How Much is Too Much?

This is a question GM Kenny Williams should be asking himself in regard to the dismal start of the 2010 baseball season for the Chicago White Sox. There have been small glimmers of hope of course, but they are clearly forgotten and outweighed by the awful displays of "baseball" that Sox fans have seen this year. Mark Buehrle has been terrible since Opening Day, AJ has yet to wake up, Beckham has had far too many chances to redeem himself, and Gavin Floyd has apparently forgotten how to pitch. That is the short list of complaints. Moves need to be made soon or else I think we can soon consider this season a bust. Danks has been brilliant this year and is a mere 3-3 with an ERA hovering around 2.30. This team's fans and upper management should be very close to getting sick and tired of seeing blown chance after blown chance. I would ideally like to see the team dump Jenks and Ramirez at some point. Buehrle and Pierzynski have been mentioned in trade talks, but I think for the sake of clubhouse morale, these two guys should be kept around for the remainder of the season. Again, I keep reminding myself, it's only May, but obviously I won't be reminding my self in a few months when I say it's only August when the Sox's playoff chances dwindle even more. This Sox fan hasn't given up yet and I can only hope the front office and the players haven't either. But, the key words in that sentence are yet and hope. Not to wear out the use of cliches, but it's also a long season, which makes matters even worse sometimes.

At Guard...Number 6.....

So, the rumors have been hot and heavy to say the least about the King coming to Chicago in 43 days. I am a HUGE Lebron fan and would love nothing more than to see him in a number 6 Bulls jersey. But, these rumors have started getting ridiculous and have driven me to the point of insanity. I am tired of hearing them and we still have a month and a half to go. I understand that rumors and speculation are what makes the talk radio world spin, but if I were Lebron I would go somewhere with no radios or televisions and hide until July 1st. I was incredibly sure he wouldn't be leaving Cleveland, but due to their recent failures, I am now flipping my thought process. I believe he will leave Cleveland, but who knows where he will go. I don't even think Lebron knows where he is going to go. Give the guy his space and time and let him figure this out for himself. The man will be heftily paid and will be the star of the team wherever he winds up. He is also only 25 years old, which means after this max deal, he will be 31 and should still be able to get another max deal after that assuming he is still the beast that he is today in six years. If he comes to Chicago, then we can guess he really wants that ring and to compete for that ring. If he goes somewhere like New Jersey or the Knicks or the Clippers, then he is clearly playing this game for the paycheck. I don't see the three aforementioned teams winning a championship by just adding Lebron. Those three teams are in need of much more than just one superstar. Also, if Lebron comes here, what else will he bring with him? Drama? A coach? Another 1st or 2nd tier superstar? Hopefully, the coach and another free agent are the answers. Chicago isn't in need of more drama within their sporting franchises. Hopefully, Last Call Sports will be the first to welcome Lebron when he makes his big decision. Then, July 2nd, this writer will be in line for his white Bulls number 6 jersey.

Finally

Yesterday marked the first Game 1 the Hawks have won since the series against Calgary in last year's Western Conference playoffs. Antti Niemi made his season debut against the Sharks and made 44 saves to cap off a 2 to 1 Game One victory. Niemi was huge from start to finish Sunday. His only blunder came 11:19 into the first period when Jason Demers' wrist shot from the top of the right circle sailed over his outstretched blocker and into the top left corner of the net. San Jose, which was on its heels for most of the first 14 minutes of the first period and getting outshot 14-6 by that point, turned it on when Seabrook went to the box. The Sharks kept the puck in the zone and kept firing it at Niemi. He came up with eight saves during the two-minute power play, and none bigger than a miraculous glove stop on Ryane Clowe with 4:13 remaining before the second intermission. HP Pavillion was recently voted the toughest venue to play in for an opposing team, but the boys in white didn't let that faze them one bit. The two goals scored by Sharp and Byfuglien also came against the Sharks number one line, which features "No Show" Joe Thornton as he is commonly known in circles around the league for his lack of postseason scoring, which can be backed up by his -8 put up this year on the road to Lord Stanley's Cup. We will see if Niemi and the Hawks can carry this Game One momentum into Game 2 Tuesday night. If captain Jonathan Toews has anything to say about it, the series will be 2-0 when they return to the Madhouse on Madison. "We're not going to be satisfied with just one win," Toews said. "We want two before we go home."

House of Horrors No More

If there was one team glad to see the Metrodome come to a close, it must have been the Chicago White Sox. The team dubbed it the "House of Horrors" as it seemed they could never get it together when going up north to face their division foes. The Twins have removed the dome and now play outdoors in the new Target Field. Sweaty Freddie took the bump in game 1 of this short two game series and got right to work. If there has been a bright spot on this disappointing start to the season, it has to be Garcia and Danks. Although his ERA is high and only has two wins, Garcia has shown up to play every outing with the exception of one. Garcia got quite the test in the bottom of the fifth with two on, two out, and reigning AL batting champion Joe Mauer stepping to the plate. Freddie didn't back down and struck him out with three off-speed pitches resulting in simultaneous fist pumps, not the Jersey Shore variety, from Pierzynski and Garcia. Freddie gave up two runs on nine hits, struck out three, and walked two.

On the offensive side of things, Alex Rios extended his hit streak to twelve and stole his tenth base of the season. The pivotal at bats came from Alexei Ramirez and A.J. Pierzynski came in the fifth inning with two outs. Alex Rios reached third with nobody out and all looked alright in White Sox land. Beckham would then strike out for the inning's second out and everything then looked like it has all season with a runner stranded in scoring position and the White Sox trailing. Alexei Ramirez came up and smashed a 3-1 pitch from Slowey to the wall in left center, scoring two runs and putting the Sox up 2 to 1. Pierre's infield single kept the two-out rally going and Pierzynski would follow with a two-run double of his own. Jones would single home Pierzynski and the inning would then end with the Sox on top 5 to 1. Morneau's solo blast would cut the lead to 5 to 2, but that's where it would stay. Jenks came in to close it out in the ninth, but managed to make it interesting again. Bobby got behind the first two hitters and surrendered a pinch hit double to Jim Thome, which called for a trip to the mound by Guillen. Jenks would then rebound to strike out Nick Punto and get Denard Span to groundout to end the game. The Sox still have some questions to answer, but this early pivotal road trip may answer some of them as they have one more against the Twins followed by three against the Royals and two against Detroit before returning home.

A Star(lin) is Born

The Cubs may have pushed the panic button in Year One in hopes that it might spark the offense and get the team going in a positive direction. The Chicago Cubs called up highly touted prospect Starlin Castro. In his first major league at bat, the youngster hit a three run homer and all things were looking up for the Boys in Blue. His first night in the bigs wasn't too shabby. A homer, a triple, and a rookie record 6 RBIs, but maybe more importantly, a Cubs win. The weekend to follow, however, wasn't exactly a dream come true.

Saturday started off okay. The Cubs kept it close for most of the day until the seventh and eighth innings rolled around. The Cincinnati Reds would go on to score a combined 11 runs in those two innings and break out to a 14 to 2 lead, which is how the game would end up. Aaron Harang, who hasn't exactly put up Cy Young worthy numbers early in the season, struck out nine over 6 2/3 innings. Starlin Castro committed his first major league error, but would get himself his first major league double. The bullpen woes continue as Justin Berg pitched an inning and gave up six earned runs.

Rookie Mike Leake took a no hitter into the seventh for the Reds until another rookie Tyler Colvin came to the plate and belted a two run homer to give the Cubs the lead. That lead wouldn't last more than half an inning as Joey Votto came to the plate and hit a three-run homer as the Reds would take the lead for good and give them a series win over the Cubs. Castro got a single and Marlon Byrd continues to see the ball VERY well adding another hit to his total for the season. Mike Leake improves to 3-0 on the season and Ryan Dempster falls to 2-3.

This inconsistency leads to a lot of questions in Cubbieland. How long will the Ricketts family sit aside and let Jim Hendry do his job? How much longer will Lou be in the dugout? Will Castro continue to impress at the plate? Hopefully answers are provided soon.

Things Are Looking Up Perhaps

The Chicago Cubs seem to have woken up a little bit here as we start May baseball. Alfonso Soriano, although still not a great defender, has homered in four straight games, giving him seven for the young season and has also raised his average to .321. Newcomer Marlon Byrd has picked up where he left off in 2009. He is hitting .343 with five longballs and nineteen driven in. He also provided one of the more entertaining catches of this young baseball season with a no-look behind the back circus grab against Arizona.

The starting pitching has been solid now that Big Z has been moved to a set-up role in the bullpen. Ryan Dempster threw another seven solid innings in last night's loss against the Pirates and Randy Wells is 3-0 with a 3.45 ERA. The bullpen seems to be a little shaky with the exception of closer Carlos Marmol. He has been near unhittable with a 1-0 record and an ERA of 0.71. Marmol has thrown 25 strikeouts in just 12.1 innings. That number jumps out at you like a fan in Philly jumps out on the field. Their record shows they are one game below .500 but that should change shortly with Derrek Lee seeming to wake up and Soto coming back to life after his disappointing sophomore year. Once Aramis Ramirez gets out of his funk, the NL Central might be in for a surprise as there could be a closer battle than expected for the top of the division. We will see if the pitching holds up and if Soriano, Byrd, and the rest of the boys can keep up this pace as the season grows older.

Chelsea I Believe

The night is upon us. An important game 1 is happening tonight as the feisty Vancouver Canucks come to West Madison to take on your Chicago Blackhawks. Both teams have had some time to rest and hopefully heal some battle scars from round one only to gain some new ones tonight. It is sure to be physical from the start as each team looks to make a statement right off the bat. Will Andrew Ladd be called a coward again? Will someone get their hair pulled? Will Roberto Luongo cry? There are many more questions that will get answered and most likely some new ones that will arise as this rivalry begins a new chapter in round 2 of the Western Conference playoffs. My prediction is Hawks in 7. By Thursday, we will have more insight to this series as there will be plenty to talk about in the first few games. Tune in as we will break it all down for you on Last Call Sports from 7 to 9 on sportstownchicago.com