These White Sox Just Might Be For Real

I know, I know. It's only the first week of August.

But I can't help it. Maybe it's because I know what winning baseball looks like. Maybe it's because I just get a vibe about this team, these 2012 Chicago White Sox.

As much as I would love to, I'm not going to make as bold a statement as to say these Pale Hose are headed to the postseason. But if it looks like a postseason team and smells like a postseason team...

Well, you get the picture.

And what's not to like these days on the south side, where at the very least, there is some darn good baseball going on these days? Indeed, it sure beats sitting at home being a Cubs fan right about now.

A few days ago, I happened upon an interesting discussion taking place on Chicago's 670 the Score AM radio station. The host that morning was asking callers who they thought the MVP of this Sox club was.

Paul Konerko? Maybe. Adam Dunn? That's not a huge stretch. Hot-hitting Alex Rios? A definite possibility.

The calls kept flooding into the station, and one by one, a different name seemed to pop up each time.

"Youkilis," said one caller, referring to the slugging third baseman the Sox picked up from Boston recently, the same one who has been on a tear since arriving.

"Chris Sale," announced the next caller, in reference to the Randy Johnson-like all-star lefty clone in the making. Then came the name Jake Peavy, another all-star who may just be in the running for Comeback Player of the Year.

"Well, you need more than one guy (to win), I know that," Sox manager Robin Ventura said about the team concept after Monday night's 4-2 win over Kansas City. "So everybody needs to chip in one way or another."

And they have been.

Let's not forget catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who's gone from a guy who couldn't throw a baserunner out last season, to a veteran who just blew past his all-time best single season home run mark and seems to be gunning down baserunners with regularity.

Up until last night, he'd homered in five consecutive games, tying a White Sox all-time record. That included a dramatic pinch-hit home run on Saturday night against the Angels that made Ventura look genius-like.

Ventura was asked if "that was what he planned," when he called on Pierzynski to pinch-hit prior to the homer.

"Of course," Ventura replied with a laugh.



Bigger crowds are showing up. Even general manager Kenny Williams should be applauded and in the running as a team MVP, based on his trades for Youkilis, reliever Brett Myers and lefty starter Francisco Liriano, who comes with playoff experience and has been outstanding in his two starts with the Sox since coming over from the Twins a few weeks ago.

It's a far cry from a season ago, when former skipper Ozzie Guillen, who took his talents to South Beach (sorry LeBron, it's a cliche now), was at the helm. This club seems Old School in it's work ethic, full of swagger and confidence, and is a far cry from the drama that seemed to take place in these parts on a nightly basis the past three seasons.

The point being, this is the true definition of a team. On any given night, it seems anyone on the Sox roster is capable of rising to the occasion. It's also one of the truest marks of a winner.

I'm not sure if that's a product of Ventura, who played with hard-nosed no-nonsense guys like former Sox players Carlton Fisk, Frank Thomas and others, but whatever he's doing, he's doing it right.

And it's a great feeling, because I never, ever feel like this team is out of a game when I watch them play. And if my experience in Chicago tells me anything, it's when that happens, it's also the first warning sign of a champion. Much like in 2005, when the Sox always seemed to jump ahead of teams early. Or in 2010, when their counterpart on the west side, the Chicago Blackhawks, would lull teams to sleep and them blow them out of the building.

These Sox are in just about every game they play.

But for all the good things going on right now on good-ole' 35th Street, the Sox aren't without problems ... or at least worries. A bullpen loaded with inexperienced rookies, worries about whether or not Sale's arm will hold up in his first full season as a starter. Questions are still abound when it comes to our team's other starters, Quintana, Floyd, Liriano and Phillip Humber, too.

And it's natural to wonder how long the Sox will continue to play spectacular defense, or lead the league in hitting with runners in scoring position, as they've done most of the year.

But just how long before we can start getting our hopes up? Here we are, five months into the season, with the stretch run in sight, a game-and-a-half ahead of the second place Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.

At what point is it okay to say, "Hey, this ins't a fluke?"

No one thought the Sox would be in this position. Heck, Sports Illustrated even predicted this team would lose 95 games before the season began, which I openly ripped them for when they did.

The more I ponder these questions, the more I keep coming back to the same answer.

Why not the White Sox?

To be honest, I can't think of too many reasons. Because win or lose, this 2012 Sox club is a damn good baseball team right now. And I don't see that changing anytime soon. I just don't.

I'll still be keeping my fingers crossed though.

This is Chicago we're talking about, after all.