irates in his first season with the Brewers, but he is 0-1 with a 5.65 ERA in three

This story is part of ESPN The Magazines Oct. 31 NBA Preview Issue. Subscribe today!Chicago White SoxOverall: 96 Title track: T35 Ownership: 103 Coaching: 122 Players: 90 Fan relations: 116 Affordability: 27 Stadium experience:?91 Bang for the buck: 78 Change from last year: -11This spring, a baseball team in Chicago steamrolled through April and early May, winning at a .697 clip through game No. 33 on the backs of a gleaming sub-3.00 team ERA and a .300-plus OBP. And that team was not the Cubs! OK, it was. But it was also the White Sox, who played like world-beaters for the first five weeks of the season, only to let the world dole out beatings at their expense for the final 21. The Sox finished the year under .500 for the fourth straight time, then said goodbye to Robin Ventura, their all-time best third baseman-turned-beleaguered manager. It was ... not a winning formula in the AL Central (11 games out of the wild card) or the Ultimate Standings. The Sox rank No. 96 overall, the teams lowest ranking since 2004.Whats goodThe expiration date on the White Soxs 2005 World Series-engendered goodwill still looms far off, at least according to Chicagos T35 showing in title track. (When your team lands in the postseason nine times since 1901, a long shelf life makes a sad kind of sense.) Besides championship runs, the Sox logged just one top-50 grade, in affordability. An average White Sox ticket ran fans $29.55, compared to their crosstown rivals $51.33. If you cant beat the Cubs on the field, beat them off of it!Whats badVentura spent a decade on the South Side, where he collected five Gold Gloves and an All-Star berth from 1989-1998. But his success as a player in pinstripes did not translate to success as a skipper in pinstripes. In five seasons at the helm, Ventura won only 46 percent of his games, and this year -- with the organization expected to finally contend for the playoffs after a seven-year absence -- he fell short again, as his team finished 16? games behind the AL Central-leading Indians. Ventura chose to not return to the White Sox, and as a parting gift, the fans gave him a No. 122 ranking in coaching, dead last among all four sports.Whats newWho do the White Sox want to be? Which direction do they want to pursue? Do they go win-now mode and buffer their stable of stars with some high-priced free agents? Or do they burn the house down, offload Chris Sale and Jose Quintana and turn their focus to the farm? Owner Jerry Reinsdorf, at the helm since 1981, doesnt seem to know, and the fans confidence in him has plummeted in turn. Chicago dropped 38 spots in ownership since last year, and Reinsdorfs wishy-washy handling of Venturas departure this fall -- the Sox said theyd bring the manager back next season if he wanted to return -- wont do much to endear him to a restless fan base.Next: New York Yankees | Full rankingsKyrie 4 Confetti For Sale . LOUIS -- Roman Polak was celebrating even before Alexander Steen scored the winning goal in Saturdays 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Kyrie 2 For Sale .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J. http://www.kyrieirvingshoescheap.com/cheap-kyrie-1-shoes-a.html . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. Kyrie 3 Bruce Lee For Sale .C. -- Chris Thorburn thinks one of the reasons the Winnipeg Jets have been successful under new coach Paul Maurice is that theyre playing together as a team. Kyrie 2 For Sale Mens . -- Ken Appleby made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 2-0 win over the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action.PITTSBURGH -- The Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates will get a heavy dose of each other the rest of the way, starting Tuesday when the National League Central teams face off in PNC Park.The clubs have met just three times this season, with Pittsburgh taking two of three in a home series April 15-17. Tuesdays game will be the first of 16 remaining games between them.We definitely have a lot of Pirates and Cubs in the second half, Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. Division games in general, there are less unknowns. There is familiarity. It really becomes more of a game between the hitter and pitcher. It becomes more of a cat-and-mouse game.Both clubs had Monday off and are coming off of one-run games Sunday, but the results were strikingly different.Pittsburgh recorded a stamina-testing, character-defining 2-1 win at Washington on Starling Martes 18th-inning home run. The Pirates blew a 1-0 lead when they were a strike away from a win in the ninth.I love the grit of our club, Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. I dont know if a game like this builds character, but it reveals character.The Pirates can only hope that character translates to more offense as they open an eight-game homestand. In their three games at Washington -- counting innings, the equivalent of four games -- they managed just three runs.Milwaukee, by comparison, scored 13 runs in its weekend series at Cincinnati. The problem was, they all came in the first two games. On Sunday, the Brewers lost a heartbreaking 1-0 game with the winning run coming on a walk-off passed ball by catcher Jonathan Lucroy with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.That ending might have masked the fact that Milwaukees offense suddenly dried up.Offensively, we had six baserunners (total), CCounsell said.dddddddddddd We didnt really have a rally. Six baserunners. Its tough to score right there.On Tuesday, Milwaukee right-hander Chase Anderson (4-10, 5.44 ERA) and Pittsburgh rookie right-hander Jameson Taillon (2-1, 3.86 ERA) will each be starting for the first time since the All-Star break.For Anderson, it will be his third start since the Brewers skipped his spot in the rotation in late June.We put together a plan where Chase would be the guy that gets a break, Counsell said at that time. We decided he was a good guy to get a break.Anderson understood.Theyre looking out for my career, he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel then. I appreciate that.Unfortunately for him and the Brewers, it hasnt seemed to help.Andersons last start, July 9 against the Cardinals, continued a trend he no doubt would like to end. He gave up two runs on four hits over four innings in an 8-1 loss. He struck out five, but he also walked a career-high five and gave up a home run.Anderson is 0-4 with a 9.61 ERA over his past five starts, none of them quality starts, and he is averaging just five innings per start.Anderson has not faced the Pirates in his first season with the Brewers, but he is 0-1 with a 5.65 ERA in three career starts against Pittsburgh.Taillon, meanwhile, will come off of the disabled list to start Tuesday, marking a change that was announced Sunday. Originally, Jeff Locke was scheduled to start, but Locke will now go on Wednesday.Taillon, who will face Milwaukee for the first time, could be stepping into a regular role in the five-man rotation. He has been out since June 30 due to right shoulder fatigue. ' ' '