Calderon Has Right Move at Right Time

Ivan Calderon told it like he saw it.

“He didn’t have a chance,” Calderon said. “When I got the ball he was running to home plate, and I said, ‘He’s out.”’

With the Angels trailing the Chicago White Sox, 2-0, with two out in the ninth Monday, Chili Davis was trying to score from second base on Luis Polonia’s pinch-hit single to left.

He was out by a long shot, and the White Sox had their fifth victory in a row against the Oakland Athletics or the Angels, their chief competition in the American League West.

With two out and runners on first and second, and with two strikes on the left-handed Polonia, Calderon had moved toward the left-field line, perhaps within 15 or 20 feet of it.

The adjustment might have made the difference.

“With two strikes, we move to the line,” Calderon said. “He’s just trying to make contact.”

The outfield assist helped save the game--as did Bobby Thigpen, who got the final two outs for his 24th save, best in the major leagues.

Davis was Calderon’s victim--and not just once.

Calderon threw him out at third in the fourth inning as Davis tried to take two bases on Lance Parrish’s single to left.

It was the first time he has had two assists in a game, Calderon said. But Terry Bevington, one of the White Sox coaches, was not surprised.

“There hasn’t been anybody in this league who is playing better defensively,” Bevington said. “He knows where to play the batters. You never have to remind him.”

Calderon feigned no surprise, either.

“The way I’ve been playing, I think I’m the best left fielder playing,” he said.

The White Sox were supposed to get their comeuppance when they played Oakland and the Angels in back-to-back series in Comiskey Park beginning June 14.

It seemed as if they had. After winning the first game against Oakland, the White Sox lost their next five games in a row, losing three to the A’s and two to the Angels before beating the Angels in the final game.

Then they went on the road, and they haven’t lost yet, sweeping the Athletics over the weekend and opening this three-game series with a victory.

They have gone from washed-up to praiseworthy.

“What are they saying now that we’ve won (five) in a row?” Manager Jeff Torborg said. “What does that mean? We could lose four in a row next.”

But they have made a habit of winning the close ones.

They are 26-13 in games decided by two runs or less--including Monday’s.

“We never quit,” Calderon said. “We play to the end.”

But despite their recent run of success, Torborg says the White Sox aren’t developing any of the swagger that Oakland is so famous for.

“I think they’re playing hard,” he said. “You don’t swagger until you’ve won it all. Even then, you don’t swagger.”

He forgot to mention that to Calderon.