South Side Sox, a Chicago White Sox community

"I'm convinced that if I just do the right stuff, even though I have no capacity to understand what that is, it's all going to be fine in Chicago. I'm sure unemployment will go down, probably crime as well. Oh, and we'll probably even win the World Series this year. The whole city really revolves around me."

You may think that their offense hasn't gotten the attention it should, and that's what I thought at first too. But then I looked at the team's Win Probability Added (WPA) breakout during their 25-5 run. Here it is: Offense: -0.5 games Defense: 10.5 games If you look at their performance on a contextual basis, which is what WPA does, their pitching and fielding actually made up for a below-average contribution from the bats.

"We changed my swing," Beckham said. "If you go back and look at the tape, my hands were by my head and I was very stiff, and within a month, I had my hands shoulder level and was very relaxed at the plate and hit .330 [in July]."

For the White Sox, I think it's simple: If Peavy and Quentin both produce, Chicago will win the division easily. If neither does, the team is screwed. If one does, it'll be a fight for the flag.

Yet another site that ranks us near last in the prospect department..

Good stuff: "Larry Johnson says in the book "Frozen: My Journey Into the World of Cryonics, Deception and Death" that he watched an Alcor official swing a monkey wrench at Williams' frozen severed head to try to remove a tuna can stuck to it. The first swing accidentally struck the head, Johnson contends, and the second knocked the tuna can loose."

Viciedo’s .692 OPS versus right-handed pitchers is cause for concern, as are the scouting reports that focused more and more on his lack of conditioning, which no doubt hindered him at the plate, as well as in the field. He showed worse range than Oakland’s Brett Wallace, widely considered to be a first baseman playing third base (especially based on his range). Unfortunately for Viciedo, he has yet to display enough power to be an asset at first base, and he lacks the mobility for even left field. The Cuban also performed poorly in a small sample size as the designated hitter in double-A, which could be a result of his focus issues.

End of the line for BA?

'You never know because the answer could be you help them by leaving,'' Konerko said. ''I would never be opposed to that. It doesn't have to be a breakup that's antagonistic. It doesn't have to be a thing where heads are butted.''