Could Joe Crede come home to coach?

Joe Crede was back where it all began Tuesday.

In town to promote his appearance at this winter's SoxFest, Crede stopped by U.S. Cellular Field before Tuesday night's White Sox-Tigers game and caught up with his three remaining teammates from the 2005 World Series championship team — Paul Konerko, Mark Buehrle and A.J. Pierzynski.

Crede also threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

A popular, productive player for the Sox from 2000-08, Crede's troublesome back cut his career short.

He had two surgeries with the White Sox and one more after playing 90 games for the Twins in 2009.

“So-so,” Crede said when asked how he's feeling now. “It bothers me every once in a while. It feels a lot better than it did after my last year I played. I'm happy where I'm at right now. That's the biggest thing for me right now, being happy where I'm at. And whether or not I'm ready to move on to the next chapter of my life, that remains to be seen yet.”

Crede was preparing to go to camp with the Rockies this spring, but the debilitating injury forced him to stay in retirement.

“I went and did the physicals in Colorado,” Crede said. “I started to amp things up in the off-season and start working out and hitting and throwing and there was still pain there in my back. It was still limiting what I wanted to do. I didn't feel I was where I wanted to be.

“I felt it would have just been a waste of time for Colorado to bring me in and they could have given that spot to somebody else.”

Now 33, Crede isn't sure about his future plans.

He might like to get into coaching at some point, and the White Sox do like to bring back their own.

“I've never thought about that,” Crede said. “Coaching would be down the line for me. It's not even a thought right now in my mind. To even think about coaching here is something I never thought of.

“Would it be neat? Yeah, it's a great city with great fans, and to me this is the best city in the league and some of the best fans in the league. It would be hard to say no to something like this.”

Another loss:The Tigers moved another step closer to wrapping up first place in the AL Central Tuesday night with a 5-0 win over the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.While extending its overall winning streak to 11 games, Detroit won its fifth straight over the Sox.In the last three games, the Tigers have outscored the White Sox 37-6.Justin Verlander won his 23rd game of the season while pitching 7 innings and helping Detroit reduce its magic number to 4 over Cleveland.#8220;It seems like he throws any pitch in any count,#8221; manager Ozzie Guillen said. #8220;He knows what he's doing and he knows the hitters and what they want to do.#8221;The Tigers have won 21 of their last 25 and are clearly the class of the division.#8220;They win when they had to win,#8221; Guillen said. #8220;We didn't. We all were together, Cleveland, the White Sox and Detroit. Who's in first place? The guys that played better in that stretch.#8220;They kicked everybody's butt when they had to do it and that's why they're there. We're here because we deserve to be where we are. We didn't do anything to deserve to be in first place. Very inconsistent year.#8221;