Now it’s on to the second half, which Ozzie Guillen says “separates the kids from the men.”
For the White Sox, defending World Series champions but two games behind the Detroit Tigers for the AL Central Division lead, that means a very quick jump into manhood because their prolonged All-Star break ends Friday with three games at Yankee Stadium and then three more in Detroit.
“It’s pretty much in our own hands,” catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. “If we go out and play well, we’ll be in good position. If we don’t, there will be a lot of people upset and calling us failures.”
At least the Sox have some successful history as their guide. Following the All-Star break last summer, they went into Cleveland and stomped on the Indians four straight times.
“Last year, sweeping Cleveland those four games really set a tone and eventually ended up being the margin we won by,” Pierzynski said. “Every game is important, every series is important. There’s a special meaning when you play in your own division, because you definitely have to win those to get to the postseason.”
The Sox have 13 games left against the Tigers, whom they have beaten five of six times.
The two teams have the best records in baseball, but Guillen says his is the best team now.
“I think so, because our pitching staff has been inconsistent and we’re still [close], and the bottom of our lineup, the eighth [Juan Uribe] and ninth [Brian Anderson] hitters, are having bad years, and I think those guys will get better.”
The Tigers are being compared with last year’s White Sox as an upstart bunch of kids who are growing into men. The same question is being asked: Can they keep their pace the entire season?
“[That’s why] we have to win every game we can, because Detroit is not going to lose that many,” Guillen said.
“I’ve been saying this is going to be a good team for two years. A lot of people say the difference in the ballclub is [manager] Jim Leyland, I say it is the pitching staff. You put Jim Leyland there with a ballclub with no pitching, and he would be in last place. Or me or Joe Torre. Anybody.”
Former Sox right fielder Magglio Ordonez, now with Detroit, says these are no paper Tigers.
“I don’t see why not,” he replied when asked if his team could keep winning two of every three games. “I don’t see why we can’t win the division.
“The key is to win every series and win a lot of ballgames. That’s what we’ve been doing so far. I know the White Sox are the team [to beat] in our division, but we don’t just focus on the White Sox, we focus on everybody.”
Pitcher Mark Buehrle concedes the Sox might need some help.
“We’ve played well against Detroit and we need to keep that up and play well against everyone else,” he said, “And hope that some other teams play better against Detroit than they did in the first half.”
For the White Sox, there are several keys to unlocking the door to the playoffs, all of them centering on health.
Paul Konerko says the key is Jim Thome. Thome says the key is the pitching staff.
“Jim’s the one guy we can’t lose,” Konerko said. “He’s what makes everything tick. [Relievers] David Riske or Cliff Politte could be [keys]. If either one of those guys gets hot, it will really make things easy on ourselves.
“The starting pitchers have been good. Everybody compares them to what they did last year, which is tough. But they’re doing just fine, giving us a chance to win. With our offense, we should be able to win games.”
And Thome, the big man in the offense?
“Instead of one guy, I would say pitching. And I mean all of them,” Thome said. “To win, you have to have pitching. And pitching wins world championships. We’ve competed very well with our pitching. If we lose any of those guys, it would be a huge blow.
“If there’s one guy who would be key, it would be [closer] Bobby Jenks, because he has been so good.”
One key is making sure Jenks has a chance to save games, which would mean the Sox are leading in the ninth inning. But no one can overlook the importance of those remaining games against the Tigers.
“Those head-to-heads with Detroit are going to be huge,” Konerko said. “That’s where this division is going to be won or lost. But we have to go out and play another solid half and win 95 or 100 games. If we don’t make the playoffs, then we tip our hats to whoever beats us. I’ll be glad to say congratulations.”
Sox at the break
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CATEGORY 2005 2006
Record 57-29 57-31
ERA 3.62 4.44
Batting average .262 .288
On-base pct. .323 .354
Home runs 106 133
Complete games 5 2
Opponents’ average .247 .268
Stolen bases 91 57
Scott Podsednik’s SBs 44 29
Paul Konerko’s BA .249 .313
Jose Contreras’ ERA 4.26 3.38
Cliff Politte’s ERA 1.02 8.04
(Early Chicago Final edition Sports section, Page 4).
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dvandyck@tribune.com
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