Sports

Commentary: Taking a look at our local teams at the break

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 11:11 AM EDT

Earlier in the year I promised that I would write again about the fortunes or misfortunes of the three Midwestern Major League Baseball teams that many favor in the Michiana area: the Detroit Tigers, the Chicago White Sox, and the Chicago Cubs. I intend to create controversy, and I hope that you will argue against my sense of sound reason.

Chicago Cubs

Tied for the best record in baseball, at 57-38, with the Los Angeles Angels, sending a record eight players to the All Star Game, and leading the National League Central by 4 1/2 games the Cubs are sitting pretty...for now.

Ryan Theriot (.320), "D" Lee (.306, 15 homers, 56 RBI's), Aramis Ramirez (.285, 17, 66), and Rookie of the Year candidate, Geovany Soto, ( .288, 16, 56) have led the charge as the Cubs have blown away opponents with a staggering 37-12 home record. The Northsiders lead the N.L. with a .281 batting average. Meanwhile the pitching staff has compiled a respectable 3.89 ERA.

However, the enigmatic St. Louis Cardinals (53-43) have stayed hot on the heels of Wrigleyville's Wonders with Tony LaRussa's magic act of Ryan Ludwig (.289, 21, 65), Skip Schumaker (.293, 6, 31), and Rick Ankiel (.270, 20, 50) a patchwork pitching staff and the ever dependable Albert Pujols (.350, 18, 50).

Milwaukee's Brewers have reappeared in the mix ,just behind the Cards at 52-42, to tighten the situation in baseball's most competitive division. It didn't hurt that they just acquired pitcher C.C. Sabathia, the large lump, from Cleveland and reappeared to mount a sturdy second half challenge. Ben Sheets, with 10 wins is the ace of the hurling staff. Corey Hart (.289, 15, 58) and Ryan Braun (.286, 23, 66), along with Prince Fielder's 18 homers and 52 pose, a formidable center of the batting order.

The Cub have question marks on the horizon. Can Alphonso Soriano bounce back quickly after a month plus absence from a broken hand? Will Carlos Marmol rediscover his magic moundmanship after slipping to 7.36 and 13.50 ERA's in June and July? Will Kosuke Fukudome learn how to hit the outside pitches instead of trying to pull the ball with a silly fly-swatter swing (He was hitting way over .300 at one point, now he's at an earthly .279.)?

Can Kerry Wood hold up as the closer? He' been brilliant most of the time, with 24 saves and a 3.02 ERA, but he has blown four critical save opportunities with wildness, which has storied his career. He's only one more disabled list visit away from giving Lou Piniella a giant headache.

The staff gained some much needed help by acquiring Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin from Oakland just before the break. Mark DeRosa has amply supplanted Soriano in left field, while Mike Fontenot has filled his shoes, and then some, at second base.

Ryan Dempster, with 10 wins at home, has been the surprise of the mound corps. Carlos Zambrano (10-3) has bounced back from a sore shoulder to anchor the starters.

Jim Edmonds and Reed Johnson were early season bargain basement pick-ups that have exceeded expectations, while sharing center field.

There is every reason for optimism on the North Side. It's time that "The Billy Goat Curse", "Bartman's Blunder", and "The '69 Collapse" took a backseat and the Cubs will Rock and Roll to a championship, ending the century-long drought. Chicago fans deserve a winner in the Friendly Confines.

Chicago White Sox

A season ago the Southsiders trudged to a 90 loss campaign and disappeared from the hortizon. G.M. Ken Williams promptly went to work to shore up a woeful bullpen and add some new punch to the lineup. The Sox are a vastly improved 54-40 going into the "Dog Days" of summer.

Those Minnesota Twins keep hanging around like pesky flies at a summer picnic, trailing the Sox by 1 1/2 games at the break. Joe Mauer (.322) and Justin Morneau (.323) lead a bunch of unsung heroes in the Twin Cities. It was expected that when Johann Santana was traded to the Mets in the offseason, the Twins would be in a rebuilding mode. Such has not been the case. Manager Ron Gardenhire has kept the overachieving Minnesotans in the race. Livan Hernandez has become the ace of the staff coming over from Arizona to lead the starters with a 9-6 record and the closer, Joe Nathan has been his dependable self recording a practically invisible 1.13 ERA along with 27 saves.

The Sox have some huge pleasant surprises and some puzzling disappointments to date.

The "Cuban Missile" Alexei Ramirez has forged to near the forefront of the 2008 rookie crop with a .312 average and seven homers while sparkling defensively at second base. Carlos Quentin was stolen from Arizona and captivates U.S. Cellar Field fans with his monstrous homers (220 and timely 70 RBIs, while putting a lock on the left field position. Quentin has made quite a contribution from an inconspicuous player who barely made the roster out of spring training. Germaine Dye has returned to All-Star caliber at .306, 21, and 56 knocked in. After a slow start, Nick Swisher, obtained in the winter from Oakland has put up some good numbers (12 homers, 41 RBIs) while starting in center and lately replacing the injured Paul Konerko at first base. Showing some excellent defense, Swisher may have a better glove than Konerko. The Sox have led the A.L. in homers for most of the year.

Righthander Gavin Floyd (10-5) and southpaw John Danks (7-4), both in their second year with the Pale Hose have spearheaded a much needed improvement in the rotation. Veteran Mark Buehrle (6-8) has been up and down, flashing moments of brilliance, while Jose Contreras (7-6) and Javier Vasquez (7-7) have similarly contributed roller coaster campaign results so far. With an ERA close to the league lead and improvements in the pen from Scott Linebrink, Octavio Dotel, and Matt Thornton the Sox seem better equipped to hang on for the duration.

Regardless of the positive, two veterans must show big improvements, over the final haul, to contend. Konerko, sore oblique, thumb, and all, has to raise his anemic .217 average (and only 9 homers) to push Swisher off of first and back into center where he still shows a good glove. Jim Thome needs to cut down on strikeouts at DH to continue making his .253 average, 18 homers, and 51 runs driven in rise to their usual status (.275,36, 95 in 2007).

Hopefully, closer Bobby Jenks is recovered from the "dead arm" complex that managed to land him on the 15-day disabled list before the All-Star game. Two tune ups in the minors, this week, reportedly show that he is recovered and ready to throw smoke again.

Detroit Tigers

Before the season began, the star-studded lineup of Motown's Tigers had practically been coronated and designated as the champions of baseball. The Sox and Twins were merely to be small nuisances to be swept out of the way, and the Cleveland Indians were considered the only obstacle in the way of a cake walk to fame.

Some funny things happened at the beginning of the ride. Detroit started 0-7, losing lead-off man Curtis Granderson to a broken finger in spring training. The bullpen was a huge weakness. The staff compiled a 4.41 ERA, while employing an assortment, 21, count 'em, pitchers to date on their major league roster. Yet, somehow the Tigers have come from 18 games below .500 to level their present record at 47-47.

Magglio Ordonez stoked 12 out of the yard and posted 50 RBIs before landing on the disabled list, June 29, with a pulled oblique muscle. Placido Polanco, one of the most underrated ballplayers, in the majors helped to keep the Tigers alive with a .305 average and his steady solid play at second base. Granderson returned for 73 games to accumulate .292, 10, and 33 stats while tracking down everything near center field. Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Guillen recorded identical .284 batting averages. Guillen is responsible for 47 tallies off of his bat, while Cabrera has pushed 57 across. While flip-flopping from third to first base. Gullen, at third, and Cabrera at first, have improved the defense. Marcus Thames has rebounded from a dismal 2007 to pound 17 homers and hit .265 thus far. Clete Thomas and Matt Joyce have added punch to the lineup since moving up from AAA.

The big problem still remains to be the pitching staff. Dontrell Willis choked and sputtered to an 0-1, 10.32 ERA beginning, prompting a trip to the minors for a major tune-up. Many wonder if he'll regain his early career lightning. Justin Verlander, (7-9, 4.15), Nate Robertson (6-8, 5.26), and Grandpa Kenny Rogers (6-6, 4.55) have been mysteries to themselves, if not everyone else who counted on them. Jeremy Bonderman is nursing his wounds on the D.L., from which Joel Zumaya recently returned with his electric firepower. That improvement and a needed rebound from Fernando Rodney could help the bullpen. The next step is getting the ball to the ancient closer, Todd Jones, who always entertains the crowd with his 4.95 ERA, but usually he manages to wiggle out of his self-created jams as evidenced by his 17 saves. Still Manager Jim Leyland must be popping Rolaids by the bucketful when Jones gets the ball.

Somehow the Tigers are still in it after a remarkable recovery in June and July, only seven games off the pace in the Central Division of the American League. At least the Indians have been lost at sea, drowning somewhere near Lake Erie, pulling the plug, by trading away C.C. Sabathia to the Brew Crew in the N.L. Maybe all those Tigers like Gary Sheffield (a miserable .217,5, 18) will awake from slumber and go on the prowl to prove they're truly the kings of the jungle.

Steve Morrison is a sports writer for Leader Publications

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