Dye Hard

A former basketball player, football player, a leisurely golfer and now major league baseball player, Chicago White Sox outfielder Jermaine Dye is an athlete in every sense of the word. Dye grew up in Vacaville, Calif. and said that baseball was just his sport. He said it helped growing up in California because the weather made it possible for baseball [read more...]

Long Day for the Sox

After a long day that included a statue unveiling, a major milestone, a trip to the DL for one Sox starter, and two starting pitchers who didn't see the fifth inning, the Chicago White Sox finally lost to the Kansas City Royals 8-7 After the pomp and circumstance of the pre-game ceremony honoring Harold Baines ended, starters John Danks and Bryan [read more...]

The Brain Leak

The Brain Leak (Week of 7/7/08 - 7/13/08) With my creative fluids replenished, The Leak fine-tunes itself for a mid-summer charge and stands unfazed by the oppressive swelter of the annual Midwest "Humidity Fest." It is truly that wretched time of year when a majority of the country falls victim to brutally high dew points and even the most adamant of [read more...]

The Brain Leak

The Brain Leak (Week of 7/7/08 - 7/13/08) With my creative fluids replenished, The Leak fine-tunes itself for a mid-summer charge and stands unfazed by the oppressive swelter of the annual Midwest "Humidity Fest." It is truly that wretched time of year when a majority of the country falls victim to brutally high dew points and even the most adamant of [read more...]

Orlando Cabrera

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Orlando Cabrera

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Quit Crying and Play Ball

Teammates are going to fight every now and then; it's a known fact. However it just seems to me that Orlando Cabrera is searching for too much attention when things don't go his way. It doesn't matter if it takes some crying to the press box for giving him an error or having a temper tantrum in the dugout. Twice this [read more...]

Crede’s Secret

Flintstones Gummy Vitamins; could they be the secret to the 124 career home runs and 416 career RBIs for Chicago White Sox third baseman Joe Crede? Crede said he's a "Centrum man", yet three bottles of these gummy vitamins remain in his locker. No matter what the secret is, it must be working. Crede grew up in Westphalia, Mo. and has been [read more...]

White Sox Bats Coming Alive

The Chicago White Sox have won four out of their last five games and are now hitting .304 with 42 home runs and 150 runs scored in June. They definitely stepped up their game offensively during the second half of the Crosstown Classic this weekend at US Cellular Field, with the big hits of this series starting with Nick Swisher's [read more...]

Konerko Takes BP 11 Days After Injury

    Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained oblique on June 17. Konerko felt some pain as he took his first batting practice with the team on Saturday. Konerko said that he is trusting White Sox athletic trainer Herm Schneider when it comes to healing his injury. He said, "I've never [read more...]

Konerko

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Konerko

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More Than a Ballgame - Or Is It?

The stadium is packed with over 39,000 cheering fans – a sellout crowd all hyped up just to see a ballgame at US Cellular Field. This isn't just a ballgame however, it's the Crosstown Classic. To Cubs and Sox fans alike, this six-game series is one of the most intense ones of their lives. They wait anxiously for these two weekends [read more...]

More Than a Ballgame - Or Is It?

The stadium is packed with over 39,000 cheering fans – a sellout crowd all hyped up just to see a ballgame at US Cellular Field. This isn't just a ballgame however, it's the Crosstown Classic. To Cubs and Sox fans alike, this six-game series is one of the most intense ones of their lives. They wait anxiously for these two weekends [read more...]

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Good Guys Wear Black

First of all, I never really understood that phrase, 'Good Guys Wear Black', when it came to the White Sox. Mainly because they're the White Sox, not the Black Sox. I've actually heard a conversation with Bobby Jenks on television in the bullpen pondering the same thing. Why are they the White Sox and they wear black? Hmm... who knows. Anyway, [read more...]

Simply The Best

As the Cubs and Sox kick off their annual home and home series Friday at Wrigley, in honor of the six games here are six reasons why the Cubs have a better shot at the World Series than the Sox. DEPTH Since we are looking forward to October, let's look back at recent fall classics. Why did the Red Sox win [read more...]

WS stands for White Sox and World Series – Coincidence?

The baseball season is 70 games old, which makes it about 43.2% complete, give or take 0.009% or so. That also makes it time to obnoxiously and prematurely speculate about who is primed and ready for the World Series. Yes, a month before the Midsummer Classic even happens, we erstwhile members of the sports media have to sit down at our [read more...]

A Dip In The Shallow End

I was kind of hoping I wouldn't have to gripe about these kinds of things, but what can I say, we live in a shallow world. I think the only reason I continue to read the Chicago Sun-Times is to find things that tick me off so I can complain about it here. For example, I take a look at [read more...]

The Leak 3.0: A Belmont shocker, Jones goes abstinent, Becker (hearts) Nadal, Ozzie’s F-bombs and a one-legged Tiger on the prowl

The Brain Leak (Week of 6/2/08 - 6/8/08) The Leak has seemingly grabbed a solid foothold in the fickle landscape of sports commentary and thus pushes on with an unforeseen third edition. No longer worthy of some wordy, nagging and self-depricating rant of an introduction, TBL slowly matures to the point where it can afford to allow its content to [read more...]

Soriano using recycled plastic bags to catch fly balls

OK, Lima Bean posse, this is where I openly rant about anything and everything affecting our general mental health diet. We'll call it Organic Sports Therapy... Grocery bagger guy: I don't need a bag for a banana dude! And I won't feed your bagging addiction. Stop being such bagwhores. Baggers everywhere, grocery and retail: Please stop bagging my [read more...]

The Bats Are Back

Looks like Ozzie's rants and some negative publicity helped the Sox figure out what they're bats are made for. The Sox have scored a total of 54 runs and just today they scored 12 on the Twins for their 6th straight win. Swisher finally broke out of his slump along with Konerko, Crede, and Ramirez. Quentin had some action as [read more...]

Kenny “Stay Out of White Sox Business” Williams vs. Ozzie “The Vicious Venezuelan” Guillen – EliteXC’s next ratings-grabber?

Sorry Ozzie, but the Wizard of Oz is already taken and your "I never cared to learn English particularly well" accent makes it hard to forget where you come from. That said, I'm on your side in this thing – outside of my possibly insensitive headline. Let's backtrack a little, so we can start at the beginning. I think that's usually [read more...]

MLB Report Cards

The start of June means only one thing to nearly every student in the country: School is almost over and summer is about to begin. But before thousands of kids can enjoy the beach, sleeping late and Fourth of July fireworks, there's that important thing called grades. Have a poor report card, and a student's summer can turn from backyard [read more...]

Prince Fielder Is Nibbling On My Ear

I'm not saying you're not a vegetarian Prince Fielder, but I just don't know a lot of 5'11", 260 pound non-carnivores. I've been eating mostly vegetarian fare for the last couple of years, and I think you're trying to pull the lima beans over my eyes. I saw you play against the Cubs earlier this season, and I think you [read more...]

The White Sox Starring Carlos Quentin

The White Sox managed to avoid a sweep by the Los Angeles Angels thanks to a fantastic effort from Jose Contreras, who continues to show the same flashes of brilliance as he did in 2005, and Carlos Quentin. Quentin continues to be one of the biggest finds in this offseason for Kenny Williams. Williams had taken a lot of deserved shots [read more...]

No One’s Excited for the Rush

While reading a story about Avery Johnson being interested in the Bulls' job... hmm, I wonder if getting the number one pick influenced his decision, they had a poll question asking which Chicago team you're most excited about. The Cubs, Sox, Blackhawks, Bulls, Sky, Fire, Wolves, and the Rush were listed. Despite a Rush division title and eight straight playoff [read more...]

Finding a Way to Win

I don't know if anyone realizes this, but the Chicago White Sox have won eight in a row and are in first place. Granted, they're in a weak division, but no one was complaining when the Cubs were winning the far weaker National League Central. After Minnesota and Toronto, it appeared the White Sox were headed for the oblivion of [read more...]

Why Chicks Should Be Banned From All-Star Voting

Perhaps I've been drinking too much of the Colin Cowherd Kool-aid, but I've realized female sports fans are messing with the natural order of things -- and that is turning me into a chauvinistic, repressive fool. As I recall, Colin has spoken about the upsides -- a requirement even -- of having a relationship with a girl who doesn't love sports. [read more...]

Staying Positive

Thirty-two is the magic number for Chicago White Sox outfielder Brian Anderson. Ironically, Anderson's favorite sport is basketball and he said he wears 32 because his favorite player is former Los Angeles Lakers point guard Magic Johnson. "I love basketball," said Anderson, "But my future is in baseball. I was always a good at basketball but my passion is baseball." Anderson grew [read more...]

Tough Being a Fan

It's pretty depressing to be a Chicago sports fan right now. You've got the White Sox incapable of scoring, the Cubs incapable of beating one of the worst teams in the National League, the Bears' starting running back involved in a huge Texas-sized mess, and the Bulls not wanting to shell out the big bucks for a quality coach. What kind [read more...]

Nothing Less Than Great

Like a kid in a toy store, Jim Thome walks around the Chicago White Sox clubhouse with an ear-to-ear grin. He's happy to see everybody and when asked how he's doing he responds with a smile and says he's nothing less than great. Thome, the Sox designated hitter, has a way of brightening up the locker room and making everyone feel [read more...]

Blown out of Proportion

First of all, I don't see why the Chicago Sun-Times' front-page story featured blow-up sex dolls in the White Sox clubhouse. Second of all, I don't see why Kara Spak and Carol Slezak are making a huge deal out of it. I became more and more frustrated the more I read. For those who don't know what happened, here's the deal. [read more...]

Ozzie Hatin

This is my first blog, so I will get the little details out of the way. I am living in Chicago for about 6 years now. Came here a huge Cubs fan (like most tourists) learned that it is much more fun to enjoy the White Sox, i.e. tailgating, cheaper tickets, lack of Chads and Trixies. Now [read more...]

Americans finally considering GW trade to Baghdad

Politics can be a lot like sports, but not nearly enough -- as far as I'm concerned -- when it comes to hiring and firing of the people who manage the land; your land; my land. When someone isn't getting the job done in baseball -- batting average dropping below .200 -- they usually get benched or traded. [read more...]

White Sox Back to their Old Ways

After watching yet another White Sox loss, it seems like the team has reverted back to their 2007 form. The hitters aren't hitting. The fielders aren't catching the ball, and the bullpen looks as bad as ever. Ultimately, you can't blame the pitchers since their ERA is under four. What you can do is look at a group of hitters who [read more...]

No Joke

It's a job little leaguers all over the world dream of, and playing in Major League Baseball is a dream come true for Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle. Without any hesitation in his voice, Buehrle never thought he'd make it to the Major League. "I thought it was a joke," said Buehrle. When scouts came to his college he thought [read more...]

Just hangin’ out with the White Sox

As I walked into the locker room of the Chicago White Sox, I couldn't help but just stare in amazement at all of the memorabilia and of course, the Lazy Boy recliners all over. Plaques and signed helmets line the walls and the center of the room is filled with three rows of black leather recliners, some of course with [read more...]

A White Sox Road Trip

Stepping foot inside a major league ballpark is an annual pilgrimage for me. Two dozen or so new parks have been built since the 1990's, so there is plenty of product. And when I found myself in Tampa Bay, FL last week, my trip would not be complete without a trip to the Trop. The White Sox are in town, which [read more...]

Smoltz gets 3000th strikeout; doesn’t have to look back

John Smoltz notched his 3000th strikeout earlier tonight, which is an astounding feat for anyone, but is doubly outstanding considering that Smoltz had severe arm trouble earlier in his career and subsequently spent a few years as a relief pitcher. Smoltz is 41 and is the 16th pitcher ever to accomplish the feat, which is absolutely astounding. Less people have struck [read more...]

Welcome to the Jungle

Welcome to "The Jerome Cusson Experience." Over the next few weeks and months, this blog is my forum to talk about the things in sports I'm interested in. I'm not going to spend all my time talking about New York and Boston because no one cares about that overrated city series. I'm not going to bitch about every athlete who [read more...]

Thrown off guard: A different side of Buehrle

My stomach drops, my heart skips a beat, my hands are sweaty, the edge of my notebook paper is all curled up because I've been anxiously playing with it, my legs are shaking so much I can barely walk, and I can't help but constantly take deep breaths. I keep thinking, ‘don't screw up, don't embarrass yourself, they're just people, [read more...]

The Next Great White Sox?

Zipping up and down the halls with a child-like grin on his face, Chicago White Sox outfielder Nick Swisher prepares for another day of baseball at spring training in Tucson, Az. After a morning practice, the players settle down, grab some lunch and just relax in the clubhouse until it's time to suit up for the game. You can hear [read more...]

Keys to Sox Success is Within

So Good At Something So Hard Home runs aren't a bad thing. In fact, if it weren't for the long-ball this season the Sox would probably be in third place and double-digits behind the Tigers. However, while the home run is what's kept the Sox in the hunt, the dependence on it has contributed to some of the recent woes, and [read more...]

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

There's no better time of year than right now. You can have Christmas and Halloween. Heck, even take June 19th's World Sauntering Day, one of the more underrated holidays in my opinion. I'll take the rumor-mongering and message board-refreshing of baseball's trading deadline any day. Especially as a White Sox fan. With my telekinetic mind power, I can already hear your [read more...]

From “Small Ball” to Powerhouse

Notice anything about the White Sox this year compared to last? Oh yeah, they are scoring a lot more runs. As of July 6 (85 games), they lead both leagues in runs (506), scoring 5.95 runs per game. Last year, through 86 games, the Sox had scored 413 runs (4.80 runs per game), good enough for 10th in baseball. So [read more...]

A Matter of Time?

Dusty Baker is frequently accused of ruining Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. The guilty verdict is not so obvious. Wood has a long history of arm troubles that predates Baker. As for Prior, there's no doubt Baker rode his best pitcher heavily in 2003. But if the team had managed to win it all, few Cub fans would care if [read more...]

A Rare Day in June

It is observed that fans continue to come to Wrigley no matter how poorly the Cubs play. This fact is seen by White Sox fans as a sign of stupidity and by others, Dayn Perry for example on this site, as counterproductive. Why put a winner on the field when you can fill the seats anyhow? I'll address both [read more...]

Ozzie Succeeds, Allowing Failure

Michael Pitre, a Lieutenant in Iraq, recently wrote in a dispatch that he finds it important not just to put a soldier in a position to succeed, but in a position to fail. Pitre, of course, was talking not just about the battle field, but about America's favorite form of sporting combat: baseball. And he was sweating over whether to pull [read more...]

Pushing Buttons, Missing the Point

Ozzie Guillen likes to talk. To the media. About anything. Whether on the field or off. He's had a mix of comments and player assurances over the past couple weeks… Sounding Off on Grimsley Jason Grimsley admitted to using HGH and named a whole bunch of names that were doing the same. We all know that. When Guillen was asked about it: [read more...]

Two for Two

The deal that brought Jim Thome to the White Sox for Aaron Rowand was really a four-man exchange. The White Sox got a new DH (Thome instead of Frank Thomas) and a new centerfielder (Brian Anderson) instead of Rowand. With Thome having an MVP-caliber year, it's easy to assume that the White Sox came away much the better. But as [read more...]

The 10 Commandments of Catching

The White Sox took two out of three from the Cubs in the first installment of the 2006 Crosstown Classic, and like most prize fights, a rematch is right around the corner. Considering Michael Barrett made like Sugar Ray on fellow catcher A.J. Pierzynski, the boxing metaphors are a little more applicable than usual.The highlight ran on a continuous reel [read more...]

Forget and Forgive

As Frank Thomas prepares to again leave town after this series, it's worth again recalling the degree to which things went beautifully upon his return. The only real awkward moment I felt was watching the massive slugger walk by his former GM on the way into the Sox batting cages behind the home team dugout. And perhaps that was a sense [read more...]

Not a Rivalry? Rrrright

It's odd to write or use the term "rivalry" to describe what the city - and nation - saw this weekend, because prior to the affair, Ozzie Guillen, his players, and even Dusty Baker and the Cubs summarily dumped the notion that this weekend was anything more than a three-game set each side wanted to win. Same as every other, they [read more...]

Could Sox Envy Be the Way?

George Will was talking Cubs and Sox baseball last night. Well, he was actually talking to an audience of us at the Milton Friedman Freedom Awards about the wonders of liberty and the foundations of free societies. That might be oversimplifying it, but because Will is an admitted baseball guy to go along with being one of the countries finest political [read more...]

Clueless Cubs Falsely Mimic Sox

There's no point in comparing the talent level of the Cubs and Sox because, well, there's no comparison. But it might be worthwhile to compare the philosophies of the two teams … to understand why one is on its way back to the playoffs and the other is headed for a second straight sub-.500 year. The conventional thinking about the '05 [read more...]

Early Cubs, Sox Assessments

Assessing the virtues or fallibility of a baseball team after one week feels a bit disingenuous, as though we are giving a thumbs up or down guess as to whether a marriage will last based upon the success of the honeymoon. The Cubs marriage with winning may have just honeymooned with a killer deal at the Bellagio, whereas the White Sox [read more...]

JC’s MLB Predictions Extravaganza, Pt. I

The 2006 Major League Baseball season starts on Sunday night, and even though Commissioner Bud Selig is doing everything in his power to overshadow one of the quintessential rites of spring with this steroid gibberish, all will be well in my little world once again.I want to talk about legged-out triples, diving grabs, 5-4-3 double-plays, suicide squeezes, and pennant chases [read more...]

Remembering a Great Team: The 1963-67 White Sox

The 1963-67 White Sox were an outstanding team that deserves to be remembered. They had great pitching, good fielding, mediocre hitting and a little base running. Although they did not win any pennants in this time, these Sox were the first team in the twentieth century to have the best winning percentage over a five year period without finishing first [read more...]

Like It Or Not, Frank Is Right

If you were a baseball GM, how would you feel about paying $17.5 million for a player who hit .255 with 24 home runs and 86 RBIs, while striking out 182 times? You probably wouldn't be looking for more of the same and you might wonder who out there would be willing to take him off your hands. What's the significance [read more...]

New Year’s Resolutions

I can't believe it's already been a year since I wrote last year's list of New Year's resolutions. Although, it's nice to know that I don't have to worry about my favorite baseball team anymore. I'd like to send a shout-out right now to Ozzie Guillen and his crew for allowing me to scratch "I never got to see the [read more...]

Kenny Williams Not Being Complacent

The Boston Red Sox won the World Series for the first time in 86 years two seasons ago, yet they tinkered heavily with their roster the following winter and received an awful lot of criticism for doing so. The team ended up with major holes in the starting rotation and bullpen, and the locker room chemistry that seemed instrumental during [read more...]

Hart Surgery: Insomnia

My room is freezing. I moved into a new house over the summer, and the room I chose to live in is apparently an antisocial son of a gun. It just haaaaaas to be different. So if it's hot in the rest of the house, rest assured it will be cold in my room. And if the house is cold, [read more...]

One Hit Wonders

Some thoughts that are on my mind as I take a break from jury deliberations in the Michael Jackson trial: When I make a list of must-see-TV NBA Finals matchups, Spurs vs. Pistons is right up there with Hornets vs. Hawks … Anne Bancroft passed away this week at the age of 73, and I think I speak for a legion of [read more...]

The MLB Accountability Game

While MLB players and administrators continue to lash out over the lack of accountability from the media in implicating anybody and everybody regarding steroid use, you have to laugh at the irony. Here is a league that has avoided accountability to the fans and media for decades regarding drug abuse, but now hurling accusations faster than reports can surface. When Boston [read more...]

The Early Numbers Game

Juicy Thirty-eight. The most significant number from early April. It wasn't the number of three-pointers Illinois attempted versus North Carolina. It wasn't the number of syllables Clark Kellogg used in a 38-word sentence to describe the game. (He used 39). It wasn't the number of commercial breaks in the NCAA final. No, we're already back to baseball. On Monday, it was revealed that initial tests [read more...]

Only in Chicago

Thursday, February 26, 2004 It is a strange thing to be a sports fan in Chicago. Fans here are among the most rabid, most loyal creatures in the universe, but with this comes a strange type of depression, bordering on schizophrenia. Chicagoans love to win; they wish nothing more than for their teams to win championships, but the ownership of the major [read more...]

Signing Maddux: Wisely or Unwisely?

Several of my friends, all Chicago White Sox fans, have something to smile about this week.My friends have been glum since last summer with the hated cross-town Cubs winning the NL Central Division while the White Sox foundered just short of the playoffs. Their angst was only placated by the Steve Bartman foul ball incident and the Cubs loss to [read more...]

Low Expectations Leave White Sox Sitting Pretty

What are you so afraid of Sox fans? You'd think that the White Sox had raised another white flag during the off-season from the negative energy coming from the South Side. Much of this malaise is simply a product of watching the other side of the city spend money.The North Siders currently carry the city bragging rights after an NLCS [read more...]

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