The Keys To Success; A Mid-Season Report

On march 25 I provided in this here blog what I believed would be the keys to a successful season for the Sox:

" (1) Scott Podsednik, who's BA and OBP may be the keys to the Sox entire season, (2) catcher AJ Pierzynski, who will have to put a bad year in SF behind him, and emerge as a leader on the Sox, and control the pitchers..."

So how are these keys to Sox success looking at the All Star break? Come a little closer and let's look:

--In the leadoff spot, sPod is hitting .294 (low, but still 1st among Sox starters) with an OBP of .369 (also low, but first among Sox regulars). In 282 at-bats, he has 83 hits (tied for 1st on the team with Rowand) , 34 walks (2nd, 10 behind Konerko, who has 10 more at bats), 50 runs scored (also 2nd behind Konerko, who has 52) and a major league leading 44 stolen bases (in 53 attempts).

Conclusion: sPod has been a great addition, and performed well. His ability to get on base, and un-nerve pitchers once on base, has help to spark the Sox 'balanced' offensive approach. I still think he needs to push the BA above .300 and the OBP to about .400 to ensure continued success.

--on a statistical level, AJ's been about the same as 2004, with the only major differences being that he's on track to hit twice as many homers (no surprise) and strike out nearly twice as much (so what). Most importantly, last year he grounded into a major league leading 27 double plays. So far this season, he's only hit into 5. Defensively he's also been about the same, with one major exception - he's already thrown out more runners trying to steal in 2005 (16) than he did all of least year (15). But he's also been a vocal leader on the team, and seems very selfless and well-liked by his teammates.

Conclusion: AJ has provided much needed power at the plate, while being less of a liability to kill the big inning. He's also fared well defensively. But most importantly, he's put whatever bad rap he got in SF behind him, emerged as a team leader, and controlled the Sox amazing pitchers.. maybe go so far as to say 'he's helped to bring out their best'... and we all know that the strong pitching is what has brought the Sox this far. AJ deserves much of the credit for that.