It’s here. The series we circled since the second half started. The Chicago White Sox take on the Detroit Tigers in Motown for a three-game set. Unfortunately, we all remember what happened last time the White Sox went to Detroit. The Tigers embarrassed the White Sox, sweeping them in convincing fashion to take a 1.5 game lead in the American League Central. However, there will be no leads for the Tigers after this weekend, which is why Chicago’s goal should be easy – - just don’t get swept.
The thing that drives me and any White Sox fan nuts is the complete mental blocks the team has for certain teams, situations, or even players. There’s no rhyme or reason for their struggles, other than they are thinking about it way too much. Case in point, the Kansas City Royals this season.
How could that be, though? The Royals for all intents and purposes stink, so why do they keep dominating the Sox? It’s because the fans, the players, the coaches, and even the announcers all panic about how they have the upper-hand, imprinting it in our minds that this series is going to be a pain in the neck.
It’s all a mindset. Just like it was all a mindset when the Chicago White Sox went to the Metrodome to take on the Minnesota Twins. We all know how infuriating that house of horrors was; ergo, I don’t need to go into detail about the struggles the White Sox had in the Homerdome. But this series reminds me a lot of the series the Sox had in Minnesota at the end of 2008.
Basically, the Sox had a decent lead over the Twins; one and a half or two games, I don’t remember. Therefore, the goal of the series was to just not get swept. If the Sox didn’t lay down and die, they would have coasted to the American League Central title. However, the White Sox got swept due to dink hits and bad umpiring, causing me to slip into severe depression, until Jim Thome jacked a homer in game #163.
As of right now, Comerica Park is the Chicago’s new Metrodome. Anytime we head to Detroit, we all think about the negative things that have happened there in the past few years. We don’t think about Adam Dunn hitting a moonshoot off of Jose Valverde to win a game in the 9th. Instead, we think about Matt Thornton allowing walk-off bombs to Jhonny Peralta.
Now is the time for the White Sox to eradicate the demons and gain the upper-hand over Detroit. In other words, the White Sox need to Lincoln Hawk the heck out of the Tigers. The Sox need to show they aren’t afraid, that they are not panicked, and that they are ready to win this daggum division in 2012.
I will leave you with this, Chicago White Sox fans, just imagine Paul Konerko rocking this speech.
White Sox! White Sox! GO GO White Sox!
Bryan is a featured writer for Rant Sports. Although he concentrates mostly on the game of baseball, you can find him covering things all over the Rant Sports Network.
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