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I was ecstatic when the Good Guys pulled ahead in the top of the tenth, but was holding my breath when Matt Thornton came out again to pitch in the bottom half of the frame. In my book, Matty is not a guy you want out there for more than an inning. I haven’t looked at the stats, but my sense is he doesn’t do well if he has to sit between innings.
Well, whether the stats prove my point or not, last night’s result did. Jim Thome faced Thornton for the first time and crushed a home run with a man on for the first walk-off home run at Target Field. Yes, that Jim Thome, the one I’ve been saying we should have re-signed to be our DH. He was a cheaper version of Adam Dunn that we wouldn’t have had to give up anyone to get.
Big mistake last night and big mistake in not signing him. In only 81 games, Thome has 17 home runs this year. He’s got a .273 batting average, not far off from his career average of .277. His on-base percentage is .391, a bit below his career mark of .404. But his slugging percentage is .593, 35 points better than his .558 lifetime percentage. Tell me the team that couldn’t use someone with Thome’s average production for a year. I’ll tell you who could use him: The White Sox.
The 7-6 loss (there’s another loss when scoring six runs) drops the Sox to 4.0 games behind the Twins and makes the next two games must wins. Go Sox!
I stayed late at the office, so the game was just starting when I was driving home around 8 pm, and of course I tuned in on my XM radio. Before I passed the Lincoln Memorial, the White Sox were trailing the Twins 3-0, and I switched to the all-Springsteen station. Better the Boss than another loss.
But I couldn’t help myself and tuned in again to check on the score. By this time, the Sox had made a game of it and I thought, the team has some spunk after all. (I immediately flashed back to the first episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show when Lou says to Mary, “You know what? You’ve got spunk…. I hate spunk.”) And when the Sox tied it up in the top of the ninth on an Alexei Ramirez home run, I started watching on the MLB Network.I was ecstatic when the Good Guys pulled ahead in the top of the tenth, but was holding my breath when Matt Thornton came out again to pitch in the bottom half of the frame. In my book, Matty is not a guy you want out there for more than an inning. I haven’t looked at the stats, but my sense is he doesn’t do well if he has to sit between innings.
Well, whether the stats prove my point or not, last night’s result did. Jim Thome faced Thornton for the first time and crushed a home run with a man on for the first walk-off home run at Target Field. Yes, that Jim Thome, the one I’ve been saying we should have re-signed to be our DH. He was a cheaper version of Adam Dunn that we wouldn’t have had to give up anyone to get.
Big mistake last night and big mistake in not signing him. In only 81 games, Thome has 17 home runs this year. He’s got a .273 batting average, not far off from his career average of .277. His on-base percentage is .391, a bit below his career mark of .404. But his slugging percentage is .593, 35 points better than his .558 lifetime percentage. Tell me the team that couldn’t use someone with Thome’s average production for a year. I’ll tell you who could use him: The White Sox.
The 7-6 loss (there’s another loss when scoring six runs) drops the Sox to 4.0 games behind the Twins and makes the next two games must wins. Go Sox!
posted by Sherm Lollar at 9:41 AM
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