North: No complaints with Cubs and White Sox starts
The baseball season is just a few weeks old, but there is a sufficient sample size to allow me to share some of my first impressions.
Right now the Chicago Cubs are doing exactly what was expected of them: dominate! And I can't complain about the White Sox, who are surprising fans early and winning on the road.
If you're a fan of an Eastern Seaboard team or even the Washington Nationals or Baltimore Orioles, you might see a World Series in one of those towns or both.
Now, if you are talking disappointments, the Houston Astros are under .500 and in last place in the American League West.
In the National League, the Washington Nationals and the Cubs are both in first place in their divisions, but could be considered bottom feeders because of the competition they have faced so far. The Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies are both playing right around .500 ball, but the Reds are only 3 games back while the Phillies are in second place and just 4 games back.
As far as individual players, the Cubs' Dexter Fowler is second in hitting while Daniel Murphy is making his former team, the New York Mets, wish they had re-signed him. He is leading the NL in hitting for the Nationals.
Another new man to the American League, former Nationals pitcher Jordan Zimmerman, is among the leaders in ERA for the Detroit Tigers. Let's see if my second and third impressions later this season follow along the same way.
Melton, an all-time favorite:
It's great to see one of my favorite guys and players of all time, Bill Melton, featured on Comcast SportsNet monthly interview series, "Inside look."
Melton might be known now for his greatness as a White Sox baseball analyst with Chuck Garfien, but that's not why he was one of my all-time favorite players. The two-time home run champ for the American League teamed up for only a short time with another one of my favorites, Dick Allen. They were two of the best power hitters in baseball, and just fun to watch.
The old debate was which Chicago player was considered the better third baseman: Ron Santo or Melton. I would always argue it was Melton, while my Cubs friends said Santo. Yet when Santo was acquired by the White Sox late in his career he played second base, not third.
My Cubs friends took a beating on that one! If you haven't seen the Melton show, which aired Sunday, check it out when it runs again.
Program notes:
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• North's column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.