One of the great joys of baseball, Harry Caray used to say, is its unpredictability. White Sox fans have felt that joy this season. Accustomed to the team’s hard-hitting ways, which can be traced from the Frank Thomas era back to the Winnin’ Ugly 1983 team and beyond to the ’77 South Side Hit Men, most fans tended to be skeptical about the shift by general manager Ken Williams and manager Ozzie Guillen to a roster built around pitching and defense. Yet the Sox entered this workweek with the best record in baseball at 31-13; they were making believers not only of their opponents but of their notoriously stubborn supporters.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
High-stepping Scott Podsednik, traded for the popular slugger “El Caballo” Carlos Lee, came over from the Milwaukee Brewers with his classic long black stockings and gave the team the speedy leadoff man it needed to fuel a light-hitting attack. The surpassingly broad-shouldered Tadahito Iguchi arrived from Japan as a number-two hitter with pop. Though catcher A.J. Pierzynski showed up under a cloud after wearing out his welcome in San Francisco, he turned out to be sound fundamentally, to call a good game, and to display the level, efficient swing typical of products of the Minnesota Twins. Pitcher Dustin Hermanson also came over from the Giants and soon claimed the closer role from Shingo Takatsu. Of the holdovers, fifth starter Jon Garland finally made good on his considerable promise by winning his first eight games, and ace Mark Buehrle pitched the best baseball of his life. The Sox didn’t even miss Thomas, who continued to rehab from ankle surgery.
Saturday produced a terrific pitchers’ duel between the Cubs’ excitable Carlos Zambrano and the Sox’ more placid Jose Contreras–two big, hard-throwing righties. The Cubs scored first this time, stealing a page from the Sox’ new playbook in the fourth inning when Neifi Perez singled, stole second, and came home on a hit by Burnitz. Zambrano hurled a one-hit shutout through seven innings, but then left, having suffered from a sore arm in his last start. The Cubs’ bullpen predictably gave it all away, with two runs scoring when Corey Patterson failed to make a diving catch of a low liner by Paul Konerko. Baker eventually had to bring in–and then take out–Hawkins, and Cubs fans booed harder with every pitching change. The Cubs rallied, but Hermanson shut them down in the ninth for a 5-3 victory.
