Baseball season is officially over in Chicago.
2 days after the Cubs were swept out of the National League postseason...
The White Sox were unable to convert on their fifth must win situation in a little over a week.
Josh Simon was at U–S Cellular Field and talked with the Sox as they left the clubhouse for the final time this season.

When Spring Training started there weren't many other than the players themselves who thought the White Sox would be still be playing in October.

White Sox Outfielder Jermaine Dye said, "I think everybody believed from day one that we could win a championship and we had the guys in here to do that. I think we proved everybody wrong so in our minds we did what we set out to do and that's win a championship."

To win the Central Division Championship the White had to make it through a late slump and three must win games the final three days of the season.

White Sox First Baseman Paul Konerko said, "We're lucky it wasn't over a week ago cause we were in position to be out of it. When you play for seven and a half months including spring training, that's a long time and I think we got the most of everyone. We left nothing on the table."

White Sox Outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. said, "This team's been fighting from day 1 and it wasn't just the last two weeks. It's been 163 games."

But Monday the must win scenario's caught up with the southsiders.

Konerko said, "The games we played in Minnesota before were more energy filled than the playoff and when you start that a week or two before the season ends you're going to hit a wall and today that happened."

White Sox DH said, "Whenever we had our backs to the wall we rose to the occasion and credit Tampa they have a good pitching staff and a really good bullpen and offensively they came out and scored some runs they have a very talented club and you know what congratulations to them."

With the book now closed on the 2008 season Jim Thome heads back to Central Illinois for some hunting and quality time with his family before looking ahead to 2009.

Thome said, "You go home over the winter, you work hard, you do the things you have to do to prepare for next year and come back and try to do better."