11/05/24
May 26, 2005
The Pest: Who says steals aren't important? Reinventing the art of theft, Scott Podsednik helps makes the White Sox a winner
I had these guys finishing behind both the Twins and the Tribe. Ridiculous record and they still can't hit. This team has got to come back to earth at some point. We are only at the 1/4 pole of the season, so I think your prediction might still hold true. Ridiculous record and they still can't hit. The best example of this is the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (shudder). 4th worst AVG in the league Worst OBP in the league (sub .300!) 3rd worst SLG in the leauge And yet they are tied for the division lead today, at 26-20.
posted by grum@work at 04:18 PM on May 26, 2005
Small ball, shmall ball...the Sox are winning because of pitching, pitching, pitching. The fact that they happen to be leading in SB due to the addition of ScottyPo is irrelevant. They've got a bunch of starting pitchers who are waaaaay over their heads (El Duque, Contreras, and !!Garland?!!), and in actuality their offense isn't much better than last year when they had Lee and Ordonez. Plus, Podsednik led the majors with 70-odd steals last year, and look where it got the Brewers! For a more detailed comparison of the April 2004 and April 2005 Sox, take a look at Aaron Gleeman's piece at Hardball Times: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-new-sox/
posted by brewdudepa at 04:42 PM on May 26, 2005
If the Tribe ever start to hit--Its all over in the central Div. They'll take out even my Twins! They have got great pitching both starting and Relief! That line starts to hit-goodnight! The Sox are extremely over-rated
posted by daddisamm at 06:05 PM on May 26, 2005
Yeah, sure the should suck, but you you realize the percentage of teams with records this good at this point making the playoffs is? - they have a legit shot now by basically playing .500 ball for the rest of the year. And if anything they are truly a .500 team.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 06:41 PM on May 26, 2005
The article seems to spend a lot of time confirming that it the impact is more for fantasy owners than the team itself. That said - the Sox are as improbable a dynamo as any Ive seen in a long time. I had these guys finishing behind both the Twins and the Tribe. Ridiculous record and they still can't hit. This team has got to come back to earth at some point.