'Choke' not in White Sox vocabulary

[greasywheels121]

http://whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/ar...tives&fext=.jsp

 

'Choke' not in White Sox vocabulary

Chicago wins three big games against Twins

Mike Bauman

 

CHICAGO -- We can now put that thing about the Chicago White Sox "choking" to bed. Or we can throw it out with the rest of the garbage. Or we can file it under "September despair, Chicago-style," and forget it.

 

You don't choke when you win three straight in the last 10 days of a season over a team that has won your division three years in a row. This is what the White Sox did this weekend, winning the last three of a four-game series from the Minnesota Twins in splendid style. Sunday, in the last home game of the regular season, the Sox emerged with a 4-1 victory, featuring the return to form of Mark Buehrle, aggressive baserunning and one more big home run.

 

But the truth is that even before this weekend revival, there hadn't been anything of the choke in the White Sox performance. The classic choke occurs when a superior team loses to inferior opposition. But what about the fact that the White Sox lead in the American League Central had shrunk from 15 games to 1 1/2? There are individuals in the Chicago media whose primary mission in life in recent weeks seems to be calling the White Sox chokers.

 

No, this was not a choke. What this reflected was two things: The White Sox were bound to come to earth after a fantastic first half. And the Cleveland Indians were burning up the entire league, winning 17 of their last 19 and 38 of their last 50 before a loss Sunday.

 

That loss, cheered wildly when it appeared on the U.S. Cellular Field scoreboard, allowed the White Sox to get their lead back to 2 1/2 games. This is obviously not as luxurious as a 15-game lead, but with one week left in the regular season, it is still much more palatable for worried Sox fans than 1 1/2.

 

As it turns out, the Sox were not supposed to be as wonderful as their 57-29 first half indicated. But they are better than the treading water, going 37-32 in the second half. In the end, the White Sox were not as untouchable as the first half indicated, but not as mediocre as their recent results suggest. They are somewhere in between, but it's a good somewhere, because at the moment, they still have the best record in the AL.

 

It is difficult to get a balanced reading on the Sox locally because the atmosphere was probably overly ecstatic earlier in the season and has undoubtedly been overly panicky in recent weeks. For an objective look at who these Sox are now after the amazing ups and dramatic downs, we went to manager Ron Gardenhire, who knows exactly what it takes to win in this neighborhood, because his Twins won those last three division titles.

 

"They've got great pitching, their pitching has stepped up and done it, and they've caught the ball," Gardenhire said Sunday. "[shortstop Juan] Uribe and [second baseman Tadahito] Iguchi have settled the middle of the infield to where they make all the plays, [third baseman Joe] Crede has gotten better and better and [catcher] A.J. Pierzynski has come in and helped out the pitching staff. [scott] Podsednik out there in left field has given them another dimension, stealing bases and running around. And they can hit home runs. So you've covered all the areas you're supposed to cover."

 

The Chicago slump is not the mark of an inevitable decline, Gardenhire suggests, but an almost inevitable downturn for a team that was almost unbelievably hot for nearly four months.

 

"I guess everybody thought that they played so well for the first half of the season that they would never have any kind of a slump," Gardenhire said. "But all teams have a little bit of a lull. They've gone through it and it looks to me like they're starting to play a lot better.

 

"It's not that they've played so bad. It's that the other guys have set it on fire just like the White Sox did for more than half a year."

 

After all the ups and downs, all the early elation and all the later predictions of doom and gloom, the White Sox come to the last week of the season 2 1/2 games in front of the Indians. It could have been easier. Maybe it should have been easier. But the Sox are still in the divisional driver's seat.

 

"There's no question that there's disappointment that [the race] got to the point that it got to," said first baseman Paul Konerko, who hit his 38th home run of the season Sunday. "But I think we've done a pretty good job in the last few days of realizing , 'OK, it is a race, let's not try to be in denial about that. This is a race. It's tightened up. Now, let's play ball.'

 

"I wish we could have clinched earlier. I wish we could have clinched on this homestand, for the fans and all. But if you had told us in the beginning of the season we'd be going into the last week of the season with our hopes in our own hands, we definitely would have taken it. There wasn't one person, you guys (reporters) included, who picked us to win this division. Don't lie.

 

"If you look at the big picture, this has been a great year and we hope to finish it off and do something in the playoffs. But yeah, it's been a nerve-wracking thing, considering that we had it in the bag a lot more than we have it now. It's kind of two-parted, but you've just got to forget about the other thing, and just go from here and do our best."

 

The White Sox will now play four games in Detroit and three in Cleveland. You like their chances, with that 2 1/2-game lead and the fact that they have a better record on the road than they have at home.

 

But if they were to lose the division now, it still wouldn't constitute choking. After 155 games, it is fairly clear that the Sox and the Indians are teams of roughly comparable value. The Sox season has been front-loaded with victories. The Indians' year has been back-loaded with triumph.

 

You would rather be the Indians in that regard, because when you're charging hard from off the pace, the atmosphere is very positive and the questions tend to be easier, too. The Indians have never led this division this season, but they also haven't been accused of choking.

 

The White Sox, meanwhile, have been in first place every day of this season. They soared, they slumped, and this weekend they regrouped. The one thing they haven't done is choke.

[greasywheels121]

And one more time, just for the record...

 

MLB        	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	STRK	L10

x-St. Louis	97	60	.618	-	47-29	50-31	770	607	Won 1	3-7

Chicago Sox	94	61	.606	2	47-34	47-27	714	628	Won 3	5-5

Cleveland	92	64	.590	4.5	42-33	50-31	774	627	Lost 1	9-1

NY Yankees	91	64	.587	5	53-28	38-36	844	745	Won 1	8-2

Boston   	91	64	.587	5	50-24	41-40	876	774	Won 3	6-4

LA Angels	89	66	.574	7	49-32	40-34	724	619	Lost 1	8-2

Atlanta 	89	67	.571	7.5	52-26	37-41	735	637	Won 3	5-5

Oakland 	85	69	.552	10.5	44-32	41-37	744	626	Won 1	5-5

Houston 	85	71	.545	11.5	51-26	34-45	669	590	Lost 1	8-2

Philadelphia	84	72	.538	12.5	45-33	39-39	763	701	Won 1	6-4

Florida  	80	76	.513	16.5	42-33	38-43	691	694	Lost 3	2-8

NY Mets 	78	77	.503	18	45-32	33-45	687	611	Won 3	6-4

Minnesota	78	77	.503	18	40-34	38-43	657	636	Lost 3	3-7

[Rowand44]

That's the best article I've read all season.

[bmags]

good good article

[THEWOOD]

very nice..thanks for sharing

[S720]

There are individuals in the Chicago media whose primary mission in life in recent weeks seems to be calling the White Sox chokers.

 

I think Mike Bauman was talking about you Moronotti!

[Jordan4life_2007]

If the Sox fail to make the playoffs after sporting a 15 game lead just 6 weeks ago, what else would you call it? It's all good, though, I think we're gonna hold on and win this thing.

[Rowand44]

If the Sox fail to make the playoffs after sporting a 15 game lead just 6 weeks ago,  what else would you call it?  It's all good,  though,  I think we're gonna hold on and win this thing.

We're playing right around .500 ball since then, Cleveland is just playing out of their minds. I don't know how you can call it a choke but whatever I think we're all tired of talking about this subject anyways. Lets just win the division and not worry about it.

[Jordan4life_2007]

We're playing right around .500 ball since then, Cleveland is just playing out of their minds.  I don't know how you can call it a choke but whatever I think we're all tired of talking about this subject anyways.  Lets just win the division and not worry about it.

 

 

No argument here.

[The Critic]

We're playing right around .500 ball since then, Cleveland is just playing out of their minds.  I don't know how you can call it a choke but whatever I think we're all tired of talking about this subject anyways.  Lets just win the division and not worry about it.

This is the part that was making my wife crazy.

She unfortunately had to listen to me going around in circles:

"I don't know how it can be a choke if the Sox still have the best record in the AL.....But they've lost 10 of their last 14 ( before the Twins series )...... But it wouldn't matter if Cleveland wasn't playing out of their minds.....I just don't want it to come down to next weekend in Cleveland......But in a weird way, I kinda DO want them to take the division title in Cleveland, to prove a point to them.....but that f***ing HAFNER......"

and so on.

The woman is a SAINT to put up with me.....

[Rowand44]

This is the part that was making my wife crazy.

She unfortunately had to listen to me going around in circles:

"I don't know how it can be a choke if the Sox still have the best record in the AL.....But they've lost 10 of their last 14 ( before the Twins series )...... But it wouldn't matter if Cleveland wasn't playing out of their minds.....I just don't want it to come down to next weekend in Cleveland......But in a weird way, I kinda DO want them to take the division title in Cleveland, to prove a point to them.....but that f***ing HAFNER......"

and so on.

The woman is a SAINT to put up with me.....

What about all of us here who have to put up with you.

[Whitesoxfan56]

the part that i liked was:

The White Sox, meanwhile, have been in first place every day of this season. They soared, they slumped, and this weekend they regrouped. The one thing they haven't done is choke.

 

that statement is so true

[Balta1701]

Of course the word "Choke" isn't in our vocabulary. Every time Ozzie says, it the folks on Sportscenter think he's saying that we're not a "Joke".

[The Critic]

What about all of us here who have to put up with you.  

Oh, f*** you guys, who gives a s***???

 

Trust me, there is no "ignore" feature at home.....

[Hawkfan]

losing a 15 game lead is choking, i don't care how slice that pizza.

[Whitesoxfan56]

losing a 15 game lead is choking, i don't care how slice that pizza.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

they didnt lose any lead yet

[YASNY]

they didnt lose any lead yet

 

And they are not going to.

[RockRaines]

losing a 15 game lead is choking, i don't care how slice that pizza.

some sort of broken english??

[SpringfieldFan]

But the truth is that even before this weekend revival, there hadn't been anything of the choke in the White Sox performance. The classic choke occurs when a superior team loses to inferior opposition.

 

Huh? I guess he thought Brett, McRae and Otis were back playing for the Royals a couple weeks ago?

 

I still have to call it a choke, but it looks like they might just have pulled out a Heimlich maneuver at the end.

 

SFF

Edited September 26, 2005 by SpringfieldFan

[quade36]

I am amazed that someone would write such a good article. Kudos.....

[TheBigHurt]

I loved this article as well. Some optomism, confidence, and sense for once.

[hammerhead johnson]

losing a 15 game lead is choking, i don't care how slice that pizza.

 

Did you miss the part where it said that the Indians are 38-12 over their last 50 games? That projects out to a 123-39 record over a full season. If they were in the NL Central, the Cardinals would have lost like 15 games off of their lead since the ASB. What an insane f***ing choke job that would have been.

 

Maybe people should give some credit to a team that has clearly established itself as world-series caliber. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY wants to go heads up with the Indians in the playoffs.

 

We just have to hope that they lose in the 1st round with the wack 5 game format, because if we play them in a 7 game series?

Edited September 26, 2005 by hammerhead johnson

[Balta1701]

Maybe people should give some credit to a team that has clearly established itself as world-series caliber.  Nobody, and I mean NOBODY wants to go heads up with the Indians in the playoffs.

 

We just have to hope that they lose in the 1st round with the wack 5 game format, because if we play them in a 7 game series? 

I would LOVE to see that ALCS.

[Colorado Sox Fan]

I would LOVE to see that ALCS.

 

I would love to see ANY ALCS involving the Sox.