Lillibridge: Where are you Sox fans?

Here's the obvious question as the White Sox prepare to face the Indians tonight at U.S. Cellular Field: Does anybody really care? I know there's a solid base of Sox fans out there, and I've heard from many of you over the years. But as the White Sox and Tigers embark on what has become an eight-game sprint to the finish, the attendance - or lack thereof - is back in the headlines. Be sure to check back later and read tomorrow's paper. I grabbed Brent Lillibridge down on the field an hour or so ago, and we talked about his tweet yesterday. Lillibridge, a popular bench player with the White Sox the past four seasons, was sent to Boston in the Kevin Youkilis trade. The Red Sox designated him for assignment, and Lillibridge hooked on with Cleveland. He had some interesting thoughts about yesterday's pitiful crowd of 13,797 and the lack of "buzz" around a White Sox team that wasn't given any chance at the start of the year but has been in the hunt all season. "A first-place team with only 6 home games left and the lower bowl isn't even full," Lillibridge tweeted yesterday. "You're better than that Chicago." Ouch. Like I said, there's a solid fan base out there, and the Sox fans that do show up are great. -As for tonight, I think Hector Santiago is going to do very well in his spot start vs. the Indians. Santiago is a good bet to be in the rotation next year, but the White Sox really need him now. In 2 starts this season, the left-hander has allowed only 1 run in 9 innings. Santiago's also piled up 14 strikeouts while issuing 6 walks. If he can command the ball and keep the pitch count down, I can see Santiago delivering 6 strong innings tonight against a team that is vulnerable vs. left-handed starters. -Here is Paul Konerko from this afternoon on the AL Central dogfight between the White Sox and Tigers: "I don't think at any point this season, I don't even know what's the biggest lead is for us or for them (Detroit), Cleveland. I don't know what the biggest lead was but at no time any time during the year did it feel like, you knew every game the whole year was an important game. Like I said yesterday, that makes it a grind. That makes it tiring. That makes it not as easy as a team that runs away with the division. "At the same time, we feel like we're comfortable playing close games and if we happen to get this thing done and get to the playoffs I think that is actually a big positive for us once we get there. But obviously, the hard part is getting there and that's what we're trying to do over the next eight games. We've played our share of close games. It drains you but I think it makes you better as a team as well."