Kiss April Goodbye

April started down in the dumps for us. People around the country were ready to pile on the Sox and label them as one year wonders. People seemed quite happy that we wouldn't repeat as champs. Sox fans though, weathered the storm like we always do, and the Sox rewarded our patience. They slowly but surely put together 17 wins, tying their record for wins in April. The Sox generally flew under the radar as they rebounded and climbed into first place again, but as they continued to roll amidst an 8 game winning streak, the national media seemed to pick up again.

Overall this has been a very successful month. I agree with DickdaStick, the hitting has been great. It has been our biggest strength this season. Any lingering questions about Jim Thome are now gone. All questions about him now relate to how high will his stats go. The starting pitching was slow at first, but now is coming around. Garland and Garcia still cause some worries but they've been decent in their past few starts. The bullpen is starting to shape up; the 'pen will continue to improve as the year goes on.

We open and end May the same way, at Cleveland. We open the month with a two game set and then close it with three more (there's a fourth game in Cleveland June 1). Unfortunately we don't face the Tigers, so it will be up to the rest of the AL to give us some breathing room in the Central.

We get our first taste of Interleague Play at home against the Cubs May19-21.

So let's keep things rolling ChiSox. I want to see us with at least a 4.5 game lead in the Central by the end of the month, which isn't asking too much.