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Random news bits and links from the White Sox and the world of baseball:

Gene Wojciechowski analyzes the balance of power in Chicago. (ESPN)

Jackie Robinson's home in Montreal to receive plaque. (ESPN)

Joe Torre to become Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations. (Sports Illustrated)

What's Bobby Cox like? Umpire Angel Hernandez tells us via twitter what he really thinks of him. (Bugs and Cranks)

Rockies and Diamondbacks impressed with their new Spring Training digs. (Big League Stew)

Chase Utley sidelined with tendinitis. (Big League Stew)

Chase Utley, mercy!

Chase Utley continued his single-man wrecking crew operation yesterday, when he went deep twice against the Yankees in Game Five. The two homers he hit last night gives him five overall in this World Series, which set a new National League record and tied Reggie Jackson's overall mark set in 1977. The more impressive thing is that Utley did his damage through the first five games, while it took Jackson six (aided by his remarkable three-home-run performance in Game Six).

The question of "who you would start a team with if you had to pick one player" was brought up immediately after Utley's second homer by Joe Buck and Tim McCarver on Fox. Buck and McCarver were both in agreement in saying that Utley is definitely worthy of being in the discussion of who you would start a team with. For once, I happen to agree with Buck and McCarver. Of course, there are better and more valuable players in baseball (Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer and Hanley Ramirez to name a few), but how many of them are second basemen?

It is rare for a second baseman to possess game-changing abilities like Utley. He has solid defense at second, he can hit for average and he can hit for power. How often do you see that? How often is it that a second baseman can be one of the best players in baseball? Not often. The only people that come to my mind are Ryne Sandberg and Joe Morgan, both of which are in the Hall of Fame. Sandberg possesses much of the same qualities that Utley has, while Morgan was your prototypical five-tool player (one who can hit for average, hit for power, steal bases, throw well and field well). While Utley does not possess all five tools, he makes up for the lack of base-stealing ability by hitting for more power.

Also, if you were to compile a list of the best second basemen in baseball, Utley is by far and away at the top of the list. Ian Kinsler for the Texas Rangers comes in at a solid number two, while Dustin Pedroia comes in at number three for me. Granted, Pedroia is the only one of those three to win a MVP, but he won it at the expense of Carlos Quentin, who went down with a broken wrist last year. Quentin was basically the leading candidate to win the AL MVP, and once he went down, the voters had to pick somebody. Kinsler has unfortunately been in relative anonymity in Texas, and I suspect that if he were in the same position as Utley, a lot more people would talk about him. However, the fact that Utley is a left-handed power-hitting second baseman is even more rare, and that puts him ahead of Kinsler in my opinion.

Chase Utley is like the four-leaf clover of second basemen; scouts struggle to find a second baseman that possesses his qualities, however, they are almost impossible to find. Nonetheless, when one is found, it will almost certainly bring good luck to the team that discovers him. Utley has been bringing a lot of good luck to the Phillies in this Series, and the team will certainly hope that more good fortune will come their way during Game Six tomorrow.

Cliff Notes: How to do work on the Yankees

Well, just in case you were under a rock yesterday, Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee was doing work on the Yankees. What is "doing work," the un-hip, uneducated observer of this blog might ask? Well one definition of it could be when you throw a complete game, strike out 10 and walk no one in Game 1 of the World Series. Lee became the first pitcher to record 10 strikeouts with no walks in a World Series game since 1949, when Don Newcombe accomplished the feat in Game 1 against none other than the New York Yankees.

Lee never seemed to break a sweat during any point of the game. He dazzled the mighty Yankees line-up with an array of well placed changeups, fastballs, and curveballs. He ended up making accomplished hitters such as Mark Teixeira look foolish and Alex Rodriguez look feeble. Even his basket catch of Johnny Damon's pop-up in the sixth inning of yesterday's game seemed effortless. It seemed like Lee could do no wrong, and despite the fact that he surrendered one run in the ninth inning (albeit unearned), he had 'em all the way.

My recap of Game 1 would not be complete without giving props to Chase Utley, who lit up CC Sabathia for two solo home runs. Utley became the first left handed hitter to hit two home runs in a World Series game off a left-handed pitcher since Babe Ruth in 1928. Now that is some mighty fine company, there.

Now that the Phillies have solved CC Sabathia, it is time for them to try to take down A.J. Burnett in Game 2. He has a pretty pedestrian 4.42 ERA this postseason. The Phillies will counter with Pedro Martinez, who is making only his second start this postseason. Martinez did well in his only postseason start in Los Angeles during the NLCS, giving up only two hits with no walks over the course of seven strong innings. Will the Phillies take a convincing 2-0 lead in the World Series, or will the Yankees fight back to split the homestand? One thing is for sure: it should be a lot of fun finding out. Off to Game 2!