July 28, 2010... Remember that date Sox fans...

That is the date that the White Sox, for the first time all year, played like division champions. Ahhh, I can hear the criticism now: "But Poljak, Mark Buerhle was horrible! He gave up 5 runs in 2 innings! Have you lost your mind?" Anyone that knows me or has talked to me knows that I'm a few beers light of a case, but that doesn't change the fact that the Sox acted like a 1st place team in coming back to beat the Mariners Wednesday night. And yes, I know the Mariners are bad but you still need to come back and beat the bad teams, too.
Sure, Buerhle didn't have his best stuff, giving up 5 runs and 6 hits over his first 1 2/3 innings. Then he 'cinched it up and hunkered down' as Hawk would say, giving up just 3 hits and 0 runs over his final 3 1/3 innings. Then the White Sox showed just how dangerous of a team they can be with mediocre starting pitching and a solid offensive showing. Ozzie marched out Santos, Thorton, Putz and Jenks for innings 6-9 where they gave up a collective 2 hits (both by Thorton) and recorded 5 punch outs (Bobby struck out the side in the 9th). They allowed the bats to do work against the Mariners' pitchers by first showing off their power (3 dingers) and then in the 7th manufacturing the go-ahead run with the old "get 'em on, get 'em over, get 'em in" adage.
This game is significant to the Sox and is telling of the type of team they have on a few different levels.
First, the players knew they had to win in order to stay in 1st place by themselves. The Twins had already beaten the Royals earlier in the day and would have moved into a tie for first with a White Sox loss. They didn't let the pressure of losing control of the division lead get to them or force them to try to do too much.
Second, They battled the entire game and didn't let themselves think they were defeated because they went down 5-1 so early in the game. Instead, they fought and shown a kind of resiliency that you need to make the playoffs.
What it also did was prove how important it is for the Sox to have Bobby Jenks as their closer. The rest of the pen knows exactly what to do when they get in the game; get the ball to Bobby in the 9th. Santos is a future big league closer and Putz has proved in the past that he is more than capable of excelling at closing out games (he saved over 70 games in back-to-back seasons with the Blue Jays). Thorton has the easiest 98 mph fastball in the game and is one of the premier set-up men in baseball. Throw in a great season from Tony Pena and a nice rookie showing from Threets and the Sox have themselves one of the best bullpens around... I purposely left Linebrink off the list of positives because, well, he's bad.
Only Kenny knows what move he is going to make before Saturday's trade deadline. He wants power from the left side... most Sox fans just don't want to see Mark Kotsay every game. And no one could reasonably say they wouldn't want to see Adam Dunn in the middle of the lineup. In fact, if someone does say they don't want Dunn then you have my permission to slap them across the face and revoke their baseball talking privileges.
An established fifth stater would ease the agony of watching Daniel Hudson toe the rubber every 5 days, and even though I just gushed over how good the bullpen is, you could never have too many good arms for the back end of games.
But I'm not writing this to speculate on what Kenny is going to do. No. This is to let you know that the Sox have turned another corner this season. The went on the improbable winning streak to get back in the race and now they are showing a willingness and determination to do whatever it takes to win games. Everybody on the team knows they are capable of accomplishing something special this year. All season they've said the right things... even when it was going really bad for them. Now they have to keep their focus heading into the hottest and toughest part of their schedule. But if Wednesday, July 28th has proved anything it's that the Sox will not crumble under the pressure and will not stop fighting until the 27th out is made.

It's all fun and games until your season is over...

Add Chris Coghlan to the list of players that will think twice before celebrating a walk-off win. The Florida Marlins outfielder, and reigning NL Rookie of the Year, decided to celebrate the Marlins' walk-off winner on Sunday by smashing a shaving cream pie in the face of teammate Wes Helms (Sunday night's hero). It's something we've seen done hundreds of times by baseball players... it's the new sliding on the tarp during a rain delay. When the hero or star of the game is being interviewed someone comes out of nowhere like a ninja and pies him in the face.
Unfortunately for the Marlins, Coghlan is going to miss the next 6-8 weeks because he tore the meniscus in his left knee during his sneak attack.
Florida is starting to gain some momentum, going 8-2 over their last 10 games, which included taking 2 of 3 from the division leading Atlanta Braves. Now a game over .500 they are starting to roll a bit and could hardly afford to lose a key member to their team, especially in a non-playing type of injury.
While his offensive numbers might not be what they were last year, his defense is where he is doing the most good. He's made one error all season and has excelled at the routine plays and shown a flash for making the spectacular catch. He is one of the players the Marlins are counting on to get them back into the playoff race.
You would think that players around the league would look at what happened to the Angels' Kendry Morales and think twice about over celebrating. He broke his leg celebrating a walk-off home run that he hit by jumping and landing wrong on home plate. The Angels have not been able to find a power bat to replace Morales and have since watch the Rangers pull further away in the AL West.
Florida manager Edwin Rodriguez has thrown the pie-facing celebrations out the window and will not allow his team celebrate that way any longer, and I couldn't agree with him more. Sure it may seem like a simple and jovial way to celebrate a win, but why take the chance on risking injury to yourself or a teammate over a childish stunt.
At least Coghlan wasn't the first big leaguer to get injured while trying to deliver a pie to a teammate's face... In 2008 Toby Hall of the White Sox injured his shoulder after Jermaine Dye blocked his attempt to pie him during a post-game interview. That year Hall was known for his pie-facing antics and the players were well aware that he would find a way to get them; if only they would have found a way to beat the Rays in the playoffs...
Maybe someday these professional athletes will learn how to celebrate and not hurt themselves. Or, they could heed the words of John Madden in the movie The Replacements: "You know, there's a rule in sports, Don't do anything great if you can't handle the congratulations."
I can't believe I ended this blog on a John Madden quote...

... and totally redeem yourselves

OK, maybe not totally redeem yourselves, but good for the White Sox for coming out and handily defeating the Seattle Mariners; not like that's too hard to do this year. But good for you for not getting too down after dropping 3 in a row to Minnesota, especially after the way you lost the last game of the series. Blowing a 3-run lead in the 9th inning could have sent this team into a dive that could have become the undoing of the season. Instead, rookie Daniel Hudson steps up and throws 6.2 innings of 5 hit, 1 run ball and settled a lot of angst amongst the South Side faithful... at least for now.
More than gaining a full game on the Tigers and Twins (both teams lost); more than a rookie stepping up when his team needed him; the entire team responded when they had to. The defense stepped up their game, namely Alexei Ramirez on an incredible play deep in the hole and PK scooping everything in sight. The offense didn't hang their heads after not scoring in the first inning despite getting 3 hits in the frame. Instead they battled, hit a couple bombs and tacked on late runs by being aggressive and smart on the base paths (kudos to Gordan Beckham who not only extended his hitting streak to 8 games but also had a couple of smart base running plays late in the game).
They came out in the series opener and fought; they showed that they are a team that believes in themselves and has a short memory when it comes to losses. This is what you need to do if you're going to contend. Someone different needs to step up every night, whether it's a rookie pitcher making his second start of the season, a short stop playing some of his best baseball or a struggling second baseman finally breaking out of his hitting slump.
This is a White Sox team that could make some noise the American League. Even with Jake Peavy out for the season, the Sox have a formidable pitching staff with 4 solid starters and a bullpen that has 5 potential closers (Jenks, Thorton, Putz, Pena and Santos). With an offense that can put runs up on the board in a hurry via the home run or string together multiple hits in an inning the Sox would be a very dangerous team in the playoffs...
Of course, they have to get out of their division first.