Thursday, July 14, 2005

Over-Soxed

Somebody please explain the Chicago White Sox to me before I bang my head against a wall.
There is no reason on this planet they should be 58-29 following tonight's 1-0 win over the Indians. They aren't hitting like a team on pace to win 110 games. Their team batting average entering today was a meager .262, the exact same as the Indians, whose offense spent most of April and May passed out in the gutter.
It's not late-inning magic. The White Sox are batting .251 from the seventh inning on.
It's not power. Chicago's 106 homers eclipse the third-place Indians' total by just two. The Indians lap the White Sox in overall extra base hits, scorching them in doubles (171-126) and triples (20-6).
Like Cleveland, Chicago's pitching is reliable, but not dominant. Entering tonight, the Indians' team ERA was 3.82, the White Sox's staff stood at 3.62.
The White Sox haven't even had a full-time closer, with Dustin Hermanson, Damaso Marte and Shingo Takatsu sharing the role based on who has the hot hand. Tonight's save went to Hermanson.
The only conclusion I can come to is the White Sox are simply having a charmed season. Tonight's events strengthened that argument.
In the fifth inning, with Jhonny Peralta on second, Aaron Boone hit a Jose Contreras fastball right on the screws. Right up the middle. Boone couldn't have connected any better if he was swinging a boat oar.
I would testify in front of a grand jury that it was going to be an RBI single. But then, Juan Uribe laid out to his left and plucked the ball out of the air, about an inch off the ground. No throw to first needed.
Oh-oh, it's magic.
In the seventh, Chicago left fielder Scott Podsednik lost a fly ball in the Jacobs Field lights. A lucky break for the Indians. But when you are playing the White Sox, even your lucky breaks don't pan out.
As Podsednik threw his arms out in confusion, center fielder Aaron Rowand floated in behind him like one of those monsters from M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village" and snared it effortlessly.
In the eighth, Marte hung a slider to Peralta, who cranked it deep down the left field line. It went foul. Of course, that was Marte's one mistake, and he got away with it. He subsequently struck Peralta out.
I usually save my incredulous disliking for the Yankees and Red Sox when it comes to baseball, but as this season goes on and the White Sox continue to turn horse urine into fine wine, my dislike for them is quickly reaching 1994 levels again.

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