Posts tagged ‘White Sox’

Let’s address Irrational Fear #1 right off the bat: everybody breathe. The sun is going to come up tomorrow.

As for the rest of the 2008 AL Central Race, let’s just say the shocking third-act twist has occurred and only if the writer’s are REALLY bold and decide to pen another will the suspense last.

Call me a liar if you must, but the worst I ever felt during this series was actually AFTER the Sox had gotten a 6-1 lead. I couldn’t help but surrender to those thoughts in the deep, dark, nagging corner of my brain that remember all the pain and heartache already inflicted on the Sox over the past seven years inside the Metrodome. I couldn’t put to bed the horrifying thought: “This is what Minnesota does. They lull things down, they spot you runs, but they just nibble and gnaw and scrap and don’t ever go away.” What happpened next? Well, you can read about it here if you like doing the sports equivalent of stabbing out your own eyes while simultaneously punching yourself in the nuts repeatedly.

I wish I could boil it down to something simple, something plain and quantifiable like, “The Twins just have an incredible lineup” or “The Sox have a horrible bullpen” and just leave it at that. But the Twins should’ve rolled in that type of circumstance; instead the combined score over the last two days was 10-8 as the Twins continued to race their way around the HHH basepaths (and got a couple of timely assists from second and third base umpire Alfonso Marquez). And if it were the kind of performance that came from nowhere, from a team clinging desperately to its playoff chances, I could live with that. But this happens routinely, always to the Sox and always at the Metrodome. Of the 8 games the Sox lost in that building this year, five were by two runs or less. Three times, including tonight, they blew leads of four runs or more. Bottom line: if it’s close against the Twins in their home park, pray for the worst, but expect the absolutely f&*kin’ disastrous.

Umpiring Sidenote: I do not subscribe to the theory that any officiating decision can single-handedly change the outcome of a ballgame, no matter how egregious or influential it might seem (Doug Eddings included). So don’t just cop-out and assume a different final outcome (no matter how badly you want to) had Marquez made the correct call on Wednesday and called Carlos Gomez out at second base on the pickoff throw, which is what he was - out. Picked off. Orlando Cabrera had the ball in his glove and his glove on Gomez’s back well ahead of Gomez making any sort of physical contact with the base. Gomez was out. Instead he was called safe, moved up on a walk and scored what went on to be the decisive third run on a ground ball to second. But even if he’s called out, who’s to say Mark Buehrle, suddenly feeling more secure after picking a runner out of scoring position, doesn’t serve up a meatball which Joe Mauer clubs for a three-run homer? So I don’t blame Marquez for the Sox being beaten on Wednesday (or on Thursday, when he called a Denard Span double fair despite the ball landing in foul territory, or when he rung up Nick Swisher for swinging when he quite clearly did not…that latter call was so bad even Twins announcer Bert Blyleven called bulls&*t on it.) Even umpiring that’s bad can’t unilateraly determine how the game plays out. That doesn’t change the fact that Marquez was wrong. Moving on…

The Sox only recourse now is to win the remaining games. They have to pretend Minnesota and it’s Chinese Water Torture offense don’t exist for the next four days. Everything has to be about beating Cleveland tonight, then again on Saturday, then on Sunday. Then, if necessary, 100% focus must turn to beating Detroit on Monday. And, should it come to pass, on Tuesday, they can allow Minnesota to exist again for a possible one-game playoff. If you had to gauge my feelings on the Sox making the postseason…what’s the polar opposite of optimism? Pessimism just doesn’t quite seem to do the trick.

Anybody who’s ever watched a White Sox-Twins game in the HHH Metrodome knows what it means to stand on the side of the road as a horrific car crash you were able to predict 20 minutes beforehand unfolds in agonizing slow motion directly in front of you.

Too reactionary?

It’s one game on July 31, but it sure felt like a lot more. It always does when you’re playing the Twins and the type of lunatic scenarios like the one which unfolded in the 7th inning of tonight’s game help spark a meltdown that would make the China Syndrome seem like a minor slip-up. After a series like this you can’t do a whole lot other than just tip the cap and sigh that, no matter what the stakes or situation, the Twins don’t quit. That was evidenced when their manager threw a 100% undiluted hissy fit and got himself thrown from the game over a play in which no out was recorded, no runs were scored, and ultimately the batter in question reached first base anyway.

After stalling the Twins on Wednesday behind a sharp performance from Gavin Floyd and key power hitting from Carlos Quentin and Alexei Ramirez, the Sox were getting exactly what they needed from John Danks heading into the bottom of the 5th inning, and piecing together some timely hits for a 4-0 lead. You may recall that on Tuesday this exact same script was unfolding while left-hander Clayton Richard was on the hill. Thursday’s performance had an identical ending.

The key sequence in tonight’s game came in the bottom half of the 7th inning, with an incorrect “swing” call on Denard Span’s bunt attempt as he was hit by an inside pitch. The misjudgment was all it took to set off the raging mound of fury that is Ron Gardenhire. After futile efforts to plead his case gave way to an incoherent ramble of profanities, he punctuated the performance by tossing his cap in disgust; by this point the Twins faithful were sufficiently motivated to litter their blessed little FieldTurf with caps and balls, triggering Ozzie Guillen’s more primal instincts as his instantly recalled his team to the dugout and got into more than one verbal spat with fans hanging just over the first-base line. Ordinarily I would just sit back and wait for order to be restored in a situation like this. “Both teams are letting off a lot of steam but things will settle back in,” I’d tell myself. Not against the Twins. Not now, and not the seemingly 72 other times in the last five years when s&*t like this has routinely happened to presage a Twin comeback in a game the Sox absolutely had to win. I muttered to nobody in particular, “Minnesota’s gonna score at least 3 runs this inning.”

They scored 4.

The Sox closed back within 7-6 on a Jermaine Dye homer before the weakest links of what is now undeniably a fading bullpen allowed three more runs (aided in no small part by the fact that Nick Swisher cannot play first base. You want to know ultimately why I oppose benching Paul Konerko? The reason was on display tonight with Swish’s attempt to show “range” on the right side of the infield. Does he think he gets extra points for falling down on his rear end after failing to catch the ball?).

It was gonna take a real whopper in tonight’s game to turn the news that the Sox acquired Ken Griffey, Jr. into an afterthought, but (as they always do) the Twins and their voodoo-powered ballpark didn’t disappoint. The Sox can do two things for this point on: dwell on two blown leads in three nights against the Twins, or turn their attention to beating the Royals. I’d love to be able to say confidently what might happen next, but at this point I think everybody knows what a pointless declaration that would be.

Fair warning to all baseball pundits, regardless of team allegiance: he who attempts to declare that he has the AL Central “figured out” does so at his own peril.

Monday’s crucial series opener between the Twins and White Sox, who stood just 2.5 games apart in the standings, did confirm a few things that have long been status quo for anybody who follows the White Sox:

A) The Sox do not play well in domes.
B) The Sox really, really, really don’t play well in the MetroDome.

The 2008 AL Central race has, up to this point, been a complete blueprint for what life will one day look like through the looking glass (or inside the Matrix, take your metaphorical pick). Up is down. Black is white. The guy who’s been on a roll for two straight months and has 9 years of big league experience and a World Series ring gets taken deep by a rookie with a name that would make a good alias for a minor member of Batman’s Rogues Gallery. It’s what happens after everybody has it figured out that counts.

As mentioned in Monday’s episode of the podcast, it wasn’t until after I saw how much the pitching matchup for Monday’s game would “supposedly” favor the Sox that I began to get that gnawing, abysmal feeling in the pit of my stomach that surfaces every time the Sox play a critical game in Minnesota. Coming into this game, Mark Buehrle had been 6-2 with a 1.99 ERA in his last 10 starts. For his career against the Twins he was a stellar 21-11 (his most wins against opponent) and has been one of the few successful Sox pitchers in Minneapolis (10-5 career mark). Opposing him was Kevin Slowey, his dominant run of late June a fading memory as he allowed 15 runs in his last 14 innings to go with a finger injury that pushed back another start. Oh, and did we mention he was 0-2 with a 12.38 ERA against the Sox in two starts this season?

So naturally Buehrle got tagged for a pair of two-run homers by Justin Morneau and Denard Span, two left-handed hitters (lefties had only 3 HR against Mark all season) while Slowey threw a complete game shutout. You decide what it means. All I know is it gives me a lot of comfort seeing as how the deck is now “supposedly” stacked in Minnesota’s favor tomorrow with Glen Perkins matched against Clayton Richard, who’ll be making his second major-league start.

Same teams, same city, same stakes. Different ballpark? All the difference.

All the City Series managed to confirm beyond reproach was the one thing already widely assumed: both Chicago teams are fantastic in their home parks, but something gets lost in translation when they go on the road. How else do you explain Jose Contreras, with the 9-run meltdown at Wrigley, come back six days later and go into the 7th inning against the same lineup in an equally (if not more) hitter-friendly ballpark? Conversely, Ryan Dempster was pounded for 8 runs (7 in one inning) five days after making the Sox look silly…while the Sox bullpen which couldn’t close a screen door last weekend looked like an even better version of the crew that helped win a World Series in 2005. I guess if there is some destiny at work to get the Sox and Cubs into a Crosstown World Series…we better pray the American League wins the All-Star Game.

I said last Friday that I liked the attitude, the sense of urgency coming from the Sox clubhouse after the win at Dodger Stadium on Thursday. They knew what they were coming home to, not just three games that mean infinitely more in the stands than on the field, but three games at home that they needed to have while two teams charging hard in the division kept getting hotter. Nothing changed as the Twins took two of three from the Brewers and and the Tigers swept the Rockies to climb over .500. That’s the true importance of this weekend; sweeping the Cubs was awesome, but picking up a game on the Twins and keeping the Tigers at bay was far more significant in relation to the big picture.

Said big picture really kicks in now, as the Sox welcome supposed divisional heavyweight Cleveland to Comiskey with an opportunity to bury them in the standings, before matchups with Oakland, Kansas City, and Texas to close out the first half. Sweeping an excellent Cubs team that looks like the class of the National League was a nice acheivement, but it will only matter if the Sox take the renewed momentum and start cleaning up where it counts. In 2005, Ozzie told the team “Don’t be happy just to be in the playoffs - win to stay in.” Now would be a good time to say, “Don’t be happy just to be in first place”.

The 2008 White Sox are turning into a team caught in a constant paradox. Some recent surges with the bat have propelled thier offensive numbers out of the depths, while outstanding pitching numbers have begun to level off. Both developments should not come as a huge shock considering how hitter-friendly the home ballpark is when summer time rolls around.

At 42-35 with a lead that’s been sliced down to a half-game by the blazin’-hot Minnesota Twins, the Sox have a lot to be proud of at this point while keeping in mind how much work still lies in front of them. On the plus side of the ledger:

This bullpen was supposed to be a disaster, and it isn’t. It was hard for opposing GMs to contain their laughter when they saw the high-dollar contracts awarded to Scott Linebrink and Octavio Dotel. While not perfect (and each with a pair of walk-off homers against them in the past three weeks) the two have combined to be a dramatic upgrade which has, alongside a revived Matt Thornton and an improving Nick Masset & Boone Logan, provided Bobby Jenks an actual supporting cast in the late innings. While losing 4 games via ninth-inning walk-off since May 30th isn’t exactly something to write home about, a dependable bullpen is the biggest reason the Sox haven’t faded into the pack of the AL Central.

John Danks and Gavin Floyd weren’t supposed to be ready. Danks was supposed to have already hit his ceiling, Floyd was a washed-up product of the hype machine who never got close. While still too early to start campaigning for Cy Young Awards, the alleged weaklings of the rotation have thrown some of the best starts all season for the Pale Hose. Danks in particular has been stellar in the wake of shoddy run support (2 runs or fewer scored on his behalf in 10 starts thru June 25th). The rotation was supposed to be unable to get off the ground after Mark Buehrle. Right now it leads the AL in quality starts.

Meanwhile, the elephant in the room…

The offense isn’t building any consistency…except perhaps to be consistent in their inconsistency. The same corps of hitters that raped and pillaged Kansas City and Minnesota to open June at home got muzzled by the Rockies in their home park and handcuffed by the Cubs on what was a very hitter-friendly weekend at a hitter-friendly field. They can light up a good Twins’ staff just as easily as a household name like Eric Stults can throw a complete game shutout at them.

Going into the season I was counting on three things - that the Sox would have a better offense, simply by virtue of believing the whole team can’t slump for 162 games twice - right? -, that the Sox should have a better bullpen based strictly on the numbers, and that the Sox could have a decent rotation if Danks and Floyd pitched above expectations. So far my expectations have been far surpassed on latter two. On the first, many of the exact same problems that torpedoed the team time after time in 2007 are still popping up, disguised by power-ball explosions that boost up the team offensive rankings - again, after the dismal performance of ‘07 anything looks great by comparison. But this remains a lineup filled with holes despite being third in the AL in runs scored.

Everything evens out over a long, grinding baseball season. You can’t expect dominant pitching every night, just like you shouldn’t expect having a dormant offense every night. But the great teams are the ones that strike the balance early and keep building on that through the season. Right now, even with their status as a pleasant surprise and an undeniably entertaining team to watch, the Sox continue fluxing back and forth between “good” and “mediocre” so much that it makes you very uneasy about the foundation on which they’re built.

I don’t really want to spend one minute longer thinking or writing about the past weekend. The end result is what matters, as it always does. A loss is one loss and a win is one win no matter when it occurs or who it comes against. It just feels like a lot more when the team involved with the Sox is the Cubs, whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing (usually, it’s just a plain stupid thing).

However, despite the fact that only one set of fans left the weekend happy, there was one tidbit that caught my eye in the evening media roundup that I’m sure would leave fans of all stripes amused:

Best media moment: A Sun-Times columnist asking security staffers Saturday to safeguard him from one of his colleagues, who asked for a conversation. Request denied.

So, Northside, Southside, Westside, Black, Blue, ARam or JD, there’s one thing any true Chicagoan would agree on, this incident serving as live, indisputable proof:

Jay Mariotti’s a big-honking doofus.

What’s the matter Jay, you afraid Rick Telander’s gonna poke you with his pen?

Hey, everybody else is doing it! Want proof? Click here & here to get the expert analysis before moving on.

Now, I will fully cop before things even start to being biased. The one thing I stipulate is that I tried to gauge all performances and pick the team in what I call an “immediate context” - as in, if MLB declared that Chicago had to pick one baseball team to play a game tomorrow, a game Chicago had to win in order to continue its existence as a city, who would I want on it? As such, current (like, say, the last two weeks) performances trumped fond memories of Opening Day. So, without further ado, the humble picks of Soxcast for who mans each position on a Chicago Dream Team…

Catcher: AJ Pierzynski, White Sox. Probably the overall toughest call; Geovany Soto is in the middle of a fine campaign and so is the Polish Wonder. How then to break the tie? If we need just one guy to throw out a runner late, we’d probably be making a defensive switch for Soto. But as it is, AJ’s left-handed swing has produced a .308 average and .442 slugging percentage along with the veteran savvy needed to handle a pitching staff everybody had written off before the season started. Soto may very well be on his way to fame as the next great power-hitting catcher, but for this exact moment our vote is with AJ.

First Base: Derrek Lee, Cubs. He kind of wins by default now, doesn’t he? Even if Paul Konerko hadn’t been on the DL, it wasn’t much of a contest. Neither player got off to the start they desired, but Lee has rallied himself while Paulie has battled injury and hard luck throughout the year. Here’s hoping PK gets it back on track after he returns.

Second Base: Alexei Ramirez, White Sox. So many candidates - Ramirez, Juan Uribe, Ronny Cedeno, Mark Fontenot, Mark DeRosa, Pablo Ozuna…wait, not Pablo. But remember, we’re picking the Dream Team that would go out and represent Chicago tomorrow, and we’d be foolish not to pick a guy who’s batting .390 in the month of June to go with some fine (though still rough) glove work. DeRosa’s our first man off the bench if needed.

Shortstop: Ryan Theriot, Cubs. Theriot has the bat, Orlando Cabrera the glove. And yet, there can only be one. Tie goes to the younger in this instance, but given another two weeks Cabrera would probably unseat the Cajun; OC’s average has risen every month, rising from .216 (April) to .265 (May) to .370 so far in June, why’ll Theriot has slipped a little each week from his .340 hot streak in the first month.

Third Base: Joe Crede, White Sox. I take it back. This was the toughest call. Ramirez has a better average, Crede better power stats, and they both have a sub-.950 fielding percentage (Crede the more egregious violater right now with 13 errors.) This is one position where I think my Sox bias is fully coloring my choice, but remember I’m picking the team as if it was one that I were betting the farm on to win a game tomorrow - and if you watched the 2005 playoffs you know how clutch with the bat and the glove Crede can be when it’s all on the line.

Outfield: LF - Carlos Quentin, Sox; CF - Reed Johnson, Cubs, RF - Jermaine Dye, Sox. Quentin wins in left by default with Soriano on the DL, otherwise he’d have been the fourth man. Nick Swisher’s got all his “gamer” bravado and Brian Anderson finally stopped pouting and started playing, but Johnson has them both solidly beat straight up. And in right, it was again the most recent performance that tipped the scales - JD is hitting .292 with 5 HR in June, while the big import prize Kosuke Fukudome has struggled with a .241 clip and is now fluxing thru the Cubs’ lineup.

Starting Pitcher: Many solid candidates, but there can only be one. Remember, I want this guy ready with his ‘A’ game for tomorrow. It probably would’ve been Zambrano, but that MRI throws a wrench into it. Vazquez has concerned me in his more recent starts, and the youngsters Gallagher, Floyd, and Danks have exceeded expectations in their respective roles. Buehrle has been stellar in 6 of his last 8 outings, but he will always be prone to a big inning. So, the pick is…wait for it…Ryan Dempster. I’m shocked too. But Dempster’s been as solid as anybody in the NL and doing it while often waiting for runs to come in behind him. In an emergency stand-by role I’d have (in order) Buehrle, Jose Contreras, & Zambrano pending the test results.

Closer: Bobby Jenks, White Sox. Yeah, I know, we’re all supposed to give Kerry Wood extra credit for doing something nobody counted on him to do - make it two whole days without a freak gasoline fighting injury (Zoolander reference, for those who don’t follow). But Jenks’ has been every bit as dependable in closing 16 of 19 opportunities alongside a 1.91 ERA. If we’re putting together a whole bullpen, I definitely want them both (save for strikeouts, the numbers are almost identical for each man) but my own biased fan opinion tells me to put the ball in Bobby’s hand needing three outs for a championship - because he’s been there before.

In sport, as in life, about the only sure thing is that there is no sure thing. Just because you have an All-World lineup and then add in two more All-World players doesn’t mean you’ll score 1200 runs the following season. Conversely, just because your fourth and fifth starters entered the year with a combined career record of 14-23 doesn’t mean they can’t both be among the league leaders in ERA. It’s a crazy, mixed up world, and sometimes you just take a cue from Mike Sciocsia and instead of saying “I have no idea”, just say, “That’s baseball.”

In baseball, no two teams are alike, nor are they as different as the records might indicate. Granted there are times (plenty of them, really) when it’s quite simple to point out the disparity - the difference between a 90-win team and a 72-win team is obvious. One of them is good and the other one sucks, end of discussion. Other times it’s less clear - take the difference between say, a 94-win team and an 86-win team. It might be an overachieving group in the former or a band of underacheivers in the latter. Whatever the rationale proves out to be, once we start talking about a week’s worth of games or less in the standings, we’re talking about two teams with comparable skills. The team with 94 wins racked up that number because they closed out the games they were supposed to. The latter has a lot of talent but usually is sitting right on the outside of the playoff picture because they didn’t take care of opportunities to nail down wins they should’ve taken over the course of the season. The latter team is the type with an opportunity of a six-game stretch against the worst pitching staff in the National League and the second-worst in the American League, and goes 1-5.

How can you explain the fact the Sox looked to be rolling in late May only to thud atrociously in Tampa, then come home and hang 61 runs in 7 games, and then - facing off against two of the five worst staffs in the game - averaged just 2 runs per contest while dropping 5 of 6? The freakishly on/off nature of the bats can’t be as simple and easy to get rid of as a shrug of the shoulders and a coolly said, “That’s baseball.” Or can it?

The hard truth right now is, despite that brilliant outburst to open the month of June, the Sox remain in search of an identity right now on offense, which only seems to reinforce how much they depend on a) the home run and b) favorable home park conditions in order to achieve any type of consistency. As we move forward into the summer months, the White Sox staff (great as it’s been) is going to have to pitch in the band box known as US Cellular a whole bunch too, so it would be nice if they could get back that comfort zone the hitters provided a week ago. Otherwise, the Sox will have a nice pile of games like the ones they just played to reflect on at the end of the season while saying, “That was the difference.”

Here we are at Memorial Day weekend, and the Cubs and Sox are both in first place. ESPN’s latest Power Rankings elevated the Cubs to the top spot and the Pale Hose to fourth on the heels of their eight-game winning streak that pushed them 3.5 games ahead of the Twins in the AL Central.

Before we got too giddy with the idea of both Chicago teams in the playoffs, let alone the possibility of a Red Line World Series, remember there’s four full months of baseball left to play. The expected giants of the AL Central are stuck in sleep-mode, and while there haven’t been a ton of signs that they’ll be able to wake up and run away from the pack like all predicted they would, I certainly wouldn’t discount the possibility. Right now, the Sox even at 26-22 should be, like Kenny Williams, looking back at a handful of games they’ve already squandered that could’ve really put the pressure on their divisional opponents heading into the summer.

Since Ozzie Guillen’s drastic changes to the lineup - AJ Pierzynski and Carlos Quentin rising to 2 & 3, Thome and Konerko dropping to 5 & 6, along with increased playing time for Alexei Ramirez and sliding Nick Swisher to the eighth spot, the Sox have gone 8-2. More importantly, they have gotten a quality start in 10 of the last 11 games. Joining Mark Buehrle in the “If it weren’t for bad luck, he’d have none at all” category is John Danks, who has had a total of 8 runs scored on his behalf in his four losses (and hasn’t gotten much more support in his wins, even when including the 13-run outburst in San Francisco last Sunday when most of the offense came after he left the game). Bottom line: Sox pitchers are the real deal. Sox offense? I’ll get back to you.

On the heels of the eight-game streak that stretched between the West Coast trip and a home sweep of the floundering Cleveland Indians, the Sox bats have been put back in the deep freezer against Joe Saunder and Jered Weaver of the Angels. It was a disturbing return to the early-May trend of atrocious hitting and starting pitchers turning into their own worst enemy at the most inopportune moment - the Angels scored in only one inning against Gavin Floyd on Friday, and the second and third runs came via two walks, a single, and consecutive hit batsmen. They scored in just one inning against Danks on Saturday. Five runs in 18 innings and the Sox couldn’t win either game.

Of course, before running for the nearest ledge, it’s helpful to remember this Sox team has already outplayed the expectations and people have been saying since mid-April that their pitching staff would come back to earth. They can’t say that now. Meanwhile, the offense that should’ve made some strides by plugging in Cabrera & Swisher has looked to the young Carlos Quentin to carry the load. As we move into summer, the Sox have playoff-caliber pitching. To justify the dreams of an all-Chitown October, they still need to complete the quest for consistent offense.

No plans for April 16th? Head out to the Southside and catch some college baseball while supporting a great cause.

CHICAGO - The Northern Illinois University and the University of Notre Dame baseball teams will play a game U.S. Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, on Wednesday, April 16 at 7:11 p.m.

Tickets will be available starting Monday, March 24 at 10 a.m. at whitesox.com, Ticketmaster phone lines, Chicagoland Ticketmaster outlets, the NIU campus box office and the U.S. Cellular Field box office. All of the money generated from ticket sales benefits the NIU February 14 Scholarship Fund, which has been established to honor the memory of the students slain in its campus tragedy.

All tickets are $10 lower level reserved seating, with the exception of United Scout Seats, which are $50 (food/drink not included). All service fees for tickets have been waived for this special event courtesy of Ticketmaster and Major League Baseball Advance Media.

“Having spent three years at Northern Illinois, the tragedy really hit close to home and affected me a great deal,” said Irish head coach Dave Schrage. “We really wanted to try and do something for the families of those involved. While it’s just a baseball game and may seem trivial, hopefully it can bring something positive from an otherwise tragic situation. We are honored to help Northern Illinois University and the NIU February 14 Scholarship Fund. We want to thank the Chicago White Sox for reaching out to this tremendous cause.”

“The White Sox are honored to host Northern Illinois and Notre Dame at U.S. Cellular Field for this special game and important cause,” Brooks Boyer, White Sox chief marketing officer and vice president. “Both schools boast a significant fan base in Chicago that will make for a great night of great baseball while serving a much more important cause.”

Gates to the ballpark will open at 5:30 p.m. Parking is free in Lots A (bus parking), B and C and concessions stands will be open during the game.