07/13/2005 12:35 AM ET White Sox aren't letting up By JON GREENBERG / MLBPLAYERS.com

Jon Garland is tied for the Major League lead in victories at 13-4 with a 3.38 ERA. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)

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"This division isn't won," Buehrle said last week. "We've still got to keep on battling, we can't sit back and get too comfortable."

That the White Sox are in a position to be worried about complacency -- and yes, that is manager Ozzie Guillen's chief concern right about now -- is one of the biggest surprises in the first half. With a 57-29 record, the wrong Sox have the best record in baseball.

"I don't think anybody predicted us doing what we're doing," Aaron Rowand said. "In fact, everybody predicted we were going to come in fourth."

To be fair, no one on the White Sox could have predicted this kind of start either, except perhaps friendly broadcaster Ken "Hawk" Harrelson. Without a .300 hitter in the lineup, the second team in the Second City has been wire-to-wire frontrunners, trampling through the AL Central with a nine-game lead over Minnesota at the break. Cleveland is 11 games back.

General Manager Kenny Williams rebuilt the team, starting last season and continuing through the offseason, moving toward a focus on pitching, defense and speed.

Williams didn't re-sign Magglio Ordonez and traded fellow slugger Carlos Lee to Milwaukee for Scott Podsednik and Luis Vizcaino. He added Japanese second baseman Tadahito Iguchi, pitcher Orlando Hernandez, outfielder Jermaine Dye and catcher A.J. Pierzynski.

Last season, Williams traded for starters Freddy Garcia and Jose Contreras, and DH/outfielder Carl Everett.

"It's been pretty well documented our GM wants to win and is going to do whatever it takes to win," Rowand said.

Williams has had the Midas touch thus far. Podsednik and Iguchi have been the igniters at the top of the order. Podsednik's 44 steals, tops in baseball by 15, helped land him the 32nd spot on the All-Star team, thanks in part to the organization's relentless shilling last week.

The team had Buehrle take a microphone to implore the crowd at U.S. Cellular Field to vote for Podsednik (.294 average) and created "Vote for Scott" T-shirts, buttons and signs around the park when he was one of five finalists for the last spot on the AL squad.

Iguchi, 30, has a .280 average and has played stellar defense, making him a contender for the AL Rookie of the Year.

Both were part of Guillen's mandate that the team trade power for speed and both are big reasons why this team can contend through the postseason.

"We take the chance for people to criticize Kenny Williams and myself, because [of] what kind of team we put together," said the talkative Guillen, whose freewheeling pregame sessions are a daily highlight for reporters. "Because that's the way it is in Chicago. If we hadn't played the way we're playing right now, people would be talking about, 'They're crazy, they're not trying, they got rid of Magglio and Carlos and [Jose] Valentin.' That's the way it is. But I got enough guts to take that heat."

But the biggest reason for the team's early success is its pitching staff. First-time All-Stars Buehrle and Jon Garland have been so formidable in the rotation, Garcia has been almost under-appreciated at 8-3 with a 3.53 ERA.

"No one's even mentioning Freddy," Buehrle remarked. "He probably deserves to go to the All-Star Game too."

Buehrle, the starter for the AL All-Stars, has grown out of the "best starter no one's ever heard of" tag with a 10-3 record and a 2.58 ERA. This after leading the Majors in innings last season and finishing with 16 wins.

Penciled in as the fifth starter, Garland is tied for the Major League lead in victories at 13-4 with a 3.38 ERA at the break, breaking a four-year streak of 12 wins. Both Buehrle and Garland are Cy Young Award candidates.

Contreras (4-5) and Hernandez (7-2) round out the rotation. Contreras has been inconsistent while Hernandez hasn't pitched since June 14 with soreness in his pitching (right) shoulder.

"The pitching staff carried the hitters for the first month or so, and then the hitters took over," Buehrle said. "When the pitching staff struggled, that's when the hitters started getting hot and they carried the team."

Neal Cotts (2-0, 2.86 ERA) and Cliff Politte (6-0, 1.02 ERA) have steadied the bullpen and Dustin Hermanson has converted 21 of 22 save opportunities since taking the closer's role from Shingo Takatsu.

As for the hitters, Frank Thomas returned after nearly a year-long absence and became a power-hitting force, hitting 11 homers in just 82 at-bats. Thomas (.244 average with 23 RBIs in 28 games) shares time at DH with part-time outfielder Everett, who is hitting .275 with 13 homers and 53 RBIs.

Jermaine Dye rebounded from a slow start and is hitting .270 with 14 homers and 45 RBIs. Paul Konerko made the All-Star team, despite a .249 average, thanks to his slugging prowess; he finished the first half with 20 homers and 55 RBIs.

Now Guillen's main worry, besides injuries, is premature satisfaction.

"I worry about my players, that they don't feel comfortable with the lead that we have," he said. "As long as I manage this team I'm not going to back off. If I see something I don't like, the way we play, I'm not going to sit here and say, 'Oh, we got a so many game lead, we're OK, we're in great shape."

True to his words, Guillen had a meeting in his office with a player who failed to run out a long fly ball in a 10-1 loss on July 9.

"He's constantly trying to win," Buehrle said. "He's constantly telling guys that you're fighting 'til the ninth inning is over."

Jon Greenberg is a freelance writer based in Chicago.

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