One day, late in October 2005, thousands of White Sox fans gathered in unison to celebrate a long-awaited World Series championship. They watched as their heroes were paraded around the city, joyfully exclaiming that the “2nd team in the 2nd city” was finally on top. And they were.
Then, just as quickly as the 2005 team came, it appeared to vanish. Since that time, the White Sox have made the playoffs only once. They contended several times under Ozzie Guillen and once under Robin Ventura, but only played October baseball in 2008 (although it’s worth noting that the 2006 team would’ve at least made the one-game Wild Card playoff under today’s rules).