The Show.

It's early, but we're starting to figure out the identities of most teams in the Bigs this year. We're seeing a lot what we have been seeing in the past couple years - The Yanks, Rays, and Twins sit atop the AL, while the Cards and Phils sit atop the NL. We have seen some surprises though. The Padres have somehow clawed their way out of the basement and they now sit atop the NL West, the Red Sox hold the 4th spot in a AL East despite preseason predictions of them having a top pitching staff in the league, and the Washington National are above .500. That's right, I said above.

But while the people in DC may be cheering, the people of Chicago are once again depressed at the play of their teams as we near the 1/5 mark in the season. So, is it time to push the panic button in Chicago? Or is there a chance to turn things around. At this point in the season, you like to think that anything can happen, but looking at the way things are going for the Cubs and White Sox, it doesn't seem like that's going to happen anytime soon.

The Cubs currently sit in 5th place of the NL Central (there are 6 teams in their division) and they're 5 games under .500. The White Sox are in 3rd place in the AL Central and are 6 games under .500. It is of course conceivable to believe that these teams can turn it around, but the trouble lies in the competition within their divisions. The Cubs have to deal with the only 6 team division in baseball (though the Astros don't really count) whose leader is the defending division champ Cardinals. The White Sox on the other hand are currently 5 games out of second place where the Tigers sit, and 8 back of first where the Twins lead. I'm not saying these teams can't manage to rehabilitate after a rough start, but it's really hard for me to believe that they can rehab enough to climb to the tops of their respective divisions.

The White Sox currently have the second to worst team batting average in the league. They're hitting a combined .228 at this point. The Sox hitting does have a slight ray of hope however. Paul Konerko leads the majors in home runs at this point with 13, but it takes more than one guy to have an effective lineup. That, combined with a White Sox pitching staff ERA of 4.72 makes it hard to imagine that they're going to win a lot of games.
The Cubs have been pretty good at the plate so far this year. They're team average is good for 9th in the league, and they have the 11th most runs at this point with 155 through 33 games. Where the Cubs have been struggling though is on the mound. They're staff's ERA is hovering around 4.4, and only 8 teams have given up less hits than the Cubs. Carlos Zambrano, who is usually their horse, has an ERA of 6.49, and without him pitching at his best the Cubs are sure to face some troubles.

Of course, like I said, there is still hope for these clubs. It's still early, and you never know what could happen. I just have to feel bad for the city of Chicago. Cubs fans have it the worst. They haven't seen their squad win a championship in over 100 years, and it doesn't seem like they're going to win one any time soon. Let's also keep in mind that this Cubs team has the third highest payroll in baseball - underachieving should not be an option. The White Sox on the other hand won a championship just 5 years ago, but since then they've seemed to crumble into the depths of the standings as well as the hearts of their fans - the Sox are currently averaging just under 23,000 fans a game in a park that sits over 40,000. So for the time being it seems like the fans of Chicago are going to have to suffer, and yes, maybe even panic. I just pray for the city that the Blackhawks win their series against Vancouver.