Chicago White Sox: Nothing Interesting This September

Chicago White Sox ace Mark Buehrle lures Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera into whiffing at a tailing cut fastball in the fifth inning.  Alexei Ramirez snags a line drive shot off the bat of Victor Martinez in the eighth.  White Sox radio play-by-play analyst Ed Farmer refers to the moment only by saying that Buehrle is "facing the minimum."  Then, Buehrle induces Brandon Inge into hitting a shallow pop fly.  The ball falls into Paul Konerko's glove, giving Buehrle his third no-hitter in five seasons.

Sorry.  That was a fantasy that I had during a 12-mile run on Sunday.

In reality, Tigers hitters chased Buerhle for seven earned runs in 3 1/3 innings in his worst outing of the year en route to an 18-2 thrashing Sunday night that completed the three-game sweep.  The pitcher who befuddled opposing batters on Sunday, Max Scherzer wore Tigers blue.

Maybe I should have kept reading Barbara Ehrenreich's investigative book Nickel and Dimed instead of checking on the game during the Tigers' seven run sixth.  Catching that horrific moment didn't cause me as much pain as scrubbing floors probably caused Ehrenreich's then-48 year-old body when she worked as a house cleaner during her infiltration of the lower working class, but it did make painfully clear that the White Sox's bumbling run in the American League Central race is done.

The White Sox have given their fans enough angst.  After tumbling through April, they leaped towards .500 close to midseason only to stumble again.  August was filled with ups and downs, marked especially with peeks at the winning side of baseball.  Now, as the White Sox stand eight-and-a-half games behind the Tigers, they can officially be declared done.

The proverbial fork can be stuck in their figurative side.

The young players, from Brett Lillibridge and Tyler Flowers to recent call-ups like Dayan Viciedo and Eduardo Escobar, shall dominate the lineup.  Their time has come.  The veterans--especially Adam Dunn and Alex Rios--shall take their rest.  Ozzie Guillen can finally shut down Jake Peavy, which Guillen had contemplated on Saturday.

Now, the White Sox have clearly reached the point in the season where the remaining games are as much about evaluating young talent and envisioning how the young talent fits into the picture for next season as it is about winning. The White Sox can gain a bit of clarity about where they might play Lillibridge next year.  Also, the White Sox can see what sort of hitter Dayan Viciedo might be at the major league level.  Zach Stewart has a chance to prove that he belongs in the big leagues.

In baseball--especially White Sox baseball--winning is never through when playoff contention is through.  Fun games may still be in store.  The White Sox might even finish with a winning record. However, that is no reason to be excited about 23 remaining games that won't have any consequences in the playoff picture.

The Tigers might still have a late-season collapse in them.  However, that is an opportunity the Cleveland Indians might seize upon, not the White Sox.

The White Sox have had an interesting season as pretenders.  Pretenders like this White Sox team may rise and fall, but they do not breathe life after their playoff chances have died.

White Sox fans may gain some perspective about the season that has been, the players who may develop in the remaining games, and about the future of the White Sox, as well as Guillen.

If any White Sox fans need something more interesting to do than watch their favorite team play meaningless games, Nickel and Dimed is a great book.