| Kyle Trompeter. 19th September, 2005 - 3:55 pm
 If you are a Chicago White Sox fan, words are hard to find to describe what is happening to your team right now. Before your very eyes, a monumental collapse is in full swing. As it stands right now, picturing the White Sox waking up tomorrow and turning this ship back in the right direction seems about as likely as the Kansas City Royals making a run at the Wild Card.
Three and a half games.
That is the White Sox lead over the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central today after the White Sox were shut out by the Minnesota Twins and the Indians beat the Royals.
On August 1st, that White Sox lead was at 15 games.
Again, that lead is now down to 3 ½ going into play on Sunday.
Oh boy.
Imagine that it’s April 1st, and White Sox fans were told they would be in first place by 3 ½ games on September 17th. They would probably be dancing in the streets on the South Side.
Then again, if you told them that they had a 3 ½ game lead on September 17th, but they had a 15 game lead on August 1st, they would probably all have an aneurism.
There are only 15 games left this season. If Chicago could even go 8-7, which doesn’t seem like that much, they would most likely make the playoffs. That would put them at 97-65. What that means is that Cleveland would have to go 13-2 in their last 15 games to win the division. If the Tribe were to go 12-3 in that scenario, they would tie the White Sox and miss the playoffs because Chicago has already won the season series.
With that said, can this team even win that many games down the stretch with the way that they are playing? At this rate, the White Sox would be lucky to win five or six.
One has to believe this division should have been clinched by now, but with the White Sox still having six games left with the Indians, that division title couldn’t be any further away.
Cleveland has won nine of their last ten games and they don’t look to be making a pit stop any time soon. Of their last 15 games, the hottest team they will play will be the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and that is not good for the White Sox. The Indians also still have five games left with the Royals, and their last six games will all be at home, with the final three coming against the White Sox.
Chicago has a weeklong home stand coming up. They will have a three game set versus the Indians, and then Minnesota will come in for four games. The White Sox will finish the season with their last seven games all being on the road, with four in Detroit and three in Cleveland.
Ohhhh boy.
Who has the tougher schedule? If you answered Chicago, then circle gets the square and the win.
Let’s say the Indians beat out the White Sox for the division title, and on top of that, the New York Yankees beat out Chicago for the Wild Card and the White Sox completely miss the playoffs.
First of all, ouch!
Secondly, would this 2005 White Sox team become one of the all time biggest chokers in baseball history?
In short, yes. A 15 game lead on August 1st is an absolutely gigantic lead. They were the first team to 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 wins. It seems like the White Sox win total has been stuck in the 80’s since the 80’s.
Hold on to something White Sox fans, this will be the longest 15 game stretch of the season.
It may also be the most painful stretch of the season. |
