Home Run Derby

The Year is 1997.  July 31, 1997 to be exact.

Nearly ten years ago, the Chicago White Sox were 52-53 and 3.5 games back of the Cleveland Indians with two months left to play. The White Sox led the season series with Cleveland (3-2) with six games remaining against the Tribe in September.

However, the White Sox had just lost 6 of their last 8 games and were in need of something to get over the hump.  So the White Sox went to the 7/31 trading deadline - like a lot of teams – and looked to make something happen.

To the Shock and Ire of their fans, that something was to give up on the season.  The White Sox traded away their best starting pitcher (Wilson Alvarez: 9-8, 3.03 ERA), their closer (Roberto Hernandez: 27 Saves in 31 SvOpps, 2.44 ERA, 8.8 K/9) and another serviceable staring pitcher (Danny Darwin: 4.13 ERA – 2nd best in the rotation).

Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf summed it up:  “Anyone who thinks we can catch Cleveland is crazy.”

Bart Simpson:  “Gotcha.  Can’t Win; Don’t Try.”`

The Sox finished in second place, six games behind the Indians.  The next two years, their attendance dropped to less than 17,000 a game - among the worst in the American League.

The year is 2007.  Today to be exact.

Two years removed from their 2005 World Series Championship, the White Sox are in shambles.  The Sox are 27-35 and wallowing in 4th Place in the AL Central - 10 games behind the Cleveland Indians and 4.5 games out of 3rd Place. 

The Sox lineup can’t hit (MLB worst .232 average) and their bullpen can’t get anyone out (MLB worst 5.80 ERA).  They’ve lost 16 of their last 20 games. 

Let’s sum up the season by paraphrasing Hawk Harrelson … “SHE GONE”

If there ever was a time for the White Sox to run up the White Flag and give up on the season, this is it.  They have two very tradeable free agents to be … pitcher Mark Buehrle and OF Jermaine Dye.   Buehrle has hinted at wanting to pitch for his hometown St. Louis Cardinals throughout his career.  Dye isn’t having the best season, but might get an offensive kick if his surroundings were to change.   And rumor has it that the Mets and Dodgers are interested in one or both.

I think White Sox fans would be more understanding if the Sox gave up this time.  Sox fans are usually pretty savvy baseball fans and might be more pissed off at Sox management if they lost Buehrle and Dye after a forgettable season … with nothing to show for it.

The next question is how well manager Ozzie Guillen would handle it.  I don’t think Guillen is a manager who would do very well with a ballclub that isn’t equipped with top tier talent. 

He’s not a manager suited for a rebuilding team – he’s a fiery competitor and might not suffer through the hard times very well. 

The last question is how much dead air we’d hear (or not hear) during Sox TV Broadcasts as Hawk and DJ can’t find anything to say.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 14th, 2007 at 4:24 pm and is filed under 2007 MLB, Baseball Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.