True as what you say may be, the fact is, when the White Sox tried to go small ball this year, they failed. There were many Uribe bunts that could have fueled innings, and instead you have first and second with one out. We Sox fans know the real reason they're out; the rotation struggled. I've heard strong whispers that Buehrle turned down a Garland-Contreras-style extension last offseason and is as good as gone.

Parity's a bitch, ain't it? This guarantees another new WS winner this decade (forget the Yanks, they'll be done in the ALDS). A good team, the Sox just couldn't compete with one surprising turnaround team and one much improved, perhaps hungrier team.

Unlike you, I've watched the Sox from my perch on the South Side all summer. The pitching is definitely concern #1. But they also failed to play "smart ball". You had to watch a lot to see how that manifested itself.

As Jermaine Dye said of last year's club, The Sox never scored a run they didn't need. They did that with Ozzie Ball or Smart Ball or Small Ball, whatever you want to call it. That style of play failed this year for the lack of a lead-off hitter, the lack of hitting behind the runner, the overall woeful performance of everyone but hitters #3-6.

You don't win swinging for the fences. You win, as Earl Weaver wisely said, with pitching, defense, and a three-run homer.

The only spin I don't like coming out of Chicago is how they were the most talented team.

They said that every year they lost the division and now they are saying it again.

If the White Sox are the most talented team in the AL central every year then why do they have just one division title to show for it since 2002?

This season just shows what we in Anaheim already knew. Without assistance from the umpires on a regular basis, the Chi Sox simply are not championship caliber.

I dont think it is an issue of lack of talent. In previous years it has been the Twins and the Sox (Last year maybe the Indians). The real issue in my mind is this. The AL central was by far and away the toughest division. With the Sox, Twins and Tigers all playing very well, someone had to go down. In this case it was the White Sox, but it could have been any of the 3. It almost seemed as the season started winding down that the Sox simply threw in the towel. And if the NL Central shows anything, it is a dangerous thing to just give up. You always have a chance, and they blew it.

If Ozzie made this about the team and not himself maybe they'd be in a better position. The manager is a Hot-head that took the steam out of his team months ago.

On paper, that was the most talented team in the major leagues, hands down, i dont know what you were looking at. The team was filled with a few over-achievers from last year (cotts, politte, podsednick, and even juan uribe) and they could not put it all together. When the hitting was there, the pitching wouldnt show up. When the pitching was there, the hitting wouldnt show up. The White Sox were not the same team in terms of being clutch either, it seemed as if in all the big situations, a double play loomed. Fact is, last years team was special, this years team was not.

Yo, Anaheim whiner, what happened to you chumps? Brain cramps and tags with no ball in the glove; yeah, that's how to win! 11-1 in the postseason was no fluke.

How do you score more runs and win fewer games? It MUST be bad bunting.

You bunt to help you score runs. If they bunted badly, who cares? They scored the runs anyway. Actually, they scored more of them..

With the exception of last year, the Sox played the same this year as the have in their recent past. Last year, their pitching exceeded their abilities so they won. Look at the other year's when they've fallen just short (again and again). Great hitting, mediocre pitching. Let's face it, pitching wins most of the time.

The Sox need to keep Garland and Garcia. Otherwise, dismantle the starting rotation through good trades. MacDougal and Jenks are good, hopefully McCarthy won't be a starter, he's not good at all. Iguchi is as slow as Konerko, so he should go. Podsednik was never good. Basically, they have to restructure the whole team.

Ozzieball manifested itself as a direct result of getting leads. With the demise of the starting pitching and the lack of early run production the team had no way to be as aggressive on the bases as last year. Like to know what the run production was in innings 1-3 last year but it seemed like they always scored in the first/second inning and the pitchers relaxed. Need to revamp the bullpen, get a major league center fielder and move McCarthy into the rotation. Is Buehrle done? I don't think so.

I'm a Minnesota Twins fan, probably a fanatic. Watching the Twins and White Sox play this year, I noticed something about the intense rivalry this year. The White Sox carried a swagger this year towards their opponents that didn't reflect the way they played in the field. Ozzie Guilled referred to the Twins as the little Pirahnas this season when the Twins beat them in August in a three game sweep in Chicago. You don't hear comments like that coming out of the Twins dugout, not this year and not in past years. There is no place for cocky attitudes in a sport unless you take the opponents you face seriously. 2005 was a good year for the Sox, and we in Minnesota congratulate them, but Minnesota fans know all too well that winning takes place on the field by 25 players who have their mind on the game at hand and the heart of a champion and have respect for the teams they face regardless of who they are playing. Expecting a team to just roll over because they are facing the vaunted White Sox is really quite silly, and I think that is one of the key reasons to the Sox collapse this year. Oh yeah, and relying on the long ball to win games doesn't help either. The Twins have had a fantastic season, but I think everyone in Minnesota feels the way that I do, we want the Twins to win it all, but we know as the club does that they have an uphill climb throughout October just as they had for much of the summer. Had the White Sox played with the same grit and determination that the Twins have played with this year, I think it would have been the Twins and the White Sox in the playoffs instead of the Twins and the Tigers.

As an Indians fan I think it's easy to see Karma plays a big role in the demise of the White Sox. If you don't believe that look at the scoreboard for the past two days: Indians 20 White Sox 1. Considering they had to win out to have any possibility of making the playoffs, that's as big a choke as you could possibly imagine especially when you realize the Indians roster is 50% rookies. CHOKE!!!

I must admit that I enjoy watching the White Sox implode. The White Sox fold year after year. The Sox have made late season fades their trademark, though last year they had built such a big lead by September that even they couldn't screw it up, though they tried.

The great thing about sports is there are so many athletes of poor character that it's never long before I get to watch some cocky loud mouth self destruct. Maybe Ozzie shouldn't have given Cleveland the choke sign last year. Or maybe he was just demonstrating his technique. As someone once said, "It's hard to catch a ball, with both hands around your neck."

Outstanding teams do not go 30-39 in the second half. Outstanding teams do not finish 10th in runs allowed, nor do they have zero starters with a sub-4 ERA.

The White Sox are not an outstanding team. They're a third place team.

I have no comment about the White Sox, all I have to say, is how come more people are not talking up Lance Berkman for NL MVP? He is the best player in baseball and carrying the Astros on his back.

Let me see. El Duque, Big Frank, and Aaron 'Mack Truck' Rowand are all going to the playoffs. Did we trade away the heart and soul of our defense, pitching, and hitting? Just asking.

To the disparaging Anaheim (Los Angeles, excuse me) Angels fan: Your club isn't championship caliber either, pal.

Luft, the Sox lost this season because the style of ball they played could not win in the division they were in this year. Like my beloved Northsiders of the last few years, the Sox played no small ball, regardless of what you say. All of their runs came by the dreaded 3-run homer, and they simply went dry when the pitching went south.

i am sitting here in my room and laughing at the morons who are under the dilisuion that the sox scored more runs this year. sure their average is up but if you look at the actual scores the sox scored runs in bunches as opposed to scoring consistantly like they did last year. this year 50 games with 3 or fewer runs, last year 59. over a 162 game season 9 games isnt a whole lot. the reason their pitching wasnt as good this year was because they stopped trusting their defense and tried to get the guys out themselves. good thing that worked.

in short the sox werent as good because of the misleading statistics that people are for some reason so obsessed with.

I still got tall love for the Chisox. Their bullpen was definitely where they failed this year. I still wouldn't get rid of Buehrle though. The guy had one half of a rough season and you can him? He's basically been their quasi-ace since early 2000. Work with him and McCarthy. Keep Garland and Garcia, dump Contreras and Vasquez. Keep Bobby in there and most of the offense (look for a new left fielder / lead off man) but keep most of the lineup as is. I'd say to give Anderson another shot but definitely get a better back up at center. Konerko wasn't amazing his first year either. Anderson needs some time to develop but he was starting to come around at the end. Other than that, they'll just need to get refocused on the fundamentals and beef up the consistency of their bullpen and they'll be serious contenders again next year.

Oh yeah. One last thing. GET OVER THE TWINS!!! YOU'RE NOT THE RED SOX AND THEY'RE NOT THE YANKEES. QUIT LETTING THEM OWN YOU!!!!

Sorry, but I hate the Twins. :-)

Alex is an idiot. Keeping Garland, MacDougal, Jenks and Garcia I agree with, but McCarthy is a great pitcher as you can see from his performance today(5.1 In 1 ER) and trading him away would be getting rid of young talnet. As for the rest of the rotation, Contreras we all know can be great and Cy Young worthy as he showed us the end of last year and beginning of this yerar and Buehrle seems to switch off being good every other year and this was just his bad year. Kenny Williams said he's going to trade away a starting pitcher to make room for McCarthy and I hope that that pitcher is Vazquez. I bet you didn't say to get rid of Iguchi at the end of last year after all the playoff heroics he had and I don't think he is that slow. And as for your worst point that Podsednik was never good I think this is rediculous. Acquiring him while getting rid of Carlos Lee was one of the best moves they've made in the past couple years. Last year he gave the Sox a baserunner at the beginning of games, maybe stole a base, Iguchi moves him over, and then you get an easy run. Maybe this year he wasn't so hot, but saying he was never good is rediculous. I really don't have a problem with their current team if their starting pitching shapes up next year along with their bullpen.

Dont think I'd be calling anyone a moron if I wrote as poorly as you, Anon.

The truth is: pitching wins games and championships. Both the starting and relief pitching of the White Sox were subpar when compared to last year's. So, before trying to play small ball, I'd suggest fixing at least the bullpen. Even though the starting pitching also needs some adjustments, they are still decent when compared to the bullpen.

Kenny Williams is a good G.M., but he got too cute with offseason deals, thinking you have to keep making moves to stay fresh. While that's generally true, getting rid of Aaron Rowand was a huge mistake. You can't trade gamers like Rowand and expect the same winning results. But basically, their pitching fell back to earth, and not even Jermaine Dye could save them.

The White Sox were still a great baseball team; however, because they played a different style this year, they failed. Everyone talks about the poor pitching, and it's true. The only reliable pitcher this year, in my opinion, was Freddy Garcia. Sure, his ERA was 5 something at one point, but he's been pretty consistent all season, and the majority of his losses came in the form of having no backbone with the offense. Mark, Jon and Javier all need to go. Jon only comes around for about 8 games a season, and Mark has been getting worse over the years. Javier was a terrible trade to begin with, and it'll be good to see him go.

I saw two major problems with the White Sox this year. First of all, the pitching was atrocious at times. Is this really the same group (mostly) that pitched out of their minds last October? How does the most dominant staff one year completely deflate the next? The only guys who pitched worth a darn this year were Jon Garland and Bobby Jenks. Second, they had a free out in three easy outs in the lineup every day with Uribe, Podsednik, and whoever was playing centerfield. Brian Anderson's defense was spectacular, but this guy couldn't hit a pitch if the catcher told him what was coming. And Rob Mackoviak? C'mon. As great as Jim Thome played at times this season, Kenny Williams should have held onto Aaron Rowand.

There are three main things that you can attribute to the Sox' demise this year. Poor pitching, key contributors from last year not providing the same production, and a tougher division.

I think most Sox fans realized soming into the year that the pitching wouldn't be nearly as dominant as it was last year. I figured that any regression to the mean by the starters would be covered up by a vastly improved offense. At times this was true, there were a lot of games won by us, where our starters gave up 5-6 runs, but the Sox offense couldn't compensate for cruddy starting pitching and shoddy relief pitching. THe pitching overall was just poor. Politte and Cotts performances this year really hurt the Sox. We no longer had the ability to shorten the game to a 6 inning affair. It didn't help that we had to go up against two of the better teams in the majors, not to mention a tough Cleveland team.

The Sox though still should have been able to make the playoffs. The wild card and the division were there for the taking as the Twins and Tigers both struggled during the dog days of summer. THe Sox just couldn't seem to bring together all aspects of their game. At times the starters showed flashes of last year's dominance. Freddy suddenly became unhittable, Garland became our ace, and actaully started earning those victories, Coop fixed Javy's release point making him a realiable starter and less succeptible to 6th inning blowups, but if the starters were going good the offense or the 'pen would invariably fail. If the offense was going good the Sox ptiching would give up just enough runs for the loss. The most frustrating thing about the stretch run was watching the Sox put up double digit outputs one day, and then scoring bupkus for the next 3-4 games.

-Jeeves
www.chisoxblog.blogspot.com

The Chisox tanked it, look at some of the losses this past week...

To the poster who shouted "Get over the Twins" - I will simply say that what the Twins did this year with what Gardy had was unexpected to say the least, and they should make for some really interesting playoff baseball...

Do you really think the yank-mes are looking forward to playing the Twins ina short series? I doubt it.

The bottom line is this:
Twins are in, sox are not.

Get over that!

As far as next season is concerned, the rotation needs some work. KW will have to take a good look at each of his pitchers, because there are pros and cons to trading each of them. At this point I don't even know who I want to see traded. I was dead set on Freddy, but he picked up a splitter and suddenly became a dominant pitcher. IT's tough to say whether this is a sign of things to come next year or just a flukish end to the season. His late season dominance could also boost his trade value. I don't think Javy is going anywhere. THe Sox would have to eat some of his contract to move him and his value isn't all that high. Garland probably has the highest trade value, but unless we're offered a big package for him, I'm confident he'll be wearing black and whtie next year. KW might try to go ahead and sign Buehrle to an extension after his poor season, with his market value taking a slight hit. I'm torn on Jose. He had that great year long run, post ASB last year and pre-ASB this year, but has looked very mediocre otherwise. He's also getting older and is an injury risk. I think his injuries this year played a big part in his inconsistency.

I do want to see McCarthy in the rotation. I know his numbers were poor this year and seemed to give up a homer every single time he came on in relief. I think Brandon goes in with a different mindset in short inning situations vs his longer outings. He won't necesarily be the ace of the staff last year, but he should be a solid pitcher in the rotation.

Outside of the starters, I want to see a stronger bullpen unit. We have a good nucleus with Jenks, Macdougal (if he stays healthy) and Matt Thornton, but we need more than that. I also want a new LF. Kiss Pods goodbye, he stinks. I don't think KW will make a big splash to fill this hole. It'll either fall to Ryan Sweeney or Josh Fields. I'm praying Brian Anderson is playing CF for us next year. He brings a great glove, and after his horrendous start, his bat has been decent. He's outhit Rowand since June 11 (I know Rowand's been hurt, but I'm talking aobut AVG, SLG, those types of stats). I'm worried that Ozzie is going to demote him to the bench. He inexplicably decided to platoon him with Rob Mackowiak. I'd have been more than happy to see ROb in left, but he does not belong in center, even he acknowledged that fact.

I'm confident Kenny Williams will be able to reload the Sox for next season, but I'm worried about the competition in our divison. The Twins and Tigers look set to be damn good teams again next year, and I fully expect the Indians to bounce back; that's four very good teams in the Central. I suddenly sympathize with Blue Jays fans.

So let me get this straight. The last 5 world series winners have won a combined 0 playoff games the following season. Could the pressure of defending the title be an issue here?

I surely hope Sox management doesn't decide Ozzie and his temper are to blame for the team's collapse and fire him. He is an elite manager, who has the respect of his players that can be attributed to his unmatched passion. (Ironically, Joe Girardi shares these qualities, and is on his way out the door). The pitching staff and lack of offensive flexibility can be held accountable.

To solve their pitching woes, all Chicago needs to do is throw big money at Barry Zito (who supposedly yearns for a major market to boost his "acting career") and add some speedy players to the bench.

I agree wholeheartedly with what you've said, but it seemed like the Sox were a bit scrappier last year, or at least, were able to score runs when in other ways than merely hitting the ball out of the park. That said, the regression of the pitching staff, in particular the bullpen (you cite Cotts and Politte) along with the regression of Buehrle proved fatal because it meant that the Sox weren't able to win those 1-0 games that they won last year. I give kudos to Kenny Williams though for being ambitious when the season began and trying to improve the team. I think that the amount of innings that the starters pitched last season, particularly in the postseason, resulted in them being really tired at the end of 2006, coinciding with their slide. Despite their failure, all Sox fans can be happy that their team won a World Series in their lifetime.

Jacob, which White Sox starters do you think the team will trade, and where to?

Nothing against the Twins, but you have to admit they are getting career years from some of their players (Punto, Tyner, Cuddyer, and Dennys Reyes to name a few), just like the White Sox did last year (Podsednik, Neil Cotts, Cliff Politte). A lot of that is probably due to the excellent bats in the Twins line-up (Mauer, Morneau, Castillo). I can't help but think that the magic the Twins are experiencing this year is like what happened to the White Sox last year, and could very well lead the Twins all the way to the World Series. At the same time, I fully expect the Tyners, Punto's and Dennys Reyes of the world to fall back to earth next year, just like Podsednik, Cotts and Politte did for the White Sox.

Each member of the 2005 Sox pitching rotation and bullpen had career years at the same time - an extremely rare and lucky turn of events and the Sox made the most of it with a WS championship. Did all of Chicago really think lightening was going to strike twice? This year the pitching staff returned to earth and pitched exactly as one would expect garland, buerhle, contreras, lopez and garcia to pitch over the course of their respective careers - they were not atrocious, just average. With improved teams in Detroit and Minnesota, the Sox average pitching was not enough.

In response to JEEEVES:

You're smoking something. You Sox didn't have a chance against the Twins. The Twins won more games in the second half than any other team in baseball. Thats with Liriano and Radke going down. Hunter being out for a time. The White Sox thought they could fix problems by adding free agents. Twins plugged holes from their farm system. Any true baseball fan has to appreciate what the Twins have accomplised and recognize the over hyped Wsox,

The Sox offense seemed awful streaky at times this year. A lot of that is the product of moving to a power lineup. I also noticed the up and down career Scott Posednick has had. He was one of the reasons the Sox were able to get on base and run as much as they have.

And Mr. Luft, Can you and the rest of the media please refrain from referencing the idiot writer from the Sun Times. If we all ignore him maybe he will go away. He is a discredit to your profession and in no way should be given any acknowledgement.

Well, I was born and raised a White Sox fan, and I will be the first to tell you that the Tigers and Twins are two great teams. With that said, the team simply didn't have the magic that captivated the world of baseball like it did last year. I am still suprised that this many people are writing about the White Sox, even though they didn't sell themselves out by writing 500000 books about winning the Series and "breaking the curse". People can say all they want about Ozzie; how he is a loud mouth, how karma came and kicked him in the butt... The simple fact is everyone thought Ozzies was GREAT last year, injecting new life into the managers world, as opposed to the guy just sitting there not doing anything. I like his honesty, it's a whole lot better than some spin doctor trying to sugarcoat everything. Good luck to the Tigers and Twins, BEAT THOSE YANKEES!!

I must say i am a HUGE White Sox fan, but i have to tip my hat to the twins. i think what the Sox needed to do was stop complimenting the twins and actually try beating them. the pitching, both starting and relief was more than disappointing and they basically ran out of key hits by the end of the year. i would still say though, this team is capable of being elite next year, as long as they address their problems in starting rotation and shortstop position. Go Sox !!!

All year long there were those; who like most of us, had no idea how it would all end. If you look at the win column you see a 4 or 5 games difference and the total at 90 or more. If you were a National League guy you'd see three of the best teams in baseball and the league your in being in less talented. It all won't matter in a month because they will all be jockeying for postion next year.

You Twin fans are gonig to find out you need more than 1 starter in the postseason. Have fun being first-round losers again!

To the post commenting on several Twins players having career seasons and possibly falling back to earth next year, you are absolutely correct. Sometimes it is the intangibles and chemistry that brings all of the pieces together. The White Sox had it last year and the Twins found it in June this year. The Twins have never been a big ball team - they always do the fundamentals well and they manufacture runs. This year, they have had better offensive output than in the past and this has helped give them some additional insurance to make it easier on a suspect pitching staff - Liriano and Radke injured. Having said that, I have to admit, I really was hoping that the final playoff spot would have come down to the final series between the Twins and the White Sox this year. Would have been a great way to end the regular season - for either team.

Kinda reminds me of Baltimore back in 99/2000 when they had the third best ERA (I think, memories not exact!), lousy offence & lost a lot of games 3-2. Mike Flanagan announced during the off-season his goal was to add 100 runs, which he did but that great pitching went south, the upshot being the Orioles lost a lot og 4-3 games. Everything has to come together & it just happens or doesn't. A GM tries their best but really, it is up to fate.

Yes, pitching is an issue with them but you logic about the hitting stinks.

Let's see, they are out of the playoffs by say 6-7 games. If they won 4 more against either the Tigers of Twins they would be in. If they had 9 more bunts, 20 less strikeouts and 30 more steals in those 4 games I would dare say they would have won them. Not likely to be done but if they had matched last years total in those 4 games they are in.

A wise man once said, in baseball everyone will win ~50 games and lose ~50 games. It's what you do in the other 50 that count. It was just bad luck the T's were better this year in those other 50.

Pitching is what did it. Period. Anyone with sense can see that from one look at the RS and RA between the two years. However, I wouldn't expect any intelligent analysis from the White Sox's obnoxious, Leyroy Brown, Jerry Springer-guest fan base.

As said before, the Sox pitchings was exactly where it was supposed to be this year. Average. Last year was a fluke for them. The team is still OK, but don't expect a dynasty unless they bring in 3 good starters. Now, to call the Twins flukish borders on the ridiculous. They have been consistent over the past 5 years. The difference now is they have Mauer and Morneau playing to near their respective potentials. Also, they have arguably the top farm system in baseball. The palyers know their roles and play without ego. That's how you play this game. If they had started the season properly, the Central wouldn't even be a race. Just let Liriano come back heathly next spring and see what they can really do. Hopefully the Sox can come back to play for the team and not just themselves. It's only fun if there's a challenge.

Oh gawd, I have seen the obvious Twin Hating White Sox fans speaking. And it is pretty sad. Granted I am a Twins Fan, and I always will be. However, I want to touch on a few things that I have noticed. The White Sox are still a very good team. They seemed to lose interest when they fell to far behind at the end of August, but thats not my point. The Tigers IMHO are the team really coming down to earth. They will probably win the AL-Central and take care of Oakland. However, the Twins have been very consistant in winning. Someone stated they only have 1 starter. I think that is false. They only have 1 really big superstar (Santana) and 1 really big dissapointment (Silva). However, Garza and Bosner have been VERY strong, and Baker is coming around a bit. Thier defense is incredible, and I believe they have the highest batting average in the league if not all of baseball. That is why they are winning. Not so much becuase of the Sox so called demise, but they are a cohesive unit, and that will make them Very dangerous in the playoffs, even against the Yankees. (I give that series a 50/50 shot, as thats what happened in thier regular season meetings)

As a twins fan you come to appreciate how the twins, know as a cute little team to the rest of the nation, plays the game. Its great to see that every year we hang around and watch the Sox get all the media attention and then take advantage of the Sox tanking at the end of the year, with the exception of last year (congrats on a great year by the Sox).

You have to give all the credit to our GM Terry Ryan. He has no money to spend so we cant go out and buy people like almost every other team. Therefore we scout and scout and scout some more. We do have the best farm system in the league no matter what anyone says. This is because we have tons of great pitching prospects. You can buy anything in this league with pitching.

When we do trade we know what we are doing, take this for example. A few years ago we pull off prolly the best trade in sports history. We send AJ Pierzynski, a good not outstanding clutch catcher off to the Giants for the playoffs because we had Mauer waiting in the wings, and who do we get back? Joe Nathan , Fransico Liriano, and our current #2 starter Boof Bonser who has turned it around in the last couple months.

This is how we role in Minnesota

I think Kenny Williams has learned his lesson, and will start pulling the trigger on trades more often.The Sox NEED a center fielder to replace Anderson. He will never hit for average or power.As far as the pitching goes, Buehrle's fastball couldn't break a pane of glass. The Sox need a pitcher who can finish off batters, instead of loosing them after they get two strikes on them.Also, if you look at McCarthy's fastball that comes in over the top, it is as straight as an arrow coming in.
he looks like a mechanical pitching machine at times. Get Charlie Haeger into the starting rotation. The kid looks like Wilbur Wood out there!!

I really enjoyed Ozzieball last year, they played like a true team with all the chemistry involved. Compare that to the Chicago Cubs "dysfunctions"!! The White Sox still have the same basic team so the magic can come back again. There is some value to the notion that the pitching was not performing well compared to last year. I believe its the post championship blues which can affect most teams (except the yankees..what money can buy! ).