Elimination number is down to 10.

On the week, the Sox went 1-4 in the last “soft” part of the schedule, which is even worse when you consider that after tonight’s games, the D-Rays are only 3 games back for the MLB-wide basement.

Every team the Sox play for the rest of the year is better than they are, and that includes four games against the Royals. I never thought I would live to see that day. Never in a million years. Come on – the Royals!

And the ****ing Rangers!

Three errors by Andy Gonzalez. John Danks strikes out 8, gives up 2 earned runs – and loses. Kevin Millwood and his 5+ ERA hold the Sox to one run on a meaningless Jim Thome solo shot in a meaningless game in what has been nothing more than another meaningless season of White Sox baseball.

The part that should worry (no not worry, that would imply the existence of some reason to care) depress all of us most is knowing that nearly every team left on the Good Guys’ season – Cleveland, Detroit, LAA, Minnesota, KC – is coming out with guns blazing, whether for playoff position or just to say “we finished ahead of someone.”

Twenty-eight games to go; having already dropped 16 of their last 19 against the likes of . . . you know what? It doesn’t matter who they lost to, because when you lose 16 of 19 and play .425 ball on the year, you lose to pretty much everyone. Is an 0-28 finish really impossible? Even if the Sox “win” at their current rate, we’re looking at 12-16 down the home stretch. While that might be good enough to stay ahead of Tampa Bay . . .
I can’t finish that sentence. This type of mediocrity simply cannot be put into words by a writer of my meager ability.

****ing Rangers!

This afternoon, the Angels and Mariners went head-to-head in the latest in a string of increasingly important series for the hanging-on-by-a-thread-because-of-the-goddamn-Yankees Mariners.

Elsewhere, the Padres and Diamondbacks squared off with first place on the line in America’s Finest City.

On the North Side of Chicago, the Cubs and Brewers continued their fight for the top of the NL Central:

Brewers: Here, you take it.
Cubs: No, you take it!
Brewers: No, YOU take it!
Cubs: Wait! Maybe if we work together, maybe we can sucker the Cardinals into winning this awful division . . .

But where, I ask you, is the glory in those series? What are they fighting for but front-row seats for the Angels winning it all? No, what everyone – you, me, ESPN, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the rest of the sports world – failed to realize is those series are all, in the long run, meaningless. Hollow playoff appearances that end in crushing defeat aren’t good for much unless you’re a Divisional Series memorabilia manufacturer or a sucker. Or, in the case of the Cubs, both.

No, what they refused to see was that one of the last great battles of the 2007 season raged on tonight . . . deep in the heart of Texas.

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There are few worse descriptors in the English language than “last place.” The Sox and Rangers, going into tonight’s game, were the second- and third-worst teams in the American League, respectively, with the Royals tied with Texas and the D-Rays a mere 4.5 back from the Sox.

With the teams a combined 30.5 games out of even the Wild Card, the time for niceties has passed. There are 30 games left for each, and there is no more glory to be had. There is no pride, no grasping for.500, no “it just wasn’t our year,” only the dignity of finishing out of the basement.

Dignity. Was it really that long ago the Good Guys were playing for things like the best record in baseball and, you know, the world championship? And now it’s what scraps of consolation prize respect and backhanded compliments that come along with finishing in fourth place?

That it’s actually against Texas, and that the Rangers came out swinging last night to take the Sox out in yet another embarrassing and highly disastrous game, should not surprise any of us. Not now, not after this year. Not after all those double plays grounded into, or errant throws to first, or stranded runners, or unearned runs surrendered with two outs, or six pitchers used to get out of the 7th inning, or botched hit-and-runs, or strained hamstrings, or AA call-ups gone wrong.

To put it another way: Texas has won 57 games this year. So who loses to the Rangers? No one, that’s who. And that’s just who these 2007 Chicago White Sox are. No one. We already know how this ends; the only question left is not one of when but one of how badly.

As I type this, it is 4-4 in the middle of the 9th. The Sox had Andy Gonzalez on third and Darrin Erstad on second with one out. This translated to zero runs. There is only one possible outcome for an inning, game, series, and season like this.

There’s a chance, of course, that I’m wrong. But on August 29th of an impending 100-loss season, it’s hard to care either way.

“Your last place Chicago White Sox.” God I hate this team.

Before kicking off a four-game weekend set in Boston — where Paul Konerko launched home run No. 26 on Saturday — the White Sox got the week started with a series win over the Royals. The South Siders began that series in thrilling fashion, piecing together a seventh-inning rally led by Danny Richar’s clutch home run.

Seven games and the only salvageable details are two home runs, lest we dwell on the Sox’ 9-16 record for the month, Ryan Bukvich giving up five runs while recording zero outs Saturday or A.J. Pierzynski’s team-leading .267 average. Unbelievable.

Which begs the question: at what point does the rest of the season become unjustifiable? The Sox stand 16 games out of first (1 game out of fourth) and the Tragic Number is already down to 17 with 31 games left to play. 5-26 is all that’s keeping them from joining the century club, and the Indians have to be licking their chops over the three games they’re going to gain on the Tigers courtesy of the Good Guys.

Pods is hurt again. Jim Thome keeps tweaking upper-body muscles. Grindy McGrinderstad has played in all of 68 games. The only batter with a respectable batting average is now playing for the Padres. Jose Contreras’ win today over the D-Rays to get to 7-16 was his first as a starter since June. Joe Crede may never play another game in a Sox uniform. Only five Sox players are hitting over .250. Paul Konerko’s team-high 77 RBIs are good for 26th in the AL. Alex Rodriguez has knocked in more runners than the Sox’ entire outfield; Jose Reyes and Juan Pierre each have more stolen bases than the Sox’ entire team.

It should be clear by now just how little good can come from the Sox playing the rest of this season. Hilarity? Yes. Disgust? Possibly. Civic shame? Absolutely. So we might at least have an entertaining fight for the basement to look forward to.

And hey, remember when Danny Richar hit that clutch home run against the Royals last week? That was awesome.

What matters is not new acquisition Mike Myers sporting an ERA with the Sox of 18.00, a number only slightly better than the combined ERAs (18.31) of Dewon Day (11.25) and Gavin Floyd (7.06).

What matters is not Jermaine Dye going 5-for-20 since signing that contract extension.

What matters is not Jose Contreras moving into second place for most hit batsmen in baseball (13) and claiming sole possession of first in losses (16).

What matters is not that the Good Guys are now only an entirely plausible 6-30 run away from the century mark.

What matters is not the rejoicing in Kansas City, knowing that they now are no longer the worst team in the Central.

What matters is not that tickets for today’s game were going for 25 cents on StubHub.

What matters is the Sox inching one step closer to October 1st, the day this whole wretched season will finally be over.

Awful. Just awful.

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In sunnier news, let’s wish a happy South Side birthday to “D.J.” Darrin Jackson, who turned 45 today.