By Roger Wallenstein
The curtain is drawn,
Goodbye, adios and sayonara.
The White Sox have left town –
There’s no game tomorra.
But there is a press conference,
As Hahn seeks a panacea.
Ventura is finished –
Is it time to welcome Renteria?
What a turn of events,
After a rousing spring training
The Sox hit home runs;
This team looked entertaining
Williams told LaRoche
Your kid doesn’t belong here.
So the DH went home,
As Sale hit the stratosphere
But all was forgotten,
Thanks to a 23-10 start.
Then the losses started mounting,
As the bullpen fell apart.
Danks was released,
Latos and Rollins were canned.
The trade deadline approached,
Was it time to back up the van?
No, Hahn tried with James Shields;
He is Big Game for a reason.
But those home runs and walks,
He should be tried for treason
The others pitched well,
Gonzalez was a discovery.
But too many breakdowns
Prevented a recovery.
The boys excelled at The Cell;
Nine games over five hundred
But once on the road,
They continued to blunder
Within the division,
We witnessed a real mess.
The Tigers, Royals, and Indians
Combined to cause stress
Quintana became an All-Star,
But what did it matter?
By the Mid-Summer Classic,
The Sox couldn’t have been flatter.
How could this happen?
Yet another losing season.
The Sox have good players –
Like Melky and Eaton.
Abreu started slowly,
Apparently he was missing his son.
But once reunited,
The guy hit a ton.
Frazier was a mixed bag,
His numbers certainly were fine.
But with a runner on second,
He was below the Mendoza Line.
Perhaps the brightest development
Was the new kid at short.
Welcome, Tim Anderson,
You sure can play this sport.
Where to from here?
It’s so difficult to say.
The core seems intact,
I think Sale and Quintana should stay.
Changes are needed,
But the name of the park?
Guaranteed Rate Field
Seems so off the mark.
Why not a new catcher,
A reliever or two?
A prospect in center,
Just to name a few.
Ventura’s replacement
Should name his new crew.
No guarantee for Cooper;
We need someone new
This losing, this ineptness
Is getting so old.
While the Cubs across town
Are terrific, I’m told.
We need new energy,
A resurgence, I guess.
Players, a manager
Who can pass the big-league test.
So now we must wait,
Amid the flurries and cold.
While the Sox brass
Contemplates a new mold.
So long to 2016,
“Mired in Mediocrity.”
Let’s hope 2017 is brighter,
Mired in Alacrity.
And face it, my friends,
The real heroes are us fans.
We keep rooting for the Sox,
These perennial also-rans
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Previously in Roger’s season-ending White Sox poems:
* The Season In Verse | Could Hardly Be Worse (2015).
* Ode To 2014.
–
Roger’s season farewell photo, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016.
“Easy to get a beer.”
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Former Bill Veeck bar buddy Roger Wallenstein is our White Sox correspondent. He welcomes your comments.
Posted on October 2, 2016