Can Sox surprise us again?
Kenny Williams is attempting to throw a third strike past his doubters, including me.
In 2005, I suggested to the Sox general manager that his team couldn't possibly be any good that season.
Strike 1: They won the World Series, of course.
In 2008, I predicted the Sox would finish last in the American League Central.
Strike 2: They won the division, of course.
Before last week's season opener I relegated the Sox to fourth in the AL Central.
Strike 3? Well, we'll see how that works out.
For some reason the Sox never look as good to me on paper as they wind up being on the field. Take Saturday in frigid Comiskey Park. Field manager Ozzie Guillen started his jayvee team - Brent Lillibridge, Wilson Betemit, Brian Anderson, Corky Miller and No. 5 starting pitcher Bartolo Colon.
All they faced was Minnesota ace Francisco Liriano.
If forced to venture a guess, I would have said Twins 8, Sox 0. The final score was Sox 8, Twins 0. So far the Sox received decent-or-better starting pitching in all five of their games. They even hit a little over the weekend.
Meanwhile, the AL Central looked less than intimidating if not downright shabby.
So first impressions are the Sox have a chance to pull this off again, and if they do I'll finally surrender to Williams' genius. That's probably what my hang-up is. Executive sports genius always is difficult for me to acknowledge. But Williams tests my resistance.
That 2005 World Series thing was the flat-out best job of generally managing in Chicago sports. Yes, better than the Bears building the Super Bowl champion and the Bulls building their 1990s dynasty.
Williams didn't take his time mustering his masterpiece. Over one winter he signed a guy, traded for another, imported another, manufactured another, slapped them together and won it all.
My problem, I think, is that to me the best teams are created around players who arrive from the farm system. Williams does it mostly by collecting guys from everywhere but his own organization, though this year's team does have a few homegrown players.
Listen, I'm not the only person either smart enough or dumb enough to doubt whether Williams can hurl another one past us. Baseball Prospectus picked the White Sox last in the AL Central. ESPN.com's power rankings had them 15th among Major League Baseball's 30 teams and fourth in the division. Sporting News.com had them 15th and third. "Sorry," the Sporting News wrote, "just not buying that outfielder Carlos Quentin really is as good as his 2008 stats."
Heck, Quentin is the one guy I expect the Sox can rely on again this season. It's everything else that concerns me.
Can Colon and Jose Contreras hold up at the back end of the rotation? Is Mark Buehrle really healthy? Will John Danks and Gavin Floyd excel again? Will anybody prove to be a leadoff hitter?
Williams snickers and snarls at the doubters. I think he thinks the Sox will win the AL Central and win it easily. The Sox' GM is in his windup, as certain as ever that he'll throw another strike past us all.
mimrem@dailyherald.com