How I have found peace (and perhaps you can too)

[HomeFish]

When the White Sox gave up that 2-run HR on Monday, I decided that I was done living and dying with every pitch of this 2020 season and done letting baseball-related stress eat into my lifespan. The following are things I have now brought myself to believe:

* Yes, it would have been nice to win the division in 2020. I would have bought myself a nice division champs t-shirt. But it's not necessary to win the division this year: I can save myself the $30 that shirt would surely cost and still see my team in the playoffs. Further, it's not necessary to win the division to meet any kind of expectation, this team was expected to finish in third place with a .500 record.

* The cover has been blown off the fact that the 2020 White Sox feasted on bad and mediocre teams, but struggled to compete with elite teams. Neither fans nor ownership can deny this now. I can only hope that this will inspire action in the offseason.

* Likewise, recent bad outings by Cease and Dunning have, hopefully, reduced the chances that team management decides to just roll the dice on internal options for the 2021 rotation.

* The offseason is enough of a crapshoot, especially with that short opening series, that literally anything can happen. Crazier things have happened than a team like the 2020 White Sox going deep into the postseason, even with a swoon in the last 2 weeks of the regular season.

* Perhaps Luis Robert now understands he needs to work hard to be a productive major leaguer and can't rest on the laurels he was prematurely given by Sox fans and, frankly, most of the national media too. He has always come off as pretty cerebral in interviews (especially compared to Eloy) so I'll remain hopeful that he can work hard and smart this offseason to figure out what to do with a slider outside.

Surely some (I can even guess who) will call me naive to believe in the middle two bullet points, but all I'm saying is that it's more likely now. Whether that means the odds of decisive improvement is now 5% instead of 0.25% or 50% instead of 25% is a separate point.

Stay sane everyone.

[thomas35forever]

[Noneck]

* Yes, it would have been nice to win the division in 2020. I would have bought myself a nice division champs t-shirt. But it's not necessary to win the division this year: I can save myself the $30 that shirt would surely cost and still see my team in the playoffs. Further, it's not necessary to win the division to meet any kind of expectation, this team was expected to finish in third place with a .500 record.

Winning a division may mean nothing in this tournament year.

[HomeFish]

Winning a division may mean nothing in this tournament year.

This is true in a material sense. It doesn't really matter as far as postseason goes. You're still playing a good team in a short series no matter what seed you draw, and further the kind of team that is tough to beat over 60 games is not necessarily the kind of team that is tough to beat over 3 games. But the division would have mattered a lot to me in a symbolic and emotional sense, and I'm sure this is also true of people on the team and in the organization, not to mention other fans.

But yes, if you're going to choke away a division lead in the last 3 series of the year, this is the year to do it for sure.

[Noneck]

This is true in a material sense. It doesn't really matter as far as postseason goes. You're still playing a good team in a short series no matter what seed you draw, and further the kind of team that is tough to beat over 60 games is not necessarily the kind of team that is tough to beat over 3 games. But the division would have mattered a lot to me in a symbolic and emotional sense, and I'm sure this is also true of people on the team and in the organization, not to mention other fans.

But yes, if you're going to choke away a division lead in the last 3 series of the year, this is the year to do it for sure.

To me winning a division in a 60 game season with a bastardized schedule means nothing. To each his own.

[Dumpjerry]

Did I miss something?

The Twins have clinched the division?

Did that happen while the Germans were bombing Pearl Harbor?

[vegandork]

Right now for me, winning the division is everything because I don't think with the way we are currently playing (and have played all year to this point) that we will win a series with any of the playoff teams. There's a fan side of me that's like "anything can happen if you get in". But whatever was left of that died yesterday.

[FourGoldGloves]

* The cover has been blown off the fact that the 2020 White Sox feasted on bad and mediocre teams, but struggled to compete with elite teams. Neither fans nor ownership can deny this now. I can only hope that this will inspire action in the offseason.

It is a lot harder to get better when you are overrated.

[Chez]

For many reasons, I would like to win the Division. A lot. That said, good post, Homefish. I don't agree with all of it, but can relate to living and dying with each pitch and the importance of keeping things in perspective.

[voodoochile]

[Kobo]

When the White Sox gave up that 2-run HR on Monday, I decided that I was done living and dying with every pitch of this 2020 season and done letting baseball-related stress eat into my lifespan. The following are things I have now brought myself to believe:

* Yes, it would have been nice to win the division in 2020. I would have bought myself a nice division champs t-shirt. But it's not necessary to win the division this year: I can save myself the $30 that shirt would surely cost and still see my team in the playoffs. Further, it's not necessary to win the division to meet any kind of expectation, this team was expected to finish in third place with a .500 record.

* The cover has been blown off the fact that the 2020 White Sox feasted on bad and mediocre teams, but struggled to compete with elite teams. Neither fans nor ownership can deny this now. I can only hope that this will inspire action in the offseason.

* Likewise, recent bad outings by Cease and Dunning have, hopefully, reduced the chances that team management decides to just roll the dice on internal options for the 2021 rotation.

* The offseason is enough of a crapshoot, especially with that short opening series, that literally anything can happen. Crazier things have happened than a team like the 2020 White Sox going deep into the postseason, even with a swoon in the last 2 weeks of the regular season.

* Perhaps Luis Robert now understands he needs to work hard to be a productive major leaguer and can't rest on the laurels he was prematurely given by Sox fans and, frankly, most of the national media too. He has always come off as pretty cerebral in interviews (especially compared to Eloy) so I'll remain hopeful that he can work hard and smart this offseason to figure out what to do with a slider outside.

Surely some (I can even guess who) will call me naive to believe in the middle two bullet points, but all I'm saying is that it's more likely now. Whether that means the odds of decisive improvement is now 5% instead of 0.25% or 50% instead of 25% is a separate point.

Stay sane everyone.

To Point 1: You just started that this year? I haven't lived and died with every pitch and let baseball affect me personally since Oct 26, 2005. There's too much other stuff going on in the world right now to be worried about.

To point 2: I think it's absolutely ridiculous when fans like you say things like that. Just because he is not meeting your expectations does not mean he isn't working hard, or he's resting on his laurels because of praise or whatever other bull**** you want to believe. You're not around him, you don't know him personally, you're simply projecting your expectations onto his performance and drawing a conclusion that is not based on any facts whatsoever.

[Kobo]

Right now for me, winning the division is everything because I don't think with the way we are currently playing (and have played all year to this point) that we will win a series with any of the playoff teams. There's a fan side of me that's like "anything can happen if you get in". But whatever was left of that died yesterday.

I forgot that the Sox have played like **** all season long. That's amazing that a team that has played so poorly all year was the first in the AL to clinch a playoff spot.

[Kobo]

It is a lot harder to get better when you are overrated.

So now the Sox are overrated? Who rated them and how have they become overrated?

I'm really confused. The Sox are in the playoffs for the first time in 12 years, but somehow they did so by playing bad baseball and by being overrated.

[vegandork]

I forgot that the Sox have played like **** all season long. That's amazing that a team that has played so poorly all year was the first in the AL to clinch a playoff spot.

Against good teams, yeah they've played bad baseball all year while feasting on bad teams. Feasting on the bad teams is necessary, but you don't play them in the playoffs. Despite playing poorly and winning a series with the Twins, I tried to convince myself things were turning around. Clearly after the last five games, they're showing me that I was wrong to do that.

[kingpin_rcs]

It may actually be a (somewhat) of a good thing that they are struggling now. Perhaps it is good to be knocked down a little before getting to the playoffs. These games have been intense for regular season games. No matter what happens the rest of they wa however, I think it bodes well for the future of the young core. Get the experience of playing meaningful games late in the season and some post season experience. The goal is to build a perennial contender. Time will tell if that will be accomplished. I'd like to believe this is the first opening of a long contention window.