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White Sox Tue Sep 23 2008
Surprise! A Sox-Twins Showdown
When you looked at the White Sox schedule in April, didn't you know it would come down to this?
It's probably no stretch of the imagination to say that 90 percent of Sox fans were anticipating these three days in September as a showdown of sorts, a confrontation that would have season implications for the White Sox or the Twins. Or both.
It didn't matter than the Sox were supposed to be road kill this season, or that the Tigers were supposed to have clinched the AL Central a month or so ago. You knew.
This is the stuff that feeds conspiracy theories, that conjures up thoughts of rigged games and phantom calls. I mean, c'mon: slating a White Sox-Twins series so late in the season and - gasp - you mean it actually matters? Scheduling a showdown between two of the most heated rivals in the division with little more than a week to go? Who would have (ahem) thought that?
Of course it's not rigged (it isn't, right?) but you have to admit it's a perfect scenario. In the last few weeks they've both been playing hot potato with first place, with the Sox managing to hold on the longest. Even now, as Game 1 gets set to kick off, the White Sox' 2 ½ game lead is just enough to make every game a matter of (baseball) life and death.
So with that stage set, as Ozzie Guillen commands starter Javier Vasquez to "kick some butt", as we wonder why Ken Griffey Jr. is starting in centerfield instead of Dewayne Wise, as we ponder what this series would be like with Carlos Quentin in the lineup, just remember, as random as the baseball gods are, you knew it would come down to this.
