Comatose line up

(May 5)

Short Take:  Shutout by an 0-3, 11.09 ERA pitcher

The free-fall continues.  If you're looking for the light at the end of the tunnel, you really need to see a doctor about correcting that "Cub-ness" in your personality.  That's not daylight, it's an oncoming train!  Yesterday's rainout reprieve has ended and the Sox look every bit as lost, beaten, and pathetic, as they ever have been.  The month-long swoon continues, 2-0 losers to Ryan Glynn and the Texas Rangers.

Who is Ryan Glynn?  He's the worst pitcher on the worst staff in the American League.  Before facing the White Sox, his record was 0-3 and his ERA 11.09.  Facing another goofy line up penned by Jerry Manuel, the Sox managed just three hits off this stiff, never advancing a runner past first base.  He pitched eight full innings.  His teammates didn't carry him off the field, but they should have.  He ended their five-game losing streak practically by himself.

The Manuel/Williams brain trust saw fit to slot Royce Clayton and his .119 batting average in the #2 hole.  His 0 for 3 performance (including an inning-ending double-play groundout) was the wet blanket smothering the anemic Sox attack.  Ray Durham was back in the leadoff spot and did his part, going 3 for 4.  Next came Clayton starting a black hole that stretched all the way to the #8 spot, a combined 0 for 20 performance by Jose Valentin, Paul Konerko, Carlos Lee, Harold Baines, Sandy Alomar, and pinch hitter Magglio Ordonez.  

How does Jerry Manuel adjust for a team that has the weakest offense in the league?  He benches Herbert Perry (.318) and Tony Graffanino (.318), and instead starts Julio Ramirez (.075), Harold Baines (.156), Chris Singleton (.200), and Royce Clayton (.119).  

I guess there is no room in the crowded Sox line up for anybody hitting over .300 after all the guys hitting beneath the Mendoza Line are accommodated.  

Did Jerry Manuel get this stupid or is new GM Ken Williams too prideful to admit mistakes less than six weeks into the season?  Must we flush the entire season down the drain over a general manager's ego?  

Sox Fans, let's call Gord Ash for sympathy!

Rocky Biddle was effective if not dominant.  As usual he battled, pitching through jams in the second, third, and fifth innings.  Two earned runs ought to make you a winner when facing an opponent starting a guy with an 11.09 ERA.

Not today.  Not this year.  And it's far, far from over.