“Emergence.”

It’s a word bandied about quite a bit in White Sox lore, be it a prospect getting off to a great start, a journeyman finding his groove, or maybe just an unlikely veteran coming into his own. Sometimes it sticks, and we see the start of a fine career here on the South Side. Usually though, such a time is less a revelation and more a death sentence.

Bobby Thigpen emerged from the mire of the disastrious 1989 bullpen to set a single-season saves record in 1990, only to head back to middle relief a year later. Wilson Alvarez emerged in 1991 with a no-hitter and proceeded straight to the fourth slot in a lot of rotations. Ray-Ray emerged in 1995 as the second baseman of the future and was traded to Oakland in 2002 for Jon “2+ WHIP” Adkins so the Good Guys could make room for the great Willie Harris.

To be sure, breakout seasons aren’t always the path to exile and failure. Frank Thomas came out swining and had as good a 15-year run with the Sox as anyone could have for that long with a team. Mark Buehrle and Bobby Jenks seem to be doing okay. Ditto Jon Garland, even if it took him awhile to come around. Magglio Ordonez, suspiciously-acting jerk that he may have become after 2004, has actually improved since drawing notice the early part of this decade.

But the question is not so much one of predicting the future, but one of separating good starts from good breaks. Did Esteban Loaiza have a breakout year in 2003, or just a career year? Is Carlos Quentin the next Magglio or the next Chris Singleton? If a player tanks after a good season, what did they emerge as – a good player, or just another flash in the pan?

This is all worth discussing because of the quick anointing of Chris Getz, after last night’s 1-for-1 showing, as the next great White Sox infielder. On one hand, it would be nice to think the Sox have a true second baseman waiting in the wings to take the place of any of the three shortstops who’ve been covering the four-spot.

On the other hand, it was just one game. One game. One. Joe Borchard had two RBI his first time out and we all know how much that was worth in the long run. Maybe Getz truly is the answer to next year’s problem; the thing is, we won’t really know until next year.