CLEVELAND — It was legendary Chicago philosopher Joakim Noah who once rejected the notion that a trip to Cleveland was a worthwhile venture.
“You like it?” Noah asked reporter David Haugh during the Bulls’ 2010 playoff series against the Cavaliers. “You think Cleveland’s cool? I mean, I never heard anybody say, ‘I’m going to Cleveland on vacation.’”
Suffice to say the White Sox weren’t enthused about a return trip to Cleveland after taking the first two games of the American League Division Series last week. But they wasted a golden opportunity to clinch at Rate Field, and with their dream season on the line, the Sox returned to Progressive Field on Saturday for a win-or-go-home Game 5.
After all the talk about their resiliency and the underdog mentality and divine intervention, there was really nothing more to say before the opening pitch.
“I’m not sure that if I sat these guys down and had some amazing motivational speech, that it’s going to stick or help,” manager Will Venable said. “That’s not really my style anyway.”
Venable has two modes — excited and super-excited — and on Saturday he was excited for an opportunity to move on to the American League Championship Series, which begins Monday in Florida against the top-seeded Tampa Bay Rays.
Venable opted to go old-school for Game 5, sending Sean Burke to start against the Guardians, whom he dominated in Game 2.
No openers. No bulk guys. No nonsense.
Burke was their one-man rotation, even though he had only one postseason start under his belt. He was the only Sox pitcher who had thrown more than five innings in a game this postseason — his brilliant, one-hit bulk appearance in the Game 2 win in Cleveland.
Venable had been MacGyvering his way through the playoffs, using relievers as openers, starters as relievers and closer Grant Taylor on a 24/7 basis. Sean Newcomb and Taylor were targeted as the primary leverage duo heading into the game, but it was all hands on deck as usual for any elimination game.
It’s not aesthetically pleasing to some, but Venable’ strategy worked for a while. And then, suddenly, it didn’t. The bullpen arms looked tired in games at Rate Field, and Taylor turned in his worst performance of the season after being the designated savior since the wild-card series in Houston.
“My belief in Grant is as high as it’s ever been,” Venable said. “He has been our guy the entire year. He’s the guy every single game in which we are in a tough spot that we put in when he’s available. And when he’s not available, we wish he was. And so that’s not going to change today just because of one outing.”
Anxiety levels were high among Sox fans, and it wasn’t just the usual, garden-variety anxiety passed down from generation to generation of Sox fans. This was based on objective reality — the Sox hitters were striking out at an unprecedented rate, leaving runners stranded like arriving passengers at O’Hare waiting on the tarmac for a gate to open.
The Chicago media contingent was small, thanks no doubt to the Bears-Packers game on Sunday in Green Bay. The death of Bears coach Mike Ditka also took some of the focus off the Sox, much like news of Michael Jordan’s shocking retirement from the Bulls did to the crowd at new Comiskey Park 33 years ago during Game 1 of the ALCS between the Sox and Toronto Blue Jays.
No matter. The Sox were back to their old, familiar role as underdogs, reverting to default mode once again.
Perhaps that would be a good thing?
The pressure was squarely on Burke’s shoulders, and if there was anyone Sox fans believed in, it was Burke. He stepped up in the postseason, striking out 14 with one walk and one walk in 9 1/3 innings in his two appearances.
In a conversation at his locker the other day at the Rate, I told Burke that in all my decades covering playoff baseball, I’d never seen any pitching strategy quite like the one the Sox were using. Naturally, I’d seen starters used in relief in do-or-die situations, including Cubs left-hander Jon Lester in the decisive Game 7 of the 2016 World Series in this very same ballpark.
But the ’26 Sox broke the mold, with no one knowing exactly when or how they’d be used.
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“It’s been fun,” Burke said. “I think it’s been a little crazy at times, but it’s cool, like an all-hands-on-deck approach to it. So it keeps you engaged in all of these games because you never know when your name is going to be called.”
That obviously was going to be the case for Game 5, with everyone available, including Game 4 bulk guy Erick Fedde, a new cult hero on the South Side.
As the Guardians fans poured into the park while the Sox took batting practice, a group in the right-field stands began chanting “F−−− you, White Sox,” proving Noah’s axiom about Cleveland as a welcoming place.
No matter how Game 5 turned out, it was safe to say that the Sox’s season has been one of the most memorable and unexpected in franchise history. It reminded me of the 1972 season, when Dick Allen brought the franchise back from the dead, and of 1990, when a brash Jack McDowell and closer Bobby Thigpen helped them challenge the mighty A’s team into September, finishing with 94 wins.
Neither of those teams made it to October, but with only one championship in their lifetimes, most Sox fans have had to make do with memories of fun seasons that ultimately ended in disappointment.
As time goes on, you cherish those seasons even more.
When they look back on 2026, it will no doubt evoke fond memories of a team of likeable overachievers who fooled everyone, including their own management.
Back in February at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz., I asked general manager Chris Getz what he thought about his players “talking playoffs” after three straight 100-plus loss seasons.
“Well, I love high expectations from our players,” Getz replied. “We focus on winning today. You can call it cliche, but that’s how Will (Venable) operates. That’s why we wanted Will, to put together a pathway to win a game that particular day, and to repeat that approach on a daily basis and we’ll see where it takes us.”
Getz said then he didn’t feel any pressure from Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, and just wanted to “stay the course” on the rebuild.
“You measure where we were last year to where we are now,” he said. “We just want to take another step forward.”
The Sox took quite a few steps forward in ’26. The season is already a stunning success.
But on a perfectly cool Saturday night in Cleveland, they were looking to make a huge leap.