Vazquez a shining star amid gloom
The White Sox could have used an effective Javier Vazquez last season.
And if they hope to bounce back in 2008, they'll need a big effort from the veteran starting pitcher.
As for this year, Vazquez was one of the few bright spots for the Sox.
Making his final start of the season Friday night at U.S. Cellular Field, Vazquez pitched 7¿ strong innings while lifting the White Sox to a 5-2 win over the Detroit Tigers.
"The way he finished was amazing,'' said Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. "He finished strong and it was fun to watch this kid pitch.''
Vazquez (15-8) was 12-3 with a 3.32 ERA over his final 18 starts, and the 31-year-old right-hander had his best overall season since 2001, when he was 16-11 (3.42 ERA) with the Montreal Expos.
"Obviously, everybody knows we didn't do as a team what we were supposed to,'' Vazquez said. "But personally, I really needed a season like this, so I feel gratified.''
One of the White Sox' other standouts -- reliever Bobby Jenks -- came on in the ninth inning and earned his 40th save. Jenks became the first pitcher in franchise history to record 40 or more saves in back-to-back seasons.
Jenks saved 41 games last year.
"You know what you're going to get from Bobby,'' Guillen said. "That's one of the highlights this year. He had a real special year.''
Looking ahead: Ozzie Guillen has no interest in watching postseason baseball on TV, so he's heading for a vacation in Spain after the regular season ends Sunday.
Guillen is looking forward to watching bullfighting, but he'll switch back to baseball mode when the Sox hold their annual organizational meetings at Phoenix in mid-October.
"That is an opportunity we have to express how we feel about everyone,'' Guillen said. "This meeting is to help bring this ballclub and this organization back to the top. Any move in the minor leagues, big-league level, trade, firing, release, if you don't think it is a good idea, I expect people to say so.''
Minor mess: Not only were the White Sox disappointing this season, every team in the farm system except Advanced Rookie Great Falls failed to make the playoffs.
Outside of Class AA Birmingham starting pitchers Gio Gonzalez and Jack Egbert, there aren't any promising prospects.
And some of the young players the Sox have called up this season have been lacking basic skills.
The topic is sure to come up at the organizational meetings.
"I cannot blame player development because I don't know exactly what is going on in their mind,'' Ozzie Guillen said. "Those kids we brought here, they have good enough talent to stay here. I'm not going to blame player development, I'm not going to blame managers in Triple-A, I'm not going to blame coaches at the big-league level. I can't blame those guys. Those guys have a lot of talent and they showed me that. They just came to the big-league level and they couldn't do it. They couldn't do it."
Individual achievement: Prior to Friday's game, the White Sox honored starter Mark Buehrle for pitching a no-hitter on April 18 and reliever Bobby Jenks for tying a major-league record by retiring 41 straight batters.
In addition to video tributes, Buehrle and Jenks received rings and framed photographs.
Before tonight's game against the Tigers, the Sox will honor Jim Thome for hitting his 500th home run.
White Sox 5, Tigers 2
On the mound: Javier Vazquez had 9 strikeouts and finished the season with 213. That's the sixth-highest total in Sox history and the most since Gary Peters had 215 strikeouts in 1967. Bobby Jenks recorded his 40th save.
At the plate: Jim Thome hit his 506th career home run. Paul Konerko hit a 3-run homer for the second straight game.
-- Scot Gregor