Before Sunday’s 9-4 victory over the Cubs, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen explained that a large share of his job consists of teaching baseball skills that some fans assume players learn before they reach the big leagues.
“I teach every day,” Guillen said. “A lot of kids who come up from the minor leagues don’t know how to bunt or hit-and-run or steal or run the bases. They hit No. 3 or 4 in the order in the minors. Here, they’ll hit No. 7 and 8. So they have to learn how to do the little things.”
Paul Konerko’s three RBIs and home runs by Miguel Olivo and Timo Perez were the conspicuous items in Sunday’s victory. However, the Sox also demonstrated the effectiveness of Guillen’s teaching. Small ball helped beat the Cubs.
– Aaron Rowand stole second base in the Sox’s two-run first inning. Willie Harris stole second, kept going to third on the catcher’s overthrow and scored on an infield out in the fourth.
– Guillen had his baserunners moving on a couple of hit-and-run plays.
– Joe Crede successfully executed the fifth-inning sacrifice bunt that moved runners to second and third. Both runners then scored unearned runs, bumping the lead to 9-4, when third baseman Aramis Rameriz misplayed Olivo’s grounder.
Such plays sharply contrasted the Sox from the Cubs, who rarely try to manufacture runs. Sunday, for example, the Cubs scored three of their four runs on Sammy Sosa’s two home runs.
The Sox have stolen 42 bases in 64 tries this season. The Cubs have stolen 22 bases in 37 attempts. The Cubs have more sacrifice hits, 40-27, but the Cubs play in the National League where pitchers bat, and pitchers have accounted for 22 of the 40 sacrifices.
How important will small ball be in the White Sox’s efforts to overtake the Minnesota Twins, win the American League Central and advance in the playoffs?
“I love to play small ball,” Guillen said after the game. “They don’t play it so much in the American League, and we don’t have a lot of players who can do it. We were thrown out when we tried a double steal today too. But I like that play and we’ll try it some more.
“Small ball has helped us a lot, and will help us some more. You’d be surprised how many games you can win doing those little things.”
Jose Valentin is best known as the slugging shortstop who has hit 25 home runs or more in each of the last four seasons and has 15 homers this season. However, he shares his manager’s appreciation for the value of the bunt, steal and hit-and-run.
“Small ball is real important,” he said. “We’re not going to score nine or 10 runs every game. When we get in 1-0 or 2-1 games or any close games, it’s important we do the little things like move the runner along and execute the bunt and the steal. Those games can make the difference in our season.”
Valentin was breaking from first base toward second on Greg Maddux’s third-inning pitch that Perez socked for his third homer of the season. It wasn’t a hit-and-run play, however.
“I was running on my own,” Valentin said. “Maddux doesn’t always keep the runners close, and I was trying to get into scoring position. The score was only 4-4 then.”
Valentin’s effort was just another example of the little things the Sox are trying to do other than beat out the New York Yankees as the leading home run-hitting team in the major leagues.
