Good-bye, 2008 White Sox

As far as season-ending losses go, this one was pretty painless.

That's the way Jim Margalus at Sox Machine (the best White Sox blog out there) described tonight's 6-2 season ending loss to Tampa Bay. As I sat on my couch, watching the outs slowly melt away, there was no agony or depression like in 2003. No heart-breaking dissapointment a la the 2000 ALDS. No bitter numbess like in 2007. It was just ending. A remarkable season, unlike any other in White Sox history ended today, on our home turf with a whimper. When Ken Griffey, Jr. struck out to end the Sox season and perhaps his career, it was just over, like any other game. Of course, over the next few days when I come from work with nothing to watch on television that baseball is over for the winter, but tonight strangely doesn't feel like that. Tonight was a night to celebrate all the Sox had done in 2008; they went from division doormats to a wild, roller coaster play-off race, to division champs. I think this guy, a part-time columnist from Rockford got it better than anyone else. Even the players and management were in good spirits, all things considered.

From a fan... Good-bye, 2008 White Sox. You weren't my favorite. But this was a great season. I had a lot of fun, and when compared to last year, when in mid-season I was agonizingly counting down the days left in that failed campaign, I am already counting down the days until pitchers and catchers report. I'm pumped for 2009, hoping for more heroics at the Cell.

Not much in the news today... Kenny Williams said he has a plan for this off-season that is a crossroads for the organization. With some premium young talent, like Carlos Quentin, Alexei Ramirez, John Danks, and Gavin Floyd, the Sox have an enviable core to build around, but there are a lot of question marks, some the Tribune hits, others it doesn't.

Quickly, as far as I see it, in the starting 9, there are 3 question marks for the '09 Sox... Center field, Shortstop/Second base (depending on where Ramirez settles), and Third base. If the Sox can add three speedy, decent OBP guys to those holes you may be looking at a 90+ win team next year. More off-season musings to come in the next few weeks.

Shockingly, a guy who covers the Tampa Bay Rays has little concept of baseball... The meekest Sox play-off loss since 1919? Come on, dude, stick to the Rays and leave the rest to us. 2000 ring a bell? When the Sox put up the best record in the American League and were swept in the first round by Seattle? Don't pat yourselves on the back too hard, the 15 or so Ray fans out there, we've been beaten much worse before.

A day after his gutsy performance in Game 3, Ranger fans are still trying to put a positive spin on the Danks/McCarthy deal.

Finally, on the lighter side, we have Evan Brunell over at some conglomerate of sports blogs, Most Valuable Network (MVN), who plays GM for the Padres in the '09 off-season today. First move? Trade Khalil Greene, a nearly 29-year-old middle infielder who hit .213/.260/.339 (all career lows) last year for the Padres and is due $6.5 million in '09 for Clayton Richard, the Sox's 24-year-old lefty prospect who had mixed results in his first 1/2-season spend in the bigs.

Uh, OK, dude.

As for White Soxing... I'm not taking too much time off. Work is crazy right now, but there's some off-season stuff to be done.... Player report cards, off-season predictions, etc. Plus, by now I think we all know Kenny Williams isn't afraid to pull the trigger, so there should be some juicy off-season news to write about. Come check back before February, you here?

As for now, enjoy the ALCS, NLCS, and World Series, and go Bears!