Sox know it's still a race to the end

[greasywheels121]

http://whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/ar...t=.jsp&c_id=cws

 

Sox know it's still a race to the end

Hot play must continue to hold off second-place Twins

By Scott Merkin / MLB.com

 

SAN DIEGO -- A world-famous Chicago-based newspaper columnist once made the following observation concerning the plight of Cubs fans.

 

An optimist looks at a glass and sees it as half full. A pessimist sees the glass as half empty. A Cubs fan looks at this same glass and asks, 'When is it going to spill?'

 

Baseball hardship certainly hasn't been limited to the North Side of town. While the Cubs have not captured a World Series title since 1908, the White Sox are close behind, with their last championship coming in 1917.

 

That's 183 seasons of combined futility, if people are scoring at home. But something clearly is happening with Ozzie Guillen's charges in 2005 that ultimately could transform tears of frustration and heartbreak to hundreds of thousands of fans celebrating in Grant Park.

 

The White Sox's pitching has been better than expected, and the expectations were pretty high going in, and their switch from power to speed has produced immediate dividends. Sure, the season is only 59 games old, and even with the White Sox's great start, the Minnesota Twins sit just four games behind in pursuit of their fourth straight American League Central title.

 

A pessimist, or in this case, the better terminology would be a cautious White Sox first baseman, could point out that reaching 50 games over .500 wouldn't matter if the second-place team still was close on its heels.

 

"We can't shake [the Twins], and that to me is the whole story," said Paul Konerko of the tight race in the Central. "If we were only 10 games over .500 but seven games up, I would take that.

 

"The whole thing, the whole object is to win the division and get to the playoffs. So, I'm not getting caught up in records. Games behind and ahead are all that matters."

 

Konerko echoed a point made by Guillen during numerous pre-game media sessions this year, in that the Twins will be in this race until the end. The slugger also put forth a guess of 95 victories as to what the White Sox possibly will need to reach the postseason.

 

In breaking with Chicago baseball tradition, Konerko's assessment should be viewed with a positive outlook. If 95 is the magic number, then the White Sox need to post a 55-48 record from Friday in San Diego until the end of the season. They actually could fall short to the Twins and still earn the Wild Card, with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim starting Thursday's action six games behind the White Sox.

 

Basically, the White Sox have to play their way out of playoff contention. Of course, mentioning that sort of broad-sweeping prediction to the players or coaches probably would earn a half-full or half-empty cup tipped over on your head.

 

A recent stretch of 25 games, completed by Wednesday's 15-5 shellacking of the Rockies at Coors Field, truly shows how different this team is from years past. That run also points out that this team could be looking at bigger goals other than simply reaching the postseason.

 

For starters, the White Sox posted a 10-9 record during a portion of the schedule that featured games against nothing but other first-place teams and a three-game set at Wrigley Field against the Cubs, with all of it beginning May 12. The White Sox split four games with Baltimore at home, followed by a series victory over Texas at U.S. Cellular Field.

 

The Cubs were the next victims (the South Siders took two of three), before the White Sox split four games in Anaheim. Losing two games in Texas was the only real blemish of this brutal stretch, but Chicago bounced back to win two at home against the Angels. The White Sox hit .249, with 23 home runs and 66 runs scored against some of the top pitchers in the game, both new and a little more seasoned.

 

While the struggling offense, at the time, didn't exactly pave the road to success, it certainly didn't wind up in a ditch against these great arms.

 

"When I looked at the schedule during Spring Training, if this wasn't the toughest part of our schedule, it was one of them," said White Sox hitting coach Greg Walker of this particular 19-game workout. "We not only faced good pitching, but also good teams that are in the fight.

 

"Then, there was the intensity of the Cubs series, and we saw [Greg] Maddux, [Carlos] Zambrano and [Mark] Prior. We saw real good pitching there.

 

"As a hitting coach, I was concerned by this stretch and what it would do for us mentally. We did scuffle a little bit, but I liked that we seemed to be coming out of it. I feel good that we survived the tough part."

 

The schedule does the White Sox no favors from July 29 through the end of August, when three games against Seattle are the only trio involving a team out of contention. Otherwise, it's all about the Yankees and Twins (six games apiece), along with the Red Sox, Orioles, Blue Jays and Rangers. But the White Sox currently have a 17-10 record against teams with winning ledgers, putting that challenge to the test once again this weekend against the first-place Padres.

 

In the past, though, it was the weaker teams and no-name pitchers who gave the White Sox trouble. The all-around disastrous Tigers of 2003 won a little less than one-fifth of their games that season against the South Siders.

 

Those misfortunes have changed for the better, as a recent 5-1 stretch against Cleveland and Colorado would seem to prove. Playing around .500 baseball against other top teams and pummeling the weaker teams adds up to a pretty solid equation for success.

 

"Regardless of whether the team has the worst record in baseball, they are still a Major League team, with Major League players," center fielder Aaron Rowand said. "They can go out and beat you on any given night, especially if you let your guard down."

 

The only thing getting let down in 2005 are White Sox opponents, with designs on knocking them out. The pitching from one through 11 is too dominant to allow any sort of prolonged losing streak, and the offense finally seems to be breaking loose.

 

Yes, Minnesota is only four games behind the White Sox. But the Twins have played pretty darn good baseball and still can't make up any ground. It seems OK to be optimistic that the cup not only won't spill in 2005, but it might runneth over.

 

But hang on to it tightly because there's still a long way to go.

 

"We aren't getting lucky. We have a good team. We have a good group of guys," Rowand said. "We do have a shot at this thing."

[sayitaintso]

Hopefully the Sox can keep it up for the rest of the season and not fall back behind the Twins.

Edited June 9, 2005 by sayitanitso