Sunday, October 23, 2005 |
Grand Larceny: White Sox 7, Astros 6
The Astros were right back in it in their half of the third, tying up the game on a Lance Berkman sac fly that cashed in a Willy Taveras triple. Then in the fifth, an unlikely pair of hits: first, Brad Ausmus doubled, and then with two outs, Willy Taveras -- again! -- got aboard on an infield single deep in the hole, Lance Berkman getting both of them home on a booming double to left.
But the unlikeliest was yet to come: Dan Wheeler came in to relieve Pettitte, and despite giving up a double and a walk, Wheeler was within an out of putting the side away when the umpire miscalled a hit-by-pitch that replays showed clearly hit Jermaine Dye's bat. With the crowd noise and considering how much Dye had crowded the plate, you can give the umpire some latitude, but the number of gift calls the umps have given the Sox this postseason is just uncanny. And then of course the Konerko grand slam on the first pitch by reliever Chad Qualls, a belt-high cookie over the plate that Qualls should have been fined for.
But that wasn't all, no, not hardly. With Bobby Jenks on the mound (strangely, not throwing 100 tonight), the Astros mounted enough of a rally to tie the game. Jeff Bagwell singled, and then Jenks struck out Jason Lane, but walked Chris Burke, setting up a Jose Vizcaino pinch-hitting appearance. Vizcaino delivered, and the Astros tied it up.
Neil Cotts came in to relieve Jenks, inducing a flyout.
And damned if Scott "What's A Home Run?" Podsednik didn't get one out of the park on his first pitch.
You hope for good games; unlike ALCS Game 2, where it wasn't at all clear that the Angels could have won under the circumstances, today the Astros were clearly robbed of a win. Konerko shouldn't have come to the plate before Dye finished his at bat. The White Sox are going to win this World Series; never in the history of the game, I'd wager, has such luck befallen any single team. All the calls, and I mean all the calls, are going their way.
Postscriptum: The Idiots take exception to some broadcaster-or-other saying Scott Podsednik is one of the game's best at getting on base. Mmmaybe, but the cake-taker for stupidity has to be Joe Buck telling us afterwards that we've been watching a baseball game. Damn, and I thought it was women's lacrosse!
Update 10/24: Al Yellon reminds me that a grand slam and a walkoff home run have happened once before in recent memory, a happy one for Dodger fans.
<< today the Astros were clearly robbed of a win. >>
But it should be also noted that Wheeler was missing all over the plate during his stint. And that Biggio did drop a gimme ball that cost them a run early on. And that Pettite got pretty hard various times, but the balls landed barely foul. Or that it was ultimately Lidge's hanging slider against a guy with the power of David Eckstein, which cost them the game. The way I see it, the Astros just looked like they were trying to survive a continuous threat throughout the game, in the same way Tennesse did against Bama Saturday. Dang, I'm still mad about that.
As an observation, what happened with Lidge the past two games will likely happen to Frankie if the Angels reach the playoffs again. Fastball-curve/slider relievers often accidentally hang breaking stuff over the plate, because they have to prove to the hitters they can locate their out pitches for strikes. Which is what Lidge did tonight. Something like tonight is much rarer with a fast-change guy like Gagne or Hoffman.
Though I'm rooting for the Astros, I did feel happy for the White Sox. What a wacky series.
: 10/23/2005 11:02:00 PM
And consider this:
Angel game: Angels tied, but correct call gets them out of the inning.
Astro game: Astros ahead, but correct call does not get them out of the inning - still leaves them in a jam.
Neither team was robbed of a win.
In a 7-6 game, missing a difficult call of a foul ball on a 3-2 pitch is minor stuff.
As an observation, what happened with Lidge the past two games will likely happen to Frankie if the Angels reach the playoffs again. Fastball-curve/slider relievers often accidentally hang breaking stuff over the plate, because they have to prove to the hitters they can locate their out pitches for strikes. Which is what Lidge did tonight. Something like tonight is much rarer with a fast-change guy like Gagne or Hoffman.
I think it already has. Remember Game 6 of the World Series? Lost in the afterglow of the Spiezio three-run homer, the Erstad solo shot, and Glaus's game-winning, bases-clearing double, was the fact that Frankie gave up a pair of runs. He's not totally dominant.
Jon -- I disagree on this one. Maybe it's purely emotional, but it seems to me that every bizarro call has gone the Chisox' way. And that's just lame, not only for my enjoyment but because it's going to leave an inevitable taint on their title (assuming, and I think it will prove the case, that they win the series).
But neither of the calls we were talking about directly put the White Sox in the lead. I don't think the White Sox' success (to this point, anyway) should be considered tainted.
And I'm guessing that sometime in the past 88 years, the White Sox have had a few go against them.
<< Lost in the afterglow of the Spiezio three-run homer, the Erstad solo shot, and Glaus's game-winning, bases-clearing double, was the fact that Frankie gave up a pair of runs. He's not totally dominant. >>
Very true. That's why it bothers me to see Frankie just throw curve after curve out there, especially on fastball counts. Not even Lidge does that. And it can't be good for your arm either. Gagne could probably throw changes 75% of the time, and still not be pulled because his change works like a Kevin Brown sinker.
<< Maybe it's purely emotional, but it seems to me that every bizarro call has gone the Chisox' way. >>
I feel that way too. And it would have been okay if this were that OTHER Chicago team. But I balance that frustration with the way Chicago clearly dominated the BoSox and Angels.
: 10/24/2005 03:10:00 PMCertainly to some degree, yes. OTOH, the Angels manhandled the Chisox in the regular season. For me, I think the big problem they'll have is the fact that they're playing so far over their heads. This team was seven games over their Pythagorean standings; teams like that usually have a long ways to fall. The cries of "lucky" will become a Greek chorus if they do.
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