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Last season’s White Sox club was
young and ambitious. It eliminated the tribe shortly after the all-star
break and held on to the lead down the stretch. But besides winning the
division, the best thing for ChiSox fans was that this team was headed
straight for the top. Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Lee looked to be all-star
mainstays and the rotation was built for longevity with James Baldwin,
Mike Sirotka, John Garland and Kip Wells.
Fast-forward now a year later. Baldwin
and Sirotka have both been dealt, Sirotka gaining the most attention when
he was dealt for veteran David Wells. Garland and Wells have both been
average with ERA’s over 4 and records hovering right around .500. And
the White Sox potent offense has been lead by Lee and Ordonez, but neither
will match last season’s numbers.
Granted, Thomas’ injury doesn’t
help nor does the season ending injury to David Wells. But Wells wasn’t
performing at the level he did two years ago with the Yanks.
The
Indians in ’94 and ’95 were a lot like the White Sox of last year.
However, John Hart did a great job of locking up the young players to
long-term deals and providing just the right mixture of veteran
leadership. The deep pockets of owners like Dick Jacobs and Larry Dolan
have also allowed the Indians to continually reload.
With
the young and talented (sense the sarcasm?) Chicago White Sox holding only
a glimmer of hope, the tribe is on their way to winning another Central
crown, something they should have done last year. As we approach the
September call-ups it becomes very important for the Tribe to pull away
from the Twins. Especially a team as psychologically damaged as the Twins
must be after being swept at the Jake last week
Later
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Pictures
from Jacobs Field...
Click above for the official Cleveland Indians site!
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At least we're not the Sox
