The Chicago White Sox: A Year to Lean on

Russ: All right, folks. So, our White Sox fell a bit short, and I’m hurting, but I’m still with them.

Patrick: As you should be.

Donald: Yeah, they couldn’t solve the Houston Astros… but, then again, not many could in recent years.

John: Personally, I never truly felt the White Sox would make an extended playoffs run. While they had the hitting and the excitement, they didn’t have the pitching. Also, they didn’t just have nagging injuries throughout the season, they had full-blown injuries that kept multiple players out for extended periods of time.

Donald: Never good for a team’s rhythm.

John: Outside of Lance Lynn, who went 11-6 this year with a very nice earned run average of 2.69, the team’s pitching had been hit-or-miss, and this despite Manager Tony La Russa at the helm of a team that needed to understand how to win. When a manager can show the players his championship rings, he shows them he’s a winner.

Patrick: I like Lynn, but I think we should, at the very least, also mention pitchers Carlos Rodon, Dylan Cease, and Liam Hendricks. Our pitchers have been a lil’bit inconsistent, but we’ll get better. As for La Russa, I love this cat. Whether here or leading Oakland, I’ve always dug him as a leader.

Russ: I agree. This year, I believe La Russa helped guide this team as far as possible. Looking at how we lost to the Astros, I can’t imagine us having a real shot at the Boston Red Sox and whomever we would have run into at the World Series.

Donald: I don’t know. A bounce here, an error there, and there’s no telling how far we could’ve gone. We were good this year. I mean, we were inconsistent, but we dominated the division and, I believe, were as good any of the playoffs teams.

Patrick: Also, y’all, this is the first time the Sox have made the playoffs in back-to-back years. And they go back to 1901.

Russ: Wow.

John: Now, y’all know I’m not the biggest Sox fan, but I will say that I’m a huge fan of Tim Anderson. That guy is phenomenal and, in my opinion, will get tons better. This year, he batted .309, which put him in rarefied White Sox air alongside Hall of Famer Luke Appling as the only other shortstop in White Sox history to hit at least .309 in three straight years.

Patrick: That’s deep. I like him a lot, too. In addition to Anderson, I want to give it up to José Abreu. This year, he drove in 117 runs, giving him 100+ RBIs in six seasons. Only two other players in White Sox history have ever done that: Frank Thomas and Paul Konerko.

Russ: Listen, in the first two playoff games against Houston, we didn’t get a single extra-base hit. I don’t care whatever else a team has, if it can’t get one extra-base hit in two games, that’s horrible.

Donald: I get that there’re things we need to improve upon to get to the next level, but let’s remember what our Sox did this year. They not only clinched the Central Division for the first time since 2008, they became, this year, the first Major League team to clinch its division. They finished the regular season with 93 wins—third most of any team this year. And, as mentioned earlier, this was the first time the Sox made the playoffs in consecutive years.

Russ: Well, there you go. In 2022, let’s do it again, White Sox!

Any comments or suggestions? Email pedwards@streetwise.org