Top Ten Chicago series performances

This weekend could not have turned out any worse for Sox fans. Game 1 on Friday was actually a good one, and while the Sox lost and while they squandered multiple scoring chances, things looked relatively positive. Saturday's affair was a disaster for the Southside and Monday was not any better. If this happened when the two teams meet in the World Series, as many experts ignorantly stated, Sox-dome would have been left in a pile of embarrassment that would have stung a lot harder than the '05 victory did for Cubbie Nation. With all that aside, lets talk about the top ten performers of the weekend.

10. Jason Marquis


Courtesy of: http://fireloupiniella.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/marquis-throwing.jpg

While his pitching wasn’t overwhelming (seven IP, five runs) what he did at the plate more than made up for it. His fourth inning base hit sparked the rally of all rallies, leading to the eventual nine runs that would cross the plate in that half-inning. He would actually go 2-for-4 on the day, which was better than Cabrera, AJP and Crede combined. Awesome.

9. Carlos Quentin


Courtesy of: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/college/news/2003/06/18/cws_wednesday_ap/t1_quentin_ap.jpg

His 3-for-4 Saturday was nice, even though the losing wasn’t. His two other hits, one on Friday and another on Sunday, gave him better hitting numbers than the majority of the other Sox hitters.

8. Ryan Theriot


Courtesy of: http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/6084/capt7cda18f4bead42d297asu9.jpg

The running riot played above average baseball this weekend, getting four hits and scoring a run. I don’t know, just not a whole lot to say about Ryan. I think I liked him more when calling him “The Riot” was cool, then I heard my Mom calling him that, so that spoiled the fun. (My Mom jokes are done, I promise.)

7. Jim Edmonds


Courtesy of:http://www.faniq.com/images/blog/Picture%202(88).png

Edmonds would have been higher if he had one more hit somewhere in the weekend. But his two-homer fourth inning was enough to get him on the list and if I had a “best innings of the weekend” Edmonds would for sure top the charts. The highlight of the weekend for me was when Ozzie said on Saturday night how he would rather pitch to Edmonds any day over Soriano, then proceeded to intentionally walk him on Sunday. While it may have been tactical, it may have been the first thing Ozzie has ever done wrong in my eyes.

6. Dewayne Wise


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Ok, I am not going to lie, I have not been on top of my game lately. But does that excuse me when I ask people “Who is Dewayne Wise?” By default I realized he was the call-up when Konerko went on the DL instead of our favorite Josh Fields and our least favorite Jerry Owens. But aside from a few times he hesitated on throwing the ball in from center, he was actually pretty solid. He hit a two-run homer Saturday, and draw a few walks. And he went 2-for-4 on Sunday with a rare Sox stolen base. I really hope he can become reliable enough to put at the top of the order, giving the Southside some much-needed speed.

5. Ryan Dempster


Courtesy of: http://www.cobrabrigade.com/images/dempster.461.jpg

While 10 hits allowed is very deceiving, Dempster was stellar at Wrigley on Sunday. Improving his record to 9-0 at the Friendly Confines, Dempy was in control for eight innings, allowing only one run on four strikeouts and one walk. What is going to happen when they have substantially more games on the road the second half of the season? We’ll get to see his stuff again this Saturday at Comiskey.

4. Derrek Lee


Courtesy of: http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2006/scorecard/06/21/truth.rumors.mlb/p1_lee.jpg

D-Lee was overshadowed by another member in the heart of the Cubs order, but none the less, Lee was his usual self. He had five hits on the weekend, one of which was a homer to go along with is four RBI and four runs. Too bad the firstbase position is stacked in the NL, or Lee would probably be headed to New York for the All-Star Break.

3. Jermaine Dye


Courtesy of: http://whitesoxpride.mlblogs.com/photos/uncategorized/jermaine_2.jpg

Dye was the only Sox who excelled this weekend and without his stellar job at the dish, things would have been even pitiful (even more pitiful). He had a homer on Friday. Saturday included a go-ahead two-run homer in the fourth and three RBI on the day. And Sunday he went 2-for-4 with a double and the lone run.

2. Eric Patterson


Courtesy of: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y186/pohlmanfield/BDP/2006/patterson.jpg

Zach Martin’s favorite Patterson may have showed in one weekend that he is better than his older brother Corey. Saturday’s 3-for-5 performance with an RBI and two runs may have been overshadowed by Sunday’s game where he hit his first ML homer, which would prove to be the game-winner. A new nemesis for Sox fans has arisen and if he keeps his up, Reed Johnson and Edmonds may be out of some PT. He also adds a tremendous nuisance for pitchers when on the base path, as Contreres had no idea how to work with him on first.

1. Aramis Ramirez


Courtesy of: http://www.pe.com/sports/baseball/dodgers/stories/PE_Sports_Local_D_dodgers_15.38153c1.html

Aramis came out of the weekend as the hottest hitter in baseball, absolutely smashing the cover off the ball. Ramirez had four homers, eight RBI and two hits in every game on the weekend, showing Contreres and Linebrink they had better not throw him any weak hangers next weekend. He must have seen that the Trib’s Phil Rogers put Joe Crede at the hot corner on his all-city team. The Sox paid for his mistake.