Less Than Zero

First White Sox game of the year was a total dud. Jose Contreras had his ass handed to him on a platter by an streaky Diamondbacks line-up in the first two innings and the game was a dismal 7-0 before I had finished my first drink. I find Contreras to be underwhelming and I guess the Sox brass does, too -- rumor has it that Orlando Hernandez is here to help ease Contreras' development and soothe his fragile psyche. Ozzie Guillen must feel that he needs some toughening, because he left him in there to sort things out for four more (scoreless) innings before going to the 'pen. Sox couldn't get it started offensively against Shawn Estes, either, save the Big Hurt's best Roy Hobbs/ Kirk Gibson impression with a line-drive solo shot to left field in the 4th -- a sort of weak reminder of what great things the team's capable of.

Still, this is a team built on the front of the rotation, a consistent bench and great coaching. The big weakness, outside of Dustin Hermansen, is a leaky bullpen. Last year's closing tandem of Luis Vizcaino (8th) and Shingo Takatsu (9th) came on to relieve Contreras and put together three solid innings between them. Neither has been particularly effective up to this point in the season, but I can't recall any reliever outside of Mike Jackson getting booed in a Sox uniform in the last few years. And the fans go nuts when Mr. Zero takes the mound: the jumbotron plays this ridiculous quick-cut anime style intro during his warm-ups and all of the other displays boast "Shingo Time!" Must be that awesome (and punishing) sidearm delivery. Why do so many Asian pitchers throw sidearm? I get the sense that it's something that's frowned upon in high school-college ball because of the damage it can do to yer elbow. Love watching it in action, though: Takatsu's arm has this ridiculous bull-whip motion where it snaps back into place after the ball has left his hand.

I'm not sold on the team as a contender yet, either -- though the team's working overtime to erase any lingering debt left over from the 1997 dump trade with the Giants. I think people are still steamed about that. Also, the team's division rivals Minnesota are, as always, dangerous and the Orioles and Angels look tough. I won't be around for the playoff run, either way; as I type this, all of our stuff has been packed neatly in boxes in preparation for the moving company to haul it out this afternoon. Of course, we'll be heading from one first-place town to the next. Actually, two: by the time next week, we'll be between Baltimore and D.C. in the Maryland suburbs. But no more games with my go-to guy Will, who I've seen, like, dozens of Sox and Cubs games with over the last 8 summers. In a sense, what happens on the field is almost irrelevant -- I'll probably remember our conversations long after the box scores have faded away.