The White Sox were on a mind-boggling high for three-fourths of the journey, only to often fall into the depths of depression in the final month. They went from convincing critics and themselves they really could win, to doubting themselves and wondering whether they were playoff worthy. In retrospect, it was a season of highlights that nearly melted away in the heat of the September spotlight.
Where to begin and where to end? Let’s take a look:
1. April 6: White Sox 4, Cleveland 3
As important as Mark Buehrle’s 1-0 gem was on Opening Day, this game established the Sox as a team that could overcome all odds, their first of nearly three dozen comeback victories during the season.
The Sox scored four runs in the ninth inning at U.S. Cellular Field, including the first homers by Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye. Aaron Rowand had the game-winning sacrifice fly and the Sox got that feeling of can-do excitement for the first time.
It also was their second straight one-run victory, a statistic they would lead the major leagues in.
2. April 16: White Sox 2, Seattle 1
Buehrle pitched an amazing 1 hour 39 minute victory after taking only 1:51 on Opening Day. Buehrle also struck out 12 Mariners, most for a Sox pitcher since 1997.
This also was a day when Frank Thomas visited the clubhouse in his rehab from foot surgery and proclaimed: “This team could be special, especially the pitching. I’ve never been on a team with this much pitching.”
3. May 12: White Sox 3, Orioles 2
The game that proved the maturation of Jon Garland. His 9-0 run dating to last season was the White Sox’s longest winning streak since LaMarr Hoyt won 11 straight in 1983-84.
One moment in the game–an eighth-inning strikeout of 2003 MVP Miguel Tejada on a 3-2 changeup with a runner on third–touched off a celebration among the U.S. Cellular Field crowd of 29,031.
4. June 17: White Sox 6, Dodgers 0
This was the way it had been planned all season, perhaps the most complete example of what this team was about.
Buehrle pitched a shutout, leadoff man Scott Podsednik stole a base in the first inning, Konerko ran his hitting streak to 13 games, Dye hit his third homer in as many games and so did Thomas, whose eight hits for the season thus far included five homers.
Four days later Thomas was lost again for the season.
5. July 16: White Sox 7, Indians 5
Actually, the game three days earlier, the first one out of the All-Star break when Jose Contreras beat the Indians 1-0, might have been as important, as well the 4-0 Garland jewel a day later that gave the Sox a four-game sweep of the Indians after they had finished the first half with three straight losses to Oakland.
So what makes this one special? Buehrle–who apologized later–hit slugger Travis Hafner in the mouth with a pitch in the first inning, costing Hafner nearly a month of his season. When the Indians retaliated by hitting Dye in the leg an inning later, Dye stole second standing up and scored on Joe Crede’s double, an example of the in-your-face style of the Sox. They had nine stolen bases in three games while running their record against the AL Central to 29-5.
6. Aug. 1: White Sox 6, Orioles 3
What a day, as the White Sox increased their Central lead to a seemingly safe 15 games. Little did they know what was to come.
As for the game, Buehrle was ejected in the sixth inning after hitting B.J. Surhoff, ending his streak of working at least six innings in 49 consecutive starts.
“They won that one for Buehrle,” Guillen said after his team recorded a second four-game road sweep in the same season for the first time since 1954.
7. Aug. 9: White Sox 2, Yankees 1
Contreras finally gets it. And at just the right time as he beats his former team in what he described as “the best game” of his career. And the Sox, supposedly a “small ball” team, used Tadahito Iguchi and Konerko homers for the victory.
This was a statement game for Contreras–in Yankee Stadium no less–and the start of an amazing second-half run that established him as the Sox’s most effective starter. Just as important, the Sox showed the mighty Yankees they could play with the big boys, as they won two of three games.
8. Sept. 5: White Sox 5, Red Sox 3
This marked the national emergence of rookie Brandon McCarthy, pitching in the spotlight of a game with tremendous implications. And in the ballpark he most admired, Fenway Park, against Curt Schilling in front of the largest Boston crowd since 1990. McCarthy ran his starting scoreless innings streak to 14 2/3.
This was also a game in which the Sox were mistakenly accused of wanting to forfeit because it had originally been scheduled as a day off during a long homestand. They grumbled and griped, but the one-day trip ran their record in day games to an amazing 32-16.
McCarthy, who would prove to be a godsend down the stretch, put the quick trip in perspective: “Me and a couple of other guys are a couple of weeks removed from nine-hour bus rides or plane flights at 6 in the morning. So having a one-day trip here is not a bad deal at all.”
9. Sept. 20: White Sox 7, Indians 6
After losing the first of a three-game series at The Cell against Cleveland, the Sox increased their dwindling lead to 3 1/2 games on Crede’s dramatic homer in the 10th inning.
The homer took some of the mounting pressure off Guillen, who had grown increasingly defensive and was all over the map with confusing comments about fans, media and life in general. Even after the victory, Guillen said: “I told my boys I’m not going to lose this division because I have 30,000 managers helping me out.”
10. Sept. 23: White Sox 3, Twins 1
The game that saved the season, because a loss would have cut the Sox lead to a half-game. Contreras pitched a complete game and ran his second-half record to 10-2. But he also set a tone that continued with two more victories over Minnesota.
The victory seemed to awaken and rejuvenate the Sox, who went on to score 12 runs in the next two games while Freddy Garcia and Buehrle held the Twins to two. The victories were enough to increase the lead over the Indians to 2 1/2 games and provide some breathing room.
But Guillen was still uptight after the game because he was booed during a ninth-inning visit to the mound. “People think I’m a bad manager or don’t know the game or fall asleep during the game and wake up and change pitchers,” he said. “I’m watching the same game they are.”
