Punchless attack, near-disaster

(May 19)

Short Take:  Don't let the close score fool you

It was inevitable.  Seven weeks into the season, Jerry Manuel's tired routine of fielding anemic line ups has nearly caused what we Sox Fans know is coming:  a no-hitter pitched against our Sox.  Here's the scary part Sox Fans:  it is going to happen.   Our White Sox are going to be victims of a no-hitter because Jerry Manuel's priorities apparently lie elsewhere for reasons only he can understand.

This team sucks, not because they aren't good but because Jerry Manuel (and Ken Williams and Jerry Reinsdorf?) are playing to lose.  Four games into a weak-hitting losing streak, Jerry Manuel fielded another line up that featured Royce Clayton (batting .110) and Julio Ramirez (batted .081).  It's a pathetic development because we all know how good this team can be.  Manuel has only bothered to play his 2000 line up (the one that won 95 games last year) two or three times all season!  What is that?

Today's game was no fluke; we've made mediocre pitchers look like world-beaters all season long!  Oakland starter Mark Mulder was perhaps the busiest fielder on the Athletics with all the weak taps back to the mound for easy outs.  He pitched a no-hitter into the seventh inning when Magglio Ordonez hit a homerun with two out.  God Bless, Magglio!

James Baldwin was a hard-luck loser, pitched well enough to win, going a complete eight innings allowing four runs (three earned) and five hits.  He allowed two taters, but holding a high-powered offense like Oakland's to four runs ought to be enough to make you a winner.

But we're talking about Jerry Manuel's White Sox and four runs is a nearly insurmountable amount for the pee-shooting offense.

At this rate, should the Sox even bother coming home?  The welcoming at Comiskey is likely to be ugly--especially for the manager.