There are a couple interesting sites going up I’d like to direct everyone’s attention on to.

The first is another up-and-coming Sox blog: The 35th Street Review at sox35th.com (bonus points to anyone who gets the reference in that name). Looks like they’re really swinging for the fences over there.

The second is Nathan Steinmetz’ Illinois Sports Report, which could ideally be the one-stop shop Land of Lincoln sports fans have been looking for.

The Tribune has a Q&A with yours truly online, which you can read in all its email interview glory here.

It’s a nice feeling when the Good Guys are 8-5 through 13 games. Maybe Todd Jones and Joe Borowski really aren’t going to get the job done for those hated representatives of fading Midwestern cities. Maybe Joe Crede is going to hit a grand slam every three games. Maybe John Danks will be good for seven scoreless innings every other time out to the hill.

But in a less sarcastic light, with 13 games down and assuming 93 wins makes the playoffs, could it be reasonable to start our collective wishful thinking? In those terms, Detroit suddenly can only afford to at worst play .600 ball (89-59) from here on out. Using the Sox as a case study in how performance out of the gate ties in to overall season performance, it may be possible to see just where things stand:

• 2007: 6-7, finished 72-90
• 2006: 8-5, finished 90-72
• 2005: 9-4, finished 99-63 [1st in ALC, won World Series. Of course.]
• 2004: 8-5, finished 83-79
• 2003: 7-6, finished 86-76
• 2002: 8-5, finished 81-81
• 2001: 5-8, finished 83-79
• 2000: 7-6, finished 95-67 [1st in ALC, crushed by Mariners in ALDS.]
• 1999: 7-6, finished 75-86
• 1998: 6-7, finished 80-82
• 1994: 8-5, finished 67-46 [1st in ALC, no playoffs, thank you Jerry.]
• 1993: 6-7, finished 94-68 [1st in ALW, obliterated by Blue Jays in ALCS.]
• 1983: 6-7, finished 99-63 [1st in ALW, lost to Orioles in ALCS]
• 1970: 5-8 finished 56-106 [6th in ALW, widely considered the worst Sox team ever assembled.]

So what we’re looking at here is any of a .500 team, an overqualified third-place team, a World Series victor, or a winner in a weak division, which in all means nothing and ultimately means we’re exactly where we were at the end of March. The lesson in all of this: relax. It’s a long season, and Kansas City can’t be that good. . . or can they?

Remember, the Royals kicked off 2003 by going 11-2 through 13. Of course, they finished in third at 83-79. And who, you ask, finished fourth and fifth? Why, the Indians and Tigers, that’s who.

This could be a good year after all, friends. A very good year indeed.

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[For the really nostalgic among you, SI is featuring a great piece on Frank from the days before things between he and the organization went south. It’s nice to remember him as the superstar he was and not the oft-injured, much-maligned benchwarmer he helped us as fans turn him into.]

Baseball predictions are generally worthless, but it’s nice to at least see two things blowing up in the collective faces of every sportswriter with a Tigers man-crush out there. For one, after today’s drubbing by the Good Guys, the kittens are in a position where they’ll have to average 6.4 runs per game to meet that 1,000-run benchmark everyone just kind of assumed they’d hit. For another, the American League Central standings are in the total inverse order of what they should be:

1. Chicago White Sox
2. Kansas City Royal
3. Minnesota Twins
4. Cleveland
5. Detroit Tigers

Could things continue like this? Will Curtis Granderson be enough of an offensive catalyst to pick up a shaky-at-best Detroit bullpen? Can Sox pitching maintain this mostly-consistent showing of respectably average to elite-level pitching? Is the Sox bullpen for real? It’s only ten games in, but that’s still ten games where a six-run lead was enough after the seventh inning and ten games where the offense is batting .251 instead of .210.

Then again, this is the same point in time where Gavin Floyd has won as many games as the entire Tigers team, Juan Uribe is outperforming Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander can’t find the strike zone. Enjoy it while it lasts, but oh how sweet if it would last forever. [White Sox.com]

In the total converse of what’s happening in Detroit, you can actually hear Sox fans rejoicing at how the season has opened:

• Crede’s okay and better than ever!
• A.J.’s tearing the cover off the ball!
• The bullpen is better than advertised!

And truth be told, it’s a nice feeling to see the Good Guys sitting atop the division for the first time since those precious few hours last April 24. But with a mere seven games down, does it make any sense whatsoever to put any stock in anything that’s happened? To put it another way, we’ve got essentially one long good streak to go by so let’s repackage some of this newfound team optimism changing “this year” with “the past seven games.”

• Joe Crede is hitting .393 the past seven games.
• The bullpen has a 2.80 ERA the past seven games.
• The Sox are playing .714 ball the past seven games.

Make no mistake about it: winning is awesome. But to think the first week of the season is somehow going to be a representative sample of the remaining 26 is either some impossible kind of wishful thinking or else the worst imaginable brand if naivety. How impossible? Here are some other projections using the same statistical foundations:

• The Tigers go 0-162.
• Jason Kendall wins the batting title with a mighty .526.
• Daisuke Matsuzaka strikes out 352 batters.
• Kyle Lohse posts a 0.00 ERA.

Yeah, we’ll talk about those when they happen. Until then, here’s hoping the momentum lasts at least long enough to crush those infernal Twins.

If you read any of the Big Three mainstream media sports websites, you’re probably familiar with the so-called Power Rankings, in which each team in baseball is put through some extremely non-scientific analysis and ranked relative to one another. And if you read this site, you probably know I’m as big a supporter (and perpetrator) of pretty much any nonsensical assessment of the state of baseball.

BUT. . .

A week into the season, shouldn’t things like potential and possibility go by the wayside? As an example, Fox Sports currently ranks the winless Tigers as the sixth-best team in baseball. The Royals and White Sox, who each swept said alleged sixth-best team, sit at 15 and 23 respectively. Over at Sports Illustrated, the Tigers, Royals and Good Guys go 10th, 27th and 24th. All this while the Tigers rank last in pretty much everything and the Sox and Royals sit atop the AL Central.

Yes, the Tigers COULD score a ton of runs. And yes, they COULD win the division by a long shot. But trading possibility for reality, 5-2 is still superior to 0-6 and potential is worthless when you’re losing 13-2 to the so-called 15th best team in the game.

Thank you as always for reading, and thanks as well for writing:

Andrew -

Why all the hate for Da Swish? His OBP last year was sick and he can bat anywhere in the lineup. And I don’t know where you get the idea he’s a bad fielder? He’s no prime time Griffey Jr., but he’s at least decent out there. And he’s great in the clubhouse and was a fan favorite in Oakland. What gives?

- Dave, South Side

Those are all great points, but I want make something clear here: I do not hate Nick Swisher. Is he a solid ballplayer? Yes. Good person? Absolutely. A welcome clubhouse presence? Probably, although I don’t know this firsthand and I doubt most fans do either. My problems with Swisher aren’t really with the man per se, but more in what the Sox paid for him and the positive overreaction his arrival has incited in my fellow fans.

Now, no one knows for sure what will become of Gio Gonzalez, Faustino De Los Santos or Ryan Sweeney. They were all Sox prospects, which in all likelihood means they’re going nowhere, but I still maintain that if the Sox aren’t going to spend money on top-tier pitching via free agency then they should do everything they can to develop it in-house. But when you’re trading the pitchers that would theoretically rise up to the major league level for slightly-above-mid-tier position players, it suggests that the company line about pitching and defense is false and that those things don’t actually matter at all. The Sox won’t spend money on veteran pitchers (see: Garland, Jon or the “lowball” deal on Buehrle, Mark), but they won’t hold on to what few prospects they have. So where are the arms supposed to come from?

As for the character and clubhouse presence, those are nice but ultimately inconsequential. It’s good to hear the guys don’t hate their co-workers, but I’d prefer a winning team on the verge of total self-destruction over an also-ran made up of guys who like their jobs. But that’s just me.

Andrew -

Good show in Cleveland, wouldn’t you say? Hard-fought games and the guys’ tough play sets a good tone for the season.

- J., Addison

There’s not much sense putting stock in “good losses,” but we can look at it like this: the starters ranged from brilliant to awful, the bullpen was split almost down the middle, and the bats are alive just the way we all knew they would be. On one hand, at this rate the Sox will have five guys with over 50 home runs, four with over 150 RBI, and two starters fanning over 200 batters. On the other hand, they’ll lose 108 games. Here’s hoping they can even it out this weekend in Detroit.

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In other more self-congratulatory news, the Chicago Tribune last week named SSB one of “Chicago’s Best Blogs” (White Sox category, of course), along with White Sox Locker, the inestimable South Side Sox, and the Good Guys’ own White Sox Pride. Pretty good company to be in if you ask me.

There are probably some interesting stats out there about Cuban exiles getting their first major league hits, nice guy sluggers getting booed by an angry Cleveland fan base, quasi-controversial catchers hitting solo home runs three pitches too late, or improved bullpens actually showing struggles easily as bad as their predecessors’, but here’s one that certainly stands out above all the rest: excluding the preseason and 0-0 record to kick off Opening Day, the Chicago White Sox have not been a .500 team for 306 days. Yikes. [Whitesox.com]

The ace is shelled by a division favorite. The bullpen is wildly erratic, the big bats deliver, the umps blow a few calls and one of the prize acquisitions blows up in epic fashion. Whatever.

For anyone keeping score out there, ESPN’s annual predictions were posted and the Sox actually get a little love from the same people who all predicted the Cubs to win the 2004 World Series. To wit, Pedro Gomez thinks the Good Guys are in a position to take the Wild Card and ESPN/Tribune columnist Phil Rogers predicts Javier Vazquez to win the AL Cy Young. Take it for what it’s worth, although at this rate it’s going to take a lot of home runs and a lot more flawless innings by Nick Masset for either of those to happen. Smart money’s on the former.

On the plus side, they managed a 5-run rally against C.C. Sabathia, so all is not lost. And, you know, there are 161 games left to play.

It’s fitting that the final roster decision for Opening Day 2008 came down to choosing between unorthodox reliever Ehren Wassermann and Nick Masset, another of the supposed “live arms” left over from the stockpile of bust prospects acquired to no avail between October 2006 and July 2007. Fitting superficially because the Sox actually need as much help in the bullpen as they can get, but also fitting symbolically because for all intents and purposes these Sox are right back where they started in 2006, minus the triumphant homecoming, massive yet justified expectations and whispers of “best starting rotation ever.”

For the offseason in a nutshell, look no further than shortstop Orlando Cabrera, who almost perfectly fits the mold of what Ozzie Guillen is always talking about in an ideal player: speedy, plays excellent defense, and gets on base at a decent clip. It’s very reassuring in that light, as though Guillen and GM Kenny Williams are getting back to the fundamental style of baseball that built. . . well, you know which team. But then you realize Cabrera was acquired in exchange for a solid mid-rotation pitcher after the Sox re-signed the same Juan Uribe they didn’t want before they offered him the new deal and couldn’t get rid of once they’d acquired his replacement.

Meanwhile, the outfield prospect with all the upside in the world is only slightly less hurt than he was when the Good Guys traded for him. The guy who was supposed to at least partially solve the leadoff problem is also out, as is the second baseman of the future. The one-time Silver Slugger third baseman has lost a few steps, and enters the season staving off an ankle injury to complement the back surgery he’s not quite recovered from, but his status as possible trade bait keeps his outstanding successor in the minors for the time being.

Still, there’s the outside chance that one of the few legitimate prospects the Sox have left comes up and shines at the major league level, but that help better come in the form of either Lance Broadway or Heath Phillips, as the much-hyped Gio Gonzalez and Ryan Sweeney are both long gone in favor of (drum roll please) Nick Swisher.

Oh yes, Nick Swisher.

Ask Sox fans what they think of Swisher and after a while you too may believe that he will become the first outfielder in major league history to hit three home runs and throw a perfect game in the same World Series clincher. To many, Swisher represents the logical extension of all the greatness Ditka and Michael only hinted at in their respective lordings over Chicago sports.

Of course he’ll hit .350. Of course he’ll hit 50 home runs. Of course he’ll play Gold Glove defense. Hell, he may even lead the Bears to the Super Bowl this winter after the Swisher vs. Japan exhibition series is over.

The problem here is that Swisher, for all the good that comes with him, has never proven to be anything more than an okay ballplayer. His strongest defensive position is first base. At the plate, he’s a .260 hitter capable of a lot of home runs, a solid on-base percentage and a huge number of strikeouts to go with it. In a vacuum this is not so bad; where this model of the Sox is concerned, this is awful considering they already have two players of this exact mold in Paul Konerko and Jim Thome (three if you count DH-in-waiting Josh Fields). It’s true that Swisher hit .500 as a visitor at Sox Park last year but in all fairness, so did everyone else.

The temptation here is to say the Sox at least have a chance, as this formula helped the 2003 and 2004 teams pound weak-pitching teams into submission until injuries brought them back from the brink of contention. However, that line of thinking erroneously assumes that the 2003 team was good (it wasn’t) and that the 2008 team has at least three good starting pitchers like the 2004 team eventually had (which it doesn’t).

And that’s where things get a little dicey. While the offense should improve substantially, it’s quite possible the starting pitching takes a huge step back. Mark Buehrle, reliable ace that he is, can probably be counted on for another 13-17 win, mid- to upper-3’s ERA, 100-120 K season, but then what? History suggests the team’s performance will have a total inverse relationship to that of Javier Vazquez. John Danks may improve with another season under his belt, but Gavin Floyd is still a 1.64 WHIP pitcher. And what of elder statespitcher Jose Contreras, he of the 17 losses and bell curve career arc? Can he regain his stellar 2005 form? Or even his so-so 2004 form? Every fan wants to see redemption for team icons, and as one of only five White Sox pitchers to start a World Series for the Good Guys, it’d be a shame to see Contreras go out on life support rather than down in flames.

And here we return to that twelfth bullpen slot. Because we all remember Ryan Bukvich, Bret Prinz, Dewon Day, and the rest of the Souper Six-Pack. Because there was that one nationally televised game in Boston. Because the sixth inning was usually the end of the game, and never in a good way. Because five runs was never enough of a lead. So after the perpetual heart attack of last year’s relief corps, Williams brought in help in the form of Octavio Dotel and Scott Linebrink. Sort of.

On one hand, Octavio Dotel was once a great reliever (including contributing to the Astros’ fantastic no-hitter by committee against the Yankees) and Scott Linebrink was a giant even among the top-flight relief arms of the NL West. On the other, Dotel has been hurt the past few years and Linebrink started on a very rapidly-escalating downward spiral last year in Milwaukee. These two, upon which so much of this team’s fate may hinge, might not be the pitchers they once were or that we hope them to be.

Then again, they can’t possibly be any worse than last year. . . which may be about all we as fans have left to hold on to. All but one of the fast guys are either hurt or can’t play their way into a starting job. The guys who actually can hit are all essentially clones of one another. The DH used to be a great third baseman. The next generation of third baseman is stuck behind the awkward contract/injury situation of his predecessor. The left fielder should be playing center; the guy in center should be playing first; the first baseman should be the DH. Their best fielder could have prevented a lot of this from happening had he hit not also been their worst hitter for most of 2006. Hurt, slow, and just slightly off-kilter; nothing’s ever easy with this team, is it?

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I hate to say it, but everyone out there bracing for another ride to the top is going to be sorely disappointed. Hats off to Kenny Williams for at least doing something about the sorry state of the team, but the sad truth is that the pieces just aren’t there and the Indians and Tigers are still light-years ahead of the Sox coming out of the gate. And yet, in light of the horror of last year, it’s entirely possible that rooting for a third place team will never feel as good as it will this year.