White Sox Finally Wins World Series
CHICAGO ONE OF WORST CHAMPS SINCE '88 DODGERS
The Chicago White Sox 88-year curseless drought is over. Of the eight playoff participants, it was Chicago who played nearly flawless baseball in the month of October.
They had clutch hitting from Paul Konerko and Joe Crede. Some of the greatest starting pitching baseball has seen in fifty years and a knack for coming out on top in every controversy call.
Were the White Sox really that good?
It's quite possible when you rank the 2005 champs against baseball's past great teams, these White Sox will rank low.
Chicago, in fact, may be the weakest champs since the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers, who beat the Oakland Athletics in five games on the back of Orel Hershiser.
That Dodgers team upset the favored A's with spare parts at every position of the field. Mickey Hatcher at third. Alfredo Griffin at short. Jeff Hamilton at third and a catching platoon of the aging Rick Dempsey and Mike Scioscia. That decrepit Dodgers team matches favorable with the 2005 White Sox, except L.A. had the N.L. MVP in Kirk Gibson.
It can be argued that those Dodgers were superior in the pitching department, also. A rotation of Hershiser, Tim Belcher, Tim Leary, and Ramon Martinez would stack up well with Chicago's rotation.
PARITY IN THE MAJORS?
Is this the beginning of the NFL-style parity in Major League Baseball? No team except the White Sox showed any inclination of wanting to win the title. Is this anything the commisioner has done or has the steroid policy begun to make an impact?
Home runs were down this year with steroid testing, but the decrease in offense and clutch hitting may also be a result of players losing muscle mass. Teams with dreadfully anemic offenses could have possibly won the World Series. Teams like the Los Angeles Angels and Houston Astros advanced on hitting that can put teams into tailspins.
HOUSTON'S LIDGE PROBLEM
The Astros have to be concern with closer Brad Lidge and his mental state after being so ineffective on the biggest stage. Will this become a psychosis for him or will he bounce back next season? This could become a huge buggaboo for a pitcher some people were placing up there with the Yankees' Mariano Rivera.
DYE WINS MVP
It was refreshing to see one of the alumni of the A's woeful postseason teams finally succeed in the playoffs. After Atlanta's Tim Hudson showed his typical "B" game in the postseason and the Cardinals' Mark Mulder tanked in Game 6 of the NLCS, Chicago's Jermaine Dye came through with the World Series MVP.
ODDS AND ENDS
Let's get this right. Hall of Famer, Rod Carew, is black, Jewish and Latino?....Singer Jon Secada sang the National Anthem before Game 4. Some of his face gesticulations looked like a very scary pumpkin....My favorite Ozzie Guillen quote was this regarding whether he would return to the White Sox after saying he would retire if they won the World Series: "I don't think so. My kids have been here for three days and I'm sick of them."
The Chicago White Sox 88-year curseless drought is over. Of the eight playoff participants, it was Chicago who played nearly flawless baseball in the month of October.
They had clutch hitting from Paul Konerko and Joe Crede. Some of the greatest starting pitching baseball has seen in fifty years and a knack for coming out on top in every controversy call.
Were the White Sox really that good?
It's quite possible when you rank the 2005 champs against baseball's past great teams, these White Sox will rank low.
Chicago, in fact, may be the weakest champs since the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers, who beat the Oakland Athletics in five games on the back of Orel Hershiser.
That Dodgers team upset the favored A's with spare parts at every position of the field. Mickey Hatcher at third. Alfredo Griffin at short. Jeff Hamilton at third and a catching platoon of the aging Rick Dempsey and Mike Scioscia. That decrepit Dodgers team matches favorable with the 2005 White Sox, except L.A. had the N.L. MVP in Kirk Gibson.
It can be argued that those Dodgers were superior in the pitching department, also. A rotation of Hershiser, Tim Belcher, Tim Leary, and Ramon Martinez would stack up well with Chicago's rotation.
PARITY IN THE MAJORS?
Is this the beginning of the NFL-style parity in Major League Baseball? No team except the White Sox showed any inclination of wanting to win the title. Is this anything the commisioner has done or has the steroid policy begun to make an impact?
Home runs were down this year with steroid testing, but the decrease in offense and clutch hitting may also be a result of players losing muscle mass. Teams with dreadfully anemic offenses could have possibly won the World Series. Teams like the Los Angeles Angels and Houston Astros advanced on hitting that can put teams into tailspins.
HOUSTON'S LIDGE PROBLEM
The Astros have to be concern with closer Brad Lidge and his mental state after being so ineffective on the biggest stage. Will this become a psychosis for him or will he bounce back next season? This could become a huge buggaboo for a pitcher some people were placing up there with the Yankees' Mariano Rivera.
DYE WINS MVP
It was refreshing to see one of the alumni of the A's woeful postseason teams finally succeed in the playoffs. After Atlanta's Tim Hudson showed his typical "B" game in the postseason and the Cardinals' Mark Mulder tanked in Game 6 of the NLCS, Chicago's Jermaine Dye came through with the World Series MVP.
ODDS AND ENDS
Let's get this right. Hall of Famer, Rod Carew, is black, Jewish and Latino?....Singer Jon Secada sang the National Anthem before Game 4. Some of his face gesticulations looked like a very scary pumpkin....My favorite Ozzie Guillen quote was this regarding whether he would return to the White Sox after saying he would retire if they won the World Series: "I don't think so. My kids have been here for three days and I'm sick of them."
