For Second Consecutive Year, Sox Sweep Series, End Decades-long Drought

You may have heard already, but the White Sox did the Red Sox one better (actually, two, as in years, better), sweeping the Houston Astros and winning their first World Series in 88 years. Boston had the Curse of the Bambino (thank god we don't have to talk about that any longer), but Chicago had the Black Sox scandal of 1919. That scandal was much more harsh than the Bambino ever was - the Pale Hose had only been to one World Series in the last 86 year, that one in 1959. There's not been a lot to cheer about for the Southsiders for a long time, but they deserved it this year.

I'll admit to being a skeptic. I think that Chicago's pitching was a bit over it's head all year long, and that Garland and Contreras, particularly, will suffer a decline next year. And for all the talk about the "Go Go White Sox," Chicago's ability to "manufacture" runs with small ball (stolen bases, hit-and-running, bunting, "moving runners over") was a fallacy. Here was a team that hit one more home run than the Red Sox (200 to 199) on the season, but managed to score 169 fewer runs than Boston. That's one less run a game, despite having some talent for "manufacturing" runs. The bottom line is that the White Sox did not have a very good offense, but they did have excellent pitching and defense. And there's that other mantra: "Pitching and Defense wins championships." More often than not, it's the whole package that wins championships.

The fallacy continued through the playoffs, too. The White Sox stole six more bases than their opponents (13 to 7), but also had six more caught stealings (7 to 1). That stat will be pointed to as being in the White Sox' favor, but in fact they probably hurt themselves with the running game. Where the White Sox did have an advantage, however, was in the power game - an 18-9 home run advantage throughout the playoffs. They also hit .272 to their opponents' .202, which didn't hurt. Yes, the White Sox manufactured their runs with home runs, and won the championship by shutting down the opponents' offense. Congrats to the White Sox, and let's all start laying money on the Cubs in 2006!