Chicago White Sox: Juan Uribe Steps Up
by Sean Kane
Juan Uribe and his regal goatee are the best thing that the Sox could have hoped for down the stretch. Starting the year, no Sox fan would have told you that the key moment would have happened at the end of July when we realized that “GoldenTee” was the man on the hot corner.
I remember sitting at game against Cleveland in June, up around section 526 thinking, “Man, Crede is in a contract year. How much is it gonna’ cost to lock that down?” He was hot, a third baseman that made White Sox fans love everything happening on the left side of the field in combination with Carlos Quentin being the most underrated thing in baseball coming out of Arizona. The glove of Joe Crede was like a wall and our ground ball pitchers, like Marky Mark Buehrle, loved that security. Buehrle loved it so much he won every game he started in June and had an ERA of 1.60. John Danks floated down to 2.10 that same month. It seemed like, with that defense, all we had to do was hit a few homers, coming from anywhere in the lineup, and we could win big games. We did, too, sweeping both the Cubs and Twins.
Then comes July, things start slowing down and sure enough Crede gets sent to the sixty day DL on the 25th. Who waltzes in but the Golden Boy himself. We were skeptical: the bat, the feet, the beard. Plus, who could replace Joe Crede down the stretch?
The reporters were merciless on manager Ozzie Guillen, not giving Uribe any staying power: “What’s the word on Crede?” “When do you expect Joe to return?”,”Any injury updates? Joe Crede?”, “Can you call Joe Crede at his home and ask him if he thinks he can play soon?” Until he officially said on September 5th, “I have to be honest with you because I’m tired of people asking me the same question about Joe. Joe is not going to be with us and I don’t expect him to be back [this] season. I don’t know if it’s going to be true or not. That’s my plan.”
Finally, fans and media stopped and realized…Wait a second, the Wizard of Oz is right again. Juan Uribe has stepped up. Take your time in Charlotte, Joe, and get that back healthy, bud.
Juan Uribe did step up, by the numbers and otherwise – Crede batting .248 on the year and Uribe at .255 were even. Crede tossed up 17 homers to Juan’s 7, but Juan was almost perfect in the field, He only had 8 errors in 98 games, to Crede’s 20 errors in 97. He more than stepped up; he overshadowed Joe Crede. That may have been because of his bulky frame and huge rear but nonetheless, who needs Smokin’ Joe, when you got Fumando Juando?
What isn’t seen on paper or in the interviews are the intangibles. He’s known as a vet, a team guy and someone that brings that energy back to the sometimes childish locker room. What more can you ask for when a huge injury scares everyone heading into crunch time, and you are trying to fend off a Minnesota Twins team always within striking distance?
By September even Ozzie was scared, “I know it’s been the hardest season because for the first time since I’ve been here, we weren’t expected to win.” He followed that with “If we don’t win this thing, it’s almost like I wasted my time, I wasted my players’ time, their effort.”
But the gang held on. Players stepped up. Then it looked like Crede was back and Ozzie pulled Orlando Cabrera, and dropped Uribe at short. Orlando Cabrerra got a late scare and a wakeup call in Baltimore with Uribe filling in at shortstop for a few appearances. OC probably wondered if his job was safe, with Uribe so solid and while Crede looked like he might get the corner back. Orlando Cabrera realized he needed to start picking up his game and that he wasn’t getting paid $10 million for laying down on the job. Cruise control was getting him nowhere in July but when he felt a little fire under him in August, he popped up batting .292 at the end of August. When Crede landed back on the DL, it put Uribe back at third. Then, OC held on, getting real serious about his job and is batting .365 here in September.
When then Sox needed Juan Uribe, he kept them up. He stepped up huge when an All-Star fell to injury. Then he played so well, Crede didn’t need to come back and OC needed to step up. Juan Uribe kept the Sox moving, and lifted the play of his team through the second half of the season, doing his job on and off the field. People saw the team sliding at any moment. We slipped a little here and there but managed to stay alive and a half a step ahead of the Twins till this point. This team has proved their toughness with the help of the Sox “Golden Boy” this year. All you gotta’ wonder is will this carry them into the postseason and how far can we go when we get there?
Tags: AL Central, carlos quentin, chicago, Chicago White Sox, Joe Crede, Juan Uribe, orlando cabrera, ozzie guillen
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