This may be a first for Jon Garland....

[BigNDfan80]

Check out ESPN.com. They're calling Jon..April's best pitcher. ESPN also has the White Sox ranked number 1 in the power rankings after one month of baseball.

[Wanne]

Yeah...and right underneath it is an article by Neyer on why the Sox won't win the Central...pffffft

[southsider2k5]

Congrats for Jon. After all of the abuse he has gotten, I am glad to see he is getting at least a moment in the sun .

[BuehrleTheAce]

MSN.com also has the Sox ranked #1 but the dolt says they won't win the Central.

 

Doesn't bother me in the least, I don't need justification by so-called "sports experts" to enjoy my team's early success and hopes that it'll continue throughout the season.

[LosMediasBlancas]

Last night on baseball tonight, they did a 'best of April', not ONE mention of anything White Sox.

[ISUSox15]

This is hilarious, we are doing great and all they can talk about is why it will go wrong. They never do this for any other teams. ESPN sucks and the sox will continue to kick ass and take names while shoving it up their sorry analysts' ass.

 

From dan patrick to this neyer b**** all its been is negatives. Do they talk about how s***y the yankees pitching is, NOPE..........they will just highlight DJ and AROD. I could really write about this s*** for hours but im gonna go vent somewhere else and wait patiently another 7 hours until Jose gets on the mound and throw his ass off again.

 

:finger ESPN

[AnthraxFan93]

I was looking on Monster.. Where does one apply to be a baseball expert? Cause to me its a huge guessing game, but just make sure you mention the Cubs, Yankees or Red SOx and your godlike.

[shakes]

Bradly (Talbott, TN): Can the White Sox continue their streak? I know MIN is still the defending AL Central Champ, but the Sox look like they finally have a good blend of players this year. Does it continue, or is April simply a mirage?

 

Tim Kurkjian: (1:12 PM ET ) It's not a mirage, but they're not going 16-6 every month. The Twins are the team to beat in that division, but the White Sox have better starting pitching than people think. They've upgraded their speed and defense and if Frank Thomas comes back and is productive, their offense should be OK. Think Chicago will contend the entire season, but I think the Twins will win the division.

 

From TK chat. At least they are changiing their tune a bit. Acknowledging we will contend.

[WilliamTell]

That's awesome to see Jon on there. Naturally someone has to diss the Sox though.

[EvilJester99]

Bradly (Talbott, TN): Can the White Sox continue their streak? I know MIN is still the defending AL Central Champ, but the Sox look like they finally have a good blend of players this year. Does it continue, or is April simply a mirage?

 

Tim Kurkjian: (1:12 PM ET ) It's not a mirage, but they're not going 16-6 every month. The Twins are the team to beat in that division, but the White Sox have better starting pitching than people think. They've upgraded their speed and defense and if Frank Thomas comes back and is productive, their offense should be OK. Think Chicago will contend the entire season, but I think the Twins will win the division.

 

From TK chat. At least they are changiing their tune a bit. Acknowledging we will contend.

Well atleast the Sox have gone from battling the Royals for last place to now they will contend... do these f***ing guys really get paid for this s***??

[southsider2k5]

I am still not convinced we will win the AL Central either. We have played weak teams, and are still only 2 1/2 games ahead of a 2nd half team. It isn't hard to imagine the Twins winning the Central IMO. And based on history, you know the Twins will have a big run in them. We might have already seen ours.

[T R U]

They're calling Jon..April's best pitcher.

 

Like there was any doubt

[3E8]

I am still not convinced we will win the AL Central either.  We have played weak teams, and are still only 2 1/2 games ahead of a 2nd half team.  It isn't hard to imagine the Twins winning the Central IMO.  And based on history, you know the Twins will have a big run in them.  We might have already seen ours.

4 out of the 6 teams we played are .500 or over. I'd say we've played one weak team.

[BuehrleTheAce]

I was looking on Monster.. Where does one apply to be a baseball expert? Cause to me its a huge guessing game, but just make sure you mention the Cubs, Yankees or Red SOx and your godlike.

 

All it takes is a journalism degree and a passion for jumping the fence at a moments notice.

 

Long gone are the days of unbiased journalism. Today's "journalist" is nothing if he doesn't express an opinion, and that opinion typically is of popular opinion.

[southsider2k5]

4 out of the 6 teams we played are .500 or over.  I'd say we've played one weak team.

 

Dispite what the records say, Oakland and Minnesota are the only "good" teams we have played. Seattle I could accept as good, but they were also missing their best hitter at the time, and we ducked their best pitchers. Detroit, Cleveland, and KC just flat out suck.

[EvilJester99]

Dispite what the records say, Oakland and Minnesota are the only "good" teams we have played.  Seattle I could accept as good, but they were also missing their best hitter at the time, and we ducked their best pitchers.  Detroit, Cleveland, and KC just flat out suck.

But but they said Detoilet and Cleveland were soooo much better than the Sox though!!! :banghead

[tonyho7476]

But but they said Detoilet and Cleveland were soooo much better than the Sox though!!!  :banghead

 

We get no f***ing respect!

[LosMediasBlancas]

Dispite what the records say, Oakland and Minnesota are the only "good" teams we have played.  Seattle I could accept as good, but they were also missing their best hitter at the time, and we ducked their best pitchers.  Detroit, Cleveland, and KC just flat out suck.

 

 

I think the AL Central overall is gonna surprise a lot of people this year. I think people just repeat what they hear and read and that's all we've heard and read the past 3 years. IMO, the West is weaker than last few years, the East is weaker that the past few years. The central is better than the past few years.

I wouldn't say Detroit and Cleveland suck.....not just yet.

[Balta1701]

If Oakland and Minnesota were the only good teams we played...well that's a great thing, because it means its the Sox & Twins battling for the top of the division, and I like a 2 team race much better than a 4 team one. Maybe it'll also shut Dimitri Young up.

 

And on top of that...let's also remember that everyone is calling the Twins a good team, and we've taken 4 out of 5 from them (thereby giving the Twinkies 4 losses, btw.)

 

And I'm a bit bewildered by Rob Neyer's piece on why the Sox won't win the AL Central, especially since Rob Neyer picked the Sox to win the AL Central barely a month ago! (I'd give you a link but I don't have ESPN Insider access)

[SleepyWhiteSox]

I am still not convinced we will win the AL Central either.  We have played weak teams, and are still only 2 1/2 games ahead of a 2nd half team.  It isn't hard to imagine the Twins winning the Central IMO.  And based on history, you know the Twins will have a big run in them.  We might have already seen ours.

 

I could see that too, but I think it's the pessimist in me...

 

This could turn out to be a special year. I mean, we can't just dismiss this good start. Regardless of who they beat or how they won, would you rather they lost a few more?

[3E8]

Dispite what the records say, Oakland and Minnesota are the only "good" teams we have played.  Seattle I could accept as good, but they were also missing their best hitter at the time, and we ducked their best pitchers.  Detroit, Cleveland, and KC just flat out suck.

I don't buy that. Of the "sucky" teams we've faced Millwood (2), Westbrook, Bonderman, Ledezma (not great stats, but given us problems), and Grienke. Franklin is one of Seattle's best pitchers right now (2nd best I'd say), and we found a way to win that one. Last time I checked, Sexson wasn't Seattle's best hitter either.

 

Let's not take anything away from the Sox by saying they've played s***ty teams, because they haven't. We still have a chance to equal and better the best April in the organization's history. Also, being "only" 2.5 games ahead of the Twins isn't half bad considering 30% of their games have been against the worst team in baseball.

[southsider2k5]

I think the AL Central overall is gonna surprise a lot of people this year.  I think people just repeat what they hear and read and that's all we've heard and read the past 3 years. IMO, the West is weaker than last few years, the East is weaker that the past few years. The central is better than the past few years.

I wouldn't say Detroit and Cleveland suck.....not just yet.

 

Personally I am not repeating anything. I sat and watched almost every inning of all of the games we have played this year. Those two teams might be better, but they are definately not good teams IMO.

[gsoxs1]

Detroit, Cleveland, and KC just flat out suck.

 

Aren't we suppose to beat up on the bad teams? Why is that such a negative. A ggod team should and the Sox will beat up on the bad teams.

[southsider2k5]

Aren't we suppose to beat up on the bad teams?  Why is that such a negative.  A ggod team should and the Sox will beat up on the bad teams.

 

Its a negative because that means we still have games left against good teams.

[Balta1701]

Its a negative because that means we still have games left against good teams.

 

I don't buy into this at all. Yeah, we do still have games against plenty of good teams (Angels, Yankees, Bosox come to mind), but on the other hand, we've been hot at the time it would help us the most. We opened this season against the AL Central. 2 teams in the AL Central were supposed to be much improved this season: Cleveland and Detroit. We've played both and beaten up on both. Minnesota was supposed to be even better this season than last. We've given them a little bloody nose.

 

If you're trying to win a division, the best time to be hot is against your own division. The more you beat up on yoru own division, the harder it becomes for them to pass you. The only team I'll say we've played that can't finish the season .500 or better is the Royals, and we've beaten up on everyone but Oakland. (ANd we would have beaten oakland if either we could catch the ball or the umps called better games).

 

We've played good teams and we've roughed them up. It's a very good sign.