PDXSOX

Incredibly disappointing, to be sure. Completely foreseeable, absolutely. So much for all the "experts" talking about the irrelevance of a poor record against a team you get to face first in the playoffs. It is and was all true - the Sox were very lucky to be in the AL Central, it made them look much better than they were. I resent the fact that, given that management must have known this, they dismissed the importance of winning, of developing a killer instinct to crush opponents, for 6, 8, maybe 10 weeks at the end of the season. And what you saw was a team with talented pitchers who didn't pitch, talented hitters who didn't hit - in short, not ready for prime time. The net result is the same as if Ricky Renteria were still there - I, for one, hope that Tony does the right thing and steps down - he had his shot, it didn't happen, and Reinsdorf won't fire him again. Rodon - hey, thanks for the memories, go get paid - elsewhere, I'm down with that. Rodon pitched in both games that blew the Sox out of the playoffs 2 years in a row - let Boros stick that into a Powerpoint and spin it for all it's worth. Net/net - the team rode over an awful division (Tom Brady knows how that feels in his NE years), bragged they were better than they could show to be, got pummeled in their first playoff series, and had none of its key stars show up when it mattered. They were outclassed - by a mile - by the Astros in terms of talent, skill at baseball, and overall determination to win. Maybe to prove that they can win without cheating? Who knows? They weren't cheating this time - forget about that - the White Sox missed their moment. They need more pitching, more reliable pitching, more experience, fewer headcases; they need the hitters they have to hit, remember how to hit, something. And they need to learn to pick up the ball and throw it straight - I've never seen a sloppier team for a whole season. At the end of the day, the White Sox are this year's Twins - the AL Central excuse for a playoff team that has no business being in the playoffs and gets pounded and thrown out in the first round. Hurray! I guess you can call it a development year. Screw the bat flips - hit the ball, get on base, hit home runs, throw strikes and miss bats. Back to basics. I can't say - and won't - the Cub's refrain for decades. Next year is promised to no one. Hopefully Soxfest doesn't turn into a Cub event where they all congratulate themselves on getting close but still getting their participation trophy. I live outside Chicago, so there's no more Cubs angst here - but it's worse in a way. My Sox gear is going away for the winter, because I don't feel like getting the out-of-town commentary on how the loud South-siders went out with a whimper - or a roar from the other team as Liam gave up that 3 run homer. Make the team better, Rick - and Kenny - and especially, Jerry. And lose LaRussa along the way, please.

Look, berate the OP all you want. He's a little negative, yeah. But the point is, the Sox need to start ramping up - the 'who cares' month of September is rapidly coming to an end. And 'flipping a switch' isn't all that easy or what it's cracked up to be. They are too lax, and verging on becoming complacent. I, for one, won't be surprised if they're ousted pretty quickly, although I hope they find the extra gear to go farther than their first round. In any case, they need to start ramping up to playoff mode any day now - it gets too easy to sluff it all off as 'not mattering'. They need to get it together, and start showing up. Hopefully they do - but with every passing day and a middling effort against crap teams, my aspirations for a big post-season diminish. It's been too long since they actually seemed to consider that winning a game was worth the effort.

I think that makes me feel worse about the prospects of a long post-season... Haha!

Haha, I moved out here from Chicago 3 years ago... So I think, there are 3 of us now!

Well, this lackadaisical approach to running through the end of the season has made the Sox a pretty tedious watch, in general. I actually don't sit and watch them much because it aggravates me. Yeah, resting, games don't matter, yadda, yadda - the age-old back and forth on which is the better approach. But if getting hot in the playoffs is what matters, it's becoming harder and harder for me to watch this team and envision anything 'hot' turning on for the post-season in a few weeks time. Cease buried the team tonight - they fought back, but great - we end up with Wright in the 10th? Say what? That's when I figure that the manager doesn't want to win this one, for whatever "Hall of Fame Manager" reason, then great - damned if I'm going to care any more - I flipped it off, knowing the outcome was inevitable. The Sox need to tighten up, start looking like their head is in it, well before the playoffs, so they have a chance to ramp up to post-season form. Thank God their division is so god-awful!