You know if...uh...the Royals were to um....nah...nevermind. Forget it.
I never thought that the penultimate super-showdown with the Minnesota Twins September 14-16 was actually going to work out (3 games in a row we'd need to win against the living representation of everything that's wrong with our organization? Not likely), but I at least thought the team would make it to the series still close enough for it to matter when Jim Thome launched 8 HRs on us in 3 games as Chris Sale pondered his career being overpaid and injury-prone for the Braves 6 years from now.
All signs pointed to that being possible. The team reeled off 7
consecutive wins, including a delightfully unexpected road sweep/playoff
execution of Boston, and a gutty extra-inning win against Detroit.
Unfortunately, the minor detail that the Charlotte Knights have a more
difficult September schedule than the Minnesota Twins has really come
back to bite the Sox in the ass--just like any baseball analyst worth
their salt could have predicted it would. The Twinkies lost practically nothing
during the Sox hot streak, and now that South Siders have rolled over
and played dead on back-to-back nights, they've been biding their time eviscerating the
Royals while Jim Thome tries to hit HRs that can create rips in time.
I still don't accept the idea that the White Sox are absolutely done,
nor do I feel like they should stop going all out, at least not until after
their last head-to-head series with the Twins. But damn if I'm not going
to start taking stock of this good but not great season in the past tense. I mean, the
alternative is writing playoff previews....and that's just dumb, even if
I'm going root for the Padres for the rest of the season (Go Jon
Garland!).
The White Sox are 5.5 back with 23 to play, meaning the playoffs
probably aren't worth discussing unless they win 20 of them....that's
kinda impossible/not ever happening...which leaves me--and from what I
can tell Alexei too--with an empty feeling.
I earlier wrote that the
benefit of being a Kenny Williams team is competing for the playoffs
every single season. Well here on full display is the drawback: when
the Sox lose, that's all there is - the season is a failure. Because of
his refusal to build the farm system, it's hard to say that the White
Sox are working toward anything, or are due to improve in future seasons. Chances are next year's team will be another flawed divisional contender that will have to scrap like crazy to keep pace with Minnesota, and their identity will be something currently unforeseeable.
All we know is that the 2010 Chicago White Sox are all kinds of screwed in the AL Central, and all that is left is the fallout.
*I realize that what I just wrote is soul-crushing....may I interest you in a perfectly enthusiastic Notre Dame football blog?
Follow White Sox Observer on Twitter @ JFegan_WSO_ODTL and on Facebook. Look out for JFegan_WSO_ODTL on Twitter especially during games for in-game commentary and updates.
Filed under: AL Central
Tags: baseball, Kenny Williams, Minnesota Twins, White Sox
