Yeah, the Cubs have been frustrating this year, but we were expected to suck. What about the White Sox? I heard they were World Series contenders. I had guys tell me they were winning 100 games. Hey, they can still get there. There are still 37 games left… the Sox need to win all of them to get to that 100 win total. They need to win probably at least 25 to get into the playoffs. It’s possible… After doing my first fantasy draft, and sitting downstairs after cleansing my colon for the last couple hours, I flipped on the Sox game; it was the 9th inning. What happened next was about as gut wrenching loss as you can experience.
It was the bottom of the 9th; the Sox were up 3-2. There were 2 outs. Their All-Star closer was on the mound, looking good too. Dude hits a pop up down the left field line. The Sox defensive replacement/wizard Adam Engel was on the hunt; he dropped it. I’m sure he’d tell you he catches that 100 out of 100 times. Game should have been over. Still, with as dominant as Hendricks was looking, and with a guy with exactly zero career home runs at the dish, the game was still over, right? Wrong. Dude hits a deep drive into right center field that left the yard, and tied the game. I thought it was pretty ironic that as the kid rounded the bases, I realized the # he was wearing… 83. The opponent being the Orioles, that year means a little something for Sox fans… I guess it’s been that type of year for the Sox.
The game wasn’t over though. It went to extra innings, and with the runner on 2nd base, surely the offensive juggernaut White Sox would get him home. Nope; they didn’t score that guy in the 10th OR 11th. They got that 2nd chance after Harrison made a nice defensive play in the bottom of the 10th, but it didn’t matter. The Sox already looked defeated. They looked like the Cubs in extra innings this year. I was going to turn the game off after the Orioles won in the bottom of the 11th, as one of my fantasy guys Santander brought home the game winner. I left it on for a few… the postgame guys were upset, understandably. Then I happened to see Tony LaRussa interviewed after the game… I just shook my damn head. He was barely understandable as he muttered some shit. I can’t even believe the White Sox hired him. I know it’s not all on the manager, but wow… that may go down as one of the biggest missteps. That dude is washed. It’s too late to fire him at this point… just ride this clunker to the end of the year, until the wheels fall off I guess…
I feel Sox fans pain. When expectations are sky high, and you absolutely face plant… brutal. It’s definitely worse than knowing your going to suck, and fulfilling those expectations… although that’s still pretty bad too. The Sox were supposed to make this a memorable summer for baseball, since the Cubs weren’t interested in doing that. Well Sox fans… as we always say, there’s always next year…
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