Finding a Way to Win

By: Jerome Cusson

I don’t know if anyone realizes this, but the Chicago White Sox have won eight in a row and are in first place. Granted, they’re in a weak division, but no one was complaining when the Cubs were winning the far weaker National League Central. After Minnesota and Toronto, it appeared the White Sox were headed for the oblivion of 2007. However, thanks the pitching and some timely offense, the White Sox are still hanging around at Memorial Day.

Looking at the pitching, Jose Contreras appears to have found his forkball near the place he found the fountain of youth. Javie Vasquez is continuing his solid outings from last year. Gavin Floyd and John Denks have had some bumps in the road, but to think that Floyd would carry no-hitters into the 7th on two different occasions means that the Jon Garland trade doesn’t look as dumb as it did in October.

As pleasant as the young pitching has been,  Carlos Quentin has been the find of the offseason. After struggling through an injury-riddled 2007 where he hit just .210, Quentin has become the player of the year for the Sox to this point. He is currently tied for the lead in home runs in the American League and has the team lead in RBIs. Amazingly, even with Thome, Dye, and Konerko, Quentin currently resides in the coveted three spot because of how well he’s hit the baseball.

With the offense having gotten off to such a slow start, it appeared to be the same old, same old. Yet, the series in Cleveland showed that this is a different White Sox team from the one last year. The games featured some aggressive base-running and some key clutch hits, something the White Sox couldn’t manufacture at all last year. A good example came last night when Brian Anderson tagged up from first to second after a deep out to the centerfielder. Quentin got a groundball base hit that led to Anderson scoring. Because of the throw home, Quentin was able to get to second. Jermaine Dye then came up and hit the ball near the same spot on the ground and it’s 3-1 Sox. Game over.

Cleveland’s own problems with hitting are a product of all of baseball, but particularly for the AL Central. Hitting and home runs are down significantly. If you ask me, the team that really starts hitting well that has the pitching to match will win this American Central. Right now the Sox appear to be that team, but there’s still a long way to go.

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Jerome Cusson is a proud graduate of Columbia College Chicago. Currently, he is a freelance writer and a contributer to such websites as The Cool Kids' Table and giveawaytheending.com. Check out his NSR blog as well.

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