This Sporting Life: Opening Day 2007

The trees are budding. Flowers push their way through otherwise dormant lawns. Ants crawl onto sidewalks to taste something sweet. Ozzie Guillen's jaw flaps uncontrollably. Kerry Wood and Mark Prior are injured and/or ineffective.

Yep. It's spring in Chicago.

The baseball disappointments of last fall are fading into memory, but not entirely gone. The White Sox, coming off of the first World Series win this city had seen since Woodrow Wilson was president, had a winning season, but failed to make the playoffs. Their season was also marred by ugly comments from Guillen, who responded calmly and maturely to criticism from Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist Jay Mariotti by calling Mariotti a "fag."

As bad as Sox fans felt, though, Cubs fans had it worse (though I'm sure neither side of town was feeling any sympathy for the other). Prior and Wood were both being counted on for the starting rotation; both were injured much of the season. And after All-Star first baseman Derrek Lee broke his wrist last April, the team's fortunes took a decided turn for the worse, and manager Dusty Baker seemed unable or unwilling to motivate his players. Or, perhaps, the players were unable or unwilling to motivate themselves (at least while the team had a chance to win--Jacque Jones and Aramis Ramirez had fine seasons once the Cubs were well out of contention). Or maybe they were all willing and able, but just not good enough. Whatever the case, the Cubs wound up with a 66-96 record--the worst in the National League.

Most years, Cubs management would tinker with the chemistry of the team, but not make any drastic changes. This year, though, management shook things up. Baker's contract wasn't renewed, and the Tribune Company opened their corporate wallets and signed significant free agents, like slugger Alfonso Soriano, and starting pitchers Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis. Granted, neither Lilly nor Marquis is a Cy Young Award candidate, but each is capable of winning 10 to 15 games a year and giving new manager Lou Piniella plenty of innings. Soriano will be playing a new position (center field), but he's not here for his glove; he's here for his bat.

It's a shame that management didn't make one more big change--letting Wood and Prior go once and for all. It's not that I wish either of them ill. Quite the contrary: I hope that they both have long and, going forward, healthy careers. Thus far, even though neither is being counted on as in years past, their presence has been a distraction, with Wood's injuries preventing him from converting from a starter to a reliever, and Prior still working to regain his velocity. Neither will be on the opening-day roster. Neither should be.

Meanwhile, the White Sox spent their off-season doing little but make their fans scratch their heads. General Manager Kenny Williams traded starter Freddy Garcia to the Phillies, presumably to make room for Brandon McCarthy in their starting rotation, and then they...traded McCarthy, too. Sox fans were justifiably confused, until Guillen made it clear early in spring training that he didn't care for McCarthy's work habits, especially his propensity for hitting the local bars. It seems petty--vindictive, even--for Guillen to go there after McCarthy has permanently left town. Perhaps Guillen was feeling sensitive on that subject, since the team struggled to fill their fifth starter slot--the slot McCarthy was destined for--until the very end of spring training.

For the White Sox, then, it's more a matter of players already on their roster returning to form--like Mark Buerhle, who spent a few seasons as the ace of the starting rotation, but struggled last year; and Scott Podsednik, such a sparkplug in 2005, lacking spark in 2006. The Sox have all the parts necessary to contend in the American League Central. They'll need all those parts, too, with the Tigers, Twins and Indians all fielding teams capable of winning the division as well.

As for the Cubs, they will no doubt improve their record over 2006; they can't be much worse. Have they improved enough, though, to not only contend with the defending World Series champions, the Cardinals, but actually overtake them? There's only one way to find out...

Play ball.