Sox Finishes Off the 'Stros in 4

  A. J. Pierzynski (right) leads the celebration as the Sox clinch the World Series. 

On Wednesday night in Houston, the Chicago White Sox showed why they were the best team in baseball.  Reason #1, great pitching.  Reason #2, great defense.  Reason #3, clutch hitting.  Reason #4, doing all the little things. 

Sox starter Freddy Garcia completely shut down the Astros old lineup on 4 hits through 7 innings.  Yet another solid outing by the Sox bullpen.  Cliff Politte, Neal Cotts and Bobby Jenks allowed just one hit over the last 2 innings to end any shot Houston had of coming back in the game and the Series. 

 World Series MVP Jermaine Dye singled to center scoring Willie Harris.  Game.  Set.  Match.

In the top of the 8th inning, Willie Harris pinch hit for Garcia and singled to left.  Scott Podsednik moved Harris to second on a sacrifice.  Carl Everett, pinch hitting for Tadahito Iguchi, grounded out but moved Harris to third.  World Series MVP Jermaine Dye then singled to center scoring Harris to give the Sox their first World Series title in 88 years.  Defensive wizard Juan Uribe made a couple of great plays to preserve the victory.  A diving grab into the stands that looked Jeter-esque and the play to end the game.  A bouncer up the middle over Jenks made Uribe charge onto the grass and throw to first to end the game. 

 Was that Derek Jeter diving into the crowd in the ninth inning to snag Chris Burke's foul ball?  Not so much.  That's Juan Uribe.

What did Jermaine Dye do to win MVP honor you ask?  How about going 7 for 16 for a .438 batting average.  Dye homered in Game1 vs Roger Clemens.  If you remember Dye made Clemens throw 8 pitches before slugging his homer.  In Game 2's win, Dye reached base on the controversial hit by pitch call which set the stage for Paul Konerko's grand slam.  In Game 3, Dye singled and scored in the five run fifth inning.  Dye was a one man show in Game 4.  He went 3-for-4 and drives home the game winning run in the eighth inning.

For the postseason, the Sox went 11-1.  Of course, the one game they did lose was Game 1 of the ALCS which I happened to attend.  They were 5-0 on the road in the playoffs.  One win in Boston (Game 3 of the ALDS); three in Anaheim (Games 3, 4 and 5); two in Houston (Games 3 and 4).  Did I mention they won their final 11 games overall on the road?  They also had the best record in the American League (99-63), swept defending 2004 world champion Boston in the AL Division Series and beat the Angels 4-1 for their first league championship since 1959.  The Sox won their last eight games (4 in each of the ALCS and WS). 

My Top Eight Moments of the Sox run to the World Series Title:

1.  Scott Podsedniks homer in the bottom of the ninth in Game 2 of the WS gave the Sox a 2-0 lead in the Series heading to Houston.

2.  Paul Konerko's grand slam in the seventh inning of Game 2 that gave the Sox a 6-4 lead.  The Cell was electric.  I didn't think the stadium could get any louder than after this, but I was proved wrong in the ninth inning by Podsednik.

3.  Tony Graffanino. His one-out error in Game 2 of the ALDS on a groundball on a dribbler by Juan Uribe in the bottom of the fifth proved to be crucial in sending the Red Sox to a second straight loss to the White Sox.

4.  Tadahito Iguchi's homer to give the Sox a 5-4 lead two batters after Graffanino's error.  Of course I was listening to this game on the radio after trying to drive down for the game but getting stuck in traffic. 

5.  A.J. Pierzynski strike out / sneak to first base.  Pinch runner Pablo Ozuna stole second to set up Joe Crede's double to win Game 2 of the ALCS. 

6.  Konerko's homers in the top of the first inning in Games 3 and 4 of the ALCS vs the Angels.  A two run homer in Game 3 and a three run shot put the Sox ahead in both games and shot any chance the Angels had of winning either game.

7.  Jermaine Dye's foul ball...I mean, getting hit by a pitch in Game 2 of the WS.  Konerko's grand slam followed.

8.  Juan Uribe's diving grab in the ninth inning of the WS.  Poor Chris Burke just stood there like a 12-year-old in Little League who just had his cotton candy stolen after the game. 

8A?  Joe Crede's diving plays in Game 2 of the WS which stopped the 'Stros from scoring both times.  He made some other great diving plays and had clutch hits in the ALCS and WS.  In my opinion, he was the ALCS MVP.  Konerko wasn't bad either though. 

8B.  Geoff Blum's homerun in the top of the 14th inning to beat the 'Stros (one of his ex-teams none the less).  Manager Ozzie Guillen was going to stick Pablo Ozuna in to pinch hit until a bench coach told Guillen to go with Blum instead.  Game over.