This is getting to be an annual event.  We get to Memorial day which is the first check point in baseball's marathon season and we keep looking for the White Sox, but they are way at the back of the pack behind a couple of recovered cardiac patients and a couple of triathletes in wheelchairs.

At 24-31, the Sox are not only seven games under .500, but trail the surprising Cleveland Indians by 9½ games and the Royals by ½ game.  And unlike this year, it does not look like there will be a bright light at the end of the tunnel.

What's got the Sox here is their total inability to drive in clutch runs.  In every game this season, including the one they were not hit in, the Sox had opportunities that they just couldn't cash in.  And while you can talk of the law of averages and how these things even out or how good teams eventually correct themselves, we have see little evidence, save for the first game this year, that these guys can make those corrections.

Adam Dunn has flat out stunk.  Juan Pierre is getting on more often but not stealing bases.  Gordon Beckham has struggled since the third week of the season.  Alex Rios is consistently inconsistent.  John Danks has had bad luck and recently been throwing gopher balls.  Matt Thornton has had a horrible year.  A.J. Pierzynski couldn't throw out my mother and she uses a walker.  It's just not good, kids.

The starting pitching has been just okay.  Mark Buehrle has been himself, Phil Humber has been shocking and Edwin Jackson is what he is, either unbelievably good or horrible.  Gavin Floyd?  In and out like a bad TV picture.

The bright spots?  Win, lose or get hurt, Jake Peavy is awesome. Paul Konerko is doing everything he can to put this team on his back and carry it and Carlos Quentin is enhancing his trade value.  Brett Lillibridge has been a surprise, especially in the power department (perhaps he needs to pee in a cup.)  Sergio Santos is a nice story.  Jesse Crain, save for Saturday, has been effective.

And to add a heap of insult to a heap of injury, the White Sox were swept by the Twinkies who are having their worst year in ages.  And to continue the pain, the White Sox play the red hot Red Sox and the Tigers this week.  Not necessarily a prescription to get well, is it?

How do we fix all this and get this team back on the track?  I have no clue.  They had me snowed.  I drank the kool-aid and now I am rolling around, writhing in pain like everyone else.  I guess we'll just watch and hope for the best.  Because we've certainly seen the worst.