Small proof that hindsight is sometimes 20/200:

Truth be told, Swisher is a fine player and a solid addition to a White Sox lineup that needs a bat like his and an outfielder that can cover the ground he does.

We’ve beaten up on Swisher enough in these parts, so we’ll just say he had a down year. The most damning take on Swisher’s trek through the South Side requires the proper context to fully appreciate the scale of what we’ve just witnessed: Kenny Williams, in his constant three-year-long pursuit of filling the hole left by Aaron Rowand and Brian Anderson between November 2005 and May 2006, has effectively traded Ryan Sweeney, Gio Gonzalez, Faustino De Los Santos, Kanekoa Texiera and $3.5 million for an allegedly overrated pitching prospect in Jeff Marquez, a reclamation project in bust prospect Jhonny Nunez, and Wilson Betemit, the Yankees’ answer to Juan Uribe.

This doesn’t include the superfluous Griffey trade, the watched third strikes, the lame throws, the .189 on the road, the breaking up a no-hitter without getting a hit, the 8-for-51 to close the season, the 16-for-91 May, the. . . no, no, we won’t go there. That’s just plain mean.

So we’ll close the book on the Dirty Thirty with this: Swish, you were a character and (more importantly) brought more female fans to the park than anyone in recent memory, and I can’t fault you for either of those things. Enjoy New York.