A Night Of History At U.S. Cellular Field

It all started on a hot humid night in Chicago. Thirty-three thousand fans in attendance, who most left before history was made. The Chicago White Sox have had a season of disappointment for the players and their fans. On a year when they were suppose to compete for the American League Central, the White Sox stood at a measly 60-81 going into the game. Approximately twenty-two games behind the American League Central leader the Cleveland Indians.

Well, tonight was a night to remember, no matter what teams were playing, because it was a night of history. Tonight was the night that for the first time in history, two teams scored 6 runs in 9th inning.

Javier Vasquez was on the mound for the White Sox and Carlos Silva for Minnesota. Both pitchers have had their ups and downs for the season. In the top of the first, Minnesota started the game with three consecutive hits and a fielders choice to lead the White Sox 2-0. In the bottom of the first inning, the White Sox gained one run back with a Jim Thome run scoring single that scored Jerry Owens.

Now to jump to the bottom of the third inning, the White Sox took the lead on a towering home run by Juan Uribe that scored the Darrin Erstad. The Sox lead did not last very long though. In the very next innning Minnesota came back with two runs of their own to take a 4-3 lead after three and a half innings. The bats went silent for both teams until the bottom of the seventh inning when pinch hitter Alex Cintron came to bat for Alex Gonzalez. Cintron took a 2-1 pitch and sent it over the right field fence to tie the game at 4-4. Both teams go one, two, three in the 8th innning.

Mike Mcdougal came in for the White Sox to start the top of the ninth inning, but he did he know he was about to make history. Mcdougal allowed a single and then a sacrifice bunt and then was relieved by Mike Myers. Myers allowed a single to his first batter. His next batter hits a lazy ground ball to the third baseman but he threw it away, allowing two runs to score. The next batter came up and got another single, scoring another run for Minnesota to put them up 7-4. The following batter came to the plate and hit the ball four hundred feet over the left field wall for a three run homer. The score is now 10-4 and of the 33,000 fans that were once at the game, there are only half of that, if that. The Sox finally get out of the inning with a strikeout. All of these runs were unearned.

This is how the White Sox season has gone for the most part so far. With more then half the crowd gone, the White Sox came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning. Danny Richar starts the Sox out with a single to right field bring up Alex Cintron who also gets a single but to left field. Luis Terrero pinch hits for Jerry Owens. Terrero hits a soft dribbler to the shortstop, who does not have a play and can only give the ball to the pitcher. With bases loaded, Josh Fields steps to the plate and blastes a shot to the right field gap scoring two runs and leaving runs on second and third with nobody out. With the score 10-6, Jim Thome steps up to the plate and hits a 430 foot home run over the centerfield fence to make it a 10-9 ballgame with still no one out. Paul Konerko came to the plate next and walked on four pitches. With Konerko having horrible speed on the basepaths, the White Sox fastest player Scott Podsednik ran for him. Podsednik steals second on the first pitch and then advances to third on a wild pitch. With a runner on third base and no one out, A.J. Pierzynski struck out swinging for the first out of the inning. Darrin Erstad came to the plate next and hit a ground rule double that scored Podsednik from third. This tied the game 10-10.

This was the first time in Major League Baseball history that two teams scored six runs in the ninth inning. The next two White Sox batters were retired. The White Sox ended up winning the game in the bottom of the 13th innning on an A.J. Pierzynski run scoring single. White Sox Win 11-10!!

Bears Vs. Chargers Preview

Sexy Rexy Report: If Rex Grossman doesn't choke, then the Bears have a decent chance at winning, but that's a big if. Last season, the idea of good Rex or bad Rex came about. He seemed bipolar. 27 touchdown passes which was good for 7th best in the league, but coughing up 30 turnovers is just excessive. Even if Rex plays well he won't have a cake walk. The Chargers led the league last year with 61 sacks. I hope Rex has learned how to hold on to the ball after dropping it 7 times last season, but from the only preseason game I caught it didn't look like it. Maybe Tom Coughlin could come over and fix Rex like he did Tiki Barber, either way we wouldn't have any more problems out of Rex...


Key Matchup: Chicago's Linebackers vs. LaDainian Tomlinson
We've all seen the commercial where LT runs all over the Bear's defense. There's a big difference between the defense in the commercial and the real defense. Is it that the players in the commercial all had bikini waxes so they look good in HD? Hardly. The defense in the commercial isn't recognizable. Where is Brian Urlacher, Hunter Hillenmeyer, or even the Lindsay Lohan like Lance Briggs? I never saw any of them. This should turn out to be one of the best linebacker-running back competitions we will see all year. The linebackers will have their hands full trying to stop last year's MVP, but in the end they will scrape by. Of course if LT acts like TO did when he played for the 49er's and gets scared when he sees Urlacher (anyone else remember that?), the game might not be that close.


Other News: Greg Olsen has a sprained knee, but the team is hopeful because as Lovie Smith said "the smile is coming back on his face." Well that’s just fantastic. Medical attention? Nah, Lovie just goes by the smile on their face. Rex is usually smiling; maybe that’s why he gets to play. I’m interested to see if Chris Leak can compete in the NFL. Oh that's right; he isn't even listed on the Bear's roster. He only destroyed Ohio State last year to win a national championship. Winning that doesn't guarantee success in the NFL, but he should at least get a shot. In a completely unrelated side note, I went to the same high school as Brad Maynard, the Bear's Punter.

The Good, the Bad, the Joakim Noah

Let's face it...we won't see this guy on the cover of GQ anytime soon. Some people say it's the hair; others say it's his face. No one knows why F/C Joakim Noah looks this way, but at least people recognize him. And if you think his look is ugly, you should see his Shawn Marion-esque jump shot. But I don't think Bulls head coach Scott Skiles plans on using Noah for his "shooting abilities."

Scott Skiles is all about team basketball. You don't see this much now in the NBA, but I believe that the Chicago Bulls are the best example of team basketball. This is what Noah brings to the table. He was a part of the two-time National Championship winners, the Florida Gators. Noah has experience on how to be a part of a true team. Some say the Bulls should have gone with Washington C Spencer Hawes. I disagree. Hawes may possess a better post presence, but he is still lacking in defense. What Noah lacks in the post, he makes up for with outstanding effort and defense. Noah fights for every rebound, dives for the occasional loose ball, and is a block waiting to happen. I know, I know...the Bulls already have those things covered by Ben Wallace and Tyrus Thomas. The fact of the matter is that we know what Noah can do. Noah's fantastic finish his sophomore year in the NCAA tournament showed that he really has some kind of an offense. Maybe his junior year wasn't as stat-filled as his sophomore year, but he still got a championship out of it.

The Bulls had a hell of a second round in the draft. In my opinion, Pittsburgh C Aaron Grey was a late round steal. Give him a couple of years, he might be the next Luc Longley. One of the premiere centers in college, Grey brings the size the Bulls lack down low. And after seeing people repeatedly eating their testicles on Fear Factor, bulls usually don't lack in size in down low. But back to what I was saying...another second round pick was Oklahoma State G JamesOn Curry. I admit that I don't know much about him, but I did see that triple overtime thriller against Kevin Durant and the Texas Longhorns, which was in my opinion the greatest college game that I have seen. Curry put up 28 points, along with 9 rebounds. He will find himself on the bench most the season behind fellow benchmen, Chris Duhon and Thabo Sefolosha. But he will get his chance to play...eventually...when it's a blowout...probably against the Pacers.

All these guys have to remember that the Bulls are a true team and that they must learn to follow before they can lead. The rookies are behind a great non-all-star cast starring Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, and Andres Nocioni. Noah will get in his minutes (as in greater than 1, but less than 10), Grey will be able to at least put his feet on the floor every so often, and Curry will enjoy watching the game just like me...except against the Pacers...he will probably play.

I leave you with this. Enjoy!

Booing Brings Out the Worst

Remember in high school when you would walk into your enemy’s gym to the sound of booing and shrill jeers? Do you also remember wanting to take those little twerps and pound them into the ground? Apparently Carlos Zambrano can't escape that annoying nightmare.

After being taken out in the fifth inning of Monday’s game against the Dodgers, Cubs fans let Zambrano have it. They booed him as he walked off the mound and into the dugout and I guess it was more than he could take. He had a couple more innings to shake it off but was still full of frustration when talking to the media after the game. It was then that he made the statement about the fans only caring about themselves. Oh come on, Z. That hurts.




He thought we were the greatest fans in baseball but after a couple of boos he completely changed his mind. And I, along with the other fans, was mad at him for three reasons.

1. He dropped his fifth straight game on Monday.
2. He said we were horrible fans.
3. He still had those ridiculous blond highlights in his hair.

But the game was over, the nasty things were said and done, and everyone went to sleep. And the next day, Zambrano was sorry. Yeah, he’s human. Yeah, he apologized. And yeah, he cut his hair! Of course I have forgiven him. I mean, it’s Big Z! He’s one of our heroes and one of the guys who is going to take us all of the way. And hey, he took back what he said and recognized that Cubs fans are still the best in the sport. Well, duh.

And now that it’s the sixth inning of tonight’s game and we’re beating the Dodgers 4-1, I can only hope that Lilly will give us no reason to boo him off the field. Oh crap, he just grounded out to first. BOOOO! Just kidding…

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