Crash & Burn

Last night the Sox held a lead of as many as 5 runs and carried a 9-7 lead into the 9th inning against the ever dangerous Kansas City Royals. Dustin Hermanson came on to strike out Mike Sweeney to lead off the 9th before surrendering 4 consecutive hits to lose the ballgame 10-9. The Sox followed that game up with another stinker this afternoon, dropping the rubber-match 7-5. Their lead over Cleveland in the Central now stands at 4.5 games, the smallest lead the Sox have held since June 15th. Look out '64 Phils and '69 Cubs, our Sox are right on your heels.
The first 4 months of the season are now a distant memory. The Sox pitching has become inconsistent, their defense non-existent, and on the rare occasions that they do hit, those first two factors prevent them from winning. The entire team, with the exception of Uribe, Konerko and Contreras, has just looked lethargic these past few weeks, and that would be a generous assesment.
All these facts have contributed to this Sox fan's decision to pass on the opportunity to buy tickets for the first playoff series on the South Side in 5 years. With the way that they have been playing, there's an outside chance that the Sox might not make the playoffs at all, much less advance past the ALDS. If they do make it to postseason play and go one-and-done, then those extra 3-5 games that they play will have been meaningless. I'd rather save my money for tickets to the ALCS or World Series, which now sounds like a joke. That's all I've got to say...I think I'm going to be sick.