With the signing of Adam Dunn for four years and $56 million, Kenny Williams asserted his power over White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.
Williams stood tall and in one fell swoop declared: This is the American League. This is the AL Central. This is U.S. Cellular Field. We will hit the ball. We will hit the ball far, and we will win. Take your National League, small ball crap and shove it.
Now, don’t get me wrong here. I love Ozzie Guillen. There is no one I’d like to have managing my baseball team more than Ozzie Guillen. His crazed press conferences, his antics and his without-a-doubt ability to manage a major league ball club should keep him as a staple in the South Side dugout for years to come.
But, Ozzie had it wrong.
What seemed like small ball in 2005, or Ozzie ball, was a mirage. True, Scott Podsednik dazzled at the top of the lineup with his ability to reach base and wreak havoc on opposing pitchers while he perfected the art of the steal. But the 2005 White Sox won for two reasons:
They hit the hell out of the ball. And they pitched their arses off.
Last season, the decision to keep or dismiss Jim Thome fell in Ozzie’s lap. Ozzie let him go.
I agreed with the decision. Thome was too slow. Thome was getting up there in age. Thome’s strikeouts seemed to come more frequently than his bashing of said baseball.
Ozzie wanted more speed. So we got Mark Kotsay and Jayson Nix and Brent Lillibridge and Omar Vizquel and Juan Pierre. Was this the South Side hit men or the Florida Marlins?
Again, the White Sox win when the White Sox crush the baseball.
I know this, because Kenny Williams knows this.
Ozzie Guillen will soon know this, if he doesn’t already. You don’t need base stealers; you need table setters. If the White Sox manage to bring back Paul Konerko, their lineup will be a formidable murderers’ row. Both Konerko and Dunn are .900 OPS.
If you’re not a numbers guy, that’s good. That’s very good.
With the rotation the White Sox look to carry into the 2011 season, even without Jake Peavy, they should have the firepower at the plate and on the mound to be strong contenders for their third American League Central title in six years.
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