Sweeping up the dust

Maybe it's just me, but it seems that this season is not one that has been kind to Palmeiros.

With Orlando Palmeiro's groundout (a very close groundout, I should add) up the middle, the Chicago White Sox won the 2005 World Series. But never mind that they haven't won since 1917 - a year before the Red Sox's drought started in 1918. Never mind that each game was pretty close. Never mind the squabbling over the roof being closed. None of that matters. This was a series that the Sox not only dominated, but one that was never in doubt. Tonight the Sox had 8 hits to Houstons 5. They pulled a double play, unlike the Astros. They left seven runners on base, whereas Houston left nine (five of those in scoring position with two out).

Tonight in almost every category, and in each one that counts, the Sox either led, or came very close to leading, the Astros. And it wasn't just tonight, either. In all four games, the Sox (for example) outhit the Astros 44 to 29 while leaving 36 baserunners on (Houston left 34). It's key factors like this that show that the Sox were, for the vast majority of the series, in complete control.

Take game three, for example. In the bottom of the 9th inning the Astros loaded the bases (Burke, the hero from the 18 inning marathon was at third) with only one out - but were unable to score. By the 12th inning, the Astros had left 12 runners on since the bottom of the 9th - with the winning run in scoring position in every inning. Numbers like that are unacceptable to any team, let alone one fighting for it's life in the World Series.

The fans knew this - the Astros barely made it into the playoffs and barely won their first series against the Braves in an 18 inning marathon - as detailed in a previous Blog entry. While they did routinely beat the Cardinals, a Tony LaRussa team, they showed themselves to be the Wild Card team they were.

Yes, the Astros kept it close, barely losing in each game. But, to paraphrase Vince Lombardi, you show me someone who almost won and I'll show you someone who lost.