In the years after the White Sox’ 2005 World Series title, chief executive Ken Williams was notorious for expressing disappointment in the underachieving performances of his teams as the trade deadline began to approach.
His talk of breaking up the Sox usually would come around June 1, with a large slate of home games coming up, and unintentionally would serve as a spark for players, who’d often respond with an impressive win streak that propelled them toward playoff contention. But then the Sox would sink into quicksand by trusting the same players who’d gotten off to slow starts.
