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White Sox Fri Sep 26 2008
And Then There Were Three...
So now, Sox fans, we must dwell in the Land of Hope and Luck. Hope Minnesota stumbles against the Kansas City Royals at the Metrodome in the final three games of the regular season (not bloody likely). Pray the Sox get lucky and sweep the Cleveland Indians in their three-game finale at U.S. Cellular ("luck" being a more viable commodity for the Sox than skill, as the past three games in Minneapolis proved).
In hindsight, the prospect of winning at least one game against the Twins seemed like reasonable expectation. After all, the Sox had a 1-5 record in the Dome coming into the series, meaning they at least had the capacity to win there, if not the tenacity.
But under the pressure of maintaining a hold on first place in the AL Central with the eyes of the nation watching, the White Sox collapsed harder than WaMu, with Thursday's 10-inning 7-6 loss the bitterest pill to swallow. It left them in second place, a half-game behind, and may force them to spend an entire winter wondering how they blew a 6-1 lead.
Which brings us to the Land of Hope and Luck, that nebulous place where scenarios are manufactured ("Well if the Sox can win two, and the Indians rest Cliff Lee on Sunday, and the Twins have to face Gil Meche on their final game...") and numbers are crunched until they bleed.
It's enough to drive one to suicide. Well, maybe not that far, but manger Ozzie Guillen sounded like that was his plan when he said his post-game activities consisted of taking sleeping pills and drinking vodka, a pretty lethal combination. As for the rest of the team, well, they're talking the talk about not giving up, but they're probably the only ones still listening to "Don't Stop Believin'" in the lockerroom.
Yeah, they weren't supposed to be here anyway, according to preseason predictions, but when you're given hope, it's hard to give it up.
