Thome Town, USA

Peoria, a traditional center of culture and refinement in Illinois, decided recently to rename itself "Thome Town" for the month of October, to honor world-renowned lumberjack Paul Bunyan a.k.a. Jim Thome. Well it appears Peoria will be reneging on that honor, due to the White Sox defeat in the ALDS:

The Peoria City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to table a motion to approve an honorary designation naming Peoria "Thome Town" for the entire month of October.

"Hopefully we can table this until next fall so Jim Thome can make it to the playoffs so he can fulfill his dream and (pursue a World Series ring)," 4th District City Councilman Bill Spears said.

Those Peorians are Indian-givers I tells ya. But don't worry, rumor has it New Orleans is being renamed Theriot Town in honor of the Cubs-----oh wait, nevermind.

Fashionably Late, Sox Make the Playoffs

John Danks went eight innings, giving up only two hits against the Twins and Jim Thome's 461 foot blast gave Danks the only run support he needed to get the White Sox back to the playoffs.

The Sox defense came up with two huge double plays in considerably different fashions. In the fifth inning with Michael Cuddyer on second base, Ken Griffey Jr. made a catch in shallow center and made a nice throw to get Cuddyer at the dish. Then in the eighth with a man on and one out, Danks forced the ground ball and the double play to end the inning.

Jenks came on to close the game out and after Anderson's diving catch for the third out, the celebration was on with the Sox coming back on the field to share some bubbly with the fans.

This makes it the first time in over 100 years that the White Sox and Cubs are in the playoffs at the same time. Hopefully it lasts deep into the playoffs, or you know, not that deep, depending on your feelings for each other.

The White Sox now travel to Tampa to take on the champions of the AL East, the Tampa Bay Rays. Game One is Thursday at 1:30 and will feature Vazquez vs. Shields. We'll see which pitcher Ozzie decides to talk shit about this time.

Today's Links--Holiday Weekend Edition

• Wages of Wins explains why Ben Gordon being the leading scorer is not indicative of his real contributions (or lack thereof). Also a look at some other Bulls issues by the numbers.
• Two retarded Cubs fans fight after a game. The best part is that you can hear the "Go Cubs Go" song in the background as they are trying to kill each other.
• Maybe the Bears aren't good because Lovie isn't pushing them as hard in camp and practice? Sounds possible, though it is more likely a combination of factors.
• Northwestern spanks 'Cuse. Sutton with 144 yards on the ground. It's a good start, but lets see them do that in the Big Ten.
• C.C. did not throw a no-hitter. Stop whining Milwaukee.
  
• Crack in the armor? The weekend goes poorly for the Cubs. Get ready for the roller coaster.
  
• Thome reaches home run milestone. The Mick has a beer in his honor. Boy did that guy like to party.
• Illinois loses, but big year may still be ahead.
• Sox end up winning Sunday, but the real show was Dustin Pedroia. He looks like Teddy Ballgame these days.
  

Jim Thome's a Man, He's 40!(almost)

It's been a year of ups and downs and for the White Sox and somebody who has definitely been having more ups than downs lately is Mr. 529 himself Jim Thome. If you remember back to good old May, the Sox offense was being carried by Carlos Quentin and Thome was rocking a batting average around .200. and his on-base percentage was well below .350. The 15 million dollar man was lookin old and pair him up with Paul Konerko and we had the makings of a long, rough season.

When June came around Thome was a defensive liability in all of the interleague games and his body looked like it might giving up on him. But something must have clicked in the old-timer. Since June 1st Thome is on an absolute tear, he has been hitting .306 over the 2+ months with and OBP of .459 in July.

He has been as important as any one of these guys has been for a Sox offense that has averaged 5.85 runs over the past month. While JD and Quentin might be putting MVP-like numbers, Thome has been the anchor on this offense. He has been playing like it is 2003 for the past 10 weeks and he could be the catalyst for a team that is going to need every hit that it can get.