73 (Day Two)

We discussed this last Thursday. Javier Vazquez cannot get through the batting order the third time. So why let him pitch you out of the game? Ozzie had Neal Cotts warming up in the pen at the start of the sixth, but he didn' t pull the trigger and yank Vazquez. Some (including me in the past) have said it would destroy his confidence to pull him in that situation. Well, allowing him to blow leads game after game is going to do the same thing. How about one time, preserving a win for the guy -- and the team -- by bringing in a reliever? History shows you're going to need one anyway, so it's not a question of saving arms in the bullpen. Maybe Oz will figure this one out before it's too late.

The Tigers won -- of course -- so while the Magic Number stays the same as a result of the 7-4 loss to the Twins, the Sox fall a game farther behind Detroit in the race for the A.L. Central Division crown. Worse yet, we're only 1.5 games ahead of the Yankees and two games ahead of the Twins for the Wild Card. The Sox are still playing better than .600 ball, but just barely. It's time to right the ship.

Recent acquisitions Sandy Alomar and Mike MacDougal are not the answer. Alfonso Soriano might be, if the question is how do you jump start the White Sox bats? But where does Fonzie play and whom do you trade to get him? He's barely a left fielder, let alone a center fielder, and he's not even that good a second basemen. Plus he's either gone or incredibly expensive to sign after the season. If Kenny can trade for him and lock him up for the future, this might work. But the real key is the players going the other direction. The Washington Post quotes Kenny as saying that McCarthy the White Sox starters aren't going anywhere -- well, the latter is certainly true if you're talking about their performance lately, except for Jon Garland. Remember last year when we were thinking about which starter was going to win the Cy Young? This year, it's more like the Sigh Young that they're chasing.

Time to change the tag line. This worked last season during the slump: Just win, baby!