These are not your usual White Sox. These are the bipolar White Sox, the lithium-seeking, all-or-nothing Sox who had the distinction of being both one of the coldest and one of the hottest teams during the first half. This team started the year 8-19, then won 6-of-8, then lost eight in a row, then won 22-of-29 before tailing off at the end of the first half. What could have led to such a strange season on the South Side?
First-half MVP: It's a shame that all anybody talks about with this team (now that Frank Thomas is out for the year) is Magglio Ordonez (.297-19-54). Yes, he is their MVP of the first half. Not that Ordonez isn't a tremendous ballplayer, but fellow-outfielder Carlos Lee is having a great season as well, and gets no press for it. Lee hit .306 with 15 homers and 52 RBI, along with 13 steals. Jose Valentin's value is increased by his ability to play shortstop, third base, and the outfield, and had he not missed time with a hamstring injury in June, he might have been their top player of the first half.
Biggest Surprise: It's all about Mark Buehrle. The youngster has become the leader of a young rotation which was looking to David Wells for leadership and production. The same can be said, to a lesser extent, of Kip Wells. Offensively, everybody's known all along that Jeff Liefer has power. What people haven't known is how he'd get playing time to display it. Injuries and ineptitude have given him a chance, and he's come through, hitting nine home runs in 138 at-bats.
Biggest disappointment: Wells, Wells, Wells. It was supposed to be the ideal marriage of an outspoken, no-holds-barred personality with a similar-type city. Instead, the swarthy veteran has struggled, going 5-7 with a mid-4.00 ERA and finding himself on the trading block before being placed on the DL for the first time in seven years. Speaking of disappointments, we'll file the demise of Harold Baines (.133, 0 HR in 83 AB) under the heading of "When bad things happen to good people." Royce Clayton, who was hitting .102 on May 25 before climbing toward the Mendoza line, completes the triumvirate of White Sox veterans who underachieved in the first half.
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Sox first-half comparison
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2000
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2001
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W-L
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55-32
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41-44
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HR leader
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Thomas, 26
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Ordonez, 19
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BA leader
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Thomas, .333
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Lee, .306
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ERA
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Sirotka, 3.73
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Buehrle, 3.29
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Second-half goals: Balance, people, balance! The White Sox would like to streak back into contention in the AL Central, and they have the horses to do so, at least offensively. But mostly the team needs to find a way to avoid huge losing streaks. One way to do so would be to stop playing the Twins; the Sox have six games left against Minnesota, whom they went 2-11 against in the first half. Manager Jerry Manuel believes that injuries had a huge effect on the first half, and they did. The team lost seven players for the season, an astonishing number. Things can only even out in the second half, one would hope.
Minor-leaguer to watch: P Derek Hasselhoff looked like another young pitcher who could see time in the White Sox rotation, but he was traded to the Giants for reliever Alan Embree on June 29. One player who has the tools to help the White Sox is OF Aaron Rowand. A solid run-producer with a rocket arm who is doing nicely at Triple-A Charlotte, Rowand would be a nice extra bat off the bench. However, he had a shot to take over Baines' job and was called up in June, only to be sent down again when the team signed Jose Canseco. Top prospect Joe Borchard is looking strong at Double-A Birmingham, leading the Southern League with 54 RBI. If the Sox fade, he might see some time later this summer.
Grade:  -- It's been a mixed bag in Chicago, with the glass certainly more empty than full. No team could overcome all of the injuries this team has faced. The development of young pitchers Buehrle, Wells (Kip, not David), and to some extent Sean Lowe and Jon Garland have dulled the pain quite a bit, and the offense is capable of putting up runs even with Thomas shelved. But unless something changes, the White Sox will be looking toward 2002 by early September.
(Scale: 1 to 4 baseballs; 1 = worst, 4 = best)
Here are your thoughts on Chicago's first half
Bill Konigsberg is an assistant editor at ESPN.com
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