As the White Sox awaited this weekend’s series with the Cubs, the two teams’ latest role reversal looked almost complete. The Sox, who figured to repeat as American League Central Division champs this season, entered the workweek in third, seven games under .500, a distant twelve games behind the second-place Cleveland Indians and an extra half game behind the Minnesota Twins. The Cubs, who figured to be also-rans–if improved also-rans–in the National League Central, entered the week in first; on the heels of a 12-game winning streak, they were two and a half games ahead of the Saint Louis Cardinals.
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Like many a Cubs fan, I’m still not sold on the legitimacy of this team. The Cubs built their strong early-season record by beating up on the Montreal Expos and the Pittsburgh Pirates, the two weakest clubs in the league. Likewise, their impressive 12-game winning streak, which ended Sunday when they ran into rookie pitching phenom Ben Sheets in Milwaukee, was amassed almost entirely against the Brewers–a team of free swingers that has proved susceptible to the Cubs’ pitchers–and the Cincinnati Reds, who have struggled all season with injuries to team leaders Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Larkin. In short, the Cubs have yet to prove themselves against top competition in big games. The diminished White Sox don’t qualify as top competition, but the games against the Cubs figure to be their biggest contests of the year.
A promising sign is that the Cubs moved into first place and built their lead without awesome hitting. Sammy Sosa entered the week with 16 homers and 50 runs batted in, but he hadn’t had a stretch in which he carried the team for a week or two. Todd Hundley was hitting below .200 and due to get hot. I think the team’s key hitter in the early going has been the underappreciated Rondell White, who has played excellent left field while providing some power at a critical spot in the lineup, behind Sosa.
That said, I still like the Sox, even if they don’t much like themselves. Many of their hitting woes have the look of being merely cyclical. Magglio Ordonez has been better of late, Carlos Lee has kept his average up, and Paul Konerko, who always has a rough May, entered June with a game-winning hit Sunday as the Sox rallied from a 6-0 deficit to win for the ninth time in tenth games. Durham has seen his on-base average mysteriously fall when he leads off innings, a stat with the appearance of a short-term problem. Undeniably, the pitching staff has been hurt by the loss of Parque, but Wells has been his usual self, James Baldwin has come back strong from arm surgery, and Mark Buehrle has shown flashes of brilliance. Kip Wells has been excellent since returning from the minors, and though left-handed specialist Kelly Wunsch has struggled, Keith Foulke and Bobby Howry have both been sharp in late relief.
