AKA: This Recap Has A Wicked Case Of (Off)SAD
Today felt particularly somber as the 2010 White Sox season came to an official close, and the Sox won their 88th game of the year - what can be perceived as a successful season if your expectations were understandably low as we left the month of May.
Ozzie collected his 600th managerial win as the Sox barely held on to the lead in the 9th inning against the Indians. Nancy Faust bid her farewell to appreciative and emotional fans, after 40 years of delighting our ears with the clever tickling of her organ keys.
The big crybaby that baseball makes me, I couldn't help but shed a tear as Konerko received his standing ovation and re-emerged from the dugout to wave his hat at the crowd's loving "PAUL-IE" chants. And it wasn't because Kotsay would be taking his next at-bat either. A sterling year for our Captain, I cannot imagine the Sox let him walk away this offseason.
Overall this was a helluva fun bipolar season, regardless of our shortcomings and ultimate failure to stack up to the Twins. I enjoyed myself a-plenty throughout the 160ish days that treated me to Sox ballgames and the leather hitting the gloves, the balls cracking off the bats, the finesse of Thornton's heat, the smiles on Alexei's face when he often shocked himself on defense, the Command of Kong, the surge of Sergio and Sale, the impressive veteran showing from Old Man Vizquel, the blossoming of Beckham, the long smooth strides of a running Rios, the unsung left-field/leadoff man, and of course, the sacrificial Teahen who should've just stayed dead.