Kenny Williams wasn't happy Monday as he talked to reporters in not-quite-off-the-record fashion. He felt like the White Sox had given away winnable games on their recent West Coast trip, winnable games that could have put them in first place. And even though the Sox came out on the winning end of a back-and-forth game, it's hard to imagine he felt much better 6 hours later.
The Sox were still giving games away -- What other purpose does Scott Linebrink have? -- but the Royals have perfected the craft through years of organizational ineptitude.
There might not be a more hollow victory all season.
- Linebrink gets the win after giving up two 2-out walks and a first pitch, game-tying homer to Mike Jacobs
- Scott Podsednik gets CSN Player of the Game honors on a night, like most others, that he made you want to... trail off without finishing your thought so that your post is as incomplete as his game.
It's almost as if the baseball gods are just fucking with us. They have to be. If I had bothered to write anything about the weekend, I would have commented about the proper usage of Bobby Jenks in a tie game on the road in the bottom of the 9th inning. But we all know how that worked out, which might help reinforce (to Ozzie and others) the notion that Jenks shouldn't be used in high-leverage non-save situations. Which would be a horrible conclusion to make, especially given the alternatives.
Anyway, I suppose a lot of us feel a lot like Kenny. This whole season has been one long tease. The division is right there for the taking. It will probably only take one 5-1 or 6-1 week to take over the division. But the Sox are running out of weeks. And even though most of the games have been exciting when viewed in a vacuum, collectively they've made this Sox season one of the most frustrating in recent memory... even in victory.