In Chicago, David Haugh noted a "whole generation of the city's baseball fans never has experienced what it is like" for the Cubs and White Sox to be "this good this soon simultaneously." For a change, the arrival of May Day in the city "no longer represents baseball's first sign of distress." Haugh: "Who needs the Stanley Cup playoffs and NBA lottery?" The Cubs and White Sox "already have given us reason to imagine October" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 5/1). In Boston, Nick Cafardo wrote the White Sox "didn't shatter like glass as some experts predicted when the [Adam] Laroche incident occurred" in Spring Training. The club "recovered nicely from the public relations nightmare." In a two-team town, the White Sox "are stealing some of the Cubs' spotlight" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/1).
FALLING ON HARD TIMES: In Atlanta, Tim Tucker noted the Braves' stock "has fallen" more than 50% from the "level at which some of it opened trading" on NASDAQ two weeks ago. FBN Securities analyst Robert Routh said, "This has been off-the-charts crazy. I never thought this would get as low as it has." The Braves’ Series A shares closed Friday at $15.64, down 56.5% "from their opening price on April 18." The team’s Series C shares closed Friday at $14.92, down 44.7% "from their opening price on the first day of trading." While the Braves' on-field results "have been criticized by sports media, the team's stock-market results have received similar reviews from financial media" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 4/30).
BACK IN THE SADDLE? In Boston, Dan Shaughnessy notes the Red Sox "are five games over .500 for the first time since the inadvertent championship season" of '13. Dozens of questions "linger about this team, but at least the Sox are worthy of discussion again." A "daring dance with irrelevancy has been averted." But there is "always the possibility that we are banking on fool's gold with these guys." Shaughnessy: "Is there any reason to think a team with a $200 million payroll, a potent lineup, two starters with an aggregate 9-0 record, and a 100-mile-per-hour closer can’t win the pennant?" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/3).
