Second-Place!

(September 27)  

Short take:  Who is in who's head now?

The 14-29 mark that the Sox started the season with seemed like a distant memory Thursday afternoon at Comiskey.  The Sox played their last home game of the year after lifting their record to seven games over .500, catching second-place Minnesota while beating them 9-3, and now look forward to asserting some sense of accomplishment to a season's worth of broken dreams and unfulfilled promises.

Finishing in second-place ten games over .500 would be pretty nice.  A better record than the Cubs would be awfully sweet for Chicago-based Sox Fans, too.  These are both achievable goals.

The Sox got out to a quick lead in the first, fought off a feeble comeback by the Twinkies, then blew the game open in the third.  Seven Sox hitters collected four runs on four hits that inning, including a two-out, two-run blast by slumping slugger Carlos Lee.  Every Sox regular reached base at least once except Jose Canseco who himself collected an rbi sacrifice.  Hey, that's what the big guy is paid to do!

Minnesota had multiple scoring opportunities but could barely make a dent in the growing Sox lead.  Danny Wright lasted into the sixth allowing five hits and six base on balls.  He saved his chestnut by striking out six and inducing a pair of timely double-play grounders.  With the crappy way the Twinkies were playing, you wonder if maybe they weren't pressing a bit to beat the Sox.  After all the glory heaped upon them early this season, it's a bitter pill to contemplate falling into third place.  Hey Sox Fans, does that remind you of any other pile of trash ballclub?

If Wright had trouble on the mound, reliever Sean Lowe was cruising in overdrive.  He pitched the last 3.1 innings allowing one run and three hits, striking out three and walking nobody.  

And let's not forget, Sox Fans, that Harold Baines got his first at-bat since last May in a pinch-hitting role--and perhaps his last ever as a member of the Sox on the South Side.  He rightly deserved a standing ovation from the Comiskey crowd who with all Sox Fans will never forget his great and glorious achievements spanning three decades.  Dan Helpingstine writes his own tribute to one of the greatest of our Sox heroes.

So it's off to Kansas City to begin a nine game road trip to end the season.  Finishing second isn't what Sox Fans had in mind last spring, but it would sure be nice to have something to keep us warm through the winter.  Cubs fans beware!

Hey Sox Fans!

Coming Sunday to White Sox Interactive:  a retrospective on the "Improbable Nightmare" of the 1967 Sox season.  They won with pitching and defense and not much else.  Written by Dan Helpingstine, author of the new book...

"Through Hope and Despair -- A Fan's memories of the Chicago White Sox, 1967-1997"  

Another WSI Exclusive!