EXTRA!! EXTRA!! WHITE SOX IN FIRST!!

Seattle- After losing three in a row to Texas and being shut-out their last 2 games before their series with the mighty Seattle Mariners, the Chicago White Sox thought they were seeing any hopes of contention going right down the toilet. Then they lost the series opener vs. Seattle 8-1, and they figured that this would be their second straight time being swept in a series. In the locker room after game one of the Seattle series, team veteren and home-run leader Harold Baines gave an inspirational speech with hopes of driving his team of youngsters to some big victories. The White Sox young guys must have been listening, because the next day they pulled off a 10-5 shocker vs. the stingy seattle defense. Even more surprising was that the ChiSox won the series the next day with a very well-played 4-2 victory with Pep Harris getting the save. The White Sox have had to deal with some pitching injuries and struggles lately, though. Their best pitcher so far, Bryan Rekar, was sidelined for a few weeks with a hyper-extended elbow he suffered during a game earlier this season. Bryan, very sadly, has the lowest ERA of the team's starters with a 3.14 ERA. This is a good ERA, but you really expect a better team pitching leader for a first place contender. ...Bryan is expected to return in about a week. This brings us to the White Sox pitching struggles. After looking at this team's pitching stats it's hard to feel anything but sympathy for any member of the team. The lowest team ERA is 2.89 shared by reliever Bill Simas and closer Terry Adams. Most of the other ERA's are above 4 and some are above 6. This is really pathetic for a team in 1st. One thing that the White Sox have in their favor is the fact that they aren't expected to win anything this year. Their oldest starter is catcher Dan Wilson and center-fielder Bernie Williams at the age of 27. After that most of the players are around 22, 23, and 24. As you can see, this kind of youth and expirience isn't really taken seriously in spring training. On the other hand, teams like the Indians, who won like 99 games or something like that a year ago are expected to be in the penant hunt again this year. The White Sox don't have that kind of pressure. On a side note, before-mentioned team home run leader Harold Baines was traded recently to the Detroit Tigers for a 1st round draft pick and 3B Todd Zeile who will most likely be released anyway (he was included so the Tigers would stay under the cap.) The Sox have no need for Zeile with the uprising of young rising star Scott Rolen.

Unfortunatly the White Sox best pitcher