The White Sox and the World Series

You know, I had been waiting until I saw who the White Sox would be playing in the World Series before I wrote this. I have been a White Sox fan every day of my life. When Casey Kotchman of the Angels hit a ground ball to Paul Konerko last Sunday night, Konerko stepped on first base to send the White Sox to the World Series for the first time since 1959. The feeling that was sent through my body is something that I could never describe. A joy like nothing else seemed to fill me instantaneously. Watching Konerko and Jose Contreras run towards each other, Konerko leaping into Contreras' arms, tears started to form in my eyes.


Konerko and Jose Contreras celebrate the White Sox World Series berth.

Obviously for me it hasn't been as long as 46 years. I was born in 1980. For so many years though I have watched this team. I have been there when they were just plain bad, and when they were good. I was too young to really feel the pain in 1983 when the White Sox ran away with their division and the American League. Only to be beaten in the ALCS by the Baltimore Orioles. I do remember 1993 though. The White Sox had homefield advantage over the Toronto Blue Jays. They lost both games 1 and 2 at home. It felt like it was over before it began. Then we went to Toronto and won a couple of games there, but it was only a tease. The Blue Jays would beat us in 6 and go on to beat the Philadelphia Phillies. Joe Carter hitting the famous walk of home run against Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams. I remember watching that game and thinking about how that should be Frank Thomas hopping around those bases with glee.

In 1994 the White Sox were off to a red hot start. Then the strike came. So many White Sox fans felt then and still do today that 1994 would have been our year. So while the strike was painful for all real baseball fans that year, it hurt twice as much for us White Sox fans.

Then came 2000. The White Sox finished the season with the best record in the American League. They then went on and got swept by the Seattle Mariners in the Division Series.

Then 2003 came. The hated crosstown rival Chicago Cubs had made the playoffs. As if that wasn't bad enough, they beat the Atlanta Braves in the Divisional Series. My Cub fan friends seemed so excited and happy. I wanted to know what it felt like so bad. Next thing we knew the Cubs were up 3 -1 on the Florida Marlins and one win away from the World Series. The buzz in the city of Chicago was amazing. I was doing my best to not let anyone know how badly it was bothering me, but inside I was a mess. I was so incredibly jealous. I wanted to know that joy I was seeing in their faces. Well we all know how that Cubs/Marlins series ended. I didn't revel in the Cubs defeat, or their fans pain. After all I happen to be very good friends with some of those fans. Inside though, I felt relief. I had been saved from the god awful abuse I was certain to recieve by my Cub fan friends.

In 2004 Ozzie Guillen(After finishing his job as the 3rd Base Coach for those Florida Marlins that beat the Cubs.) was brought in as manager of the White Sox. There was an energy about the team that was just not there in the previous years. In his first year here we did not make the playoffs, but you got the sense things were moving in the right direction. Then in the offseason the team let Magglio Ordonez go. One of my favorite players had been given away for free essentially. Then on top of losing Magglio's production we traded our other slugger Carlos Lee to Milwaukee for some skinny white guy who ran fast, Scott Podsednik. I knew the reasoning behind this deal, but to say I wasn't just a little skeptical would be an outright lie.

The White Sox got off to a great start this year and I was hooked from the get go. I had bought a season ticket plan with my friends Kevin and Marty, along with Kevins co-worker Brian. I was going to games and the White Sox were winning them. There was the game against the Cubs in which the Sox just dominated the North Siders. A game against Seattle with Mark Buerhle on the mound. We got to our seats about 20 minutes after first pitch and it was already the top of the third inning!!! The game would go on to end in an hour and a half for another White Sox victory. There had been many a season around here where the Sox would jump off to a hot start only to fade come the summer months. I wasn't skeptical this season though. Something about the way this team never stopped fighting. They scrap for every run, they hustle to make every out. They just never give up on a play, PERIOD. I knew this year we would hold on.

During August and September things got scary. There was a couple of days where I began to wonder what was going to happen. The Cleveland Indians were just playing white hot baseball and had closed the gap to 2 games. There was all this talk of the White Sox choking. I never felt that way though. The Sox weren't playing horribly, the Indians were just playing amazing baseball. During the last week of the season though the Sox would find their stride again while the Indians just couldn't maintain their pace. We had clinched our division and home field in the playoffs.

Next thing I knew I was at U.S. Cellular Field for Game 1 of the American League Divisional Series. We were hosting the defending champion Boston Red Sox. A lot of the media, and fans weren't giving the White Sox much of a chance. I knew though. These weren't the same Red Sox we saw last year. Yes, Manny and David Ortiz were still in the middle of that lineup, but our pitching staff would take care of that. The buzz in that stadium leading up to the first pitch was electric. The ovation would not die either. The White Sox jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning (Led by A.J. Peirszynski's three-run homer)and the postseason had begun.
The White Sox would go on to win 14-2.


AJ's teammates congratulate him after a 1st inning 3-run homer

Then it was Game 3 and Boston had the bases loaded with no outs and a chance to take the lead, and momentum back from us. That is until Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez came in from the bullpen and shut down the Red Sox lineup without relinguishing a run. It was the most exciting baseball inning I think I have ever seen.


Orlando Hernandez lets out a yell after escaping a bases loaded no out jam

The Sox would dispose of the defending champs shortly after. After a few days off the White Sox were back at home to play the Anaheim Angels. The Angels had traveled from New York, to Anaheim, to Chicago in 3 days, but it was the White Sox who appeared tired. The Angels would win 3-2. Then came Game 2 and the third strike. Whether that pitch hit the ground or not, it definetly changed the way this series was heading.



The White Sox would be ignited and go on to finish off the Angels in 5 games. Including 4 consecutive complete games from their starting pitchers. In what was supposed to be a classic series the White Sox just disposed of Anaheim as if they were a mere bump in the road.

Now I sit here and my White Sox will be playing in their first World Series in 46 years in 45 hours. They are facing a team that is almost a perfect clone. A team that has a dominant pitching staff, and can scrape together enough runs to get the job done. The Houston Astros are in their first World Series in the history of the franchise. What year did they join MLB? 1960, the year after the White Sox last World Series appearance. I can't guarantee that my White Sox will win. I can guarantee that I will be there for every single pitch. Living and dying with each one. It's going to be an amazing World Series. I just hope it's even more amazing for me than it is for Astro fans.