The White Sox are in first place. With point-six percent of precincts reporting, I think it's safe to call it.
Some more observations on the smallest of samples:
*Adam Dunn declared he was good to go before the opener, and he proved it with his 2-for-4, four-RBI, two-extra-base-hit performance. Can't make too much of one game, but it's about as valuable as an entire spring training for a guy with Dunn's track record.
(One other great thing about Dunn's homer - Hawk Harrelson still has his Shin-Soo Choo affliction, judging by the video.)
*Brent Morel's rookie season is off to a great start. He made all the plays he could -- including a nice charging, barehanded play on a high hopper -- and hammered a mistake for a double past the third baseman. That's pretty much the template for how to survive his rookie season right there - nobody's expecting him to punish good, or even decent pitches, but he'll need to do something with those hanging breaking balls.
*Blastings Millibridge spent the second half of the spring showcasing its strengths. In the first game of the season, they highlighted their weaknesses. Lastings Milledge dropped a moderately difficult flyball he should have caught, while Brent Lillibridge continued to look off at second base and fail to make contact with regular-season, major-league pitching. There's still another two weeks before the Sox might reconsider the 11-man pitching staff (unless they have to get five relievers up and ready every game), so hopefully we figure out which one has a better chance of having the pros outweigh the cons. I'm thinking it's Milledge.
And finally...
I don't say he's a great man. Willy Ohman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall in his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must finally be paid to such a person.
*Will Ohman had the same amount of homers allowed as outs record - two. More troubling is that Jack Hannahan hit one of them. He's a lefty with a lifetime slugging percentage of .347. He's the kind of guy Ohman is supposed to retire easily, and yet Hannahan blasted a rocket shot right of center. Like Dunn, Ohman is leaning on his track record for confidence:
"I prefer things go backwards than the way they did, but I'm not concerned," Ohman said. "I've been doing this for long enough that I know what to do. I know what will happen.
The problem in Ohman's case is that his American League track record is sketchy at best. He only has a half season, and it was getting progressively worse until a trade to Florida saved him. As much as I'm on the Gordon Beckham bandwagon for expecting big things, I'm on the Will Ohman anti-bandwagon (the Linebrink?), expecting the Sox to regret this contract very quickly.