A White Sox journey that began with a bang in February ended with a bunt on a sun-splashed October afternoon at Safeco Field.
Though they had spent most of the last five months comfortably settled in first place, the end of the road came suddenly for a young Sox team that wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place.
The Sox lost 2-1 to the Seattle Mariners on Friday and were swept out of their American League division series in three games, falling on a bunt single in the ninth inning that broke a few million hearts in the blink of an eye.
With the loss, the Sox kept their championship-free streak alive at 83 years and counting, leaving Chicago’s two baseball teams 0-for-14 in postseason appearances since the Sox last won the World Series in 1917.
“We’re all numb,” first baseman Frank Thomas said. “We feel like we let everyone down, and that’s the way we should feel.”
From the moment manager Jerry Manuel and Thomas had their much-publicized clear-the-air session back in spring training, it was apparent the 2000 season was not going to be business as usual. A team with a third-year manager, an enigmatic superstar and a clubhouse full of youngsters was supposed to be at least one year away from contending–and that was an optimistic view.
But the players ignored the doubters all season, winning an American League-best 95 games and outperforming Central Division powerhouse Cleveland to claim their first playoff berth since 1993. Along the way they learned some valuable lessons, the kind they’ll need to remember during the long, cold winter ahead.
“We learned how to stay together, to be together and fight together,” pitcher James Baldwin said. “These guys shouldn’t have their heads down. We’ll all stay in contact this winter and make sure our minds are straight.”
It wasn’t that the Sox lost the division series, but how they lost it that will linger in people’s minds. The league’s most lethal lineup scored only seven runs and batted .185 in the three games, failing to deliver the clutch hits that seemed to fall like leaves from a tree all during the summer.
Even with the lack of hitting, the Sox still hung in Friday, entering the bottom of the ninth in a 1-1 tie. Rookie Kelly Wunsch came on in relief to start the inning and immediately took a liner in his sternum off the bat of John Olerud that knocked the wind out of him.
Wunsch recovered and retrieved the ball, only to make an off-balance throw into right field that put the winning run on second base. Moments later, with runners on first and third and one out and Keith Foulke pitching, Seattle pinch hitter Carlos Guillen dropped a perfect bunt past a diving Thomas at first, bringing home pinch runner Rickey Henderson with the series-ending run.
While the Seattle players celebrated on the field and a crowd of 48,010 went wild in the stands, Wunsch could only sit and replay his costly error in his mind.
“A couple days from now I’m sure it will still hurt a little bit,” Wunsch said. “Hopefully after a week or so I’ll be able to look back and be proud. Right now it’s a little tough.”
Wunsch’s throw may go down in Sox history alongside other postseason disappointments such as the baserunning gaffe by Jerry Dybzinski in Game 4 of the 1983 American League Championship Series, or Sherm Lollar getting thrown out at home in the eighth inning of Game 2 of the 1959 World Series.
Wunsch accomplished a lifelong dream this year after toiling for seven years in the minors, making the Sox roster in spring training and becoming their most reliable left-hander out of the bullpen. But now he must deal with the anguish of being the guy who made one false move at the worst time possible, like the ill-fated Bill Buckner of the ’86 Red Sox or Leon Durham of the ’84 Cubs.
“Sometimes that’s what you’ve got to go through,” Baldwin said. “We didn’t want to lose, but this is only going to make him tougher and us tougher as a team. He did a great job for us this year and hopefully when we get back next year we honestly can say we’ll be ready.”
After the game, Manuel spoke to his disconsolate players and told them how proud he was of what they’d accomplished. In a year of living dangerously, the Sox managed to shock the experts and even themselves.
“I thanked them for a tremendous year,” Manuel said. “I reminded them we have to remember this feeling come spring training. We’re a very young club. It was good experience. Obviously, we’re left somewhat empty. Hopefully we’ll have the hunger and can put forth the effort to put ourselves back into this situation again next year.”
