By Andrew Reilly
The best news in White Sox baseball actually came out of Anaheim this weekend, as excellent Angels 1B Kendry Morales crushed his leg celebrating a walk-off home run. Morales, at the time, led the Angels with 11 home runs and 39 RBI and is under an extremely low-dollar contract through the end of 2010 while Sox 1B Paul Konerko, currently decimating American League pitching, is a free agent after 2010 as well and . . . well, you know where this is going.
But I’ll let you in on a secret: I’m rooting for it to happen. In fact, I’m rooting for all of it to happen to all of them.
If Paulie goes to the Angels, we have a trade to dissect. We have new faces upon which to project all our wildest, most irresponsible hopes for the future. We have next year back. We have weird, one-off scenarios playing out in our heads in which the players who came back for Paulie somehow lead to the Sox re-signing Paulie for one last go-round, the hero returning to rescue the villagers once more from the evil dragons of the American League Central.
And that, I think, is enough to make us collectively weep; with the Sox so far out of it, our only hope is to already selectively root for a next year that will only come once we let go of this year. If they really pack it in – I mean, if the team can become brave enough to really face the ugly truth of what it has become – then there’s an outside chance the sun will shine once more on the South Side of Chicago. If Bobby Jenks becomes Project Arm #6 and A.J. Pierzynski becomes Long-Shot Bat X, then we have a reason to look ahead.
Or at least, I think we will, until this time next year when Project Arm #6 and Long-Shot Bat X buckle under the pressure of only nominally replacing the downward-trending half-season trade bait who came before them and we, like today, are left to wonder when Kansas City snuck up like that or if Detroit is really that good or, more likely, if either question should really be answered when we’re still trying to allow ourselves to let the team convince us that no, man, things don’t really get, like, real until late June so, you know, we’ve got time.
Of course, that assumes another team actually wants these guys and, when even the people who cheer for them can’t wait to see them leave, why would they?
Week in Review: Victorious. Two of three from the lowly Indians followed by a split with the mighty Rays gave the Sox a 4-3 week, their first such winning stretch since going 4-2 April 20 through 25.
Week in Preview: Homesteady. A week at home finds three against the struggling Rangers, who are hitting better than the White Sox, followed by a weekend series against the Indians, who are also hitting better than the White Sox.
Hawkeroo’s Can-O-Corn Watch: “And we’ll take a moment to wish a happy belated birthday to our own Jake Peavy, Jake turning 29 on Monday. And that’s a good age for a pitcher like Jake, a lot of guys coming into their own, guys really growing from power arms, like Jake is, into guys more crafty, guys who use the plate more, like Jake does. You look at guys like that, how they just seem to turn it on as they get older, and I can’t wait to see number 44 take his place right up there with Kevin Brown, Roger Clemens, Eric Gagne if you look at great closers, there’s no reason Jake can’t grow to be as good as those guys, because that’s how the game is now: guys don’t just grow older, but wiser, and our Jake is one of the best there is already, you just imagine him with a few more years under his belt, that’s a sight no American League batter wants to see.”
Gordon Beckham Hall of Fame Update: Gordon Beckham runs scored, 2010: 18. Jim Thome runs scored, 2010: 10. Advantage: Beckham.
Alumni News You Can Use: Former White Sox enigma and RHP Jon Garland has a better record (6-1) and earned run average (2.15) than every current White Sox starting pitcher.
The “H” in “DH” Stands For: Hundred, as in how far Andruw Jones’ batting average has fallen between April’s series with the Rays (.323) and May’s (.230).
The Q Factor: Carlos Quentin was listed as probable for Tuesday’s game against the Rangers; while not injured, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce has suggested Quentin be summoned to the Gulf of Mexico to toss his bats like javelins into the gaping mouth of the seemingly immortal oil spill. “We don’t doubt for a second that Carlos’ lumber would stop the flow of oil,” said committee chair Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-California). “I’m just not sure that, having awakened the Demon-Q, we can hope to contain his bloodlust – his need to punish those responsible. But we haven’t ruled him out as an option, either.”
The Guillen Meter: Laughing in the face of Major League Baseball’s recent fining of the Sox skipper, the Guillen Meter reads a spiteful “2.4” for “You see this watch? This watch cost more than Joe West’s car.”
Endorsement No-Brainer: Omar Vizquel’s theoretical future for SunAmerica: how safe is your retirement plan?
Cubs Snub: After Saturday’s bloodbath, St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols now boasts four career three-homer games, with two coming at the expense of the Cubs at Wrigley Field, which just about sums up the last 100-something years of North Side baseball: against the best, they’re the absolute worst.
The White Sox Report: Read ’em all.
The Cub Factor: It’s funny because it’s true.
–
Andrew Reilly lives in Chicago and is a contributor to many fine publications, including this one. He welcomes your comments.
Posted on June 1, 2010