It's been a long time since we checked in on the
House of David, who were featured way back in
Series V when they visited
Los Angeles. The
Baltimore Black Sox--currently tied for the best record in baseball--were featured in
Series IX.
Wandering House of David
The House of David are struggling towards .500, sitting 6 games below that mark, and 5 games behind Detroit in the
Bill James Division. Honestly, even that may be outperforming their metrics (they are, in fact, 2 games above their Pythagorean projection at this point).
The pitching has been an issue all season.
C.C. Sabathia started the year quite well, and if the House of David have an ace, he's it. But he's only 5-5 on the year, with a 4.29 ERA (his WHIP of 1.33 is more respectable), and some would look at
Jack Taylor (4-5, 3.57 ERA) as having been more dependable. Probably their best pitcher has been
Bob Rush, who sparkled out of the pen, and has just recently moved into the rotation. Rush is 4-3, with a 3.07 ERA, and both he and Taylor have identical 1.18 WHIPs.
The bullpen has been fairly mediocre:
Joakim Soria started the year as the closer, lost that role to
Bruce Sutter, and was just released. Sutter has been fine, and recently promoted
Lee Smith has some potential, but neither he nor
Rollie Fingers seem terribly reliable at the moment.
The House of David's best offensive player has, hands down, been
Pete Browning, who is slashing 385/419/606, The problem is Browning has only been healthy for about 28 games. He's back now, and hopefully can spark a struggling offense.
The bright spots of the offense are clear: OF
George Stone (318/407/552 and a team-high 12 homeruns), C
Elrod Hendricks (291/344/581), and--in one of the shocks of the league--OF
Dan Ford (375/396/557 in about half their games) have led the team along with SS
Ernie Banks who tops the team with 44 RBIs. And ... that's about it.
Ron Santo and
Mark Grace have been fine, and
Sammy Sosa and
Mark McGwire have been miserable (Sosa was just sent to AAA to work it out).
Optimism for the House of David centers around Browning's health and Ford not collapsing. We'll see.
Baltimore Black Sox
The Black Sox have ridden strong starting pitching and a solid offense to the best record in the league, even after a shocking series against Birmingham, where they lost 3-out-of-4. They'll be looking to right the ship immediately, with their ace,
Dennis Martinez taking the mound for the first game. Martinez is 7-2 with a 3.15 ERA, but calling him their ace may be a little misleading:
Bill Byrd has essentially the same ERA at 3.16 and
Ned Garvin may be the best pitcher in the league at the moment, with an ERA well under 3.00.
Don Bessent and
Bob Miller have combined for 11 saves, with neither actually being declared the official closer, and
Sean Marshall and
Buddy Groom continue to pitch really well out of the pen.
Offensively,
Curt Blefary has slowed down slightly, but is still mashing the ball at a 289/392/639 clip to lead the way, and he and
Frank Robinson (313/394/537) are among the better duos in the league. Three regulars--SS
Bobby Wallace, 1B
Dan McGann, and 2B
Larry Gardner have OBPs over .400, ensuring plenty of traffic on the basepaths, and the Black Sox' patience with
Bryce Harper has really paid off as, after a month of struggle, the young outfielder is starting to contribute more and more offensively.
Recently recalled
Baby Doll Jacobsen was perhaps the most dominant hitter in AAA, so the club is eager to see if he can contribute.
Starting Pitchers
House of David starter listed first.
Wade Miley (2-2, 6.12 ERA) @
Dennis Martinez (7-2, 3.15 ERA)
Jack Taylor (4-5, 3.57 ERA) @
Jim Palmer (4-5, 4.85 ERA)
Frank Sullivan (4-6, 4.90 ERA) @
Bill Byrd (5-2, 3.16 ERA)
CC Sabathia (5-5, 4.29 ERA) @
Johnny Sain (5-4, 5.42 ERA)
Series Prediction
I mean ... Baltimore is clearly the superior team. And they'll be looking to bounce back after a disappointing series with Birmingham. I think they will, and the House of David will only win one game, either for Taylor or Sabathia.