Why, hello there, part 1 (a/k/a the 2005 Regular Season recap)

So, yeah, where've I been? Well, I suppose now's as good a time as any to catch up on this here Chisox blog, seeing as the Sox, y'know, FUCKING WON IT ALL IN 2005 and everything. Still mentally raising the roof over that monumental achievement...mercy.

And no, I didn't give up on the team this year, despite what I wrote in December of '04 below. I actually started to give the team a chance when it appeared that KW was not going to stay put during the offseason. After getting my ass burned (and I mean burned) with the late-season collapse in 2003 and the fucking pathetic-assed display they put on in July of '04, I was just not in a charitable mood toward the team, and for once really, really despaired that they would ever amount to anything. So I spent the first part of the offseason with the attitude of "show me what you got, White Sox." And Kenny Williams took some chances...December resulted in the Sox signing Dustin Hermanson (versatile pitcher who could start, set up, or close) and Jermaine Dye (an acceptable, decent alternative to Maggs), and making the blockbuster, money-saving trade of CLee for Scott Podsednik and Luis Vizcaino, probably his biggest gamble of the entire offseason. And then January featured the signing of El Duque (whose value truly became evident in Game 3 of the ALDS), "clubhouse cancer" AJ Pierzynski, and finally, Tadahito Iguchi at second base on January 24, which was the deal that finally broke down my resistance barriers and resulted in me signing up for a 9-game ticket plan, when I was seriously considering not buying any tickets before the season started.

I ended up going to 17 games during the regular season, and the Sox only won 8 of those, but I did see some classics: the 1-0 home opening win pitched by Buehrle over the Tribe; the 6/18 1959 retro uni game against the Dodgers, where the Sox entered the bottom of the 9th down 3-1, tied it at 3 and then won it 5-3 on a chilling 2-run blast by AJ Pierzynski that ranks up there as the best regular-season moment I'd personally witnessed since Carlos Lee's 10th inning, game-winning grand slam against the Cubs in June, 2001; and the clinching game against the Tigers on 9/29 in Detroit, finally nailed down by Bobby Jenks in the 9th after the Tigers scraped together a serious threat with no outs (thanks in part to a rare Joe Crede error on a routine grounder). 2005 ended up being not quite the cakewalk it was panning out to be as the team entered August with a double-digit lead over both the Twins and the resurgent Indians. On September 22, the Sox lost a crushing 11-inning game 4-1 while the Tribe kept rolling, and reduced the Sox's lead to just 1-1/2 games, and I thought they might actually, honest-to-Pete really fucking blow it.

That final week of the season provided the biggest thrills of the year, as the Sox found their ground and held up against the very impressive Tribe, who finally relented. Here's how it went down:

9/23 - Sox beat the Twins 3-1 on a Jose Contreras complete game; Indians beat the Royals 7-6 thanks to some shitty defense by the KC squad in the 9th. Sox lead: 1-1/2 games.

9/24 - Sox cream the Twins 8-1 as Freddy Garcia only allows 4 hits; Indians pound 4 homers en route to destroying the Royals 11-4. Sox lead: 1-1/2 games.

9/25 - Sox cruise over the Twinkies 4-1; and, in probably the key game of the year for the Tribe, the Royals actually win 5-4 in the 9th inning on a ball lost in the sun by outfielder Grady Sizemore, which allows the winning run to score. Nice. Sox lead: 2-1/2 games.

9/26 - Cliff Politte gives up a game-winning homer to Tigers outfielder Curtis Granderson, giving the Tiggers the 4-3 win; Cleveland idle. Sox lead: 2 games.

9/27 - Nate Robertson and the Tigers again top the Sox 3-2; Cleveland can't find its footing against the pesky D-Rays and fall 5-4. Sox lead: 2 games.

9/28 - The beginning of the end for the Tribe...Sox clobber the Tigers 8-2; Indians get blanked 1-0 by the D-Rays. Ouch. Sox lead: 3 games. One more win by the White Sox clinches the division, thanks to the math involving potential wild card opponents.

9/29 - Sox clinch 4-2 over the Tigers in the afternoon, so what the Indians do is moot (they won 6-0). Game over, man.

The Sox, playing many bench players, go on to sweep the Tribe in Cleveland the final weekend of the season, ruining Cleveland's chances of winning the Wild Card spot. This, of course, is a fortuitous development, in retrospect. Of all the AL teams vying for playoff spots, Cleveland was the most dangerous against the Sox along with Anaheim.

There is no doubt in my mind that the pressure put on the Sox to not choke away a 15-game lead made them better prepared for the playoffs than they would have been had they cruised to the AL Central title with an 8- or 12-game margin, so I tip my hat to the Tribe for what they almost accomplished. Repeating as champs in this division will not be an easy task in 2006.