Goodbye 2010. It was nice knowing ya. Tonight marked the end of the White Sox playoff race. With our depressing 7-2 loss in Oakland, the Minnesota Twins officially clinched the American League Central Division for the 2nd year in a row. And they didn’t even need a game 163! (For the past two years, the Twins have played in a 1-game playoff to decide who would be the champion of the American League Central Division. In 2008, the White Sox won, and in 2009, the Twins beat the Detroit Tigers.)
It was quite the roller coaster of a season. In early June, we were in 3rd place and 9 ½ games behind the first place Detroit Tigers with the Twins in 2nd. After that, the Sox managed to go 26-8, and by the middle of July, they were leading the ALCD by 1 ½ games with the Tigers in 2nd and Twins in 3rd.
That’s when things took a turn for the worst. Too many times to count, the White Sox gave up runs in the 8th or 9th inning, costing us numerous games we could and should have won. And don’t even get me started on closer Bobby Jenks. He’s the king of the 9th inning slip up. I miss the good old days in the late ‘90s-early 2000s with closer Keith Foulke. (Trading Foulke for Billy Koch in 2002 was one of the biggest mistakes the Sox have made in my lifetime.)
Also, if I had a dollar for every man the Sox left on base, I’d be on the Yankees’ payroll. Offensively, the White Sox just didn’t have their timely hitting like they’ve had in the past. Though nobody can compare to the masterful clutch hitting of Joe Crede in the 2005 playoffs, I expected more from my Southside boys.
There’s a reason they call it “in scoring position” when a runner is on 2nd or 3rd base. It is implying that they have a good chance of scoring a run. The Sox had runners in scoring position and zero or one out countless times, and they could not deliver a run to save their lives.
The Twins have now clinched the division with the sad Sox trailing a dismal 12 games back. The Sox are 10 ½ games out of the wildcard race for all you wishful thinkers out there, but there are only 11 games left in the 2010 season. That would require the White Sox to win all 11 of those games and Tampa Bay to lose them. As optimistic as I usually am, I won’t hold my breath for this one.
Although the season’s not technically over, I’m already looking ahead to 2011. My biggest concern is our bullpen. I used to think we could depend on Matt Thornton, but even he let me down this year. General Manager Kenny Williams needs to use this off-season to find us a decent bullpen, especially a closer. We have so many young arms, I feel like we need some more established and experienced guys in the set up and closer positions.
Well, another year, another season, another Twins victory to break my heart. I don’t know how many seasons like this I can take…
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