Call me a cockeyed optimist.  Call me someone who refuses to give up.  Call me the village idiot.  Everywhere I turn there's gloom and doom and weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth about the Chicago White Sox.  And yes, after sixty something games, being 7½ out and five games below .500 most sane people would throw in the white towel. 

Consider me crazy.

There is hope for the White Sox.  The last five games, this team has suddenly woke up and played the way people expected them to.  They've gotten the starting pitching that was advertised.  They've gotten some big hits when they've needed them (although not nearly enough.)  The bullpen has been solid.  This is the team we were promised and this is the team we were waiting for.

It absolutely astounds me how writers and talk show hosts have already traded this guy or that guy.  Look, A.J. will go to a team in contention and accept the trade.  Same with Paulie, should they decide to trade him.  But it doesn't have to be today or tomorrow.  It can be in six weeks when a better assessment of where this club is has been made.

If you listen to Kenny Williams, he talks about wanting to find players who can contribute.  He wants to find a spark, somebody like Juilo Cruz in 1983 (oh that's right, you snot nose talk show hosts have never even heard of Julio Cruz).  It is possible both in baseball and in mathematics for the Sox to get back into the race. And while the odds are longer with every loss, a sweep of the Cubs and a sweep of the Pirates (who the Sox seem to own every year) is entirely possible. 

Yes, I know this team has shown us glimpses of what they can do (opening day for example) and I know they keep breaking our hearts by going one step forward and two steps back.  But suppose that they put it together, went on a tear and then got back in the race.  Would that shut some of the "experts" up?  Or would it just shut the critics down until the next stumble?

It ain't over until we say it's over and I'm not giving up yet.