Punchless loss

(May 1)

Short Take:  Is Manuel asleep?

What is our manager thinking?  The White Sox offense hasn't gotten on-track all season.  Key players like Ray Durham and Magglio Ordonez haven't produced, and the team is struggling to score even four runs per game.  Even in last Sunday's victory, it took fourteen innings for the Sox to score their second run.

So how does Jerry Manuel respond to this need?  Jerry's Tuesday line up included three players hitting .200 or lower.  For reasons only he and God understand, Manuel slotted Royce Clayton in the #2 slot while hitters like Herbert Perry and Tony Graffanino sat on the bench.

The ending was inevitable, another loss, this time 6-4 to Anaheim.

David Wells was less than brilliant but his gutsy performance was in utter contrast to the rest of the team's.  He didn't have this "A" game but still pitched seven innings.  After weeks of losing, lethargic play was evident everywhere else.

The biggest example was in the bottom of the eighth inning.  A gapper to the wall had both Ray Durham and Royce Clayton conceding a double to slow-footed Wally Joyner.  Playing alert ball, Joyner advanced to third base when neither Durham or Clayton bothered to back up the throw into the infield.  Sox Fans would like to buy both of them big screen TV's where they can enjoy the show without contributing to our team's loss!

Joyner came home on a sacrifice to open a three-run lead for the Angels.  The Sox got one back in the ninth, but so what?  The tying run would have been at second base except for Durham and Clayton's boneheaded play.  The Sox lost by two and never made a serious run.

The season is entering a new phase.  Sox Fans might blame a few key players for the Sox's woes in April.  Now that it is May the manager's actions will come under greater scrutiny.

Jerry Manuel just flunked his first test.