The last day at Guaranteed Rate Field

My White Sox family (from left): Brian , Doug , Jen , Tom and me.

Kudos to the White Sox for having a respectable last homestand of 2019. It was rain abbreviated -- the Sox only played 161 games this season because of bad weather Friday -- but they closed it out with a 4-2 week at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The Sox took two of the three from the Cleveland Indians, basically knocking their AL Central rivals out of the playoffs with an 8-3 win Wednesday night and a 8-0 win Thursday night.

The Sox then won two of three games from the hapless Detroit Tigers over the weekend, which allowed them to finish 72-89 -- a 10-game improvement over 2018.

Despite that improvement, it was still a non-contending year for the Sox, and a difficult season for me to watch at times. As we sat at the ballpark Sunday, watching the South Siders beat Detroit, 5-3, I had mixed emotions.

The Sox are concluding the season with only two healthy starting pitchers, Reynaldo Lopez and Ivan Nova. Yes, I know the injuries to Lucas Giolito (strained lat) and Dylan Cease (strained hamstring) are not considered serious, but the bottom line is they aren't pitching.

The team has had no choice but to make seemingly every other game a "bullpen day." If there was a game Monday, who would be the starting pitcher for the Sox? I have no idea, because Lopez and Nova both pitched in Saturday's doubleheader against the Tigers.

From that perspective, for everyone's health and sanity, it is good the season is ending now. The Sox are almost out of starting pitching, and they don't need anyone else getting hurt while being pushed beyond their limits.

That said, while I know the season needed to end, that doesn't make me happy that it has. I always miss baseball during the winter, and this year will be no different.

You see, the beauty of the game is that it is played every day. Win or lose, there's always another game tomorrow. Until you get to the last day, and then you have to wait 179 days before the next meaningful ballgame is played. That stinks.

But at least we got to enjoy one last day with our friends at the ballpark. Believe it or not, they still had food at ChiSox Bar & Grill. (This is an improvement over previous season finales, if you can believe it.) The weather wasn't great, but the company was, and the Sox won.

My final attendance record for 2019: 10-10. That's not too bad when cheering for a 72-89 team. Let's hope that by next September, the Sox will be playing games that mean something in the standings for the first time since 2012.