Long Odds
Last night felt bad because it was bad. Such is the fragile existence of a fringe contender.
Talk of Paul Konerko missing, Freddy GaGa exiting and Gordon Beckham aching only obscured the more painful facts on the AL scoreboard as the Sox were drubbed in Detroit.
Jim Thome's thunderous bat helped the Twins pound the Royals, making for these bleak numbers:
Baseball Prospectus calculates that 6.86 percent of Sox playoff possibility was lost yesterday. They are now a one-in-ten shot. Nothing short of a sweep of the Twins next week will suffice, if that series matters at all.
And the Thome stuff is getting ridiculous. Seriously. An OPS of 1.042? A wOBA of .437? Really?
Hub Arkush joins us at 5:00 today to take your calls on the Bears and the NFL. In case you are new to the show (or just don't remember how we do things during football season), Terry and I talk to Hub Tuesdays at 5:00, and you can interrogate him Wednesdays at the same time.
Zach Zaidman will have the latest from Halas Hall, too.
Not much national love for the Bears, it appears. I may have missed the expert who thinks otherwise, but the consensus has them as a loser -- the power ranking average crunched by Real Clear Sports places them 21st of the league's 32 (average of 21.8 in the eight polls used). SI's Don Banks says they'll be 5-11, and last in the NFC North.
Brian Billick offers his thoughts tomorrow, and "Who You Crappin?" is set for 5:00. Friday, Terry and I will be in Plainfield on the Bud Light "Who Needs Two?" Tavern Tour. Make plans to start your weekend with us at the Buffalo Wild Wings on Route 59.
