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The Fall of the White Sox

© Bryan Walker

In Minnesota and Philadelphia, the season has been magical, so far. They lead their respective divisions, after performing poorly last season. What has changed during the off-season? For Minnesota, the young players matured, particularly the pitchers. For Philadelphia, the risk of signing three marginal relief pitchers has paid dividends. The veteran relievers have picked up the slack for the entire team.

However, for the White Sox, the season has been cursed. As of today they trail the first-place Twins by 8 games and the second-place Indians by 5 games. Although the season is young, the White Sox have to be careful not to give up a lead that can not be overtaken. Last season, the White Sox faced very little adversity. They cruised to a division title and had everything go their way, including a fold by the Indians. This season, their problems can be traced to two factors: pitching and lack of timely hitting.

The Sox have been hurt badly by injuries to the rotation. Cal Eldred and James Baldwin were anchors last season, but now they are playing hurt. Jim Parque and Mark Buehrle have ERA’s of over 6, with a combined record of 1-5. David Wells was brought over from the Blue Jays to be the staff ace, but he has proven that one man can not do it all. Well, Pedro notwithstanding. Wells has a solid ERA of 3.90 but has a record of 2-2. Star closer Keith Foulke has done a good job, but already has two losses to his credit. Unless the Sox get some help in the rotation, the season will be a long one.

The second factor is the lack of timely hitting. Or maybe its better stated as, “Everything is not going their way.” In 2000, the White Sox caught a lot of breaks, as has been pointed out by more than one baseball writer. This year, the law of averages has caught up with them. During their 95 win campaign, it seemed like the Sox got big hits in every game. So far in 2001, they have not. Frank Thomas is batting .118 with runners in scoring position, indicative of the entire team as far as luck goes, or the breaks as its sometimes called.