For now, White Sox GM stays the course
Ken Williams can see it.
More than a quarter into the season, the White Sox GM knows what his club is lacking, and with the division up for grabs, he'd like nothing more than to fix it.
But it doesn't always work that way, especially this early in the campaign.
"I'm always looking for same thing, looking for answers all the time,'' Williams said. "As I sit here today, offensively we have been in such a funk with a number of guys that the only thing you can do is rely on their history because you can't go out and get anyone better.''
At least not right now.
"I don't believe there'll be better options out there,'' he said. "There may be surprises, and you never know when something's going to develop along the way.
"But we felt confident in this group going in, and we felt going in that we could win the division with them.
"At this point in time, all we can do is continue to believe that.''
In the American League, the Sox are sixth in runs scored because they're fifth in on-base percentage and second in homers, but they remain only 13th in batting average, and they know they can't get away with that all year.
Either something will have to give, or someone will have to go.
The flip side
The White Sox are, however, third in the A.L. in team ERA, thanks in large part to the kids Williams was skewered for collecting in the December 2006 deals that moved Freddy Garcia and Brandon McCarthy in a span of 17 days.
Williams has made his share of mistakes, and he has been upfront in acknowledging the bad calls, but he looks to have won big with Gavin Floyd (4-2, 2.92 ERA), John Danks (3-3, 2.94) and Nick Masset (0-0, 3.86).
While Garcia and McCarthy have disappeared with injuries, the aforementioned youngsters have kept the Sox afloat through the first seven weeks of the 2008 season.
"That may be a surprise to some people, but it's not to us. We kind of expected this from them,'' Williams said. "We wouldn't have made the decisions that we made without having these type of expectations.
"We don't move Jon Garland if we're not confident in Floyd and Danks. We don't make the deal if we're not as high on those two as we were on Garland.
"They didn't have the resume, but neither did Jon when he started. Our entire rotation, for years everyone we brought in came with certain doubts.
"But if we're going to do this we have to stay true to ourselves and true to what we believe in, and believe in our abilities.
"That's the only way you can do this.''
Rough week
Listening to Williams on Tuesday you could hear the pain in his voice from having to dismiss close friend and advisor David Wilder on Friday.
"It hurts,'' Williams said, "more than you'll ever know.''
Wilder was fired along with two scouts for what the Sox termed a "violation of club policy.'' Speculation is that the ongoing investigation centers on financial impropriety involving the signing of Latin players.
Comic relief
Well, it has happened, but it took Bud Selig longer than usual to deliver his annual May address in which he pronounces the game healthy due to parity, the evidence being small-market teams in Tampa, Kansas City and Florida competing for division titles.
Of course, most years the teams that he names in May are long gone by July and back to where they always are in September.
But thank goodness Selig's going to be around for a few more seasons, and giving us a grand laugh at $15 million a year.
Best quote
Greg Maddux, on whether he has tried to study pitchers from previous generations: "There are guys in every era who can do things no one else can do, and I'd like to know how they did it, what their arm angle was, how they worked hitters, how they stayed healthy. But most of that film from 40 or 50 years ago, you can't really study because the quality is poor.''
Book it
If you're searching for a unique glimpse into Cubs history, check out a painted chronicle of the franchise in the book, "Classic Cubs: A Tribute to the Men and Magic of Wrigley Field.''
The handiwork of Crystal Lake artist John Hanley, penned by the Sun-Times' Chris De Luca, is available at amazon.com.
Nice assist
Congrats to longtime hockey broadcaster Judd Sirott, wife Sharon and daughter Beatrice, who recently added Anya Jocelyn to the squad.
Century city
Deadspin's Will Leitch: "A new story in -- of course -- AARP Magazine chronicles the plight of old people just trying to stay alive long enough to see a Cubs World Series win. Our suggestion is to look into cryogenics.''
Best headline
Sportshernia.com: "Van Gundy leaves NBA for Milan modeling gig.''
Yankee doodle
One of David Letterman's Top Ten surprises in the new bin Laden tape: "Went nuts on caller who said Joe Girardi's doing a good job.''
And finally …
Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle: "I'm not sure what our esteemed legislators can do about the Patriots' spying, and I'm only lukewarm on Sen. Arlen Specter's proposal to invade New England."
brozner@dailyherald.com