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Full credit to chicagosports.com and the Chicago Tribune:

 

Well, it's all Sox in the City so far.

 

The boys who slept through April and May have finally come out of their slumber for the summer, swinging their lumber. What woke 'em up? Two days of sun and fun at Wrigley Field, where holy cow—19 White Sox runs just went up there on the old green scoreboard.

 

Final score for Game 2 of the city series:

 

"Go-Go" Sox 7.

 

"Stop! Please stop!" Cubs 6.

 

Running like a cheap pair of pale hose, Dusty Baker's dirt devils ran themselves right out of Saturday's game. One stray Cub came around third base and tried to make it home. Didn't. Then another frisky Cub was sent out to pinch-run at first base and tried to swipe second. Didn't.

 

Two runs, two risks, two errors.

 

But you won't hear any South Siders knocking any North Siders for trying too hard. On the contrary, the White Sox understand completely how a big series such as this can make you give 111 percent, as opposed to the usual 110.

 

(No athlete gives 100 anymore.)

 

"This series really gets our adrenaline going," said catcher Josh Paul, who tagged out the first runaway Cub and threw out the other.

 

"This has been fun," said relief pitcher Billy Koch, who was on the mound when that last Cub got gunned down. "It really gets your juices flowing."

 

Close to 80,000 fans—very few of whom drank juice—have spent this weekend watching the White Sox win, a rare treat for a team that ranks near the bottom in baseball attendance.

 

They have seen the Sox waste no time, all 19of their runs being scored in the first four innings.

 

They have seen the Sox pound on Cubs starting pitchers Shawn Estes and Matt Clement, even without the benefit of a designated hitter.

 

They have seen the Sox play error-free ball, whereas the Cubs have lost a ball in the sun, overrun a ball in center, walked 14 Sox batters in two days and made mental gaffes on the bases.

 

Frank Thomas, Miguel Olivo and Paul Konerko—three guys the Sox figured to need badly this season—didn't budge off the bench Saturday. Jerry Manuel used a .182 hitter for a leadoff man, used a catcher with 14 at-bats all season and put a stick in the hands of pitcher Mark Buehrle, 1-for-16 lifetime.

 

The result? Two hits for Willie Harris, an RBI single for Paul and an RBI single for Buehrle. Go figure.

 

Is this team's offense coming out of its coma? Are the unbelievably quiet Sox finally ready to make some noise?

 

"I think everyone on this team knows that we can," said third baseman Joe Crede, who has finally busted loose at a .365 clip over his last 15 games.

 

Manager Manuel needs more advice like he needs monkeypox, but one thing he must consider is keeping Brian Daubach in the Sox lineup, somewhere, somehow. Daubach is on a 10-game hitting streak. He is 11-for-25. Six of those hits went for extra bases.

 

It will make Sox fans wince, but perhaps Manuel could move Magglio Ordonez back to center field and stick Daubach in right. In any season when he played 100 games or more, Daubach has hit 20 or more homers. This guy has got a bat that the Sox really need.

 

Chicagoans have had a long wait this year on two fronts:

 

For summer to arrive.

 

And for the White Sox to get hot.

 

Maybe both things have happened at last.

Copyright © 2003, The Chicago Tribune

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