Redefine What I Expect of You

From regrets and failure I arise
To redefine all they expected of me

Sometimes I feel like I put too much of myself into this team.

There is so much talent on this roster.  We have at least two young pitchers who are ridiculously good at what they do.  We have a pitcher who threw not only a no-hitter in 2007 but a perfect game this season.  We have two players who have hit over 300 home runs, and up until the end of August, we had one that hit over 500.  Recently, we acquired the 2007 NL Cy Young winner.  We have the 2008 AL Rookie of the Year runner-up.  We have a rookie who is in serious contention for this year's award.  We have a player who would have won, in my opinion, the AL MVP award last year had he not broken his wrist.  And we have a catcher that's amazing at what he does that most everyone else hates.

But we've done very little with all that talent.

There was very little run support all season, and the team floundered more or less ever since Mark Buehrle's perfect game.  Gavin Floyd and John Danks have had so many wonderful outings that have been recorded as losses due to either no run support or a horrible bullpen outing.  Mark Buehrle has pitched well in several games after his perfecto, yet he was tagged with a loss.

Our bullpen has fluctuated so ridiculously all season that it worries me a bit.  DJ Carrasco has been awesome, Matt Thornton has been great, and Octavio Dotel has even been pretty good.  But Scott Linebrink and Tony Pena drive me to drink, and Bobby Jenks has been consistently worsening, and now he's out for the rest of the year with a torn calf muscle.  I have no idea what to do with this bullpen.

At the beginning of the season, it looked like this team was stacked with talent.  They played relatively well, then faltered a bit.  Then they brought up Gordon Beckham, and this team got hot again.  They played so well before they fell apart completely.  I was hopeful for this team.  I thought they could go far and be a great team.  But something didn't mesh, and everything fell apart.

But then I realize it could be worse.

(Note: this is where I potentially bash your team...sorry.)

I could be a Washington Nationals fan.  They currently have the worst record in baseball at 52-99.  The last time they were in the postseason was 1981.  (I wasn't alive yet.)  They've never won a World Series.  And it looks like they're investing all their hope in Stephen Strasburg.  Good luck, kid.

I could be a Pittsburgh Pirates fan.  This season, they set the record for most consecutive losing seasons in all of sports with 17.  They haven't won a World Series since 1979.  The last time they were in the postseason was 1992.  (I was six.)  They traded away some good players this season, so I don't even know what's happening with them next year.

I could be a San Diego Padres fan.  (Well, I sort of am.)  Their owners (I think) are going through a divorce, so this team is all kinds of messed up.  They traded Jake Peavy, their ace pitcher, to the Chicago White Sox (thank you!).  They've never won a World Series, but at least they had a recent postseason appearance when they made it to the 2006 NLDS.  They have Adrian Gonzalez, so at least there's that.  Once this divorce is over, I think they'll be better off.

I could be a San Francisco Giants fan.  (Well, I am a Giants fan.)  The city itself has never won a World Series, but the last title for the franchise was in 1954 when they were still in New York.  Their last postseason appearance was at least in this decade.  They made the 2003 NLDS, and that's about it.

I could be a Kansas City Royals fan.  Last World Series title was in 1985.  Their last postseason appearance?  Also 1985.  The only positive I see with that team is Zack Greinke unless he flounders atrociously next year.

I could be a Cleveland Indians fan.  Their last World Series title was in 1948, but they did make the 2007 postseason.  They lost a bunch of players to injuries this season, and I don't know what bright spots they have.  Well, Grady Sizemore is a bright spot when he's healthy.  I hate facing him.

After all this, I think of many people I know.  I think of my family.  Because it could be worse.  I could be a Chicago Cubs fan.  Their last World Series title was in 1908.  They were swept out of the postseason the last two seasons.  They haven't even been to the World Series since 1945.  They have to deal with players like Alfonso Soriano and Milton Bradley.

But I would NEVER be a Cubs fan.  Because I hate most of their fans.  Is my hatred of those Cubs fans excessive?  Maybe.  But I only hate the ones who consistently treat me like sh*t because I'm a Sox fan.  And the ones who go to Wrigley and basically turn it into a frat boy infested bar that happens to have live baseball in the middle of it.  And the ones that assume I know absolutely nothing about baseball because I'm a girl.  (Actually, that last one goes for all baseball fans, but it happens more often with Cubs fans because I live in Chicago.)  So I hate most of them.  Don't get me wrong; I know some awesome Cubs fans.  In fact, I'm related to some of them.  But unfortunately, the Cubs have more than a few bad apples spoiling the bunch.  The good apples are few and far between.

When I think of how many ups and downs the White Sox have had, it hurts my heart a little.  OK, more than a little.  It hurts a lot.  But then I think about 2010 and know we have a lot of pieces in place.  And then I read stories like this one.  The White Sox helped a young fan's wish come true, and her brother is a frequent poster at WSI, so he attested to how happy this made her.  We have a bunch of great guys in Chicago.  They do a lot of great things for people in this city, and I wouldn't change them for the world.

And yes, I'm jealous that she got to touch AJ's hair.  ;)

Photo credits: Getty images; AP; AP; Ron Vesely, White Sox