You would think that being a game out of first place after a horrible April and May would be of comfort to Chicago White Sox fans.  Yet, it seems the more competitive this team gets, the more clueless their fan base becomes. 

In cruising some of the White Sox boards yesterday, I could not believe some of the things that I read.  For instance, there was an ongoing discussion on how bad an idea trading for Jake Peavy was.  Excuse me?  Where were you before the guy got hurt?  Before the season fans were thrilled with the starting pitching staff, now all of a sudden Kenny Williams is an idiot for putting it together?  You can't have it both ways, people.  And, the injury to Peavy was a rare and freak thing.  Maybe he could have been handled better, maybe Ozzie could have won his battle to get Peavy on the DL earlier, but bottom line is, Peavy wanted to pitch, so it's all at his feet.

Prior to Peavy's injury, the Sox had been one of only two teams to use only five starters.  And they still have four left and a good one in the minors.  Ask the Milwaukee Brewers if they would like to have the Sox starters.  Or the Cubs.  Or half a dozen other teams.  If you people don't realize how fortunate the Sox are to have depth in their rotation, I'm not going to beat you over the head with it. 

There are some that think Carlos Zambrano is the answer.  He's not.  He obviously has some issues, his skills have diminished and one Venizualian distraction is all this team can handle.  I beleive those trying to pawn Carlos off to the Sox are Cub fans looking for a place to dump their refuse.  Besides, unless Tom Ricketts wanted to eat most of Big Z's contract, I think all bets are off.  Now, Ted Lilly might be a conversation. Maybe.

There are some holding out hope Adam Dunn will join the Sox.  I think last night's three run homer performance just drove the price up.  Besides, if the Sox decide Daniel Hudson will be the fifth starter, their leverage just went way down.  Without at least two pitching prospects, it is unlikely the the Nats will budge.  Don't forget, the President of that club is Stan Kasten who was with the Braves for years and if there is one think he must have learned in Atlanta it's always acquire pitchers.

I've even read some attacks on the Chairman calling him "the worst owner in sports."  As much as I have ripped him over the years, he'll fork over the cash if the Sox get the right deal.  He wants to win, he just doesn't want to be stupid about it.  If the banks in this country would have acted like that five years ago, maybe people would be having thier houses foreclosed upon today.  Worst owner in sports, huh?  Worse than Jeff Lorie in Miami?  Worse than the McCaskeys?  Worse than Peter Angelos or Donald Sterling?  Not by a long shot.  Not on his worst day. 

Look at what this team has done the last two days: They lost a starting pitcher in the second inning, yet patched together pitching out of the bullpen which kept the Angels off the board. They beat two pitchers in the last two games they have had trouble with in the past, despite having one of their hottest hitters out of the lineup with a knee injury and survived five errors to win last night starting a pitcher most of you complained about over the winter.

In addition to all that, as of this morning, they have sole possession of second place in the AL Central.  They have also very quietly moved up to third in the wildcard standings. 5½ games behind Tampa Bay.

What else do you people want? 

Lightning Round

• The Cardinals have signed former White Sox fire starter Mike MacUseless to a contract, even though he was booted off the squad by two lesser teams this year.  If he can fix this guy, Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan should immediately be inducted into Cooperstown and the city of St. Louis should commission a lifesize statue to be placed in front of the ballpark of Duncan and his charts.