Hoge: Time For White Sox To Make A Move
By Adam Hoge--
CHICAGO (WSCR) By now, you're tired of hearing it's early. Me too. As expert after expert tells you that there is still a ton of baseball to be played, I keep looking at the calendar thinking one thing:
It's time to make a move.
I keep hearing people bring up last year's 26-5 run that began Jun. 9 as evidence that there's still time. That seems pretty silly considering the White Sox didn't win anything in 2010. They finished with 88 wins and fell short of the division title by six games.
On top of that, the chances of the White Sox ripping off another 26-5 run are slim to none. They can't wait until June to make a push. It needs to happen now.
The White Sox are currently 4-2 on their nine-game west coast swing, winning back-to-back series for the first time all season. Adam Dunn appears to be figuring it out, Gordon Beckham has been hitting better, and the pitching has been there for two weeks now.
This weekend they travel to Oakland to face the Athletics, the very team that started the White Sox's downward slide exactly a month ago. It was April 13 when Matt Thornton blew his second save of the series and the A's won 7-4. The Sox should have swept Oakland. Instead, they lost the series and went on to lose seven in a row.
The South Siders now sit at 15-23, just a little worse than last year's 14-20 record on May 13. But the key to winning the division in 2011 may be as simple as not waiting until June to improve that record. The other night I wrote on twitter that the White Sox need to be above .500 by the end of June. That is both an attainable and necessary goal. Unfortunately, it might not be good enough.
In the midst of their ridiculous June run last season, the White Sox were 40-37 when June was over. As it turned out, that wasn't good enough in the end. Much of that failure can be attributed to the team's poor finish in August and September, but unfortunately, poor Augusts have become a theme under Ozzie Guillen. Racking up wins against the National League is also a common theme for Ozzie Guillen, but it would be a good idea for this team start racking up wins before interleague play starts.
Which brings us back to the 19-18 Oakland Athletics, a team the White Sox should have swept at home a month ago. With the offense starting to come around, the White Sox need to win this weekend's series and return home with 6-3 record on the road trip. And if they really want to get crazy, they could go ahead and sweep the A's, something both teams know is possible.
I'm in the camp with those who think 90 wins might be enough to win the AL Central. And as long as Cleveland sits atop the division, I will continue to think so. But if you haven't noticed, the Detroit Tigers have won five in a row. They've started to make their move. It's time for the White Sox to do the same.
Do you agree with Adam? Post your comments below.
Adam regularly covers the White Sox, Blackhawks and college sports for The Score and is the Executive Producer of Hit & Run on Sunday mornings. He was born and raised in Lincoln Park and attended St. Ignatius College Prep before going off to the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he earned a Journalism degree. Follow him on Twitter @AdamHoge670 and read more of his blogs here.
