Remember Kevin Brown? In 2004, at age 39, the Yankee pitcher and one-time Probably The Best Right-Hander In Baseball punched a wall in the clubhouse and broke his non-pitching hand. That October, Brown posted a 21.60 ERA against the Red Sox in the ALCS, and the Yankees’ title hopes died in epic fashion.

Brown recovered but was never quite the same, as his performance began to deteriorate in tandem with his health; he would later be named in the Mitchell Report as a buyer and user of HGH and Deca-Durabolin.

Lest anyone jump to conclusions, there are no suggestions or implications being made here; this is not a hatchet job against injured ballplayers, nor is anyone raising any suspicions about use of PEDs by any local ballplayers. The point is not that Brown was juiced, anyway, but rather that a stupid, self-inflicted injury can in fact have major ramifications. He wasn’t the best Yankee pitcher that season, but without him the 101-win 2004 Yankees were effectively doomed – even with their high-powered offense firing on all cylinders.

So if even the mightiest of teams can fold with a seemingly non-pivotal piece suddenly removed, what will become of this year’s White Sox without the services of the best player in the American League?

As has been pointed out elsewhere, to call the season lost at this point would be ridiculous – but to say everything will be okay would be just as foolish. The division is weak, yes, and anything can happen in a short series Hall of Famers experience pitching-and-defense leadership baseball grinder grit 2005. Removing Carlos Quentin’s bat from the lineup doesn’t just mean the Sox are short a few home runs; removing Carlos Quentin’s bat means it’s now safe to pitch to Jermaine Dye.

Instead of the best hitter of 2008, opposing pitchers now get the best hitter of 1997; instead of a just good enough defensive outfield of Quentin, Dye and Nick Swisher, it’s now an out-of-position Swisher coupled with two guys who’ve lost a few steps since their athletic primes, which in turn means the pitching is going to suffer with a weaker defense behind it, which means the already so-so offense has to turn it up a notch, which is no small order considering they just lost the best hitter of 2008.

It’s been said at least a few times already in these parts, but it’s worth noting again just how much this year’s edition is becoming more and more a recreation of the 2003 and 2004 teams – fighting with everything in them for first place in a weak division, fearing a Twins team that has no right to be in the position it’s in, dreaming big of a Crosstown World Series, a pitching staff swinging wildly between amazing and atrocious, and now this year’s answer to losing Frank and Magglio.

Losing Quentin doesn’t mean the season’s over; losing Quentin just means the season got a lot tougher and, in a roundabout way, really just puts them right back where they started. Here’s hoping they can pull if off – not because of their star players, but despite them.