In Chicago, cats haven’t held a particularly special place in the hearts of baseball fans. The “black cat” sighting in 1969 for instance, has sometimes been referred to as the moment the pennant inexplicably slipped through the gloves of the Cubs. Now, cats can probably be added to the list of what separates Cubs Nation and White Sox Nation.

In defeating the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night, the White Sox locked up their first playoff appearance since their World Series Championship in 2005. On their way to reaching this year’s postseason, however, the White Sox have come to resemble a cat with nine lives.

Coming into the one-game playoff against the Twins, the White Sox had lost six of their last 10, three of which were courtesy of these Twins in a sweep at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, resulting in the Twins overtaking the lead in the AL Central from the White Sox.

Typically a team like the White Sox, vying for a playoff spot, would bounce back from a sweep like the one they endured in Minneapolis and win at all costs. The White Sox, however, managed to lose their next two, and extend their losing streak to five games with potentially only one game left to play.

The losing aspect is usually enough for a team to deal with, but the losing only scratched the surface for the White Sox. After a week in which Manager Ozzie Guillen criticized his pitcher Javier Vazquez, Orlando Cabrera called out his teammates, and Nick Swisher voiced disdain for being benched, turmoil like this should have been the cherry on top to put a season to rest.

However, the Twins spotted the White Sox two more lives by also losing their next two games to the Kansas City Royals.

Since their five game losing streak, the White Sox, with a new lease on life, did their part in ensuring a ticket for October – capping it off with a revenge win of the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday.

“I think they deserve respect,” said Abel Dejene, a junior in Political Science, “They made it to the playoffs, only eight teams make it, and it’s a tough thing to do. I think teams have looked past us, but I feel our series against the Rays is very winnable. Combine that with the momentum from winning this game [against the Twins], we have it. It is all about what you have been doing at the point of the playoffs starting.”

In light of how incredibly close the AL Central race was this year, it would seem crazy to think that all Sox fans knew the South Sider’s were going to finish on top. It was.

“I was jumping up and down and screaming at a roommate on the couch,” said Dustin Wylde, a senior in Integrated Biology. “I called my dad, texted my uncle, called my little brother, just good to know the Sox are going to whoop the Cubs (butt) when it comes World Series time.”