With one of the worst in the history of mankind least consistent offenses in the Majors this year, and a perplexing aversion to clutch hitting, the White Sox have struggled to do anything consistently but get dominated by pitchers they are facing for the first time. Certainly the Sox woes at the plate and the uncertain status of Carlos Quentin have many White Sox fans — not to mention management — questioning whether the White Sox should be buyers or sellers in trade talks.

And though I will probably write such an article soon, assuming the White Sox continue treading water as they have been, I caught an article from the Sun-Times website today that shifted my thinking on what I should write for this morning.

It is an article by Carol Slezak that actually focused on something good and positive related to the White Sox offense — just not this year’s, of course. And it is an article that gave me hope that something that unequivocally needs to happen will, in fact, someday actually happen.

Carol Slezak’s article is a feature about the most prolific White Sox player of all-time, and my favorite baseball player of all-time: Frank Thomas.

Most White Sox fans and many baseball fans in general know that Thomas’ time on the South Side did not end well. Ironically, considering how many incredible seasons he had trying to help the White Sox bring a World Series title back to Chicago, The Big Hurt left the team after the 2005 World Series — a season in which he played only 34 games, did not participate in the playoffs, and hit a career-low .219.

For a player who had given so much and played so well for the White Sox over more than a decade, it was disappointing to see his lowest personal moment with the team coincide with the franchise’s greatest moment in a century.

In addition to Thomas’ stuggles with injuries and at the plate in 2005, he left on terrible terms with White Sox management, especially GM Ken Williams. As recapped by Slezak:

Thomas and Williams had feuded publicly in spring training in 2006, when in response to negative comments ”The Big Hurt” had made about Reinsdorf and the Sox organization, Williams fired back, ”He’s an idiot. He’s selfish. That’s why we don’t miss him. … Good riddance. See you later.”

Fortunately for Thomas, he was able to land on his oft-injured feet in Oakland and produced a sterling 2006 season in which he cracked 39 home runs and 114 RBI, leading the A’s into the playoffs. He was a different hitter at this point than he’d been in his heyday, as his season average was only .270; however, Thomas proved that his immense personal pride — perhaps his greatest strength and weakness as a player and teammate — combined with his talent, could still produce productive seasons.

The Big Hurt went on to hit 26 home runs in 2007 for Oakland and eventually moved on to Toronto, where he hit his 500th career home run. And now, after an injury-plagued 2008 in which Frank only played in 71 games, his career appears closer than ever to being officially over.

According to Slezak, Thomas is planning to make a final decision about his baseball playing future around this year’s All Star Break. In the meantime, The Big Hurt has returned to Chicago to do some work for Comcast SportsNet for the upcoming Crosstown Classic between the White Sox and Cubs. Thomas’ return to the South Side has auspiciously been met with pleasant nostalgia from fans and the organization on the heels of encouraging comments back in March by White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf:

And in March, as it seemed increasingly likely that Thomas’ playing career was ending, Williams and Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf let Thomas know that when he’s ready, they would like him to retire as a member of the organization. But it remained to be seen whether Thomas would accept their overture.

As a White Sox fan who still busts out his #35 jersey at least once or twice a month, I want to say the following to Frank: assuming that hatchets can and/or have been buried, please accept the overtures made by Ken Williams and Jerry Reinsdorf; and if issues linger, hash them out so you can accept their offer.

Major League Baseball is embroiled in speculation from everything to who will be buying or selling at the trading deadline, to who may or may not be not on steroids, to just how much the Nationals will be forced to pay an unproven college pitcher. And on and on it goes. But this story is one, for me, that is an absolute, unequivocal no-brainer: Frank Thomas should retire with the organization that drafted him, where the majority of 1st-ballot Hall of Fame resume was written, and where fans still think of him as one of our own.

Sure, we’ve all been frustrating by Frank at times. I’ve gotten upset with him for comments he’s made in the media and called him “The Big Skirt” before. I blamed Frank as much as Ken Williams for their petulant pissing match in 2006 that was just completely unnecessary and downright childish. And we all know that, as Slezak reminisced about in her article, many of Frank’s teammates were sometimes put off by his focus on personal statistics.

Blah, blah, blah.

I don’t want to nominate the guy for sainthood or Man of the Year, so who the hell cares about all of that? Besides, family members feud all the time. Sometimes it gets so bad that you even don’t speak for a while, perhaps even a prolonged while. But time has a funny and consistent way of healing such wounds, and it appears like that could be the case here.

Let’s hope it is.

Frank Thomas deserves the opportunity to don a White Sox #35 jersey once again, trot out on the field, and be showered with love and adulation from a fan base that will never forget nor stop appreciating his amazing accomplishments on the South Side.

And the fans deserve the opportunity to stand in recognition of the greatest hitter in the history of the franchise we love so much.

For the White Sox and organization, Major League Baseball, and sports in general, these are types of moments that need to happen.

Sports fans are the heartbeat of sports, and at the root of our unyielding support for our teams and the leagues we pump time, money, and emotion into is the visceral connection we develop between the individual players out there playing the games. Heck, KVB and I spent so much time together watching White Sox baseball in high school and hanging on Frank’s every at-bat that Frank Thomas is one of the first images that pops up in my mind when I think back to my high school days. Watching and rooting for Frank Thomas, Ray Durham, Jack McDowell, Robert Hernandez and so many of the 90s players is as important and prominent a set of memories to me as my high school basketball career or experiences on my high school newspaper.

I doubt that I am the only one who feels this way, in fact far from it. I bet there are White Sox fans all over the country for whom Frank Thomas remains a very large and prominent part of their collective consciousness as a White Sox fan and as a sports fan in general.

And White Sox fans deserve the opportunity to give a proper sendoff to Frank Thomas. The truth is that we were all distracted when he left in 2006. We were still intoxicated by the excitement of finally winning a World Series and simply not in the mood to witness the BS between Frank and the organization. Many of us even said “good riddance” right along with Ken Williams, so focused we were on celebrating 2005 and looking forward to a repeat performance in 2006.

That’s not how it should have ended with Frank. Not by a long shot.

And while it’s true that Frank has always been received warmly during any trips back to Chicago as a visitor, it will not compare to how warmly he’ll be received stepping back out on the field as a member of the home team again. Those previous moments when Frank came back with A’s and Blue Jays were like phone calls or birthday cards to a family member with whom you’ve lost touch. But when a hug — a full, genuine embrace — is what’s necessary to bring closure to a dispute and set the tone for a new era of cooperation, nostalgia, and pleasantness moving forward, phone calls and birthday cards just won’t cut it.

Frank Thomas and the White Sox need to fully and genuinely embrace, and in my opinion that can only happen — and should happen — by #35 retiring as a member of the White Sox.

Show the fans how much you care by swallowing your pride Frank, if that’s what is necessary. I promise you that, in return, we will show you how much we care and still appreciate everything you’ve done for the Chicago White Sox.

What a great moment it would be to see Frank Thomas thunder out of the home team dugout wearing the home team colors again at U.S. Cellular Field, with his big smile shining for all to see, his cap in hand as he waves it to recognize the throngs of White Sox fans who have risen to their feet in recognition of the man who would be the most prominent, recognizable, and deserving face on any Mount Rushmore of White Sox baseball.

Please make this happen. There aren’t too many no-brainers left in Major League Baseball, but this is absolutely one of them.

**********

* – Frank Thomas swinging photo courtesy of Baseball Evolution
* – Frank Thomas waving during 2005 World Series photo courtesy of the website MITAdmissions.org

Game 162 (+1)

Well, it came down to this. Twins vs. White Sox for the AL Central Division championship and a trip to Disneyland.

The air surrounding 35th and Shields was just like that of a World Series game – people milling about bars outside, traffic backups, people trying to make a quick buck with parking, and cops. It was an announced Blackout and anything black that was moving seemed to be gravitating towards the stadium. Frequent shouts of “Go White Sox!” cut through the slightly frigid air. Getting closer and closer to U.S. Cellular Field, the streets became more like sidewalks and movement became stunted.

I had will call tickets and approached Gate 4 attempting to pick them up. A sea of black greeted me and I prepared to wait in the long lines. Salvation came in a sign stating that this was for Stubhub ticket pickup. I thought I had overheard a security guard saying will call tickets could also be picked up at Gate 5; approaching and asking him, I confirmed this. Instead of waiting for my tickets ten plus people deep, I perilously crossed 35th toward Gate 5. The three man line was like water in the desert. I quickly and easily got mine and my friend’s tickets and proceeded to head into the park.

I had heard we were getting black towels to wave around for the park that night, and they weren’t kidding. These were not White Sox towels or “Tiebreaker 2008” towels; no these were plain, simple black towels (which were kind of a let down, considering some stuff they had for the 2006 season). Upon entering the stadium, I began looking for something mentioning the tiebreaker-ness of the game; unfortunately I only managed to find a scorecard which I had to buy with a program.

My friend, after finding the nearest beer booth, found the OfficeMax sign creation station. While waiting in line, we attempted to come up with slogans to write on the board; we eventually settled on “Morneau’s a hoe.” He came up with the saying; I made sure he spelled it h-o-e and even told him to draw a garden hoe on it. Alas, the GSR working the booth came up to him and said, “No profanity.” I countered with, “But this is a garden hoe.” He quickly resolved the altercation by taking out sign away. My friend eventually came up with “John Danks You!”; I with a suggestion to bring our own sharpie to the next game.

We made our way to Section 537, Row 4, only to find (as usual) our seats were taken. We, being the resourceful duo we are, took the empty seats down the row from them. As people filed in (and we eventually strafed to our seats) a blanket of mostly black covered the stadium as if to keep it warm on a cold Chicago’s day. It appeared, by a quick view of the attendees, that about 90% complied with the “Sox Pride Blackout” mandate that was issued after the 8-2 victory against the Tigers. Exceptions included the two guys next to me and the ten or so Twins fans I saw in my section and the one to the left. My friend, seeing all the Mauer jerseys, went back to the OfficeMax booth and came back with, “Mauer’s a flower.”

The game started in the traditional way (the Sox history montage, Thunderstruck), with the exception of Gene Honda reminding everyone that this game was nationally televised on TBS and we should wave our black flags around (which was the prevailing theme of the night, whether it was actually for the Sox or the guy that chose giant lotto ball #3 and yet won all 3). Then the White Sox took the field. I hadn’t been at a game at US Cellular with this kind of emotion, tension, and excitement since Game 2 of the 2005 World Series. The air was slightly let out with the leadoff walk to Span, but became inflated again with the line-out double play and a strikeout of Joe Mauer. We kept riding that wave of excitement through the half-inning and Orlando Cabrera’s leadoff single. Then Dewayne Wise grounded out (instead of bunting) into an interesting double play and Jermaine Dye grounded out. This became the status quo for the evening, as Nick Blackburn would only give up 4 hits and 3 walks, while John Danks countered with 2 hits and 3 walks. Thus the entire season would rest one of the two hits differentiating the teams.

Each hit or walk for the White Sox was met with enthusiasm and high-five throughout the stadium; albeit more so for a hit than a walk. By the end of the fourth, the score was tied at zero; the Sox had 2 hits, the Twins, none. That would change, however, in the top of the fifth.

Mike Cuddyer, the Twins DH, lead off the inning with a double, breaking up the no-hitter. Delmon Young then flied out to Griffey in center field, deep enough to allow Cuddyer to tag up and get to third. So here we were, score tied at zero, Twins with a runner on third and less than two outs. Who would step up?

Brendan Harris swung at the first two pitches, resulting in two strikes. Could Danks be the one to step up and get the strikeout? He had been doing it all night, getting Mauer and Morneau (who usually OWN Danks), but it was not to be with Harris. After taking two balls, he hit a fly ball to center field. Griffey got under it. My initial reaction was that it was too shallow to tag up on. Cuddyer got back to third. Griffey caught it and Cuddyer took off. The Mariners Griffey would got the throw to home on the fly – heck, Cuddyer might not have ran if it was Mariners Griffey – but this was White Sox Griffey, 38 years old with an arm to match. The throw two hopped Pierzynski. On the second hop, he caught it and Cuddyer at the same time. Everyone (and I mean everyone) held their breath. Did Pierzynski hold on? What if he didn’t? He got up and showed the ball to home plate ump Tim McClelland, who signaled out. The stadium let loose like a rocket taking off, jumping, hugging, high-fiving and towel waving all over the place; only to be silenced again by Blackburn setting down the Sox in order in the bottom frame. The sixth inning saw nothing spectacular, with a walk for the Twins the only baserunner. This prompted me to say, “The longer this game goes scoreless, the more trouble we’re in.”

Danks set Minnesota down in order in the top of the 7th. Then Thome came to the plate. The at bat was a typical Thome at bat – he took two balls, looked at a strike and fouled a ball off. Then Blackburn made his only mistake.

I saw the ball leave the bat. I saw it in the air over the outfield. I saw Gomez running to the wall and stopping, looking up. I did not see, however, where the ball landed. I think Thome wanted something for his birth city to remember him by, as the ball may have landed in Peoria. Even after I got home and watched the replays, I still didn’t see exactly where the ball landed. All I know is the stadium, once again, erupted. The fireworks were barely audible over the roar of the crowd. Pandemonium ensued. There was no curtain call, as the crowd began to chant “Paul-ee, Paul-ee;” we wanted back-to-back homers. Everyone was standing and screaming. Konerko then grounded out, sending everyone back down to earth and their seats. But Griffey brought us back up with a double, followed by and intentional walk to Ramirez that elicited boos from the crowd. Gardenhire came out and removed Blackburn to the familiar chant of Steam’s “Kiss It Goodbye.” Jose Mijares came in and induced a Pierzynmki groundout and a Uribe flyout, ending the threat.

The top of the eight was upon us. Danks was still out there and Dotel and Thornton were warming up in the bullpen. He was just under 100 pitches to start the inning; he ended up with 103. A fly out, single, and double play ended the top half. The guy sitting next to me asked if I would bring Danks back out for the ninth or put Jenks in. I said I would put Jenks in; after all, if you can’t put your closer in to a one run game, you shouldn’t be in the playoffs anyways. He was fairly adamant about putting Danks back on the mound. The Sox got a single (off Joe Nathan!) in the bottom of the eighth and nothing else.

“Boom!” Everyone was on their feet, clapping and screaming as loud as they could. Jenks came running in from the bullpen, trying to hang on to the slight advantage they had. Kubel, a noted Sox-killer, pinch hit for Gomez and struck out, making the roar even louder. Span grounded out. The whole stadium was a vacuum of black noise and swirling towels. If Casilla, the next hitter, got on base, Mauer and Morneau were next. In a one run game, that would be disastrous. The crowd didn’t have to wait long. Casilla swung at the first pitch. A short, looping fly ball was hit to right-center field. Like so many balls that were hit by the Twins at the Metrodome last week against the Sox, this one looked destined to fall.

Except it didn’t.

Brian Anderson, a defensive replacement for Griffey, dove and made a spectacular catch. As soon as he hit the ground the entire place shook. Jumping, beer spilling, cameras going off (and being dropped), hugging, disbelief, elation – every positive and jubilant emotion to be had was on display at The Cell. It was like one giant, black-coated hug. The players mobbed each other on the field. Hats and shirts were distributed. Danks, Thome, and Pierzynski were all being sought for interviews before heading to the locker room. The jumbotron was showing the scene inside the clubhouse, taped up and ready to be bathed in bubbly (and Miller Lite!). All the players came back out and sprayed each other; some even ran out to the warning track and sprayed the fans there. After clinching everything in 2005 on the road, it was a nice to see them celebrate properly in front of the home crowd. Thome, Swisher, and Konerko each got on the mic and thanked the fans.

After the celebration died down a bit, I headed off to the gift shop to get some AL Central champs gear. After waiting 10 minutes in line, I entered to no hats left and shirts going for $35.00 (which I passed on). Walking out and down the ramps, high-fiving and chants of “Let’s Go White Sox,” were on every level; I even heard a “Let’s Go Dodgers” chant get started. Reaching the ground floor, we headed towards the ticket windows to see if ALDS tickets were going on sale. I remembered they had a raffle for them and decided not to waste any more time standing there and left.

The streets were blocked off and fans were celebrating on 35th, in the parking lot, and in front of the 2005 World Series monument. As I walked back to catch my ride, horns were being honked like a wedding was passing through. Residents of the area had some out; their children were all waving and shouting “Go White Sox!” in their cherub-like tenor.

The further away from the ballpark we got the, the horns and random shouting decreased. Now all is left is for the Black Plague to descend upon the Tampa Bay Rays.

[tags]chicago white sox, minnesota twins, mlb, mlb playoffs[/tags]