Stop me if you've heard this one before: On a warm, windy day, Sox hitters use the long ball (and a little help from an incompetent defense) en route to a blowout victory.

In a performance that's becoming increasingly common, the Sox had 17 hits, 14 runs and two more home runs as they eviscerated Cleveland pitching and bailed out a shaky Jake Peavy.

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It's that time of year, when everyone who's anyone predicts what's gonna shake down in the baseball season. 

Let us take a look around the 'net to see what the conventional wisdom on the Sox' season has to say: from logical and scientific method based computer based simulations to more, how do you say -- "bullshit type" predictions like those of John Kruk and Jon "I like to use batting average and errors as metrics" Heyman.

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It’s hard for me to believe that Camden Yards is now over 18 years old, with the stadium opening when I was only 9, way back in 1992.   The stadium ushered in a new era of high-design ballparks with retro quirks – the warehouse behind right field being Camden Yard’s calling card.

via farm5.static.flickr.com

In addition to the warehouse, which dominates the scene, is the open center field skyline view of downtown, the open patio area in the outfield concourse, and of course the crab cakes, each of which adds to the majesty of the park.

And it truly is a majestic park.  It took me 18 years to get there, but it won’t take that many to get back.

The O’s fans themselves seem largely beaten down; Baltimore is a baseball town that has endured the Peter Angelos era with a knowing smirk and pitiful attendance.  Most in the ballpark seemed more concerned with the sausage race on the scoreboard or booing the latest fan with a case of foul ball dropsies (seriously, the people that go to O’s games these days have very bad hands).  The people are there for the park, the food, the experience – not so much, seemingly, the baseball.  I did see one hardcore fan in a Camden Chat shirt however.

via farm5.static.flickr.com

But with the sparse attendance comes opportunity for the out of town fan, of which I took advantage.  Tickets can be had for cheap.  My seat down the 3rd base line in the 8th row of the lower section was only 30 dollars total.  30 dollars doesn’t get you much at some parks, but it gets your pretty close at Camden.   Quite a few Sox fans were in attendance.

via farm5.static.flickr.com

I got to the park early, got in at an empty gate (it literally took me about 90 seconds from scanning my ticket to arriving at my seat, a credit to the park's design) and went down to my section and hung out trying to get a batting practice ball.  My efforts at hollering at the Sox assembled in LF were eventually rewarded when after a ball went to Pierre, my "Hey Juan, show me that arm" comment elicited a smile from the bat-boy hanging around the screen, who tossed me the next one that came.

via farm5.static.flickr.com

I am perhaps slightly to blame for the loss, as I decided to take a trip around the park in the 7th during the O’s rally.  Leaving my seat seemed to be the spark the O’s needed -- that or a tiring Edwin Jackson who was struggling with his command.  During warm-ups in the latter innings Jackson continually bounced pitches into AJ, seemingly struggling to find the release point on his breaking stuff.

via farm5.static.flickr.com

Moving around the park, the ushers are both friendly and lenient, which is a great attitude to have when even the good seats or often unoccupied in the later innings.  After the 8th I moved over to behind the plate about 15 rows up (unfortunately my camera was out of juice at this point) and was promptly treated to Konerko’s bomb to tie the game.  A couple of youngish looking groupies in training were repeatedly allowed to harass the Sox dugout for signed balls, flirting first past the ushers and then the Sox folks themselves.

Ah, to be a professional athlete.

Other observations:

Chris Sale, as you can see from the pics, has a very unorthodox delivery.  I am not an expert on pitching mechanics, (never spent any time on the mound in my brief high school and college career and haven’t researched it much since) but I’m curious to see if the Sox change it up.  He seems very out in front of his arm action with his lower body and it leads to deception but also a whipping action with his arm that may or may not lead to trouble down the road.  Sale was consistently around 94-96 on his fastball mixing in a few off speed offerings as well.  Sale was also the target of some good natured hazing as you can see.

via farm5.static.flickr.com

via farm5.static.flickr.com

Dayan Viciedo, is a bat speed monster, but still raw.  Yea, sounds familiar.  His demeanor during warm-ups was casual and seemingly lackadaisical, but I take nothing from it.  He needs reps, that’s obvious.

Andruw Jones played a hell of a right field, he gets tremendous reads on balls, and even if he has lost a step he still has great instincts and solid glovework.  The Sox outfield in general looked to have great chemistry, at least with Quentin at DH.  After the 3rd out was recorded they would toss the ball around among themselves like little leaguers, with Alexei eventually receiving the ball as he headed into the dugout.

Food and drink at Camden is cheap, at least compared to what I’m used to at NYS and CitiField.  Popcorn can be had for $3.50 and the large 24 ounce beers for 10 bucks (served classily, in the can) did me well.  The vendors though are pretty damn lame.  I only heard one funny line ("get your beer here, what doesn’t anybody drink in this section?") and most seemed indifferent at best.

via farm5.static.flickr.com

via farm5.static.flickr.com

If you are looking to do Camden on the cheap be sure to check out Travelocity and Priceline’s "mystery hotel deals" and also Stubhub.  On the travel sites, you can specify the Inner Harbor area (no more than roughly a ten minute walk from the park at most) and get a heavily discounted room at a nice hotel.  I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express and it was fine.  Some say the area between the hotel and park is shady, but living in NYC I’ve seen my share of shady neighborhoods, this was not particularly one.  Also with so many season ticket holders giving up on bad O’s teams, Stubhub beats the O’s box office handily for value.  As mentioned, I paid 30 dollars for an 8th row seat in section 60 down the 3rd base line.  If you want to go even cheaper you can easily move around the park in the latter innings even if your seat isn’t in a great section.

All in all Camden Yards is a fun time that I will definitely do again.  The Sox lost, but it was a good experience overall.   

And finally, a pic of me in great need of a shave, haircut, and a return to my college weight.  Notice the awesome vintage Sox shirt thought that was, ironically enough, purchased at the Capital Hill Value Village in Seattle.

via farm5.static.flickr.com

Priceline hooked me up at the Inner Harbor Holiday Inn on Monday night for 65 bucks.  I got a box seat ticket for 30 bucks from Stubhub.  Bolt Bus is gonna take my ass from NYC to Baltimore and back for a couple twenty spots.

We'll do lines, provided you bring them.

Anyone else going to the game?  If you are, we should talk. 

To complete the 75 words:  "It's Baltimore gentleman, the Gods will not save you".

At baseball, Mark Kotsay hasn't been any good for awhile.  Injuries and age have robbed him of value -- in his prime Kotsay was a very good starter, a solid bet for a 4 WAR Season.  His ability to play a solid outfield along with his skills with the bat were valuable commodities.

That Mark Kotsay hasn't been seen in years.    Most were non-plussed when he was acquired in a minor deal last summer.  A lot of fans are really pissed he's still the DH -- but is there any reason for hope?

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Who says the Sox needed Adam Dunn?  Today, at least, their current DH, Mark Kotsay, did the job and then some.  The Sox probably don't win this game without Mark Kotsay.  First, Kotsay homered in the top of the 9th to give the Sox a 4-1 lead.  Then, in the top of the 11th Kotsay tripled (!!!), scoring the eventual winning runs after Lillibridge and Jones had singled earlier in the inning.  Kotsay had a .497 WPA on the day, wowzers.

via www.fangraphs.com

Kotsay's heroics overcame the again inept  Bobby Jenks, who despite throwing 97 MPH had little control and blew the should-have-been-enough three run lead in the 9th by hanging a breaking ball to one of Detroit's many fungible, Caucasian utility guys, Ryan Rayburn.

More after the jump.

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Not even an NBA pundit fresh off the Lebron beat could have predicted (sourced or not) the crazy ass rollercoaster trip this team decided to take on its way to 1st place at the ASB.

via www.gringo-times.com

Yet "zoomed out", the narrative on the White Sox is going exactly like prognosticated by many in March and April:  mediocre "stars and scrubs" offense, mediocre defense, and a dominant (at times) pitching staff contend in a wide open AL Central and perhaps even win it -- provided enough things go right.  And how the Kotsay do you not sign a real DH?

To get a feel for how things have gone and not gone exactly like planned, let's take a look at some stats I found in a box laying around my mom's basement (Fangraphs, BP, they exist):

In aggregate a couple things stand out:  the White Sox and Twins are basically mirror images of each other and the Tigers are a better hitting worse pitching club that is not to be trifled with either. *

These are three teams evenly matched in the underlying stats.   But what has actually happened and what is projected to happen give the Sox a bit of a leg up on their competition: **

via latetothegame20.files.wordpress.com

Those are the current standings along with the PECOTA adjusted odds, which per the thread the other day, are updated to plug in some sort of Hudson/Whoever, instead of Peavy the rest of the way.  BP's ELO ranking,  which is sort of a "what have you done for me lately" projection, gives the Sox an even bigger edge.

Four up in the loss column on the Twins puts the Sox in a good position heading forward, but things could quickly change as the Sox head north right after the ASB -- avoiding a sweep will be key and a series win would go a long way towards October.

That and Ozzie putting in a call to Miggy's people -- this time Ozzie can make the reservation, maybe even have three crowns, each with bottle of Dom on ice in the middle and a little Venezuelan flag waving so temptingly.

* See Colin's comment about how even .012 difference in wOBA means 6-7 wins over the course of a year's plate appearances.

** According to BP, the odds were updated July 14, and the Sox actually gained a few hundredths, up to 52.56% now. This does not include the Peavy injury however.

Blue Jays starting pitcher Dana Eveland was seen after the game arranging for a gift basket to be sent to the White Sox.  "Dear Sox," it read, "thanks for resurrecting my MLB career -- Dana".

Not really true, but after dominating the Sox (again) he should at least consider it.

By most measures, the ambiguously named Dana is not good.  His projections suspect an ERA north of five; he was cut last year by the A's and was only a minor addition to the Jays in the offseason.   However, little did they (The Jays and the projection systems) know that the southpaw topping out at 89 on the gun with modest control and breaking pitches would get two starts against the anemic White Sox before the 2nd week of May.

If only the Sox' offensive problems were as surprising as his early success .  Oh, wait, crap.

via www.chicagotribune.com

White Sox 2nd baseman Gordon Beckham Tips His Cap after an early inning strikeout against ace mediocre lefty Dana Eveland.

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Here are some projections and comments on the more plausible guys.

HITTERS:

ZIPS:

Frank Thomas :  260 / 362  / 402 in 340PA

Jim Edmonds: 243 / 334 / 425 in 320PA

Nomar Garciaparra 278 / 334 / 420 in 319PA

Ray Durham 235 / 326 / 357 in 381PA

Paul Lo Duca 261 / 318 / 337 in 280PA

PECOTA (weighted mean)

Ivan Rodriguez: 263 /301 / 364  for a 3.1 VORP

PITCHERS:

Pedro Martinez: 87IP, 95ERA+

Job Lieber: 63IP 4.86ERA

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I really don't think anyone outside of Pudge or Edmonds makes any sense.   Pudge's value comes on handling the staff and defense, Edmonds is just better than Owens and probably Wise too.  He'd replace one of them and split time with BA in CF.

Frank I'm mild on, but only if he accepted a limited roll and a limited paycheck.  He can't play any thing in the field so the OBP would just be insurance for Thome.  But it's worth taking the risk not to sign him, if Thome goes down then scoop him up.  If he's already signed elswhere oh well hindsight is 20/20.

Durham, nice guy, nice career, but toast.  He knows it too as he mulls retirement.

Pedro is washed up IMO and the projection confirms that.  He'd be bad at the Cell and he rarely seems to make it past the 5th inning -- not a recipe for contributing.  With the (so far) sunny timetables for Colon and Contreras, there is no reason to sign him.

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So I ran the Marcel projections through some Access database queries and pulled out the Sox' 2009 hitter projections (will be doing pitchers in a bit) -- but this should tide you over for awhile. 

Thinks Q was a fluke but is kind to Getz and Thome.  No Fields listed.

Enjoy.

Projections

Uribe still sucks.  Imagine that.  Griffey still salvageable for a team looking for a DH, although only if he realizes that it will probably involve no more than a 1 year deal.

Punchless Paul Konerko was 0-4 with four left on.  Clueless Ozzie Guillen inserted a bad reliever into a a high leverage situation.  Butcher Josh Fields booted a ball that led to a run for the opposition. 

The Sox were down a run heading into the 9th and self-inclicted blunders were looming large; no doubt so predictable to even the most casual fan that half of Chicago talk radio and the Sox blogosphere lined up ready to point fingers.

It was going to be one of those losses.  No depth, a crazy manager, and an overpaid and washed up bum at 1B:  this team ain’t going nowhere.

But a seeing eye single from Quentin, a massive opposite field HR from Dye, and a solid 9th  from a healthy looking Jenks (96mph on the heater)  pulled victory from the jaws of defeat.

And that -- contributions from the good players -- more than bad managing decisions, more than bad production from 1B and below average defense from 3B, is what makes this White Sox team good.  They have the horses to get around mistakes.  It was on evidence in Texas and again tonight.  It’s been on evidence all season really, a season now over 62% over.

If you add up the good and bad on this Sox team so far,  in some crazy perfect equation of baseball prowess, it probably would say about 88-94 wins, given some leeway for luck and injuries along the way.   There are just more good things than bad things.  The run differential (+ 84), OPS+ (107), and ERA+ (117) – indicate such. 

At this point, guys like Danks and Quentin and Ramirez aren’t flukes – they are good players.  There is no reason to believe they will dramatically fall off.   The Sox have been buoyed mightily by surprises, and the production from those guys should continue to excel given the evidence accumulated. 

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BP had the Sox at 72% odds to make the playoffs entering tonight.  The chances had to rise a bit with the lead in the division now extended to 3.5 over the Twins and 6.5 over the Tigers.

As has been duly noted many times, the Sox are not a deep team.  An injury to a big run producer or starter would be devastating, and might tip things in the favor of the Twins or Tigers.  

But the hypothetical is only hypothetically speaking , (As a certain slugging LF from Stanford might say.), and until then it’s best to take things at face value over the long term. 

This team is better than most.  Take it for what it is.

If you want an example of why the fishwraps are running for their lives, Cowley is a great example.  Fattened by years of monopolistic dispersion of news, the Sun Times has been convinced that Cowley is writer worthy of our attention.  Well, so much for all that.

...there stood pitcher Jose Contreras, hours before his start Tuesday in the White Sox' 13-inning, 8-7 victory over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium, looking like he had just received a thunderous body blow and there wasn't enough air in the room for him to take a breath. The right-hander had just been told that, to make room for first baseman Paul Konerko's return from his rehab assignment, the Sox had informed reserve infielder Pablo Ozuna earlier in the day at the team hotel that he was being designated for assignment.

Ignore the obvious non-sequitar that Jose a) had been informed of Ozuna's DFA just hours before the game, and b) that Cowley was there to witness said hypothetical moment.  Ignore all that and focus on the rest:

[After the game] Contreras walked out of the clubhouse, obviously disturbed by the news.

He wasn't as upset as his manager.

''[Bleep] Jose Contreras,'' Guillen said. ''Nobody in this organization is more upset or sad than Ozzie Guillen. Nobody.

It's easy to see the Cowley is trying to form a narrative.  What if Count was just walking off pissed because he gave it up to a shitty Royals team?  It's obvious that he's creating the story and not reporting.  He prodded Guillen about Contreras and Ozzie responded like Ozzie always does.  Ozzie should have just said, "fuck Joe Cowley.  Who is this guy, some Ozuna fanboy?"  It's disengenous of Cowley to not print what the question was that he asked Guillen to prompt the response.  I can just picture him prodding and prodding with his asinine line of questioning.  Finally Ozzie flips and mission accomplished.

What is with Cowley?  Does know anything about baseball?  What has he done to earn his job?  There are literally hundreds of bloggers who can both write more eloquently then he can while providing real insight about baseball.  And that's why the Sun Times is doomed and the Internet continues to grow.  It's the entitled opinion of the Sun Times and Crowley that has got them where they are today. 

I've always wanted to say this: fuck'em.

I was perusing Fangraphs after the game today looking at they WPA graphs (Sox were at less than 2% after the top of the second) and one thing lead to another and I pulled up to Ramirez' graphs and stats.  I was struck by how linear his gains have been since a rough first month. 

Perhaps this guy really is improving every day.

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The White Sox aren't a great team, but they might be a good team.  Beating what is certainly a bad team -- the Royals -- by a sound margin will help their case as Gavin Floyd and a home friendly homer binge helped the Sox win 9-5.

In an early turning point, Q's great strength helped him go oppo on a jam shot down the line after AJ had bled in a roller to right to put a man on with one out..  A a couple of Royal gaffes in the 2nd helped the Sox go up 6-0 on a single by Crede, a gift 2B (should have been caught by DeJesus ranging to his left) by Ramirez,  and a homer by A.J.

The rest was all academic as Floyd threw strikes and featured a good enough breaking pitch to keep the Royals' AAAA offense down.

As for the struggling white guys, Kong and Thome go 0-7 with a walk.  For the Ramirez people:  A-Ram continues to hit the ball hard while showing no patience.  Like a homeless man's Soriano.

Tonight was a game againt an inferior oponent.  The Sox won: but questions remain about the offense going forward.

So I purchased my MLB.TV premium package the other night and I must say I'm pretty disappointed that they are still tied to Microsoft and their horribly clunky interfaces. 

AND WHY IS IT STILL SO HARD FOR EXISTING CUSTOMERS TO START THE STREAMS!  I mean, it's ridiculous that they devote this tiny little button "existing customers click here" that is buried at the bottom of the page.

One good thing they did this year is that you can actually check a box that says you don't want to be auto signed up month after month.  Although it was so freaking audacious that you had to call to cancel in the past that this improvement just seems like throwing us all a tiny little bone after so much hassle in the past.

As to the actual streams themselves:

I have an HDTV and like to hookup my laptop to it to watch the games.  So I really wanted to use the "next def" stream at 1.2Mps that they are hyping so much.  Well, first they make me download some stupid "accelerator" that promises to make everything run really smoothly.  And then I have to download this "Silverlight" garbage from MS just to view the stream.

After finally downloaded and installing all this I get the "next def" stream up and it is too choppy to even run on my Dell D600.  I checked my bandwidth and I should have had plenty enough to stream it properly, it's just that MS' stream software is so horribly inefficient that you apparently need a supercomputer to run it properly.  NM that using VLC Media Player I can full screen streaming video at near 1080i quality with no framerate problems.

So that's where I'm at right now.  I'm really not sure I'm going to continue paying 20 dollars a month for a service that continues to treat it's customers so poorly.  At least I won't be forced into picking up the phone to cancel this year.

Understandably, given the Sox's investment in him and his recent suckitude, Javier Vasquez has been a flashpoint of controversy. In this article, I will attempt to find the underlying causes for Javier's suckitude. Let's start off with a graph charting Javier's ERA compared to the league average over the course of his career.

Note that he hasn't been better than league average in ERA since 03.  Remember this 03 season, as we'll be comparing it to his more recent seasons, and try to find the reason for "The Suck".  

Javier was advertised as a guy that can strike guys out.  Well, can't get on if you can't hit it, so let's see just how good he is at this in the form of his k/9 numbers:

Immediately apparent is that Javier posted an outlier season in 03 with his K/9 rate.  He has never come close to that number since, and in fact, his strikeouts are down in 2006 to almost only league average.

For whatever reason he's not striking guys out as much, this is not good.  

Alright, well, let's look at his control, in the form of his bb/9 numbers:

Many things factor into "good control", but by one particularly important measure, walks, Javier does just fine.  He's right there with his 03 season.

What about the long ball?  Among more dedicated fans, Javier has a justified reputation as a guy that is prone to the long ball.  Observation as well as statistics suggests he struggles with the HR ball.  Surprisingly, his HR/9 numbers are down this year, as evidenced by this graph:

Without seeing the even deeper data on the % of FB against Javier that turn into HR's, it's hard to tell if he's really been better at keeping the ball down, or if he is just getting lucky.  

There is evidence though, that the % of FB that turn into HR is not something a pitcher can control, and that the league average is around 11%, anything higher or lower than this is probably caused by park factors and random variance.

If we measure how many fly balls Javier is throwing, we might be able to provide solid evidence that he's doing a better job of keeping the ball down, thus limiting both fly balls and home runs.

Let's check out the graph:

The bad news is: Javier is throwing more fly balls this year than last year.  However, in general, those balls, for whatever reason, are staying in the park.  It is interesting to note that in 03, Javier's batted ball stats were actually worse than what they are so far this year.  However, remember how many more strikeouts he was getting in 03, and it might partially explain why he was so much more successful.

Finally, our last two graphs focus on stats that people with much more training in statistics have argued pitchers have little to no conrol over: the % of runners left on base, and the batting average on balls in play against a pitcher, sometimes referred to as  pitcher's BABIB (batting average on balls in play).

In an attempt to see if Javier has perhaps just been unlucky, let's look at the graphs for % of base runners left on and Pitcher's BABIB:

This graph perhaps shows, along with strikeouts (and possibly in conjunction with) why Javier experienced so much success in 03 compared to so far in 06: when runners got on in 03 against Javier, they didn't score very often, however, this year, they are scoring in bunches.  Is he weak mentally, i.e. is he lacking confidence?  Can he not "buckle down" under pressure?  

Alternatively, is his stuff just not as good in 06 compared to 03?  That is, he can't just rear back and throw it past guys when runners get on anymore.  Strikeouts are always valuable, but they are most valuable with runners on.  It is possible that Javier simply struck people out when the going got tough in 03, but has been unable (for whatever reason) to do so in 06.

And now Pitcher BABIB:

Although the difference between 03 and 06 is not as pronounced here, it is still noticable that batters had a lower BABIB against Javier in 03 than 06, again, for whatever reason--luck included.  Again, some stats experts have argued pitcher BABIB is entirely "luck", and not at all something a pitcher controls.

I think a few conclusions from the data are possible.  First, Javier needs to strike more people out to have success.  He isn't a guy that is going to throw a consistent number of ground balls, and he relies on the K to get out of trouble.  If he can't start missing some more bats, he'll continue to struggle. His two most successful seasons, in 2001 and 2003, correlate to his best K/9 seaons.  Second, Javier has probably been the victim of some bad luck.  His % of base runners left on, is likely artificially high. If his career is any indication (and it should be), that number will fall more in line with his career average by the end of the year.

And lastly, and most importantly: Javier's 03 season was likely a fluke.

Javiers is currently being paid very well for a fluke season.  His ceiling from this point on is likely as a 10 million dollar league average innings eater.

Seemingly, not even Coop can reclame this reclamation project.  Probably because their wasn't much to reclaim in the first place. THANKS A MILLION TIMES TO STUDES, FANGRAPHS, AND COFFEE.

If you're into such things--namely, signs of the apocalypse--now might be a good time to stock up on canned goods, water, and Joe Crede jerseys.

Seriously, those Crede jerseys are going to go fast after he hit yet another grand slam to help the White Sox win 9 straight for the first time since 1982, as the Sox beat the Astros 6-5 in 10 innings this afternoon in Chicago.

Things were looking dreary with the Sox down 5-1 heading into the bottom of the 7th. But after the Sox had loaded the bases, Crede, in a moment of world series deja vu, took one look at a Chad Qualls meatball and sent it into the left field stands.  The grand slam (video) tied the game at 5 and was a huge blow to Houston, who was a victim of bad luck when earlier in the inning Jermaine Dye got jammed and sent a high popup into shallow right that fell in for a hit.  Dye's well placed popup loaded the bases for Crede.

The game would remain tied until the bottom of the 10th, when good execution by Juan Uribe--he laid down a picture perfect sacrifice--and then good hitting by Alex Cintron plated Rob Mackowiak, who had led off the inning with a double, for the walk-off winner.  Mackowiak had played a terrible game in all areas before his double, and he had to be relieved after scoring the winning run.  No doubt many Sox fans will be relieved when Brian Anderson is again roaming center field.

Before the Crede slam in the 7th, it looked like the Sox would again be foiled on their quest for 9 straight: Garland battled his control and the Houston hitters made him pay, scoring 5 runs off the inconsistent right hander.  Meanwhile, Houston starter Taylor Buckholz had dominated the Sox, only allowing one run and striking out 8.  But with a little luck and a lot of good hitting, the Sox were able to chase Buckholz and do their damage against Houston's bullpen.

This is a game the Sox wouldn't have won if not for excellent bullpen pitching, and it's a game they probably wouldn't have had a chance in just a few weeks ago.  But now, the bullpen is again a position of strength, with a confident and aggressive Matt Thornton leading the way today, as he easily dispatched Houston's hitters with good command and a nasty 97 MPH heater.  David Riske also pitched well in relief.

Now go get those Crede jerseys.  And if you're of age--get drunk tonight--it might be a whole 'nother world when you wake up tommorrow.

And the White Sox are going to get stung.  In case you've been in a makeshift bomb shelter worrying about Iran and North Korea, Ozzie called Jay Mariotti (who is certainly deserving of less hateful scorn) a "fag" yesterday.

There are several ways to approach this--from an ethical standpoint, from a PR standpoint, and from a team peformance standpoint.  I'll attempt to answer its impact on all three in a few succinct paragraphs.

Ethically, this is wrong.  Language is too powerful to allow flippant use of slurs in common discourse.  The word itself, "fag" has sprung from a distrust, dislike, and downright hatred for homosexuals.  Its use encourages such behavior, if not by Ozzie, or the team, or myself, but by borderline crazy individuals who need justification for their illogical hatred of homosexuals. Humans create language to express abstract ideas, and the abstract ideas behind the term "fag" are nothing but cruel, vengeful, and hatefull.  If nothing else, it creates a sense of fear among homosexuals that they are a hated group.  That is reason enough to never use the term.

From a PR standpoint, this is another Hindenburg for the White Sox.  How do you defend this?  This isn't "Ozzie just being Ozzie", because if they say that--than Ozzie is a homophobe, and a rather vitriotic one at that.  The only course of action is damage control in the form of an apology and some discipline from the organization itself against Ozzie.  Fine him 10,000 dollars, and donate the money to a charitable cause.  Or better yet, convince Ozzie to just give some money to charity, and try and convince people he's truely contrite and ashamed.

From a team performance standpoint, I don't think this matters.  If anything, it might bring about even more unity in the clubhouse as Ozzie can easily parley this into another "us against the world" vision for his team.  Although clubhouse unity is vastly overated, it cannot hurt to have guys that pull for one another.

And lastly, can you imagine if a member of the organization came out of the closet because of this and publicly told Ozzie how it made him feel?  In a way, I'd like that, because it would ostracize Guillen from the prevailing views of homosexuality.  If this hypothetical closet door opener feels that society disagrees with Ozzie on this, and that it is OK for her to come out--then that will be the true indicator of just how out of touch and wrong Ozzie is on this one.