Sharing Sox Podcast 57 — When Did the HOFBP Blow the Playoffs Edition — 2021-10-14

In the wake of the whomping the White Sox took from the Astros in the ALDS, most every writer or commentator is talking about what a shelling it was and how bad decisions by the HOFBP were instrumental in the team’s demise. But SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, say the collapse was ordained in early summer when warnings from Steve Stone and many others went unheeded and the White Sox starting pitchers were horribly overused. (Listen to the numbers on abuse of Carlos Rodón, if you don’t believe us). They again raise a bunch of details they’ve mentioned before (and pretty much no one else has) about how much more Sox starters pitched than the staffs on any other team in baseball, both in number of innings, and, more importantly, number of pitches, given the quintet’s remarkably low efficiency and consequent high number of pitches per inning. Not that there weren’t terrible bullpen decisions during the series, and not that the HOFBP hurling idiotic accusations about the Astros intentionally hitting José Abreu five innings and three appearances after José Altuve was hit — on the seventh pitch of an at-bat, no less — wasn’t just one more display of what a classless, arrogant jerk he is. Do they say absolutely anybody, including a reasonably trained rooster, could have managed the White Sox to the AAAL Central title? Sure. Do they call for the HOFBP to be fired? Of course. Do they think there’s any chance that will happen? Of course not. And not that there wasn’t a lot of ranting about Astros and cheating and such, though the two disagree on whether cheering when Altuve got hit was over-the-top fan nastiness (other fan nastiness being perfectly fine). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices