Six months ago, I had no grand expectations for the White Sox.
I had this team winning 81 games and finishing third in the A.L. Central behind second-place Detroit and Cleveland, whom I had pegged to win the World Series.
On Mar. 31, the White Sox dropped a 10-8 game to Cleveland, in which Octavio Dotel blew the game on a Casey Blake home run after a few questionable calls by the umpires.
My thought after that game was "here we go again" as in, here we go towards another 90-loss season.
The White Sox subsequently got shut down by Fausto Carmona in the second game of that series, beginning the season 0-2.
The bullpen that Kenny Williams tried so hard to revamp in the offseason looked shaky. The offense that had struggled so mightily in 2007 looked just as weak. Alexei Ramirez didn't look like he belonged in the majors, and Carlos Quentin hadn't even seen the field yet, and there was plenty of doom and gloom to go around the South Side after just two games.
My, how things changed.
Grand slams, walk-off home runs, near no-hitters, blow-up dolls, and a ridiculous number of exciting games all added up to one of the more enjoyable White Sox seasons in recent memory.
No, this team did not win a World Series like they did in 2005. They didn't even win as many games (89) as they did in 2006 (90).
- B/R Ticket Guide
This team didn't play small ball. They were slow. They tried to hit too many home runs, despite leading the league with 235 longballs in the regular season. They had inconsistent starting and relief pitching at times, and they had plenty of stretches of frustrating ball where you just wanted to throw your throw your remote through the TV like a Bobby Jenks fastball.
But this team always found a way to bounce back. From May 18 onward, this team was never more than a half-game out of first place in the A.L. Central. Every game mattered down the stretch, and we as White Sox fans lived and died with every pitch.
There were the good times down the stretch, like Jim Thome's walk-off against the Angels or Dewayne Wise's grand slam against Detroit. Then, there were the bad times, like losing three of four to Minnesota and getting swept in Minnesota. Those were painful.
But I'll trade those for Alexei Ramirez' grand slam in game No. 162 on that late September afternoon. I'll trade those for the memory of the one-game tiebreaker against Minnesota, which will go down as one of the most incredible White Sox games I will ever witness.
Seeing 40,000 rowdy fans dressed in black, screaming, yelling, and hanging on every pitch is something that no Sox fan will ever forget. We'll never forget just how ridiculously far Jim Thome hit that home run. We'll never forget Brian Anderson's diving catch to secure a 1-0 win, defeating the hated Twins and sending the White Sox to the postseason.
Okay, so the White Sox lost in four to the Tampa Bay Rays. It wasn't a pretty series, as the White Sox offense looked punchless in every game but Game Three. But there's no shame in losing to the 97-win Rays, who proved time and time again in the ALDS that they simply were the better team.
And I'm okay with that as a White Sox fan. In fact, after Ken Griffey Jr., struck out to end the series, I had to smile. The Tampa Bay Rays—the butt of almost every baseball joke in the last decade—are going to the ALCS with a team that was built up the right way.
I know I'll be pulling for them against the Red Sox, and if they make it that far, against the National League Champion in the World Series.
The White Sox didn't choke. They didn't get their hearts ripped out by a team they've lost to in three consecutive playoff series. They certainly didn't lose the series because of sloppy play and an unexpected downturn by a staff ace.
Of all the three teams I just alluded to, all have reasons to feel pretty down about what their teams did this year.
Not the White Sox.
The White Sox should exit 2008 with their heads held high, knowing that they came out victorious in an intense division battle after giving their fans an extremely memorable season.
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about 1 month ago
Great article JJ..Also great work all year long..
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