Series Report: Calgary at Reno (June 20-21)

Before I talk about this series I should tell you about my philosophy when it comes to writing this blog. I am a fan. I am not a "fan-boy" who never sees anything wrong with our team. I am also not a "hater" who likes to point out faults whenever I get a chance. And, ultimately, I am not going to tear down the team too much because I want people to come to the park, I want the Silver Sox and GBL to thrive, and I am not going to use this medium to affect that in a negative way.

That being said, I need to vent just a bit. Actually a lot.

What the hell just happened during this series? Not only did the Sox get swept but they were made to look like they were not even in the same league as the Vipers. The Sox gave up 36 runs in those games which is bad. But they also committed 13 errors in three games including 8 in one game alone. 8 errors? I have been watching baseball for the better part of 30 years and I can say that I have never seen 8 errors in any professional game, and I haven't seen it at any level that didn't include a tee at homeplate. I googled it and found this for the MLB:

RECORD FOR MOST ERRORS:

24, on June 14, 1876 Boston made 24 errors against St. Louis. Since 1893, the record is 12, by the Detroit Tigers against the Chicago White Sox on May 1, 1901 and also the Chicago White Sox against the Detroit Tigers on May 6, 1903.

Yes, I know these guys aren't major leaguers. But my greater point is there hasn't been more than 12 errors in an MLB game for over a century. And I bet if I could do a similar search at the minor league level, it would be pretty much the same. Errors are supposed to be rare and if you scan box scores at any professional level, I think we expect somewhere between zero and three. If we saw four or five we'd be concerned. How should we feel with 8?

There is no other way to say this...but other than about four guys (including Kaiser and Schnieder who are both on the shelf), the pitching staff is a train wreck. Most starters are only going a few innings per game and usually leaving after giving up 4-6 runs as well. I can count on one hand the number of times a relief pitcher has come in, pitched at least an inning and not given up a run. The team ERA is 9.45 and opponents are hitting .340 against us. .340!!! Last year we had some pitching problems but nothing close to this year.

I have nothing negative to say about the offense. They are scoring runs but we aren't winning because the pitching kills us before the offense even gets a chance. In the games we won, the offense had to score just an insane amount of runs to cover for the pitching. In those wins, the team scored 15, 11, 10, 16, 14, 13 and 13 runs. It is unrealistic to think they have to score than many to win. This Series they scored 5, 3, and 8 runs and lost them all. I think it is not a stretch to say if a baseball team scores 5 or 8 runs they should win the game more often than not. But with the Sox, we have lost every single game when the offense hasn't delivered double digit runs, en route to a 7-17 record and sole possession of not only last place in our division but last place in the entire league.

OK, end of rant.

I just had to get that out there. Mainly due to frustration but also to vocalize the frustration I think many people are feeling with this situation. I won't fault Jeffrey Leonard and staff for not trying to fix the problem. They have brought in 7 pitchers since the season began a few weeks ago and the roster now includes just four active pitchers who were on the opening day roster. But so far, none of them have been the key to solving this pitching dilemma.

I am not giving up on the team and hope you don't either. This is our team win or lose and we need to support them. Hopefully some of these new pitchers can make a difference and bring the winning ways back to the Silver Sox franchise.

I'd give a by game synopsis but I think the point has been made. The team now goes on the road to Canada. I'll be listening to the games and hoping the Sox can right this ship. Let's go Sox!