67

Despite having lost two out of three to Texas over the weekend, the White Sox are still in first place in the A.L. Central, 1.5 games up on the Twins at the All-Star break with a Magic Number of 67. Sunday marked the 58th consecutive day (since May 17) that the Sox have held down the top spot in the division. The good news is that the Bill James pythagorean theorem, which is based on runs scored and allowed, predicts winning percentages for the Sox and Twins that project to 95 and 84 wins respectively. The other good news is, as we've mentioned before, the Sox have five more home games to play than the Twins. If the Good Guys' and the Pirhanas' home/road winning percentages remain the same, the Sox will win 94 games, while the Twins will win only 90. Post-season, baby!

Whether that actually happens may depend on how Paul Konerko does after the break. So far, with the notable exception of Saturday's game (when Paulie went 4 for4), he's been killing the team. Sunday's game is a good example. On a day when the rest of the team hit .550, collecting 22 hits in 40 at bats, Captain Konerko took an 0 for 6 collar and left nine men on base. He's hitting an embarrassing .217 on the season, with nine home runs and 34 RBI. His batting average with runners in scoring position is .203, even worse than his overall average. All of these numbers are pitiful and force Ozzie to consider playing Nick Swisher at first and a platoon of DeWayne Wise and Brian Anderson in center-field.

The rest of the positions look set, with particularly pleasant surprises in Alexei Ramirez and Carlos Quentin. The starting pitching has hit a rough patch recently, but still put up excellent numbers in the first half. The bullpen has been even better, and Bobby Jenks is ready to come off the DL once games start up again at home next Friday against Kansas City. The Royals with their .420 road winning percentage in the Cell versus the White Sox with their .711 percentage at home are just what the doctor ordered to start the second half.

Given the magnitude of home field advantage this season -- .570 going into Sunday's games -- the outcome of the All-Star Game could play a big role in determining the World Series winner. An A.L. victory in Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night means that the American League pennant winner gets the extra game at home in the Series. Go A.L.! Go Sox!