If I hear about the White Sox winning ways is due to small ball again, I'm going to kill myself. Spent some time getting a couple of facts together on this to just prove to you all that this is just not true.
In 2005, the White Sox are 13th in the league in Runs and Runs per game compared to 3rd in the league in 2004. In 2005, the White Sox are 28th in the league on OBP compared to 15th in 2004. On the bright side, they are 3rd in the league in SB, but with only a 69% success rate, which really hurts since they have attempted more steals than anyone else in the league. They have had 52 runners thrown out this year compared to 51 all of last year. Finally, they are 17th in the league in SH in 2005, compared to 13th last year.
So, let me get this straight. All those guys in the media (I'm looking at you ESPN), continue to say that the White Sox winning ways are due to playing small ball. Does small ball equate to getting on less, scoring less runs, and sacrificing less runners? Yes, they have stolen more bases than last year, but they are terrible at doing it. Couple all of this with hitting less homers, and you can see that their offense is not what caused the turnaround. Here is the obvious reason why they have turned it around:
3.67 ERA which is 5th in the league, compared to 4.91 (25th in the league) in 2004.
Is it because it is this simple, that Kruk, Morgan, Reynolds, and company totally ignore this fact? And I hate to say it, but its just not them. Its everyone!!!! Their offense got worse since letting Lee go and bringing in Podsednik (who is receiving all sorts of credit). Do you want a leadoff hitter, who is on pace to score only 86 runs, drive in 26 runs and walk 53 times with an OPS of .680? Oh, and he hasn't hit any homers. Is this the guy that is turning this team around? Can you imagine how good this team might of been with Lee batting behind Konerko? Wow.
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