OPINION

By Jim Litke

updated 8:06 p.m. ET Sept. 28, 2008

Jim Litke

CHICAGO - It’s rarely a good sign when the manager is ironing out the details of his getaway plan a few hours before the first pitch in a must-win game. Yet there was Ozzie Guillen, back planted firmly against the wall in the White Sox dugout, still planning how to slip out of town without setting foot in either of the city’s airports.

Option No. 1 was already off the table. Owner Jerry Reinsdorf informed Guillen his private plane was stuck on a runway somewhere in Arizona and unavailable. Option No. 2, flying home to Miami from O’Hare Airport or Midway, was even worse. Guillen couldn’t bear seeing the disappointment on the faces of White Sox fans.

“So if we lose,” Guillen said, brightening, “I’m thinking I might drive to the airport in Milwaukee. They’re not going to recognize me up there.”

Not so fast, Ozzie.

A White Sox team that had lost five straight and eight of the last 10 will play at least one more day, thanks to a 5-1 win Sunday over Cleveland. And if they beat the Tigers in the makeup of a game postponed two weeks earlier, the White Sox will be home again Tuesday against the Twins for the AL Central title and the last invitation to baseball’s postseason tourney.

Four teams began the day playing musical chairs for two remaining playoff slots: Chicago and Minnesota in the AL; Milwaukee and New York in the NL.

Dire as their own situation seemed at moments, the Sox couldn’t help staring at the scoreboard as the afternoon unfolded. The Brewers’ win at home over the Cubs, coupled with the Mets’ loss at home to Florida, conveniently cleared up half the bracket.

“First, we had to keep an eye on the Twins,” Chicago outfielder Jermaine Dye said. “Then after they won, guys followed teams for their own reasons, mostly where you’ve got friends. Just because you don’t know what’s happening to you doesn’t mean you stop wondering how things are going for them.”

And for all the anxieties his managerial counterparts shared — both Milwaukee’s Dale Sveum and New York’s Jerry Manuel still have “interim” preceding their titles — none had cut as wide a destructive swath through his own clubhouse as recently as Ozzie.

After Friday night’s loss, Guillen walked back into his office and started in on the few intact souvenirs to survive a half-dozen earlier tirades, including his own family pictures.

“My wife looks like she has black eyes,” he recalled. “I was so mad I hit a picture I’m not supposed to hit.”

But there was an eerie sense of calm about Guillen by the next morning.

During a season that threatened to spin out of control more than once, he called out his own players on the eve of big games, traded barbs in the newspapers with guys he’s traded and renewed vague threats to walk away. This morning, not long after regaling reporters with his itinerary, he walked into the clubhouse and said almost nothing.

“This isn’t football. Our season is a much longer grind. If you’re a player and by game 161 you need a pep talk from a manager about what’s on the line, it’s already way too late,” White Sox slugger Paul Konerko said.

“Besides, as players we don’t pay too much attention to that extra stuff,” he added.

Good thing, too, since one other thing Guillen addressed before the game was starter Mark Buerhle’s endurance. The left-hander was about to make his third start this season — and second this month — on just three days’ rest, coming off a 121-pitch night that was his longest outing in four years.

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