Game Four

By Tom Renbarger

Congratulations are in order to the Chicago White Sox, your 2005 World Series Champions. They completed a sweep of the Houston Astros with a 1-0 Game 4 victory Wednesday night, ending an 88-year championship drought for themselves and the city of Chicago. The Sox, seemingly perpetual second bananas to their North Side neighbors, will own the city of Chicago for at least the next six months.

On a night when pitching dominated, it was the team more proficient with small ball tactics that wound up winning. Houston sacrificed leadoff singles to second in both the first and final inning, but came up empty. Jermaine Dye's two-out RBI single in the 8th scored Willie Harris, who pinch hit for Game 4 winner Freddy Garcia, after Scott Podsednik sacrificed him to second with Chicago's first out, and Carl Everett's 4-3 ground out moved him to third.

It was a game of missed opportunities for both offenses through the first six innings, particularly for Houston. The Astros put the leadoff hitter on in four of the first five innings against Garcia, but the righty was equal to the task in stranding these runners, holding Houston 0-for-5 with runners on second in the first two innings. In the second, Mike Lamb's leadoff double was three feet too low to leave the park, and from second he watched Jason Lane and Brad Ausmus whiff. Adam Everett then grounded to third to end the inning.

Meanwhile, Chicago made some two-out noise against Astros starter Brandon Backe with Dye's first inning double and Podsednik's third inning triple, but the youngster left both runners stranded. After Dye's leadoff single in the fourth, Backe took control, striking out the side and then the first two hitters in the fifth. It was Garcia's grounder to third to end Chicago's fifth, ironically, that kept Backe from tying a World Series record with six consecutive strikeouts.

This was the time when the crowd was most into the game, and it was during this span that the Astros needed to make their move, but none was forthcoming. Lance Berkman's leadoff walk in the fourth bore no fruit, and Brad Ausmus's leadoff single in the fifth was erased on a slick around the horn double play off the bat of Adam Everett that the Sox managed to turn in spite of the hit-and-run being on on the play.

The Astros best chance of the evening occurred in the sixth, as Willy Taveras managed a one-out single and Berkman coaxed his second walk of the evening. Hard-luck slugger Morgan Ensberg then worked a full count off Garcia before striking out, though both runners did move up on a double steal. After an intentional walk to Lamb, Jason Lane struck out to leave the bases loaded.

At this point, a sense of the inevitability of Chicago's victory started to take hold of the crowd, dampening the enthusiasm they showed in the middle innings when Backe was on top of his game. The White Sox nearly struck in the 7th. Paul Konerko just missed on a hanging slider to lead off the inning, and then Josh Crede was a few feet short of a two-run homer to left with two outs, settling for a double that moved Aaron Rowand to third. Both runners were stranded after Backe got Juan Uribe on strikes. Then Astro closer Brad Lidge gave up the only run of the game in Chicago's 8th, completing a rather forgettable post-season for one of the NL's dominant closers during the regular season.

To their credit, Houston still had some life in them in their last two at-bats, as they managed to get runners in scoring position in both the 8th and 9th, but the key hits never came. White Sox reliever Cliff Politte hit Taveras with one out, and then uncorked a wild pitch on his first offering to Berkman, prompting an intentional walk. Ensberg then lifted a fly ball to right center that Rowand corralled after a comfortable retreat, moving Taveras to third. Lefty Neal Cotts then got switch-hitting pinch hitter Jose Vizcaino on a slow grounder to Uribe to end that threat.

A.J. Pierzynski led off the top of the ninth with a double but was stranded, setting up another Astro almost-rally. Lane's blooper off White Sox closer Bobby Jenks was followed by a sacrifice bunt by Ausmus. Juan Uribe then wrapped Chicago's title in leather, outleaping any would-be Steve Bartmen to catch an Adam Everett popup in the stands in shallow left, and then nipping pinch hitter Orlando Palmeiro on a bounder over Jenks' head.

Houston learned something about Brandon Backe tonight, who came up big in the biggest game of his life, tossing seven shutout innings and providing a lift with his masterful work in the middle innings. It is going to learn something next season about Morgan Ensberg and Brad Lidge, each of whom had a train wreck of a World Series after performing at a high level during the regular season and early part of the playoffs. If they rebound, and considering also the relative youth of players like Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt, the Astros will have a nice core of talent for next season, regardless of Roger Clemens' decision about retirement. They need a little more juice in their lineup, though, considering that they were shut out over their final 18 offensive innings.

It was clear, however, that the better team won the series. The White Sox had no real weaknesses to speak of all year, except possibly the slugging depth of their lineup. This deficit, if deficit it is, was more than made up for with their rotation, defense, execution and aggressiveness on the base paths. They completed their championship run with an 11-1 record, winning in a variety of ways. And on a night when the Latin Legends squad was unveiled during pre-game ceremonies, it seems only fitting that Venezuelan Ozzie Guillen took his first step towards possibly being name manager of a future version of that squad, as he captained the Sox to a title at the age of 41.