Time flies

It didn't occur to me that Thursday was the first anniversary of the White Sox clinching the 2005 World Series in Houston till the afternoon, when one of my co-workers said, "Happy anniversary," to me. It took me a second, but then I got it.

I guess I haven't allowed myself to look back in the last few weeks, because I've been planning to watch the six games available on the commemorative edition DVD set after the baseball season is complete. (Those games are: the clinchers of the series against the Red Sox and Angels and the four World Series games.) I did think about last season for a few moments Wednesday night, because I walked through the intersection of LaSalle and Wacker on the way to meet some friends for a beer. I'll always think of the rally when I walk through that intersection.

All the emotions about that day a year ago come back in a flood when I read the post that I wrote after Game 4. It's occurred to me, looking back at that post, and a short one that I wrote after Game 3, that I never really wrote about the actual games. I plan to do that, with quotes from the game notes that I took the first time, when I watch the DVDs over the next few weeks. I've been waiting till the end of the season to tear off the plastic on that DVD set. No matter who prevails in the World Series, it won't be long now. Pretty soon, FOX will stop showing A.J. Pierzynski jumping into the arms of Bobby Jenks, replacing them with a similar scene involving Tigers or Cardinals. That's OK. I'll be able to watch Pierzynski and Jenks as often as I want to.

(Music to write by, "And This Is Our Music," Brian Jonestown Massacre.)
posted on Friday, October 27, 2006 12:20 AM by Vince

Comments

# re: Time flies

Friday, October 27, 2006 6:48 AM by Sox_fan_in_Brazil
I thought about the anniversary twice in one day this week, both times for reasons totally unrelated to baseball. On Monday, I went to the office and my friend/boss had a nice wooden cigar box full of Cuban cigars. He asked me if I wanted one. I realized that the last time I saw a Cuban cigar in that office was a year ago, when I was smoking one in the wee hours to celebrate the World Series SWEEP.
As I was leaving on Monday night, I was talking to the night watchman at the building about my weird hours, and I mentioned that time a year ago when I was at the office until ridiculous hours watching playoff games (via internet) on a huge projection screen.

# Time flies INDEED

Tuesday, October 31, 2006 12:57 PM by Sox_fan_in_Brazil
And now it's already time to fire up the "hot stove" and start thinking about next season.

One brief aside: Cub fans' heads must still be exploding. First the Sox win it all, then the Cards.

But as I said, it's time for us to start thinking about the 2007 Sox. We're at an interesting spot. The core is strong enough for Kenny to go for it again now with some offseason acquisitions, but we definitely need to start thinking about the medium-to-long-term future too. Flags do fly forever, but it is important not to let the Sox get too weak after the current core is gone (or no longer productive). If the Sox can keep fielding strong teams for the next few years, it should be possible to build the fan (and REVENUE) base. The Sox have already passed the Cubs in TV and radio ratings. If management plays its cards right and turns Chicago into more of a Sox town, that could be a good head start on keeping the Sox strong for years and years to come.
The core is good, but the division is a monster. There are 4 teams in the AL Central that can reasonably be expected to be seriously competitive in '07. That's just plain nasty. Even if one team appears to be clearly stonger than the others, a single injury or bad season for a single player could change everything, as could a single career season. Imagine, for example, what a major injury to Santana would do to the Twinkies.
I don't know what I would do if I were in Kenny's shoes. It's hard to balance these factors.