Jerry Manuel has never had a better pair of bookends than the ones he’s been given by Ken Williams.
With Kenny Lofton at the top of the lineup and Royce Clayton at the bottom, the 2002 White Sox did what all teams should in their home opener: They entertained a large crowd with a well-played victory. It didn’t take much imagination for the 41,128 fans to be thinking how much they’d love to make it back to Comiskey Park in October.
Whether this is a playoff season on the South Side will depend on how much of Mark Buehrle rubs off on his fellow starting pitchers, Danny Wright and Jon Garland in particular. But thanks to two moves by general manager Williams–one that stirred controversy and another that seems like a no-brainer–there’s little doubt the White Sox lineup that beat Baltimore 5-2 on Friday is superior to the one that won the Central in 2000.
Home runs by Jose Valentin, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Ray Durham provided all the support Buehrle needed to join Randy Johnson and Bartolo Colon as the major leagues’ first three-game winners. But the window dressing came from Lofton, who flashed his speed while reaching base in all four plate appearances, and Clayton, who coordinated the defensive effort.
“We have power throughout the lineup, but also speed,” a happy Manuel said afterward. “There are a lot of different ways we can beat you. We don’t want to fall into the trap of just trying to hit home runs.”
Lofton, a native of East Chicago, Ind., opened his first home game with the Sox by dropping a bunt down the third-base line for a single. On the game’s third pitch, he broke for second. He was out stealing, at least according to umpire Greg Gibson. But the fans, as well as Lofton’s new teammates, were paying attention to the game, not the nicely done remodeling of the center-field stands. Wasn’t Lofton supposed to be slowing down at age 34? Apparently he didn’t get the memo.
“I just feel confident,” said Lofton, who has been successful on 5-of-8 stolen-base attempts. “If I have the opportunity, I’m going to go.”
Manuel admits that he wasn’t sure what to expect when Williams signed Lofton in early February. After all, it took only a guarantee of $1.025 million to land a six-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner, who went most of the winter without a contract.
Yet Lofton was a pleasure in spring training. Here he is nine games into the season, hitting .361 with an on-base percentage of .452. He has scored 11 runs, ranking among the league leaders.
Manuel calls him the most pleasant surprise about the Sox’s 5-4 start. “I knew he was good; I didn’t think he was this good,” he said. “I didn’t expect him to have this much effect on the top of the order. You don’t know what he’ll do–drop down a bunt? Shoot a ball past third base? It’s fun. He knows exactly what he can and cannot do. … He knows what to do and he’s physically able to do it.”
Clayton, 32 and in his 12th season, is almost as reliable. Williams made a smart move when he picked him up in the fallout of the Texas Rangers’ signing of Alex Rodriguez last year. The Seattle Mariners’ first-round sweep of the Sox exposed the need to get better defensively up the middle.
While Valentin has earned the respect of Chicago fans with his max-effort approach, a 36-error shortstop isn’t going to carry his team to the World Series. Clayton was acquired for his fielding and performed even better than expected, breaking Ron Hansen’s club record for best fielding percentage at the position. But you might have heard about his offensive troubles.
Clayton was all but run out of town when the Sox started 14-29 last season. He wasn’t the problem, however, even if he was hitting below .100 in May. The problem was Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordonez and Ray Durham failing to hit in April, which started the snowball rolling.
Even with Clayton at shortstop, the White Sox are a poor fielding team. Buehrle’s throwing error Friday was their ninth this season, a total surpassed only by the Yankees in the AL. But Clayton brings a very important presence.
“Royce is a solid fielder,” Manuel said. “In spring training Royce would bring Ray out with him for early work. He’d also bring Jose out. I felt pretty good about our defense as long as Jose adapted to third base, and it seems like he’s done that fairly well. With our defense out there now we shouldn’t make the mistakes we have made in the past.”
The White Sox won’t get a better play from a fielder this season than the catch Lofton made to end Tuesday night’s victory in Detroit. He turned and sprinted straight back to make an over-the-shoulder grab worthy of Willie Mays’ highlight reel.
“He’s fun to watch,” Manuel said.
On Friday, what wasn’t to like?
