3 weeks. 21 days. 19 games. That is all that is left of the 2010 baseball season. People always tend to bug me this time of year. Football season is starting and people stop caring so much about baseball. Too often I’ve tried to bring up current baseball news in conversation and I’ve gotten responses in every different form of “Who cares about baseball anymore? It’s football season!”
Well you know what, we’re in a playoff race and this is not the time for fans to lose focus! (Yes, I am aware that the Sox are 6 games back from the Minnesota Twins, but I still think we have a shot at this.) This is precisely the time that the Sox need our support the most.
In the past 10 games, the Sox gave gone 6-4. Normally, an over .500 record would make me smile, but when the Twins went 8-2 in the last 10 games, I unfortunately have to put my happiness on hold.
We can’t catch up to these guys! It’s beyond frustrating! Either both teams win or lose and we don’t gain any ground, or they win and we lose and they pick up another game on us. We managed to pick up one game on them on Friday, putting us at 5 games back, but then, of course, the next day we lost and they won.
I really thought adding Manny Ramirez to the White Sox lineup would catapult us into close competition with the Twins, but his performance has been less than stellar. Let me drop some Manny Stats on ya: In 11 games with the White Sox, Manny has 10 hits (all singles) in 34 at bats, giving him an average of .294. He has crossed home plate twice. He has zero, I repeat: zero RBIs or homeruns. Come on, you’re Manny freaking Ramirez! I expected more from you.
The White Sox organization, however, is not worried. Granted, he has been injured this season, and he’s still returning to form, so I guess a little sympathy is ok. White Sox beat writer Scott Merkin believes Manny is giving the Sox what he has named the “Ramirez Effect,” noting that even his presence alone is helping the team.
The Sox GM Kenny Williams took note of Manny’s lack of extra-base hits and justified it by saying,
He's taking the team approach to try to get on base any way he can. I don't know if you've noticed, but he doesn't exactly get the greatest pitches in the world, and he's been just missing some of the ones he has gotten to drive.
If there was ever a time for Manny to remember how to hit homeruns, this would be it. As I said, we are a mere 6 games back from the Twins, and we’re facing them in a three-game series this week at home. A sweep of the Twins would honestly throw me into such a giddy fit of giggles, it would take a bulldozer to the head to wipe the smile from my face. We would be 3 games back with 16 more chances to send those Twins down to the bottom of the 10,000 lakes their state is known for.
The defining series starts Tuesday night at 7:10 Central time. Both probable pitchers, John Danks for the Sox and Francisco Liriano for the Twins, have 13 wins this season. Let’s hope Danks get his 14th.
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