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Opening Day Adventures: White Sox vs. Indians (4/1/2011)

For those who don’t already know, I spent Opening Day weekend in Ohio with my buddy Clint from Diamond Hoggers, where we took in the Reds and White Sox opening day games.  As it turned out, both were two of the weekend’s most exciting games, as the Reds won with a dramatic Ramon Hernandez walk-off, and the White Sox hit the crap out of the ball and put up 15 runs.  Their bullpen implosion is a story I’ll save for another day, however.

When we arrived at Progressive Jacob’s Field, the White Sox were in the midst of batting practice.  Based upon how my boys were crushing the ball during BP, I should have known they were going to put up 15 runs.  Adam Dunn was effortlessly going 15-20 rows deep with each swing and even deposited one in the right field upper deck.  Clint was busy tweeting/texting and almost lost his life after a Dunn line drive skipped off the top of the wall and right past his melon. Alex Rios had the best ball flight of anyone on the team – his blasts were majestic and looked like they were still rising even after they cleared the fence.  I watched Edwin Jackson throw a knuckleball to an unsuspecting John Danks, who had the ball deflect off the palm of his glove and flush into his chest.  The best part: Danks was laughing harder than EJax after it happened.

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Poll: Can Carlos Quentin maintain his hot start?

Carlos Quentin: Wow. Is Q locked in at the plate right now or what? The White Sox right fielder has started the season on an absolute tear, hitting the ball hard to all fields and driving in runs like it’s going out of style.  Of his 11 hits thus far, a whopping seven have gone for extra bases – five doubles and two yardballs.  Oh yeah, he’s also driven in 10 runs in five games and currently sports a 1.522 OPS. As a White Sox fan, I don’t want to get my hopes up, but the thought of Quentin having a full, 2008-type season is scary.  It suddenly reminds us of how great of a season he was having before breaking a bone in his wrist and missing the last month.  And considering the White Sox current lineup, Quentin could easily have another 100+ RBI season.  So, will the White Sox outfielder our favorite State Farm Insurance agent continue his torrid production? Or will his fragility once again shorten a promising season?

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Golden Sombrero: Shin-Soo Choo

Shin-Soo Choo records golden sombrero against White Sox (4/2/2011)

Bottom 1: Choo walks against Edwin Jackson

Bottom 2: Choo strikes out swinging against Jackson

Bottom 5: Choo strikes out swinging against Jackson

Bottom 7: Choo strikes out swinging against Chris Sale

Bottom 9: Choo called out on strikes against Sergio Santos

Sombrero Staff Prognostications: Mike’s 2011 Predictions

National League

West Division

1.     Los Angeles Dodgers

2.     San Francisco Giants

3.     Colorado Rockies

4.     Arizona Diamondbacks

5.     San Diego Padres

Central Division

1.     Cincinnati Reds

2.     Milwaukee Brewers

3.     St. Louis Cardinals

4.     Chicago Cubs

5.     Pittsburgh Pirates

6.     Houston Astros

East Division

1.     Philadelphia Phillies

2.     Atlanta Braves

3.     Washington Nationals

4.     New York Mets

5.     Florida Marlins

Wild Card: Atlanta Braves

NLDS

Phillies def. Reds in 5

Braves def. Dodgers in 4

NLCS

Braves def. Phillies in 6

Series MVP: Jason Heyward

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Sombrero Staff Prognostications: Justin’s 2011 Predictions

AL East:

Boston Red Sox

New York Yankees (Wild Card)

Tampa Bay Rays

Toronto Blue Jays

Baltimore Orioles

AL Central:

Chicago White Sox

Minnesota Twins

Detroit Tigers

Cleveland Indians

Kansas City Royals

AL West:

Texas Rangers

Oakland A’s

Los Angeles Angels

Seattle Mariners

ALDS:

Red Sox def. Rangers in 5

White Sox def. Yankees in 4
ALCS:

Red Sox def. White Sox in 5 (MVP: Carl Crawford)

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