I didn't think before the season started that at the halfway point, the Sox would be a game and a half up, 11 games over .500. With this series coming up with the Indians, if the Sox can take two out of three, it'll be the final nail in the coffin for the Tribe.

There's a lot of optimism to be had going into this second half. The starting pitching is staying consistent, Quentin and Dye have been outstanding, Ramirez has been a huge improvement over Uribe, and most importantly the bullpen has been solid. If nothing else, the bullpen will be fresh down the stretch (having the second fewest innings pitched in the league).

Looking ahead to the 2nd Half schedule, the key stretch of games starts with a 10 game road trip at the end of July that starts off with 3 in Detroit, follwed by 4 in Minnesotta (ending with 3 in KC). Following that stretch, the Sox have 16 of 19 at home. September ends with a tough 10 game road trip to NY, KC and most likely an important 3 game series in the Metrodome. Season then concludes at home with a hopefully dead in the water Indians team.

The division is the Sox' to lose at this point, and I simply do not see that happening. The Twins and Tigers have been hot as of late, but don't expect at least one of those teams to keep things moving for much longer. Cleveland and KC are basically non-factors at this point and will do nothing more than ruin the playoff run of the teams in front of them.

I disagree with this. The Sox bats are not that good to assume anything and as the summer heats up, can we expect Floyd and Denks to continue their very good pitching?

Barring major injury(ies), there is no reason for the Sox to lose this division. They have 2 more series at home, follow by 12 games straight against the hapless Royals and Rangers. They could (and probably should) win 11 or 12 games in this stretch (which would be 5 or 6 losses), and really put some breathing room between them and the Twins.

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I like looking at the half way point and projecting but that's always dangerous. Sox have 46 wins. On pace for 92. 92 wins should win the division. More home games than road in the 2nd half. But ever since Ozzie has been here we've had a bad 2nd half after a good 1st half. Except for last year. We sucked for the whole season.

Dye and Quentin are on pace for 38 homers. Quentin is on pace for 120 RBI. As bad as Thome has been he's on pace for 30 homers. Keep in mind he's missed 9 games cuz we've played in NL parks.

If Floyd wins today he'll be on pace for 18 wins.

Despite the Sox winning Jenks is only on pace for 38 saves. That's weird. He had 40, last year, with a 72 win season. A lot of our wins, this year, have been by more than 3 runs so he hasn't had that many save chances. Jenks has blown 3 saves. In all of those blown saves the Sox went on to win. So Jenks hasn't cost the Sox a win this year.

Cabrera and Swisher are on pace for 100 runs scored.

Crede is on pace for 30 HR and 90 RBI.

Alexi Ramirez might win Rookie of the year.

Sox are on pace for 220 home runs.

You can add a few homers to the Sox projected pace cuz of how the ball will carry, at the Cell, and even on the road in the Summer. So maybe Dye and Quentin can get to 45 each with that in mind.

I think we'll know by the trade deadline who will be the Sox competition. That said, the Sox are in good shape.

The Tigers pitching is thin and even though they've won 17/21 they're still 5.5 back. They are going to have to add a top of the rotation pitcher to make a run and they pretty much gave away the farm to get Cabrerra and Willis. And no, I don't think Willis will return from his trip to the minors to be that pitcher. He was throwing 84-86 mph when they sent him down. Too bad they signed him to a 3y/$29M extension.

The Indians were the team that I thought the Sox had to worry about the most, but for whatever reason they just haven't played well and now it looks like they're going to be dealing Sabathia.

The Twins just don't have enough to stay with the Sox in the second half. Of course, I've thought this before and the Twins have proven me wrong, but this winning streak they've been on has largely been built on Arizona, SD, and Washington.

Those Twins really are amazing. They've won 4 divisions this decade. They lost Santana and Hunter and are playing well. They replaced Hunter with that Gomez kid. He looks like a stud. He might win a gold glove this year. They got him in that Santana trade.

The Twins would be just as successful as the Braves if they were in the National League. Then again, I suppose the same could be said for many teams in the AL.

The Twins have won 10 of 11, and the Sox had an off day and got swept, and they only picked up 4 games.

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Did you not see this past weekend's games? The Sox are the greatest team ever!!!

Fixed.

Or so I've heard from more than a few people this summer..

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I'm glad you're finally getting it, Frank!

Dude, I'm a Sox fan. The bats have been hot for the last 4 nights, but when you see guys like Thome, Swisher and Konerko all hitting below 250 before this stretch - you can't assume they will be hot the rest of the year.

I'm still worried that Floyd and Denks might have a second half swoon as the arms start getting a little tired.

Swisher has been hitting over .300 since the 1st of June. Konerko has been hurt for much of the year, so I'm willing to give him a pass until we see what he does off the DL. Thome has been pretty bad overall and clearly is on his last legs. I see no reason to believe that Danks and Floyd can't continue to throw quality outings every 5th game.

The guy who has frustrated me the most with the glove and the bat is Crede. I could not fucking tell you how long its been since I've seen him drive a man in from 3rd with less than 2 outs. Seems like whenever he is at the plate in that situation, he pops up or strikes out. The pitcher who has frustrated me the most is Dotel. One day he is absolutely lights out, and the next wouldn't hit a barn door with a bull's ass.

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I don't see how a White Sox fan with any sense of history could count the Twins out.

Every year they look horrible on paper, but great on the field, especially at home.

It concerns me that the Sox leave this month with only a 2.5 game lead. Looking at the schedule, this was the month they needed to make a move if they were going to dominate the division. That did not happen, so I expect it to go down to the wire with the Twins and Tigers.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.