White Sox Must Man Up and Kill Some Pirannas

The White Sox have spent the last few months clinging to a slim to non-existent lead in the AL Central.  Starting tonight they have a chance to blow that lead open and win the division crown.

Forget the Sox struggles up in the dome.  Forget the fact that suddenly the offense is stagnant, the bullpen is atrocious, and that Ozzie Guillen is calling out his supposed staff ace to step up and be a man.

This is what it is supposed to come down to: two teams fighting for a division meeting head to head in the final week of the season.

As a White Sox fan born in 1983 I have never experienced a division race like this one.  The three times in my lifetime that the Sox have won a division it was all but decided by the last week of the season.

It is time for the White Sox to show up to a big series, stomp the Twins, and serve notice to a winnable American League that Ozzie and the boys are coming back to October.  It will take good starting pitching, timely hitting, a bend but don't break bullpen, and swagger.

The word for this week is just that—swagger.  Throughout the season, just when it looked like the Sox would fade away, they stepped up time and time again, winning games with comebacks and getting gutsy performances from their starting pitchers.  If the good guys can show some swagger, they may just return home as division champions.

Look for the veterans to step up.  Jermaine Dye is way overdue, having not hit a home run since Quentin went down.  Paul Konerko and Jim Thome are making good solid contact, while Dewayne "What Can't He Do?" Wise is playing like he just might never get a chance to play ever again.

If the Sox offense can reach down deep and put some runs up against a tired Twins staff it will all be over by Thursday night.  

The math is simple if the Sox can sweep.  Three wins and they return home division champs.  If they can win two of three, their magic number will be one.  At that point it would take three Twins victories, four Sox losses, and a Sox loss in a one-game playoff (at the Cell) for the Twins to steal the division.

Lose the series and Sox fans will have to live through the final weekend.  But even if the Sox lose two of three they still will have a two-game lead in the loss column, meaning they only need to split their remaining four games to at least force the one game playoff at home.  

A Twins sweep?  Believe it or not, the Sox will still control their own destiny and force a playoff on Tuesday on the south side.

Strap it down, Sox fans.