Yes, it’s that time of year again.

The weather should be starting to cool off anytime now. School is here and Huskie football is right around the corner.

But wait.

While Mamma Bears are getting her Cubbies ready for hibernation and Pappa Bear’s boys get ready for a long winter at Soldier Field, the other boys of summer are planning on sticking around a little longer this year.

That’s right.

The White Sox are leading their division and it’s almost September.

I know it is hard to believe and a lot of people probably don’t care, considering when any Chicago baseball team makes it to the league championship, they usually choke.

Example #1: The 1984 Cubs. The Cubs had a 2-0 lead over San Diego and had to win just one more. Instead they gaged on the bat of Steve Garvey and lost the next three and never made it to the World Series.

Example #2: The 1983 White Sox. A perfect example that a couple of career seasons by some not so sensational players is not going to win the Pennant.

Example #3: The 1989 Cubs. The Giants were the culprits this year. Well, let’s just face it. It’s not in their nature to win.

I guarantee that the 1993 Sox are not going to be another example of Chicago baseball teams choking in the end. They have been in first place for 87 days thus far and have the sensational players it takes to win.

They have a potential Cy Young winner in Jack McDowell, who has already reached the 20 win mark, and with a ERA that is consistently going down, he should be a shoe-in for the award.

Alex Fernandez could very well win 20 games this season as well.

The combination of McDowell, Fernandez and Hernandez, who is sporting 29 saves, could possibly make up the best pitching staff in the American League.

The Sox also have the hottest hitter in the majors in Frank Thomas. He’s batting .322 with 35 homers and 104 RBIs.

I’m not suggesting that we should post the magic number for the rest of the season as a shady plot to get more people interested in the pennant race. The magic number isn’t important until it hits zero.

Chicago fans should put aside the Bears for a while and cheer on the White Sox. This may be their last chance. It doesn’t matter if you are the oldest Sox fan in town or just a youngster who attended his or her first game at the New Comiskey Park and decided from that day to devote support to Sox for ages to come.

This could be the last time we see a pennant winner in Chicago until Comiskey Park III is built.