Posted by chicagomedia.org on October 02, 2008 at 06:39:36:
Sox buckle up for an always-bumpy ride
Editor's note: Dan McNeil is the host of the popular "Mac, Jurko & Harry" show on ESPN-AM (1000) from 2-6 p.m. weekdays. This is the first of at least four columns he'll write for suntimes.com/sports.
It would have been easy for outsiders to draw erroneous conclusions as they squeezed through a giddy White Sox clubhouse Tuesday night. All was well for the Reinsdorfians after they muscled out a satisfying 1-0 win over hated Minnesota and copped the AL Central title.
It was as if the nightmare that went down in the Metrodome last week never happened. There was no finger pointing, only warm embraces. No mini-dramas, just champagne and vows of eternal allegiance. The Chairman himself was in the middle of it, hugging hero Jim Thome, telling the Sox slugger "I had to watch you do this five [bleeping] times before we finally got to do it."
Don't be disappointed if blue skies turn gray in the Sunshine State. The bumpy ride is the White Sox way. This is a team that revels in chaos. Always has. Harmony is an elusive commodity.
Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg is as good a scene as any for the next act in the White Sox often checkered, occasionally glorious history. The concrete blister was constructed for them before the Illinois Sports Facility was spawned at the 11th hour in late June of 1988, paving the way for the new Comiskey Park.
Amidst angst, of course.
The in-fighting that makes Ozzie Guillen's club such a tough putt to read never was more heated than it was when the Rays took three out of four from the Sox in St. Pete, May 29 - June 1. The Sox scored only four runs in those losses, prompting Guillen to blow a fuse, challenging general manager Kenny Williams to make a move, implying that hitting coach Greg Walker was a contributor to the streaky Sox' problems.
Winning is the only remedy. Long removed from Guillen turning up the heat on him, Walker was cool and confident Tuesday night, suggesting to me "We've got guys who've been there before."
And they'll be back again. Back to winning. Back to losing. Back to the acrimony that sometimes borders on contempt.
Those who arrive late today when the ALDS opens might miss the first fireworks. Game 1 starter Javier Vazquez and catcher A.J. Pierzynski exchanged fanny slaps Tuesday night, but when last seen working together, nobody described the dynamic as harmonious. They jawed at each other without mincing words in an odd mound meeting in the final game of the Twins' sweep in Minneapolis.
Maybe Reinsdorf and Williams should be given more credit than criticism for manufacturing such a combustible unit. Maybe it's the perfect storm.
Maybe Pierzynski, stolen by Williams after San Francisco pitchers didn't find his antics amusing in his one season in a Giants' uniform, is the perfect straw to stir the Molotov cocktail. Pierzynski's defensive gem Tuesday, making the catch of a decent Ken Griffey Jr. one-hopper and applying the tag in an awkward collision with Michael Cuddyer, was as integral to the Sox advancing as Thome's colossal home run.
And Pierzynski wouldn't be himself if he didn't add punctuation to the play by slamming the ball back to the mound, a la Pete Rose. The fiery backstop wears the anti-hero label better than any Chicago jock since Dennis Rodman.
So now the question is have the White Sox' wounds healed sufficiently enough to upset the new darlings of the American League?
Yeah. Why not. They were left for dead in late September three years ago, if you recall, then blitzed the pack 11-1 in the postseason.
Advance or go home, you can count on the White Sox to be the White Sox. Unpredictable, on the field and off. Cantankerous. Edgy.
For some, the precipice is the only place to find sanctuary.
(Dan McNeil, Chicago Sun-Times)