CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- All right, yes, I'm cheating. "Game(s) of the Week." But it's pretty likely that on one of these days, the Chicago White Sox will clinch the American League Central division for the first time since 2008, and for the first time without a tiebreaker since 2005.
It will also be the first time the White Sox make the playoffs in back-to-back years in franchise history. That's 120 years, if you're scoring at home. Which was understandable back in the 1950s and 1960s, when there were no divisions and no wild cards, and the Sox finished above .500 in 17 straight seasons, but only went to the World Series once, because the Yankees were almost always just a bit better.
And you could defend it in the early 90s, when the White Sox won the last American League West title of the divisional era and led the first American League Central race at the time of the 1994 strike.
And you could even defend it in the mid 2000s, because the Sox came out like gangbusters in 2006, but faded down the stretch. They still won 90 games; sometimes, you just get beat.
Since then, though, it's been a wasteland of futility on the South Side. Robin Ventura had a promising start in 2012 before the Sox started a string of seven straight sub-.500 seasons, finishing as many as 35 games back. Patience paid off in the pandemic season with a spot in the expanded playoffs, and now here they are, virtually guaranteed of a playoff spot at this writing and challenging for home field advantage in the American League Divisional Series.
They might need that, by the way - the Sox are one of the best home teams in baseball, but sub-.500 on the road, and they were swept at likely ALDS opponent Houston in mid-June. It's a little ironic that whenever the Sox do clinch the division crown, this weekend or next, they'll do so on the road - this Texas series starts an 11-game road trip.
One more reason to keep an eye on the TV for this series: Sox television broadcasters are finally hitting the road with the team, after being forced to stay back in Chicago this season due to pandemic (and, likely, financial) concerns. The White Sox run one of the game's best TV broadcasts as is, but all game calls are noticeably better when the announcers are in the building. They're able to see things remote cameras can't show, able to absorb the crowd, and able to get extra information from players and coaches they can then sneak in to the call, able to make the viewing (and listening) experience better for the viewer (or listener).
If you can only make time for one game, make it whichever game Lance Lynn ends up starting - his 2.50 ERA would lead the league if he'd pitched enough innings, and he's healthy after a hamstring scare. But really - absorb as much of this weekend, this playoff run, as you can. Sox fans know all too well - they really don't come around that often.
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