South Side Story

CHICAGO — OK, it is only June, and the Chicago White Sox know the bloom can turn to gloom.

They hear it from Frank Thomas, that old guy in their midst at 32.

They hear it from the manager, Jerry Manuel, who studies Gandhi and Martin Luther King but believes that in baseball it’s best to carry a big stick.

They hear it and understand it, but . . . well, a little cockiness and giddiness are to be excused when their record is the best in baseball and they are suddenly receiving standing ovations from the growing numbers of people finding their way to the South Side, deserting, perhaps, the ivy league to the north.

“We have a lot of talent here,” first baseman and former Dodger Paul Konerko said. “Just because people thought we weren’t ready to contend didn’t mean we were going to lay down and believe them.

“We know next year was supposed to be our year, but we didn’t feel like waiting. We saw the teams we had to beat last year and thought, ‘We can win now.’ The tests keep getting harder, but we keep getting better grades.”

This was after the White Sox had made the honor roll Sunday with a 27-11 record for a 38-game stretch considered the toughest of their tests. It included a Phi Beta Kappa 11-3 record for the final 14 against the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees, and a sweep of seven on the road.

The White Sox were one game ahead of the Indians in the American League Central on May 16 and are now 8 1/2 ahead, with a 75-game record of 48-27, their best since 1919. They may not have been baseball’s surprise team then, but they are now, although pitcher Jim Parque shook his head and called that label “old news.”

“Last year we were hoping to win and this year we’re expecting to win,” the former UCLA left-hander said. “We’ve been on the bandwagon since April 1, but now people are jumping on with the same White Sox frenzy we’ve had from the start. We’ve been winning games all year. It shouldn’t be a surprise anymore.”

Maybe not, but in the context of a 75-86 record last year, a still largely anonymous roster and a $31.5-million payroll, it would have been difficult to predict that the White Sox would have dominated the Yankees and Indians, outscoring them, 104-63, in the 14 games. Or that they would be challenging Sammy Sosa trade rumors at the top of the local newspapers with a first-half roll that even General Manager Ron Schueler concedes has put his team ahead of schedule.

The White Sox are the only team in the majors with seven players who have scored 40 or more runs and six who have driven in 40 or more. They are second in the American League in pitching and third in runs, good enough to overcome a major league-leading 68 errors.

Manuel says the errors can get “my heart palpitating” but often are the result of a “youthful aggressiveness,” since the Sox generally start only two players--shortstop Jose Valentin, 30, and designated hitter Thomas--who are 30 or older.

“It’s like asking a fast-break basketball team to avoid turnovers,” Manuel said. “I can live with aggressiveness, which is not to say we don’t work at correcting the mistakes. I think everyone would agree, we’ve been better recently.”

Said Yankee Manager Joe Torre, “I’m surprised at the size of their lead. I’m not surprised at how well they’re playing. They’re a legitimate team because their pitching is legitimate.

“As a young team looking for validation, what they’ve done recently is huge. Of course, once you call attention to yourself, you have to keep it going.”

On July 31, 1997, trailing Cleveland by only three games in the Central, Schueler and owner Jerry Reinsdorf called national attention to their team with what became known as “the White Flag Sale.”

Mrs. O’Leary’s cow couldn’t have been more unpopular in Chicago.

Abruptly giving up on the season and initiating a major overhaul of the roster and payroll, the White Sox traded three veteran pitchers, Wilson Alvarez, Roberto Hernandez and Danny Darwin, to San Francisco for five minor leaguers and a struggling rookie, Keith Foulke.

Reinsdorf, delivering the earliest concession speech for a team clearly in the race, said, “We weren’t going to catch the Indians anyway.”

Now, in this happier time, his team’s rise an affirmation of their decision, Schueler said:

“We had confirmed that we weren’t going to be able to re-sign Alvarez and Hernandez, but it wasn’t about the players we were trading. It was about the players we were getting. It was about putting players on the field that fans could relate to and enjoy.

“We had a bunch of guys who turned it on when they felt like turning it on and didn’t always hustle. I hated it and the fans hated it. Now we have guys who play hard all the time and you can see how the fans are responding. Nevertheless, the decision to scrap everything and build around our kids was the toughest I’ve ever had to make.”

Foulke has emerged as one of the league’s top closers. Bob Howry, also in the deal, is his set-up man.

Albert Belle and Robin Ventura were allowed to leave as free agents as Schueler turned to a productive farm system and shrewd trades to avoid the high-priced pitfalls and uncertainty of the market.

Panamanian Carlos Lee and Venezuelan Magglio Ordonez, two-thirds of one of baseball’s best young outfields, were signed as undrafted free agents. Chris Singleton, the center fielder, was obtained from the Yankees for a minor league pitcher.

Konerko, without a position in Los Angeles and Cincinnati and now one of the White Sox’s most productive hitters, was acquired for Mike Cameron, a solid outfielder subsequently traded to Seattle in the Ken Griffey Jr. deal.

Four-fifths of the rotation--James Baldwin, Kip Wells, Mike Sirotka and Parque--came out of the Chicago system, as did second baseman Ray Durham.

The White Sox are now the only American League team with three starters--Baldwin, Parque and Cal Eldred--among the top 10 in earned-run average.

Schueler concedes that luck and patience are essential. He had luck, for instance, with Eldred, a 32-year-old right-hander who was obtained from Milwaukee with the clutch performing Valentin last winter. Eldred shook off the arm problems that led to a 6-16 record over the last two years and is now a staff leader and a candidate for comeback player of the year at 9-2.

He had patience, for instance, with the 28-year-old Baldwin, a talented enigma plagued by home runs and first-half inconsistency who changed his winter workout regimen, is 10-2 and headed to the All-Star game.

“We don’t think our future is just 2000,” Schueler said. “I think it’s the next four or five years. Part of what we were trying to do is get a bunch of young guys and bring them up together as the nucleus of a team we could keep together. So to me, there’s still no big push to win this year. If it happens, great, but all along I thought 2001 was going to be our year.”

There may be no big push to win this year, but it would be a disappointment now if it didn’t happen, a potential albatross. The owner may sense that. Schueler has permission to add a veteran player or two before the July 31 trade deadline, if necessary.

As Manuel said, “I think what this recent stretch has shown is that we match up well with the upper-division teams. We have to feel good about our chances. If we have adversity in the future, we should be able to handle it.

“As a young team that should also get better, we have almost daily discussions about showing respect but not fearing the team we’re playing. The important thing now is to maintain this intensity for another extended period, no matter who we’re playing.”

Manuel, one of baseball’s five minority managers and highly respected by his players, has been pivotal in the White Sox’s emergence.

He is a disciple of Jim Leyland and Felipe Alou and is called Felipe Jr. by some. Patient and soft-spoken, he is far from soft.

The best illustration of that occurred last spring, when Manuel held his ground as Thomas, citing a doctor’s instructions, refused to participate in a demanding shuttle drill.

Manuel led Thomas to his office and they went word for heated word in a long and door-rattling confrontation, with Manuel ultimately challenging Thomas to step up and become a team leader. The exchange was heard throughout the clubhouse and enhanced the players’ admiration for Manuel while helping to forge a strong bond with Thomas.

Thomas has rebounded from personal and business problems, overcome an ankle injury, reshaped his swing during winter workouts with former batting coach Walt Hriniak, benefited from enhanced lineup protection and regained his all-star form at the plate while accepting the leadership challenge.

Thomas emerged from that spring meeting to hold one of his own with the players, apologizing and assuring them they could come to him at any time, that he was there for the team.

“This has been a special stretch for a special ballclub that I hope hasn’t reached its potential yet,” Thomas said. “Winning is contagious. I told them in the spring we could win and I believe that more strongly now, but you can’t get too high too early. You can’t take anything for granted. I have to be the clubhouse skeptic and keep reminding them. I may get on their nerves, but that’s my job.”

Dispirited for a time by the shake-up of 1997 and a sub-.500 season in ‘98, Thomas can now be seen grooving to a Mystikal CD or putting on a black wig to mimic Baldwin’s mini-Afro. He is one of the few recognizable faces on a team that he says is the best he has ever been on at pulling for each other.

Infielder Greg Norton added that the team “is close enough that if anything needs to be said to anyone at any time, each of us can do it as friends, Frank included. We’re a group of young guys with the common goal of bringing respect and winning back to the South Side.”

The White Sox last reached the playoffs in ‘93, which was the last year they drew more than 2 million. The 2000 average is 30,351 and climbing. It’s a toddlin’ town that may always be a Cubs’ town, but as Konerko said, “It’s a Cubs’ town because of Wrigley Field. It’s tough to compete with that, but I’d rather play here on a winner than play in Wrigley on another loser.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

BEST RECORDS IN BASEBALL

American League

Chicago 48-27, .640

Oakland 44-30, .595

Seattle 43-30, .589

National League

Atlanta 46-29, .613

St. Louis 44-31, .587

Arizona 44-31, .587

Overall

Chicago 48-27, .640

Atlanta 46-29, .613

Oakland 44-30, .595

Seattle 43-30, .589