By Woodrow Carroll
It was a long-time coming for Jose Abreu, his first home run of this season and in the Houston Astros’ uniform. The game was Sunday, May 28 in Oakland. After playing nine seasons for the Chicago White Sox, in which he hit 243 home runs, Abreu signed a three-year contract with the Houston Astros in November 2022.
Abreu’s initial homer of the season was hardly legendary.
Abreu’s blast raised the ‘Stros’ lead from 6-1 to 7-1. The game ended 10-1 in favor of Houston, and, as for round trip blasts, Abreu’s homer was one of seven by Houston for the game.
Let’s turn back the clock to September 13, 2022. The White Sox were playing host to the Colorado Rockies. In the eighth inning of what was game 142 of the year for the White Sox,, Abreu hit a solo homer that increased the White Sox lead to 4-2 ultimately the final score.
That Abreu homer was his final one hit in a White Sox uniform. From then on, Abreu went without a home run in his next 260 trips to the plate in his final time with the White Sox last season through the early part of this season with Houston.
The thought of Abreu heating up is frightening to opposing teams in the American League when one considers that Houston is defending American League champion. Then add the firepower of a resurgent Abreu to a potent Houston lineup and another World Series championship is not out of the question.
One has to temper, however, the acquisition of Abreu and how much he might add to the Houston offense with the realization that no team has repeated as World champion since the New York Yankees captured the World Series three straight, 1998 through 2000.
Houston entered this week with a 30-21 record in the American League West and an 8-2 run over 10 games says plenty.
Much has been made of the fact that all five teams in the AL East, Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, and Boston Red Sox enjoy winning records. Not far from it, you have the AL West with four teams on the plus side of .500 at the start of the week. Of course, the Oakland A’s are giving the AL West a bit of a bad name with their 10-45 record which is far and away the worst Major League Baseball.
After dropping a 6-5, 10-inning game in Detroit Sunday, May 28, the Chicago White Sox were the proud possessors of the 13th best record in the 15-team American League. With a record of 22-33 to start the week, only the Kansas City Royals and Oakland A’s looked up to the Sox.
They blamed manager Tony LaRussa for the White Sox struggles last season. The 2022 campaign was a fitful one for the Pale Hose who ended .500 with a final record of 81-81. Last season’s White Sox were a very consistent team, if nothing else.
As a form of reference, Major League Baseball uses the all-star break to split the season. The 2022 White Sox were 46-46 at the all-star break with a 35-35 record after the break. If you are looking for other statistics to define the White Sox of last season, you can point out that the Club was 37-44 at home and reverse that figure for games on the road. So much for home-field advantage.
The White Sox had six home games scheduled this week, three with the Los Angeles Angels followed by three with AL East rival Detroit over the weekend. Given the struggles of all five of the AL Central Division teams, the Sox could make up ground in a hurry with a productive week.