| Kyle Trompeter. 24th August, 2005 - 9:22 pm
 Try to imagine what is going through the heads of Ozzie Guillen and Ken Williams right now. The Chicago White Sox manager and general manager are probably asking themselves “Where the heck is the switch to turn on the back up battery” or “Are there after burners on this thing?” This is all referring to the White Sox, the team with the best record in the American League – for now.
The Pale-hosers have gone 7-11 in August and lost seven straight games until Sunday’s 6-2 win over the New York Yankees. Don’t look now, but that colossal lead in the AL Central has been trimmed to eight games by the streaking Cleveland Indians, who have won five in a row.
Missing in action from six of the seven losses is the igniter of the White Sox offense, Scott Podsednik. The speedy outfielder’s absence has crippled the already mediocre offense. He’s been on the DL retroactive to August 13th with a strained left adductor.
Can somebody let Scotty borrow their Adductor for a little bit?!?
Has anyone ever heard of this part of the body before this injury? It can’t be that important. Can it?
In any case, if this Adductor doesn’t improve quickly, the current Sox slide might turn into an all out free fall. Historically, the most successful playoff teams are the ones that are hot going into the playoffs. If the White Sox are still in a funk come early October, the question won’t be whether the team can win their first postseason series since 1917; it will be if they can win their first playoff game in 12 years.
Do you think Williams wishes he pushed a little harder at the trade deadline to pick up a big bat? He did make one move, but Geoff Blum doesn’t exactly make opposing pitchers soil themselves, like say, Ken Griffey Jr. would?
In a recent White Sox TV broadcast, Ken “the Hawk” Harrelson said that the White Sox didn’t need Junior because there was nowhere for him to play on this team. The team doesn’t need him.
Take that in for a minute. Let it soak for a second.
Okay. Only a naïve homer, such as Harrelson, would say such a thing. This team needs exactly that big of a bat and presence in the lineup everyday. It seems that the best way to jumpstart an offense that is 12th in batting average and on base percentage in the AL, 10th in runs scored, and 9th in RBI’s would be to acquire a top of the line bat? Or just do what Hawk says and keep the lineup status quo. And you wonder why this guy only lasted one season as the GM of the Southsiders before they sent him back to the broadcast booth.
The one telling stat about the 2005 White Sox to this point in the season is not their 32-12 record against the AL Central, not their 38-19 road record, but their 11-18 record against the Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and the Los Angelas Angels.
This team has shown its true colors against some of the best teams in baseball, and those colors seemed to fade in the wash after they had been feasting on the lesser teams of the American League most of the year.
This is not to say the White Sox are not good, because they are, in fact, a good team. Good teams beat the teams they are supposed to beat, like the sub .500 teams. That’s what the White Sox do, and that makes them good.
However, it’s the great teams that not only do that, but they also take care of the good teams too. That means having a plus .500 record against plus .500 teams. That’s what separates the serious World Series contenders from the White Sox.
I can’t remember the last time a good team won the World Series. Last time I checked, that trophy is usually reserved for the great ones. Hopefully for Ozzie and company, they can build some momentum going into the postseason to make a serious run at the title.
First and foremost is that they need to get completely healthy. You can hear Ozzie now, “Does anyone know how to fix an Adductor?” |
