Whatever it is, I may just be getting my wish.
When I wrote a week ago that I felt the Sox would be best served to move Jermaine Dye to the #3 spot, I hoped Ozzie would agree with me. When Jim Thome tweaked his hammy that night in Detroit, I got my wish. I never wanted to see Thome get hurt but luckily it was nothing major.
So Jermaine Dye was moved to the #3 spot in Jimmy's place, and ever since he's been pretty solid. He won the AL Player of the Week award for last week, his second time this season. In the 6 games that JD has taken Thome's spot in the lineup he's 8-for-20 with four home runs and 20 RBI.
It now appears Ozzie is considering moving JD to the #3 spot even after Thome returns to the lineup tonight.
"Having Dye on base, then Paulie or Thome in a row, you have a chance to score. That's in my mind right now."Guillen says the move would only be temporary, lasting only as long until he feels that Thome is fully recovered. Still, if Dye continues to hit the way he has the last week, why bother taking him out even when Jimmy is 100%?
-Ozzie Guillen
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, in 41 first inning at bats this season Jermaine Dye is hitting .439 with seven home runs and 24 RBI. In the last 12 White Sox games, Jermaine has homered in his first at bat 5 times.
Along with the campaign to keep JD in the #3 spot, there's also the newest one brewing around Chicago.
JD 4 MVP
With David Ortiz in a hospital for who knows how long, and the Travis Hafner playing on a sub .500 team, it's not out of question that Jermaine Dye will win the AL MVP. Even without Ortiz and Hafner's circumstances, it's hard to say that JD isn't the best candidate for the award.
He's batting .324 with 39 HR and 106 RBI. He still has a month left in his season too, a month in which he could catapult the White Sox back into the playoffs to defend their World Series title. Like a lot of players who win the MVP award, Jermaine has been absolutely brilliant since the All Star break. Since the break JD has hit .335 with 14 HR and 38 RBI.
His biggest competition for the award will probably come from the Yankees' Derek Jeter. While Jeter's batting average is 13 point higher than JD's, his power numbers pale in comparison.
Without taking anything away from Jeter's accomplishments, I don't see much of a competition here.
I've seen Jermaine Dye play every day this season, and I can without a doubt say there is NOBODY in the American League more deserving of the award.
3 comments:
The national media is fiiiiinally taking notice of JD. On Cold Pizza today, Skip Bayless was toting JD as his pick for MVP.
I really don't understand all the hype for Jeter. Yes he has played well, and yes he was one of the brighter spots for the Yanks while his team was battling injuries, but there's still 180 million dollars worth of talent around him. If Jeter performed like this on say the A's or the Twins, he wouldn't be getting nearly as much hype. Bottom line and to borrow a line from Catch Me If You Can...Why is everyone slurping Jeter? It's because of the pinstripes.
100% correct.
The New York media is a very large and powerful force when it comes to this stuff, and Derek Jeter is their boy.
He's a great player no doubt, but nowhere near as worthy as JD for the MVP.
The JD-in-the-3-hole sure paid dividends tonight. And for exactly the reason Ozzie considered it: speed.
His SB in the 8th was the play of the game for me.
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