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White Sox fans of a certain age -- mine -- learned to hate the Yankees before George Steinbrenner's excesses.  We hated them because the Sox kept finishing second to the Bronx Bombers and because of the whole Second City thing generally.  So any loss to New York hurts twice as much as any other loss (except one to the Cubs).  That means it felt like we lost four games over the weekend.

It really was only two, Saturday and Sunday, after winning Friday night.  But if I could have arranged the order of the outcomes, I would have saved the win for Sunday.  That was the day the Sox retired Frank Thomas's number and put his graphic on the outfield wall between Billy Pierce and Carlton Fisk.  I didn't get to see the ceremony, but The Tribune reports that the Big Hurt was extremely moved by the honor and got pretty emotional.  Good for Frank.  You're supposed to feel that way when something like this happens.  I'm just happy that my favorite Sox player of the last 20 years got his due.

A guy I don't expect will rank high on my list of favorite players looks to be coming to the Sox today.  It appears that Manny Ramirez will be joining the Pale Hose for the rest of the season.  Please, Kenny Williams, don't give away any player of value to get him.  We've mortgaged enough of the future this season, and while Manny might help in a short spurt, there's no long term future there.  Hopefully, all we do is pay the rest of his exorbitant salary for the remainder of the year, and Manny responds like he did when he first came to the Dodgers -- carrying the club at just the right time to give himself leverage for his next contract negotiation.  I'll take a great performance from him, but I don't have to like him.

The weekend's activities left the Sox with a 4.5 game deficit to make up and less time to do it.  Plus, the team hits the road for a 10-game trip to Cleveland, Boston, and Detroit. We're only 32-33 away from the Cell, so it's not looking good for the Good Guys.  Maybe Manny being the Manny of old will make a difference.  Go Sox!