Merkin:

The White Sox have decided against offering salary arbitration to their free agents, outfielder Jermaine Dye, right-handed reliever Octavio Dotel, outfielder Scott Podsednik and backup catcher Ramon Castro, a decision needing to be made by 11 p.m. CT on Tuesday. …

Gonzales says Dye is expected to draw interest from Texas, Atlanta and San Francisco, and St. Louis if it won’t retain Matt Holliday.

Cowley says the Yankee$ requested Dye’s medical records.

Gonzales:

White Sox resurgent leadoff batter Scott Podsednik and Ramon Castro filed for free agency Thursday on the first day eligible players can file. …

On July 23 White Sox outfielder Dewayne Wise made a name for himself and secured a place in the team’s history after making a spectacular catch to preserve Mark Buehrle’s perfect game. This past Friday Dewayne Wise had declared himself a free agent instead of accepting the White Sox offer of being assigned to Triple-A Charlotte.

Dewayne Wise played in a career high 84 games off the bench for the White Sox in 2009. Wise hit a respectable .225 with two homers and 11 RBIs during the season.

With Dewayne Wise already on the free agent market that brings up another question about who will fill the vacant hole in the Sox outfield? Considering that Alex Rios will be the teams Opening Day centerfielder and Carlos Quentin will take up one of the corners who is going to join them?

If someone believes that the answer is Scott Podsednik there may be an issue because “Pods” is also a would-be free agent.

The speedy leadoff man is coming off of one of his best seasons after batting .304 and was 30-for-43 in stolen bases in 2009. Podsednik had expressed interest in returning to Chicago for next season, but does want to keep his options open.

“No, we are going to wait it out and see what happens,” Podsednik said. “If they want to try to bring me back, then we will entertain that idea and go from there. But this is all kind of a new process to me. I’m going to seek counsel from my representation and do what we feel is best.”

With both two familiar White Sox players going into free agency will the team end up signing Podsednik or Wise to fill the empty hole in the outfield or shop the market for someone new? The bottom line is however who will accept an offer?

Other potential free-agents for the Sox include reliever Octavio Dotel, already rumored to be released, utility player Mark Kotsay, and catcher Ramon Castro.

Author:  Pier-Squish-Woman

Not every team has a good starting rotation.  Not every good starting rotation has an ace.  And not every ace is so dominant that the minute you see he’s starting, you’re already chalking it up as a win.  We are in the fortunate position of having such an ace on our staff.  (We technically have two, but the other one is currently out of order.) That ace would be Jon Lester, who has quietly but in short order established himself as one of the best southpaws in all of Major League Baseball.  And for good reason.  I would not want to be on the receiving end of a Lester cut fastball.

Lester’s line? Seven shutout innings, four hits, two walks, eight strikeouts.  It doesn’t get much better than that.  (Actually, it does.  It’s called a no-hitter.  Lester’s already thrown one of those.) The only downside was the 122 pitches it took him to get there.  He really had no choice; the bullpen’s been working hard these past few days and he had to go deep.  But I don’t like him throwing so many pitches after a long season this close to the playoffs.  He mixed them well, though, obviously concentrating on fastballs but using a good amount of off-speeds.  He topped out at ninety-six miles per hour and went down to about eighty.  He has one of the most effective mixes of pitches I’ve ever seen.

Wagner, Bard, and Paps handled themselves well.  The first two each were rewarded with holds for their service, but we’d scored too many runs for Paps to rack up a save.  Wagner allowed the run; Ramon Castro led off the eighth with a solo shot, but it happens.  Other than that, yesterday’s relief corps was spotless.  Did you know that Bard and Paps both have ERAs under 2.00? It seems like we’ve been so busy worrying about Papelbon’s excessive walks and sloppy saves that we forgot to notice that his ERA is still intact.  Of course, Daniel Bard never gave us much reason to doubt.

The final score was a very cool, very pleasant 6-1.  Ellsbury went three for four with two runs and a steal.  Very leadoff-hitter of him.  Pedroia went hitless again.  To tell you the truth, I don’t know what’s going on behind this slump of his.  I have no doubt he’ll snap out of it, because since those horrendous first two Major League months, he’s never been able to stay in a slump for long.  We can forgive him for yesterday’s performance because he delivered the play of the game in the first inning.  Two on and nobody out with a 1-2 count on Paul Konerko, so he flies out to shallow right and it’s Dustin Pedroia who runs in from the infield, makes the catch, and immediately fires with uncanny accuracy to second to get Scott Podsednik, who got doubled up.  So that was an epic play by Pedroia and an epic lapse in judgment by Podsednik, who has to keep his head up during a play like that.  And just to give you an idea of how important this was, if Pedroia doesn’t snag Konerko’s fly, it’s bases loaded with no outs, because everyone thought the ball would fall.  And that’s as valuable as any hit could possibly be.

V-Mart went two for four with a three-run moonshot with two out in the ninth.  The ball landed in the bullpen.  But let me tell you something about this ball.  This ball went off the bat and never looked back.  The crack of the bat was so loud, I thought the sound alone would propel the ball out of the park.  Bay went two for four with an RBI single.  Drew and Gonzalez both doubled.  And finally, last but not least, Mikey Lowell went yard with a man on in the fourth, in the White Sox bullpen.  So we had two long balls, both to opposite ends of the field, each to a different bullpen.  Not bad.  By the way, that’s proof of the fact that Lowell still has plenty left in the tank.

It’s possible that, instead of being called up, Lowrie will be shut down after playing for the PawSox on Monday.  To be honest, I’d rather see that then call him up, put him in action, and have him damage his wrist more permanently.  He’s our shortstop of the future.  He’s young.  No need to clip his wings before he’s had a chance to fly.

Well, that’s a wrap! We needed a win and we got one, thanks to the lineup and a little help from Jon Leste, who’s now twelve and seven with a 3.44 ERA.  That ERA is good for eighth among southpaws in the Majors.  He’s also very durable; he’s tied at fifth among lefties in most games started, and he’s sixth in innings pitched.  He’s tied for sixth in wins, but perhaps most telling, he’s struck out more batters than any other active lefty.  For Jon Lester alone, Theo Epstein deserves a standing ovation; for drafting him, for believing in him, and for keeping him here.  Absolutely.  Unfortunately, we’ll now have to wait another four games for his next start.  In the meantime, Josh Beckett will duke it out with Mark Buehrle.  We’ve been seeing a lot of the White Sox recently, so I have to believe our remarkable adaptability will kick in and help Beckett out a bit.  Hopefully it goes well.

AP Photo

The Phillies tried Ryan Madson as the closer last night (Lidge had pitched in four consecutive games and wasn’t available as it was) and blew the save anyway…  No worries – Lidge will keep his job until his arm or knee falls off.  [Multiple Sources]

A little good news earlier in the broadcast…  Hiroki Kuroda threw a successful bullpen session and is closer to returning to the Dodgers.  He is expected to throw a simulated game in a few days, then a rehab start.  Kuroda is healing quickly after suffering a concussion when nailed in the side of the head by a drive off the bat of Rusty Ryal a couple of weeks ago.  [MLB]

Brad Penny asked for, and received, his release from the Boston Red Sox – surrendering his roster spot to Billy Wagner.  Penny will start looking for a team that wants a healthy but disappointing pitcher.  I always liked him – works fast, threw strikes.  He needs Dave Duncan – but the Marlin fan in me wouldn’t mind letting him find his routine as a long reliever back home in Florida where it started for him  [ESPN]

With no fear that this was going to get any better for him, Milton Bradley says he feels “hatred” from Cub fans – fans who are disappointed that the usually dependable hitter (if undependable personality) had struggled through most of his first season in Chicago.  Bradley says the only place he feels any love is at home with his family, and apparently gets booed in more places than just Wrigley – like restaurants, bars, grocery stores, gas stations, and knitting clubs.  Do you think that many people recognize Milton Bradley at first glance?  Or is he just paranoid?  [ESPN]

Moving across town, newly acquired White Sox starter Jake Peavy’s start on Saturday will be postponed.  His elbow is still sore and swollen, the effects of being hit by a line drive in his last rehab start.  [ESPN]

Speaking of sore elbows, Detroit starter Armando Gallaraga goes to AAA for rest (and not the DL?), giving his sore throwing elbow a break.  To replace him, Nate Robertson gets the call.  Robertson has been on the DL with an elbow injury himself…  [ESPN]

Yankee catcher Jorge Posada will miss a few games after taking a foul ball squarely on his left ring finger Wednesday night; the finger is swollen but not broken.  [ESPN]

Another Mets pitcher is heading to surgery…  Oliver Perez’s sore knee requires a scalpel and sutures to repair his right patella tendon.  Look for Pat Misch or Lance Broadway to get his starts.  (I know – Broadway in New York…  Broadway was picked up in May for backup catcher Ramon Castro in a trade with the White Sox.)  If you were counting, this is 14 Met players on the DL.  [ESPN]

FoxSports is reporting that LaTroy Hawkins was placed on waivers, but claimed by someone.  So, Houston recalled Hawkins’ name from the list and now cannot be traded until after the season.  [FoxSports]

For the second time in five years, the Cleveland Indians bus was involved in an accident or incident on the way to Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City.  The driver of the car hitting the bus was injured, but the Indians won the game anyway…  [SI]

A Federal Appeals court ruled that federal investigators were wrong for seizing the list of players who had tested positive in the now infamous “sampling” tests done in 2003 to determine if baseball needed a stronger anti-PED policy.  Prosecutors wanted information about ten players involved in the BALCO investigation and wound up with 104 players instead…  The leaks are more famous than the list itself.  The Fed was asked to return the list, but one wonders if this means that the leaks will end.  [SI]

In an odd twist, three umpires worked home plate in last night’s Toronto/Tampa game.  Jerry Crawford left with back spasms.  His replacement, Tom Hallion, took a Scott Kazmir fastball in the chest (Travis Snider swung and missed, and Greg Zaun had no idea Kazmir was throwing a fastball and missed, too).  Hallion chose to stay out there – but moved to third base instead, meaning that Brian O’Nora had to finish the game.  I’m betting that hasn’t happened before.  [FoxSports]

Welcome Back! Justin Upton returned to Arizona, Juan Rincon returned to Colorado, Joe Saunders is back with the Angels, and Tim Wakefield is back with Boston – all four coming back from DL stints.  Brett Carroll is back with the Marlins with Nick Johnson heading to the DL.  Carroll is the best fifth outfielder they have…  Drew Macias made his seventeenth trip between Portland and San Diego this week…  I’ll root for him forever now.

Is it Over? I sure hope not.  Matt Murton was designated for assignment by Colorado.  The kid could hit, but never keep a job.  Murton isn’t Russell Branyan – a power hitter without a home because he never gets more than 100 at bats in a month to get his groove on.  He’s more of a .280 – .300 hitter with middling power type.  If he could pinch hit or tell jokes or dance during the seventh inning stretch, he’d be Jay Johnstone and hang around on benches forever.  Todd Stashwick (my favorite actor) – you probably don’t read my blog, but if you could teach him to be more clever and work on his impromtu humor so he could be a guest on pregame, postgame, and rain delay shows, Matt Murton could stay in the majors.

Hurry Back! Pirates pitcher Jeff Karstens heads to the DL with a strained back.  Shane Loux (Angels), Daniel Schlereth (D-Backs), and Collin Balester (Nationals) are heading back to AAA.

Afterthoughts… Is it me, or do ESPN Radio hosts get more vacation time than anyone?  Mike and Mike in the Morning should be renamed “Maybe Mike and Mike, but probably Erik Kuselius in for one of them, in the Morning”…  And nobody’s show is less frequently hosted by the named star than the afternoon drive show of Doug Gottlieb.  He is NEVER on his own show.  In fact, I’m used to the radio bump “You’re Listening to the Doug Gottlieb Show…  In for Doug, Ryan Racillo.”  Does somebody keep stats on this???

not fidel you communists. now don’t get me wrong, i love ramon castro and i was upset when the mets traded him to chicago. i was happy for him when he caught burley’s [sic] perfect game  cause he wasnt doin that with the mets staff, MAYBE with santana but not this season. okay, enough love making. here’s what im getting at:

there is no denying the resemblance here. castro has the same skin tone as hippo, the same giant mouth/jawbone and the same body style. okay, maybe castro isnt necessarily a heavy weight but he would definitely give lil mac a run for his money. this is one of my favorites though and im not quite sure why. it really may be that they’re doing the same pose its just fuckin classic. oh, nintendo entertainment system, what would i do without you…

…probably get a real job.

Cubs

Okay, so let’s look at the positive side of the team’s 11-4 loss in Colorado:  uh, only one starting pitcher got badly injured.

Also Esmailin Caridad pitched five and a third innings, giving up just three runs.  That’s great, for a Cubs pitcher!  Someone give Ensmalling or whatever his name is a big hug and kiss for a job well done.

Obviously Tom Gorzelanny gets the blame for this one, letting six runs cross in a four-out performance before getting a foot owie.  No, he didn’t have any help; and no, it’s not his fault his foot was in the way of a very quickly moving baseball.  And he gets credit for falling down and rolling over as he tried to fling the ball to the plate, which nearly made me wet myself with laughter.  (Kudos, Gorzo.) 

But still.  Anybody think he would’ve lasted much longer even if he weren’t injured?

Cubs hitters aren’t off the hook.  Guys, nobody’s impressed you got back four runs of a 10-run deficit against bad pitching in the ninth.  Was that post All-Star break hitting clinic for real, or just a surge?  You’re not winning any votes of confidence over here.

No matter.  Gorzo’s the Goat.  Spread the word.

White Sox

Remember when the Sox were tied with Detroit for the AL Central lead for a few hours last month?  Yeah, that was fun, right?  We all started thinking the Cubs-Sox makeup game on September 3 would have playoff implications.  Anyone still feeling so certain?

Sox pitching was okay, I guess.  Gavin Floyd allowed nearly a run an inning, which isn’t great, but there was no Gorzelanny-esque blowup.  Tony Pena gave up one run, but it’s hard to blame an entire loss on that.

No, the biggest factor in the team’s loss was A.J. Pierzynski.  The catcher came in to pinch-hit in the ninth with the team trailing by two.  With one out and a runner on first, it was a prime chance to blast a game-tying home run over the smarmy head of Ken Griffey, Jr. So of course A.J. grounded into a double play.

But A.J. ain’t the Goat.  The grounder was deadly.  But he never should have had the opportunity to hit it.  Ozzie Guillen put him in to replace Ramon Castro, who already had two RBIs on 2-3 hitting.  Really, Ozzie?  The guy who’s helped you most offensively, and with the game on the line you replace him with a warm body off the bench?  I get that Castro is bad – he’s no stranger to the Goat – but something was happening for him.  Leave him in and let him hit.  Two for three, Ozzie!  He may not have hit the homer, but so long as he got on base again, you bring Scott Podsednik to the plate, a guy good at drawing walks and getting base hits.

I don’t get the move, so Ozzie gets the Goat.

White Sox

Maybe Ramon Castro should be Jose Contreras’s permanent catcher.  A.J. Pierzynski didn’t do so hot.

I don’t know if it had anything to do with the pitches Pierzynski called, but Contreras sure couldn’t throw them.  A.J. also went 0-4 without so much as a walk, no worse than Castro possibly could have done.

But come on.  This was Contreras’s day.  Things didn’t get ugly until the third, but then they got really ugly.  There were a walk, a passed ball and another walk before Contreras made his first out of the inning – and that was on a sacrifice.  Then it was another walk and a wild pitch before out number two, a strikeout of Maicer Ituris.  (How embarrassing.)  Then a single, a wild pitch and a walk.  Contreras was duly pulled.

It wasn’t just the slapstick progression of the inning.  It was how even the play-by-play doesn’t do justice to how bad Contreras was.  Even the pitches that weren’t passed balls were woefully out of the strike zone.  Maybe Pierzynski didn’t get a hit because he pulled his arm reaching.  The Sox goat was easy to pick today.  Thanks, Jose.

Cubs

Can nobody close?

Before the game, Lou Piniella proclaimed Angel Guzman his closer for the night.  That’s the kiss of death.  Guzman opened the ninth by hitting a batter, then promptly gave up a home run.

Look, I get it.  The Cubs suck at finishing games.  Fine.  Can we please hold onto a five-run ninth inning lead?

The surprising answer:  yes.  Guzman retired three of the next four batters to end the game.

But still.  Geez.  Considering the past few days, can’t we have one without a scare?  For not offering Cubs fans any relief, Angel Guzman is today’s Cubs Daily Goat.

Beckham on his 9th inning baserunning error:

“That’s me being an idiot,” said Beckham with a sheepish smile. “It will happen every once in a while — hopefully, not for the rest of the year.” Derek Jeter actually deserved a second assist on the double play. Beckham counts the Yankees’ shortstop as one of the players he truly respected growing up, so he started talking to Jeter as he wandered away from the base. “[I] just kind of lost track and didn’t realize I was still playing a baseball game,” Beckham said. “I blame the third-base coach [Jeff Cox] for that one,” said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, pausing for a laugh. “The third-base coach should let him know how many outs there were.” Justice came down swiftly upon Beckham, who will be fined in kangaroo court. He will also have to buy a gift for backup catcher Ramon Castro, who was on deck to pinch-hit for Jim Thome. “Apparently, I cost him an at-bat, so I’m going to be running around town getting gifts for everybody,” Beckham said. “I’m embarrassed, but we’re good.”

whitesox.com:

When Mark Buehrle arrived at work Thursday morning, making a little baseball history with Ramon Castro and Dewayne Wise and then having a chat about it with the president of the United States probably wasn’t on the agenda. On what turned out to be a legendary day not only in the life of the White Sox left-hander but for baseball as a whole, Buehrle took everyone along for the ride of his life at U.S Cellular Field. He did it with Castro catching him for the first time. He did it by watching Wise enter the game in the ninth and save the day with a circus play of which sandlot dreams are made. And he finished it all off by fielding a call from a certain White Sox fan who lives in the White House, President Barack Obama. So it’s safe to say that, while this might have been the 18th perfect game in Major League history, there hasn’t been a perfect day quite like the one Buehrle shared with baseball Thursday. For Buehrle, basking in the glow of going 27 up, 27 down was hard enough to comprehend, though he’d done it once before. Getting a grip on the perfection and understanding the enormity of the accomplishment, he admitted, might take awhile. …

What a catch by Wise. He made me look stupid!

Mark Buehrle tossed the 18th perfect game in baseball history yesterday thanks, in part, to a gravity defying, homer robbing catch by Dewayne Wise, who had just been inserted into the game as a defensive replacement.  Wise told an interviewer later that he told himself to be ready because it seems like whomever enters the game has a ball hit immediately in his direction.  Except that Wise had to run about 120 feet at full speed, leap and catch his foot on the wall as an extra prop, and then catch the ball while suspended in the air – banging against the wall and railing – then falling and watching the ball tumble out of his glove as he pulled it back into play and finishing by rescuing the ball (and the perfect game) barehanded.

The best comment/stat I saw was a note saying that this was the first time a perfect game had occured where the pitcher was throwing to a catcher (Ramon Castro) for the very first time.  It’s Buerhle’s second no-hitter (he topped Texas in 2007), and had the same home plate umpire (Eric Cooper).  Okay – I admit, I dialed up MLB.com and watched the last two innings at the office while prepping advertising orders…

In other news…

The hard-charging Houston Astros took a hit when Lance Berkman hit the DL with his calf injury.  Taking his roster spot will be middle infielder Edwin Maysonet – not a prospect, really, but a versatile position player.  [SI]

Yankee starter Chien-Ming Wang wants a second opinion on his ailing shoulder – which doesn’t bode well for a return in 2009 and leaves the team and player in a lerch.  [SI]

The Phillies lost two relievers to the DL yesterday:  J.C. Romero (forearm strain) and Chad Durbin (back).  To help, Philadelphia recalled Tyler Walker and Andrew Carpenter, each of whom had made quick stints with the Phillies earlier in the season.  [ESPN]

Walker is a serviceable middle reliever, 33-years-old, and has bounced around a bit – pitching with the Mets, Giants (twice), Rays, and now the Phillies.  Andrew Carpenter has been pretty successful in the minors (34 – 20, 3.49) and was doing very well at AAA Lehigh Valley.  He looks to be someone who could help as a swingman or even fourth starter in the majors.  Carpenter may not be an early round fantasy pick, but he could make a few teams in his career.

FoxSports reporter Ken Rosenthal says that the Rays could enter a bidding war for Roy Halliday or Cliff Lee if they could part with someone with a high salary, therefore getting some payroll flexibility.  Is Scott Kazmir available?  Apparently, yes.  [FoxSports]

ESPN’s Buster Olney gives eight reasons Halliday should become a Phillie.  And it’s not just to save the wounded bullpen.  [ESPN]

Toronto starter Dustin McGowan added injury to injury when he had his right knee scoped.  He’s already on the DL following shoulder surgery and injured the knee exercising.  [FoxSports]

Cleveland traded Rafael Betancourt to Colorado for Connor Graham.  The surging rockies could use a dependable reliever now that Manny Corpas is on the DL following an elbow scope to remove debris, and the Indians are stockpiling prospects.  Is Connor Graham a prospect?  The 2007 5th round pick out of Miami (Ohio) University is big (6′ 7″ and 235), strikes people out, must have a lot of movement on his pitches because he’s hard to hit and walks too many guys.  So far, he’s a rotation version of Mitch Williams – well, he has better control than Williams, but you get the picture.  [SI]

Welcome Back!  The White Sox recalled Bartolo Colon from the DL, sending Carlos Torres back to AAA.  Kelly Johnson returns to the Braves after his DL stint. 

Hurry Back!  The Royals lost outfielder Jose Guillen to a lateral collateral ligiment tear.  Rays reliever Chad Bradford is on the DL with tightness in his lower back.

Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle celebrates perfection with catcher Ramon Castro after the final out. (AP Photo/Jim Prisching)

The Chicago White Sox made some defensive moves to begin the ninth inning. DeWayne Wise jumped off the bench to replace left-fielder Carlos Quentin, and assumed center-field when the equally speedy Scott Podsednik shifted over to left-field. Now, the White Sox had speed where they needed it, making pitcher Mark Buehrle more comfortable as he faced the bottom of the Tampa Bay Rays batting order.

Entering the frame, Buehrle, who threw a no-hitter in April of 2007 against Wise’s Texas Rangers, had sent down all 24 hitters he faced. It appeared, however, that once Gabe Kapler made solid contact to begin the ninth, the streak would end.

Kapler crushed a curveball from Buehrle, one of 74 offspeed pitches the lefthander threw, deep to center-field. Wise ran as fast as he could, keeping his eyes fixed on the ball’s flight. Concentrating, he ran near the wall, noticed he was out of room, and jumped. His glove reached high above the fence, and the ball nestled in it’s webbing. As he came down, the ball popped out. Falling, he managed to collect himself, reach out with his bare hand, and grab the ball before it touched the ground. He bounced up, and threw his now infamous hand clenching the ball into the air, showing the thousands of White Sox fans, his teammates in the dugout, all of whom were on or near the top step, and the other eight with him on the field, that he made the catch. The home-team announcers went ballistic, and so did the fans, and his teammates, including Buehrle, who stood on the mound sporting a sly grin. His bid for a perfect game was still intact.

The crowd remained abuzz and on their feet as Michel Hernandez strode to the plate. Buehrle, surprisingly calm and relaxed, fell behind Hernandez, throwing three straight balls after a first-pitch strike. He avoided uncorking ball-four by firing in one of many strikes he threw on this overcast afternoon. It was now a full count. Buehrle, one strike away from being one out away from perfection, looked in at catcher Ramon Castro, took the sign, and fired in a changeup that tailed to the outter part of the plate.

I’m going to challenge you, Michel Hernandez, and give you an appetizing pitch, the most inviting pitch you or any of your teammates have seen today. Let’s see if you can hit it.

Hernandez could not, his hack catching nothing but air as the 88-mile-per-hour pitch thumped into Castro’s glove. It was strike-three, Buehrle’s sixth and final strikeout. Hernandez walked back to the dugout. It was now up to shortstop and ninth-place hitter Jason Bartlett.

Bartlett has had a stellar season, hitting .338 in 272 at-bats with eight homers and 40 rbi’s. He was no ordinary ninth-place hitter, and was certainly capable of ruining Buehrle’s afternoon. He took strike-one, then a rarely thrown fastball that missed inside, and another that missed low. He was too patient, and given Buehrle’s impeccable control, he would have to make contact to have a chance to break up the perfect game.

He swung at the fourth pitch, a slider, hitting it weakly to shortstop Alexei Ramirez. Now all of the pressure was on Ramirez, who has struggled this season in the field, having made eleven errors. The ball bounced across the infield grass, then bounded on two hops into his glove. Ramirez wasted no time contemplating the worst, firing a strike to first baseman Josh Fields.

Fields, upon snatching Ramirez’s throw, jumped in the air, then ran and jumped onto Buehrle. It was bedlam on the field, bedlam in the stands, bedlam in the broadcasting booth, and bedlam in the streets of Southside Chicago. It was perfection.

Nobody’s going to forget Dewayne Wise’s phenomenal catch in the ninth inning, but that’s not the only teammate to assist Mark Buehrle in the ace’s perfect game, only the 18th in major league history.

Buehrle only struck out six Rays hitters.  Of the 16 perfect games in the modern era, only three featured fewer strikeouts:  Cy Young (1904) and Addie Joss (1908) each had three, and Dennis Martinez (1991) K’d five.  (Both pre-modern era perfect games, thrown by Lee Richmond and John Montgomery Ward in 1880, had five.) Charlie Robertson, the other White Sox perfect game pitcher (1922), tied Buehrle with six.

So 21 outs were made by Buehrle’s teammates.  Fill-in first baseman Josh Fields (never mind his grand slam) had 11 chances to blow a catch; he got them all and even hauled in a foul ball in the second.  Alexei Ramirez, who’s been error-ridden lately, was unusually focused.  The last out of the game was a routine grounder; he kept his composure and zipped it right to first.

His outfield was there for him, too.  Six chances to drop a fly ball resulted in six outs – seven if you want to credit Wise for two for his circus catch in the ninth.  (Maybe the Bears can use him as a wide receiver.)  It helped that skipper Ozzie Guillen put Wise in the game for defense; I don’t know if Scott Podsednik or Carlos Quentin could’ve made that grab.  And major credit also goes to Ramon Castro behind the plate – the backup had never caught Buehrle before but was essentially perfect as well.

Some perfect games are pure feats of pitching.  Randy Johnson, the previous major leaguer to throw one in 2004, struck out 13.  Sandy Koufax (1965) fanned 14.

Buehrle only had six.  But with a little help from his friends, he’s now #18.

Days like this are the worst.  How can you find a Cub who deserves the Goat?  Or a White Sox who doesn’t?

Cubs

Oy.  An eight-run game that never really seemed in doubt.  Aren’t home teams supposed to, you know, at least make things interesting?

What we had here was a visitor completely on top of its game, and a home team caught taking a siesta.  Nearly every Cub making a plate appearance scored a run.

The Cubs did everything right.  They pitched well.  They hit well.  They fielded well.  It was a complete team victory.  Everybody had some role in destroying the gNats.

So how do you pick a Daily Goat?  The guy who pitched the worst?  How?  Kevin Hart went five innings and gave up two earned runs.  Is that really worse than Jeff Samardzija, who gave up one run in three innings?  The Cubs hit so well, three earned runs feels like a World Series effort. 

And don’t get me started on the fielding.  Zero errors?  A double play?  Yawn.  Nothing to distinguish anybody there.

Granted, a couple players played exceptionally well:  Jake Fox and Alfonso Soriano, guys who aren’t exactly close to leading their team in home runs, each belted a dinger.

So who gets the Goat?  I thought about awarding it to everybody, but that’s a cop-out.  So it’s going to the team’s back-up catcher, Koyie Hill, who had no hits (but drew a walk).  That might not be bad enough on its own, but Hill left five men on base, chances where hits maybe could’ve made this more of a blowout.  Not that the game’s outcome was ever seriously in doubt.

White Sox

Oy.  An eight-run game that never really seemed in doubt.  Aren’t home teams supposed to, you know, at least make things interesting?

What we had here was a visitor completely on top of its game, and a home team caught taking a siesta.  Nearly every Oriole making a plate appearance scored a run.

The Sox did everything wrong.  They pitched poorly.  They hit poorly.  They fielded poorly.  It was a complete team loss.  Everybody had some role in getting destroyed by the Orioles.

So how do you pick a Daily Goat?  The guy who pitched the worst?  How?  Jose Contreras went four and a third innings and gave up four earned runs.  Is that really worse than Aaron Poreda, who gave up one run in zero innings?  The White Sox hit so poorly, nine total earned runs feels like a spring training effort.

And don’t get me started on the fielding.  Two errors?  A lone double play?  Yawn.  Nothing to distinguish anybody there.

Granted, a couple players played exceptionally well:  Chris Getz and Dewayne Wise, guys who aren’t exactly close to leading their team in home runs, each belted a dinger.

So who gets the Goat?  I thought about awarding it to everybody, but that’s a cop-out.  So it’s going to the team’s back-up catcher, Ramon Castro, who had no hits (but drew a walk).  That might not be bad enough on its own, but Castro was credited with both Sox errors, the absence of which maybe could’ve made this less of a blowout.  Not that the game’s outcome was ever seriously in doubt.

Hopefully this will be easier to write tomorrow.

White Sox

The friends I went to tonight’s game with recommended I Goat the wave, which made it around U.S. Cellular about five times.  But if I did that, I’d be part-Goat, because I did stand and raise my arms the first go-around.

So I turn to the actual players instead, the ones who never really let the Indians into a 5-1 win.  Certainly Jose Contreras is immune; he gave up one earned run and left the game with two men on base, but two pitches later Matt Thornton pitched the Tribe into a double play.  So Thornton ain’t Goat material, either.

What about Sox bats?  The South Siders scored five times, but the bottom four batters in the order – Gordon Beckham, Ramon Castro, Brian Anderson and Josh Fields – combined for zero hits, one base on balls and one RBI.

You read that right – the bottom four batters included Castro, Anderson and Fields, and the five-spot was Jayson Nix, who had a hit but is not exactly carrying the banner for MLB offensive firepower.  The lineup sucked.  No Jim Thome, no A.J. Pierzynski – I would also have been happier if Chris Getz had played, because at least he’s interesting.  And the man whose fault it was for this disappointing lineup on a day I sat out there in the rain – today’s Daily Goat – is manager Ozzie Guillen (pronounced “Gwillen”).  Yeah, the team won, but was it really worth it?

Cubs

Kosuke Fukudome had a pretty embarrassing error in the top of the ninth, but he also had the team’s only run, off a solo homer in the sixth.  That was costly – it gave up a run – but probably didn’t matter much, because Kevin Gregg launched a wild pitch that would’ve scored the third Braves run anyway.  Gregg gave up two hits, also, which is bad news when you’re trying to stay within a single manageable run of your opponents.

Would the bottom of the ninth have gone differently had Gregg kept runners off the bases?  Possibly.  The team could’ve played for one big hit, one run – instead of having to try for the big 3-or-more run inning a 4-1 deficit forces you into.  I could go on, but the cost of Gregg’s disastrous ninth is the difference between a winning record at 42-40 and a .500 one at 41-41.  Kevin Gregg, open wide and say – er, whatever noise goats make.

Mark Gonzales:

“It was a great pickup,” Contreras said of the acquisition of Castro from the New York Mets on May 29. “No disrespect to A.J (Pierzynski). I won 17 in a row with A.J.. But having Ramon on the team is like a fresh start with the team, as a whole. “I’ve shook off Ramon twice, and both times they hit home runs. So I’m not going to shake him off often anymore.”

Ozzie Guillen commented on Contreras’ resurgence:

“I think it’s like making a big trade,” Guillen said. “That’s the way I look at it. That’s a big trade for us to have him. He came up right on time when we most needed it. We struggled early when he got here. Since he’s got here, stuff has started turning around with the pitching staff. I think everyone is back on track.”

UPDATE: Scot Gregor looks on Ozzie’s comments and wonders if Kenny is satisfied with his team and done trading for now.

Even the Daily Goat likes some time off for Independence Day, which is why it’s so nice today’s recipients made themselves so easy to spot.

Cubs

Rich Harden almost survived TDG’s scrutiny.  I mean, he was nice enough to give up 7 earned runs in 2.0 innings on the mound, which let the players just relax and take an easy Fourth of July staring at their shoelaces in the field.

But it doesn’t work like that.  Just because the rest of the team is abysmal – which they were, barely hitting .200 as a team in a game in which the other team featured a parade of scrub pitchers – doesn’t mean a total choke by the starter can be ignored.  Hell, I even forgot about the stupid red hats.  Rich Harden, you’re the Daily Goat.

White Sox

Ugh, really?  I left for the Taste of Chicago this afternoon certain the Cubs were going to lose, but the Sox blowing a lead to the Kansas City Royals?  It didn’t help that A.J. Pierzynski and Jim Thome were given the day off (despite each going 0-1 as a pinch hitter).  Does anyone know why Ramon Castro is even on the team?  Forget about that 3-run homer.  He’s hitting .130 and not doing anything astonishing behind the plate, either, as far as I can tell from paying half-attention during the occasional game.

But the player whose silent bat hurt the Sox the most was Scott Podsednik.  Pods left three on base and, despite only coming up to bat six times, was the last out in four innings.  He had plenty of opportunities where a single hit would’ve given the Sox a real chance to win it – and he just kept grounding out.  The Daily Goat doesn’t care how well a guy’s been playing lately.  The Daily Goat only cares about who’s to blame today.  And today it’s Podsednik.

ANALYSIS — White Sox

Just so we’re all on the same page: Yes, the Jose Contreras who pitched the White Sox to their fifth-straight win last night is the same guy that went 0-5 in his first six starts, having allowed 30 runs in 29 2/3 innings before demoting himself to Triple-A Charlotte.

But ever since his return, Contreras has had a few things going for him. First, let’s show you the numbers:

Dates (Starts)                  W-L    ERA    IP    H    ER  HR SO   BB   AVG
6/8-current (5)              3-2     2.15  37.1  24   10   3    29    5    .178
4/10-5/8 (6)                   0-5    8.19  29.2  40  27   4     17   16   .313

Contreras was the MVP for every team he faced in his first six starts. He had a .313 average against! That’s just unheard of for players who call themselves major leaguers. Unless you’re this guy. Or this guy. Or this guy.

But ever since Contreras found Jesus down in Charlotte, he’s pitched like a man on a mission. (See what I did there?)

A great deal of Contreras’ success should go the way of Ramon Castro, who has been behind the plate for every Contreras start since his return. To be sure, the only games Castro has appeared in since Contreras’s return have been the games the Cuban is starting.

It’s pretty clear Castro has one purpose on the White Sox, and if that means getting quality starts for Contreras every fifth game, I’m on board.

Here’s a snippet from Mark Gonzales:

“We’ve seen it before,” manager Ozzie Guillen said, referring to Contreras’ 17-game winning streak in 2005-06. “We’ve seen him at the best. He has a pretty good streak going. Unbelievable. That’s the same way he’s throwing now.”

Contreras downplayed the comparisons and the fact Castro has caught all five of his starts since Contreras returned from a one-month stint at Charlotte to regain command of all his pitches.

“It’s more of a matter I’m making my pitches,” Contreras said. “Castro is a great catcher, but A.J. [Pierzynski] caught me at my best too.”

Even (soon-to-be-ex-) Cleveland manager Eric Wedge was impressed with what he saw. “That splitty was as good as we’ve seen,” he told MLB.com. Contreras actually throws a forkball, but the difference is negligible.

What isn’t negligible, though, is the quality of pitching. With the sudden re-emergence of Gavin Floyd, the White Sox staff continues to impress. That overall quality of pitching has been the best in the American League. And, on paper, as Beyond the Box score notes, the White Sox are the best team in the American League Central.

The Sox still have plenty to prove, but the ride is finally starting to be fun.

Why Do You Still Have A Job? There are several White Sox eligible to have their employment questioned, but outfielder Scott Podsednik is the oldest and the most distanced from a semblance of usefulness. His last on-base percentage over .330 was in 2005; his only slugging percentage over .400 was in his rookie 2003. While his contract for just $800,000 makes him an inexpensive mistake, it also means that his release wouldn’t be costly for the White Sox. Instead of buying him out and going after Jim Edmonds or a trade, they’ve let Podsednik play regularly to .654 OPS, and he’s been caught as many times as he’s successfully stolen a base, making his baserunning aggressiveness an extra liability on top of his consistent failure to hit. Worst of all for the White Sox: he stands to get more playing time while Carlos Quentin is on the DL.
Rhetorical Question of the Week: Is Nick Green trying to fill a certain void in Boston? I’m as thrilled as any Red Sox fan at the production that part-time shortstop Green is giving at the plate – even though it’s largely due to a fortuitous .367 BABIP – but lately, he’s started to betray an extreme lack of baseball intelligence. On more than one occasion, he’s been thrown out at second after trying to stretch singles that had no business being stretched. In one memorable mental gaffe, he botched a rundown of an opposing player and didn’t get any outs on a ground ball right to him. And today, he was picked off of first base by the catcher… when there was already a runner occupying second. The Red Sox have a slugging left fielder with lousy defense, Manny, and Ramirez; Green seems determined to take over as the guy who makes head-scratchingly stupid decisions on the field.
Mistake of the Week: I’ve never accused Mets GM Omar Minaya of being a genius. He’s assembled some high-budget teams with some gaping holes; while he can identify and pursue superstar players, he’s shown considerably less ability to build complete rosters deep with useful talent. Nothing he does during the 2009 season is likely to match the mistake of the Oliver Perez contract, but his recent handling of the club’s backup catcher situation is nonetheless further evidence of his questionable competence. Ramon Castro is no All-Star, but he constantly hits more than adequately for his role, and would be quite acceptable if forced to start for any length of time. Making over two million dollars is a bit pricey for a reserve, but Castro certainly earns his paycheck more than, say, Luis Castillo. But when Omir Santos got off to a hot start, Minaya elected to keep the rookie – despite a dreadful set of minor-league numbers – and gave Castro to the White Sox for non-prospect Lance Broadway. It’s one thing to become enamored of a young player with a mixed track record, but Santos is 28 and has never shown any indication that he could slug over .400 in the majors (he hasn’t hit that mark since A-ball). Meanwhile, the Mets picked up part of Castro’s salary, mitigating their savings in the trade; they were so desperate to be rid of a backup catcher who has outhit most of their current bench (and several starters) that they didn’t even make Chicago take on the full salary. Between this and the willful ignorance of Philly’s GM, their NL East rivals in Atlanta are becoming even more likable.
Question of the Week: Have I made too little of the emotional toll of baseball? Zack Greinke is making quite an impact this year not only due to his stellar pitching (his XFIP remains under 3.00), but also because of his compelling personal story – he has bounced back from depression and social anxiety disorder that had threatened to end his career. This week, Cardinals shortstop Khalil Greene hit the disabled list after battling anxiety problems, while Reds first baseman Joey Votto was DLed for a “stress-related issue.” Perhaps it is the gradual decline of the stigma against mental health issues letting more players take time off rather than play while suffering, or maybe there is truly an increase in such problems among athletes as a result of obscene salaries while most of the country is in a deep recession. Either way, however, it’s undermining the idea that team psychologists can weed out players with potential issues before they get drafted or reach the bigs; while “clutch hitters” are a debunked myth, I’m now more willing to consider the possibility that certain players don’t have the mental makeup to continue minor league success once making it to the majors. I’m not going to trivialize mental illness by pretending to diagnose any specific conditions, but the growing visibility of anxiety problems in Major Leaguers has made me
more open to accepting that certain players’ struggles may continue, despite track records to the contrary.

Boston’s Julio Lugo has a bit of a “choker” reputation, and it would be easy to explain some of his awful defense with the stress of playing in front of one of baseball’s most hardcore fan bases. Phil Hughes dominated the minors with stellar control and limited long balls, but has had considerable problems with walks and home runs since getting called up by the Yankees (it’s worth noting that he pitches in baseball’s toughest division, but his peripheral numbers are still startling). Completing the trio of AL East mysteries is Tampa Bay’s Grant Balfour, who has had control problems throughout his career but seemed to harness his stuff in 2008, walking only 24 batters in 58 innings. After granting 8 “ball four”’s in 11 playoff innings last year, he’s given 15 free passes in just 23 innings this year.

I know none of these players and am not qualified to draw any conclusions. It’s quite possible that Balfour’s disappearing-then-reemerging issues were simply sample size and unfamiliarity helping him get through most of 2008 unscathed despite a problem that has plagued his career. Hughes has less than 30 major-league starts, and Lugo could simply be getting older and losing his ability. But considering how many issues seem invisible to teams until they’re too much to handle, isn’t it worth considering that perhaps the mental health of MLB players isn’t as guaranteed as we often assume?