the Mariners drive Chris crazy

The most beleaguered of White Sox fans is Chris, pictured here.

Chris can't stand the way Josh Fields plays third, backing off the ball when it's sharply hit, and he's no fan of Jerry Owens in center. Chris is sure to tell you, too, exactly how he feels in the appropriate vocabulary.

The Mariners are down by two, runners on second and third, when Guillen scorches one. Fields doesn't charge, and has a bad hop sail past his head; both runs come home. Chris curses under his breath. Later, on a soft grounder, Fields charges too late, booting the ball. Chris gets one of those little veins on his forehead. Owens gets his own chance to contribute, air-mailing a throw from center behind the railing. Three bad plays turn a 3-1 Sox lead into a 7-3 deficit.

Chris files a restraining order against himself.

The Sox come back, but it's not enough. Ibañez's heroics in the field and smoking liners, Weaver's biting slider, Putz's sizzling fastball, all too much. Mariners 7, Sox 5.

To add the proverbial insult, the Cubs win.

Hard times for a White Sox fan. Doubly hard times for Chris.