Fittingly, the team that took 86 years to win a World Series stands on the brink of elimination against the team that hasn?t won a World Series in 87 years. In coming from behind to stun Boston, 5-4, in Game 2 of their ALDS, the Chicago White Sox have become, in effect, the new Red Sox, trying to erase decades of frustration and misery while their hardened, suffering fans wait for the other shoe to drop. With the Red Sox having won 8 of the last 9 games they?ve played when facing elimination, the White Sox know it won?t be easy. But after stumbling badly in September and almost relinquishing their division lead, the White Sox have recovered, and are playing like the team that made a shambles of the AL Central race by July. The Red Sox, meanwhile, are playing like the team that also stumbled through much of September. Their pitching deficiencies were glaringly exposed in Game 1, when the White Sox slugged five home runs and battered Matt Clement, who continues to slide after an All-Star first half. In Game 2, their defense betrayed them, as Tony Graffanino botched Juan Uribe?s potential inning-ending double-play ball that would?ve preserved a 4-2 lead. Like all championship-caliber teams, the White Sox pounced on the opportunity. Tadahito Iguchi?s three-run homer gave the White Sox a lead they never lost, and sent the suddenly punchless Red Sox home in what must be a state of confusion. Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, the Ruth and Gehrig of their day, are 4-15 with 2 RBI and no home runs in the series. Johnny Damon is hitting .222. Bill Mueller is hitless. And with Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe long gone, and Curt Schilling an inconsistent starter at best, the Red Sox have no reliable pitcher to turn to. In Game 3, they?ll pin their hopes on veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, the pitcher of record the last time the Red Sox lost an elimination game ? the infamous Aaron Boone home run in Game 7 of the 2003 ACLS. While shaky Red Sox pitching is no surprise, nobody expected the normally placid White Sox to erupt offensively the way they did in Game 1. Their 14-2 romp included the first home run of the season by leadoff hitter Scott Podsednik, and two home runs by catcher A.J. Pierzysnki, who, along with teammates like Carl Everett, Timo Perez, and Jose Contreras, has found a home in Chicago after being cast aside by previous teams. Contreras, whose previous ERA against the Red Sox was somewhere north of 11 runs per game, pitched brilliantly in Game 1, and would most likely pitch Game 5 should it be necessary. While the White Sox are a pleasing success story in a year of Yankees-Red Sox oversaturation, they?d be a lot more likeable if not for their manager, Ozzie Guillen, a free-swinging trash talker who?s not afraid to bash his own team in the press, and not afraid to give an opposing team?s mascot (and fans) the choke sign, as he did in the regular-season finale at Cleveland. The Red Sox may rally all their cowboys ups and ?Idiots? for one last stand at Fenway, but the ChiSox have better pitching, a better bullpen, and smart hitters who know how to manufacture runs. And while their 87-year drought is seen less as an epic curse, and more as the consequence of years of pathetic baseball, Chicago fans can sense destiny being handed off before their eyes. Or, as one sign at US Cellular Field put it: ?2004 ? Their Sox. 2005 ? Our Sox?.