The Chicago White Sox Season is Over and it Ended with a Whimper

The Chicago White Sox were mathematically eliminated from post-season contention this week. So, a season filled with promise and hope ended not with a bang but a whimper. How I would love to tell you that the Sox made it into the playoffs as a wild card and then after scratching and clawing were, unfortunately, eliminated. This is not to be.

The Sox sure started out promisingly. They had a bit of a shaky first couple of weeks. It seemed as if all of the celebrations had gotten to them or something and like they were standing around with hangovers. I got to see the ring ceremony and even came away with a pretty cool replica ring. I was full of White Sox pride and anxious for the season to start. Instead the Sox stumbled out of the gate and lost several games in a row. Then, they managed to turn things around.

I knew there were problems back in May. I even wrote about it. The Sox were facing off against the Cubs in the first of the cross-town classics. They had beaten the Cubs the first two games and now it was Sunday. The Sox struggled. They faltered. They lost. I was furious. My father, the Cubs fan, turned to me and said something I have not forgotten.

“It’s May!” He said.

This is true, said I, but I also was watching the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers were winning like crazy. They were winning, in fact, the way the Sox had won the season before. It was like the magic that had settled on US Cellular Field last season had been blown away across Lake Michigan and into the state of Michigan with the cold blustery Chicago winter winds. When the Sox lost that game to the Cubs the Tigers won that game. I made the comment that by losing that game they allowed the Tigers to overtake them in the standings and jump into the lead. Sure, it was only a half a game, but it was still a loss of the lead. I worried about the Sox heart back then.