It’s been a September to remember for White Sox fans, but for all the wrong reasons.
There have been crushing defeats, team controversies and the possibility that they could go down as the biggest chokers in Major League Baseball history.
For better or worse, the awful month is almost over. The Sox should know by Sunday if they have made the playoffs–or if they will join the fabled 1969 Cubs as a team that, against all odds, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
There is precious little baseball left to be played, but White Sox fans will be following every run, hit and error this weekend as the Sox travel to Cleveland for the final three games of the regular season that could well decide their fate.
Val Chuchman ducked out of work early last week and burned up half a tank of gas on her way to U.S. Cellular Field from her Milwaukee home.
Then Chuchman’s beloved White Sox went out and took it on the chin from Cleveland, 8-0. But her miserable night wasn’t over.
“On the way home,” Chuchman said, “I got a speeding ticket.”
There have been signs the team is cracking–Damaso Marte was nearly kicked off the team for arriving late, Ozzie Guillen’s odd threat to quit if the team won the World Series–but in many cases, the players aren’t as invested as the fans are.
Players come and go. Fans last forever. Well, as long as their hearts can take it. And not all of them think they can.
George Bova, who operates the fan Web site White Sox Interactive, says the message boards are rife with fans terrified the Sox’s goose is cooked. He also says they’re way off base.
“It’s embarrassing to see these people whine and complain,” Bova said. “Can any of them use a calculator? The team is in great shape. They are in better shape than anybody else in the American League.”
Not all Sox fans, who tend to be the-ballpark-is-half-empty kind, are convinced this weekend will be a disappointment. Mike Wilkins, 30, thinks the Sox will win the division and is grateful for a tight race.
Wilkins painfully recalls how the Sox won the 2000 AL Central title without much of a battle and then were swept out of the playoffs by Seattle.
“I’m glad that they’re fighting for their lives,” Wilkins said. “It’s just going to get them more motivated going into the postseason.”
At Tuesday’s Cubs game, Wilkins saw plenty of fans wearing Indians hats. Fair enough, he says, since he and other Sox fans wore Florida hats when the Cubs faced the Marlins in the 2003 playoffs.
Wilkins, who says his ulcer has started acting up, said he doesn’t mind the hard time he gets from Cubs fans because it helps dispel a myth about Chicago baseball.
“For all the talk about Cub fans not caring about the Sox, the past month or so has proved that’s really not the case,” Wilkins said.
Robert Konjek, who grew up and lives in Toronto, has been a White Sox fan for over 20 years but has never seen them play in Chicago. That would all change if the Sox make the playoffs. His tickets are paid for and his travel arrangements are complete.
Now the Sox need to do their part, and when they don’t come through, it hurts. Literally.
“Sometimes I get stomach pains,” Konjek said. “If they lose a game late or they can’t come from behind I’ll feel it physically.”
Others can relate.
“I’ve been so stressed my back’s been acting up,” said Antonio Bruno, a 21-year-old from Portage Park who was watching the Sox game Wednesday at
ESPNZone. “My parent’s already know not to talk to me while the Sox are losing, otherwise I’d snap.”
That pain can affect the whole family.
Since most Sox games are at night, it can affect a fan’s family time. Tim Adams solved this dilemma Tuesday by watching the game on TV for a few innings and then switching the channel so his wife, who isn’t a baseball fan, could join him in front of the TV.
“I had to put in at least a couple hours with my wife,” Adams said.
But even those were shared hours. He followed the rest of the Sox game on his laptop.
Adams, 39, says he is normally calm when watching the Sox play, but when they dropped an 11-inning thriller to Minnesota last week, he could barely stand it. “I just had to mentally take a chill pill and tell myself it’s going to be OK,” Adams said.
What if the Sox go into this weekend’s three-game series against Cleveland without having a playoff spot set?
“I’ll be a wreck,” Adams said.
Mike Dulin, a 29-year-old Sox fan watching the game Wednesday at ESPNZone, is considering a desperate action if the Sox choke.
“I’ll become a Cubs fan,” he said.
– – –
Regrets, they have a few
On Sept. 7, the White Sox had won their seventh game in a row and were enjoying a 9 1/2-game lead over second-place Cleveland. There were just 24 games left to play.
Then the roof started to cave in. The Indians won 17-of-19 games in one stretch, and the Sox lost heartbreaking games time and time again. If the current three-game lead disappears and the White Sox miss the playoffs, these five late-season losses will haunt Sox fans all winter.
–Jimmy Greenfield, Redeye
1. Sept. 8
Kansas City 4, White Sox 2
Why it hurt: Sox starter Freddy Garcia blew a 2-0 sixth-inning lead, and the Sox collected only two hits at home in losing to baseball’s worst team. Making the loss even harder to take, the Royals won behind a rookie pitcher, J.P. Howell, who is now 3-5 with a 6.78 ERA.
AL Central lead: 8 games
2. Sept. 14
Kansas City 10, White Sox 9
Why it hurt: The Sox blew a 9-4 lead, capped off when the Royals scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth. This marked the first time since Aug. 31, 2004–a span of 102 games–that the Royals won a game when trailing after eight innings.
AL Central lead: 5 games
3. Sept. 19
Cleveland 7, White Sox 5
Why it hurt: After falling behind 4-0, the Sox fought to take a 5-4 lead after seven innings before 35,748 at U.S. Cellular Field. But Bobby Jenks gave up a two-out, two-run single to Aaron Boone in the eighth to blow his first save. Paul Konerko ended the game by popping out with two men on base.
AL Central lead: 1 1/2 games
4. Sept. 22
Minnesota 4, White Sox 1 (11 innings)
Why it hurt: The Sox had gone ahead of reigning Cy Young winner Johan Santana 1-0 on Joe Crede’s sixth-inning homer, but Sox nemesis Jacque Jones hit a seventh-inning homer off Brandon McCarthy to tie the game. The Sox had the bases loaded in the ninth with one out, but Jermaine Dye and Juan Uribe popped out.
AL Central lead: 1 1/2 games
5. Monday
Detroit 4, White Sox 3
Why it hurt: With the Indians off, the Sox could have gone up three games with six to play. Instead, they blew two one-run leads and then lost on Tigers rookie Curtis Granderson’s walk-off home run in the ninth inning. The real kicker: Granderson grew up a Sox fan and played baseball at UIC.
AL Central lead: 2 games
How Sox fans are coping
Chicagosports.com asked White Sox fans how they’ve been copying with the Sox situation. Some postings:
“The Sox will not only make the playoffs, they will win the division! No stress, just good old competition! GO SOX!!!”
–ChicagoTim
“2 simple words: Kick boxing! When the White Sox started this nose dive, I took up kick boxing to relieve the stress. Now I just go when they lose a game. My legs hurt.”
–Reality
“How am I coping with this stress? Like Cub fans … lots of beer. Yes, lots of beer.”
–Sobby
“I can’t deal with the stress. I have enough stress
at work to come home at night to relax … and stress some more. Can someone on this team at least appear as if they care to get a hit when we have men in scoring position? What happened to the aggressive team of the first half?”
–Make it stop
“Scotch. …Yes! I luuuuuuuuuv Scotch.”
–Shane
“Please, I can’t take this anymore …. take the division and get it over with. … The more I watch them the more edgy I get with my friends.”
–Noooo
“A lot of yelling and throwing of things, slamming a few doors. … You know, the usual.”
–Ron
“I look to baseball to escape from everyday stress, not to be yet another cause of it. These guys are gonna give me a heart attack.”
–Hypertension
“If I hadn’t just gotten married, I would’ve already jumped off the ledge!”
–Jason Nierman
“Cool as a cucumber.”
–Jimmy
