Commentary: Blackest night shines bright on South Side

CHICAGO — From afar, the crowd looked like an unruly assembly of witches, and the black towels the people waved might have been the fluttering of bat wings.

The dark night -- isn't that a movie? -- brought with it a chill that had people stuffing hands in pockets.

And the whole inky, shadowy theme worked for the black-hearted White Sox, who settled for a 1-0 dismissal of the Twins over a ritual sacrifice. Very kind of them, wouldn't you say?

Somehow ... somehow, an arduous, up-and-down, 163-game slog of a season continues for the White Sox, thanks to a huge outing by pitcher John Danks and a monster of a home run by Jim Thome on Wednesday night to settle the American League Central title.

The Sox are headed to Tampa, Fla., for a playoff battle against the Rays. The champagne the players liberally partook of probably tasted a little sweeter than it might have normally. And if it happened to find its way into a few players' eyes in the plastic-covered clubhouse, well, it was a good sting.

The White Sox weren't supposed to be here. Remember? They didn't have the personnel to stick with the Tigers or the Indians. Such a cold word, personnel. So impersonal. Doesn't quite get at the heart or soul of a team.

"We bounce back every time we're against the wall," manager Ozzie Guillen said.

This team didn't have a lot of use for conventional wisdom, and that's why the Sox were the ones mobbing one another near second base Wednesday night after Brian Anderson's diving catch to end the game.

It's why players ran around the perimeter of the field to share the joy and the bubbly with the faithful.

"This is what it's all about," Thome said. "This is October baseball."

Well, it was Sept. 30 baseball, but you know what he meant. The postseason. A chance. Hope.

It started with Danks, who wouldn't have been the first pitcher Guillen would have selected to start this all-important game. He probably would have been the fourth choice. But pitching on three days' rest, he gave up two hits in eight innings before giving way to closer Bobby Jenks.

"I can't put it into words," Danks said. "I'm still shaking. This is the best feeling I've had in baseball."

In the seventh, Thome launched a 461-foot home run to dead center off Nick Blackburn to give the Sox a 1-0 lead. If they were going to win or lose this game, it was going to be like this. Either they were going to hit home runs or they weren't. It's why the Sox were so up and down this season.

You want to know how to energize a black-clad crowd? Have center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. catch a shallow fly ball, throw a one-hop bull's-eye to home and watch catcher A.J. Pierzynski hold on to to the ball after getting run over by the Twins' Michael Cuddyer, who was trying to score from third. And for good measure, watch a triumphant Pierzynski show Cuddyer the ball stuck in the mitt. How, the catcher seemed to be saying, does that taste? It ended the fifth inning and preserved a scoreless tie.

"I still don't know how he hung on to the ball," Danks said.

In the ninth inning, Jenks rumbled out of the bullpen. And that was it, easy as 1-2-3, and the Sox suddenly were on the field celebrating. Some of them had lots of practice with this sort of thing, thanks to the team's 2005 World Series title.

Afterward, Thome and Danks got on the public-address system to thank the crowd. The fans seemed more of a mind to thank them.

At the request of the club, the vast majority of the 40,354 fans wore black to the game, and the "blackout" gave a dastardly feel to The Cell. You know, in a good way. General Manager Ken Williams said he felt more energy in the ballpark Tuesday and Wednesday than he felt when the White Sox won the World Series.

"Let's go get them in Tampa," Nick Swisher yelled.

Good idea. But if the Sox hadn't won this game? It would have been cold as a witch's cackle. Beforehand, Pierzynski had said the team simply believed in what it had. Belief has the tensile strength of iron.

Forget what the Sox were predicted to do before the season began. Expectations rose as the year went along. After Alexei Ramirez's grand slam Monday against the Tigers forced Tuesday's extra game, expectations were out of control. Interesting, after such a bumpy season.

Nothing came easy.

"I could make a book just on this year," Guillen said. "It was hard. Very, very hard."

What would he call the book?

" 'How the Hell We in First Place?' " he said, laughing.