I have a friend who is a White Sox fan and he would get ill when Billy Koch came into a game. I'm getting that way myself with Kline. I always really liked Kline - thought he had some personality, good reliever, and I was sure he was going to be a good signing. And I'm past his stupid newspaper comments from earlier this year. I'm not past him sucking. I thought he was putting it together after his slow start, and then wham, wham, Jacque Jones and Shannon Stewart go back-to-back and the game is lost. I wonder if he'll have another tantrum for getting booed. And who can he blame this one on? Wind? Were the balls misshapen?
In worse news, Luis Matos suffered a broken finger trying to bunt, so it looks like he'll join Sammy Sosa on the disabled list. I guess Keith Reed is going to come up. I won't even get into Keith Reed.
And now, we're basically the same team we were last year, with better pitching and a crappy, crappy outfield. Expect lots of mix-and-match with Bigbie, Newhan, Gibbons and Surhoff. I don't expect Reed will see much time.
All I ask for is that with this extra opening, PLEASE let Walter Young try to hit major league pitching. We need another bat now. What is there to lose?
Steve Kline 17, My Patience 4.