RED SOX
Jon Lester - May 19, 2008.
7-0 over Kansas City.


FLORIDA MARLINS
Anibal Sanchez - September 6, 2006.
2-0 over Arizona.


HOUSTON ASTROS
Roy Oswalt, Peter Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner -
June 11, 2003.
8-0 over New York Yankees.


ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Bud Smith - September 3, 2001
4-0 over San Diego.


NEW YORK YANKEES
David Cone - July 18, 1999.
6-0 over Montreal. (Perfect Game.)


PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Francisco Cordova and Ricardo Rincon - July 12, 1997.
3-0 over Houston. (10 innings.)


LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Hideo Nomo - September 17, 1996.
9-0 over Colorado.


TEXAS RANGERS
Kenny Rogers - July 28, 1994.
4-0 over California. (Perfect Game.)

ATLANTA BRAVES
Kent Mercker - April 8, 1994.
6-0 over Los Angeles.


SEATTLE MARINERS
Chris Bosio - April 22, 1993.
2-0 over Boston.


KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Bret Saberhagen - August 26, 1991
7-0 over Chicago White Sox.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS (AS MONTREAL EXPOS)
Dennis Martinez - July 28, 1991.
2-0 over Los Angeles. (Perfect Game.)


BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Bob Milacki, Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson and Gregg Olson - July 13, 1991.
2-0 over Oakland.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Dave Steib - September 2, 1990.
3-0 over Cleveland.


CINCINNATI REDS
Tom Browning - September 16, 1988.
1-0 over Los Angeles. (Perfect Game.)


MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Juan Nieves - April 15, 1987.
7-0 over Baltimore.

CLEVELAND INDIANS
Len Barker - May 15, 1981.
3-0 over Toronto. (Perfect Game.)

Bonus
WASHINGTON SENATORS
Bobby Burke - August 8, 1931
5-0 over Boston.

STILL no no hitters for the Mets, Padres and Nationals.

Congrats Phillip Humber!