Baseball Musings: White Sox Win Central

September 29, 2005

White Sox Win Central

Polanco lines out to Konerko to end the game and give Chicago it's first division win in five years. It just goes to show the games in April and May are just as important as the games in September. Great pitching by Garcia and the bullpen today, which is the story of the season for this team. Now they get to wait to see who wins the lottery to play them in the first round.

Congratulations to the White Sox on the win. Guillen and Williams deserve a lot of credit for bringing the team to this point.

Posted by David Pinto at 03:29 PM | Division Races | TrackBack (0)

Comments

Have they won the AL Central? If Cleveland wins tonight, they'll still be 3 games back. If the Indians were to then sweep the White Sox, they'd finish with the same record, right? So why wouldn't there be a one-game playoff? Hm....

Well, anyway, the Angels are in, and that's what's important ;-)

Posted by: Angels Fan at September 29, 2005 03:56 PM

If the White Sox and Indians finish in a tie, the Sox win the tie-breaker by virtue of the better record in the season series. Since the Indians would have to finish with a better record than the second-place team in the East, there would be no playoff for the championship and the Indians would be awarded the wild card. It's over...

Posted by: Scott at September 29, 2005 04:07 PM

Becuase the Red Sox or Yankees can't both get 96 wins as they play each other the last three games. If the Tribe sweeps both teams make the playoffs meaning season series is used as a tie-breaker not a single playoff game. In that case the Sox win the series 11-8.

Posted by: Scott Janssens at September 29, 2005 04:07 PM

I am still unconvinced of Guillen's contribution. I see Tony Pena 2003 all over again. Luck, in the extreme, can give a bad team a winning record (Royals in 2003) or a mediocre team a playoff berth (White Sox this year). Just as the last 2 years showed that the Royals had no clothes, I expect next year to be a "disappointment" for the White Sox. It will be a big test for Williams as to whether ride the horse he has now -- a recipe for a disaster -- or try to leverage the successes of this year into a revamped team that is actually good.

Posted by: Craig A. Damon at September 29, 2005 04:14 PM

Those same comments by Mr. Damon are the reason why the white sox win, because no one believes they can.

Posted by: Jazzy Jef at September 29, 2005 04:18 PM

Those same comments by Mr. Damon are the reason why the white sox win, because no one believes they can.

Wow. That's the type of comment the good folks at the Fire Joe Morgan blog would have a field day with. You mean it wasn't the pitching of Buehrle, Garcia, Garland and Contreres that carried them to the division title? It was because no one believes they can win? Well, I don't think most people have ever believed the Devil Rays could win, but that hasn't seemed to help them too much.

Posted by: paul at September 29, 2005 04:24 PM

I think Guillen is a better manager of players than you think, partly because of the rhetorical static he uses to "manage" those outside his clubhouse (i.e., the media, where hyperbole is his middle name).

I think one of the guys at BaseballProspectus observed that Guillen is quite adept at managing pitching changes, and that seems right.

He has a good sixth sense on when to stay with a player (Contreras) and I like the way he's handled Marte (a talented pitcher who seems to have altitude sickness right about now, but should be better for the experience).

Posted by: Bob Kunz at September 29, 2005 06:43 PM

Uhh, Craig -- 2005 White Sox = 2003 Kansas City Royals, are you friggin' kidding me?

For one, there's a difference between a team that won 83 games, just barely over .500, and a team that's going to win at least 96 games.

Second, the White Sox pitching, at the very least, will keep them around the top of the Central the next few years. I'm not saying they'll win it continually, but they'll have a fighting shot in September. Mark Buehrle has always been good, just never appreciated -- 125 ERA+ over his career, and that's on the rise. Jon Garland has ALWAYS been a league average pitcher, and he's still only 25 years old. I think some dropoff should be expected, but not a whole lot -- he'll make a nice #3 for the Sox next year. Freddy Garcia -- well, I'm not extremely pleased that we're paying him $9 million bucks a year, but he's still an above average starter.

And, I haven't even gotten to the guy who has carried the Sox on his back the past two months, Jose Contreras. He's quietly put up a 3.61 ERA this year, including an ERA hovering around 2.00 for August and September. In fact, he's the Sox' game one starter.

Finally, Brandon McCarthy. Unbelievable minor league numbers, and a damn good job down the stretch for the Sox -- an ERA below 2.00 in just under 40 IP. He'll be the best fifth starter in the league next year, easily.

Frankly, that's an awful comparison. Bash Kenny Williams all you want, but he had a plan this offseason, and stuck to it. I don't think anyone expected a very good offense, but he wanted good pitching, and good defense. His pitching is ranked what, second, in the AL? And I believe Baseball Prospectus' DEF (Defensive Efficiency) rating has the Sox in the top five in all of baseball.

Posted by: Keith Cygan at September 30, 2005 12:28 AM

Wow, you mean to say that the White Sox got lucky and won 96 games, the best record in the American League? That's some kind of luck, I guess Joe Dimaggio got lucky 56 times and Hank Aaron got lucky 755 times. Chicago won because they pitch and catch the ball as well as anybody. A team can get lucky for a while, but (and this is the beauty of the long season) the frauds are revealed before long and they do not win 96 times. Remember, hitting wins ball games but pitching wins pennants.

Posted by: Flip at September 30, 2005 02:29 AM

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