- In February, I thought the White Sox had a chance to win the AL Central if everything broke right.
- In May, with the Sox running off a Major League record 37 straight games with a lead, I knew this team was special.
- In July, I was wondering who they should acquire to lead them on their post season run.
- In August, I couldn't believe this was the same team I had watched for the first 4 months of the season.
- In September, I was just counting the games, hoping they could hold off the hard-charging Indians.
- In October, I had all the confidence in the World in this team, but was scared to show it. Such is life as a Sox fan.
Rambling Thoughts
- I don't remember where it was, but I was asked the question "with the game on the line, who is the one player you want the ball hit towards?" The answer seemed obvious to me. Juan Uribe. He had made a number of absolutely huge plays this season that, had he missed them, the Sox would have lost.
Juan Uribe was everywhere in the final two innings of that game. After having an off night in the field during game 3, he showed up big time in the clincher. In the 8th he charged a slow roller off the bat of Jose Vizcaino and gunned him out to prevent the tying run from scoring. In the 9th, he went into the stands to record the penultimate out with the tying run on second. Then he again charged a chopper that got over Jenks' head and gunned out Orlando Palmiero by a razor thin margin. There are only a select few shortstops in baseball who makes one of those plays. I can't think of a single one, other than Uribe, who I'd expect to make all three.
- Without question, Brandon Backe pitched the best game against the Sox of anyone this postseason. The dirty little rally monkey had a dangerous arsenal of filthy pitches and pin-point control that would have made any of the Big 3 jealous. He was the only Astro, save maybe Lance Berkman for the first 2.5 games, who played like a World Champion. Hats off to him. His great pitching performance only makes this win feel that much sweeter...
- Because Freddy Garcia matched him pitch-for-pitch. Early in the game, I noted that Garcia looked like he had his good stuff on the night. "Garcia looks like he can turn it on and off tonight. He's got hot and cold running filth working."
- Here's a discussion I want to get to tomorrow(later today actually). It's to late to really research it and express all of my thoughts on the matter right now, but one of you guys can start a diary if you'd like. Where do these Sox rank?
I had been thinking about this in the back of my mind, but always the Sox fan, I wasn't about to mention it until the final out of the sweep was recorded. Peter Gammons was on SC saying that this team ranks 2nd, along with some others, to the '98 Yankees in the last 25 years.
That's pretty much how I feel. I stated on Tuesday that if the Sox were able to pull of the sweep they had to be considered one of the best teams in baseball during my lifetime (26 years). The 98-99 Yankees are the only teams that immediately come to my mind as having more dominant wire-to-wire seasons.