I Can't Believe I'm Saying This

The White Sox are playing the Cubs this weekend and as incredible as this is for me to imagine the series is now for just more than bragging rights and the inaugural BP Cup.

Let's go back 2 weeks to May 10th. The White Sox were on a 2 game winning streak and had won 5 of their last 10 games. However they were 26-33 overall and were 3rd in their division 8.5 games behind the division leading Twins. They were 7 games below .500 and just had finished their second consecutive sub .500 home stand. This was a far cry from the team that I had predicted to win the 2010 World Series. Traditionally when you get that many games below .500 it can take well over a month to approach the .500 level again.

At the Time, the Cubs were in a nearly identical situation. The Cubs were 27-33 overall, 3-7 in their last 10 in third place in their division, 7.5 games behind the then leading Cincinnati Reds.

The Sox beat the Cubs in the first two games at Wrigley which brought their winning streak to 4 (a season high) before losing in a monumental pitchers duel between Ted Lilly of the Cubs and Gavin Floyd of the White Sox on June 13th.

Since that Sunday night two weeks ago, the White Sox have yet to lose a game. They have swept the abysmal Pittsburgh Pirates, the mediocre Washington Nationals and the stellar Atlanta Braves. The 9 game winning streak has brought the white Sox over .500 for the first time since Opening Day. The Sox are 37-34 as they face the Cubs in a 3 game series at U.S. Cellular Field. They are still in third place in their division, but only 2games behind the second place Tigers and 2.5 games behind the Twins. Yes, in 2 weeks they have gained 6 games on the Twinkies. That is incredible! The Twins and Detroit finish up inter league play on the road this weekend against 2 very good National League East opponents (Mets and Braves respectively). This means that The Sox have a pretty good opportunity to gain even more ground on their division rivals. There is even a small mathematical possibility that The Sox could be in first place as early as Sunday Evening. That this has all transpired in the past two weeks is basically incomprehensible to me.

I''l be back in a few days with a Cubs Sox recap.

I hate when that happens. Actually I don't

In yesterday's Sox game which Chicago won 9-6. A kind of crazy play happened in the 4th inning. Alex Rios was up and he hit a hard ground ball to Atlanta Braves Third Baseman Brooks Conrad. The ball got lost in Conrad's shirt and Rios was on board with a single. Don't believe me? Here is the play.

Almost exactly 3 years ago the same thing happened to Ryan Zimmerman of The Washington Nationals when they played the Cleveland Indians. Inter league play must have an effect on National League third baseman where they want to keep the ball.

Now it's the Cubs Turn

There are 5 major professional sports teams in the city of Chicago. In 1985 the year I turned 21 none of these teams had won the championship in their league in my lifetime. The 1985 Bears took care of that very quickly and defeated the New England Patriots in early 1986 in the Super Bowl. 5 and 1/2 years later the Chicago Bulls led by Michael Jordan won the NBA championship and did so again 5 more times in the next 7 seasons. In 2005 my beloved Chicago White Sox won their first World Series since 1917.

Tonight the Chicago Black Hawks defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in overtime to win their first Stanley Cup since 1961.

As I type this, people are shooting off fireworks in celebration in my small suburban neighbor hood. Congratulations Hawks! Now there is just one Chicago team left to win the championship in their sport, the Chicago Cubs. Now that the Hawks have broken through maybe the Cubs will be next.