I was less eager to write the obituary for the 2009 White Sox than Stormin Norman was when he gleefully leapt off the Cubs bandwagon earlier this month.  There was nothing cathartic for me in coming to grips with the Sox demise. Stormin Norman’s at least freed his mind from caring for a team that never gave him any reason to care for them all season long. I wish my team was like the really hot girlfriend whom I spent way too much money on, only to realize she wasn’t worth all of the crazy temper tantrums taken out on Gatorade machines, accusing me of being racist, and standing me up on dates in Denver because she pulled some back muscles during batting practice, I mean washing her hair. That way when I realized it was time to dump her ass, I could at least feel great leaving her a strongly worded voicemail that our relationship was over and that “No, she could not get me to buy her another corner outfielder before I left.” But no, that feeling is saved only for the Northsiders this year.

I really can’t be mad at the Sox for their performance this year, and I won’t spend six long months wishing they were dead.  I guess it’s partially due to the fact that less was expected of the Sox from the beginning of the year. Can you imagine that some prognosticator’s predicted the Sox to at best finish 3rd in their division?!?!  And while never truly deserving of a full-on “underdog” tag, the Sox were saddled with lower expectations due to age (both young and old), injury concerns and lack of established fourth or fifth starters. This helped my psyche throughout the year when even an above-average performance led to the brief delusion that maybe there was something more to this team. Maybe the Good Guys do Wear Black, maybe the Grinder Rules do still apply, or maybe These Kids Can Really Play.  They always seemed to just be one hot week or two away from really putting it all together.  Alas, even in the face of the Tigers’ self-destructing September, the Sox couldn’t muster the streak necessary to save their season or their teammates (see Jim Thome and Jose Contreras).

The oddsmakers in Vegas had the Sox hovering around 79 or 80 wins when they broke spring training. Right now, after that craptastic showing against the Twins last night, the Sox are sitting at 73-78.  Even if the Sox can’t muster an 8-3 finish, which is likely, there are some good things to be taken away from this season.

a) We got Jake Peavy. I heard a little rumor that he unanimously won some award in the NL a couple years back for being like the best pitcher or something noteworthy like that. Either way, the Sox may have paid a little too much for his services or lack thereof this season, but even if he had been healthy for 6 or 7 more starts, I don’t know if it would’ve made a difference. Better to ensure his long term health rather than trotting him out there with a bum leg.

b) Gordon Beckham struggled at the plate late in the season but still held up well against the grind of his first professional season. He also showed signs of improvement defensively at the hot corner.  I think he might have found the position for him permanently since his reflexes have improved markedly, but he still lacks the range to be a great major league shortstop. All in all, Gordon has 91 hits in 93 games, showed some power with 12 home runs and 45 RBI’s and most importantly proved that he can hang with the big boys.  Hmmm, who would I rather have at 3B: a young, healthy Gordon Beckham who started hitting from the start, or Joe Crede who shut it down again this season to have his 3rd major back surgery?  That’s a real tough one.

c) This season was probably the best thing that could have happened to Chris Getz. The guy outplayed Lillibridge and Nix from the start of the season, avoided all the glare and criticism that comes with being a rookie with Beckham getting much of the buzz, and quietly put up some solid numbers. A .269 average, 98 hits, 25 SB, and a .986 fielding percentage.

d) Along with these two rookies proving their worth, the Sox organization has allowed some of their remaining youngsters to move quickly through the farm system and get a taste of the big leagues. While I think we should stick with AJ Pierzynski for as long as possible (2nd best offensive catcher in the AL behind Mauer, which is saying something), it’s good to see Tyler Flowers getting some at-bats this late in the season. His swing looks awfully long, but I have to keep reminding myself he put up monster numbers in AA, and even wunderkind Matt Wieters but up some atrocious numbers in his first 25 or 30 at-bats in the majors.  Tyler has had only 7 or 8 at-bats sporadically at the end of games to work out the kinks, and should begin to put things together or at least identify what he needs to work on during the offseason. Daniel Hudson is another youngster who has barreled through the minor leagues, which isn’t exactly a cakewalk considering the overall records of the Sox farm teams this year. He’ll need to develop another pitch to be a solid starter but the Sox seem to have some kind of blueprint for the future.  (Don’t ask me if Rios is in those blueprints, I have no idea what his ceiling or floor is).

While I hate to compare them to the Cubs, it’s a fact of life that we have two pro teams in this fair city and it’s tough not to think of the other team. The Sox had their share of disappointments from their corner out-fielders this year (I’m looking at you Mr. Quentin and Mr. Dye of the .189 August and .135 September). If I were a Cubs fan I would be writing to the Ricketts family and Jim Hendry to demand that Sam Fuld and Jake Fox get a fair chance to fight for one of those corner spots next spring, rather than simply buying the next “can’t miss free agent” to fill the void.   The Sox appear to have weathered a transitional year of managing to play competitive baseball with some extremely exciting moments (Exhibit A: Buehrle’s perfect game) while introducing a solid group of youngsters who should have long careers with the organization. And while this might not be the year for any team from the AL Central to make much noise in the post-season, the Sox are in better shape next year. I can’t help but think that one of these years the Cubs wouldn’t benefit from taking the same approach.

Instead, the Cubs once again went for the all-or-nothing strategy, and wound up predictably with a whole lotta nothing. Each time I saw one of the youngsters trotted out there, there was no satisfaction that the kid could be getting his big break. Instead, I hoped he enjoyed his momentary spot in the sunshine before the veteran returned to the lineup or the Cubs signed the next batch of off-season free agents to try and win it “next year”.

Either way, I’m not upset with the Sox this year. They made some pretty bold moves, shook some things up, weren’t complacent, and genuinely kept me interested even when they were trotting out Carlos Torres to start games. The future looks bright, if not spectacular and I can’t wait to see what Kenny has up his sleeve during the offseason.

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Tags: Chris Getz, Daniel Hudson, Gordon Beckham, Tyler Flowers, White Sox