The Blackhawks acted to clear some more salary cap space late Wednesday, trading winger Kris Versteeg and some dude named Bill Sweatt to the Toronto Maple Leafs for forwards Viktor Stalberg, Chris DiDomenico and Philippe Paradis.

I wish I could give you some hard-hitting analysis of this move, but of the three players the Hawks are getting, Stalberg is the only one I've ever seen play. The 24-year-old from Sweden just completed his rookie year with the Maple Leafs. He played 40 games, scored nine goals and finished with 14 points.

DiDomenico, 21, and Paradis, 19, both played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League last year. Paradis was a first-round draft choice of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2009.

Beyond that, I don't know much. I am glad the Hawks elected to trade Versteeg and hold on to veteran Patrick Sharp. As I indicated in a previous blog, I felt like Sharp was the one guy whose name was appearing in trade rumors that the Hawks couldn't afford to lose. You don't like to see a talented player like Versteeg go, but if it comes down to Versteeg or Sharp, I'm keeping Sharp.

This also gives me hope the Hawks will be able to retain hard-nosed left winger Andrew Ladd, who is one my favorite players on the team. Ladd is a restricted free agent, and the Hawks did extend him a qualifying offer before Monday's deadline.

My guess is the dealing is done now for the Blackhawks. Of course, it comes down to how much money restricted free agents Ladd, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Antti Niemi are going to command. We'll see if the Hawks can sign all three of those players with no more trades.

The Pittsburgh Pirates scored two unearned runs in the eighth inning Wednesday to win 2-0 and continue their season-long domination/humiliation of the Cubs, but let's put that aside for just a couple minutes.

This is that time of the season where I start wondering which mediocre players on crappy teams are going to get the courtesy invite to the MLB All-Star game. With the woeful Pirates in town, I found myself trying to figure who off this craptastic roster will be playing for the National League squad in Anaheim on July 13.

I suppose there are a couple possibilities -- you've got right-handed middle reliever Evan Meek. He's 3-2 with a fine 1.02 ERA. He's got 41 strikeouts in 44 innings. Not bad at all, but it's hard for middle relievers (especially those on bad teams) to make the All-Star game. Outfielder Andrew McCutchen is hitting close to .300, but his power numbers are pretty weak.

That brings me to former White Sox reliever Octavio Dotel (aka "The Latin Gas Can"). If you go to Dotel's player page on baseballreference.com, you'll see the page is sponsored by the "Oakland Committee to Impeach Octavio Dotel." The subhead reads, "Our stance is that Octavio Dotel is the worst closer of alltime and a disgrace to the Green and Gold. September 23, 2004 -- the day the 2004 season really ended for Oakland."

While I have no doubt Dotel sucked for Oakland back in 2004, it's worth noting that the right-hander is 16 for 19 in save opportunities for Pittsburgh this season. The Pirates are 27-51 overall, so you have to give the man credit for earning a save in nearly 60 percent of Pittsburgh's wins.

But here's the thing: SEVEN OF DOTEL'S 16 SAVES HAVE COME AGAINST THE FREAKIN' CUBS!

That's right. The Latin Gas Can is 7 for 7 in save opportunities against the bumbling North Siders. He's a combined 9 for 12 against every other team in baseball.

It's entirely possible that Octavio Dotel will earn his first All-Star game selection at age 36, all courtesy of the 2010 Chicago Cubs.

Put that one on your resume, Cub fans.

Gavin Floyd's outing Tuesday night against the Kansas City Royals was clearly his worst over his last five starts. It was also the only one of the five he won.

By no means was Floyd bad in Kansas City. He gave up three runs over 6 2/3 innings -- definitely a quality start -- and came away with a 4-3 win.

But if you look at the previous four Floyd starts, he had been dominant: One run over six innings against the Tigers on June 8. Eight innings of one-run ball against the Cubs on June 13. Eight innings of one-run ball on June 18 against Washington. Seven innings of shutout ball against Atlanta on June 24.

Yet, Floyd (3-7) didn't have a single win to show for it. He had three no-decisions, and he lost 1-0 in that June 13 tilt against the Cubs. In fact, Floyd's last win before tonight came way back on May 22 against the Florida Marlins.

This goes to show why I always say the won-loss record isn't the best way to judge a starting pitcher. A guy can pitch great and get beat 1-0 or 2-1, and he can throw the ball like poop and still win 7-5 or 8-6 if he gets good offensive support.

That's been the deal for Floyd lately. The way his season has gone, it figures that he finally wins on a night where he had to labor without his best stuff.

The win pulls the Sox within 1 1/2 games of first-place Minnesota. First place in the AL Central changed hands again Tuesday, as the Twins routed Detroit 11-4 up in Minneapolis. The Sox sit one game behind the Tigers for second place after tonight's results.

How is this for anamoly? Minnesota outfielder Denard Span had three triples in tonight's Twins-Tigers game. That ties a modern-era record held by multiple players.

I remember the day of the 2005 NFL draft. When the Bears selected running back Cedric Benson with the No. 4 overall pick, I screamed "BUST!" at the TV.

What a terrible pick that was. Benson was a disaster on the field and off it during his time with Chicago. The Bears finally cut him in June of 2008 after his second alcohol-related arrest within a five-week time frame. Famously, he was seen smiling in one of his police mugshots (see above). Benson eventually landed with the Cincinnati Bengals, and some Bears fans had a lot of envy when the running back had a career year in 2009, piling up 1,251 yards -- good for eighth best in the NFL.

Well, there's no need for Bears fans to have envy any longer. "Cedric the Entertainer" has been up to his old tricks, arrested Tuesday morning for assault after allegedly punching a bar employee in Austin, Texas, on March 30.

It's too bad Benson can't stand prosperity. He was just starting to get his career on track. Now, he reverts to his self-destructive ways again. At least he's not grinning from ear to ear in his police mugshot this time. (The one on the far left above is the latest one.) From day one, I had a feeling this guy was going to waste his talent and he continues to prove me right.

One of the few things the Bears have done right over the last couple years was cutting Cedric Benson.

My colleague and fellow White Sox fan Jim Owczarski and I were joking in the office earlier today about how Mark Kotsay ALWAYS seems to be up for the Sox in clutch situations. ALWAYS!

Whenever the South Siders have two men on and two men out, here comes Kotsay and his .213 average to ground out to second base or pop up in the infield. Kotsay's platoon partner in the DH role, Andruw Jones (pictured), has been even worse. Would you believe Jones is 3 for 35 in the month of June? Believe it.

Jones has only two home runs since May 1st, his red-hot April now a faint memory.

The DH spot killed the White Sox Monday in a maddening 3-1 loss at Kansas City. The Royals gave the Sox five outs in the eighth inning and got away with it. They gave the Sox four outs in the ninth inning and got away with it. Kansas City got off the hook largely because the Sox vacant DH spot came up with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth.

Jones was 0 for 3 on the night, so Sox manager Ozzie Guillen sent Kotsay up to pinch-hit. "Ring, ring, ring" went my cell phone with a text from Owczarski: "What did we say about Kotsay in big situations?"

Yep, Kotsay is always up in big spots, and he routinely fails. In this big situation, he popped up to second base. After Alexei Ramirez also popped up, Kansas City closer Joakim Soria had dodged a big bullet and secured the save.

"Ring, ring, ring" went my cell phone with yet another text from Owczarski: "I hate Kotsay."

I personally don't hate Kotsay, but I strongly dislike the way he's being used. He should not be starting four or five times per week at DH. No matter what Guillen says, it's imperative Sox GM manager Kenny Williams go out and acquire a legitimate left-handed DH.

The Sox are only two games back in a suddenly tight American League Central. The team is at a competitive disadvantage with an inept platoon like Kotsay/Jones at DH. People have talked about the Sox going out and getting Adam Dunn. That would great, but the price might be a little high. Not sure how realistic that would be. There are other left-handed sticks that could be available besides Dunn. Why not Adam LaRoche? How about Luke Scott? Neither are all-stars, but both are competent everyday MLB players, unlike Kotsay.

Here's to hoping Williams isn't fooled by the team's recent 11-game winning streak. That run was great, but there are still holes to be addressed if this team hopes to hang in the race and possibly win it.

Pirates 2, Cubs 1

I noted that Pittsburgh snapped a 17-game road losing streak by winning at Wrigley Field Monday. The last time the Pirates won away from home was May 25 at Cincinnati. Pittsburgh, a lousy 26-50 overall, is now 8-2 against the Cubs this season.

I picked the Cubs for fourth place at the start of the year, and that's exactly where they are. They are fortunate that Houston and Pittsburgh are even worse, but it's getting to be borderline hysterical how the hopeless Pirates always find a way to beat the Cubs.

Roughly 30 percent of Pittsburgh's wins are at the expense of that Cubbie team this year.

Tigers 7, Twins 5

Detroit moved into first place in the AL Central by a half-game with a win Monday at Minnesota, but at what cost? Set-up reliever Joel Zumaya left the mound in the eighth inning with what appears to be a serious elbow injury.

"It doesn't look good," Tigers manager Jim Leyland told the Detroit Free Press. "It breaks your heart."

Zumaya will have a MRI done tomorrow to determine the extent of the damage.

Looking at the AL Central contenders right now, it appears Minnesota will be looking for starting pitching (Cliff Lee?), Detroit will need another bullpen arm and the Sox will need some offense.

We've got about a month until the trading deadline, so we'll see which of these flawed teams can make the right move(s) to get into the playoffs.

I was glad that White Sox fans remained calm after Sunday's 8-6 loss to the Cubs. It would be really silly if people started melting down after an 11-game winning streak, but the Crosstown Series tends to bring out the worst in people on both sides of the rivalry at times. Fortunately, I didn't see very much in the way of overreaction yesterday.

In any case, the Sox won the season series from the Cubs, 4-2. In each of the two three-game sets, the Sox won the first two games, but failed to complete the sweep. It occurred to me that two-out-of-three has been an extremely common result for the Sox when they have played the Cubs through the years. A bit of research proved me correct.

It's pretty hard to sweep the Crosstown Series. Even if one or both of the two teams is bad, both teams bring a lot of intensity to the field in these games. In the 14 years of interleague play, never has one team or the other gone 6-0 in the Crosstown Series. The Cubs went 5-1 in 2007. Every other year it's been 4-2 or 3-3.

All-time, there have been 26 three-game series played between the Sox and Cubs. Only six of the 26 series have been swept. The Cubs have swept four times (1998, 2004, 2007, 2008), while the Sox have swept twice (1999, 2008). Even though the Cubs have more sweeps, the Sox still hold the upper hand. The South Siders are ahead 41-37 all-time. Why? Because they usually take two out of three. The Sox have taken the last five three-game series from the Cubs, four of the five by a 2-1 margin.

Here's the breakdown of the 26 series all-time:

Sox sweep: 2
Sox take two out of three: 15
Cubs take two out of three: 5
Cubs sweep: 4

And here's the year-by-year breakdown:
1997: 2-1 Sox
1998: 3-0 Cubs
1999: 4-2 Sox
2000: 3-3
2001: 4-2 Sox
2002: 3-3
2003: 4-2 Sox
2004: 4-2 Cubs
2005: 3-3
2006: 4-2 Sox
2007: 5-1 Cubs
2008: 3-3
2009: 4-2 Sox
2010: 4-2 Sox
All-time: 41-37 Sox

Cubs rookie reliever Andrew Cashner made a big mistake in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday night at U.S. Cellular Field. Maybe he didn't read the scouting report. Who knows?

But young Cashner learned the hard way what pitchers around the American League already know: You're not going to sneak consecutive fastballs past White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko -- especially not in "late-and-clutch" situations.

With the score tied 2-2, nobody on base and one out, Cashner threw a 98-mile-per-hour fastball on a 1-1 count that Konerko swung and missed. Perhaps feeling bold, Cashner tried to put Konerko away on the 1-2 count with the exact same pitch. The next offering was 100 miles per hour, and the Sox slugger deposited it in the left-center field seats. The Sox took a 3-2 lead and won by that same score.

Next time, I'd recommend Cashner throw a slider in that situation. Konerko has 345 career home runs and 1,100 career RBIs for a reason. He can adjust to pitchers within an at-bat, and he can hit the fastball.

Konerko is in a contract year, and he's been both consistent and clutch for the Sox this season. He's hitting .302 with 19 home runs and 55 RBIs. Those are all-star numbers, but even that doesn't tell the whole tale.

Guess how many of those 19 home runs have come late in ballgames? Would you believe 10? That's right, Paul Konerko has hit 10 home runs in the eighth and ninth innings this season. He's got six in the eighth inning, including three game-winners. He's got four in the ninth inning. Of those 10 homers, eight have come in "late-and-clutch" situations. For purposes of this blog, we're defining "late-and-clutch" as home runs that come in games where the run differential is two or less.

Konerko has never had a better year in his career as far as situational power hitting goes. He's hammering these hard-throwing relievers who feel like they can get a fastball by him.

In the bigger picture, the White Sox have now won 11 straight and 15 out of 16. They have caught the Detroit Tigers for second place and sit 1 1/2 games back of first-place Minnesota. As recently as June 9, the Sox were 9 1/2 games out. That's a lot of ground made up in a short amount of time. The challenge now for the Sox is to sustain a consistent level of good play over the long haul.

The Cubs pitcher is getting the Milton Bradley treatment. Carlos Zambrano was sent home. He won't be at the ballpark tomorrow. The team has suspended him indefinitely.

I'm hearing reports that Cubs fans are calling for Lou Piniella's head in the wake of the White Sox's 6-0 victory over their crosstown rivals Friday at U.S. Cellular Field.

I have a message for my Cub fan friends: Piniella didn't lose you the game today. Carlos Zambrano did. It's amazing to me how Zambrano never fails to implode when pitching against the Sox on the South Side. He had a similar meltdown in a 6-0 loss this same weekend last year as well.

In that game, he threw a wild pitch on a suicide squeeze attempt that gave the Sox a gift run. He also intentionally hit both Scott Podsednik and DeWayne Wise with pitches. Before the sixth inning was over, Zambrano was gone and so were the Cubs' chances of winning.

Today, Zambrano outdid himself. He made sure the Cubs had no chance to win by the time the first inning was over. The first batter of the game, Juan Pierre, hit a chopper down the first base line that Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee couldn't reach. Leadoff double. Inexplicably, Zambrano seemed to think Lee should have made that play. The volatile pitcher went into full self-destruct mode and gave up four runs on four hits to the first five batters of the inning. With Jake Peavy dealing for the White Sox, that was game, set and match.

Then, Zambrano went after the classy veteran Lee in the dugout between innings and had to be restrained. Piniella wisely removed Zambrano from the game and replaced him with Tom Gorzelanny, but the damage had been done. One thing is for certain: Derrek Lee did not hang an 0-2 slider to Carlos Quentin in the first inning Friday. Zambrano did, and Quentin knocked it out of the yard for a three-run homer.

As for the White Sox, this is their first 10-game win streak since May 18-26 of 1976. That was roughly two months before I was born, and I'm soon to be 34 years old. Of course, the 1976 Sox finished 64-97, so that wasn't a team you want to emulate.

The current Sox sit at 38-34, which puts them in relatively good shape to do better than the 1976 squad. Sox starting pitchers are now 12-1 with a 2.03 ERA over the last 15 games.

Peavy seems to have found his stuff ... only three hits over seven innings with nine strikeouts on Friday. He is now 3-1 with 1.20 ERA over his last four outings. Of course, almost every Sox pitcher has been posting similarly impressive numbers. That's how you go on an extended winning streak like this.

The NBA draft is Thursday night, but it appears the Bulls' main priority is to clear more salary cap space. To that end, multiple sources are reporting the Bulls will trade veteran guard Kirk Hinrich (pictured) and the 17th overall pick in the draft to the Washington Wizards for undisclosed compensation.

The trade will not become official until July 8 when the new salary cap goes into effect and the Wizards can afford Hinrich's $9 million salary. The move will put the Bulls about $30 million below the salary cap, which would allow them to pursue two max value free agents once the calendar turns over to July.

The Bulls are putting themselves in position to make a big splash. It remains to be seen whether this regime is capable of reeling in a big fish (or two).

Hawks send Colin Fraser to Edmonton

The Blackhawks continued their salary dumping Thursday by sending little-used forward Colin Fraser to the Edmonton Oilers for a sixth-round draft pick.

The move comes on the heels of Wednesday's blockbuster trade that saw Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel and Ben Eager traded to the Atlanta Thrashers for two draft picks, two prospects and veteran center Marty Reasoner.

With these two moves, the Hawks have cleared roughly $5 million in salary. Rest assured, there will be another trade or two before this is over. I'm sure it is painful for many fans to see a playoff hero like Byfuglien go, but stuff like this is a reality in the salary cap era.

Other high-profile NHL teams, including Detroit and Pittsburgh, have had to dump good players in the past for no other reason than salary cap rules. It stinks, but there is nothing that can be done about it. The Hawks will have to find a way to win again next year with the same core, but a different supporting cast.

In this interview, Hawks GM Stan Bowman said the organization expects prospects Jack Skille, Jake Dowell and Bryan Bickell to step into supporting roles next season.

Here is the 2010-11 schedule for the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.

The season begins with a road game at Colorado on Oct. 7. The first home game is Oct. 9 against the Detroit Red Wings. That will be the night of the banner ceremony. Hopefully, we can keep the Detroit fans out of the building. Even if we do have a few of those losers hanging around, at least they won't be able to talk about 1961 anymore. They'll have to come up with a new schtick.

The Hawks will play eight of their first 12 games at the United Center. As always, they'll have the big road trip in November, a six-game swing from Nov. 17-27. There will be another six-game trip from Feb. 1-12.

A couple of other highlights: the Stanley Cup final rematch with the Philadelphia Flyers is slated for Jan. 23 at the United Center. The Pittsburgh Penguins will come to town Feb. 20. I'm sure those two Sunday afternoon contests will be hot tickets.

In addition to the opener, the other home games with Detroit are Dec. 17 and April 10. Unfortunately, the Hawks play Boston, Montreal, Toronto and the New York Rangers on the road this coming year, so Original Six matchups at the United Center will be limited to the contests with the Red Wings.

I really wish the NHL would at least let the Original Six play home-and-home against each other during each season.

One of my readers said he visited this blog over the weekend and was very disappointed not to see a full obituary and tribute to the life of the great Manute Bol.

Bol, who stood 7-foot-7, played 10 seasons in the NBA with four different teams. He averaged 2.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.3 blocks for his career. The 47-year-old died Saturday of kidney failure and a painful skin condition.

I recall watching Manute play back in the day. He did basically two things -- block shots and chuck up wild 3-pointers. Without further delay, here's a tribute to Manute Bol. Who says I don't listen to my readers?

My favorite part of this video comes around the 1:15 mark, when Bol is shown blowing right past big, white stiff Mark Eaton (formerly of the Utah Jazz).

Over the course of the last decade, the White Sox have been notorious for an all-or-nothing style of offense. They have a reputation for scoring most of their runs on homers.

This past week has been different than what Sox fans are used to. The team hasn't hit a single big fly in its last eight games. The last White Sox homer? It came in the eighth inning on June 11, a blast off the bat of Alex Rios against the Cubs.

The White Sox record in those eight games? Surprisingly enough, it is 7-1. Typically, the Sox go 1-7 when their power slumps over an eight-game stretch.

One of the things I've griped about for years is the refusal by Sox power hitters to accept base hits when their power strokes aren't working. This year, I have to give props to Paul Konerko. When his home run swing isn't there, he's accepting his base hits, hitting for average and driving in runs with singles and doubles.

Look no further than these last couple weeks. Konerko is leading the Sox with 17 home runs this season, but he hasn't gone deep since June 6. In the past, when Konerko stopped hitting homers, he stopped producing period. Guess what the Sox first baseman has done over his last 11 games? He's batting .395 with 10 RBIs. No homers, but he's still productive.

What a welcome change.

Is Peavy's sore arm helping him?

During the middle part of last week, there was talk the Sox would place right-hander Jake Peavy (pictured) on the disabled list with shoulder soreness. Didn't happen. Instead, Peavy pitched Saturday against the Washington Nationals and fired a complete-game, three-hit shutout in the Sox 1-0 victory. At one point, Peavy retired 20 consecutive Washington hitters.

I noted that Peavy got more groundball outs in this game than usual. Out of the 27 outs, 10 were on the ground and 7 were in the air. Peavy also recorded seven strikeouts. It's a bit unusual for Peavy to get more groundouts than flyouts. He's been a fly ball pitcher for most of his career.

But on Saturday, Peavy's sinker was working better than it had all season. In past games, I thought he was overthrowing his fastball. As a result, his heater was up, flat and generally hittable. That's why he gave up 11 home runs in his first 11 starts. Over his last three starts, he's allowed only one home run.

Peavy probably can't overthrow his fastball now because he has a sore shoulder. He doesn't have as much velocity as he had a month ago, but his ball was sinking more. In a weird way, Peavy's shoulder ailment might be a blessing in disguise. Instead of rearing back and firing, he's been forced to ease off the throttle and allow the movement on his pitches to work for him. The results have been better lately, 2-1 with a 1.57 ERA over the last three outings.

Ramirez coming back soon

Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez is done with his rehab assignment and is expected to be activated from the disabled list for Wednesday's game in Seattle. As a Sox fan, I'm looking at that and wondering whether Ramirez's presence on the Cubs roster will be a good thing or a bad thing for my team during this weekend's crosstown games at U.S. Cellular Field.

Ramirez has been terrible this season. He's hitting .168 with five homers and 22 RBIs. But lifetime against the White Sox, he's a .341 batter with 11 homers and 34 RBIs in just 34 games.

Which Ramirez will show up? The bad, injured Ramirez of this year? Or the Sox-killing Ramirez of years past?

In any case, I'd throw Aramis a steady diet of fastballs belt-high and above, on the inner half of the plate. Guys who have spent time on the DL with thumb injuries generally don't like to be pitched high and tight.

Some good news for Sox fans (and bad news for Ramirez): Jose Contreras doesn't pitch here anymore. Ramirez has seven hits, including four homers, in 18 lifetime ABs against Grandpa Contreras. Fortunately, that matchup won't be taking place this weekend.

I know some people are a little irked about the amount of hype surrounding Washington rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg. And let's face it, the hype machine in this day and age does get completely out of control at times.

That said, Strasburg looks like the best rookie pitcher I've seen come into the Major Leagues in a long time. I finally had the opportunity to watch him Friday night, as the Nationals hosted the White Sox in an interleague game.

The Sox won their ninth game in their last 11 outings, beating the Nationals 2-1 in 11 innings. But Washington's loss was no fault of Strasburg's. I was impressed.

Juan Pierre led off the game with an infield single. He advanced to third on a bloop double by Omar Vizquel and scored on an RBI grounder by Alex Rios. That was the only run the Sox would get off Strasburg. After the Vizquel double, the hard-throwing righty set down 15 Sox batters in a row.

Of all people, Sox pitcher Gavin Floyd broke that streak with a leadoff single in the sixth inning.

Even though the Sox scored a run in that first inning, you could tell they were not going to get much more than that. Strasburg struck out both Paul Konerko and Carlos Quentin with 91-mile-per-hour changeups for the second and third outs of the inning.

To me, Strasburg's off-speed pitches are what separates him from other prospects. There have been a lot of young guys who have come into the league throwing 98-100 with their fastballs. But this dude has a sick curve AND an above-average changeup. You just don't see that too often from a 21-year-old kid.

Strasburg struck out 10 over seven innings, and he now has 32 strikeouts over his first three MLB starts. That's a new record. J.R. Richard set the previous record of 29 in 1971 as a member of the Houston Astros.

Of course, Strasburg wasn't the only impressive pitcher on the mound Friday night in Washington. A huge thumbs-up has to go to Floyd, who pitched eight innings of one-run ball for the Sox. The game came down to a battle of the bullpens, and Washington blinked first.

It was a big win for the Sox on a night where most assumed they would lose. In any case, I'm glad Strasburg is in the National League. The Sox won't have to face him again anytime soon.

The White Sox are sitting in a grey area right now. It's June 17, still over a month left before the trading deadline. The team is on its best run of the season, having won eight of its last 10 games. Still, the Sox sit three games below .500 with a record of 31-34. They are in third place, 6 1/2 games back of first-place Minnesota.

Is the glass half-full or half-empty? One positive thing you can say about the Sox -- they haven't lost more than two in a row since April 18. Yes, you read that right. They haven't lost more than two in a row since April 18. That's almost two months without a losing streak.

However, the Sox haven't done enough to make you think they are a serious contender. This is their first significant winning streak of the season, and the majority of the wins have come against National League nobodies -- the Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates. But it's also true the Sox have avoided the devastating losing streaks that take teams out of the race for good.

Will they be buyers or sellers? That decision doesn't have to be made yet, but if the Sox do become sellers, it will be interesting to see whether Mark Buehrle will be one of the guys to leave.

From my perspective, he's the most valuable guy the Sox have to trade. He's a veteran guy, plenty of experience. But he's not old and washed up either. Buehrle would look real good on any National League roster, that's for sure.

Check out Buehrle's numbers in interleague play this year: After his 5-4 victory over the Pirates on Thursday night, the Sox left-hander is 3-0 with a 0.82 ERA in three starts against National League teams. Overall, Buehrle is 5-6 with 4.71 ERA.

All-time, Buehrle is 22-6 against National League teams. Tonight's victory makes him the winningest pitcher in the history of interleague play. Think the St. Louis Cardinals could use him? I'll bet they could.

Even though his numbers are down a bit this year, Buehrle is still an innings-eater. That makes him valuable to any contending team. The question is whether the Sox are a contender.

If they are not, then it's time to tear apart the current core and reshape the roster for 2011. It would tough on Sox fans if Buehrle is traded. The guy has been a franchise cornerstone for a decade. But of all the people on this team, he's the one guy I look at who could fetch you two or three decent-to-good prospects in a midseason deal.

We'll see where the Sox are at once we get to the All-Star break. That's the time GM Kenny Williams will have to make a decision about the direction of the organization.

It arrived in my mailbox today. It's available on your newsstand now. Jonathan Toews is on the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated, raising the Stanley Cup.

Well, at least the Hawks are on the cover locally. Washington pitcher Stephen Strasburg is on the cover of SI for most of the country.

Oh, well. As long as the Hawks are featured prominently on my edition of SI, that's all I care about.

The Oakland A's are in town to play the Cubs, and that means it is time to catch up with some of our Kane County Cougars alumni. Trevor Cahill (pictured), a former Cougar, is pitching against that Cubbie team tonight at Wrigley in a game that was delayed by rain.

By my count, we've got six former Cougars playing with the A's now. Five of them are pitchers: Cahill, Dallas Braden, Andrew Bailey, Vin Mazzaro and Tyson Ross. Shortstop Cliff Pennington also played up the road from here in Geneva.

I've secured press passes to tomorrow night's Cubs game for our Cougars writers, Mike "Dukie" Knapp and Paul Johnson. I think Mike really just wants a free trip to Wrigley Field, but in any case, he and Paul will be interviewing all those guys before the game. I know Mike is excited to talk to Braden about the perfect game the Oakland lefty pitched in May. Braden is scheduled to pitch Thursday afternoon.

You can look for Mike and Paul's stories later this week at beaconnewsonline.com/sports.

Even if you follow the Blackhawks for the rest of your life, you may not see a deeper, more talented group than the 2010 Stanley Cup champions. Everyone knew this was THE YEAR to win, because the team's salary-cap issues were always in the back of your mind.

A few of the players off this championship team are going to be moving on for no other reason than money. We've got a little over three months until the next hockey game, so let's begin the speculation on what might happen over the offseason.

The following players have contracts for next year and will, IMO, remain with the Hawks: Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Marian Hossa, Dave Bolland, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Sharp, Troy Brouwer, Tomas Kopecky.

There has been some speculation that Sharp will be traded, but I just can't see that happening. The Hawks have wisely identified Toews, Kane and Keith as "core players" and locked them up for the long-term. Personally, I see Sharp as being nearly as important as any of those three. We're talking about a forward who plays at the same high level every night, whether it's a Tuesday night in October or Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals in June.

Sharp can play center or wing. He kills penalties. He plays on the power play. He's good in all three zones. He's a veteran leader who knows how to play. Somebody has to be traded, but it should not be Patrick Sharp.

The following players are under contract, but are candidates to be traded: Kris Versteeg, Dustin Byfuglien, Brian Campbell, Brent Sopel.

The Hawks could free up a lot of cap space if they could unload Campbell and his $7 million contract. It's a tricky situation because the Hawks struggled while Campbell was out with a broken collarbone this season. After the puck-moving veteran defenseman returned for Game 4 of the Nashville series, the Hawks went 15-4 in their final 19 postseason games. Campbell was a plus-11 in the playoffs. There's no denying Campbell is still a useful player. He's just not worth his salary.

Versteeg was in my doghouse for most of the season, but he elevated his play in the playoffs. He accepted a role on the checking line and chipped in some big goals -- most notably the game-winner late in Game 2 of the Vancouver series. Nevertheless, his puck-hogging and the silly turnovers he makes at times lead me to believe he's the most expendable commodity on this list.

The Hawks caught a huge break in that Sopel played his best hockey in the playoffs. The veteran is probably near the end of the line, but his value is high at the moment. Might be a prime time to unload him and his $2 million salary.

The following players are restricted free agents: Antti Niemi, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Ben Eager, Andrew Ladd, Jordan Hendry, Colin Fraser, Bryan Bickell.

Niemi and Hjalmarsson deserve new contracts and raises. Get it done, Stan Bowman. Eager is already making $1 million. He isn't worth any more than that. If he wants more, it's time to say goodbye, especially with his history of concussions. Hendry, Fraser and Bickell will all come dirt cheap and figure to return.

Ladd (pictured), however, is the most interesting case. I'm a big fan of the veteran winger. Here's another guy who plays well in all three zones and plays the same way each and every night. Unfortunately, he's damaged goods at this point. Ladd played the final three games of the Stanley Cup finals with a fractured shoulder and torn ligaments. Right now, the plan is to rehabilitate for a month, then re-evaluate. What if Ladd ends up needing surgery? Then what do you do if you're the Hawks? I'm sure the team would love to retain him, but if he's hurt, can they afford it?

The following players are unrestricted free agents: John Madden, Adam Burish, Nick Boynton, Kim Johnsson.

Is Johnsson still alive? He was seemingly the only member of the Hawks' organization that was NOT introduced at the victory parade. That's a sure sign he's gone. Boynton will be moving on also, and the guess here is Madden will be too expensive to retain. Burish, who was limited by injuries all season, probably won't find much of a market for his services and could return cheaply as a fourth-line forward.

Under contract, but certain to be gone: Cristobal Huet.

Rest assured, the Hawks aren't going to pay $5 million to a backup goaltender. I look for the team to have a public stance and a private stance on Mr. Huet. The public stance is, "This guy went 26-14-4 during the regular season. Sure, he didn't play in the playoffs, but he has good numbers. Who wouldn't want him?" That's the song and dance they'll use to try to trade Huet. Privately, Hawks management will say, "If we can't trade this clown, let's stash his ass in Rockford so we don't have to take cap hit."

One way or another, I can't see Huet being on the roster next year.

We've got some breaking news here from the world of college sports. Looks like Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M are staying put in the Big 12.

Texas declined an invitation to join the Pac-10, and that means the 10 remaining schools in the Big 12 are sticking together.

Within the past week, Nebraska has left the Big 12 to join the Big Ten. Colorado also left to become the 11th member of the Pac-10.

And, of course, whenever thoughts turn to Colorado football or Big 12 football, you have to think of this classic Dan Hawkins tirade. Next time Hawkins goes off like this, he will have to yell, "IT'S DIVISION I FOOTBALL! IT'S THE PAC-10!"

I don't know much about soccer, so I'm not going to attempt to provide any analysis about Saturday's 1-1 draw between the United States and England at the World Cup. But here's my question: Do you suppose the English are going to kill their goalkeeper for letting in this goal?

Even in my limited soccer knowledge, I knew this one was a softie...

I've never been a big fan of Eric Zorn. I always thought the dude was a bleeding-heart liberal and an annoying Cubbie fan. But I gained a lot of respect for him in 2005 when he wrote this column calling out Lord Voldemort for flip-flopping and generally being full of crap in his coverage of the World Series champion White Sox of that year.

Fortunately, Voldemort is long gone now, fired from his job at the Sun-Times. He's no longer relevant in Chicago, and the city is a better place for it.

Still, we've heard our fair share of anti-Blackhawks babble over the course of the season. We've had our fair share of anti-Blackhawks trolling right here on this blog.

On this joyous day in Chicago, as over 2 million converged downtown to celebrate a Stanley Cup championship, I thought it would be fitting to take a trip down memory lane and recall some of the classic trolls we've received about the Blackhawks here over the last 12 months. We'll begin way back on July 1, 2009, the first day of NHL free agency:

On July 1, a Blackhawks-hating troll wrote: "Marian Hossa was way overpaid for his service, and for what, to steal a player from a hated rival. The Red Wings are tickled pink today. This is a player that was soft in the entire playoffs, and really did nothing when it mattered. It was like that in Pittsburgh last year too. He is not a playoff player. Sure he can do good things in the regular season, but so what. Players are defined with what they do in the postseason."

On July 24, a Blackhawks-hating troll wrote: "Our guy Marian Hossa is going to be out for several months after a shoulder surgery. For all intents and purposes, his first year as a Blackhawk will be nonexistent. Yeah he can go play in the final three months of the season, but how effective can he be? It's hard for an athlete to just play well all of a sudden after an injury. It does not work that way. The Red Wings are the best organization in sports, and rarely, they never make mistakes so they clearly knew what they were doing with Hossa.

"My shoulder is strong enough to hold up this 35-pound Cup. The Red Wings might have been 'tickled pink' back in July, but they made a HUGE mistake in letting me go to a division rival. My first year as a Blackhawk was hardly 'nonexistent.' In fact, I'm a Stanley Cup champion."

On July 3, a Blackhawks-hating troll wrote: "The Devils have been letting players go left and right. I thought they did the right thing letting Madden walk. He hasn't done much since he won the Selke Trophy years ago, and he gets burned often on defense. He has played like his age in recent years, and former Devils coach Brent Sutter never had any use for him so it said something about his ability to play. The 5 Devils fans I know here will not miss him."

"Getting the hell out of that swamp and coming to a great city like Chicago and a great organization like the Blackhawks reinvigorated my career. I've got three Stanley Cups to my credit now. I haven't forgotten how to play this game."

On May 30, a Blackhawks-hating troll wrote: "Sorry, but screening a goaltender and playing dirty is not something to be admired. I like to think a player is good based on sheer talent. Being an agitator is nothing to be proud of."

"You know what is to be admired? This beautiful silver Cup I'm holding. I helped win it by screening goaltenders and doing all the dirty work in the corners and in front of the net. Every championship team needs a guy like me."

On April 16, a Blackhawks-hating troll said: "Nemmi (sic) did not look great IMO. I thought he showed his true colors, and that's why I don't see him leading his team to the Cup. Odds are he will lead his team in a first round exit tomorrow."

On March 27, a Blackhawks-hating troll said: "This is exactly why I don't take Da Hawks seriously for the Stanley Cup. You need great goaltending to win in the playoffs. Last year, Khabibulin gave it to them. Of course, he has a track record of playing great in the playoffs. Can't say the same for Huet. Who know about Niemi? He sure doesn't strike fear on anyone. I like Washington to win the Cup. At least, they have goaltending and better defense. But keep dreaming about the team being a Stanley Cup. You sure talk in rose-colored glasses, JB."

JB says: I could go on, so I will. Marty "Havalat" may have a good track record of scoring in the playoffs, but that did the Minnesota Wild no good when they finished in 13th place in the West.

I hear Dale Tallon never should have been hired as Blackhawks GM. It's a good thing he was, since he drafted players like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and the unheralded Niklas Hjalmarsson. He also traded for Patrick Sharp, Andrew Ladd, Kris Versteeg and Ben Eager. Oh, and he signed Brian Campbell, Marian Hossa, Tomas Kopecky, John Madden, Brent Sopel, and yes, Antti Niemi in free agency. Most of these Stanley Cup-winning players were acquired by Tallon. That's a fact.

On January 31, a Blackhawks-hating troll said: "The NHL would never be the same if the Wings are not there. The Wings are the flagship franchise of the NHL. When people think about the NHL, they think about the Red Wings."

Not anymore. The Red Wings are long gone, defeated in the second round by a San Jose Sharks team the Blackhawks swept in the Western Conference finals. The Stanley Cup resides in "Sweet Home Chicago," and we are going to celebrate this all summer long!

My, how far this franchise has come. This video is from October, 2007:

June 9, 2010:

The deserving Conn Smythe winner:

Jeremy Roenick, still a Blackhawk:

I'm not exactly sure what that is on Stephen Strasburg's head. I'm sure it is some sort of rookie hazing thing. The veterans on the Washington Nationals probably wanted to make Strasburg look a fool while he was doing his on-field interviews after his first major-league victory.

Strasburg looked like anything but a fool while he was on the mound Tuesday night. The much-hyped rookie lived up to the hype in his debut, striking out 14 and walking none over seven innings in his 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He allowed just two runs on four hits, the only blemish being a two-run homer by Delwyn Young in the fourth inning. I know it's only the Pirates, who suck, but that's a heckuva an outing for one's first time out in the big leagues.

If the Nationals keep their pitching rotation on the same schedule its on now, Strasburg will pitch against the White Sox on June 19 in Washington. It would be hardly shocking if Strasburg strikes out double digits against the inept Sox offense.

Hell, the Sox can't hit Dana Eveland. And they've never seen Strasburg before. I think we know how that movie ends ...

I read today that the Cubs have won the last 10 games pitcher Carlos Silva has started. In Silva's 11 starts this season, the Cubs have gone 10-1.

Mind you, the Cubs are only 26-31 overall heading into Tuesday night's game at Milwaukee. That means the Chicago National League Ballclub is 16-30 in games where Carlos Silva does not pitch. Astounding.

Silva himself is 8-0 with a 2.93 ERA following his 6-1 victory in Pittsburgh on Monday afternoon. This, after he posted a 5-18 record and a 6.81 ERA over the past two seasons with the Seattle Mariners.

Very rarely am I surprised by anything that happens in sports, but I'm in disbelief over what I've seen from Silva this year. I thought his fat ass was done. I was wrong.

Somebody has to represent the Cubs in the All-Star Game this year, and judging by the numbers above, it almost has to be Silva. The Cubs quite literally can't seem to win without him.

''It'd be like the biggest honor for my life,'' the portly right-hander told Sun-Times reporter Gordon Wittenmyer when asked about a possible All-Star game selection, ''because for a lot of guys it doesn't mean too much because they've been there already. But for me, it's like, 'Oh, my God,' it would be so special if I ever made an All-Star Game. For me, it means a lot.''

I'm not a fan of Cubs GM Jim Hendry. I wouldn't want him as the general manager of my team, and he was a damn fool for signing Milton Bradley. But we have to give Hendry credit for a good job of damage control here, because he unloaded Bradley for Silva.

How's Uncle Milty doing in Seattle these days? Well, he's hitting .212. See, it wasn't Chicago's fault that Bradley sucked last year. He's been even worse for the Mariners. Even if Silva gets hurt in his next start and doesn't win another game for the Cubs the rest of the season, I think Hendry won that trade with Seattle.

It was about time somebody did this ...

Back from my three-day Memorial Day weekend (which was delayed by one week from the rest of the world), and during that time the Flyers took Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals, 5-3, before the Blackhawks responded Sunday night with a 7-4 victory in Game 5 to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Game 4 was probably the worst performance the Hawks have had so far in this series, especially in the first period when the Flyers netted three goals off horrible defensive zone breakdowns by Chicago. The Hawks tried to come back late, scoring twice to cut a 4-1 deficit to 4-3, before an empty-netter from Philadelphia sealed the deal.

Following the loss, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville wisely juggled each of his top three lines for Game 5. Here were his changes:

Game 4
Line 1: Byfuglien-Toews-Kane
Line 2: Kopecky-Sharp-Hossa
LIne 3: Ladd-Bolland-Versteeg

Game 5
Line 1: Kopecky-Toews-Hossa
Line 2: Ladd-Sharp-Kane
Line 3: Byfuglien-Bolland-Versteeg

These moves were smart, because the Byfuglien-Toews-Kane combination -- so successful in the sweep of San Jose in the Western Conference finals -- had run its course. Philadelphia defensemen Chris Pronger and Matt Carle were shutting that line down.

To get a little bit of life, Quenneville put each of those three players on three separate lines. That made it more difficult for the Flyers to get the matchup they wanted, especially with the Hawks being at home and getting the last change. It worked like a charm.

All three players -- Toews, Kane and Byfuglien -- had their best performances of the series. Kane scored a goal off a beautiful pass from Ladd in the second period. He set up Sharp for another goal late in the third. With Pronger in the box late in the second period, Toews and Byfuglien were on the ice together for a power play, and Toews made a perfect pass to Byfuglien for a tap-in goal.

Byfuglien finished the night with two goals, two assists and nine hits. It was perhaps his best game of the playoffs. His monster hit on Pronger (pictured) late in the second period was the signature moment of the entire game, moreso than any of the seven goals the Hawks scored.

Ladd and Byfuglien both set a tone with their physical play in Game 5. For the first time in this series, the Hawks were the aggressors. They were the ones initiating the contact. In previous games, Pronger and assorted other Flyers were cross-checking and slashing the Hawks, provoking Chicago to take a bunch of retaliatory penalties in the offensive zone.

There are a couple different ways to avoid retaliatory penalites. One of them is to deliver the first blow and make the other guy respond. The Hawks did a good job of that in Game 5, and they need to stick with that game plan if they hope to beat the Flyers in this series.

Just about everyone has seen the highlights by now. Just in case you haven't, the picture I have posted here confirms it: Cleveland's Jason Donald was out at first base Wednesday night in Detroit.

Umpire Jim Joyce erroneously called Donald safe, and the blown call cost Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game in the Tigers' 3-0 win. Had Joyce called Donald out, the game would have been over. Instead, Galarraga had to pitch to one more batter, and he retired Trevor Crowe on a grounder to third to complete a one-hit shutout.

Galarraga had every right to be furious. He would have been justified to get in Joyce's face. He did not. He got the final out and didn't say a word to the umpire. I thought the Detroit pitcher handled himself very well given the circumstances.

Joyce made a terrible, terrible call, but for me, it's easy to forgive him because he wasted no time in admitting his mistake.

"It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked the (stuff) out of it," the umpire said. "I just cost that kid a perfect game.

"I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay."

Joyce apologized to Galarraga personally right after the game. Not every umpire in baseball would have done that (see West, Joe), but Joyce did. It was the right thing to do.

"There's no doubt he feels bad and terrible," Galarraga said Thursday. "I have a lot of respect for the man. It takes a lot to say you're sorry and to say in interviews he made a mistake.

"I'm sad, but I know that I pitched a perfect game. The first 28-out perfect game."

If Galarraga can forgive Joyce, then so should everybody else. I see there is already an anti-Joyce Facebook page and a firejimjoyce.com. That's ridiculous. There are a lot worse umpires out there in baseball than Jim Joyce (see West, Joe.).

There's just no good reason to continue hating on an umpire who made an honest goof and then immediately admitted to his mistake. That stuff happens. That's the human element of the game. Let's all move on.

Claude Giroux scored 5:59 into overtime Wednesday night to give the Philadelphia Flyers a 4-3 win over the Blackhawks in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals Wednesday night.

The victory gets the Flyers back in the series. The Hawks still own a 2-games-to-1 edge with Game 4 scheduled for Friday night in Philadelphia.

Of course, panic will now ensue in the streets of Chicago. The Hawks lost a game. How dare they?

There will be no panic here, however. I'm not much of a worrier in these types of situations. This is the Hawks first loss since May 9. I wasn't expecting them to sweep. It is only one loss. Sometimes, you lose to good teams and Philadelphia is a good team. I might start to worry if the Flyers win three games in this series, but not until then.

From my perspective, the biggest difference in Game 3 was special teams. The Hawks outscored the Flyers 3-2 at even strength. However, Philadelphia went 2 for 3 on the power play, while the Hawks failed to score on all three of their chances with the man advantage. As a matter of fact, Chicago has not scored on the power play yet in this series. That's one thing that needs to change for Game 4.

I thought a critical moment came early in the second period. Duncan Keith had just scored for the Hawks at 2:49 to knot the score at 1-1. Philadelphia's defensive stalwart, Chris Pronger, was whistled for high-sticking at 3:36. The Flyers had their best penalty-killer sitting in the box. That was a golden chance for the Hawks to grab the lead, but they didn't generate much on the power play.

The Flyers got the next power play after that, and Scott Hartnell scored at 9:55 to give Philly a 2-1 lead. The Hawks battled back to take a 3-2 lead. Brent Sopel, of all people, tied the game at 17:52 of the second. Patrick Kane's breakaway goal at 2:50 of the third gave the Hawks a brief advantage. Ville Leino scored for Philly just 20 seconds later to tie the game and set the stage for the overtime.

I give credit to the Flyers. This was a must-win game for them, and they won it. On to the next game.

It's been a long time since Jeff Torborg last managed the White Sox. So long, in fact, that I can't even find a photo of Torborg wearing a White Sox uniform.

But I bring Torborg's name up because Mark Liptak has a really good interview with the former Sox skipper posted over at White Sox Interactive.

Among other things, the interview reveals that Torborg DID NOT leave the White Sox on his own accord after the conclusion of the 1991 season. All that talk about Torborg leaving to manage the New York Mets for "family reasons" was just a public relations ploy. In reality, Torborg was shown the door by GM Ron Schueler, who wanted to hire his own guy.

Torborg, of course, was hired by Larry Himes prior to the start of the 1989 season and did an exceptional job. The Sox were a last place team when Torborg took over. In 1990, they won 94 games and had the third-best record in all of baseball.

It's really too bad Schueler wanted a managerial change. As Lip rightfully points out in his introduction to the interview, you can't help but wonder whether the Sox would have been better off in 1993, 1994 or 1996 under Torborg's steady leadership -- as opposed to the lesser managers the Sox had during Schueler's regime.

Another interesting nugget: Torborg revealed that the New York Yankees once offered to trade Bernie Williams and Hal Morris to the White Sox in exchange for Eric King and Steve Lyons. Incredibly, Himes didn't take the deal.

Wow. Can you imagine if that trade had been made?