The White Sox head to Comerica Park today to begin a four-game series with the Tigers, meaning that, in the land of best case scenarios, they could return to Chitown on Thursday night within a half-game of the AL Central lead. This could actually happen, so why not make it happen. Right? Possibilties are nothing if not chased and captured. The bigger the better.
Luckily, Javier Vazquez will not get a start in the series. Praise be to the Lord! I think it's safe to say that Sox fas have reached the end of the line with Javy, yesterday only being the latest in a long line of forgettable outings. Dude is a total momentum killer, especially following Jon Garland in the rotation. Garland, for those who haven't noticed, has been downright Cy Young-like for the past roughly two months. He's been a stopper, a superstar, the man. Period. Unfortunately, Vazquez follows the next day and promptly places a big, fat needle in the balloon of good vibes Garland has been so good at creating of late. Like clockwork.
I tried to stay positive with Vazquez. I told myself he would improve. I told myself Don Cooper would work some of his magic on him and get him headed in the right direction. I told myself it was only a matter of time. I told myself Vazquez didn't really exist and was only a product of my imagination. But nothing ever changes. Vazquez remains a liability and a buzz kill. He's "that guy." You know the guy. The guy whose name you see in the paper as that day's starter and are forced to groan and mutter an expletive under your breath. Oh, shit. It sucks having a guy in the rotation who automatically lessens his team's chances of winning on days he's scheduled to go. That's the absolute worst thing you can say about any starting pitcher.
Granted, yesterday Vazqez wasn't helped by an error and two very questionable throwing decisions by Pablo Ozuna and Brian Anderson in the outfield, nor did it help that the Sox were facing Johan Santana in the Metrodome where he is virtually unbeatable. But that is neither here nor there. Vazquez simply doesn't have it. Is it too late to stretch out Brandon McCarthy and get him in the rotation? Yeah, probably. So I guess we simply have to hope for the best from Vazquez for the remainder of the regular season and then say adios in the winter.
But enough about Vazquez. I just wanted to vent. This series with the Tigers, obviously, is huge and there are plenty of positives to build on at the moment, and that should be the focus. There is so much right in front of the Sox this week to grab hold of and never let go. It's right friggin' there. Four games against the team your chasing. What else can you ask for?
Here we go now.
By the way, while searching for the above pic, I bumped into this site with plenty of pics of stadiums, past and present. Fun place to look around for a few minutes.
