Bleacher Report - Articles by DJ Settle

Bears-Jaguars: Week 14 Prediction

DJ Settle — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 21:37:28 -0500

Week 14 could prove to be the turning point for some teams and their season. For the Chicago Bears they need a win to possibly stay pace with Minnesota, who’s facing winless Detroit, or they will fall two games back and risking the need for some miracles to come back with.

Jacksonville Jaguars (4-8) vs. Chicago Bears (6-6)

The Bears are coming back home to the Windy City and the famous columns of Soldier Field off a humiliating performance in the Metro Dome against the now first place Vikings.

The only bright spot in last weeks game was Matt Forte. He ran for 96 yards on 22 carries and also had four catches for 28 yards which lead the team in total yards. He is and will be the future of the franchise and is someone to build around. However, that is for a later article.

The dark spot which is so dark a black hole was jealous was Charles Tillman and the defense. After a goal-line stand by the Vikings' defense last Sunday, the Bears allowed a 99-yard touchdown pass to the former speed threat of the Chicago Bears (Bernard Berrian who signed a deal this season to play in Minnesota over Chicago cause he wants to be the for-sure No. 1).

On that note – I’d like to thank Berrian for making the Bears' secondary look foolish. I’m especially Charles Tillman, who in one play was running with Berrian on the 99 yard touchdown. To Tillman, Bernard isn’t on a road course turning right. Instead, Berrian is on a drag strip running straight by you and you turned off to play the in routes.

As previously stated, this is a must win for the Bears. The offensive line needs to get back to business this week after being monster truck rallied by the Williams’ last week.

Defensively the Bears secondary will need to keep solid coverage for once to allow the defensive line time to get to Garrard. Briggs and Urlacher need to come up big and have a presence in stopping Maurice Jones-Drew.

Player to watch for the Bears is Matt Forte and watch his overall abilities to run people over and catch the ball out of the backfield.

Honorable (for now) mention goes to the defensive backs. If they’d like to create another long day for you, blow coverage again like they did in Minnesota.

On Jacksonville’s side of the ball they need to look at exploiting an open defense scheme with the average to below average defensive backs running it. The Jags need to send Jones-Drew or Matt Jones on corner routes 10 to 15 yards down field in between the coverage all day long. This is made possible by the lack of a pass rush from the “D-line” of the bears.

The basic summary of what the Jags need to do to beat the Bears is to contain Matt Forte, run slant routes and run routes into the holes of the weak zone defense which the Bears won’t be able to defend.

A player to watch for the Jaguars is David Garrard. If he can be accurate, he should be able to burn the defense of the Bears.

An honorable mention goes to both Maurice Jones-Drew and Matt Jones. Jones-Drew could always have a big day on the ground, depending on what attitude the defensive line for Chicago brings to work.

Matt Jones could have a big day if they run the short slants and zone killing routes. Unfortunately for him the only way he can have a big day is if his quarterback can get him the ball.

Prediction – Bears 17, Jags 10

Touchdowns by – (Bears) Matt Forte and Greg Olsen

(Jaguars) Maurice Jones-Drew

Falling Short of Glory: A Recap Of the Bulls' Embarrassment and a Look at Why

DJ Settle — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:12:49 -0500

"We wanted to dominate these guys for 48 minutes," Brandon Roy told the Associated Press after he and the Trail Blazers sent the Chicago Bulls to Oakland with a 116-74 thrashing to ponder.

Roy led his team with 20 points, going 7-of-13 from the field and 6-of-6 at the free throw stripe. As a team the Trail Blazers hit 42-of-83 shots (50.2 percent) from the field, showing how bad the Bulls defense is.

Andres Nocioni led the deflated visiting team with 13 points, shooting 5-of-13 and 1-of-2 from the free throw line. Both Drew Gooden and Ben Gordon finished the game with 11 points.

Very rarely does a team that shoots 34 percent from the field, 76 percent from the free throw line and 13 percent from three-point range win a game.

Not only did they play horrendously, but they also didn't bother to show up on the glass. The Bulls had 17 offensive rebounds and 16 defensive rebounds (33 total) while the Blazers had 17 offensive but 32 defensive rebounds. The rebound disparity shows the lack of size and effort of the "big guys" on the Bulls.

This team isn't built to be a tough on the boards. The undersized Thomas and Noah are no match for players the likes of Oden, Duncan, Howard and others. The only person on the team that has true size is Aaron Gray, and he wouldn't even be on the roster of some NBA teams.

The best option for this once proud franchise is to start trading and signing players worth their value. Once Hinrich comes back, John Paxson needs to use the depth at the guard position to make a value trade to get a big man within the already tapped salary cap we have.

This game also featured the Bulls' "future," "franchise player," and "rookie of the year candidate"—Derrick Rose. He went an outstanding 1-of-8 from the field (13%). If a player is going to be that which Derrick Rose is being expected to be, then he would have put the team on his back and at least made it respectable.

Deron Williams, Chris Paul, and even Brandon Roy have taken over games that were getting out of hand and created a game out of it, if not won it. He has tried his best to come in and take over the team but there is going to be a learning curve when it comes to leading a whole team that is older than himself. With people like Larry Hughes on the team, I wish Mr. Rose the best of luck in trying to lead this team.

Another guard the Bulls are counting on this season is Ben Gordon. He is 14th in scoring in the league at 21.5 points a game. It is too bad that he is best suited at the sixth man position not a starter. Ben is wildly inconsistent. He will lead the Bulls in scoring one night and then turn around in the next game and barely hit 10 points.

Also, the fact he is a free agent at the end of the year means he will be asking for starter money when it comes time. I suggest using Ben and someone else like a Tyrus Thomas to go after a decent block player. Get the most you can out of him before he hits the road.

Apparently someone also forgot to tell this team that fouls aren't always a good thing, especially since the Bulls have a knack for getting back-to-back fouls. While I watched the the game Wednesday night, I noted a couple instances in which players on the Bulls got stupid fouls less than a minute apart and one at least 20 seconds apart. They ended up with 31 fouls, and Noah fouled out. This shouldn't go unnoticed by an inexperienced coaching staff.

This problem with stupid fouls is that it leads to teams getting a lot more free throw attempts than the Bulls. For instance, the other night the Blazers had 31 free throws attempts to the Bulls' 21 attempts. If a team gets more than a 10 free throw advantage on another team, it usually gives them a big advantage.

Finally, the Chicago Bulls, especially since the '90s, have lacked a locker room leader. Lacking a leader on the team is like lacking King Arthur at his round table, fruitless and unstable.

An example of this is starting to show up amongst the Bulls. Larry Hughes is starting to publicly come out and complain about his playing time on the squad.

Hughes has never been known as a hard worker and, with the logjam of guards on the team, it hasn't shocked me to see him on the bench. Unfortunately, though, it looks like he's been heard. He started Wednesday's game and did try to put up a statement that he should start by going 50 percent from the field. Only scoring eight points, he was fifth on the team in points.

It's doubtful to see Hughes getting much more time on the court with Gordon, Rose, Hunter (recently signed), and Thabo Sefolosha on the team. Also, when Kirk Hinrich gets back that's going to create a major logjam for the club.

The Chicago Bulls was once a proud franchise. The moves to the roster over the last several years havenn't improved the team while other teams have shown major upticks in talent.

A person would have to look no further than Portland for evidence of how smart drafting and trading can increase talent level and prowess for winning. Portland used to be laughed at by fans and now they're a competitive team in a tough Western Conference. They used they're recent draft picks wisely and have signed decent players, which has led to their success.

Chicago on the other hand has gone the other direction. Bad draft picks, trades and signings have led to the disappointment that they have become. Shooting, rebounds, fouls, and lack of a leader in the locker room are reasons why the Bulls have fallen from glory.

How Different Could The Cubs Be in 2009?

DJ Settle — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:42:33 -0500

With a possible trade for Jake Peavy on the horizon, the Cubs obviously have reflected on 2008 and are now looking forward to 2009 and asking what are the options are possible for the offseason?

Coming off the stellar ’08 regular season and a shaky at best ’08 postseason, the Cubs are looking to figure out what improvements and holes they must act upon to be in contention for the 2009 postseason and World Series.

A starting pitcher, centerfielder, leadoff hitter and relief pitching are a few of the roster spots the Cubs ought to consider filling.

Ryan Dempster gave the Cubs a career year in 2008 as a starter, converted from the closer’s position. Being matched only by Ted Lilly for the team lead in wins with 17 and boasting a 2.96 ERA in 33 starts, Dempster became a free agent at the conclusion of the ’08 campaign.

Now with the Cubs at the door step of getting Jake Peavy and if successful, the rotation wouldn’t need a Dempster in it to look ominous to opposing teams. With Peavy at the top of the rotation and Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, Lilly, Jason Marquis to follow, it could very well be one of the deepest and could be the most successful rotation in 2009.

If Dempster doesn’t take the four-year, $50 million or waits too long to decide, the Cubs need to consider forgetting about him and going after another 2^nd or 3^rd (spot in rotation) caliber pitcher.

A few examples of pitchers include Randy Wolf, Jon Garland, and Derek Lowe as 4^th or 5^th spot-starter. Out of that list the Cubs really should consider Lowe with his winning playoff experience or Garland who is a sinker pitcher, which is needed at Wrigley Field.

Last year’s center field position was a platoon between Jim Edmonds and Reed Johnson. Edmonds has moved on to free agency, but Johnson is still here. Batting .303 with six home runs and 50 RBI’s in split and pitch hitting roles, Johnson did a decent job.

The Cubs however are looking for a little more speed out of center field and hope that person could possibly leadoff or bat 2^nd in the lineup. An alternative on the free agent market is Scott Podsednik, who filled the same role decent in Colorado last year with a .322 OBP. The biggest issues with Scottie Pods are he’s history of injuries and his salary.

To save money the club could turn to Fukudome to move to center. This would be cost efficient if he can get his swing together and adjust to MLB pitching (especially the sweeping slider). If he could bring his average back up and be patient enough for walks, the Cubs might have found them a leadoff/number two hitter and center fielder already on the roster.

The reason the Cubs need to consider a leadoff hitter is because Alfonso Soriano’s production driving in runs needs to go up. Just over a third of his RBI came from home runs last year.

There were so many games where Soriano would leadoff with a home run or start an inning with a home run. There were even multiple home run games where he only had solo shots.

Out of Soriano, Ramirez, Lee, Soto and even Derosa, Soriano had the fewest RBI’s out of the group. A solution to this issue could be to drop him in the lineup to give him more chances with runners on base.

The drop of Soriano could also benefit Ramirez (who’d still bat 4^th), Lee (who’d drop to 5^th to knock in Soriano and Ramirez in with his knack for doubles and getting on base), and Soto (who’d bat 6^th). It would give them protection and make it hard for pitchers and coaches to decide whom to face.

Could this affect Ramirez and Lee’s RBI production? Temporarily it might, but with as much as Soriano strikes out, there’ll be chances still. Actually this could take some pressure off of Ramirez and Lee to always be the run producers of the team and let them just hit.

Shortstop is a position for which the Cubs could look to upgrade at defensively and could get a leadoff hitter from as well.

As great as Ryan Theriot’s story was last season, he had defensive lapses and lacked in certain power categories such as home runs and RBI. Theriot’s not built to have power numbers, like 20 home runs and 70-90 RBI.

The answer to the problem could come by signing a free agent like Orlando Cabrera, Edgar Renteria, or Rafael Furcal. Cabrera could bring the Cubs the power numbers and a decent glove at shortstop, if the club and players are willing to deal with his “me and my way” attitude. He doesn’t have 25+ stolen base speed, but can still get a few. He even could bat leadoff like he did for the Sox in ’08.

There’s also Renteria, who is a decent hitting shortstop with somewhere between 10-15 home runs and 20-30 doubles annually. He doesn’t have the stolen base speed he used to have, but he could still get you 5-15 stolen bases.

Lastly there’s Furcal, who can hit for power, but also has the ability to leadoff. Coming off an injury from last season, the Cubs might be able to get him at a cheaper rate than normal.

The only other option is to try to pick a shortstop via trades, which could be easier said than done.

Finally, the Cubs have to figure out how to replace four members of the bullpen, which is a key unit. Bob Howry, Chad Fox, Jon Lieber, and Kerry Wood all filed for free agency at the end of the season. This leaves several holes in long relief, middle relief, and a closer that Jim Hendry will have to plug up.

As a White Sox fan (having watched Octavio Dotel do the same stuff), I can relate to why Cubs fans are so happy to see Howry leave. Inconsistencies, blowing games and not being able to throw strikes when they were needed were just a few of the issues Howry brought.

Inconsistency was the name of the game for Howry in ’08. Lou Pinella would bring Howry into a game with a two-run lead and he wouldn’t get an out. By the time Pinella would go to get him, the lead or the game would be gone.

This put more pressure on the whole team in general to fight back and win. There are a couple replacements for Howry the Cubbies could look at getting. Horacio Ramirez, Juan Rincon, and Kip Wells, all of which are current free agents and could be used to replace Chad Fox as well.

Jon Lieber did a decent enough job for the Cubs in ’08. Would the Cubs try to get him back for ’09? Doubtful, considering he is going to be turning 40 next season and could be a little too expensive and risky for someone his age. However, there are a few options that the Cubs could try.

An option for the Cubs could be (pending the Peavy trade) to move Marquis from the starters position to the long relievers role. This would give the Cubs a spot starter and someone who could take the ball in the first inning and go as long as he’s effective.

An alternative to that would be to test the free agent market for a former starter turned reliever or a long reliever. Wells is a player that could stretch his stamina out to give the club a spot start or take over in the first inning and go a while.

Another solution is to bring a young pitcher up from the farm system. For instance, the Cubs have Rich Hill and Angel Guzman, who are waiting for their chance to come to the show. Chad Gaudin may be on the list of pitchers for the long relief duties as well.

The 2009 Chicago Cubs might not change a lot, but it’ll be in areas that get recognized often if they do. The biggest change could come from the closers role. The longest active Cub might not be back for the following season.

Over the last decade the Cubs and Wood have been completely loyal to each other, whether Wood was seriously hurt or not. The Cubs knew Wood would be vital to them one day and he was.

Wood had 34 saves in his first season as a closer. Now with Woody on the free agent market the question becomes, would it be in the best interest of the Cubs to bring Woody back for 2009?

If they don’t and Wood doesn’t come back, all the Cubs have to do is look down the bullpen bench to find their next closer. Carlos Marmol did a good job while Wood fought his blister and had days off. This is one area the Cubs can grow from the inside and save money if they don’t get Wood back.

101 years is a long time and the window on players contracts like Lee and Ramirez will be coming to a close soon. That’s the hard part with free agency and players are going for the most money in contracts is that a team can’t build themselves up for a long time they only get a two or three-year window before players' move on to a different team.

Very few players are like Kerry Wood and dedicate their career to one team and stay loyal to them. These days’ players’ sign for two or three-years for a medium amount, blow up in their last year of the contract and move on to a big deal somewhere else. So there’s really no telling how long the window for a team to compete is going to be open. So the Cubs need to get a winner in the next year or two because who knows how long it’ll last.

Going after Jake Peavy could prove to be a start. I believe the Cubs will be busy this offseason, maybe even during the season.

Hopefully it’ll end though (especially for my Cubs friends) with at least a World Series birth…and hopefully my White Sox could be there to meet them!

A Potential BCS Tournament Solution: Playoffs?! We're Talking About Playoffs!?

DJ Settle — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:41:24 -0500

Since we're coming upon time for NCAA coaches to start complaining about the BCS system, I thought it'd be fun to try to make up my own playoffs for college football.

I believe a big point that would have to be made is the BCS ranking system can still stay in place if they want it so bad. The top 16 teams play in this postseason. The number of bowls still can add up to the 34 bowl games with the 15 games in my brackets.

Unfortunately, though, this is where you'd lose interest in the uppers of the NCAA world. I'll be taking a few bids from conferences. I would not take it from the lower conferences because it would not be fair to do that to them since they're the group that really needs the bowl money.

These games would be played at the current bowl locations and would rotate every year. Here's how my bracket would work if the season and conference champs were crowned today and the rankings we're finalized today.

Round One

Game One: No. 5 Oklahoma (9-1) vs. No. 12 Missouri (8-2)

Played Dec. 16 at 5:30 p.m. in the Music City Bowl

Game Two: No. 3 Texas (9-1) vs. No. 14 Ball State (9-0)

Played Dec. 16th at 8 p.m. in the Insight Bowl

Game Three: No. 7 Utah (8-1) vs. No. 10 Georgia (8-2)

Played Dec. 17 at 5:30 p.m. in the Chick-fil-A Bowl

Game Four: No. 1 Alabama (10-0) vs. No. 16 North Carolina (7-2)

Played Dec. 17 at 8 p.m. in the Outback Bowl

Game Five: No. 6 USC (8-1) vs. No. 11 Ohio St. (8-2)

Played Dec. 18 at 5:30 p.m. in the Capital One Bowl

Game Six: No. 4 Florida (8-1) vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State (8-2)

Played Dec. 18 at 8 p.m. in the Gator Bowl

Game Seven: No. 8 Penn State (9-1) vs. No. 9 Boise State (9-0)

Played Dec. 19 at 5:30 p.m. in the Cotton Bowl

Game Eight: No. 2 Texas Tech (10-0) vs. No. 15 Michigan State (9-2)

Played Dec. 19 at 8 p.m. in the Liberty Bowl

By holding the first round in the middle of the week, the NCAA can have the side bowls from Dec. 20-25. Plus, it keeps the college game from trying to compete with the NFL. Next round would go as follows:

Round Two

Game Nine: Game Five winner vs. Game Seven winner

Played Dec. 26 at 5:30 p.m. in the International Bowl

Game 10: Game One winner vs. Game Three winner

Played Dec. 26 at 8 p.m. in the GMAC Bowl

Game 11: Game Eight winner vs. Game Six winner

Played Dec. 27 at 3 p.m. in the Rose Bowl

Game 12: Game Four winner vs. Game Two winner

Played Dec. 27 at 7 p.m. in the Orange Bowl

I split those last four games up on Friday and Saturday to avoid running into competition from the NFL. The next set of games are spaced to where the NCAA can have more bowl games like it usually has. The next set of games are the semifinals.

Round Three

Game 11 winner vs. Game Nine winner

Played Dec. 31 at 7 p.m. in the Sugar Bowl

Game 12 winner vs. Game 10 winner

Played Jan. 1 at 7 p.m. in the Fiesta Bowl

The Championship game would continually be rotated among the stadiums that are already in the rotation for the game.

Round Four

Round Three winners

Played Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. in the FedEx BCS National Championship Game

These could make for some very good matchups and games. The NCAA could've put into place a tournament-style postseason a while ago. Unfortunately for the fans, greed and power have gotten in the way.

These guys make millions off each of the bowl games, and all the students get in return are stipends. In reality it's the student athletes that bring in the money for the colleges.

You're probably thinking it's been said before, this I know, but a tournament style using the BCS computer system and cutting down on a bid or two from the bigger conferences would raise the value of the games and team wins.

Just imagine instead of having two teams getting picked by a computer, the NCAA has 16 teams that have a chance to actually earn a shot to the title game and play for the title!

One day maybe we'll get to see it come true, but, for now, we're just gonna have to live with a chip and motherboard picking the games we "want to" watch.

The Chicago White Sox's Upcoming 10-Game Roadtrip

DJ Settle — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:16:48 -0400

To start things off, I'd like to send my thoughts and prayers to Texas and anyone else that is affected by the Hurricane and the heavy rain that stretches across the county.

As I sit here on the porch and watch the rain fall onto the already flooded ground, I begin to think about how the White Sox lead has fallen, just like the rain is falling in front of me.

We’re in a weekend where Friday night’s Sox game was postponed to Saturday for a straight doubleheader (which is unfair to the people who bought tickets to the Friday game—subject for a later time), and then on Saturday they had those games postponed to Sunday and one to a later date, and the lead in the division fell to a tie.

Sunday could lead to a swing in division momentum. If the White Sox can't—at the very least—split the series, the panic button should be pushed. If they get swept in the games tomorrow, that will give the Twins a chance to push the lead up to one-and-a-half games, and if they can avoid the brooms on Sunday, the White Sox have at least the chance to stay tied with the Twins atop the Central.

The absolute best-case scenario for the Chi Sox is to sweep the doubleheader and have the Twins lose their rubber game in Baltimore. The Sox could then end up with a one-and-a-half game lead in the division.

As a White Sox fan, I am obviously wishing for the later of the scenarios, but I would be happy with at least being in the lead by ourselves. As the Sox come off two extra days of rest, they should get to the park tomorrow just worried about taking things into their own hands and taking care of business.

Unfortunately for the White Sox, they leave the windy city for games in three of the toughest places for them to play in. The Sox have not exactly called New York City their second home.

As the first series of a brutal 10-game road trip, at the worst time of the year for the Sox, they head to the Big Apple. We’ll just go back over the last four seasons that the White Sox have played the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

The Sox are 5-13 over that time span, according to Chicagowhitesox.com. That’s a winning percentage of 28, over the last four seasons, which is not very good. The White Sox have four games with them, coming up Monday through Thursday, which are going to be huge for the Central Division.

As of Sunday morning, the White Sox are sending Buehrle to the mound for game one of the series. The biggest question that should be on the minds of White Sox fans right now should be (and I note that I am a HUGE Mark Buehrle fan): Which Mark Buehrle will show up for the game?

Is it the Buehrle that gave up seven earned runs in one-and-two-thirds innings in Cleveland, the Buehrle that has given up more than four runs four times in the last 10 games? Could the Buehrle of 2005 make an appearance and be the ace of the staff that he is?

Do remember that his last two starts have resulted in less one run in 13.1 innings, which were against the L.A. Angels and the Toronto Blue Jays (which the Blues Jays are one of, if not the hottest team in baseball).

If Buehrle expects to go into Monday night’s start and expect to come out on top, he’s going to need to establish the cutter on the right-handed batters, making them jam themselves. He’ll also need to establish his fastball early, in order to make his change-up effective.

With batters like Alex Rodriguez, Buehrle will need to keep the ball low or jam them inside to force them to hit the ball on the ground, since he isn’t going to blaze a fastball by the Yankee hitters.

Another key for Buehrle is that the defense must limit their errors. It is important to keep the Yankees to as close to the minimum number of batters faced as possible. If a team allows the Yankees to get on base via the walk or errors, the veteran squad of the Yankees will turn mistakes into runs very quickly.

Just look at Mark’s last start at Yankee Stadium. According to ESPN.com, Buehrle pitched three innings, giving up seven runs on eight hits. A result like that this year could really hurt the moral of the White Sox and make things around the clubhouse tenser than they already are.

It is very important for the Sox to get a good start in the series, and I believe Buehrle can be the guy that hits the gas pedal in game one and gets us rolling, especially against a rookie with one career start.

In the second game of the series, the White Sox are going to send Gavin Floyd and his 15-7 record out to the rubber. The Yankees are going to throw Andy Pettitte and his .500 record (13-13) out to the hill.

What do we need to see out of Floyd?

Simple, exactly what he’s done all of the 2008 campaign. It’s important for him to establish his breaking ball to the Yankee hitters. He needs to keep the Yankee hitters off-balanced and confused throughout the game.

He'll need a good mix of breaking balls and fastballs, as well as mixing up locations and not leaving the ball over the middle of the plate. Gavin has been excellent all year for the White Sox, and I don’t see much changing in this start.

The only concern I have for Floyd is that he has only three innings pitched at Yankee stadium with a 15 ERA. If he can get over the historic factor that Yankee Stadium is and go out and do what he’s been doing best this season (pitching quality starts), the Sox will be ok.

Without Konerko and Quentin, will the ChiSox be able to compete with the Yankees? I think that they will, if a few factors fall into place.

1. Orlando Cabrera needs to have a high OBP during this series. It’s very important that he becomes a true leadoff hitter, at least for four games. Whether by a hit, walk, or taking a pitch to the body for the team, he needs to be the person that flips the switch to an offense that’s been off and on as of late.

Over the last 10 games, OC has had a two-plus-hit game twice and only one hit in a game seven times. He has, however, had six walks over those 10 games as well, which makes his OBP .383, which is decent for a non-leadoff player.

I was listening to WSCR 670AM on the way home from the rained out ChiSox game Friday, and I heard a caller state that he’d like to see OC get dropped to second and a player like Jerry Owens in the leadoff position.

It’s nice to think you could just plug a player like Owens (with speed and is the type of player who should be leadoff), but unfortunately this isn’t a video game. Jerry Owens is batting a staggering .222 avg this season in the nine games he’s been up.

I’d also like to know I have a veteran at the top of the lineup that knows how to handle any situation that comes up without it putting pressure on him.

2. Jermaine Dye needs to find his power stroke again. He’s been a big part of our middle of the lineup all season. Dye’s batting .289 over the last 10 games but is holding a .372 OBP, according to Whitesox.com.

Batting third in a lineup that could still produce numbers even without Konerko and Quentin makes Dye the focal point of this team. As longs as my point man, Orlando Cabrera, can get on, and D. Wise can move him into scoring position or improve his scoring position, the Sox will be fine.

Dye is batting an outstanding .429 with runners in scoring position in September. Against the Yankees, the White Sox are going to have to get people on for when Dye comes around in the order.

3. All that I’m going to say about this topic is we NEED a glimpse of the old Jr. Ok, so I lied. Griffey Jr. is batting .239 in 28 games with the White Sox. It is very important that, with 13 games (possible 14 if we replay the DET game), that Jr. looks in the mirror and finds a reflection of the old school Griffey Jr.

After he was traded to the White Sox, the first thought that I had was of excitement of having the sweetest swing in baseball come to a launching pad like Comiskey Park. If we could have a moment to count the home runs for Jr...That would be one.

For Jr., since moving from the Reds to the black and white of the South Side, he’s totaled one home run and five doubles in 28 games. The biggest thing for Griffey to do is to take the rookie pitcher he’s facing in game one of the NYY series to school.

That is assuming that Griffey Jr. plays Monday against the Yankees. He needs to take advantage of there being a short porch in Yankee Stadium. Same thing also for Jim Thome; use that short porch to your advantage.

4. As I listened to 670AM WSCR on the way home from the White Sox game Friday night, I was privileged to hear a caller on the station talk about how he wasn’t happy with how Alexei Ramirez turns pivots at second base for double plays and other aspects of his game.

The last time I checked, a double play isn’t guaranteed, and every time I’ve watched Alexei turn a double play (remember, he is not a second baseman by trade) I’ve never seen him take a bad approach to the bag.

He comes across the back of the bag and hops to avoid contact with the sliding runner (exactly like your supposed to do) and makes a strong throw (with the cannon he has) to first. He’s been an excellent second baseman for a team that needed someone to step up and take the position.

After talking about how Ramirez pivots, he starts talking about how Alexei Ramirez “hot dogs” it out on the field.

My first thoughts were, “Are you even a fan of baseball or at least knowledgeable on the game?” To me, this caller sounded like he needed to be educated about the game of baseball. If I remember right, Alexi has a .979 fielding percentage. That’s not too bad in my book, especially for a guy that has played four different positions this season and isn’t a natural second baseman.

Also, I remember that Ramirez was the one who has made plays that I’ve rarely seen an infielder make with a glove alone. He’s turn double plays—with the strength of his arm—that should not have been turned. Let’s not forget Ramirez is a rookie to the MLB this year, and he does lead the team in batting average—.298.

He’s done a great job of turning things around after his first about month of the season when he couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with the bat. Remember, he was a no-name pickup by Kenny Williams that was to sub Orlando Cabrera and Juan Uribe. On Sept. 14, 2008, Alexei Ramirez has a .298 BA, 16 HR, 126 Hits, 64 RBI, and 55 R (according to WhiteSox.com), which is nice for a rookie player.

I believe batting at the bottom of the order has been very beneficial for him, because there’s a little amount of pressure on him. If you look at those numbers, Alexi has an RBI for just about every two hits and just under that in the runs category.

You can ask for better, but I see a Rookie of the Year with those stats, especially if you consider that his first month of the year had him batting .138, with two H in 29 AB.

He began turning it around in the month of May where (having not played seven games and had two or less at-bats four times in the month) he came back with a .295 BA. So, to sit on the other end of a phone and say the Alexei hasn’t performed or is “hot dogging it” is not fair or even a respectable comment.

This is going to be a rough 15 games in front of us. If we take care of business and go through it, winning series (in NY, at the very least, splitting the series), we should be ok and be in the lead of the division.

The Twins have 13 games left, and they have a series in Tampa Bay for four games and the three-game series against the Sox. Hopefully they’ll go 2-5 or less in those seven games, and the Sox can get a lead out ahead of the Twins and maybe even be ready to clinch after that series.

That would be awesome, as a Sox fan, to have momentum like that going into the playoffs. My personal prediction is that the Sox will go 7-3 in the 10-game roadtrip and will find themselves with a two or three-game lead going into the last weekend of the season.

Finally, all I need to say is GO SOX! Have a great day! God Bless the people in Texas and anyone affected by the flooding rains. This is done before the Detroit vs. Sox doubleheader.