What a season it’s been for my beloved Chicago White Sox. September arrives with the Sox in first place, only to see them surrender the lead to the Twinkies (Minnesota Twins), and force a one-game playoff at the Cell. And what a game it was! The difference: a solo home run off the bat of Jim Thome, the 38-year old veteran.
When the ball landed 461 feet from where Thome hit it, the White Sox were 6 outs away from winning the Central Division championship. Danks and Jenks combined to ensure that the Twinkies would, in fact, go gently into the night. Or maybe they went into the blackout, courtesy of the 40,354 fans, most of whom responded to the White Sox’s call to wear black to the game.
It’s October, and once again, the Good Guys are still playing baseball. Their first opponents are the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, a team that surprised everyone in baseball by beating perennial playoff participants Yankees and Red Sox. Having won the season series 6-4, the Rays are the decided favourites. But in a five game series, anything is possible.
Both the Rays and the Sox are extremely tough at home. As a Sox fan, it’s my belief that if we can pull off one game in Tampa, the Rays are going to be in real trouble, and could leave Chicago making tee times instead of travel bookings for the ALCS. And don’t count out the Sox: the last time the Flubbies and Sox were in the playoffs in the same year, it was 1906, and the Southsiders won 4 out of 6 games to take the World Series title.
This season has been a constant adrenaline rush for Sox fans. Three cheers for the guys that won three games in a row against three different opponents to ensure that we get to cheer for our team in October.