Have you ever seen that goofy bat race they do at several ballparks?  It's the deal where two or three people put their forehead on the end of a bat, spin around for about thirty seconds and then attempt to run to a finish line about fifty yards away.  The affect of spinning on the bat makes unable to walk or run in a straight line and often, the contestants find themselves on the ground.  Eventually one game party staggers across the finish line and is declared the winner.

Welcome to your 2008 A.L. Central Division race.

The White Sox, who no doubt prefer swagger over stagger, lead Minnesota by one game after the Toronto Blue Jays did the Sox a big favor last night by continuing the Twinkies road misery.  The Sox, who had an opportunity to breakaway in the race the last week or so are a paltry 2-4 in their last six games and open a home series against The California Angels of Anaheim, Azuza and Cucamonga tomorrow night at U.S. Commiskey Park.

In addition to the Sox coming down with a couple of dead arms (most notably John Danks), the injury toll in Ozzie Guilen's club house extends to several players.  Carlos Quentin isn't expected back until Monday, Joe Crede may not be expected back at all and Junior Griffey is day to day.  In a time where it should be all hands on deck, the Sox have several important hands in the trainer's room.

The Twinkies haven't exactly had it easy lately either.  A road trip that started out well has turned into a disaster, including a tough weekend at Oakland and two games they should have won against Toronto.  The Twinkies conclude business in Canada tonight before finally returning to the Twin Cities tomorrow to open a home stand against Detroit and Kansas City.

Nothing short of a four game lead going into the September 23rd series with the Twinkies will make White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen happy, but it appears, at least right now, that neither team is going to be able to breakaway from the one to two game leads that have been enjoyed since the middle of August.  In other words, September 23rd, the White Sox will have a three game do or die series in a ballpark where they have trouble winning. 

The Angels, who will no doubt be the first AL team to clinch a playoff slot certainly won't cut the White Sox any slack.  Mark Buehrle will start the series Friday night and there is concern, that like Danks, Buehrle may be at a point where his arm is a little tired because of innings pitched.  Then it's Gavin Floyd on Saturday and insert name here on Sunday.

As far as the injuries go, losing Quentin is tough, losing Crede and Griffey is not a big deal (so long as Jerry Owens remains on the bench.) 

One thing for certain: There will not be an early resolution to this race.  As in 2005, when the Sox had to bow their necks in the final week of the season, this is going to come down to the wire with both teams staggering toward the finish line.  Hopefully, the Sox will be the last team standing.

Lighting Round

• Javy Vazquez pitched well yesterday save for the runs he gave up in the sixth with two outs.  I have no idea where to find it, but I'll bet the Sox lead the league in runs allowed with two outs.
• We're gonna party like it's 1969.
• Cub fans have no worries as long as the Brewers continue to suck and miss golden opportunities to get back in the race.