White Sox Rotation Has Begun to Pale

It would take a comeback by Mrs. O’Leary’s cow for the Chicago White Sox to blow their lead in the American League Central, but they’re only 19-17 since the All-Star break with ongoing concerns about their patchwork rotation and worst-in-baseball defense.

Manager Jerry Manuel had a team meeting Monday in an effort to drive up the intensity--”we’ve been somewhat lax and I wanted to remind them of what’s at stake”-- but he is no magician when it comes to pitching.

He can only play the cards he’s been dealt, and he’s currently operating with six rookies on his staff, including two, Jon Garland and Rocky Biddle, in the rotation.

James Baldwin, Mike Sirotka and Jim Parque, who have been starting all season, have not won back-to-back starts since Sirotka beat the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox on June 25 and July 1, and now a fatigued Baldwin (13-5) will miss his next start after hitting four batters in a 5-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday. Baldwin may be paying a price for the 127 pitches he needed in eight shutout innings of a 13-0 victory over the Oakland A’s on Aug. 6.

The White Sox are hopeful that Cal Eldred (10-2), out because of an ailing elbow, could be back by mid-September and have signed former Angel Ken Hill, a move Frank Thomas supported despite its desperate overtones.

Given a choice between a veteran and rookie down the stretch, Thomas said, “I’d rather have Hill. This is not playoff baseball yet. It’s a whole other level in the postseason. It’s a little tough on kids, especially when you start throwing them into pressure situations. Some guys are going to pan out, some aren’t. We’ve given everyone opportunities.”

*

Manager Lou Piniella also had a meeting with his suddenly struggling Seattle Mariners this week, but his first of the year Wednesday night didn’t prevent them from losing their fifth in a row. Nevertheless, Piniella didn’t think the meeting was a failure.

“I did my best,” he said. “I didn’t see anyone yawning.”

*

Cal Ripken Jr., told the Washington Post this week that he hopes to be like Mike when his career is over, getting the opportunity to shape a baseball team the way Michael Jordan is shaping the NBA’s Washington Wizards.

“It seems to me that I would equate that with ownership in some capacity,” said Ripken, who turns 40 on Thursday. He is on the Oriole disabled list for the third time in the last two years because of a disk and nerve problem in his lower back, but he hopes to return for the last month and play again next year. Although the Orioles don’t have an obvious or an immediate replacement at third base, Ripken said he has learned “never to say never” when asked about the possibility of playing for another team.

*

If the career of knuckleballer Steve Sparks seemed finished when he left the Angels two years ago, it should be obvious by now that old pitchers never die, they merely resurface with another team. There was Sparks Tuesday night in Seattle throwing a 5-0 complete-game victory for the Detroit Tigers, becoming at 35 the oldest pitcher in 42 years to throw his first major league shutout.

The last man who was older and pitched his first shutout was another knuckleballer, and Hoyt Wilhelm, 12 days older than Sparks, didn’t just pitch a shutout: He no-hit the Yankees while pitching for the Orioles on Sept. 20, 1958.

Wilhelm pitched in the majors until he was 49. Said Sparks, who spent eight years in the minors before making his big league debut at 30: “I know that I’m still young for a knuckleballer.”