Thankfully, the very sub-par 2009 season for the White Sox is over. 79-83 and in third place behind the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins. And like their record suggests, the good wasn't more than the bad.
White Sox 2009: Cheers & Jeers
- Cheers ... to Mark Buehrle's perfect game.
- Jeers ... to Mark Buehrle post-perfection. He was 2-7 and had seven starts where he gave up four runs or more. Not what the White Sox needed from their ace.
- Cheers ... to Gordon Beckham, for not only handling a quick rise to the majors and doing so at a new position, but stepping up and being one of the best offensive players on a team full of proven vets.
- Jeers ... to the middle of the lineup - notably Jermaine Dye - which failed to live up to their salary.
- Cheers ... to the man at the top of the lineup, Scott Podsednik, who was arguably the Sox's most consistent and valuable offensive player, especially down the stretch.
- Jeers ... to Gavin Floyd's '09 start. After signing a four-year, $15 million deal, Floyd entered June with 6.12 ERA.
- Cheers ... to Gavin Floyd's rebound. He gave up just six runs in June over a span 42.1 innings and held his own till a hip injury cut his season short in September.
- Jeers ... to Bobby Jenks' reliability, which was non-existent.
- Cheers ... to Matt Thornton, who threw a career-high, pressure-packed 72.1 innings out of the pen, all coming after pitching in the WBC.
- Jeers ... To the defense, which wasn't so much individually bad as they were collectively bad.
- Cheers ... to Paul Konerko, who saved the defense from embarrassment, although some would argue embarrassment was reached anyway.
- Jeers .... to July 24 thru July 29, when the team went 1-6 against the Tigers and Twins, and August 24 thru September 2, when the team went 2-8 against the Twins, Red Sox and Yankees.
- Cheers ... to the rotation, which stayed competitive despite extended slumps by Buehrle, Floyd and an unstable fifth spot.
- Jeers ... to Scott Linebrink, who after a questionably strong first-half, was dead weight in an unstable bullpen.
- Cheers ... to Ozzie Guillen, for verbally criticizing the team for its lackluster play.
- Jeers ... to Ozzie Guillen for failing to punish the players for that same lackluster play.
- Cheers ... to Kenny Williams, for being proactive in his pursuit of another ring.
- Jeers ... to one such Williams' acquisition, Alex Rios, further weakened an already-flailing offense.
- Cheers ... to Jake Peavy, who pitched 15 scoreless innings to end the season.
- Jeers ... to underachievers. Despite all the 4th and 5th place pre-season predictions, on paper and in salary, the White Sox should have taken the division.
- Cheers ... to the future, because as upsetting as this season was, the team's foundation going forward is as strong as ever before.
Recommended
Recent Posts
Local advertising by PaperG
1 Comment
RichN said:
Agree with your cheers and jeers for the most part. I think you miss the mark on Konerko. He doesn't make many errors because he doesn't get to many balls that other 1B's do. Just like he is leadfoot on the bases, he is leadfoot in the field. Reminds me a lot of Ernie Banks, when he played SS for the Chubs (my spelling). Ernie would give a ground ball in the hole the ol' salute as it went into by him into leftfield. Ernie never made many errors and rarely got his uniform dirty.
Leave a Comment?
What your comment will look like:
said: