Anyone who thinks the White Sox will catch the Cleveland Indians is crazy.
I just wanted to be the first to say that this year.
Two games into the season, the Sox are already a game behind the Indians, and that’s enough for me. My Reinsdorfian math tells me that by 80 games in, the Sox will be 40 behind. Why wait until it gets any more humiliating?
“The Indians had to score 10 and 9 to win two games,” Sox GM Ron Schueler said.
And the Texas Rangers used only 20 runs to beat the Sox once.
Schueler’s answer was a suggestion that maybe the Indians’ pitching can be had, as any pitching can by the White Sox with a lineup of brutes to get only more brutal with the arrival of Wil Cordero, a legally certified brute.
More important, it indicates that no quarter is being given to the Indians just yet. The white flag may not be waving, but neither is it lost.
While there has been no official surrender date announced, it would appear that the Sox will give April a chance. Beyond that, it’s Reinsdorfian poker again.
Baseball’s best friend in Chicago is the Bulls. The Bulls have taken more heat off the Sox and Cubs than Carrier, the air conditioner, not the safety.
Baseball is allowed to disappear for all of May and half of June, vanishing with the first Bulls playoff game and returning only after the victory debris has been cleaned from Grant Park.
The Cubs get the same benefit as the Sox, as well as time to let the ivy fill in.
“I saw the same thing happen in Montreal,” Sox manager Jerry Manuel said. “There is a hockey team there called the Canadiens.”
So, here’s the challenge for the Sox: Stay competitive for the next three weeks, make a good impression and try not to lose the half-filled stadium that may show up for next week’s home opener.
Promises of a “fan-friendly” team from Jerry Reinsdorf, reassurances from Frank Thomas that the players on this year’s team at least like each other, a fresh and stable manager and the half-sale refitting of the Sox have been greeted with galloping skepticism.
Chicago seems ready to greet the Sox as if they had just beaten the rap on a technicality.
“I can’t say I would be disappointed (if Comiskey Park is not sold out),” Schueler said. “I just think some fans are going to wait and see what kind of club we have.
“We know they didn’t like the club we had last year. We’ve made a lot of changes. We’re a fun, young club, I think. They’re going see a lot of hustling.”
And a lot of hitting. That’s a given. Sox pitching and defense are another matter, maybe the most important matter, though not without a certain wonder, especially any ball hit toward Albert Belle, who seems to wear a spatula instead of a glove.
As for the pitching, it will likely go like this: somebody, Castillo, Castillo, somebody else.
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If Manuel got frequent flyer miles for all the trips he will be making between the dugout and the mound, he could take his family and ours to New Zealand.
The Sox have started the season with only nine players from last year’s opening roster, and 10 players have less than one year of experience. Not coincidentally, 13 Sox players make less together than the big three of Thomas, Belle and Robin Ventura.
(While this may seem inconsiderate, it is exceedingly generous compared with the Expos, whose entire roster makes less than Belle.)
“Fans watch and see the kid (Mike Caruso) make that play the other day and (Mike) Cameron in center field,” Schueler said. “They’re going to see a lot of plays like that. They’re going see a lot of mistakes because we are young. But it’s going to be a different club.”
Lose 20-4 and a promise can sound a lot like a warning.