Error-free baseball not enough to flip Favoretto Division Champions
LIVONIA (Ford Field) – Even the achievement of error-free defense was not enough for the 2024 White Sox, as they drop their season opener to the 40+ Orioles at Ford Field.
The O’s grabbed control early, with six hits for six runs in the first, and ultimately sending eleven men to the plate. To his credit, Sox starter Toshi Endo pitched the next five and completed the game, giving up only three more hits and one more run throughout.
Orioles pitchers kept their opponents dazed and confused, racking up a dozen strikeouts, with a K ending every single inning. They remain the clear favorite to repeat as division champs.
The game was not without encouraging signs for the White Sox. Tak Uchibori was 2-2 with a double, and Derek Welt and Toshi Miyasato both went 2-3, with Welt driving in both Sox runs in the fourth. But the lower half of the lineup was unable to contribute or sustain any rally, and the team left nine men on base.
“We’ve got our work cut out for us, we have got to protect the plate to win games, and I’m tired of setting a bad example with my own play” snapped Sox manager Erik Lindquist. “Tonight, we had five guys who ably stepped up and did their jobs in the meat of the order, and others who need to prepare better for tough pitching like the Orioles.”
Hudson homers but Sox falter late, hand game to Muddies, 5-3
Gray Guys hang in and wait for late-game White Sox mistakes
LIVONIA (Ford Field) – Alex Hudson homered in his White Sox debut, and the Sox staff held Mudville to just four hits and a single earned run. It seemed like a formula for success, but the Sox blinked in the seventh and dropped the first of four meetings this year.
Mudville drew first blood with a run in the top of the fourth, but that lead did not hold through the fifth. Tom Pullis doubled to lead off the inning, and was replaced by the speedy Wil Marquez. Keith Witherspoon singled to drive in Marquez, setting the stage for Hudson’s two-run blast to right center, more than home run distance from the plate but still inside the park. Running hard the whole way, Wilson raced in to beat a triple relay throw arriving too late, and the White Sox had the lead, 3-1. “Have you updated the stats yet?”, Wilson snarled at the Sox skipper as he entered the dugout.
Pullis bore the brunt of the White Sox defensive breakdown. After Tak Uchibori threw the first two as a starter, followed by Lehman, then Fisher, in relief, Pullis entered in the sixth. Carrying a 3-1 lead into the top of the seventh, Mudville’s leadoff hitter reached on an error, another batter was unable to move out of the way of a curveball. When it was all over, Casey’s team put four runs to retake the lead, and the White Sox could not come back in their final at-bats. In the inherent unfairness of certain baseball statistics, Pullis got the undeserved ‘L’.
For the second game in a row, the White Sox lineup was ineffective everywhere but the meat of the order, leaving ten men stranded. Hudson was the plate standout (1-2, HR(1), 2RBI), along with Pullis (2-2 with a double) and Witherspoon, who scored once, knocked in a run, and was driven in himself on Wilson’s homer. The aforementioned pitchers combined to limit Mudville to just four hits total, but when combined with three errors led to five runs (one earned).
These two squads will meet again at historic Hamtramck Stadium on June 29. Next game for the White Sox is June 6 vs. the Dodgers at Kyte Monroe. Plenty of tickets are available.
Lefty settles in after first, Sox hitters bust out in 4th, 6th for 12-3 win
ST. CLAIR SHORES (Kyte Monroe) – The 40+ White Sox earned their first win of 2024, owing to timely hitting, solid defense, and a strong outing by pitcher Ken Grawburg.
This was the first outing of the season for #44, and he made the most of it. Following a two-run first on a pair of doubles, "Kenny G." settled in and limited the Dodgers to just one more hit through five.
Meanwhile, the Sox offense rang up two runs in the second stanza to tie the score, then grabbing the lead in fourth with three more runs. With the score 5-2 in the top of the sixth, Grawburg started a two-out rally with a single, stealing himself all the way to third for Brian Sexton to drive him in, and seizing the momentum for the Sox. By the time the half-inning ended on a play at the plate, the Southsiders had tallied six more runs and were firmly in command of the game. Toshi Endo and Toshi Miyasato finished the moundwork with efficiency in the sixth and seventh.
At the plate, Terry Graham, Derek Welt, Tak Uchibori and Grawburg were all hot at 2-3, and Miyasato contributed by driving in three. But it was Tom Pullis who was “en fuego”: 3-3, 3 runs scored, 2 RBI with a double. Those numbers have put him up with the league leaders in total bases, and he’s holding on to a 0.00 ERA as well.
The next White Sox game will be Friday June 14th, 6:00 PM against the Cubs at Livonia's Ford Field. Club level patrons enjoy bleacher seating and expanded Port-O-Let access.
Big days for several Sox at plate; Lehman snags win after Sexton does the heavy lifting through five; Southsiders roll to end game by mercy rule
LIVONIA (Ford Field) – As the Cubs busted lose for four runs in the bottom of the fourth, Manager Erik Lindquist noticed something was missing as they trotted off the field. It took him a second to identify it.
“Fear”, said Lindquist. “In the past, that one bad inning will do us in, we doubt our ability to come back. I knew we had it.” Sometimes, that message is difficult to properly convey to players, who are hyperfocused on the details of their personal performance.” In this Friday evening contest, both teams held firm defensively, taking a 1-1 game into the bottom of the fourth. But with Brian Sexton pitching, these Cubs capitalized on opportunities with men on base. When the dust cleared after ten batters, the White Sox found themselves down 6-1 with just a couple at-bats left.
Newcomer Paul Tinebro led off the fifth with a crisp double, followed by hits from Chris Wilkson, Terry Graham, and then Erik Lindquist. Following a walk and strikeout, the two-out rally continued with consecutive singles by 3-4-5 hitters Alex Hudson, Tom Pullis, and Tak Uchibori driving in 4 more runs. With Lehman headed to the mound, he was the beneficiary of those six runs. Lehman faced just four batters and that finished the Cubs, who have made significant strides toward improvement this year. As the White Sox rolled up another seven runs to put the game out of reach in the top of the seventh, the umpires ended the game with the mercy rule.
Hudson continued his hot hitting month, going 3-3, and driving in a trio of runs. He leads the 40+ in home runs all season to date, with a couple challengers now tied with him. Tom Pullis has been a hit machine in the cleanup spot, going 1-2 with a walk and run batted in, to lower his batting average to .700. Four others had multihit games: Keith Witherspoon, Genki Koga, Lindquist & Tinebro, who also had a double, drove in two, and walked. As mentioned, Lehman earns the Win after facing just for batters.
In a battle for first place of the Homant division, the White Sox will face the Angels June 19 at Hazel Park. This is a field change from the pre-season schedule, so all season ticket holders will receive a voucher for free admission to 10 future games, at the gate.
Toshi-E fans five, allows one earned; offense comes through as Graham, Uchibori grab extra bases, Rogers, Pullis, Fisher heat up
ROCHESTER HILLS (Lutheran Northwestern) – Toshi Endo, the Sox most consistent pitcher of the last three years, came through on maximum effort to lead the team to a great win over the Redbirds.
After a couple errors, led to two unearned runs, Toshi started the third with a strikeout before Briethaupt took him deep to give the Redbirds a 3-0 lead. Endo righted the ship and didn’t allow another run all day, finishing with a complete game win and pushing the Sox to first place in the Homant Division.
In the third, Chris Wilkson scored on Endo’s sacrifice fly with a nifty slide past home, reaching back to record the Sox first run. Southsider bats sprang to life in the bottom of the fourth, Terry Graham and Keith Witherspoon doubled, and when the smoke cleared the White Sox led 4-3. Work continued in the fifth, including a Tak Uchibori double, and three more runs crossed, pushing the Sox lead to four. On the day, Jason Rogers, Tom Pullis, and Mike Fisher each went 3-3, with Pullis scoring twice, and pushing him higher among the league leaders in hitting. Wilkson was 2-for-2 with a nasty HBP leaving a two-seam beauty mark on his elbow.
But Endo’s pitching was the deciding factor. Seven innings puts him among the league leaders in innings pitched, and Sunday marked his second complete game of the young season. New additions to the outfield will allow him to pitch more frequently, and the White Sox look forward to it!
The Southsiders are back in action Wednesday night at Clawson, facing the Cubs in the late game. On Saturday, the Sox will go against Mudville, with Ms. Joyce Stearnes expected to lead the team to victory at the Hamtramck park named for her father. Game time on the 29th is 10AM and tickets are FREE for Sox fans of all ages! See you in Ham-town!
Palehose escape Cubs 9-8, Brian Sexton leads the way as Sox win fourth straight
Chris Wilkson ties score with double steal of home; Sexton scores winning run as the Southsiders come back; Pullis notches the Save
CLAWSON (City Park) –The home-team Sox took command early and cruised along entering the fifth. That’s about the time the Cubs decided enough was enough, taking advantage of lackadaisical defense to put up three in the fifth, and grabbing the lead with two more in the sixth.
Starter Brian Sexton was solid through four but by the top of five, Cub hitters had seen a lot of pitches. The Sox defense proceeded to lay out the red carpet for the Wrigley elites, throwing the ball around carelessly and giving away too many free bases. In action for the first time at Clawson this year, the White Sox were characteristically decent on defense to that point. In the fifth they plated three, and with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth, the Cubs grabbed the lead and seemingly spoiled reliever Mike Fisher’s time on the tiny mound.
In the home half of the sixth stanza, Wilkson led off with a walk and Sexton’s single moved him to third. With the light-hitting Erik Lindquist at the plate, Sexton took off for second, and when the throw went through to second base, Wilkson broke for home and scored easily, tying the game. Sexton later scored on a single by Toshi Endo, giving the lead back to the White Sox and setting Fisher for the win. Tom Pullis closed the game 1-2-3, hustling to take a popup himself, then fanning two to end the game.
At the plate, Sexton was 3-for-3, driving in a run and scoring twice. Ray Brooks (2-3) and Derek Welt (1-1) charted extra base hits, and Endo was 2-4, missing out on a third RBI when the runner was thrown out at the plate in the sixth.
The win keeps the White Sox on top of the Homant Division at 4-2, with the Angels just ½ game back.
Sox Fall to Woodpeckers Palehose record falls below .500 to start second half of season
REDFORD (Capitol Park) - The White Sox played poorly in all facets, losing to the Motor City Woodpeckers. Derek Welt had two doubles in the losing effort. Pitcher Toshi Endo was the unfortunate victim of limited control, offensive failures and deficient defense by the Sox.
The scorebook was extremely damaged by the tears of White Sox Manager Erik Lindquist. "We anticipate being able to recover the ugly stats eventually, certainly before the end of the season" snapped the Southsider skipper. "Who cares whether I was 0-1, or 0-2, or 0-5? I don't even care enough to choose a suitable typeface for the headline. Y'all can choke down some Comic Sans."
The Sox will need to regroup before August 12, when the Palehose visit the Dodgers at Royal Oak. Because of extremely low ticket sales, the Brian Sexton bobblehead promotion has been postponed indefinitely.
Rogers’ grand slam propels White Sox over Dodgers 9-6 in 40+ Playoffs
Endo stymies Dodgers hitters in complete game victory; Sox advance to Homant Division Championship Series
REDFORD (Capitol Park) – The 40+ White Sox of the Detroit MSBL advanced to the championship series for the first time since winning in 2021, with a win over the 3rd place Dodgers at Capitol Park.
Toshi Endo took the bump for the Sox, settling in only after giving up a trio of runs in the first. In the second, bottom of the second, the Southsiders’ Brian Sexton drove in Alex Hudson, while the Blue Crew plated another run in the top of the third.
After Tom Pullis and Hudson drove in runs, the stage was set for shortstop Jason Rogers. Keith Witherspoon and Toshi Miyasato joined Hudson on the bases, White Sox #4 drove the ball well over the head of the retreating Dodger centerfielder, and it was off to the races. Rogers first homer of his MSBL career gave the Sox the lead 7-4. Pitcher Endo dialed in nicely with the help of first-year catcher Genki Koga, making the lead stick with a perfect bunt single to add a couple of insurance runs, and sealing the deal for a complete game playoff win.
Rogers was joined by Hudson and Koga at two hits each, while Pullis and Ken Grawburg each scooped up a triple. Hudson and Derek Welt doubled, with the White Sox demonstrating their extra-base potential for the next round.
Endo’s effort means that the White Sox will enter the Homant Series with even more pitching depth compared to previous campaigns. When no one asked, Manager Erik Lindquist stated “We look forward to facing the Angels again. We’ve underperformed in previous quests for the championship. It’s high time that anyone gave that team some competition, and we are keen for the challenge.”
Weather permitting, Tuesday, September 24th at Hazel Park will be the spot for Games #1 and #2, starting at 6PM. In the event of a rainout, each regular-price ticket can be redeemed for five seats on September 27th .
White Sox Schedule