No one thought it was gone.
The big-spending fans in the Scout Seats behind the plate didn't think so. Hawk and DJ didn't think so. Farmer and Stoney didn't think so.
No one in the ballpark tonight thought that Alexei Ramirez's home run was a home run. It was too high. It was nighttime. It was against Cleveland and Joe Borowski was on the hill. It was a 2-1 Indians lead in the bottom of the 10th.
Most of all, it was the White Sox, the team that wasn't supposed to be here.
They weren't supposed to be in first place. They weren't supposed to challenge the Tigers or the Indians, never mind the Cubs.
No one thought it was gone. Except Alexei Ramirez, of course.
Just a Slip
Two weeks ago, the Chicago White Sox went 3-3; 3-4 if you count the following Sunday's loss to the Cubs. They looked like the season's version of the White Sox: blowing out the bad teams but completely unable to beat the good teams (save for the series loss to the Rockies).
Last weekend's sweep at the hands of the Cubs had this writer down in the mouth, but more so because it looked like this might be the start of the end for the "Fighting Sox".
As I was told by a Cubs fan after Friday's game: if we couldn't beat Ted Lilly, who could we beat?
Well, this past week was a different story. There was no big letdown from the Wrigley Massacre. The ChiSox just seemed to take it in stride, fly out to Los Angeles and take two of three from the somewhat-hapless Dodgers (Eric Stults notwithstanding).
Then, they did what every White Sox fan hoped they would: return the favor to the Cubs. And they did it in commanding fashion, outhitting, outhomering, and outscoring the Cubs.
Who's the spark?
So who's the big name? Who gets the credit for keeping the White Sox on track after a bump in the road in the middle of the month? Jim Thome, the big man? Paul Konerko, the stalwart first baseman? Javier Vazquez, the hard-throwing staff ace?
Not this time. Let me introduce you to the White Sox Heroes of the Month:
Jermaine Dye
Being left off the list for Chicago's "All-City Team" (which was a joke in itself—Fukudome? Really?) must have burned J.D.'s grits more than he lets on. Dye earned the coveted (yes, coveted) Beast of the Week award for his .385 performance in last weekend's series, and hit .330 for the month of June, carrying the Sox offensive load as Carlos Quentin sought to regain his stroke.
Alexei Ramirez
"The Cuban Missile"? How about "The Answer"? After all, Kid Dynamite's (yes, I'm coming up with a lot of nicknames for a rookie, I know) slight frame will not put him on a list of must-have fantasy players. But Alexei Ramirez has Allen Iverson-like abilities on a baseball scale.
Since he moved into the starting slot at second, the Sox have a 28-12 record, and he batted .337 in June. Ramirez's defense has also aided the Sox; his backhanded flips to second are becoming routine, and he covered a lot of ground to pull in a sinking fly tonight against the Tribe. Look for Ramirez to be a key to the Sox's success the rest of the summer.
Nick Swisher
Well, well, well. After fading into obscurity for two-and-a-half months, Nick Swisher is finally living up to his commercials. A pair of grand slams in under a week and a .311 batting average for June have me thinking up a slogan to put on a cardboard sign for Kid Swish.
If that wasn't enough, he's the ideal teammate and has covered nicely at first for Paul Konerko. Besides, who can hate on the "Captain Morgan" handshake and the "jump and bump"? Anyone?
Dewayne Wise
I know, I know. You're having Mike Jones flashbacks: who is Dewayne Wise? Well, he's a minor-leaguer who's played on some major-league teams. He was brought up earlier in the year when Juan Uribe was on the DL, and he was brought back up when PK went down.
Since being called up, D-Wise has hit .400 in part-time duties and stolen four bases. Nothing close to astronomical, but for a non-running team like the Sox, he brings a baserunning threat to the table when he gets on. And of course, he had the big single, stolen base, and run in tonight's extra-inning victory.
Mark Buerhle, John Danks, Scott Linebrink, Matt Thornton
While Vazquez and Contreras struggle and Gavin Floyd slowly falls back to earth, the two southpaws in the rotation have been getting it done. Buerhle had a bad May, but then sparkled in June, finishing with a 4-0 record and a 1.15 ERA.
More telling, he walked the same number of batters he struck out over his last four May starts (10). In June, he walked 10 while striking out 25, and never walked more than two batters in a game.
Danks' ERA dropped to 2.50 after tonight's start, and he's allowed two earned runs in his last 26 innings while striking out 22. The kid has good stuff and is a true gamer. My only question is: can he legitimately be a seven or eight-inning pitcher?
Out of the bullpen, Scott Linebrink has been masterful. He allowed one earned run over the month of June, and he hasn't given up a hit since then (albeit over only five innings). Matt Thornton has been nearly as sharp. Both his and Linebrink's June ERAs were under one (0.77 and 0.90 respectively), and Thornton has K'd 13 batters in eight-and-two-thirds innings since June 9.
Now, to July
The keys for the Sox? The role players and little-known names. While Thome and Konerko struggled, Carlos Quentin picked up the slack. When he cooled off, the workload fell to Jermaine Dye. Now, more guys on both sides of the ball are beginning to heat up. Just in time for a scorching month of July that will test the team.
I said the Sox would show their true colors this month, and they did—their colors are very streaky. They were swept twice and lost four series in all, but two sweeps of their own and a seven-game win streak propelled the Sox to a 17-10 record in my favorite month (my birthday's June 5). Now, they have to keep it going into July and through the All-Star break.
Who'll be the next hero for the Pale Hose? It's anyone's guess.
Until then, keep waving the Pennant.
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3 months ago
You're correct at the end of the article when you state that Quentin basically carried us the first two months, along with the superb pitching staff. OC is now starting to hit (game winning hit last night), and Swish is starting to come into his own. Although he's right around .300 and known for his consistency with the bat, AJ is due for a hot streak, and hopefully it's soon.
I can't say enough about Ramirez. When he hit his first home run in San Fransisco, I thought that was a fluke. But he's proved me and probably many more skeptical White Sox fans wrong. This guy can do it all, and he is the smartest baseball player I've seen on the White Sox in a long time. What's scary is he's only 26, so he's going to hit his prime soon. With the OC contract status undetermined, he might move to shortstop next year, and maybe a one year replacement at second before draft pick Gordon Beckham takes over. Those two could be the cornerstone of this franchise up the middle for a long time.
Oh, and it's a great time to be a White Sox fan. Great article.
from 3 months ago
The prospect of a Ramirez/Beckham middle infield is enough to make me salivate with happiness. Defensively, they'd be second to none, and offensively, they'd probably be second to none.
Ramirez is going to hit 25-30 home runs in this league before too long. I love the Soriano comparison, except the difference here is that Ramirez is actually a good defender.
3 months ago
I definitely like what the Sox are doing. It's a good time to be a Chicago sports fan. Cubs and Sox are doing great and the Bulls just drafted Derrick Rose. Not a bad year so far.
3 months ago
One key to the rest of the season you missed is the performance of Javy "I refuse to pitch up to my ability" Vasquez. Right now this guy looks awful and I look at his start against Oakland as a prime example. Yes he only gave up 3 earned, but he should have won that game. He had all his stuff, but in Javy fashion hits a guy with two outs, then hangs his curveball, which he overuses, and surrenders a two out bomb to Cust to give up the lead. Then later with 2 outs and 2 strikes gives us another bomb that proves to be the game winner. This guy just refuses to pitch up to his ability.
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