The South Side's Got Some Hope

One of the biggest surprises of the 2008 Major League season has been Chicago White Sox outfielder Carlos Quentin. Quentin has been the biggest reason for the White Sox surge into first place in the AL Central. He currently ranks first in the American League in home runs with 14, second in RBIs with 48, second in slugging percentage (.587) and On-base plus slugging percentage (.988), and sixth in both runs (35), and on-base percentage (.402). Quentin has created a bigger impact however, in the standings. The White Sox surprisingly are perched in first place in the AL Central with a 30-23 record, 2 games ahead of the Minnesota Twins and just 1.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays (yes, you read that right) for the best record in baseball.

The more the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians falter in the early going of the 2008 season, the closer the White Sox become to putting a stranglehold on the AL Central. Picked by almost all the experts to win the AL Central, Cleveland sits 5.5 games behind and Detroit lags 7.5 games behind Chicago. The White Sox meanwhile were picked by most experts to finish in third behind Cleveland and Detroit. Chicago, coming off a 72-90 season, was seemingly forgotten by the baseball world. Just two years earlier the ChiSox had been crowned World Series Champions. They were considered an aging franchise with no chance to contend, its window of oppurtunity gone as quick as well, Carlos Quentin's rise to prominence.

Chicago went into the offseason looking to add a young, talented bat to their aging lineup. They found one cheap into Quentin. Just two years prior, Quentin was rated one of the top prospects in baseball and was one of the crown jewels of the Arizona Diamondbacks farm system. Somehow, Quentin fell out of favor in the Valley of the Sun and was dealt to Chicago to make room for 20-year old superprospect Justin Upton. In Chicago, Quentin was finally given the oppurtunity to play. He quickly gave the South Side of Chicago some hope to be a World Series contender in 2008.

So far, Chicago's season has rolled on Carlos Quentin's bat. The more he hits, the more White Sox victories are tallied to the standings. Take today as an example. Quentin was right in the middle of a 5-1 victory over the Rays, going 2 for 4 with a double, a run scored, and an RBI. The two parties are making baseball pay for writing them off. Quentin has made Arizona look foolish for essentially giving him away while the White Sox could be in position to take total control of the AL Central, as 10 of their next 13 games come against AL Central opponents. If Quentin can keep swinging well and the ChiSox can keep winning, this could end up being a memorable season, filled with a sweet taste of redemption against those who doubted them.