ChiSox can compete despite lack of offense

One of the nicest stories of the 2005 baseball season has been the Chicago White Sox, who enter Saturday's action with the AL's best mark at 78-47. Yet many wonder if the White Sox, still overshadowed by the lovable losers of the midwest, the Cubs, can carry their success into the postseason. I believe they can. Under fiery second-year skipper Ozzie Guillen, the White Sox are doing things the old-fashioned way. Rather than survive with a barrage of long-balls and high-scoring affairs, the White Sox play games close to the vest, preferring to move runners up and ultimately manufacture runs. And you can certainly afford to do that when you have the starting pitching that the White Sox do. Their rotation is anchored by Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, and Jose Contreras. But the Sox also have an effective bullpen. Ever heard of Neal Cotts? How about once-troubled youngster Bobby Jenks? No? Probably haven't heard of Damaso Marte either. But so what? They have been holding leads down for the Sox all year despite not having a true closer. Oft-injured Dustin Hermanson has been bothered by a nagging injury and is in his first year closing ballgames. But the point is that the starting pitching goes deep into games, so Guillen probably won't have to worry about his bullpen wearing down. The key for Chicago will be overcoming the experience factor-- or lack thereof. This team hasn't been to the postseason since 2000, when they were whitewashed in three games by Seattle. But unlike the Yankees and Red Sox, the White Sox actually have a competent pitching staff. Sure, they don't score too many runs, but 78 times this year they've still outscored their opponent. As ESPN's Stephen A. Smith says, quite frankly, that's all you need.

Orioles Downfall Not Just Pitching

As a devoted Orioles fan, it's been tough to swallow the last two months. Since a 42-28 start, the Birds have gone 18-35 and have endured a steroid suspension and a managerial change. Now at 60-63 after another ugly loss to Cleveland, they're back home to take on Los Angeles and Oakland. I've been asking myself, how could they look so good early and so poor as of late? Contrary to popular belief, it's NOT just the pitching. Yeah, Sidney Ponson is a cancer on the team and the bullpen generally can't hold the rare leads they seem to get. But this so-called "vaunted offense" has been dormant since the end of June. I have never in my lifetime of watching baseball seen a team fail so miserably in the clutch on a consistent basis. Stranding runners, double plays, poor baserunning. I look at Boston, New York, and Texas and see teams that always are capable of putting runs on the board. But not the Orioles. And there always seems to be an excuse. "We're pressing too hard... We're hitting balls hard but right at people... We're just struggling right now, we'll break out of it." Really? When?
At any rate, fans who think the problems are one dimensional have every right to think that but they still have the wool pulled over their eyes. The offense has been anemic as of late despite the Orioles' lineup being one of the league's best on paper. But the game isn't played on paper now, is it?

What is this all about?

On this site I will share my Jim Rome-esque (not really) opinions about sports. As an Orioles fan, I have a lot of criticisms for a team that has hit the skids after a promising start. But I have a lot of insight to offer on plenty of other teams and issues in sports.