Sox To Be You: How the South Siders Have Fared Recently in Last Month of MLB Season

At this moment, I should be getting ready to go to a White Sox playoff game. At least that's what my hope was when I bought tickets to Game 1 of the ALDS a couple weeks ago.

However, as the White Sox have done many times over in the past decade, they faded into the sunset as Detroit's pitching hit their stride which helped them overtake Chicago without looking back.

It'll be tough to watch the Tigers when I thought a couple weeks ago it was going to be the White Sox, but I'll get over it. The expectations weren't too high for the year, but as the team starts to prove your expectations wrong, you start to slightly adjust your thoughts. Other White Sox fans - you can't tell me that your expectations didn't change when you saw them enter the All-Star break with the lead. Even though we weren't expected to win the division, I am very disappointed because down the stretch, I did expect to win it.

Here's an example of how the White Sox have done since 2000 before September and in September:

	Entering Sept
	Record	Place	Games Back or Ahead
2001	68-65	3rd	Down 7.5 games	to Cleveland
2002	65-70	2nd	Down 14 games	to Minnesota
2003	73-64	1st	Up 1.5 games	to Minnesota
2004	64-66	3rd	Down 8.5 games	to Minnesota
2005	80-51	1st	Up 7 games	to Cleveland
2006	78-56	2nd	Down 4.5 games	to Det
2007	57-78	5th	Down 20.5 games	to Cleveland
2008	77-59	T-1st	Up 1/2 game	to Minnesota
2009	64-68	3rd	Down 6 games	to Det
2010	72-60	2nd	Down 4 games	to Minnesota
2011	68-66	3rd	Down 6 games	to Det
2012	72-59	1st	Up 2 games	to Det

And here's how things ended in Sept/Oct

					Champ
	Sep/Oct	Final Record	Final Finish	Final Games Back/Ahead	or 2nd
2001	(15-14)	83-79	3rd place	Down 8 games	Cleveland
2002	(16-11)	81-81	2nd place	Down 13.5 games	Minnesota
2003	(13-12)	86-76	2nd place	Down 4 games	Minnesota
2004	(19-13)	83-79	2nd place	Down 9 games	Minnesota
2005	(19-12)	99-63	1st place	Up by 6 games	Cleveland
2006	(12-16)	90-72	3rd place	Down 6 games	Minnesota
2007	(15-12)	72-90	4th place	Down 24 games	Cleveland
2008	(12-15)	89-74	1st place	won division (1 gm playoff)	Minnesota
2009	(15-15)	79-83	3rd place	Down 7 games	Detroit/Minn
2010	(16-14)	88-74	2nd place	Down 6 games	Minnesota
2011	(11-14)	79-83	3rd place	Down 16 games	Detroit
2012	(12-18)	85-77	2nd place	Down 3 games	Detroit

In this twelve year span, the team in first place entering September has won eight out of the 12 division titles. The White Sox (2003, 2012) and Detroit (2006, 2009 - lost tiebreaker to Minn) were the teams who blew their division leads in the last month.

If you notice, the only year the White Sox gained ground on the competition closest to them was in 2002, when they gained that magical half game to finish 13.5 back of the Twins. You can say 2006 was gaining, but the Sox needed a one-game playoff to win the division.

Otherwise, in the past 12 years, we haven't seen a year where the White Sox had a better record than the team they are chasing or who is chasing them. Since the World Series win in 2005, they've barely broken .500 a couple times but otherwise have dragged to the finish line.

Sure, the Cubs are known as Completely Useless By September to the folks who like to stir up the White Sox/Cubs "rivalry", but when it comes to September, the White Sox have been pretty much completely useless.

You can tell me that this year was better than expected, and the March/April version of me would agree with you. But the September/October version of me feels like they let the fans down, And with how they've had problems closing out seasons as of late, you can't blame me for being disappointed.