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09-04-2002, 07:38 AM
TORONTO—School is back in session and the kids are taking their spots.
Every day is a learning experience and in Tuesday night's class, the students passed 5-4 in Toronto against the Blue Jays when they extended their winning streak to seven games.
White Sox management's decision to dump four veterans before the July 31 trading deadline to give several younger players an opportunity appears to be paying off, providing hope for a future that looked relatively bleak only six weeks ago.
Aaron Rowand, Joe Crede, D'Angelo Jimenez and Willie Harris all have shown glimpses of becoming productive regulars. Jon Garland has proved how dominant he can be if he keeps his mind right for an entire game. Damaso Marte continues to shine since being handed the closer's role.
Joe Borchard, perhaps the most hyped Sox prospect since Frank Thomas, made a huge splash in his major-league debut Monday, belting a homer in his second at-bat.
The dark cloud hovering over the Sox organization since May suddenly seems to have lifted with the 2002 season entering its final lap. The kids are all right.
"We have a lot of young guys here who bring enthusiasm and obviously have the talent," Rowand said. "It's nice to think that we have a nucleus here that can bring some good baseball to the South Side. Hopefully [management] won't feel it has to bring in free agents year after year."
General manager Ken Williams, who probably should wear a flak jacket instead of a suit and tie to deflect the onslaught of criticism since taking over for Ron Schueler on Oct. 24, 2000, may have the last laugh in the long run.
"We're excited and optimistic about the direction we are headed," Williams said.
Williams' big-ticket acquisitions—David Wells, Kenny Lofton, Royce Clayton, Todd Ritchie and Sandy Alomar Jr.—didn't work out as expected, leading to back-to-back seasons of unfulfilled expectations. But if low-key acquisitions such as Marte, Jimenez and Harris continue to improve, the Sox could be in position to contend again in 2003.
Williams is building around his three big stars—Magglio Ordonez, Paul Konerko and Mark Buehrle. Ordonez, who turns 29 next January, has become one of the game's elite players, with four straight seasons of 30 or more homers, 100 or more RBIs and an average of .300 or better. Can he get any better?
"I think I can do better in everything I do," Ordonez said. "I'm only 28 and getting more experience. If we pitch well next year, we're going to be OK. The young guys here are pretty good."
Konerko, who turns 27 next March, is just approaching his prime, closing in on his first 30-homer, 100-RBI season. Buehrle, who turns 24 next March, is 33-17 in his first two seasons as a starter and could finish among the top eight in American League earned-run average for the second straight year.
Crede, Borchard and the rest of the new kids on the block must get acclimated to major-league pitching and prove they deserve to be regulars on a team with pennant aspirations.
Following a slow start, Crede began to take off during the last Sox homestand. After being named the American League Player of the Week, he finished Tuesday night with six home runs in his last 10 games, hitting .325 (13-for-40) with 15 RBIs.
"A big part of it is feeling comfortable," Crede said. "And that goes back to me and [hitting coach Gary Ward] working in the cage. He found some flaws in my swing and corrected it."
Crede has shortened his swing to get in on inside pitches, just as the Sox are trying to get Borchard to do. Jimenez, who came up through the Yankees system, has some of the quickest hands of any infielder and has excelled at both second and short. With his speed and ability to beat out bunts, the Sox project him as their leadoff man in 2003.
Unless the Sox trade shortstop Jose Valentin, Harris is likely to be a backup to Jimenez next year. Of the Sox kids, he has struggled the most.
The key to the rebuilding may be the emergence of Rowand, who was buried on the bench for the first four months of the season. Rowand, who turned 25 last week, had the center-field job for about 48 hours back in January after Williams traded Chris Singleton to Baltimore for Harris. Williams, however, already had targeted Lofton, and Clayton convinced Lofton to spurn a more lucrative offer from Detroit to sign with the Sox, a decision Clayton now regrets making.
"I never expected this to happen," Clayton said. "The organization had just won a division title [in 2000], and I told Kenny I thought we had a good chance to do it again. I went out of my way to sway Kenny to come here. I feel bad after everything that happened, and now he ends up in San Francisco."
Lofton's departure gave Rowand his first chance to show he can play center. Heading into Tuesday night's game, Rowand was hitting .297 (38-for-128) since becoming the regular center fielder on July 27, and .333 (29-for-87) over his last 21 games.
"I think he has done well there," Manuel said. "He has made some fundamental mistakes at times here and there. He has had some youthful at-bats, but he also has had some big hits for us too."
Rowand, known by teammates as "Robo" for his penchant for crashing into walls like the movie character "RoboCop" doesn't have the speed of Lofton or the arm of Borchard and he occasionally turns the wrong way on fly balls. But considering he started out as an infielder, Rowand has been more than adequate in center.
"I think I've shown when I get an opportunity to play that I can hit for a decent average and produce offensively," Rowand said. "And I don't think I get bad reads on balls as much as you think. Nobody's perfect, but I don't think I deserve a bad rap on misjudged balls. As for speed, it's overrated. Everyone thinks you have to be a burner to play center field. If you have good instincts, you can become a good center fielder."
Everyone is getting an opportunity these days, and most of the kids are cashing in. It's still five months before "Boot Camp 2003" begins in Tucson, Ariz., but the sun finally is peeking through the clouds.
Copyright © 2002, The Chicago Tribune
Every day is a learning experience and in Tuesday night's class, the students passed 5-4 in Toronto against the Blue Jays when they extended their winning streak to seven games.
White Sox management's decision to dump four veterans before the July 31 trading deadline to give several younger players an opportunity appears to be paying off, providing hope for a future that looked relatively bleak only six weeks ago.
Aaron Rowand, Joe Crede, D'Angelo Jimenez and Willie Harris all have shown glimpses of becoming productive regulars. Jon Garland has proved how dominant he can be if he keeps his mind right for an entire game. Damaso Marte continues to shine since being handed the closer's role.
Joe Borchard, perhaps the most hyped Sox prospect since Frank Thomas, made a huge splash in his major-league debut Monday, belting a homer in his second at-bat.
The dark cloud hovering over the Sox organization since May suddenly seems to have lifted with the 2002 season entering its final lap. The kids are all right.
"We have a lot of young guys here who bring enthusiasm and obviously have the talent," Rowand said. "It's nice to think that we have a nucleus here that can bring some good baseball to the South Side. Hopefully [management] won't feel it has to bring in free agents year after year."
General manager Ken Williams, who probably should wear a flak jacket instead of a suit and tie to deflect the onslaught of criticism since taking over for Ron Schueler on Oct. 24, 2000, may have the last laugh in the long run.
"We're excited and optimistic about the direction we are headed," Williams said.
Williams' big-ticket acquisitions—David Wells, Kenny Lofton, Royce Clayton, Todd Ritchie and Sandy Alomar Jr.—didn't work out as expected, leading to back-to-back seasons of unfulfilled expectations. But if low-key acquisitions such as Marte, Jimenez and Harris continue to improve, the Sox could be in position to contend again in 2003.
Williams is building around his three big stars—Magglio Ordonez, Paul Konerko and Mark Buehrle. Ordonez, who turns 29 next January, has become one of the game's elite players, with four straight seasons of 30 or more homers, 100 or more RBIs and an average of .300 or better. Can he get any better?
"I think I can do better in everything I do," Ordonez said. "I'm only 28 and getting more experience. If we pitch well next year, we're going to be OK. The young guys here are pretty good."
Konerko, who turns 27 next March, is just approaching his prime, closing in on his first 30-homer, 100-RBI season. Buehrle, who turns 24 next March, is 33-17 in his first two seasons as a starter and could finish among the top eight in American League earned-run average for the second straight year.
Crede, Borchard and the rest of the new kids on the block must get acclimated to major-league pitching and prove they deserve to be regulars on a team with pennant aspirations.
Following a slow start, Crede began to take off during the last Sox homestand. After being named the American League Player of the Week, he finished Tuesday night with six home runs in his last 10 games, hitting .325 (13-for-40) with 15 RBIs.
"A big part of it is feeling comfortable," Crede said. "And that goes back to me and [hitting coach Gary Ward] working in the cage. He found some flaws in my swing and corrected it."
Crede has shortened his swing to get in on inside pitches, just as the Sox are trying to get Borchard to do. Jimenez, who came up through the Yankees system, has some of the quickest hands of any infielder and has excelled at both second and short. With his speed and ability to beat out bunts, the Sox project him as their leadoff man in 2003.
Unless the Sox trade shortstop Jose Valentin, Harris is likely to be a backup to Jimenez next year. Of the Sox kids, he has struggled the most.
The key to the rebuilding may be the emergence of Rowand, who was buried on the bench for the first four months of the season. Rowand, who turned 25 last week, had the center-field job for about 48 hours back in January after Williams traded Chris Singleton to Baltimore for Harris. Williams, however, already had targeted Lofton, and Clayton convinced Lofton to spurn a more lucrative offer from Detroit to sign with the Sox, a decision Clayton now regrets making.
"I never expected this to happen," Clayton said. "The organization had just won a division title [in 2000], and I told Kenny I thought we had a good chance to do it again. I went out of my way to sway Kenny to come here. I feel bad after everything that happened, and now he ends up in San Francisco."
Lofton's departure gave Rowand his first chance to show he can play center. Heading into Tuesday night's game, Rowand was hitting .297 (38-for-128) since becoming the regular center fielder on July 27, and .333 (29-for-87) over his last 21 games.
"I think he has done well there," Manuel said. "He has made some fundamental mistakes at times here and there. He has had some youthful at-bats, but he also has had some big hits for us too."
Rowand, known by teammates as "Robo" for his penchant for crashing into walls like the movie character "RoboCop" doesn't have the speed of Lofton or the arm of Borchard and he occasionally turns the wrong way on fly balls. But considering he started out as an infielder, Rowand has been more than adequate in center.
"I think I've shown when I get an opportunity to play that I can hit for a decent average and produce offensively," Rowand said. "And I don't think I get bad reads on balls as much as you think. Nobody's perfect, but I don't think I deserve a bad rap on misjudged balls. As for speed, it's overrated. Everyone thinks you have to be a burner to play center field. If you have good instincts, you can become a good center fielder."
Everyone is getting an opportunity these days, and most of the kids are cashing in. It's still five months before "Boot Camp 2003" begins in Tucson, Ariz., but the sun finally is peeking through the clouds.
Copyright © 2002, The Chicago Tribune