The Chicago White Sox finished the first half of the 2011 season with a 44-48 record which has them in 3rd place in the A.L. Central, 5 games behind the Tigers. The Pale Hose are also 11.5 games behind the Yankees for the A.L. Wild Card. The White Sox might try to make a deal or two at the trade deadline if they stay in the hunt until then. Here is a look at the players that made the biggest impact for the White Sox in the first half of the year:

Team MVP: 35-year old righty swinging 1B Paul Konerko has been the White Sox’ best player so far this year. He has played in 89 games for the White Sox so far this year and he is 104 for 326 (.319 avg, .954 OPS) with 41 runs scored, 22 homers, 67 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Konerko has been carrying the White Sox offense along with Carlos Quentin and the Pale Hose need those guys to keep rolling in the 2nd half of the 2011 season.

Biggest Surprise: When the White Sox signed 28-year old righty starting pitcher Philip Humber to a minor league deal last winter, they weren’t expecting much out of him. But, when Jake Peavy wasn’t ready to start the 2011 season, Humber snuck into the starting rotation and he has been the best pitcher on the White Sox this year. Humber has pitched in 18 games (16 starts) for the White Sox so far this year and he is 8-5 with a 3.10 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. He has only given up 86 hits in 107 1/3 innings so far this year while whiffing 65 batters and walking only 27…which is pretty impressive. The White Sox hope that Humber has a strong second half.

Biggest Disappointment: 31-year old lefty swinging DH/1B/RF Adam Dunn has really sucked so far this year for the White Sox. Dunn has played in 78 games for the Pale Hose so far this year and he is 43 for 269 (.160 avg, .597 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 9 homers and 34 RBIs. Dunn has already whiffed 117 times this year which is amazing even by his standards. I think the White Sox should think about switching places with Quentin DHing more with Dunn in RF. I think he’s having a hard time adjusting to just batting.

The Chicago White Sox won 2 out of 3 over the weekend from the pesky Indians. The White Sox outscored the Indians 24-20 as the pitching didn’t look too good for either team. The White Sox might have swept the Indians if it weren’t for the bullpen bringing in the gas can after John Danks left the game. Still, like Meatloaf once said in a song, “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” and the White Sox will take it.

The White Sox have gotten really hot lately and that streak has them in first place in the A.L. Central with a 49-38 record as they are 1/2 a game ahead of the Tigers and 3 1/2 games ahead of the Twins. Despite the Pale Hose’ recent hot streak everything has not been a Bed of Roses in 2010. Here is a look at the surprises and disappointments so far this season:

Pleasant Surprises: 29-year old Alex Rios was awful for the White Sox last season after they claimed him off waivers. But this season Rios has been the player the Pale Hose thought they were getting last year. Rios has played in 82 games for the White Sox this year and he is 95 of 311 (.305 avg, .878 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 15 homers, 49 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. 35-year old righty starting pitcher Freddy Garcia missed most of the 2008 and 2009 seasons so the White Sox weren’t expecting much out of him in 2010. He has started 16 games for the White Sox this year and he is 9-3 with a 4.36 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. The White Sox hope that Garcia’s second half looks like his first half. 33-year old righty reliever J.J. Putz was lost and banged up as a New York Met in 2009. The White Sox snapped him up as a free agent over the winter and he is looking better than ever. Putz has pitched in 33 games (0 starts) for the White Sox this year and he is 5-2 with 2 saves, a 1.59 ERA and a 0.74 WHIP. He has only given up 19 hits and walked 6 batters in 34 innings while whiffing 40 batters showing just how nasty he has been. 26-year old righty reliever Sergio Santos was playing shortstop until 2009 when he started pitching in the minors. He was a long shot this spring to get a look from the Pale Hose but he made the pitching staff this spring. Santos has pitched in 32 games (0 starts) for the White Sox this year and he is 0-0 with 1 save, a 1.93 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP.

Disappointments: 23-year old 2B Gordon Beckham burst onto the scene last season as a rookie and the forecast for 2010 was that he would improve. Those forecasts have been proven to be way off as Beckham could find himself back in the minors if he doesn’t start to turn things around soon. Beckham has played in 77 games for the White Sox this year and he is 59 of 273 (.216 avg, .581 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 3 homers, 22 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. 33-year old catcher A.J. Pierzynski is not hitting up to his ability so far this season. He has played in 73 games for the White Sox this year and he is 65 of 263 (.247 avg, .664 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 6 homers and 25 RBIs. When the White Sox traded for 32-year old LF Juan Pierre they expected him to hit around .300, score around 100 runs and steal 50 bases. He has not played up to those expectations this year. Pierre has played in 86 games for the White Sox this year and he is 87 of 339 (.257 avg, .615 OPS) with 46 runs scored, 0 homers, 14 RBIs and 32 stolen bases.

The White Sox are in last place in the A.L. Central with a 4-9 record which has them 5 games behind the Twins already. The White Sox got swept in Cleveland by a Tribe team that will likely be lucky to win more than 70 games this season. The Pale Hose have been outscored 55-53 on the season as they continue to waste solid pitching because they just have not been hitting the ball well. The White Sox will have to pitch good this week to have any chance of success against the Rays (3 games) and Mariners (3 games) who each are coming to the Windy City.

The White Sox had to come back yesterday to salvage one win against the Twins over the weekend. They are now tied for last with the Royals & Indians at 2-4 on the season, 3 games behind the Tigers already. The White Sox are wasted some good pitching as they have only scored 21 points (they have allowed 20) so far this season. The White Sox will try to find their bats on the road starting with 4 games in Toronto starting today and then they travel to Cleveland for a three game series this weekend.