| Kyle Trompeter. 17th October, 2005 - 12:32 pm
 And that?s a White Sox winner!
That is the usual call for Chicago White Sox radio play by play man John Rooney, who is in his last year announcing for the Pale Hoser?s, after a White Sox victory. During the game 5 of the ALCS, that call meant a little bit more than it usually does.
The White Sox had won the pennant.
So obviously, that call had a little bit more something to it than it normally does. Chicago had advanced to the October Classic for the first time since 1959.
Yes. That is 46 years without going to the World Series.
So what?
That is what this 2005 White Sox team thinks. A team built on pitching, pitching, and a little bit more pitching. Evidence of this can be summed up with the performances from their starters from games 2 through 5. That is a complete game from four different starting pitchers in consecutive games. Mark Buerhle, Jon Garland, Freddy Garcia, and Jose Contreras were able to do something that hadn?t been done by a group of starters since the 1928 New York Yankees.
Unbelieveable. That is the only word to describe that feat. It?s also the only word to describe how this team is doing what they are doing. This White Sox team is the ultimate TEAM. They don?t have many superstars, if any, to put the team on their back and carry them. If you take the lineup for the White Sox and compare it with that of the Angels, the case can be made that the Angels would have beaten out the White Sox at most positions.
That would be on paper, of course.
On the field, where it matters, the better team is undoubtedly the White Sox. They may end up being the best team going right now in baseball.
It?s hard to believe that only a month ago this team was on the brink of the greatest collapse in the history of baseball. A 15 game lead that had been trimmed down to 1.5 games. But they weathered the storm and got back to what they were doing back in April, May, and June ? winning nearly every day. Somehow, someway, they find a way to pull out the ?W?. Sure, they may have received a gift in game 2 of the ALCS from Doug Eddings, but good teams take advantage of their breaks, and they certainly did.
As the NLCS stands at 3-1 in favor of the Houston Astros over the St. Louis Cardinals, it looks like a White Sox ? Astros World Series is a likely scenario. That would make for a very exciting, albeit probably low scoring series. Offense is not the forte for either one of these teams. It is the pitching that is the steam for these engines, and the two teams match up well from a pitching standpoint.
Try to imagine some of these match ups with how good both staffs are pitching right now. Clemens vs. Buerhle. Oswalt vs. Garland. Pettitte vs. Contreras. Backe vs. Garcia.
It would be the team that hasn?t been in the World Series since 1959 (White Sox) vs. the team that has never been in the series (Astros).
But then again, the Cardinals could come back and win the next three games.
Well, if that happens, then just forget everything I just told you.
For now, White Sox fans (and Andrew W.K. fans), its time to party hard. Baseball success in Chicago has been far and few between. It?s been a long time coming and the loyal fan base of the South Siders deserve all of the joy that October 16th, 2005 brought to them. |
