I Was Just Dying For the Chance, and Now I'm Jumping All Over It

The day is here, finally. The Chicago White Sox have graced the pages of the Missourian this gives me a chance to write about my beloved hometown team. In Wednesday's game against the Kansas City Royals, starting pitcher Javier Vazquez threw a gem of a game. His stat line read 8 innings, 2 hits, 7 strikeouts, 1 walk and no runs allowed. Vazquez had a perfect game through 4 innings, until he walked Matt Stairs on a full count, and then had a no-hitter into through 6 innings and one out into the seventh when Doug Mientkiewicz had a check swing single that rolled down the third base line. It stayed in fair territory because the third base line at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field has a bit of a lip in it, and balls that roll down it tend to roll back into fair territory. White Sox third baseman Joe Crede knew this and did his best to get the ball to go foul. Saying that he "tried to dig a ditch to get the ball to go foul, but it didn't work." Anyway, Vazquez pitched into the ninth inning, where he gave up a leadoff single and was then pulled from the game to a loud ovation from the White Sox faithful.

The White Sox are on a hot streak now. They have won nine of their last ten games since struggling to a 1-4 start. They are a team that is set up for the long haul, as long as their pitching can hold up. Vazquez is their fifth starter, and he is definitely the most dangerous fifth starter in baseball. The scariest part about the team right now is the fact that the teams "table-setter," leadoff man Scott Podsednik is struggling to start the season, he is batting in the low .200's as of right now, and that is a major improvement from how he started (he batted .038 over the first seven or eight games). Like every other team in baseball, this White Sox team has holes in it. The center field position is a question mark as rookie starter Brian Anderson has gotten off to a slow start, and backup Rob Mackowiak has struggled as well. The middle part of the bullpen is also a question, Cliff Politte has not looked like the same guy he was last year, and the Sox are relying on Matt Thornton and Boone Logan to do well against left-handed hitters (Logan was playing single A ball last season, and was not even on the radar coming into spring training).

All in all, this team is built on its' starting pitching. You aren't going to find a more formidable starting rotation in baseball than Mark Buehrle, Freddy Garcia, Jose Contreras, Jon Garland, and Javier Vazquez. If those guys can stay healthy, and continue to pitch deep into ballgames, the White Sox are one of the favorites in baseball as far as the World Series goes. In the playoffs, they always say pitching wins, and the Sox were able to win the whole thing last year with pitching. This fan is praying that the pitching can do it again.

Publish Date: April 20 in the Missourian. Second page of the sports section