Well, that wasn't good now, was it? Although I suppose you can't say Ozzie didn't warn us.
With their season in the balance, Javier Vazquez couldn't come through... again. The White Sox couldn't win in the Metrodome... again. And once again, it wasn't the Justin Morneaus or the Joe Mauers that did the White Sox in... but another pesky no-namer, this time, the Twins Jason Kubel, who dealt the devastating blows.
"Some days I doubt myself," Kubel told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune last night after hitting a pair of home runs and a triple. "Nights like tonight, I'm right back."
See, it's one thing to let a career .270 hitter beat you... it's another thing entirely to do so when he's not even sure he belongs.
The good news for White Sox fans is the closest thing they have to a big game pitcher, Mark Buehrle, is on the hill tonight. If anyone's going to tune out the Metrodome din and deal it's the Sox lone rotation holdover from the 2005 World Series club. But if he doesn't... Ugh...
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Meanwhile the Cubs find themselves in the bizarre position of having wrapped everything up... yet still having an entire slate of meaningful games ahead of them this regular season. With two games left in New York and three following in Milwaukee, the Cubs will have a major impact on which of those two teams wins the wild card race (three teams, if you count the Phillies who are just a game up on the Mets in the NL East).
Sports
Lou Piniella claimed he was going to keep playing to win, but his lineup yesterday against Mets ace Johan Santana says something different entirely. No Ramirez? No Soto? No Theriot? Hmm...
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Kenny Williams may be feeling the heat a little bit as the White Sox try and close out the AL Central, but it's nothing compared with what Brian Cashman is going through in New York. For the first time in 13 years, the New York Yankees will be on the golf course when the post-season begins. And how, you ask, did Hank Steinbrenner react to his beloved Yankees missing the playoffs? Well, by ripping former manager Joe Torre and the Dodgers of course!
The Dodgers, by the way, are well on their way to clinching the NL West and heading to the post-season.
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Finally, moving to football, those glazed-over looks you see in Detroit are the poor Lions fans, who have been held hostage for years, finally getting released. Multiple reports say the Lions have finally, FINALLY fired GM Matt Millen. In case you don't know why, the Detroit Free-Press throws up a nice picture gallery of Millen's misfit drafts.
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Last but not least, well maybe least, the Bears finally parted ways with wide receiver Mark Bradley yesterday. Mark always seemed like a nice enough guy... but let's just say when you're a wide receiver and you get waived by a team that, well, doesn't HAVE any wide receivers... that's not a good sign.
