North: White Sox caught me by surprise
News flash! Chicago's baseball teams are getting it done!
The White Sox are the biggest surprise in baseball right now with a 16-7 record.
Pitching coach Don Cooper, who has worked for the Sox organization since 1988, may be having his best year since 2005. It's early in the season, of course, but Chris Sale, Mat “Cy” Latos, who has people shaking their heads with a 4-0 record, and Jose Quintana are a combined 12-1.
I said at the beginning of the season Quintana was probably the most underrated player in the American League, with Arizona Diamondbacks' first baseman Paul Goldschmidt in the National League.
Rick Hahn, the general manager, has done a tremendous job filling the holes on this team. I have a friend who bet $500 in Las Vegas on the over 80 games. That means if the Sox win 81 or more games he's cashing in. I asked what impressed him enough to make that bet. He thought after having 76 wins last year, and watching Hahn's off-season moves, he was willing to bet this team would exceed 80 wins.
Defensive moves such as adding third baseman Todd Frazier, infielder Brett Lawrie and center fielder Austin Jackson made them a better team, as did adding Latos.
The White Sox have been very good, very fortunate and very smart through the first month of the season.
Can it continue till October?
Who knows, but the luxury of having both Chicago teams in contention is exciting. I won't look so far ahead to the playoffs, but how about the city series in July? The first two games, July 25-26, will be played at U.S. Cellular Field, followed by two games at Wrigley Field on July 27-28.
This pertinent city series could be huge for both teams. Prepare yourselves for a wild four days.
Arrieta speaks out:
Cubs' ace pitcher Jake Arrieta, who has laughed off questions about performance enhancing drugs, fired back at ESPN's Steven A. Smith, who tweeted about Arrieta's attitude not being appropriate.
Listen, Arrieta is a stud and can react any way he pleases when he is accused of using pharmaceuticals. Some people automatically question anyone who has vastly improved or who is built like he is, but that doesn't mean you are on the stuff, and I don't think Arrieta is. It's sometimes a more unlikely looking candidate such as New York Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon, who is built like my Uncle Tony yet had a 50-game suspension for testing positive for testosterone.
Unfortunately, steroid rumors go with the territory now. If Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax was playing today, he'd probably be suspected because he started out slow.
A special day:
Congratulations to my guy Nick Ilievski for his 20 years in gaming. Nick will be roasted this weekend at the Majestic Star Event Center.
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.