If you follow me on Twitter at @Grab_Some_Bench, which you ‘oughta, then you know that Wednesday night’s game was the first time I made it to U.S. Cellular Field in this young 2012 campaign. I soaked up a lot throughout the 5 or-so hours I spent there, and I think you’ll all enjoy hearing what I found to be unique about “The Cell” this season. But first, let’s touch on the game.
Robin Ventura and I pre-game May 2, 2012 by the White Sox dugout
White Sox drop first game of the year to the Tribe:
There was a couple of positives: Adam Dunn looked good at the plate, going 2-3 with a home run and yet another base on balls. He’s drawn at least one walk in 6-straight games now, and continues to look like the Adam Dunn we all love to watch at the plate. He’s now hitting .238 on the year with 6 home runs. But even more important than the batting average for Adam is the on-base percentage, which Dunn now has up to .385. If that trend continues throughout the season, I won’t really care how low the batting average is. And I’ve got a feeling he ain’t Dunn yet!
Also, Philip Humber was not anywhere near his best, but he still managed to battle through to a quality start. He let up 3 runs, but if not for a misplay in the field by Gordon Beckham, he wouldn’t have let up any. I think we can throw Humber’s poor start against Boston last weekend out the window, as he returned to his usual solid form on Wednesday. For a back-end of the rotation guy, solid is plenty.
But let’s not forget the Sox did drop the ball game…so of course there were some negatives. First and foremost, White Sox pitching issued 8 walks. That’s a handful too many…you simply cannot give out that many free bases and expect to win. Not to mention, on more than one occasion the Indians mixed walks into lead-gaining two-out rallies.
One of those instances was involving left hander Will Ohman, who took the loss on Wednesday night. The veteran’s ERA is now at 6.23. In such a young, inexperienced bullpen, we need the veterans to shine through. While Matt Thornton let us a 2-run HR to Travis Hafner in the 9th, I’m not concerned about Matty Ice. But with Jesse Crain currently on the 15-day DL, Will Ohman is the next veteran in line, and simply isn’t pitching like the seasoned vet’ that he is. At the very least, he’s supposed to be a lefty specialist and dominate the left-handed hitters, but he isn’t even doing that so far this season. If we see this continue while the Sox are in contention, Kenny Williams may have to go out and acquire some bullpen help.
But after you sit back and take a deep breath, you remember that the south siders can still take the rubber match of the series tomorrow night, and ultimately make this one face off with the Indians a successful one. So once again, John Danks has another chance to give us a clutch start. He’s failed to do so to this point, but hopefully Thursday is the day he turns the corner.
White Sox bats and helmets pre-game
My Observation at The Cell:
As promised, I made a mental note about what I saw at the ball park that I wanted to share with all of you White Sox faithful. So let’s get right in to it.
In all of the pre game montages and videos that were shown, there was an emphasis put on a couple of the “Comeback Kids,” Jake Peavy and Adam Dunn.
To whoever is in charge of putting those pieces together–props.
A picture I snagged of Jake Peavy in the dugout pregame 5/2/12. Peavy was recently named AL Pitcher of the Month for April
It’s exactly what those two and the White Sox fan base needs to see. For those guys in particular, they have to know that we still have faith in them to be the guys we hoped we were acquiring a while back. And as for us, well, we still need to back them.
By putting their pictures or videos at the most dramatic, emphasized points, it subconsciously forces the thousands in the park to cheer for them. This not only gets the fans more excited to see them, but it gets the players more excited to perform well for the fans.
Yes, I am studying sports marketing, sports broadcasting, and psychology, so that may be something that only I pick up on. But nonetheless, I think it could be a very key part to the former All Stars’ resurgence.
Can I patent that observation?