The White Sox Lineup as Craft Beer- 2013 Edition

Mmmmm craft beer. Drink it in. Literally.

First off, I have to admit, I totally stole this idea from Comcast Sports Net's JJ Stankevitz, who wrote about the 2011 White Sox as different types of beer. But if you know me, you know that I love beer and that I love the White Sox. Even better, the White Sox have some pretty solid craft beer and food offerings at US Cellular field, so it seems that this area is something that resonates with Sox fans, or Chicago fans in general. So, basically what I’m going to do is try and match each player in the Sox lineup with a different type of beer, link to that beer on Beer Advocate so you can see how good people think the beer is, tell you a bit about the beer, and explain why it matches with this player. Hopefully you enjoy, and drink more craft beer!

The Chicago White Sox 2013 Preview/Drinking Game: MLB Overview, Season Overview, Acquisitions, and Offense!

Photo courtesy of whitesox.tumblr.com

Baseball is back! And after an opening day gem from new $32M man Chris Sale (7.2 IP, 7 H, 7 K, 1 BB, 104 pitches), and a 417 foot blast from new everyday catcher Tyler Flowers led to a 1-0 win for the Pale Hose, things are looking up on the South Side! Or are they? Well, that’s what we aim to find out. So come join us here at Ghostride the WHIP as we take a look at Manager Robin Ventura’s 2013 White Sox. Read on for my preview, predictions, and drinking fun! 

MLB Overview:

So what’s new in the MLB? First, as was evidenced on Opening Night, the Houston Astros are in the American League now! For those of you keeping track at home, this makes 15 AL teams and 15 NL teams. In years past, the 14 (AL) to 16 (NL) balance of teams led to an even breakdown of NL and AL matchups on any given day. This year, however, things will be different, as the uneven number of teams in each league will result in interleague matchups nearly every day. This means the “cross-town classic” or “BP cup” or whatever you’d like to call it between the Sox and Cubs will be trimmed down from two 3-game series to two 2-game series in 2013 and future years. While there are mixed views on this, I always loved the Cubs/Sox rivalry and will be sad to see those 3 game sets go.

The other bit of under the radar news is that the MLB begins testing for Human Growth Hormone (HGH) this year. Baseball got a (deservedly) bad rap in the late ‘90s/early 2000’s when Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, and some other guy named Barry were pretty clearly using performance enhancing drugs. But lately, the MLB should be commended for increasing its drug-testing, as in-season HGH testing marks a big step in PED awareness. Last year, Melky Cabrera was having a great year for the San Francisco Giants and tested positive for testosterone, resulting in a 50 game ban. Keep an eye out for the effects of HGH testing, whether it’s more players getting suspensions or a decline in overall power numbers. (Decline in overall power numbers is also referred to as the “Adam Dunn,” but we’ll get to that later.)

Sox Season Overview: