Bartenders are supposed to offer comfort, wisdom, understanding, not to mention beer. So I go into Reilly's Daughter, an Irish Pub at Midway airport, Wednesday afternoon on the way out of town, and a bunch of mopes are sitting around, nursing drinks and watching the White Sox on TV.
How's it going?
"Oh, they can forget catching the Tigers,'' the bartender said. "That's over.''
Yes, but they're still comfortably in the wild-card race.
''These guys can't do anything,'' he said. ''[Mark] Buehrle never threw hard, but now he can't even get his curve over.''
Two guys lifted their heads and nodded. Yes, no curve. It's over.
Yes, but ... he interrupted to go on about some bad throw, and then walked off, muttering. No comfort. No beer.
As everyone knows, I am the voice of reason and level-headedness when it comes to the Sox. That's not exactly what my e-mail box has been saying the past several days, but I'm pretty sure it's implied. So let's start with this:
This is still just a slump. It is only bordering on collapse. Feel better?
The Sox lost 7-4 to Minnesota for their 12th loss in the past 15 games. Detroit, with an 81/2-game lead, is going to win the division. The Twins have caught the Sox for second.
If the season were over today, the Sox would be out of the playoffs.
It's true that everyone hits Carlos Silva, who pitched for Minnesota on Wednesday, ''but not these guys,'' the bartender said, muttering again.
Breathe in. Breathe out. You cannot tell me that the Sox won't hit again.
Let's step back and look at this calmly. The Sox have a burned-out pitching staff and coaches who don't understand how long it takes A.J. Pierzynski to run from third to home.
But they have plenty to offer. Paul Konerko, Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye, Joe Crede, Pierzynski. That's five guys hitting around .300, with pop. Bobby Jenks is still a great closer.
The Sox aren't done. They've just backed themselves into a race.
And they're looking like last year's Red Sox, who had won the 2004 World Series, and then came back to fight all year, taking everyone's best. In the end, they barely made the playoffs.
And were done.
Starters' arms look tired
Remember after last year's postseason games when the White Sox bullpen pitchers would run into the dugout, and the position players would joke, ''Nice job. Way to go.'' They had spent the game doing nothing, of course, as the starters threw complete games. And remember what we kept saying about Buehrle last year? Every game, at least six innings.
That's catching up to the starters now.
Where is the magic of pitching coach Don Cooper? Still there. But it's easier to work miracles on guys throwing 95 mph. The Sox starters simply are throwing slower this year.
Freddy Garcia has become a junkballer. Buehrle looks spent.
After that World Series, Garcia came back a month early this year for the World Baseball Classic. Javier Vazquez, new to the rotation, threw in the WBC, too.
Still, Jose Contreras and Garland are getting outs, and Garcia is managing. Move Brandon McCarthy into the rotation in place of Vazquez, and that would make for one fresh arm, and a playoff-level rotation.
Meanwhile, Guillen has been fighting fights nearly every day. The last one came when Andy Van Slyke said on the radio that Guillen gets "a little upset, a little excited about the littlest, silliest things.'' Guillen's response? That Van Slyke is just a lowly first-base coach, so what could he know? We'll have to ask Rock Raines, the Sox' first-base coach, how he feels about that.
But I agree with Van Slyke, and have been making the same point about Guillen the past few weeks. He is from a tougher era and doesn't see toughness in this team. He's trying to toughen up his players, but do you see it working?
Yes, when Pierzynski got hit by pitches twice in one game, someone had to do something. That self-policing is the players' job, not the manager's. And the problem with Guillen is that he's not only ordering retaliatory hits, but also screaming at pitchers, humiliating them in the dugout in front of teammates at the risk of team chemistry.
Ozzie might be going too far
But Guillen is also obsessing over the littlest, silliest things, like a player on the other team pumping a fist. He's looking for any tiny slight so that he can flip out.
Crafty move by Guillen? Well, there are so many new parts to this year's team, such a different personality. These guys aren't like Guillen.
So one of two things can happen.
The players will pick up on his toughness.
Or they will tune him out. That's called losing your team.
It hasn't happened yet.
Look, Guillen's attitude last year was about looseness and friendship and fun. This year, it's about finding fights to fight.
Maybe these players will connect with that; a few weeks ago, I thought they were. Maybe the rotation will find a second wind. Maybe GM Kenny Williams will find some help by the trade deadline. Maybe just going on the road to play some easier teams will help.
Or, maybe, as the bartender counseled, it's over and these guys can't do anything.
Maybe I can get a beer here?
--SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
How's it going?
"Oh, they can forget catching the Tigers,'' the bartender said. "That's over.''
Yes, but they're still comfortably in the wild-card race.
''These guys can't do anything,'' he said. ''[Mark] Buehrle never threw hard, but now he can't even get his curve over.''
Two guys lifted their heads and nodded. Yes, no curve. It's over.
Yes, but ... he interrupted to go on about some bad throw, and then walked off, muttering. No comfort. No beer.
As everyone knows, I am the voice of reason and level-headedness when it comes to the Sox. That's not exactly what my e-mail box has been saying the past several days, but I'm pretty sure it's implied. So let's start with this:
This is still just a slump. It is only bordering on collapse. Feel better?
The Sox lost 7-4 to Minnesota for their 12th loss in the past 15 games. Detroit, with an 81/2-game lead, is going to win the division. The Twins have caught the Sox for second.
If the season were over today, the Sox would be out of the playoffs.
It's true that everyone hits Carlos Silva, who pitched for Minnesota on Wednesday, ''but not these guys,'' the bartender said, muttering again.
Breathe in. Breathe out. You cannot tell me that the Sox won't hit again.
Let's step back and look at this calmly. The Sox have a burned-out pitching staff and coaches who don't understand how long it takes A.J. Pierzynski to run from third to home.
But they have plenty to offer. Paul Konerko, Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye, Joe Crede, Pierzynski. That's five guys hitting around .300, with pop. Bobby Jenks is still a great closer.
The Sox aren't done. They've just backed themselves into a race.
And they're looking like last year's Red Sox, who had won the 2004 World Series, and then came back to fight all year, taking everyone's best. In the end, they barely made the playoffs.
And were done.
Starters' arms look tired
Remember after last year's postseason games when the White Sox bullpen pitchers would run into the dugout, and the position players would joke, ''Nice job. Way to go.'' They had spent the game doing nothing, of course, as the starters threw complete games. And remember what we kept saying about Buehrle last year? Every game, at least six innings.
That's catching up to the starters now.
Where is the magic of pitching coach Don Cooper? Still there. But it's easier to work miracles on guys throwing 95 mph. The Sox starters simply are throwing slower this year.
Freddy Garcia has become a junkballer. Buehrle looks spent.
After that World Series, Garcia came back a month early this year for the World Baseball Classic. Javier Vazquez, new to the rotation, threw in the WBC, too.
Still, Jose Contreras and Garland are getting outs, and Garcia is managing. Move Brandon McCarthy into the rotation in place of Vazquez, and that would make for one fresh arm, and a playoff-level rotation.
Meanwhile, Guillen has been fighting fights nearly every day. The last one came when Andy Van Slyke said on the radio that Guillen gets "a little upset, a little excited about the littlest, silliest things.'' Guillen's response? That Van Slyke is just a lowly first-base coach, so what could he know? We'll have to ask Rock Raines, the Sox' first-base coach, how he feels about that.
But I agree with Van Slyke, and have been making the same point about Guillen the past few weeks. He is from a tougher era and doesn't see toughness in this team. He's trying to toughen up his players, but do you see it working?
Yes, when Pierzynski got hit by pitches twice in one game, someone had to do something. That self-policing is the players' job, not the manager's. And the problem with Guillen is that he's not only ordering retaliatory hits, but also screaming at pitchers, humiliating them in the dugout in front of teammates at the risk of team chemistry.
Ozzie might be going too far
But Guillen is also obsessing over the littlest, silliest things, like a player on the other team pumping a fist. He's looking for any tiny slight so that he can flip out.
Crafty move by Guillen? Well, there are so many new parts to this year's team, such a different personality. These guys aren't like Guillen.
So one of two things can happen.
The players will pick up on his toughness.
Or they will tune him out. That's called losing your team.
It hasn't happened yet.
Look, Guillen's attitude last year was about looseness and friendship and fun. This year, it's about finding fights to fight.
Maybe these players will connect with that; a few weeks ago, I thought they were. Maybe the rotation will find a second wind. Maybe GM Kenny Williams will find some help by the trade deadline. Maybe just going on the road to play some easier teams will help.
Or, maybe, as the bartender counseled, it's over and these guys can't do anything.
Maybe I can get a beer here?
--SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
